Just a little story of the first time I played dark souls 1. I was new to the series and had fallen in love with ds3 and thought I should play the first one to see where it all began..

The reason I loved the series so much was how visually stunning everything was.. It was the most aestheticly pleasing game I had ever played before and couldn't believe the amount of lore that was hidden behind items and world building.. It's truly my favorite series I've ever played and something I have yet to feel else where...

Starting up DS1 was an absolute dream the entire time, I felt so giddy and ecstatic the entire time I truly never felt frustration with the game. (except ceaseless discharge Grrr) thankfully I was able to get a blind run for my first experience and it was absolutely amazing!.. Funny thing happened to me when looking for the bells, I had completely missed the gargoyles area and had found Andre and kept venturing down there..

I ended up making my way through blight town relatively easily (that damn elevator killed me more than anything else lol) and even found the secret area within the tree due to panic rolling from those bugs chasing me! It was absolutely beautiful and loved the hidden treasures I found and choosing weither to continue downward or ignore and come back later weighed on me so heavily with how the travel system worked...

I chose to venture down and my goodness the bassaliscs were such a pain but I prevailed and made it down to kill the hydra and meet with the everlasting dragon! It was mind boggling this whole area could've been hidden to most everyone and lived that I was able to experience it my first go.

Finally making my way to Quelog and was.. Surprised to say the least haha, finally being able to move on and ring the bell down there I noticed it opened up to the Demons area and thought the second bell was even lower... I had forced my self to explore and try to find this other bell for a solid week before the thought that I missed something even occurred!

By this point I was a Demon slaying master and was taking on the Taurus demons and Capra demons with ease! (Which by the way made me feel like such a badass that these once difficult bosses were measly enemies at this point and truly gave me a sence of power I never felt in DS3)

And so venturing back up I kept hearing the bells being rung and on a trip to the elevator to hit fire link again I noticed a stair case I hadn't found before leading to the Channeler that I had so desperately wanted to murder..

Making my way up the stairs and to the Gargoyles was a cake walk and I practically one shot both of them at this point. Ringing the first bell (or in my case second) was such an amazing experience to finally feel more progression and the world opening up I had completely forgoten this area exsist and absolutely fell in love with Sens fortress! (nameless kings original palace in my own head cannon)

I loved the adventure of this place and felt like it was the perfect dungeon! I thought I was getting close to the end of the game at this point and was sad things were wrapping up (keep in mind I was running completely blind and didn't even know about O&S at the time) by the time I made it to the Iron giant I had thought he was going to drop something that let me progress deeper into the Demon area...

Then those flying creatures came and I knew something crazy was going to happen.. I was not expecting to fly up toward the gargantuan enclosure that had been shrouded with such mystery... But the reveal of Anor Londo for the first time... I still get chills thinking about it, I was in utter disbelief with the magnitude of the game, the sheer volume and beauty that I was witnessing.. I couldn't believe my eyes. I truly teared up as I gazed apon the city of Gods and in that moment, I realized the game had only just begun.

TL;DR Blind run of DS1 lead me to run past the first bell and explore the Demon spawn below Quelog thinking the second bell was even further below and finally making my way past Sens fortress (Nameless kings OG fort in my own head cannon) only to discover the beauty of Anor Londo..

Truly I've never felt such awe with another game and is truly a memory I will not soon forget.. Oh how I wish I could be so grossly incandescent.. Thank you for your time and I hope the sun shines bright on you fellow adventurer 🔆