Not only do several of the NPC characters in Dark Souls have hidden plotlines that aren't necessarily beneficial (such as Knight Lautrec murdering the Firelink Shrine firekeeper randomly and completely shutting off access to your most central checkpoint) but you have to spend your time interpreting the messages that others leave behind to make sure they're actually beneficial. All of us, at some point, have came across a message that looks slightly dubious. The most common of these is often placed on the edge of a huge chasm, proclaiming the message 'Try jumping off'. As a lot of stuff is hidden in Dark Souls, every single player has at some point followed the advice of these messages and has promptly fell to their death as a result. See! If it's not bad enough that you can fall off those blooming cliffs yourself, you've got trolls who try and give you an extra nudge to do so. You can't even trust objects. Remember that huge dragon skeleton in Dark Souls 2 that completely kills you instantly without warning?
10. Naked Runners Are The Best Gamers In The World
No, not that kind of naked. We're not talking about people running down the street with their genitals flapping merrily in the wind. What we're talking about is Dark Souls naked, where a person purposefully strips off all protective gear, uses basic weapons and attempts to play through the entire Dark Souls experience without actually leveling up. Yep, there's legitimately crazy people out there like this that have accomplished this mission and succeeded in what most Dark Souls players will be considered to be the ultimate challenge. To those who have undertaken this task, you're absolutely bonkers, but we certainly doff our hats to your naked undead bits.
Dan Curtis is approximately one-half videogame knowledge, and the other half inexplicable Geordie accent. He's also one quarter of the Factory Sealed Retro Gaming podcast.
