Excellent Game. Gameplay sucks you in.. It's challenging, combat is extremely precise and meticulous, and for an Action-RPG nothing gets better.. No to complicated inventories/menus/reading/etc... Straight to the action/combat!

No holding-hand, you have to discover everything by yourself just like the old days (that's the essence of gaming, how it all started) and most importantly once you start, it 'sucks' you in.. Maybe it isn't for everyone, since not all have the patience but what is for sure is that every time you die, its definably, always, your fault...

Few issues such as random 'freezes' can occur while you are connected online but nothing alarming and with a patch it can all be fine-tuned..

If you give it a try, this game will change you.. It will inevitably change your perception of gaming as a whole, and it will alter your pleasure when it comes to gaming in general.. I have played and beat demon's souls... and it had a big impact on me..
Dark Souls, while not a revolution but an evolution of Demon's Souls, will have a deeper one...

Everyone should give it a try.. It's special and unlike anything today in the Video Gaming Industry...… Expand

This Game is NOT for everyone. I suggest a rent before you buy. If your up for a frustrating, time consuming challenge, you'll love this game. It has a different style of game play and pace. It takes patients and maybe a few controllers. I like this game because of its originality. Don't expect to play this thinking your the King of Video games and you'll fly through it. Its not actually the game that is hard, its the system that is used when you do die. there are no continues, no re-tries, no mulligans. Just start back at the beginning and try again, like trial and error. The actually enemies are easy to beat, but do you have the patients to kill them 100 times until you finally make it through. Give it a try and maybe you'll enjoy it too.… Expand

WHAT A MASTERPIECE! To all of those that give this game a bad review, the only reason why you might give it one is because you are a weak little girl. This game is for MEN, not babies, and to those that cry because the game is brilliantly designed for master players, all I have to say is you should stay away. A truly wonderful experience. A PERFECT 10+!

If you ever hear anyone complaining about games being too easy these days just ask them to play this!Although not everyone will "get" Dark Souls, any game that dares to do something different to the norm (and succeeds) deserves respect. In many ways it's a throwback to the old school arcade games from years ago where genuine skill and concentration are required to progress. Yes it's difficult, and you'll die a lot but it's never cheap. If you're honest with yourself you'll always know where you went wrong. To be frank this wasn't made for people who get frustrated easily or those with short attention spans. If your willing to put the effort in though you'll discover a game that gives a payoff like no other. You'll be screaming with frustration one minute and then punching the air in celebration when you finally get past that difficult bit/boss.
If you consider yourself a serious gamer then you owe it yourself to at least try this game.… Expand

There is a great deal of difference between being challenging and being unfair. This game is simply unfair, and, as someone said, this is the kind of game that you play just to say you played it. There is nothing to like here: is just a struggle, like putting yourself on diet, or working your biceps to exaustion at the gym. I could play this game for a wage, not for free. And if I think I even payed for this one, well, I can just blame myself...… Expand

We have a title that separates the common players, being a totally hardcore experience essential for those seeking challenge and innovative proposals without leaving aside the depth. More than 60 hours of natural incentive to campaign, holding and a DC voltage, which serves as motivation for the player to continue enjoying this memorable work. As if not enough, we have one of the most interesting of this generation systems online and that definitely will serve as inspiration for the coming games. Dark Souls may not be a game for everyone, but if you leave, he quietly sugará their soul. Prepare to die.… Expand

A paradigm of game design, though challenging. You will die, so a word of advice, spend those souls before you lose them. Read the Dark Souls wiki, it will help a lot.

Dark Souls is generally a good game with very few flaws. If you liked Demon's Souls, you owe it to yourself to pick it up. However, there are a few minor concerns about Dark Souls as it stands right now. First of all, there's some wonky hit boxes, which means that if you try to fire an arrow from a tower, you will have no chance of success, because the walls got much larger hit boxes than they actually show. I've personally had tons of arrows get stuck in the air because of this, and this counts for spells too.

A second concern is that some enemies will randomly clip into walls and get stuck there, only to teleport back out again at a random time and completely wreck your face while you are unprepared. The game itself is not as punishing as Demon's Souls was, as there's more shortcuts to the checkpoint-bonfires, and when you die you aren't thrown as far back as you were in Demon's Souls, which is really excellent as it limits the frustration from the game. However, you will still die cheaply many times, either because of a stupid camera angle or simply because your character stumbled back after being poked by a rat, and then fell over a cliff. To top it off, the bosses feel repetitive and just.. not boring, but not as exciting and dangerous as they did in Demon's Souls. They will still onehit you, but they got very predictable patterns.

If you go for a speed build, you can easily dodge everything they throw at you, which leads to the last problem with the game; frame rate. The frame rate will randomly take HUGE hits at the worst of times, simply because there sometimes will be too many polygons at the screen at once. An example is when any monster breathes fire, that will basically right down **** up the frame rate.

Overall, a very good game that rewards a careful approach and smart mind, but there are some failures in the game that will put the really hardcore off. However, besides these small failures, the game is more or less perfect at what it tries to achieve, and being generally (in my opinion) more forgiving than Demon's Souls, it's easier for new players to get into as well.… Expand

Dark Souls is an amazing game, but it is definitely not for everyone, especially those easily discouraged or frustrated. The older gamers who grew up during the 8 & 16-bit days will likely find the most appreciation for this title. Dark Souls throws you into an amazingly well crafted world with a very short tutorial, then leaves you to it. There is a lot of risky exploration and trial & error learning that needs to be done. Bosses and even normal enemies are unforgivably brutal, so as you've probably heard already, you're going to be dying a lot. But nothing you've played for years will give you the feeling of accomplishment when you finally complete a goal. This is the first game for a long time where I actually danced a jig after defeating a particularly nasty boss that was killing me for over an hour.

Combat controls are fluid and fairly easy to pick up, but difficult to master. There's a ton of different weapons to use and spells to learn. There are many different ways to build up your character, and a deep gear upgrade system, offering a lot of re-playability. The only problem here is that game doesn't offer you a lot of information regarding certain player stats or how certain game mechanics work. You will figure everything out eventually but it would be nice if they gave you just a little more information in the game itself, or in the woefully bad manual.

Dark Souls is an extremely pretty game. Even after playing it for so many hours I can still marvel sometimes how great it looks. But the cost of this is sometimes the game is reduced to a horribly low frame rate, bad enough to affect gameplay and sometimes reduces it to an unplayable state. I've noticed however this may be more to do with bugs with the AI than anything else. When there are multiple enemies having trouble finding a path to your location, you'll notice your frame rate reduced to almost nothing. Hopefully this is patched.

The only other complaint I can make is that when you die on bosses, and you will die a lot. Sometimes you have to wade through a lot of content over and over to make it back to the boss to try again. This adds a lot of extra unnecessary frustration and boredom to a game that's otherwise full of excitement.… Expand

Its as simple as this. not a **** like swords and stuff? if so then this will be your choice for game of the year. UTTERLY fantastic! ......................................................................................................................................

(UPDATED REVIEW) This game immediately reminded me of the good old Fighting Fantasy roleplay gamebooks by Steve Jackson & Ian Livingstone. I've been hooked by the sound/music, the dusty/muddy dungeons and the atmospheric landscapes. Monsters (especially bosses) look awesome. Just too bad about the lag sometimes (yes this game looks like it could have benefit more development time - that's why it's a 8/10 for me, too much technical issues take away from an otherwise perfect experience) however Dark Souls is about FEAR, it makes you feel like you have to fight to survive, and think about "strategy" too; just like real life situations - it may be a fantasy world, but the game succeeds to make you feel a real sense of DANGER. People who say this game is too hard probably didn't own systems in the 80's-90's. Dying 5-6 times an hour? Fine. Just try Contra III (SNES) on HARD for a change...You won't count the number of lives and 'continues' spent. No really, anybody can play Dark Souls and get used to it, but it's up to you to accept the challenge or not. I can guarantee you won't be disappointed. In fact I'm already going back to it... Wish me luck =)… Expand

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. the combat is really fun and well done but the enemy AI almost ruined this game for me. They are hyper aggressive (which is the worst form of AI because they just stare at you while you point your bow at their face) but when you get near them they go apesh!t on you. The archery portion of the game sucks balls. like literally is terrible beyond belief for such a high end game combat game. you'll end up trying to snipe an enemy from atop a ledge and the arrow will get stuck in mid air. When entering the depths for the first time you'll be on the stairs leading down to the room with the butcher guys. well the first enemy you see is just staring at you as usual and wide open to a nice arrow in the face. well you shoot and the arrow gets stuck in mid air. and its not even close to any walls or ledges. there is a 10 foot gap of free space where your arrow will get stuck when you try to shoot someone. terrible terrible archery in this game. as for everything else its pretty refreshing. i like the swordplay alot and it is satisfying as hell when you get that parry kill because instead of just pressing a button after you've already weakened them they make you work for a killing move which is awesome. most of the AI when not staring at you is pretty good when in actual combat. you'll die cheap deaths and some are unavoidable when you're going through your first play through. the bosses are epic some of the best in any game i've ever played. over all a 7 is a fair score in my opinion i couldn't in any respect give a game with this many flaws higher than a 7. when you're making a game thats whole purpose is to challenge you its very important that all the combat aspects of the game are solid. sadly they are not. was a very fun game though.… Expand

