Beating Dark Souls is no easy feat. From Software built the game from the ground up to be a return to the brutally-difficult games of the past — and they definitely succeeded.
Dark Souls is the kind of game that will punish even the tiniest mistakes with death and lost progress ... but that's one of the reasons it's so fun to play. Death means something again, and the sense of dread that looms over the entire game — the thought that you could lose hours of progress at any second — is why so many people gravitate toward the game.
That's why, when "Twitch Plays Dark Souls" was announced, most fans thought it'd be impossible. Dark Souls is one of the most brutally difficult games in recent memory, how could anyone possibly make it through the game when hundreds (if not thousands) of people are pulling the strings at once?
Nevertheless, on Sept. 26, hundreds of players were able to band together and conquer Dark Souls. With 904 deaths under their belts, Twitch entered the final battle with Gwyn, Lord of Cinder ... and emerged victorious.
You may be wondering: how did hundreds of people beat Dark Souls? Well, the answer is a bit complicated.
The problems began almost immediately. Whereas a game like Pokemon is a bit schizophrenic with so many people holding the controller, Dark Souls seemed downright unplayable. Players were stuck in a pool of water in the first floor of the first dungeon for hours — eventually, the mods behind the channel decided to change things.
Instead of the live, type-the-command-and-it-happens style of "Twitch Plays Pokemon," Dark Souls was given a new control scheme not unlike a turn-based RPG. Every few seconds, the game would pause, and the next input would be determined by the chat. While some may consider the use of mods cheating, it finally made the game playable — and, for the first time since it had started, Twitch made serious progress.
Two weeks ago, players managed to defeat the game's two hardest bosses, Ornstein and Smough — and, for many, this signaled the beginning of the end. As it turns out, it was: a few days later, Gwyn was dead, and players had finished the game. Many are claiming that this is the biggest victory since Twitch beat the original Pokemon ... though many would say that the ongoing Fallout 3 run is just as tough (if not tougher) ...
So, what's the best way to follow it up? With Dark Souls II, of course!
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