Here's my first attempt if you're interested in a detailed story of me being amazed by the first Dark Souls :D (Disclaimer: This text also contents some of it, couldn't hold myself)

The game: Dark Souls II: Scholar of the First Sin

My Steam profile: Voit Peak

Why Dark Souls 2?

The simple answer is "Well because iT cOmEs AfTeR DaRk sOuLs 1 dUh". My reasoning is slightly deeper and I would never actually phrase it like that, let me try to explain :D

Three weeks ago, I was at a point in my life where, while I have enjoyed some "Souls-like" games (like Blasphemous, Hollow Knight, Hyperlight Drifter or Death's Door), never actually played one of the From Software games that started the craze about games that are difficult, have very menacing and intimidating bosses and also are set in a mysterious world with a complex and dark lore.

But then, everything changed, when the fire nation attacked... I mean, when Dark Souls: Remastered was on sale on Steam. I also recently replayed the whole of The Witcher 3, including the DLCs, which was absolutely amazing, but didn't really scratch that RPG itch. Skyrim would've been an option, but I have played this so many times already. So I thought, let's give it a try and see what all the hype is about. And it hit me like train transporting trucks.

I started "normal", as a classic Knight, which I always prefer in RPGs. Also with a little bit of faith and pyromancy, because, why the hell not. So I played, had a hella lot fun which I haven't had in years, especially with an "old game", paired with a little frustration that I guess comes naturally with these kind of games :D I played, tried to discover as many secrets as possible, started looking up some stuff in the wiki and also watching some videos that go deeper into the lore. And when I finished, I wasn't yet pleased. I mean it was great don't get me wrong, but I wanted more. So I started NG and went for missing achievements. And after I finally finished Knight's Honor in my third playthrough, I still wasn't bored of the game.

Normally with games I do one playthrough, then hunt for achievements and then I'm fine for a while. But this time, I felt like there was a lot more to do here. So I started my (real) third playthrough, this time with a Dexterity build, trying to get around with no shield, etc. (more details in first attempt). And I after I finished this plathrough... I still haven't had enough. So I started two more characters. One with only sorcery and a paladin build (strength and faith). I finished the Paladin playthrough and I'm half way done with the sorcerer, and finally the game starts to not fulfill me anymore.

But not because I have enough of Dark Souls. I just want more to discover! More Bosses, more of the world, more NPCs, more awesome weapons to find and more outfits to have! :D

So back to my inital question, why Dark Souls 2 then? Simply because I want to experience the games in release order to get the full enjoyment. I don't want to skip a title just to later think "Well it's not as good as its successor" and maybe lose interest in it. I already know that DS2 gets the least love in the community and that basically everything that came after it was "Game of the year" material. But i want to build up to that. I want to live through everything this developer studio has to offer as it was intended. Also as a little side note: I already had a similar experience with Mass Effect back then. I started playing the second game, then the first, which, while storywise also amazing, gameplaywise obviously a bit lacking.

So if you're so eager to play it and you bought the first one, why don't just get it yourself?

First of all, if this attempt "fails" as well, I will probably do so, but there is a reason why I just don't buy it. Buying the first game already wasn't the best idea, especially because I also pre ordered 2 games last month (Blasphemous 2 & Shadow Gambit: The Cursed Crew) which, normally isn't the biggest of deal, but I quit my job about 3 years ago and had to be more careful with my finances. I cut down on most of my expenses as much as possible so that I can afford a little something once in a while.

And while the last, I don't even know, like 7 years were pretty terrible due to my depression, I always could escape world with video games sometimes and I have quite a backlog which I cleaned up a little for the last 3 years. But now, nothing seems to satisfy me the way Dark Souls does. Everything else seems to makes me a little dull if that makes sense.

But, I started this section with "I will probably do so" in regards of buying the game myself and that also has a reason why this isn't the most terrible I could do, because I will start working at my new job next month (90% sure, still something could happen, you never know), so my situation is expected to become way better soon :)

I just would love to spend my last week of unemployment, i.e. complete free time, with this amazing game series :D But without the current anxious thoughts of "Oh this might still be a bad idea because you can't afford it". Oh and also, I would like to avoid buying the game from shady grey market sides with their very tempting discounts.Last but not least I would also love to dive deeper into all the lore videos on youtube without spoiler...ing (?) myself :D

Final words

Again, wether you just clicked on this post, read the whole thing or whatsoever, thank you very much for taking the time and thoughts to do so. And if you're considering gifting this to me, I'm already very grateful to you for doing so.

If this will be gifted to me, I promise or even swear that I will not only do a full playthrough in this week, I will also do my best to complete it to 100% by the end of october.

Again, thanks for taking your time coming here, I hope you have at least a wonderful day :)