From Software has changed access on the collectors edition so I'm re-evaluating this game. Make it clear that I do think this game deserves an 8 and I'm extremely pleased with my purchase but I also have some flaws in this game I would like to point out. First off Demon's Souls was almost a solid 10. It was that well done. Perhaps this is Dark Souls misfortune though because any design derivation in the sequal probably would have some negative consequences and I certainly do think that Darks Souls has missed the mark a bit by going away from what really was perfect execution gameplay wise in Demon's Souls. The critical thing here is Demon's souls was extremely cruel but at the same time extremely fair. You could learn by your mistakes. This is not the case in Dark Souls. The designers went overboard and into the area of being borderline cheap and consequently unlike in Demon's Souls where there were many little ways to wiggle your way through an area this is not the case in this game. It is almost programmed that you have to beat an area or boss with very little choice in how to beat it. The game demands precise awareness of bosses for example rather than allowing the player to craft their own personal strategies around a particular problem. In other words I find Dark Souls a bit on the scripted side. Paths are very tight and narrow restricting choices to the player. To advance the difficulty almost every area is a narrowing trap without room to navigate or hide. So, in effect and consequently it is difficult to start the game as anything other than heavy melee. This is a huge fault considering the style of game is RPG. Concepts such as bleeding and poison for example are brought into the game before the appropriate counter abilities are well introduced. This all translates to grind grind grind. Some people enjoy this, but I think as a design this is flawed as it will alienate players away from the game. But in the end it is a workable problem not a insurmountable software problem which would be a real mistake. Another peeve is that they made magic lesser with only 30 charges. Really they just forced you to become less of a magic player- also a problem as this is an RPG and if your fantasy is magic use then why do you have to only play as someone more well rounded? This is forced upon you just because of online PvP but for offline solo this is just a bad restriction. Not to mention you can grind and buy 99 firebombs so what is the point if you can work around the difficulty that way and still be cheap with the firebombs online? Also lost in this game is atmosphere. There are cool visuals but I feel the ambiance from the soundtrack is not nearly that of Demon's souls as is the medieval feel of the surrondings- something seems lost or lesser although still very nice. Let's not also forget that if the design of the game was to be made harder the screen centering and magic casting also should have been tighted up and they aren't. Again we see spells cast into nowhere despite target lock and terrible screen centering causing many unintentional deaths. All this being said the game is as advertised and I will be there until I finish no matter how much as I just appreciate difficulty and the fantasy provided. But make no mistake this game is much much more demanding than Demon's Souls. Still a fantastic purchase as you can expect at least 100 hrs per each character. That still remains strong.… Expand

Perfect. I give Dark Souls a 5/5. Never have I felt so accomplished from beating a video game. The world of Lordan is a terrifying place to explore, danger is around every corner. I wish more RPGs would draw inspiration from this game. I cannot praise it enough.

This game is amazing and extremely difficult. if you do not enjoy challenging games, like that of the NES era, then you will not appreciate the learning curve of this game. If you want a balls to the wall, hardcore 3rd person RPG, then dark souls if for you. Would highly recommend the strategy guide

Having beaten Demon's Souls, I was very excited for this game, and it has not let me down. Having the bonfires placed around as quasi safe spots reminds me of the old resident evil days, when you were just waiting to find a typewriter. The atmosphere is much darker even though the color pallet is (in many places) much brighter. Can't wait to finish it!

This is how to do a sequel..... All the core mechanics of dark souls have been tweaked and tuned and the experience is an in depth, highly complex and rewarding experience. The atmosphere is beautiful and bleak, creating a game that makes you feel like you are truly alone, with no hand-holding guidance from the developers. Evolving the Demon Souls formula of a central hub into an open world experience has worked perfectly, allowing the player to experiment with the world rather than be tied to any linear quests. That said, the online mechanics remain fairly similar, relying on other players on similarly lonely quests to help you through the game. Here the multiplayer does an excellent job of allowing players to interact and help each other out through a novel and understated set of game mechanics which are perfectly suited to the Dark Souls world. Without giving too much away, the multiplayer is a must for this game,since without the hints and occasional help from friendly phantoms your experience could be a very frustrating one.
For some players this will be a confusing and irritating experience. With no guidance and an exceptionally high difficulty level I can imagine controllers being thrown through TV screens. However, this is a game of patience, endurance and reward - something that is rare in console gaming of late.… Expand

So to start off, this game is amazing. It took me a very long time (about 3 months after i bought it) to get into Demon's Souls but once I got into it I REALLY got into it. There were a few flaws though that made me dislike the game, and there is where Dark Souls comes in. Dark Souls takes the issues that I had with Demon's Souls (the tutorial, general early-game flow, magic OP as balls, difficulty gaining human form early on) is all fixed in Dark Souls. The gameplay is solid and refined since Demon's Souls. The boss fights are a lot of fun and generally less frustrating due to it being more straightforward as to how to defeat them. The bonfires mean that you generally aren't set as far back when you die and the covenants add a whole new level of additional depth to the game (such as revenge invasions, killing invaders of the forest and so on). But the one reason this game is not getting anywhere above an 8 is: the online. In Demon's Souls if you wanted to play with a friend all you had to do was put down a mark and then tell them where it is. In Dark Souls since the players are divided up into smaller servers it is near impossible to play with someone you know. The other issue that comes with this smaller servers is that sometimes you just end up on a near empty server. This can lead to no one responding to your summon sign or not being able to find anyone to summon for help. This can become very frustrating when you want to help people with a boss, or want help on one yourself.

Overall the game is great, I really enjoy how the game all flows together (back to the Firelink Shrine) so it really feels like everything is linked. Some people may complain about random things killing them, but anyone who played Demon's Souls will know most of the tricks. Not to mention, if you know everything the game is going to try and kill you with, where's the fun in that? It's hilarious when I open a chest and it turns into a mimic that devours me XD. A must have for any hardcore gamer!… Expand

Simply put they advertised a game with Co-Op and Multiplayer. The game has none of that. Once again peer to peer networking is the bane of gaming,. They say the multiplayer is working as intended. Here's my stats.
72 Hrs of gaming I have summoned someone twice and I have been invaded once. My friends all have the same issue. This is pretty much a single player game. It is no Demon Souls. Ps3 did it right the first time with DEDICATED SERVERS.… Expand

Having played demons soul before I must say this game just cant be a let down!!!sure it's not for the faint hearted gamer because it is extremely difficult and unforgiving!!! Also very frustrating but the rewards are endless and the game is just beautiful and fantastic!!!!

Superb in every way, it takes everything good that was in Demon's Souls and makes it better and more impressive. Stunning visuals, unparalleled sense of discovery (nothing feels quite like stumbling upon a boss or a shortcut or any other secret game have) and absolutely massive amount of content makes it one of 2-3 top games of this generation.

I have been playing this game for 60 hours nearly, level 79. I love this game. Frustrating? Yes. Difficult? Yes. Rewarding? Yes. Atmospheric? Yes? And, easier than Demon's Souls? Yes. But still brilliant, a must-play for this generation of consoles.

After taking my time with Dark Souls and understanding the gameplay mechanics, the design choices and killing a bunch of bosses, I could safely say that Dark Souls is a great game. But somehow, I am dissapointed. Yes I knew the game would be hard, and yes I knew it wouldn't be as innovative as Demon's Souls, but the game feels in a way, a copycat of the first game, only more annoying. I'm not talking about difficulty, but rather on the technical issues that show up constantly. If you played and loved Demon's Souls, this game has about the same experience. Add a few new bosses, make an open world, add a big bunch of framerate issues and stupid design choices and you get Dark Souls. the game looks amazing and is very deep and satisfying at times, but the more I play it the more I realise that it's just TOO much to bear. The game is so big, you will always feel like you are clueless and barely feel a sense of progression. It is also why the game is vastly Longer, and explains the never ending framerate issues. Don't get me wrong, this game is brilliant in a ton of ways, but it feels like a step backwards for me. It seems like ''From Softwere'' rushed the game out because there was high demand for it, and even though it is certainly one of the year's best, it's not a classic game and rather outclassed by it's ''spiritual ancestor'' which was more original, more polished, and more balanced in ways that Dark Souls could never thrive to be.… Expand

To start with let me start by saying that I love a good challenge. I like hardcore roguelikes and I enjoy dwarf fortress regularly - which is known for its difficulty. The challenge in Dark Souls consists of learning by doing - you have to test your way forth. The tutorial is minimal and the character attributes do not come with an explanation. This is brutal, considering that there is no way to "un-level" and once you blindly raise a stat, there's no way back. The gameplay reminds of "oni", with the character moving towards the direction you point with the stick on your controller. The combat requires exact reaction from the player, the time window in order to execute moves is miniscule. Add actions that stack and are executed once the character recovers from his stamina loss/long fall/etc, you'll get a confusing control to add to the games "difficulty" layer.

I haven't enjoyed this game since I don't see the point of wasting my time without making any progress. I like the idea of challenges being hard, but since this games difficulty consists of giving the player minimal information, grind through long distances through same enemies several times once your die (you can't respawn near bosses) in order to recover your souls and demands flawless execution of actions which is not entirely without technical faults, this game is not challenging - It's just tiring.

Understand me correctly, I think it's silly that many of todays games hold your hand through the story (for example, FPS games that let you recover health just by hiding behind an obstacle or RPG games that shows you where the destination to your quest is on a map with a pin), but this game is trying the wrong way to give a challenge. Which is a pity, because this games visuals is truly beautiful to behold.… Expand

Darks souls is by far one of the greatest action RPGs to grace the home console, it's not for the fainthearted either, ruthlessness lies deep within the experience, as you will soon notice. What kind of game welcomes you open armed, with a good pummelling, and hair shredding enemies, it's not long before your reminded mentally with the words "prepare to die", oh right yes the warnings on the box, and it seems many didn't go down the avenue of digging the info, before trekking deep into this mammoth ass kicking world. Dark souls is vast itch great, mythical, dark, yet beautifull dreamed up locales, as you deeper, and deeper, your greeted by campfires that offers little salvation than to level up, heal, upgrade weapons, and a deep breath from the achievement that fact that you waged to advance forward, after an attack from the fearless beasts, and gigantic hordes. The game s huge,and rewarding, and implements a new direction for rpg lovers, it boldly steps up the antics, and can't wait to see what's next. Giving it 10 because t truly deserves it, yes theirs always niggles for some, but after playing many games, the niggles are minuscule.… Expand

I remember being in the 'demon souls club' (I just made the up), the days following the release of the game. Awestruck by its greatness. And now countless other get to enjoy the gameplay of Souls. There is no other game,gameplay, atmosphere, and world better than dark souls. It stands alone in numerous areas. Most games can't even stand alone in one. Although Demons Souls will still be the game that I was most immersed in in 25 years of video gaming, Dark Souls beats it in most ways. And the difficulty is high, but that's part where the immersion comes from. I still go back to it, and once again I'm perfectly happy playing the same section over and I've again once again. One of the best games ever made. One rule: you must be a hardcore gamer.… Expand

Great and challanging game. One of the best games offering awesome atmospheres and gameplay this generation. Running through Dark Forrests and castles fighting against bloodthirsty monsters is a old concept but was very well made in this game But its not as good as the prequel Demon's Souls. The PvP fights are horrible buged and suffer through the badly implemented Netcode. And the Framerateissues in few areas in this game.… Expand

A below average sequel to Demon's Souls. The graphics quality is worse than Demon's Souls. Many jagged lines everywhere and the frame rate plummets considerably whenever there is combat on screen. If it weren't for the frame rate problems I would give this game an 8. The sound and controls are ok. The combat mechanics are superbly done and require thinking. This is not a button masher's game (which is good!). Enemy boss AI is especially intelligent and challenging (again, a good thing). ______However, the whole game has a "rushed release" feeling to it due to the poor framerate and pedestrian menu system. Maybe the publisher wanted to avoid the holiday rush and therefore ended up "rushing" the release.… Expand

Simply one of the best games ever made. Its beautiful, its brutal, its fun, its unforgiving, its satisfying, its everything you can desire from a game. Dark Souls deserves all the praise it gets.

