History YMMV / DarkSouls

** Another meta example is [[https://www.youtube.com/user/VaatiVidya VaatiVidya]], a youtuber who does lore summaries on the characters and stories of the games. His videos are usually the average player's first introduction to the deep lore of the series, which has garnered him fame as the prime expert on the subject.

* {{Moe}}: Crossbreed Priscilla is a soft-spoken and absolutely adorable CuteMonsterGirl who doesn't even want to fight you if you meet her. You'd probably feel guilty for cutting her tail off and killing her to get her special weapon.

* FirstInstallmentWins: Downplayed, as there are vocal contingents who prefer the two sequels, but the first ''Dark Souls'' tends to be more well-loved and less controversial than either of its sequels, which endlessly get compared to the original because of this. Some of the more extreme fans consider the "real" ''Souls'' series to be ''Demon's Souls'', ''Dark Souls'', and ''[=BloodBorne=]'' (with ''Sekiro'' sometimes thrown in), feeling that From is at its best trying to build new franchises with almost entirely different design philosophies and gameplay over attempting to build on what was already good.

** It's not a very good idea to start an argument over which game in the series is the best, and that includes ''VideoGame/{{Bloodborne}}'' and ''VideoGame/DemonsSouls''. All 3 games (5 counting the "unofficial" entries) have their supporters, and arguments between them can get quite heated.

** Developed one for a while with the ''VideoGame/MonsterHunter'' community after the ''VideoGame/MonsterHunterWorld'' reveal, with many a Souls fans making comparisons. Veteran Monster Hunters were not amused; While it isn't the only game to be compared due to difficulties, the former were most vocal. It was mostly one-sided as most Souls players enjoyed the latter.
* FirstInstallmentWins: Downplayed, as there are vocal contingents who prefer the two sequels, but the first ''Dark Souls'' tends to be more well-loved and less controversial than either of its sequels, which endlessly get compared to the original because of this. Some of the more extreme fans consider the "real" ''Souls'' series to be ''Demon's Souls'', ''Dark Souls'', and ''[=BloodBorne=]'', feeling that From is at its best trying to build new franchises with almost entirely different design philosophies and gameplay over attempting to build on what was already good.
* FriendlyFandoms: With ''Manga/{{Berserk}}'', due to the huge influence the manga has had on ''Dark Souls'', whose developers are fans of the series. Some fans go so far as to consider ''Dark Souls'' a better adaptation of ''Berserk'' than the [[VideoGame/SwordOfTheBerserkGutsRage actual]] [[VideoGame/BerserkAndTheBandOfTheHawk video games]] based on the series. The fans are also quite friendly to ''LightNovel/ReZero'', because the anime adaptation of the latter was found as a fairly interesting SpiritualAdaptation of the series with it's idea of returning back after death.

* GenreTurningPoint: Prior to the first game, third-person action games generally consisted of button-mashing until one defeated their enemies, with success in battle usually determined just by making effective use of special moves and not trying to take on too many enemies at once (and having the right armor and weapons, if the game had any sort of equipment system). ''Dark Souls'', while not the first game to place an emphasis on learning enemy attack patterns and then effectively countering and dodging them -- while also eschewing any form of MercyInvincibility, thus allowing enemies to quickly stun-lock and beat you to death if you tried button-mashing your way to victory -- was the one which made it the standard approach for action games in UsefulNotes/TheNewTens.

* MemeticBadass: Plenty within the actual games, but the series itself has become a bizarre meta example. Just about any game that's even moderately challenging will be compared to ''Dark Souls'' or be called "the ''Dark Souls'' of its genre", even games with absolutely no similarities to the series such as ''VideoGame/{{Cuphead}}''.

* PopularWithFurries: Despite the game series being a depressing DarkFantasy, it still gets its own fair share of furry fans, with prominent examples being the Bell Gargoyles, Capra Demons, and especially the [[DraconicHumanoid Dragonoid]] [[ScaledUp forms]]. Said Dragonoids are especially prone to receiving SelfFanservice from furry artists, most notably ''Dark Souls III'''s incarnation.

* PopularWithFurries: Despite the game series being a depressing DarkFantasy, it still gets its own fair share of furry fans, with prominent examples being the Bell Gargoyles and the [[DraconicHumanoid Dragonoid]] [[ScaledUp forms]]. Said Dragonoids are especially prone to receiving SelfFanservice from furry artists, most notably ''Dark Souls III'''s incarnation.

** The Invasion [[PlayerVersusPlayer PvP]] mechanic is also a common source of contention. It takes a few different forms, but many of them involve other players forcing their way into others' worlds without their consent for the purpose of killing them and hindering their progress. Several game mechanics actively reward this behavior, from offering useful items to advancing in various covenants. There are existing ways to play around it, mostly involving not invoking a powered-up state without which you cannot be invaded or playing offline, but such players cannot then summon either [=NPC=] allies or other players to help them either. This is commonly regarded as [[{{Griefer}} actively rewarding griefing]], especially since some forms of it actively encourage high-level players to attack lower-level players. There are even a few people who are aware of this mechanic in Dark Souls and refuse to play the series because of it. Those who do it tend to be very, very defensive, though.

* PopularWithFurries: Despite the game series being a depressing DarkFantasy, it still gets its own fair share of furry fans, most notably towards the Bell Gargoyles and the [[DraconicHumanoid Dragonoid]] [[ScaledUp forms]]. Said Dragonoids are especially prone to receiving SelfFanservice from furry artists, especially ''Dark Souls III'''s incarnation.

* PopularWithFurries: Despite the game series being a depressing DarkFantasy, it still gets its own fair share of furry fans, most notably towards the Bell Gargoyles and the [[DraconicHumanoid Dragonoid]] [[ScaledUp forms]]. Said Dragonoids are especially prone to receiving SelfFanservice from furry artists, especially [[VideoGame/DarkSoulsIII]]'s incarnation.

