Spann's Blight Town Promotional Brochure

I haven't been to Blight Town yet. I'm yet to ring the first bell, and even though I'm trying to avoid too many spoilers as I play through Dark Souls, I'm fairly certain Blight Town will be my next port of call once that first bell is a-dingin'.

I am already fucking terrified.



Why?


That's why.

But this is the great thing about Dark Souls: I haven't been terrified of an upcoming section of game since I was a child playing Tomb Raider, but even the name of the place gives me the willies - and I know absolutely nothing about it. I have a feeling that the place Dylan talks about in this post over on Arcadian Rhythms, and if it is, to be frank it sounds absolutely demented (the rectum does sound cute, though). I asked the person who (unknowingly) got me back into Dark Souls, Andi Hamilton, for a quote about Blight Town for this piece. His response?

@cs87 it's a fucking misery.
— ANDATSU (@andihero) February 28, 2013

THIS IS HOW BRILLIANT ALL GAMES SHOULD BE. Why didn't I feel like this the first time I entered Satan's skyscraper in DmC? Why does nobody talk about sections of Resident Evil 4 on Twitter that they never, ever, want to experience again? Why don't people share stories about their time in Old Haven in Borderlands like wizened old adventurers huddled around a fire? These are all fantastic games, to be sure, but nothing creates that sense of foreboding and creeping dread like Dark Souls does so easily - to the point where it seeps out of the game and into your day-to-day life. From tweets and forum posts I've seen, people come out of Blight Town changed. They're colder, harder humans, a little of their own humanity chipped away. I have a feeling Blight Town might make me understand why people say "Praise The Sun".

Blight Town fucking terrifies me. And I can't wait to get there.

DARK SOULS.