Please allow me a moment to share one of my most bizarre and wonderful Dark Souls experiences with you fellow players, new and veteran alike.
Backstory: My wife sometimes watches me play games, and up until about month ago, she showed zero interest in this one. I was up to Quelaag or something, and she would just comment that it was boring or scary and leave me to it. That is, until, I finally learned how/where to start summoning phantoms and place my summon sign to become one. Once I finished Anor Londo, I think I was there for a further week before going for the Lords' souls, because after dinner it was always "aren't you gonna help people in that big place?"
Anyway, I eventually completed the game (loving every minute), and my wife's curiosity piqued. She rolled a sorceror and set out on her own little undead pilgrimage.
Now, please understand, while she can give me a thorough kicking at Puyo Puyo, she is in no way familiar with the likes of Dark Souls. Added to that, English is not her first language, and even if it was, you have to squint to make out some of the text on our puny SDTV. All-in-all, not a newbie-friendly experience.
I was peering over her shoulder through the initial sections, offering some advice and helping explain the tutorial stuff, but obviously not wanting to be too much of a passenger-seat driver (she would only get annoyed!) Fortunately, magic is pretty powerful even early on, so she was quite happy to rely on that for the most part. She's comfortable with locking on, blocking and counter-attacking, while maneuvering the camera seems to be the biggest hurdle. A quick click of R3 usually sets her straight, though.
Main: After some deaths, a lot of getting lost and squealing later, we find her at the first bonfire in Undead Burg. Tonight, she asked me how to turn human (a concept I've mentioned several times during my playthrough) and get some friends to help, so I gladly show her. She steps outside, near that bridge where the firebombs are raining down, and after killing the nearby enemies is immediately invaded.
We both panic. She has used up all her Soul Arrows clearing the area of recently respawned undead, so she switches to the knife and slashes wildly at the red phantom, who is still fading into existence. She gets a few hits off as the invader bows, doing horrifyingly little damage. As futile as it seems, I plead with my significant other to calm down, back up and let the stamina bar refill. She is about to drop the controller in fear when the new arrival turns, drops an item and runs off across the bridge, dropping another on the way. I notice it is a female garbed in what looks like the Dingy armour set, with no visible weapon equipped... Upon reaching the other end of the firebomb bridge, she waves and runs ahead.
At this end, we are both baffled. After picking up the items - a Hollow Wooden Shield and Long Sword - my wife advances her magician lady forward, carefully dispatching any enemies she encounters. We are giggling worriedly, on constant alert, wondering what on earth is going on. We reach the point where the flaming boulder rolls down the stairs before we suddenly see our guest again. She walks casually up the stairs from the Black (Silver?) Knight and drops another item - Astora's Straight Sword.
At this point, my wife asks hurriedly, "how do you bow?"
I direct her to the gestures menu, and she performs the typical bow towards red phantom Anastacia, who does the proper bow back, and promptly returns home.
We both look at each other in relief and amazement, cracking up. What a crazy encounter; not least for the first time being invaded. She trots back to the bonfire and I help her spend some well-deserved souls before we switch off for the evening. The invader would surely have no idea they were visiting a first-timer, let alone someone who has literally never played anything like this in their life. Someone could have just waltzed in, one-hitted her, and soured her out from ever being human or playing again.
I realise there's a lot of griefing, spamming and general cheek out there, as there is with almost any online game. But times like this really make Dark Souls truly unique, as well as showing how its community of players can shine. Simply fascinating. To anyone who sat through this whole thing, thanks for reading, and please continue to share any similar experiences!
