Dark Controller

For years I've been fascinated by the gaming phenomenon that is Dark Souls.

If you're not in the know, Dark Souls is a, as the name suggests, dark fantasy game. There are three games in the series so far, with two Demon Souls games and the gothic Bloodborne on the side. The latter three games are only available on the Playstation, so that's me out.

What all these game have in common is the Third Person style of play and a brutal difficulty level. There is no easy mode anywhere in sight. Every fight, every enemy is hard and can kill you if you slip up even a little. I've seen some truly impressive videos by players with genuine skill who are able to dance effortlessly through the games, but this is a skill they have earned the hard way: through countless hours filled with sweat, frustration and swearing. They have earned the ability to run around at will thumbing their noses at the horrors inhabiting the world, but even they slip up and die. No one is truly safe.

But Dark Souls is never unfair and it never cheats. Instead it constantly pushes you to be better or quit. And every time you die, you learn something. The placement of an enemy, a fighting technique, a new way to approach the game and so on. This, and the dark but gorgeous atmosphere ultimately made me take the plunge. I found the first Dark Souls on Steam for a fiver, so even if I hated it, it was no loss. So far I love it, but the thought of firing up the game is intimidating. I'm on the second boss, the Taurus Demon, and he is Hard. Yes the capital h is no typo. The kicker? He isn't really that hard, not compared with what awaits further ahead, mostly it's all in my head. Still, I'm excited to get there, and this I suppose is the true allure of the Dark Souls universe.

Before I could start playing however, I had to make a choice. These games are designed with controllers in mind, and although you can play with mouse and keyboard, like I do, it makes the game even harder. Thus I took another plunge and bought the Steam Controller. I wavered between it and an Xbox controller for quite a while, but I came down on the Steam Controller's side and I think I made the right choice.

The Steam Controller is different from it's competitors mainly in the fact that instead of a second joystick, it has a track-pad. You know, the mouse replacing square on a laptop? This gives it (perhaps) more flexibility, but being completely new to me, is another thing I have to learn. So far, I'm very happy with my choice. The fact that you can make up a control scheme for the Steam Controller and upload it to Steam for others to use, is a great tool, and one that I have already availed myself of.

My one complaint, is the D-pad. Compared to other controllers out there it feels clunky and very loud. It's not a silent little click, it's a loud CLICK every time. This I feel they could have improved on a little, but apart from this issue, it's been great so far.

Well, I'm done for this time, so have a nice and easy week!