Dark souls is a gaming icon for many reasons, but that doesn't mean it's immune to the passage of time. While it's held up pretty well overall, there are still some issues that make revisiting it in 2026 a lot harder than it might seem. This in turn hurts the image many new players have of the action RPG titan.
The best Dark Souls bosses (ranked by how satisfying they are to beat)
Find out which Dark Souls bosses provide the most satisfying fights, from the unique Four Kings to the epic Gwyn, Lord of Cinder.
Some of these issues are fairly minor QoL changes that have been improved over time by sequels and newer games in the genre, while others are more drastic, like cultural shifts that have left the identity of the original game in a completely different state. Considering how far the Soulslike genre has come in a short amount of time, it's only natural that you want to go back to the beginning, even if that means removing a lot of the tweaks and improvements that modern players enjoy today.
Level design
Linear yet open
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Lack of direction makes reversing common.
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More of a maze than a linear route.
One of the biggest things that people praise Dark souls is the unique way the world is designed. It's far from being an open world game, but the way certain parts blend and mesh together makes it feel much more open. As a result, players will often revisit past locations and new items and paths open up to move things forward.
However, since it's neither strictly linear nor strictly open-ended, there are a few areas where exploration can be incredibly challenging, especially due to the lack of direction the game provides. Players can run around the Darkroot Garden for hours before realizing they've missed the small entrance to the south, which makes these discoveries incredibly satisfying, but it's a far cry from the more accessible style seen in later games in the genre.
Fast travel
There is no turning back
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It can take hours of time to get lost.
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Moving between places can be annoying.
Fast travel is a modern game mechanic that removes all those annoying hours spent running between previous locations. While Dark souls grants players this power, waits until much later to let them use it. During the first dozen hours or so, players have no easy way to get back to the Firelink Shrine or explore another area, so exploration relies heavily on their ability to observe their surroundings.
Toughest bosses in Dark Souls, ranked
Dark Souls is known for its difficulty, and here are the most challenging bosses in FromSoftware's beloved action RPG.
Even when they gain access to Fast Travel, the locations are still quite limited, which is simply not the case in many other Soulslikes. For that reason alone, new players who are used to the freedom seen in games like it Elden Ring they often feel intimidated by the lack of comfort, which reflects how game design has shifted towards putting utility over atmosphere, for better or worse.
Easier boss designs
Far from the cinema seen later
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More basic attacks and mechanics.
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Complexity has evolved over time.
Bosses have always been central to the Soulslike experience, and that's fair to say Dark souls it has pretty great bosses, except for a few bugs. However, when it comes to the actual mechanical complexity of these enemies, many of them leave a lot to be desired. They have short chain attacks or basic swings that make fights feel much more manageable than today's Souls-like bosses.
Honestly, this isn't a fault of the game, but a clear indicator of how the passage of time has affected how the developers design bosses. Gwyn may be cool, but he doesn't really hold a candle to Isshin or Slave Knight Gael. If players are taking a trip down memory lane or fighting these enemies for the first time, they should know that the mechanical and cinematic flavor is much lower across the spectrum.
“Dark Souls Is Hard”
It is no longer the gold standard
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The perception of difficulties has moved forward.
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Other, more difficult games took the top spot.
from the very beginning Dark souls was marked as a difficult game. Long before the term Soulslike was even popularized, people often described difficult quests as “The Dark souls of X.
This ideology still exists to some extent as Soulslikes continue to carry the same perception they had from the beginning. However, it's pretty hard to find a player who would consider it these days Dark souls to be at the top of the difficulty spectrum, with many other games in the genre claiming the crown over the past decade. While the original still presents a significant challenge, overall it's a much less mechanically demanding experience.
Arrange the covers in the correct US release order.
Start
Arrange the covers in the correct US release order.
Easy (5) Medium (7) Hard (10)
Frustrating places
I curse you, Blighttown
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Vertically oriented areas with very few safe places.
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Notoriously poisonous swamps and places full of lava.
Dark souls was praised by many for its ability to transport players into a dark fantasy world where even light sometimes seemed like a scarce resource. There are some beautiful and memorable locations in the game, but that doesn't mean it's the way to go.
Places like Blighttown and Tomb of the Giants feel almost sadistic in their design, punishing players for putting a foot in the wrong place or simply knocking them to their doom with erratic enemy placement or traps. These kinds of locations are much less common in later games in the franchise and the genre as a whole, though they still exist in the form of areas such as the aptly named “poison swamps”.
Changes in QOL
Everything feels better today
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Throws and combat feel improved.
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Movement while healing dramatically changes the gameplay.
QOL is everything in soulslike because they are mechanically demanding. If the game doesn't feel right, players will have a hard time. The modern landscape is full of exceptional titles that have refined the mechanics and removed much of the earlier clumsiness, which is a reason to return to something like Dark souls can be particularly frustrating.
The 7 Scariest People in Dark Souls Games, Ranked
The world of Dark Souls is full of terrifying monsters, but some of the most terrifying enemies in the games are humans.
Simple things like moving while healing or having more control over movement with a dedicated jump button make a big difference, especially over the course of 30+ hours of gameplay. These small but impactful issues are some of the biggest negatives many players will recognize when jumping into an older Soulslike, as they can turn an otherwise quite manageable experience into a borderline excruciating one.
The genre has moved on
Inviolable heritage
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It feels like a prototype for where Soulslikes are now.
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Innovation solves many problems.
Dark souls is now over 15 years old, and in that time the Soulslike genre as a whole has grown and completely changed in almost every way imaginable. The scope has expanded, the combat is faster, and players can now experience the same excitement on a much wider playing field that several open-world games have entered the genre in recent years.
in many ways Dark souls It feels like a proof of concept for where the Soulslike genre is today, showing early iterations of how combat should play out and how levels should be defined. Many iconic games and franchises owe their existence Dark soulsso while it didn't hold up exceptionally well in every regard, it still deserves a ton of respect for the impact it had on the gaming industry.
- Released
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September 22, 2011
- ESRB
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M for Mature: Blood and Gore, Partial Nudity, Violence
- Publishers
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Namco Bandai