After reading bad reviews about graphical/system/bad pathing errors I was going to give the game a 9, but considering it has easily over 60 hours of gameplay, there is no way it deserves anything less than a 10. I purchased RAGE at the same time and beat that in a measly 12 hours on hard. This game has become an obsession that I can't let go of. After getting over the frustration ( I broke my ps3 controller in half ), I've come to absolutely love this game. I'm 36 hours in and not even half way done yet. Once you realize what this game is all about you should love it also.… Expand

Near perfect game, not as hard as demon souls though which is a little disappointing but other than that This is one of the best games out this year and everyone should pick this up.

I am a huge fan of Demon's souls but I even find this one is a tad bit sadistic. They are oushing a bit with this title. The difficulty will push a lot of newcomers away...The game is very similar to Demon's Souls in a lot of ways but the main flaw is that some of the rewarding aspects (such as the large amount of items to be gained) are a lot less in this title. This is a problem as you will be stuck with the Drake sword for an unecessary amount of time with nothing (that I have found) replacing this weapon for a long part of the game. I actually went back and made a character that could use this sword really early and I found this game to be easy because of this; I hope they add more items to be gained for the players who are loyal to the Souls games. The difficulty is not impossible, just stick it out and be in for the long haul as most Souls fans are aware of. Other than that, enjoy this title.… Expand

The game is almost entirely skill based. UNTIL YOU LEARN HOW TO PLAY WELL YOU WILL DIE A LOT. A lot of friends I recommend this game to get frustrated at the first real boss/area. I tell them to power through and the ones that do have come to absolutely love the game. Once you learn how to exploit the game mechanics you will stop dying so much. Don't get me wrong, you will die still, but not nearly as often. Sometimes the game is "cheap" as in it instakills you out of nowhere. Just know this, anything you can do to the enemies they can and will do to you. So in that respect, I don't consider it "cheap" but rather a more immersive experience. The story is there if you really want to explore it, but generally speaking it takes a backseat to gameplay. The map is designed in such a way that will blow your mind. So, the game is awesome. End of story.… Expand

Back in 2009, I spent 120+ hours of my life on Demon's Souls, and since then, I have not found its equal. As dark, challenging, and repressive as the game was, Demon's Souls still managed to feel like a breath of fresh air in the staling game market, throwing back to classic mechanics that were left in the 80s and early 90s with 8-bit, 16-bit, and arcade games. I find it interesting that Demon's Souls was far better received in North America than in its native Japan (790,000 copies in NA to Japan's 300,000, many of which were sold after the game's subsequest success overseas), as the game reflects more western RPG conventions and D&D-esque styling than the increasingly common anime-styled games that get labeled as "JRPGs." Dark Souls is a spiritual successor in the purest sense of the over-used phrase. Its controls are identical to Demon's Souls, yet they are even more precise than before. The artistic style, starting classes, soundtrack, and multiplayer options are all quite similar as well, but again, they have been tweaked to be a bit superior to that of Demon's Souls. The graphics are more detailed and crisp than ever, running in 720p or 1080i on PS3, making it one of a small handful of PS3 games that can display in 1920x1080. But the biggest change here is the open-world structure. Unlike Demon's Souls, which had the Nexus serve as a hub between several more fragmented worlds, Dark Souls has interconnected areas that form one gigantic, seemless world. It's also at least three times the size of all of Demon's Souls' areas combined, and the zones are still diverse and well-conceived. The linking of various zones works kind of like classic Metroid or Castlevania maps, where shortcuts to previous areas can be unlocked, making exploration valuable and rewarding to the overall mission. Instead of the Nexus hub zone, players can rest at bonfires, where they can also upgrade weapons and armor, among other things. Combat is also enjoyable and very deep, and enemy mobs are more varied than in Demon's Souls. In short, Dark Souls improves on every aspect of its predecessor, and with the new open-world structure, Dark Souls can easily stand up to the industry's western-developed heavy hitters (like Dragon Age and Elder Scrolls). In fact, I can honestly say that Dark Souls could steal some serious thunder from Skyrim by offering a more fresh yet hardcore approach to the genre. I also think that it's astounding that developer From Software could make lightning strike twice - it would have been far too easy for some developers to misinterpret Demon's Souls overwhelming success in North America and try too hard to tweak the subsequent formula to cater to American tastes. Instead, From Software stayed true to its original form, even deciding to increase the challenge for Dark Souls. And as one final point, let me also say this: Anyone who has not tried Demon's Souls or Dark Souls should not let the now-legendary difficulty of the series discourage them. The challenge that these games offers is not the same kind of hard-for-the-sake-of-hard frustration that some games fall victim to. Even if you are normally frustrated by difficult games, it's usually because of cheap mechanics and the feeling of having to fight the controls or poor design, and none of that is an issue with the Souls games. They just demand a little more observation, a bit of strategy and thought. From Software trusts that its gamers are intelligent, diligent, and skilled enough to handle that challenge, and that's what makes every victory in Dark Souls feel like a real achievement. The game may not be for everyone, but I would at least encourage every PS3 or XBox360 owner to try it.… Expand

Demon's Souls was/is 1 of the best games I've ever played. the balance between frustration & reward was perfect. every death was your fault. I have never put so many hours into a game.
as spiritual successor, dark souls lacks the same balance & polish the graphics are an improved, however the character animations are a step backwards - my deprived runs like a legless chicken. the levels in DS were tight, the game was about itching forward. in going more 'open world' ds loses the focus that DS had. o
the combat feels sluggish in comparison, & there's a noticeable lag betwixt button press & action. every time, bar 1, I've died in my short time with dark souls, I felt it was the game at fault, not me.
I score half what I give Demon's Souls minus 1 for disappointment.
Return game to shop, back to Demon's Souls, maybe get Skyrim?… Expand

From Software makes games the way they think they should be and they don't listen to complaining fans. And I'm glad they do it this way. This game is the ultimate in percision and thinking of how your going to overcome your opponent. Each enemy is a challenge and a puzzle. Demon Souls is a great game, and I appreciate how the percision in Dark Souls is more critical then it was in Demon Souls. This game scares me, makes me jump, pisses me the heck, and it is totally worth the $60 dollar price tag, and the $30 dollar new controller price tag that comes with throwing the controller in complete frustration when you get powned by 15 of the weakest enemies in the game. The world is different in demon souls and encourages exploring, however I'm discouraged to go further and die. This game is great and will easily zap 100 hours of your life away and more. Graphics, sound, and mechanics are great in my opinion. I have nothing bad to say except the game should come with a controller to replace the broken one, because this is a game worth losing a controller by throwing it across the room. BEWARE: BUTTONS SMASHERS WILL HATE THIS GAME. IT TAKES CONCENTRATION AND PERCISION TO PLAY THIS GAME.… Expand

omg awesome game im a huge fan of demons souls n this game is amazing not for everyone but for the few real gamers its deep and worth every penny looks lke another 2 years of my life

Well, don't listen to the people saying that there is no skill involved. It's ALL skill. Not even kidding, I started playing, and beat the first boss an hour later without dying once. Exlain that, if it's all trial and error. This game requires caution, a sharp wit, and sharper reflexes, but there is NO luck, and trial and error has almost nothing to do with Dark Souls. Guess what? Some games, the best games, like Dark Souls, require more than bloodlust and Monster Energy drinks to beat.

In most rpg's or action games when I find a new shield, I think "huh, a shield" and it goes into my pack to sell later. In Dark Souls and Demon's Souls when I find a new shield I think "OMG! Yes! A shield! I'll keep it forever!" This game demands that you acknowledge that you're weak, and that you can only win with tactics and critical thought:

"Huh? There's a giant metal boar-demon-thing guarding the gate? Maybe instead of trying to run up and smack it (hint, your sword will bounce, and it will skewer you), you should try luring it away, then sprinting for a hidden door!

The thing most people don't mention is just how amazing and beautiful the environments are, especially in HD. Every fricking brick and plank looks awesome, and this game has some of the most breathtaking vistas I've ever seen in a sandbox game. And everything is so wonderfully gothic and depressing looking, it never ceases to amaze. The controls are even better than in Demon's Souls (no small feat, seeing as the original DS was very polished as well), and you'll find a slew of subtle easter eggs for long-time King's Field and Demon's Souls fans.… Expand

Inferior to the original in every way. After the initial "tutorial" area (which is reminiscent of the original and well-executed), I ran into a multitude of problems. Within a span of five minutes, I got stuck in a tombstone, attacked by teleporting skeletons (not INTENTIONALLY teleporting skeletons, which I'd be cool with), had my vision blocked by a giant crow, encountered massive slowdown and fell through a flight of stairs causing the game to lock up (and after restarting the system the game proceeded to berate me for turning it off without saving). I plan on changing this review if/when a patch comes out, but the game is completely unplayable for me at the moment. It's like trying to play Super Meat Boy with a trackball. I've tested 2 copies of the game on 3 separate PS3's, so it's not an isolated issue. Whomever was responsible for QA should be fired.

Also, judging by other people's comments, it seems like user reviews are being pulled from the site...? What kind of crap is that?… Expand

Beautiful,brutal,exciting,frustrating and satisfying are just a few words describing Dark Souls.The tightest controls I can think of and the amazing design leave me almost breathless.It has some of the best 'levels' and enemies ever seen in a game.Is it tough?Oh yes indeed,and too hard in a few places as well.Skill and perseverence are at the forefront here and this game is not for the weak or impatient.A true test of your gaming skills and destined to be remembered.A must have!… Expand

This game is like it predecessor beautiful and challenging. Even for veterans of Demon Souls most of the monsters and bosses are completely fresh and innovative. It is hard, but not something most adults can handle with enough trial and error, and if you can you get the ability to summon other people relatively early, after second boss counting the tutorial one, thus gives yourself and opportunity to cheat yourself true the game if you don't think your good enough, or need a guide. Also the bonefires makes progressing a lot easier as you don't have to redo as much as in the previous game. Looking at the negative comments the conclusion from these is eider that the people are too young, too impatient or simply one of the very few who can't complete hard content after enough trials, which is rather puzzling as the two first bosses has easy ways to beat them in less than 1 min. However, for veterans from Demon Souls, one can quickly adjust and rush parts of the game because it's many similarities, but the new environment and at times puzzling layout makes it just as much a mind game as a combat game, making those "old types of mobs" feel like a part of the puzzle.… Expand

Awesome game that's all. Hoping it becomes goty. great controls and enhanced graphics. i loved demon's souls and i really really really love this one.

