10 Best Areas In Dark Souls

Once you defeat the Dragonslayer Armour in the third game and traverse the short distance between probably the two closest bonfires in Souls, you enter the Grand Archives.

With a Crystal Sage to contend with as soon as you enter as well as thralls and scholars that have dipped their heads in wax, the entire place is a maze of bookshelves, shortcut ladders and curving staircases up and through a place that genuinely feels as though many great secrets must have been found there over the years.

Ghostly hands reach out from bookcases to grab and curse you while you can find an Outrider Knight hidden if you fancy an extra challenge for some good loot. Every part of the level feels as though it fits the aesthetic and all of it seems intentional.

Moving out onto the roof to fight the Gargoyles, you will eventually encounter the triple NPC mini-boss before you activate the shortcut elevator.

When you loop safely back to the bonfire you started from, it feels organic and believable. This is one of the times that you forget you are in a game and just accept everything that you are being shown.