* UnconventionalLearningExperience: ''Dark Souls'' teaches you different types of medieval weapons and armors (standard weapons, not boss weapons) as well as bringing attractions to historical European martial arts (HEMA). That said, [[RealityEnsues the overswings may get you killed in a real fight]].

** The Invasion [[PlayerVersusPlayer PvP]] mechanic is also a common source of contention. While most players enjoy it or are otherwise ambivalent towards it, there are fans who despise the very concept of giving players the ability to force their way into others' worlds without their consent for the purpose of killing them and hindering their progress, some even going so far as to referring to invader players as immoral sociopaths. There are even a few people who are aware of this mechanic in Dark Souls and refuse to play the series because of it. Invaders and neutral parties tend to counter this by declaring that it's all just a game and anti-invaders need to stop taking things so seriously and looking too deeply into it, in addition to pointing out that the best way to avoid invasions is playing offline.

** "Castlevania/Belmont Runs" a.k.a. Whip-only runs (which the game admits flat out on the weapons description is a JokeWeapon almost useless against anything with armor) are common.

* {{Narm}}: Some players feel the YeOldeButcheredEnglish dialogue that's spoken here and there throughout the series to be cringy at worst and NarmCharm at best. It doesn't help that it isn't even written properly.

** The Invasion PvP mechanic is also a common source of contention. While most players enjoy it or are otherwise ambivalent towards it, there are fans who despise the very concept of giving players the ability to force their way into others' worlds without their consent for the purpose of killing them and hindering their progress, some even going so far as to referring to invader players as immoral sociopaths. There are even a few people who are aware of this mechanic in Dark Souls and refuse to play the series because of it. Invaders and neutral parties tend to counter this by declaring that it's all just a game and anti-invaders need to stop taking things so seriously and looking too deeply into it, in addition to pointing out that the best way to avoid invasions is playing offline.

* CounterpartComparison: Has many, many similarities to the ''Literature/DyingEarth'' Series of novels by Jack Vance. This includes the fact that the Earth is dying, with the sun slowly fading to black, the medieval Europe setting and technology, and Dark Souls 1 and 2 even uses Vancian magic structure invented in that series.

* CompleteMonster: ''VideoGame/DarkSouls'' is a dark series, [[YMMV/DarkSoulsI Seath the Scaleless]]; [[YMMV/DarkSoulsII Nashandra]]; [[YMMV/DarkSoulsIII Aldrich & Pontiff Sulyvahn]] manage to outdo any other for sheer horror. See those pages for details.

** Devloped one with the ''VideoGame/MonsterHunter'' community after ''World'' reveal, with many a Souls fans making comparisons. Veteran Monster Hunters were not amused. While it isn't the only game to be compared due to difficulties, the former were most vocal. It's mostly one-sided as most Souls players enjoyed ''Monster Hunter World''.

* PlayTheGameSkipTheStory: While the trilogy ''does'' have a complex story, many chose to play through the game instead since the story is not something that's outright told, most of it being in the item descriptions.
* SidetrackedByTheGoldSaucer: Even before the actual gameplay! Due to armor stats only serving a purpose in extreme cases, people tend to make various cosplay builds, but spend a good deal in character creation.

* CompleteMonster: ''VideoGame/DarkSouls'' is a dark series, [[YMMV/DarkSoulsI Seath the Scaleless]]; [[YMMV/DarkSouls2 Nashandra]]; [[YMMV/DarkSoulsIII Aldrich & Pontiff Sulyvahn]] manage to outdo any other for sheer horror. See those pages for details.

* FriendlyFandoms: With ''Manga/{{Berserk}}'', due to the huge influence the manga has had on ''Dark Souls'', whose developers are fans of the series. Some fans go so far as to consider ''Dark Souls'' a better adaptation of ''Berserk'' than the actual video games based on the series. The fans are also quite friendly to ''LightNovel/ReZero'', because the anime adaptation of the latter was found as a fairly interesting SpiritualAdaptation of the series with it's idea of returning back after death.

* GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff: The games are very popular in Europe and North America, largely because they're strongly Western in terms of gameplay and aesthetics.

* FriendlyFandoms: With ''Manga/{{Berserk}}'', due to the huge influence the manga has had on ''Dark Souls'', whose fans are the developers of the series. The fans are also quite friendly to ''LightNovel/ReZero'', because the anime adaptation of the latter was found as a fairly interesting SpiritualAdaptation of the series with it's idea of returning back after death.

* HypeBacklash: Some feel that the series' memetic status as the gold standard for NintendoHard modern video games ("_____ is like ''Dark Souls''!" "The ''Dark Souls'' of _____") has gotten [[DiscreditedMeme worn out]] over time. Most of these complaints come from players who have gotten used to the series' brand of challenge, as well as [[FandomRivalry fans of other challenging games]]. This phrasing has also been used unironically by multiple game reviewers to a great deal of mockery, such as Gamesradar and Eurogamer with ''CrashBandicootNSaneTrilogy'' and ''SpyroReignitedTrilogy'' respectively claiming that the games are "too hard".

* HypeBacklash: Some feel that the series' memetic status as the gold standard for NintendoHard modern video games ("_____ is like ''Dark Souls''!" "The ''Dark Souls'' of _____") has gotten [[DiscreditedMeme worn out]] over time. Most of these complaints come from players who have gotten used to the series' brand of challenge, as well as [[FandomRivalry fans of other challenging games]].

* MostWonderfulSound: The ambient hum that is heard whenever you enter a new location or light a bonfire. In the latter's case, this is exceptionally soothing to hear after going through ThatOneLevel and finding a bonfire right afterwards.