#dark souls
#dark souls

by Amr (@siegarettes)
“The Dark Souls of x” is a phrase so ubiquitous now that you’ll probably hear it used to refer to any difficult game. obviously the creators of DJMAX have gotten wise to this, as all the press copy for DJMAX Respect, the latest in the notoriously demanding rhythm series, includes the phrase. But is it true? Is this really the Dark Souls of Rhythm Games?
No. What? That doesn’t make sense.
In fact, that whole ~Dark Souls of~ thing is seriously just… useless for describing…anything.
Let me offer a better comparison: DJMAX Respect is the bullet hell for rhythm games.

“ALL HANDS! ABANDON SHIP, CRITICAL CONTAINMENT FAILURE IN 3, CRITICAL CONTAINMENT FAILURE IN 2, CRITICAL CONTAINMENT FAILURE IN 1, CRITICAL C-…….”

And thus ended the 100th run of the Kestrel. Futilely blasting away at the impenetrable shields of the rebel flagship, unable to deal the final few points of damage to the behemoth ship.
And two hours of my hard work evading rebel patrols, slugging it out with evil slavers, and fighting off giant alien spiders vanished in front of my eyes, along with all my progress. Two hours of watching my little ship develop into a true warship, shedding its initial armament of four basic lasers, acquiring a flak weapon, upgraded shields and thrusters, and two combat drones: a tried and true battle plan.
And I smiled. And I picked up the game again.