Pretty provocative title, huh? Well, in my sleep-deprived and slightly delirious state at the end of our 24-hour gaming marathon as part of GameBlast, I had a moment of enlightenment. Once you strip back the graphics and examine the gameplay mechanics, they’re shockingly similar.
You start with nothing
In Dark Souls you create your character, start with nothing, have to find your initial weapons and defeat the first boss in order to progress into the game proper.
In Pokémon you create your character, start with nothing, have to choose your first Pokémon and defeat the first boss in order to progress into the game proper.
You have to grind to win
In Dark Souls you arrive at a bonfire, farm an area to level up, hope to find new, better weapons, return to the bonfire to rest and heal then when ready go and defeat mini-bosses and bosses to progress to the next game zone. Deciding when and where to rest is key to success.
In Pokémon you arrive at a Pokémon Centre, farm an area to level up, hope to find new and better Pokémon, return to the Pokémon Centre to rest and heal then when ready go and defeat mini-bosses and bosses to progress to the next game zone. Deciding when and where to rest is key to success.
Bosses require strategies to defeat
In Dark Souls each Boss can be defeated with a well-thought-out strategy: finding what the Boss is weakest against and focusing your attacks.
In Pokémon each Boss can be defeated with a well-thought-out strategy: finding what the Boss’ Pokémon are weak against and focusing your attacks.
Multiplayer can assist or punish
In Dark Souls players can mercilessly defeat you or help you on your way.
In Pokémon players can mercilessly defeat your team or help them on their way.
Difficulty levels
Dark Souls is designed to build your hopes up very high then ruthlessly crush you like the insect you are.
Pokémon is designed to build your hope up very high then… okay, maybe not. It’s easy.
My point is there’s more similarities between the two than you might expect and the moral of this tale is to never judge a book by its cover. Depending on your preference for collecting or dying, you can have a surprisingly similar experience in two games that, on the surface, are very, very different.