Brilliant game -- if you like challenges, enjoy action RPGs, you should not miss this or its predecessor. Between the wide options of character design and PvP, should provide 100s of hrs of fun.

I was waiting a lot for Dark Souls. And I'm not dissapointed, to say the least. Dark Souls retained all of its predecessor ambience, while increasing the difficulty even more. Then, is Dark Souls really that fun ? Isn't it too hard ?...
If you want a challenge, this is a game you want. If you lived 10 years in a monastery, and you can only buy one video game, you should simply take it. Because you will have enough experience to endure it.
Trust me, there are three things that's gonna happen if you play this game : you will love it, you will hate it, or both at once. I hate it and love it.… Expand

My all-time favorite game, but not without flaws. Dark Souls is deep, and immensely rewarding, even after 400+hours. The combat is weighty and strategic. The atmosphere is dark and foreboding. And no game offers such a sense of satisfaction as your advance through each level and boss. However, there are a few flaws. 1) Online suffers from lag, which rears its ugly head in the form of lagstabs during PvP. This can get frustraing. 2) Sometimes your attacks get queued at the worst moments (Your press "Attack" button, only nothing happens. A few moments later, your attack finally registers at the worst possible time, leaving you open for counter.) 3) Camera can get janky and lead to deaths, although this can be fixed in the settings. 4) Bed of Chaos.... enough said. Overall, the lag is my biggest complaint to an otherwise fantastic game.… Expand

Really enjoying the game. I have to agree with aspentitan though, I was expecting a hard copy of the mini-guide w/ the preorder. I happen to work in a studio where i could mock up a perfect bound copy of the mini-guide but it was quite a bit of work and i'm a little nuts that way. Really weird page sizes though.
anyway, I'm not about to lower the score for the game though... Rugged game, as advertised. tempted to give a 10, but its against my own personal game rating code.… Expand

Simply awesome. I can't say enough about the level design. It is truely in a class of it's own. No warp system as seen in Demon's Souls, but instead you end up opening clever shortcuts so eventually you can get most anywhere in a matter of minutes. Also, plenty of out-of-the-way places to explore and find items/souls. The combat is exactly like Demon's Souls. Once you learn an enemy's moves it's more a matter of patience than anything, although bosses require perfect timing as well. They added tons of new armour, weapons, and items compared to Demon's Souls and they got rid of the 1/2 HP thing if you're not in body form. Now it's "Hollowed" and "Human" form. The only difference is you need Human form to summon/be summoned/invade. They also did away with the "world tendancy" mechanic of Demon's Souls which is great. Basically it's a simplified game compared to DS, yet retaining all the challenge and adding a lot more awesomesauce. Tons of mini bosses and unique enemies.

Only complaint is terrible framerate drops, especially in Blighttown.… Expand

Many people in their reviews talk about how these games' (Dark Souls and Demons Souls) difficulty take them back to an older age of gaming, when every game was either nearly impossible to beat or simply never ended. In many ways this is true. But these two games, and especially Dark Souls, harken back to that time in more ways than just their difficulty. They don't pride themselves on their complicated stories or their beautiful graphics or their hyper-realism like some games do. They take you back to a time when you didn't need millions of dollars worth of graphics and cutscenes to enjoy the simple pleasure of just playing through a videogame. They give you a short movie explaining the backstory of their world and the premise of the game, they let you create an avatar of your ideal character, be it someone who looks just like you or completely different, they present the basic gameplay mechanics and controls that you'll need, and then they take you to this dark, beautiful world they've created and just let you play. And for that reason this is, in my humble opinion, one of the best examples of videogaming as an art form. It is a game that you can immerse yourself in for hours, simply because of the joy of playing, and exploring a new world completely unlike your own, without constant interruptions by NPCs and cutscenes trying to shove more of the plot down your throat. In short, this is a videogame, and a damn good one.… Expand

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Demons Souls became one of my favorite games - to me its real old school - it reminds me of the really old school top down video games where you have to make your way through an endless maze and if you make a wrong turn you blow up - you have to memorize every step to win. Of course this is done in 3D with a third person perspective.

Dark souls is really similar to Demons souls and I've already put many hours into it and am enjoying every death. I wish the multi-player was more crowded so I could get and give help more often -and there is some noticeable lag when the area gets crowded and the battles fierce - otherwise I'd give it a 10. I can understand why players may not appreciate the level of attention, thought, and persistence required to beating the different areas and bosses, it can be extremely frustrating at times, but thats what makes the victories so rewarding. Another thing I like is you can build any type of character - a tank with sorcery, pyromancy and healing spells is just not possible in most other games.I'd really like to see them turn this into a cooperative MMORPG! it would be a hit - Kudos to the developers!… Expand

This game is amazing. It challenges you to actually think about what you are fighting look at the AI and see how they behave and then react to it. There are tons of improvements to the game play, and lots of fun changes. The AI is aggressive, cheap, and very zombie-like, meaning if you can goat them they will fall off cliffs trying to get at you. My favorite thing to do with them is to just kick them off a cliff watching a zombie spartan fall to their doom. The only downsides for me are that the blood stains no longer give you a red shadow of the player, and that you gave to use items to leave messages for other players instead of just writing and recommending them. You must experience this game if you are up for a challenge.… Expand

Casual gamers stick to prancing around your living rooms with your girlie Wii games because this game requires you to seriously MAN UP and is a must buy for any Hardcore RPG fans .Dark Souls gives you nothing, tell you nothing and shows you nothing at the beginning but persistence and determination reaps rewards and satisfaction like you wouldn't believe..... love it. ( hate it sometimes) ... Masterclass… Expand

@sony360gamer
while rating a game 0 because it is not to your taste might seem like a cool move (given that it's your sole contribution to this site) but it only reveals you to be a complete non-contributor. Demon's Souls is my favorite game of this generation, and Dark Souls is a strong continuation of the basic Demon's Souls concepts. Tight, challenging gameplay, frequent deaths, and deep exploration. Not for those who prefer hand-holding.. this game does everything it can to make you feel alone, and hopeless in a demon infested world.. hence the whole 'role playing' thing. Probably the two most fully realized games of this generation... not to mention, for a gamer like me, two of the most satisfying. Walk slowly, exercise extreme caution, and you will be fine. If that does not work for you, then I'd definitely suggest trying a different game, but why come here and rate the game 0? foolish, and completely unhelpful trollerific nonsense that only serves to muddle the conversation. If you don't like a game, try to give a rational explanation of what doesn't work for you, and a score that your comments justify.. a 0 is nonsense, particularly for one of the best games of this generation.… Expand

Pretty awesome but Demon's Souls level design is a touch better

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Ok, I will start with that Dark Souls is defiantly not perfect. But I can't seem to give it a lower score than a 10. I guess maybe it's because any game that can keep you indulged for over 300 hours is worth a 10 in my book. The game isn't all THAT hard, it's just people are use to easy ass games that we have today. The game is challenging that is for sure. You can't just mash the R1 button and get away with it. You will die. Some parts of this game ARE cheap however. These parts are not difficult but very cheap. But for the most part it's just difficult with some cheap areas. You will never truly feel powerful in this game no matter if you are level 1 or if you are level 600 hundred. I'm not sure but I killed an online player and I got like 300 million souls and it was weird because I leveled my character with these souls and the enemies seemed to be just as strong if not stronger than they were before. I tested this as well. I made a new game and leveled up only to level 13 and I fought Orinstein and Smough and it seems to me that the first time I fought them I was level 40 and when I was level 13 it felt the same. Another thing I don't like is when you kill someone online and receive millions upon millions of souls, it was because they cheated to get those souls, and when you kill them and get those souls it kind of breaks the game, because it's not like you are going to not use the souls that you received, and this kind of pissed me off because it happened to me many times where I'd kill someone online and receive a ridiculous amount of souls that when I leveled my level 50 character I was able to level him from 50 to like level 300 hundred and even one time I received the max souls for killing on online person so now i'm at like level 6 hundred and something. But the funny thing is that, even though my character is almost maxed out, it is still a hard game. Ever since I spent these souls and almost maxed out my character, it seems enemies can kill me in like 2 hits. So in a way it's actually harder than it was when I was at level 50. Leveling up to me doesn't really do much. The best way is to level up your armor and weapons, because leveling yourself up seems to make the game harder. Which is good. The only thing that matters is if you have enough strength to even hold a certain weapon that you like and upgrade it. People say the Drake sword is good.. yeah it is, but not for long. The Drake sword actually sucks even if you max it out. On New Game+ the Drake sword is useless. But by the time you are at New Game+you should have way better weapons anyway. The enemy that I hated the most was those skeleton wheel things. They aren't so bad in the catacombs but in the painting of aramis(or whatever) they are a real pain in the ass. I'm not going to lie this game WILL at some point frustrate you, and you will hate it, but it's a hate that you will love ( yes that makes sense) I don't know how many times I wanted to throw my PS3 controller, but then you laugh at how mad this game will make you. Like I said there ARE cheap deaths in this game, but for the most part it's just challenging. Don't go into Dark Souls and think you are tough **** The first time you get cursed you will feel like killing yourself.lol. That's what I like about this game though. In other games you get cursed or something and it doesn't really matter because it will wear off. If you get cursed in this game you are actually cursed... You will get only half of your health bar until you find a cure. This can be a **** because if you kill the guy in New Londo ruins ( to get the key early) he's the only one in the game that can heal your curse, and you can buy purging items from the guy at the first bell, but he only has 4 items that will release this curse. there is also a ring that you wear that if you die it will undo the curse. But if you kill the new londo guy and run out of curse items, then you will have to do the rest of the game with only half of your health bar... So yes the game will punish you if you do stupid things. which is good. If you haven't played the game yet I suggest to you that if you DO play it to not kill any of the NPCs the first play through because you might regret it... I killed the first merchant in undeadburg because I thought he was weird, and I regretted it because I couldn't buy the things that I needed to. Defiantly don't kill any blacksmiths because that you will no doubt regret.
The story itself is amazing, that is if you read item descriptions ( they don't hand the story to you) However both the endings of this game are weird, because it doesn't explain much, but you may understand it if you take the time and read and listen to NPCs. The first play through I didn't know what was going on. The 2nd play through I understood almost everything.. You have to buy this game just to experience it. it is an amazing game that is no doubt a great experience...… Expand

