SOLAIRE'S TRAGIC ENDING

Pour one out for Dark Souls’ real hero.

- James Davenport

NEED TO KNOW

RELEASED August 24, 2012

OUR REVIEW 89%

EXPECT TO PAY £35

LINK bit.ly/2ZqH0k9

Whether you’ve played Dark Souls or not, you’ve likely seen the image of a gallant knight with a stern-faced sun on his chest, his arms outstretched towards the sun like he’s trying to give it a big hug. “Praise the sun!” His iconic tagline, beaming optimism and effervescent joy might be the most eminent iconography to come out of a series otherwise defined by its dying world and oppressive difficulty.

This giant goofball, Solaire of Astora, is arguably the point of Dark Souls. He’s a human-shaped reminder that other people are all we have. It’s Solaire that introduces Dark Souls’ summoning feature and Solaire that encourages the player to “engage in jolly cooperation!”.

Solaire’s presence is why I so often rally against the ‘get good’ ethos that so many misguided Dark Souls players cling to. Dark Souls is meant to be a challenge, and that challenge is meant to nudge players towards humility, freedom from the selfish ego that clouds judgement and keeps us isolated from one another. Dark Souls is only difficult in the way that scheduling therapy is difficult. No one should have to face any challenge alone.