Dark Souls Saved Me

Bloodborne is absolutely the first time I ever played a single souls game… and honestly, its the only one that attached with me

Dark Souls is one of my favorite games to play with my pal when we were kids. Play it! By yourself or with a friend

I felt all of this in DS and again even moreso in DS2! That morose, depressing, yet stunningly beautiful feeling is even stronger in the second game imo. Then DS3 was a step down for me and felt like more of an action game somehow. It refined the combat and level design, but somehow had far less of an emotional impact.

DS2 some of my favorite dialogue of all time. The lore around Vendrick and Aldia is top tier.

Why did we all just fucking suffer in 2015

why is water break the most replayed section

Same though

Man, gaming is awesome.

my guy was just a kid

This is a beautiful relatable video. Thank you Dark Souls indeed

Dark Souls RUINED my vidyaa habit for more than a year. Hard to play anything else when DS hits all the right notes.

Fromsoft single handily saved rhe video game industry. Besides Rockstar and maybe Capcom, they're the only company to consistently make genuinely good games.

I as well as many others initially bounce off this game then come back year or so later and things just click and you love it.

Video games are in fact a medium for high art. Not only can well crafted games such as Dark Souls be considered high art, I think they have the potential to be THE highest form of artistic expression. Games can combine visual art, sounds, music, story telling, comedy, engineering (also an art), philosophy and soirituality to create an interactive and isolated world where we can temporarily be relieved of our daily struggles and face challenges and threats that we’re prepared to meet. I’ve had cathartic experiences while immersed in a game that gave me the clarity that I needed to face my real world problems in ways I didn’t think possible. I lived several years in Russia and Kazakhstan for several years and the first video game I played when I came home was Journey. Coming home was a relief, but I didn’t know just how heavy and depressed I felt because of the massive change of moving back to the states and leaving the people I met and loved while living abroad. I didn’t know how depressed I was feeling until I was immersed in the beauty of Journey. The feelings of loneliness, anxiety and struggle mixed with the gorgeous setting and ethereal music helped me to understand everything I needed to know at that time about life and the paths we walk. It helped me to understand for the first time in my life that it’s not about the destination and finally arriving. It’s about the journey, the path and the steps we are taking right now. By the time I finished the game, I was so moved and felt so understood and seen. I learned something important about myself and not one word was spoken for the entirety of the game. Games have immense power to affect us. Journey is an exceptional example, but even games that are less ambitious artistically can create profound experiences and environments where we are free to forget about ourselves. Often, all we need is a little time away from our problems to better understand them. Play is an essential behavior of the human experience and video games should be recognized as a valid and valuable way for us to find connection, respite and knowledge.

My first souls game was DS 2 and I had a very similar experience. Thanks for sharing. I love it when you talk about games that meant so much to you. Your Bioshock video hit hard and so did this one.

yeah if it wouldn't be for elden ring I probably would not be here today

Thank you darksouls

watching this in bed like we are staying up past our bedtime

I’m on a boat rn listening to this.

Thank you, I love your story.

Love that people still watch this 6years later

,,prithy be carefull, i don't want to see my work scuandered "

This is one of most pathetic videos I have ever seen. Grown ass man in a blanked saying how sad he was and how video games helped him, because he was to lazy do something in his life. I understand depression but this image of yours is just humiliating.

BORING.

Oh my god life was so much simpler...

I finally found myself playing the game for real for the first time.. been dealing with alcoholism and depression for a long time in life. I recall in 2019 I bought it and was excited to try it because I saw the title of this video and felt determined to beat it before I watched this video. THEN I found myself struggling in every single aspect. I was too anxious and depressed that the game made me feel feelings. I didn’t like that. So I put it away and never touched it again. Flash forward to this last week (7/18/2024) and I found myself beating Elden Ring with the help of many friends. But then, I realized I had Dark Souls.. so I downloaded it again and decided to truly put my heart into it. Yet still suffering with depression, I hit wall after wall.. until it just clicked. I can’t explain exactly what it was, but I found the determination to beat the Gargoyles in less than 10 tries.. and I did just that! Of course with the help of Solaire.. but I just knew in that very moment today I felt my heart beat again and my soul was at true peace at last.. I cried a tiny bit because it was like coming back down to earth and feeling ALIVE! I haven’t felt this proud and this happy and this excited in so long.. I am excited to finish the game soon but right now I’m in the Depths just searching for more. But it is truly an experience like no other. I love dark souls. I thank dark souls. I thank you too Jakey.

God bless y’all.

I’ll probably maybe come back and reply to my comment once I beat DS1. Wish me luck.

last year, i was fighting cancer, it ws dificult, all i wanted to do was be in bed. i started playing darksouls, played the whole triology in one go, i had the games in my library, colecting dust since i boght them from the previous christmas sale, almost one year. this game gave me strenght to get out the bed and do shit. i whod do what i needed so i could sit down and play after. it turned a 5 days dying state from a quimo session into a 2/3 days. the morale, the satisfaction... idk exacly what to say, but it helped me in the worst time of my life

I felt a similar way with jump king

He sounds like an NPC

i started this game a few days ago and its completely consuming me, played for like 12 hours straight yesterday. i'm gonna beat this game

Sometimes when it gets rough I look for solaires summon sign in my house

Hudlums

Hey my names Isaac 🫂❤️🌚

Finally giving game a serious try after 3 or so attempts. Starting to lock in but did have to look up some vids on how the mechanics work because the game is extremely obtuse in that regard. Will update on my spear/shield knight as I progress

This is the same thing for me but mhfu a really rough time that was so bad just a game was the only thing good

No Jakey Jakey and Jakey cameo? 😅

this video style is awesome

thats the power of game design

Don’t you dare go hollow…

I knew I'd come back to maryann I'm hyah

My first experience with dark souls was the third one. Videos like this one and friends who have also been through it brought me to the OG. Now its my favorite of all of them. The kinship of players who enjoy these kind of games is invaluable. I love it.

with love from bushy :)

Watched this senior year of high school and it changed how I looked at dark souls and got me to finally beat it. finishing up a junior year paper and referencing this video and the enduring impact of online media. thanks jakey :)

Sleepover with 1.9 million people.

been saving this for a while so I could pay full attention. Thank u Jakey

I wanna play dark souls at some point, but I’ve heard it’s really really hard and I just know I’d suck and get mad and feel like I wasted my money. Also I don’t think I have enough time for it lol.

When Dark Souls beats your depression: you know it wasn't all that bad

But dark souls is really hard so i dont blame the depression for losing

Thats the shit i watch when i want to experience emotions

This feels very intimate, especially when also laying down on your side

I used to hate Dark Souls, it never truly clicked with me after numerous tries.
Then I got sick, really sick during the pandemic. The sickness came with a lot of extreme pain, but the hospitals couldn't do anything because of the influx of covid cases. I was forced to deal with it myself until I the sickness developed enough that my life was in danger, so the hospital could take me in. That look 6 months.

Around 18 months after my sickness started, I was out of hospital on the slow road of recovery. I decided to try Dark Souls again, and it clicked. The game was exactly what I needed, as I got better at the game my recovery did too. The
skills I needed to endure and recover were the same needed for Dark Souls.

I've now finished the game numerous times along with the rest of Fromsoftware's library, it was there when I needed it most.

I love that you love this game but it’s sadly having like the opposite effect on me. The farther I trudge through it the less fun I’m having which sucks because I wanna enjoy it as much as I’ve enjoyed other fs games like sekiro and Elden ring