I read everything about Dark Souls. After my Demons Souls Platinum, I thought it would be another clone. Developers said Dark Souls would be hard, much harder than its predecessor. They were right. You heard this a lot of times but this game is brutal. This game is not a refreshing thing to do when you are tired in the end of your workday. Youll be punished every time that your shield is down, every time that you decided to take that dark route instead staying in your way. Youll be nervous. Much more stressed than silent Hill, Resident Evil or any other game in your life. If you are a trophy hunter (like me) youll NEED to do a plan before playing this. A single error will force you to do a whole new playthrough, you will be punished (again). If you think you cant stand this, dont try, save your money. Most of people will never call this a game. Dark souls is always challenging you. Youll have to fine tune your coordination, you intelligence, your ability to overtake the AI. Do you like exploits? Youll find it, but be warned: youll still die even at maximum level. Almost finishing this game I can look behind to see how my reflexes evolved, how I am able to do certain things in this game that I never imagine before. In my real life some works seens very simple to me, compared to how difficult is to cut a Dragons tail (Seath). But dont get me wrong, this game is beautiful, the music is unmatched and the combat is the best I have ever seen in my whole 35 years of gaming. If you have time, coldness and enough ability try this, but if not, please, dont waste your time depreciating something that you should not have chosen.… Expand

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Dark souls and Demons souls are the best rpg games ever made,if you want something very very strong here is the chance.But you must know that these game are very dificult games.… Expand

A very good game, actually in this year, you can hardly find such a game like this with an awesome gameplay, epic boss fights, tough enemies, and more over, just one mistake and you are dead man! If you don't care much about the storyline (which is ambiguity), only care about fighting and wander around, this game is your type. But another thing: If you are seeking for a casual game, this is definitely NOT for you.… Expand

Let's be honest for a second, here. Seriously. Ask yourself: "do I really like this game?" or "am I really enjoying this?". I think Dark Souls is the perfect example of Psychological Marketing. Developers and the media MADE US believe that suffering exhaustively with some sort of "do it again until you get good at it" business is something nice, something we want, the ideal gaming experience. It's not. Dark Souls is, no question about it, a beautiful game, challenging and well crafted. That being said, the difficulty level is just way, way too high - to a point that there's not fun at all to play it. But we do, we play, we suffer, because "they" made us believe this was the best gaming experience ever. I gave up on Dark Souls as soon as I realized that I just don't have time for this. Being a gamer in my 30s, I have pretty much 1 hour per day to play games. And I don't want to spend these precious hours hating myself or hating a game because I cannot have any fun, because of frustration. I'm no masochist, sorry. For me, the ultimate gaming experience is HAVING FUN. And there's [almost] no fun to be had in Dark Souls, sorry.… Expand

If the game is as good as it is right now, 10/10. This game has shown that a company is willing to give it's audience a real challenge. While Demon's Souls was just 'unforgiving', Dark Souls is down right hard. And in this current day and age of gaming, that's what we need. If you did not heed the warning of "Prepare to die", you prove yourself another fool of our gaming society.

Man, i love this game. I read on the net that this game is very hard, and yea, hell hard. I didn't play Demon's Souls so for me is a bit difficult. In the first level, you are playing and you think that is easy, but only that level. After, the game gets more hard and the game starts there. Graphics are acceptable, the environment and the world is dark and beautiful. Game is very addictive, hard but addictive. The sound is good, without problems. Gameplay is damn nice, roll is better than use the shield to dodge enemies, and the enemies are hard if they hit you. There's different spells of each class. Example the piromantic has fire spells, the cleric casts healing miracles, and the sorcerer have soul sorceries. The bosses are hard, some bosses are very hard and you need help of others players online to kill him. Online is unique, if you are connected to PSN, some ghosts from other people playing appears, but they can't do nothing. There's a special item to summon others players that help you. Also you can fight against players, and take theirs souls. Conclusion: If you have patience to die, die, an die, and if you like or love RPG'S, BUY this game. If you are a good player, the game will be more easy.… Expand

Dark Souls is a MASTERPIECE. It's dark, twisted, beautiful, incredibly imaginative and a true challenge. The sense of accomplishment in this game makes all of the hardship and failure totally and utterly worth it. When you finally beat the massive demon that took you 20+ tries or even when you kill a group of the undead, you will feel so amazingly accomplished. The skill, strategy and patience involved is downright brilliant. The controls are tight and very responsive; even more so than Demon's Souls. The weapons, both old and new, are awesome and fun to upgrade. The armor is more varied and in some cases, makes your character look like a total badass. The leveling up lets you decide what to enhance, making you able to, for instance, wield a certain weapon, move quicker, have more stamina etc. The environments are absolutely breathtaking. Some areas are bright vistas full of light colors and some areas are dank, depressing and destroyed. The world adds to the feel. It really feels like you are in the immersive world of Dark Souls. If you like RPG's(It isn't even that complicated), mid-evil environments, smart combat, strategy and a truly satisfying challenge, then this game is one of the best and most engrossing games you will ever experience.… Expand

If you liked Demons' Souls then u will no doubt like this game as its more of the same but really improved. I wanna keep this short as i mainly wanted to argue points made by the negative reviews of this game. This game is without a doubt hard. It's meant to be hard. You are meant to die! If you make it through this game without dying then you're the messiah of the gaming world. This game is all about patience and persistence, for those of you who haven't played Demons' Souls then it may take a while to get along the flow of the game. This game tries to be realistic, in a lot of games you can just run up to most enemies (even ones you've never encountered before) and just hack it to death. In this game you really have to be highly cautious, you gotta go in shield up and ready to dodge many attacks. This game is without a doubt trial and error but that doesn't necessary mean you have to die. You just have to play defense A LOT. I agree this game can be frustrating when it comes to bugs but as long as you're always cautious they dont cause too many problems. As for the guy who said the skeletons teleported ????? Maybe I haven't got to them yet but are you sure it wasnt just the fact that you have a poor internet connection. Anyways this game is really great and if you fancy yourself a good gamer and want a real challenge I would highly recommend it. Oh I would also like to say the visuals are very unique and pretty. I would say the one fault the game has is its story as there's a very simple plot. I guess the designers thought it better to just let the player immerse themselves into the game.… Expand

The gameplay is brutal but rewarding. If you go into this game paying attention to nothing, you will die repeatedly. This game is about learning and mastering the combat. Anyone who has any issue with the game should just keep playing it, and stay calm. They'll get better at the game without knowing it, and before they know it, they'll have finished it already. The graphics are amazing, and the way all the locations are linked is amazing. It's like an open-world dungeon crawler. And while you do lose your souls and humanity on death, you don't necessarily have to repeat the entire level. There's bonfires inside the levels, and shortcuts can be unlocked. The boss fights are amazing too, most are unique (3 are practically the same boss, but that's for a story reason), and the story is all Side-Quests but amazingly deep, leaving ti to the dedicated fans to search for the story, unlocking the full depth of the game along the way, with the main quests being a basic summary. The multiplayer in this game is the best out of any game I have ever played (When it works). Unlike Demon's Souls' +/-10 + 10% SL, Dark Souls uses +/-10% SL for their Multiplayer, which SEVERLY limits the people you can play with. Even worse, the game uses P2P functionality instead of dedicated servers, which limits the player count further. However, joining certain covenants (factions) lets you bypass these limits. Another problem is failed connections, 1/4 of the times I've tried to either PvP or Co-op, the invasion/summoning failed. However, From is working on some patches, so I'm assuming they'll fix it, however, for now, the game isn't perfect due to these issues and it's still my favorite game of the year.… Expand

When i was heading to town to pick this up i thought it can not possibly be as hard as they say and still fun well guess what they are all correct get this game sod rage get this

This game completely took me by surprise, I thought it would be an decent game a very small group of people would like but I was way off. The game looks great with slowdowns here and there, the combat is satisfying and visceral, and the enemy types are so varied that I never got bored with fighting (I'm about 35 hours in). The bosses can be a pain, and at times feel a little cheap but then when you eventually figure out the attack pattern, find there weakness, get a friend, or just power though them you feel invincible. The Items feel good, and there is a lot of them but what I like most about the items is they feel like they are worth something. Let me explain, in most RPGs I've played I would find a divine sword of great justice +5 and don't get me wrong I like that feeling too but it feels like and item, something I could find two steps over if I killed enough angry pigs. In dark souls though I feel like every item (save a couple, like the generic long sword) feels like it has a history, that it was actually forged and used by a legendary warrior before you. All this together makes this one of my favorite games and the best so far this year and even after 35 hours I feel cravings to play all day.… Expand

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. After extensively playing Demon's Souls (100+ hours) and extensively playing Dark Souls (50+ hours, and counting) I would rate Dark Souls somewhere between a 9 and a 10.

The game itself is quite challenging, obviously. But not challenging as in requiring insane reflexes or with unfair enemy tactics, of which I have to say are few and far between. For the average boss fight, all that is required for the most part is knowledge. Knowledge of the boss' tactics, knowledge of the best ways to avoid them, and the best ways to deal damage, safely, utilizing the aforementioned knowledge. Taking the words from another reviewer, death in Dark Souls is a learning tool, not a punishment. If you died, there was most likely something you did wrong that, if you had reacted differently, wouldn't have lead to your death. If you had pulled that enemy away from the ledge you wouldn't have been knocked off. If you had split the enemies up you wouldn't have been overwhelmed. If you had blocked instead of attacked, you wouldn't have been chain-hit by three enemies. If you had run from the dragon rearing back instead of swinging, you wouldn't have been burned to a crisp. None of these instances require twitch reflexes, just a knowledge of what to do and not panicking enough to execute it properly. The only fight I can think of requiring actual, sincere luck, is a boss named Capra Demon. This fight is a demon twice your height wielding two large swords, and by himself, he is a pushover. However, thrown into this fight is also two small mobs. Two dogs. If you don't eliminate them quickly, you will be overwhelmed by the boss' two large swords and the two dogs repeatedly wailing on you. But once the dogs are down, the fight becomes simple. The luck doesn't even play a part for every type of character, just my own, a squishy little dagger-wielding rogue. A solid brick-wall of a shield would eliminate the group as a threat, something my rogue can't wield without serious concessions in mobility, if at all.

