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Those Who Love No Mercy(The Psychology Of Dark Souls)


Hear me out here.

I think there is definitely a psychological profile for people who like to play brutally difficult video games that don't really give you that many hints or clues of where to go next. They are the ones that love and cherish moments of no mercy, games that punish the player repeatedly and offer a challenge that is so great that it can take months of their time to finally conquer and overcome.

These are individuals that love challenges. They love them so much that they become easily addicted and obsessed with overcoming and beating them. I would not surprised at all if a high percentage of these gamers are extroverts, rather than introverts.

Where people like myself are more withdrawn and overcome challenges and obstacles but prefer to do it at our own pace with a clear path available. This is why games like Dark Souls really get on my nerves very quickly and aren't that much fun to me and I don't get wrapped up in their gaze and feel like I must play the same level hundreds of times and fight the same boss hundreds more to feel a sense of accomplishment or euphoria.

I don't see the point in continuing to play and continuing to die again and again just for the slim chance that I might win this time. It's like gambling your money away at a casino or making bets. The chances are you will lose more games than you win, but that slim chance of winning really propels certain people with certain psychological profiles and personalities to go to extreme lengths to win as much as possible.

How many players spent days of sleepless or long nights playing Dark Souls trying to get their next fix and trying desperately to get past the next big boss on cue? I am sure there were plenty of players then and there are just as many now. Some people love that feeling. And game developers know it. So they fashion games like Dark Souls to appeal and quench that particular thirst. And if you don't have it or don't like the taste of it, games like Dark Souls lose a lot of their appeal. Developers are playing a game within a game. They are not only making the framework for the game but also putting in the time to press the players buttons as much as they press the buttons on their controllers.

Games like Dark Souls though do not press my buttons. I personally could care less about beating the boss or getting to the next level after stumbling around the levels with almost no clues of where to go next or dying hundreds upon hundreds of times to get one little thrill of beating one boss in a game with hundreds of bosses with difficulty that gets more and more insane as you progress further into the game. The risk and the time spent, in my eyes, is not worth the reward. I had more fun customizing my character and watching the cut scenes than playing the actual game.

Give me a game that increases the difficulty gradually over time, and provides clearer paths and directions on what to do next over a game that throws countless unknowns at you, very few clues and has a difficulty level from the very start that makes you want to toss your controller through a wall.

The stress games like Dark Souls put me through is not worth the end result of dying for hours on end until I finally get past one boss or to the next stage. The end result for me is nowhere near as gleaming as it is for others with different personalities and profiles. So what makes this game great and a must play for others does not work the same way for me or other individuals with the same profiles and personalities that alter and affect our perception and subjective opinions on what games we like playing and which ones we don't.

This is why in my view, there is no soul in Dark Souls. It relishes in glee in your misery and torment and it wants to beat you down until you submit and begin to enjoy the punishment and ask for more. It knows that if it can give you just enough of a clue and skill to move forward or to beat one boss, that it can grab you by the neck and get you to crawl further into the dungeons and fight even harder enemies and try to hurdle even higher obstacles just to say that you beat it in the end. But it knows that victory is hollow and as soulless as the game itself.

Now that's dark.

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