9 Lessons All Video Game Developers Can Learn From Dark Souls

4. How To Do A Proper Tutorial

Tutorials are hard to do without taking away from the game. You have games that will completely lock the rest of the game of until you master every single mechanics, ala Mirror’s Edge. Or you have games that will literally give you the reins with no button prompts whatsoever, in the case ICO. But rarely does a game manage to incorporate all the mechanics, tropes and features of a game into a single starting level that doesn’t even feel like a tutorial.

First, Dark Souls uses an in-game mechanic to directly engage with the player and tell them the controls, the messaging system. This means that the developers have a way to communicate that doesn’t detract from the game. It also means that the tutorial can be skipped entirely.

Now some say Asylum Demon is unfair, but he illustrates the central focus of the game. Either you can persevere through great difficulty, or explore other avenues to better equip yourself. Its teaching the player without telling them anything. Similarly, the door that loops back to the bonfire. It illustrates the idea that levels will intertwine and bonfires will be reused. And the boulder teaches players to be aware of traps, admittedly unfairly.

By incorporating all their central mechanics into one tightly knit and fluent level, the developers can teach the player everything they need to know. Either through messages or through experiencing. The tutorial area is a slice of the game that introduces players to what the game is, instead of dolling it up in a tutorial sequence that doesn’t reflect anything of the game beyond the controls.