Compared to Dark Souls, this game has a few major changes:

It's open world. Exploration has become much more key, not just in finding items, but in finding shortcuts to cut down on travel time, and finding bonfires to cut down on time spent running back to your corpse, slaying the very things that slayed you. There is no Nexus, the only "safe hubs" in the game are bonfires, or any place you feel you have safely cleared out.

No more grass. The main method of healing is a Flask that defaults to 5 drinks per visit to the bonfire. You can "kindle" the bonfire, requiring a rare currency called Humanity, to allow you to leave a specific bonfire with 10 drinks. Essentially you have 5-10 heals to get to the next bonfire, or you'll quickly be either backtracking, or dieing.

Pyromancy, a magic that doesn't require any amount of stat investment, making it a magic that any character may fall back upon. Much more weapons, therefor much more options. Daggers are viable. Scythes are viable. Faith and Magic based characters have bows to fall back upon. Crossbows don't suck anymore. Parrying is made a bit easier, resulting in more characters relying on counter-attacks. (Most) all armor can be upgraded. If you like the way a set looks, upgrade it. Assuming its stats weren't complete crap, it should be viable. This applies to weapons as well.

After a certain level, your defenses (Blunt/Slashing/Piercing) stop going up with every point investment. There is a new stat governing JUST defenses, called Resistances. HP and Defenses are no longer rolled into a single stat.

Covenants. I look at them as ways to obtain phat loots, be it weapons or armor, or even spells. They are also an excuse to make other players' lives a living hell, or to get revenge on other players for doing so. As a member of the Forest Covenant, by wearing a ring I submit myself to being summoned whenever another player, in their own game, wishes to attack the forest's denizens. By defending the forest and slaying them, I increase my favor with the Forest Covenant, and in turn receive loot.

You do have a path to which you must follow to inevitably conclude the game, but the methods to which you follow that path are, for the most part, up to you. I have a character right now that could challenge three separate bosses, normally falling into a specific order, but I skipped two bosses on the "Linear Path" to beat the area of the third boss, so that I could obtain some phat lewts. A katana and a ninja-esque looking set, specifically. Overall, I rate the game as a VERY enjoyable experience with tons of hours of playtime. I'm 50 in and haven't beaten the game. Your mileage may vary :) I'm just taking my time.… Expand

Its simple. If you are an hardcore Rpg gamer with sado-masochistic tendencies then don't hesitate and buy this game now. If you played and liked Demon souls buy this game now. If you like the idea of having to redo sections of a game over and over to gain knowledge and experience, and to farm resources then buy this game now. If none of the above appeal to you I would give this game a miss.
Within 20 minutes of starting this game I hated it and the pointless bloody futility of it all. After 3 hours of the game I still hated it and the countless deaths. 8 hours in and I REALLY hated the impossibility of defeating two goddam Gargoyles in a rooftop battle after countless tries. Even now some 40 plus hours in I hate this game. Each night I will grab the controller and continue to inch my way through this hateful game. And why? Because you have to make your own way through. Work things out for yourself.
Decisions you make have a real impact on the outcome. There is no right or wrong way. Without being too metaphysical and Hippie about it, it is just like real life ( Real life is that thing that happens when you are away from your console and TV screen) Don't get me wrong, i'm not advocating zapping Mrs Miggins from number 27 with your sorcerers catalyst, but if you are prepared to learn from your mistakes and time spent within the game and persevere you will be richly rewarded. The game has great depth in its gameplay, combat mechanism and graphics. The dark fantasy world is beautifully realised, and it will not be long before you are drawn screaming and kicking into this world. There are certainly a few technical glitches and low frame rates that are discussed in other reviews on this site that have to be considered.
I have no doubt that when i eventually complete this game I will still bloody hate it, and then I will start on game+ or run through as a different class… Expand

Very similar to Demons Souls which is a little dissapointing. in some sense, i notice similar attack patterns and just a lot of the same thing. but there are new things too like the ability to leap from a sprint. but the world and story are brand new which i really like. bonfires act as checkpoints, tho there are few.

I dont often review games, but there are some outright incorrect statements being made about the negatives of Dark Souls. This is no harder than mario brothers, if you get to the end of the level in mario brothers you can move on, otherwise you start over. Now Dark Souls is an open world and there are lots of ways to go, but if you don't get to another bonfire, you start over. This is not hard, and anyone over the age of 25 should be used to this sort of game mechanic. However it is hard, and if you button mash you will die. If you run into an area and agro everything, you will die. If you use a two handed sword while balance precariously on a narrow ledge you will die, if when a boss appears you stand there and think wow he's kinda big I wonder if....you will die. But all of these things are easily countered by using weapons and tactics appropriate to the situation (although the bosses can take some working out). Now graphics, they are stunning anyone who says otherwise is being obtuse, Anor Londo takes your breath away and will stay with me forever. However there are negatives, there is a problem with frame rate, in one boss fight and at the start of one area the frame rate drops, enough to possibly cause you to die because the combat is challenging. But this is possibly for 30 minutes of gameplay over a 100 hour game. There is a more annoying bug which none of the negative reviews have pointed out, therefore I would question whether they were in full control of their characters. I am a turn based guy, I like time to think about what I am doing, I like to be meticulous, but I am not particularly patient person, but this game has bought on a certain level of stoicism. One of the reviewers said there is no explanation of the stats, this is factually incorrect pressing select and moving over the stats tells you what they do, pretty simple really. Also truth be told until you get a stat to over 40 you cant really make a mistake anyway (and that is at SL35+ if you just spent on one stat). I am over 50 hours in and never seen a teleporting skeleton (although I did *once* clip through the floor). BTW if you are starting and you are running into skeletons, turn around you are going the wrong way the catacombs is not the place to start, you will die and the skeletons wont (they resurrect when in catacombs, worse you get no souls for killing them). I spent maybe 2 hours at SL8 trying to get into the catacombs before I got it through my thick head there must be something easier to fight in this "open world". Doh! off to the undead burg, life was easier. Also you do not die out of nowhere, you go charging around a corner and there is someone stood there with a big axe, what do you expect? a gentle tap on the shoulder and a deceleration of intent to attack you! no, look where you are going for goodness sake! Not once have I had a trap come out of a wall and kill me dead. I have hit pressure plates that I had not seen and taken serious sums of damage, I have tried out running a giant rock wearing plate mail, I have rolled backwards off ledges, I have been picked up by a boss and thrown off a ledge, but none of these deaths came out of nowhere!
This game is not for everyone, you will not become the best player just because you have the time to pump 100 hours into it. You are rewarded for success and punished for failure, if you keep fighting resurrecting skeletons for 10 hours you will remain where you are not progressing. But if you are attentive, thoughtful and stoic every minute you spend with the game will be a joy and you will find yourself dreaming of this flawed masterpiece.… Expand

I just got this game a few days ago and have been very much enjoying it. I have played some of demon souls previously and dark souls is much of the same, with a few improvements. The balance is just right, you will get frustrated but it wont stop you from wanting to continue and defeat the boss thats pissing you off and the satisfaction is great if you do. My only problem with the game is that if you accidentally attack a NPC they become hostile and you cannot talk to them unless you start a new game. I also find it difficult to find summon signs while in human form. However these are only small gripes and the game is still brilliant. I would defiantly recommend this game to competent gamers. Prepare to die!!… Expand

This game claimed my soul and did not let go of it, until I finished it. Dark Souls is a true dark fantasy with very evocative and haunting game world. There are amazing places to be seen and gruesome monsters to be fought. Light on story, the game concentrates on combat, which is relatively slow paced, but still requires split second timing of your actions in order to hit that opening in an enemy's defense. The combat has impressive physics â… Expand

Not a full 10 score, but pretty close. Overall a nice step up from demon's souls, the open world is great, I also like the adition of covenants to mix things up in pvp, design is top notch as always, and of course ambientation, production values, depth,etc, etc. But what shines above all is the gameplay, the souls games have probably the best combat mechanics I have ever seen, they are intuitive, brutal, vast and full of depth; each weapon has it's own animations, and they all feel different. It's not a perfect game, it has rough edges here and there, graphics feel dated, framerate goes to hell on some locations, and sometimes controls are not as responsive. In terms of tools available for combat, some spells and miracles are overpowered, and prone to abuse; this makes some pvp matchups frustrating as the opponents use cheap tactics over and over again. Weapon refinement (wich was spot on in demons souls) is uneven and feels a little lacking; there is no longer a str/dex weapon upgrade path, so str/dex builds are doomed to stick with weapons you find in the environment that naturally scale with such stats, don't get me wrong, they are good, but sometimes I would like to have let's say a str scaling spear instead of another ultra weapon. All in all, this game may not be for everyone, but if it clicks with you then like me you will find one of the best games ever created......… Expand

Grabs you by the throat from the first few minutes and never lets go! For every rushed-to-the-market, vomitous RPG out there (Dragon Age 2, any recent Final Fantasy title, etc.), all we can do is thank From Software for daring to create a game which doesn't cater to the masses. A game which punishes players for button mashing and instead rewards the careful patience of a tactician. Consider if all the hours spent on dialogue trees and lengthy CG movies in other RPGs were instead funneled into a meticulous, challenging combat system and you have Dark Souls. Like its predecessor Demon's Souls, both will be remembered as two of the finest RPG titles from this console generation.… Expand

The Bonfire System is an improvement to the Nexus system of demon´s souls. I did not like that the worlds in Demon Souls were separated and therefore i do welcome the new system. Its challenging and has a deep atmosphere but the graphic is average and the frame-rate drops are disturbing. Anyway, you can look at it how do you want to look at it, Dark Souls does really has a soul on its own.

Coming from a person that really only likes FPS, I have to say... for me, this is the greatest game of all time! This is a major step up from Demon Souls. I have never played a sequel that absolutely squashes the first game in every way. MUST BUY!

