While the difficulty and challenge present in Dark Souls is what the game is mostly known for, that is far from the only excellent aspect of this game. Dark Souls is home to incredible level design, with amazing areas interwoven into one another to create a dynamic and dangerous world.
However, not every area present in Dark Souls is worth a mention though. The second half of Dark Souls loses steam seemingly due to budgetary & time constraints, which pretty much forces the player to go through a number of boring levels that are an absolute slog to get through.
10 WORST: Lost Izalith
It would be impossible to mention the worst areas in Dark Souls without mentioning pretty much the entire latter half. Lost Izalith and the Demon Ruins can pretty much be paired off as two of the worst areas in Dark Souls, featuring shoddy level design and cheap enemy placement across the board — two aspects of Dark Souls‘ level design that is generally on point for the majority of the game.
9 BEST: Painted World Of Ariamis
Each From Software game tends to have optional areas that the player can traverse for additional goodies and bosses, and some of these optional areas end up being a highlight of any gamer’s experience. The Painted World of Aramis is no exception to this golden rule.
Featuring an interesting locale with new enemies and a great boss at the end to boot, the Painted World of Aramis is a must-visit for any person who’s invested in the world of Dark Souls.
8 WORST: Tomb Of Giants
On paper, the concept for the Tomb of Giants actually sounds quite interesting. This area forces the player to secure a light source so that they can traverse this pitch-black setting and have an idea of what they’re stepping on.
In execution, the Tomb of Giants is nothing short of a frustrating venture that forces the player into playing the game with a limited degree of freedom — something that Dark Souls is generally lauded for.
7 BEST: The Duke’s Archives
The Duke’s Archives is easily the best area in the latter half of Dark Souls, with the trek towards Seath The Scaleless quite interesting… for the most part. This entire area is layered brilliantly and makes for an entertaining area to explore… although the experience is somewhat dampened by the area that comes right after it.
6 WORST: Crystal Caves
For all intents and purposes, the Crystal Caves could’ve actually been a decently mystical area to explore… but time and budgetary constraints led to this area being one of the blandest to traverse in Dark Souls.
The only aspect of this area that breaks the monotony are the hidden platforms that players can walk on, which just end up being a frustrating inclusion as opposed to an interesting one.
5 BEST: Sen’s Fortress
For most people, Sen’s Fortress can feel like an absolute pain to get through, what with all the traps, death drops, and whatnot. However, veterans of the Souls series will give this location credit for instilling a sense of self-preservation and tactical assaulting that they have carried forward in other From Software games to this day.
It certainly helps that unlocking Sen’s Fortress feels like an achievement in itself, with the player having to go through a gauntlet of sorts and ringing bells in the most obtuse locations to open the gate to this area.
4 WORST: New Londo Ruins
For all the hype that New Londo Ruins generates due to its rather mystical nature, the player quickly gets over this initial sense of wonderment when they realize how much of a pain it is to make it through this area.
The enemies can’t even be damaged unless the player has the appropriate equipment, with the only reason for players to traverse this area being a boss fight that can either be ridiculously easy… or downright broken.
3 BEST: Anor Londo
One can’t deny that conquering the Iron Golem in Sen’s Fortress and landing in Anor Londo is easily one of the most satisfying moments in video gaming.
Traversing this beautiful castle is a treat in itself, featuring some of the most infamous and well-remembered encounters in Dark Souls — bosses or otherwise.
2 WORST: Blighttown
If Anor Londo is the high point of Dark Souls, then Blighttown is definitely the lowest in this regard, especially for the players who had to bear through the horrible framerate of this area when Dark Souls was initially released on home consoles.
Poison swamps have pretty much become a hallmark of From Software games at this point, and one can argue that Blighttown is what made this notion popular in the first place.
1 BEST: Firelink Shrine
Dark Souls is one of the bleakest games around, constantly pummeling the player and slowly sucking away at their soul at every step of their journey. However, all of this is offset by hauntingly beautiful locales that serve as safe havens where the player can feel at home.
This is precisely why Firelink Shrine is one of the most legendary hub areas in gaming — the feeling of safety that is seldom experienced throughout Dark Souls is present in droves here, allowing players to take a well-deserved break before continuing their journey to the end of this amazing title.
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