Players online all had different opinions, and the argument quickly went from text debates to video debates.
Some gameplay videos of Dark Souls began to spread, including live streams from players who played Dark Souls as soon as it was released.
One player uploaded a fight against the first boss, Iudex Gundyr, and it looked very different from the live demo shown at the original online launch event.
In this video, Iudex Gundyr looked absolutely intimidating.
His halberd spun and twisted in his hands, and with a scream from the player, the health bar was instantly wiped out.
It was a perfect display of what "too brutal to watch" really means.
There were also videos of players being flattened by the Crystal Lizard or instantly killed by Uchigatana Guy's iai slash.
But before these kinds of videos could gain traction, more players began uploading new ones.
Once again, they were fighting Iudex Gundyr.
But this time, the outcome was completely different.
In the game, the player wore a knight's suit of armor, shield in one hand and sword in the other.
When Gundyr swung down his weapon, the player raised their shield slightly with their left hand.
The blow was deflected, and they immediately followed up with a riposte.
Throughout the whole fight, even during Gundyr's second phase, he didn't land a single hit.
It was as if the player was toying with him.
Same boss, completely different results.
This left players completely puzzled.
So, what's going on? Is this game hard or not?
It was the same on streaming platforms—some streamers died miserably, screaming in frustration.
But there were also streamers who, right from the Cemetery of Ash, easily toyed with Gundyr, Uchigatana Guy, and even the Lothric Knight.
Of course, new players didn't realize that, while some of these videos did feature naturally gifted players, a lot of them were actually from people who had practiced for a long time or had died countless times to gain experience.
With so many different examples and the game being newly released, there was a big gap in player knowledge, and no clear consensus was formed.
This only made even more players curious.
Just what kind of game is this?
Some even thought of Outlast.
They felt like maybe someone was trying to pull off something big.
But that only made them more curious.
After all, people are naturally curious about the unknown—especially when it's just a game.
And Dark Souls didn't seem like a horror game like Outlast.
In Outlast, you might not dare to step into the asylum's front door, but in Dark Souls, are you telling me you don't dare to link the fire?
With that thought in mind, countless players jumped headfirst into the Dark Souls pit.
But when this second wave of players got into the game, they were stunned.
Just like the very first batch of players.
The moment these new players started, they immediately felt the game's deep malice.
Even with the advice and death clips left behind by veteran players, countless people still experienced firsthand just how satisfying—and punishing—dying in this game could be.
They looked at the tall, imposing Uncle Gundyr, remembering the videos where someone took him down in just a few moves.
Then, when it was their turn, they realized they were the ones being cut down like vegetables.
That Fire Keeper girl they'd seen online before, the one that made their hearts itch with curiosity—needless to say, they wanted to meet her.
But to do that, they had to take down Iudex Gundyr!
Otherwise, they wouldn't even get to touch the massive bronze gates of Firelink Shrine.
High difficulty, no mini-map, and a level design full of traps and malice.
Many players who were drawn in earlier quickly joined the chorus of complaints.
"I'm done! This game is way too hard!"
"Why is there no difficulty option? Why no mini-map?"
"Those of you saying this game is easy—don't you feel even a little guilty?"
"I died ten times in one hour. How is that even possible?!"
"I thought this was gonna be a hack-and-slash game, but now you're telling me… I'm the veggie?"
...
Inside Nebula Games' office.
Even though it was the National Day holiday, most of the core members of the project team had stayed at the company to work overtime on their own initiative.
After all, Dark Souls was Nebula Games' first big project, and everyone cared a lot about how it would do.
Of course, the generous overtime pay and perks were also part of the reason, so people were happy to work extra hours.
"Mr. Lucas, a lot of players in the game community, on the company's official account, and on your own account are talking about how hard Dark Souls is!" Hector from the project team said with some concern.
"Yeah, are we going to add a difficulty selection system later?"
"And a mini-map," Rachel and Anna added.
"There's no need to change the systems or difficulty for now, and it's too early to make that call," Lucas said with a smile. Then he turned to the customer service department. "How's the data looking?"
"We can't get third-party platform stats yet, but on Nebula Games' own platform, in the first 24 hours after launch, the game sold 495,721 copies. Only 24,916 have been refunded so far—40% of those were because the game's too hard, and the other 60% for various other reasons."
Since it was Nebula Games' first big title, and they'd been promoting and building hype for quite a while,
combined with the company's good reputation, first-day sales of nearly half a million copies weren't all that surprising.
And thanks to discount coupons, most players chose to buy it on the Nebula Games platform.
As for refunds, compared to most games, Dark Souls' numbers were indeed higher.
But this was within Lucas' expectations—in fact, the refund rate for Dark Souls was even lower than for their previous game, Outlast.
Was Dark Souls a game for everyone?
Obviously not.
In fact, no game is really "for everyone."
Games are a deeply personal experience.
Some people love big AAA titles, others prefer mobile games, and some enjoy browser games.
So what kind of game you like really comes down to your own taste.
Dark Souls, however, is absolutely the kind of game where, if you slow down and let yourself sink into it, you can feel its charm.
Its high difficulty is deeply tied to that charm.
From the boss fights, to the level design, to the combat system, and even the game's art style—everything is built around that.
These things are all closely tied together.
If you lower the game's difficulty, it's like cutting a link in the middle of a chain — the whole chain breaks.
That would be a loss that outweighs the gain.
Besides, compared to what online players are saying, Lucas, as the developer, can see the real situation of Dark Souls more clearly through the backend server data.
And right now, things are looking much better than Lucas had imagined.
Also, besides the critics, there are plenty of players speaking up for the game.
At the moment, it's basically a 4-to-6 ratio, and more importantly, players' online time hasn't been dropping.
In fact, among the first batch of players, 70% have already played past the two-hour refund window.
That really surprised Lucas.
Clearly, players in this parallel world have a higher "M" factor than he had predicted when researching the market.
These numbers made Lucas feel no pressure at all.
Now it was just a matter of time — letting the fine wine of Dark Souls slowly spread its aroma so that more players could catch its scent.
Of course, some proper guidance was still needed during this period.
Otherwise, it could still affect Dark Souls' performance.
(End of The Chapter)
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