dark souls

YouTube user unknownphyzics hit the nail on the head with his reaction to this trailer:

I used to be a fan, now I'm an air conditioner.

With over 900 deaths and and over a month spent on the endeavor, the community of Twitch has vanquished Gwyn, thus beating Dark Souls.

It took them a while to figure out. For a very long while, it looked like this:



But, as Kotaku details, the community eventually found a system that works:

After a few days of fumbling around, it was decided to change the rules of the game or call it quits. In some circles, this disqualified Twitch Plays Dark Souls from being a legitimate playthrough; it subverted the way Dark Souls plays. They essentially changed it from a 3D action game into a turn-based affair.

Was it cheating? Sure. Was it the only way for Twitch Plays Dark Souls to move forward? Probably. Does that mean their achievements are meaningless? No.

Soon enough, they beat the Asylum Demon.

A little later, they beat the game's hardest boss, Orstein and Smough. With O&S slaughtered, it seemed a matter of time until they'd actually beat the game.

That time, as it turned out, was on Saturday. 43 days, eight hours, 14 minutes, and 23 seconds after attempting the nearly impossible, Twitch Plays Dark Souls was able to finally say they'd beaten Dark Souls. They only died 904 times, too!

Naturally, they are already on Dark Souls 2 and it's just as interminable to watch.

Which you can do right here.

About a month ago, Twitch, as a community, decided it would try to play Dark Souls, fabled as one of the toughest modern games.

It didn't start off too well. It took them hours and hours to climb a ladder because everyone was inputing different control options at once and so it became a maddening spectacle of spinning around and continually drinking the limited health potion.

Things changed along the way and they implemented a system whereby they would pause the game after every control input, vote on the next action, unpause, take that action and then pause again. Using this exhaustively patient system, they beat the first boss.

But, as Kotaku points out, far worse laid in store.

The real challenge for Twitch Plays Dark Souls was always going to be Ornstein and Smough, though. It's one of the few times Dark Souls throws two bosses at you, and it's a moment that's broken many a Dark Souls fan. One of them is fast, the other is slow. One can pluck away at your health, the other can stomp you into dust. It's a potent and difficult combo even when you're fully in control of the character, and there's a reason it's the spot many people give up on.

It took the Twitch community 28 days, eight hours, seven minutes, and 14 seconds to beat that dastardly duo. And it's super impressive.

Speaking personally, it took me over 10 actual hours on that one boss fight to vanquish the pair. I have never felt more actual rage from a video game and my neighbors complained about the yelling.

Give them another two months and they just might lick this thing.

Also, go play Dark Souls. It's the best.

The video linked in the above (now deleted) tweet from Bandai Namco UK is currently private, but with any luck the official announcement will happen soon.

The premise is simple: answer a series of questions related to your Dark Souls experience and receive a custom-tailored drinking game. Are you playing with friends? Are you prone to rage quitting? There's a sip to be had for that. Get yours by clicking here or on the image above.

The game arrives on consoles on March 11th, and on PC on April 25th.