After putting almost 150 hours into Dark Souls, I decided to rewrite my review. Most of it will stay the same, but I have a few additional thoughts/observations. I'm also going to make more direct comparisons to Demon's Souls (henceforth known as DeS). The first thing I'll touch on is the world itself. The level/world design is outstanding. The elimination of a hub world in favor of an open world was a good choice. A seamless world feels much more alive. I do, however, wish that Firelink was a bit more interesting. The game puts a bigger emphasis on exploration, and there are plenty of nooks and crannies to uncover. Along your journey you might find hidden paths, areas, and even bosses waiting for you. While the graphics are showing their age, the aesthetic is amazing. Each area is unique and varied and there is plenty of eye candy to keep you interested. Anor Londo is especially breath-taking. The world has more color and doesn't feel as bleak or lonely as DeS. Whether or not that's a good thing depends on the individual. Sound and music is top-notch. From epic orchestrated boss scores to the near absolute silence of a pitch black cave, you'll find your state of mind completely in sync with the game world. Combat is similar to its predecessor, though you'll find it slightly tweaked and optimized. Many of the weapons have unique R1/R2 attacks which is a nice touch. Overall, the controls feel a tad more responsive compared to DeS. Despite my praises, there are a few things I dislike about the game. One is the difficulty. Don't misunderstand. I think many of the bosses are too easy. I was able to kill many of them on my first attempt, and I am by no means anything but an average gamer with average skills. I enjoy a challenge, and I feel disappointed when I kill a boss so easily. Directly related to difficulty, I have gripes with a few of the items in the game. First and foremost is the Drake Sword. This item makes the first ~1/5 of the game far too easy. Fortunately I didn't know about this weapon on my first playthrough. Without it, Bell Gargoyles were a challenge. With it they were a joke. To a lesser degree, Ring of Favor and Protection provides a similar result. Both of these items are obtainable very early in the game and provide an incredible advantage. I'd call them game-breaking. The same can be said for Pyromancy. Pyromancy simply does too much damage and trivializes many of the boss fights in the game. If you read my review before playing, take my advice and don't use any of these items if you want the true Dark Souls experience. You'll thank me later. One final note regarding the difficulty, I felt that there were too many bonfires. My second complaint is the quality of the NPCs and bosses in the game. Compared to DeS, I found them to be far less memorable. There were a few gems (Quelaag/Quelaan, Ornstein/Smough, Sif, Gwyn, Reah), but for the most part they were generic and forgettable. Finally, many people are complaining about low FPS areas such as Blighttown, but I don't particularly mind it. It's not game-breaking in the slightest, but it's there. In conclusion, I'm probably in the minority when I say I prefer Demon's Souls to Dark Souls, if only by a slight margin. Overall, Demon's Souls was a more memorable experience for me. I would give Dark Souls a 9.5 if I could, but since this site only allows scores in increments of 1, I'll round it to a 10 since it's vastly superior to most of the slop out there. If you were a fan of Demon's Souls, or are a fan of action RPGs in general, you owe it to yourself to play one of the best.… Expand

This game is simply amazing and is the purest game I've ever played. From Software didn't cut corners, and provided us with an experience like no other.

I feel that Dark Souls has one of the best melee combat systems ever. You don't just fight enemies, you duel them to the death. Every little mistake can be crippling or even fatal, which creates uniquely tense moments as you're fighting enemies. Every new area has a treacherous feel to it, and the further you get in to the game, the worse it gets (in a very good way). The game is true to itself and holds no punches in the difficulty. There is no difficulty to choose from, and you are simply tossed in the world. The only tutorial you are given consists of the basic controls via readable messages laid on the ground in the beginning of the game. After that, you are absolutely at the mercy of the of the game's brutal world.

Your character's level doesn't determine your combat prowess, it depends more on your equipment. You have to equip your character according to the area you are in, or what boss you are about to fight. There is a HUGE selection of weapons in the game with a pretty extensive upgrade system to back it all up. If you gear up right, you can save yourself a lot of grief (but you will still probably die a few times).

The learning curve for Dark Souls is very unforgiving. New players will often be frustrated and give up after dying over and over, but it never hurts to take a break. That's the most provocative thing about this game for me; despite its brutal difficulty, I always want more.


While Dark Souls is a very challenging game, there are a couple of aspects in the game that create "unnecessary" difficulty. Extremely wonky player collision often causes you to fall to your death over the stupidest reasons, and the occasional unresponsive or delayed input during fights tends to get you killed. The recent patch to the game claims to have fixed the issue of delayed input, but as far as I can tell it just made it worse. Though it's been mentioned in probably every other review, there are also some areas in the game that experience nasty framerate drops which can detract from the experience at times. Blighttown and Lost Izalith are the most notable suspects for bad frame rates, but it's tolerable. I've seen a lot of console games that have slight frame rate drops in very complex areas, like Halo Reach, but they're not as noticeable.


The lack of tutorials isn't missed in my case, but others will be at a total loss when trying to figure out character parameters like strength, dexterity, etc. Certain weapon types require a specific parameter. Large weapons like great swords require a higher level of strength, whereas spears and halberds (and bows) require higher dexterity to wield. There are even a few weapons that need some in both. Lastly, spells need intelligence, and miracles need faith. There's a lot to examine when looking at weapon/armor stats and your character's stats, but you will pick it up in time. You can actually hit the select button when in a menu and it will highlight elements in the menu and give a simple explanation for what it means. I highly recommend you use that if you're confused.


The only real issue I have with this game is the PvP. I honestly hate the fact that you can be invaded at any given time by other players if you've reverse-hollowed. 99% of the time I get invaded by someone who has WAY better gear and is WAY higher level than me and I just get rolled. There's no level-matching involved so someone with the best gear can invade someone who is just starting. It wouldn't be as bad if back stabbing wasn't so frustratingly buggy due to latency. I've been backstabbed when the person invading me was standing directly in front of me, and another occasion, they were 10 feet behind me and magically teleported behind me and back stabbed me and killed me. They honestly should have completely disabled backstabbing in PVP in my opinion. It doesn't help that there was a glitch in the game originally that allowed players to duplicated souls and max out their character and upgrade their gear all the way, so now there's all these level 500+ players in their first playthrough running around with incredible gear and spells, invading other players and destroying them.


Anyway, this game really isn't for everyone. It's a hardcore RPG rather than an action-rpg like Dragon Age. If you just game to have a little fun, then don't buy this game. If you want a rich experience that's really challenging and rewarding (yes, it is rewarding, despite what the negative reviewers say), then Dark Souls is your game.

And if Dark Souls is too easy for you, then play Demon's Souls. It's much harder, and arguably better. It's too bad they're shutting the servers down for Demon's Souls later this year.… Expand

This game really is as difficult as they say, but it is fair. It reminds me of games on the NES, obviously with much prettier graphics. The story is there, it's just not handed to the player - you have to piece things together yourself which is a very unique way of story-telling not often seen in video games. For any true gamer, this game should be a very strong contender for Game of the Year. I put over 200 hours into the game in just a month of it being out, and I generally don't spend that much time playing on console. This game alone justifies owning a console, even as a PC gamer.… Expand

I picked this up yesterday not knowing what to expect. I read all the reviews, I heard all the hype. I decided to give this game a shot. Never played Demon's souls, but I know it recieved similar praise and I wanted to know what was so great about these games that sounded so frustrating. Twenty hours of game time later and I am here to tell you that this is one of the most original games I've ever played. Not since the very first Zelda on the NES have I played something so unique and uncompromising in its design. Full of secrets and easter eggs, tons and tons of cool weapons and armor, and beautiful art design. It's totally true the game is unflinchingly hard. Every section of the game is built around the concept of learning from death. I spent the first twenty minutes or so in the game dying over and over again only to realize I needed to equip a different weapon to deal with different enemies. Once I did so I walked right through them. It all started to click. There is almost always a solution to the situation your stuck in, you just have to use your brain and figure it out, and when you do you feel like a total badass. The controls take a bit of getting used to as you cant just mash the buttons fable style and expect to get anywhere. You really have to carefully plan each strike but again when you learn the enemies attack patterns and weaknesses you smash right through them. I can't reccomend checking this game out enough to those sitting on the fence. If your tired of the same old crap over and over again this was made for you so don't cry about games being repetitive and full of sequels if you don't pick this up. If you consider yourself a hardcore gamer you owe it to yourself and the industry to have this in your collection-no excuses! In over 20 years of playing games this is one of the finest experiences I've ever had with a game not only because the game is great but because it "gets" the psychology behind what makes gamers tick and uses that to keep you playing even when it feels like the odds are 100 percent against you and then rewards you when you do finally overcome them amplifiying your emotion to the point where you feel like you just won the world series when overcoming a difficulty you never thought you were good enough to handle. Nothing else in gameing compares to this experience-period!… Expand

A game that requires no skill, concentration, and very few tactics, just a lot of deaths and picking some right moves. You learn nothing over your 100s of deaths, but you keep trying 'till you get it right. So it's simple; this game is not for everyone. If you are someone that loves a challenge and something more like classic Castlevania, then this is for you. You will notice the beautiful graphics and creativitey. Aswell as some excellent settings. But, as pretty polished as it is, remember that it might not be worth your 40 bucks if your anticipation for a challenge and sheer diffculty runs down quickly. Also take notice that the game itself will not have a lot of time invested in it as there are very few great moments in the game.
However this review is mostly positive, as I still enjoy the challenge and idea of the game. That takes us to the plot, which in some state, beats Skyrim's, which is a game I praised.
So if your a big RPG fan or even a casual gamer looking for something new, this is for you. If someone how enjoys more Skyrim like RPGs, prepare to be dissapointed. But the majority of you will be satisfied with this clever, original game.… Expand

I'm gonna write this review in pros and cons. Pros: +Very challenging +Very Satisfying +Visually Stunning +Great combat mechanics Cons: -Occasional frame-rate drop -Matchmaking currently broken (going to be patched) This has seriously been one of the most entertaining games ever for me. I enjoy reading the few bad reviews out there because its obvious that they don't enjoy challenges, and can't handle being killed.… Expand

One of the best RPG's available deep and engaging, punishing but fair. The combat is satisfying and the open world is atmospheric. It would be an easy ten if it weren't for the frequent frame rate issues and graphical oddities.

This game is **** king. It shall give you a boner if you finnaly killed a boss and you can go further on the other way it lets your dick shinks because its **** hard and it it gonna eat you dick off. Firts of the graphics are really good for a open world RPG. Lighting shines beautefull at your armor and the environments are really detailled and different from each other. You need to survive in scary caves or fight trough enemies at an abandon castle where dragons and other creatures are now boss. Also the enemies are verry differtent and detailled that you never got boring to slice these **** if you succed ofcourse:P. The gameplay is also fluwed and how your character swings the sword or cast magic is verry realistic. it is also a long game and it cost you at least 50 hours if your take your time and enjoy the wordl and not as that **** that completed the game in 90 minutes LOL. The only flaw that was iiritated me that sometimes enemies are dumb and fall of cliff or different. Also irritated but verry well done is that your souls are important so dont lose them if you die. A masterpiece and im gonna play now LATER .… Expand

this game is amazing, the graphics are great the combat is interesting and although the story is basic the amazing gameplay pulls you through and is a lot of fun.

i personally really enjoyed the fact that the combat with a block, light, heavy and deflect attack is always interesting. while one may say that the game is one big grind. and you would be right partly. although it is a big grind the combat is always new and never gets old

the game itself heralding back to dungeons and dragons captures the universe and world with the amazing graphics and enemy designs one would expect after demon souls

i would recommend this game to everybody and warn them about the amount of time you die but it is still amazing… Expand

This is one of the best RPGs I've ever played. This is one of the best games I've ever played. I love this game for it's deep game play and immersive atmosphere. It's quite a long game despite the fact you will die a lot. It is very challenging but incredibly rewarding when challenges are met. It kind of has an arcade feel as well with enemies respawning and trying to find patterns and weaknesses of enemies. I call this game and Demon's Souls the Mega Man of RPGs. I can honestly say this is one of the best games I've ever had the pleasure of playing.… Expand

Dark Souls separates boys from girls as its predecessor Demon's Souls did in 2009. The DS series aren't made for everybody and that's a fact. If you're new into the franchise I suggest you to read about DS gameplay, mechanics, the basics, tips, the guide, etc. It's going to help you a lot. You can also watch reviews, walkthroughs, gameplay, etc on youtube if you want to cheat a bit when you're stock. If you don't find a lot of info about Dark Souls visit http://demonssouls.wikidot.com/. The structure and game are pretty similar. Read about "Soul form" vs"Body form" / "Undead" vs "Humanity" in these game and you'll understand it better. There is a reason for all this. Unique multiplayer experience is amazing and so helpful. Sorry dear gamers, if you all cry because you all die a lot in a video game like DS, well... that's because you got used to "easy" games. Everything has a consequence in here... DS doesn't forget... So if you decide to attack the first NPC that is on your way, don't expect him to forget it when you re-spawn. C'mon this is not the first time that games do that kind of stuff... Don't blame the game dude... Also, if you find extremely difficult to pass an area maybe it's because you shouldn't be there in the first place: Go somewhere else... Don't **** ask for a map... Just explore DS world. This game is really awesome!!!… Expand

First off: I never played the original, so other reviews that claim that only fanboys of the original could love this game are hereby officially refuted. This ain't no beat-'em-up game; even the trash mobs will stomp your guts out if you are not careful. Rather, this game harkens back to the 8-bit days when developers still had the arcade philosophy of making games hard but compelling in order to vacuum quarters out of kid's pockets. If you are like many players that have become jaded about how dumbed-down games have become, get this as you will either love it as I do, or concede that you didn't know what you were wishing for and go back to the usual games of casual ten-hour jaunts through eye candy.… Expand

This game is a huge improvement over Demon's Souls. It has a lot more content and they removed the (in my opinion) annoying system of world tendency. In place is a humanity system which increases drop rates and affects various other things in the gameplay.

HOWEVER
The multiplayer aspect of the game has become much, MUCH worse. You have to be in human form in order to see summoning signs/get invaded. This already makes sure there is not a lot of online action, because there are no real benefits of playing in human form rather than in Hollow form. In 50 hours of playing I haven't been invaded once, and summoning often fails. Furthermore you rarely see summoning signs/blood stains from other players. Reason for this is the change from a server to P2P online. People are put in lobbies and can only interact with people from that lobby. Your lobby changes when you log out and in. This means that if you play for quite a long time at once chances are you are alone in your lobby which results in no multiplayer for you. Also, this makes grouping up with friends (like in Demon's Souls, putting down your soul sign in a certain place) near impossible. It is not strange for people to literally try HOURS before finally being able to group up.

What a shame, From Software/Namco Bandai, the multiplayer mess up changes this grade from a 9.5 to an 8, since it is one of the biggest aspects of the game.… Expand

lol, well with such a giant demand of precise attention and reflexes/controls it would be nothing less than a unfair review to rate this long journey after only taking a few steps, w/ over 50 hours of gameplay i will tell you what ive seen in the few steps into this dark suicide mission part II. first of all the design and detail is noticed right off the rip. there is no doubt that this is demon souls , but back w/ a make over. visually i cant express how intimidating this world looks, and thats just part of it. the feel of an "open" world is very present giving me the feeling that i will be creeping inch by inch through a much bigger and more demanding world, dark souls. and for those who havent played demon souls well fear not, if you enjoy a game which will challenge you until you want to scream UNCLE! then this is just for you.

it seems to pick up right where it left off but w/ more focus on combat and counter striking and let me tell you "counter" is the key word. back to demon souls, if you did not play it then it will not render your exp whatsoever , in fact it will be a pleasant surprise for die hard rpg fans. if thats you then this game should be in your console at some point or another. you will have plenty of choices, weapons,armor,shields and magic to play with, and you will learn that sometimes thinking outside the box is useful in this game. the camera angles are sometimes a bit awkward in regards to positioning but its not been an issue as of yet but it is there.

you chose a class and start your journey, tempo has yet to be slowed by cutscenes or long interactions w/ npc's . a perfect balance so far. i will say that the online "co-op" style of unified combat is very much desired rather than a black phantom or other player coming into your game and crushing you w/o much notice. it seems that the help from one another is not only USEFUL but encouraged. i thought this game would just be demon souls w/ a splash of new , but i was wrong, this is dark souls w/ a reminder of demons souls intensity. its menu/inventory is simple and replicates the predecessor but other than that its darker and angrier. you will have fun reading and writing hints. and when in a jam, summon!

bonfires make great "checkpoints" rather than the nexus which was demons souls "navigation" point. i love the bonfires and the way they were inserted , nicely done from software.

combat system is more precise and the enemies are less forgiving. from shooting bows to sword strikes , upgraded from a system which was seemless to begin with.

this is for the strong willed, ones who enjoy a challenge and let me say the trophies are very rewarding in this game, these are earned to say the least.

great time so far, i have no complaints.. DOES NOT MATTER IF YOU OWN A PS3/360 OR P.C. and it doesnt matter if you did or didnt play demon souls, just make sure you play this. all thats required is a craving for an exp which doesnt come very often in games. a challenging and rewarding exp.. great job from software… Expand

Just dont even bother reading sony360gamer's review. He is in a tiny majority of 'child minded' people who dont understand that this game is meant to be hard, and be challenging. Not just your simple singleplayer game which you can breeze through in a couple of days (with your eyes closed). The concept of the now open world in Dark Souls is utterly brilliant allowing for the game to flow, the graphics are very nice indeed along with the extremely tight combat which you wont get in Skyrim. Even after all of that its the bosses that make the game for me, they are so unique and unbelievably hard to conquer on your first playthrough. Finally the way this game intergrates multiplayer into the singleplayer game is just brilliant (it was in Demons Souls too) as you can invade other peoples world, be invaded and also see blood stains from where people have died in their game. Overall this is my favourite game of all time and i severely hope there is another.… Expand

this game is incredible, the challenge initially made me very nervous but after trying to do one thing over and over makes you good enough to pass the harder levels. there isn't much of a tutorial so i had to figure out several things on my own, but once i did, the game got even more fun. i played multiplayer once, so i can't really say how good or bad it is.

this game's difficulty is overrated.... It's not so difficult as everybody is saying.. It just has it's own original style, pace and approach to a gamer and gaming itself.. If You're the fan of God of ar style games where You rush through the game with your brains not involved in the process but only buttons snapping - this game is not for You..
To be successful and enjoy the process You have to think and plan the route and tactics - and as a result You will be awarded with the great joy and sense of achievement.
10 with no discussions!… Expand

Dark Souls is one of the best games ever - sure its challenging - but better balanced than Demons Souls - Demons Souls had me stuck on the opening fight scene for three days until I learnt how to play properly - but in both games the reward is a fluid and satisfying combat system that takes patience and intelligence and good reaction times. The game can be slow to start, but there is still progression. The reward is greater than most 'easy' games for kids -Dark Souls is rated for mature audiences for a reason.
If you are looking for an easy ride, look elsewhere, but for real oldschool gamers, this is like a throwback to the old days when games posed a challenge and only the finest could clock them!… Expand

I hope they never stop creating this kind of games. It's the rebirth of a genre and it's the best of it's kind. The toughness, the strategies, the possibilities, the graphics, the enemies, the combat, everything is as superior as you can get.

After an hour of game play from picking up this beautiful game at midnight, I have nothing but positive things to say. The graphics are amazing, the controls are much more precise than Demon's Souls were, and the enemies are no joke. An early warning for those who haven't played Demon's Souls; You are suppose to die, learn from your mistakes, and die again. I'm proud to say that I died only twice in my first hour, but without my previous experience with Demon's Souls, I would've died at least 10 times. I have a feeling that some Xbox360 players will be frustrated with Dark Souls more often because most of them didn't get a chance to play Demon's Souls. After work today, I plan on wasting my entire evening exploring Dark Souls, and possibly the next few months will be spent mastering this game as well :)

I have this game for the PS3, so if anyone wants to join up, just send me a friend request (PSN username is the same as this one here). Remember to have fun. Good luck to all, you're gonna need it.… Expand

Remember Bushido Blade? It's alot like that, where the enemy can kill you in one hit, but so can you. Patience is key. As for the game's difficulty, yes it is there, yes it is punishing, but ultimately rewarding. If all else fails, you can cheat and summon other players to help you out. If not for the graphical stutters, this game woulda been perfect.

Dark Souls is a masterpiece. While the game is exceptionally brutal and demands an equivalent discipline from the player, it rewards you handsomely for your efforts and, most of all, your patience and willingness to learn. Every two steps forward are accompanied by one step back as you crawl your way, painfully and slowly, through the gloomiest, most hellish environment ever created. Dark Souls pits you against yourself, not the game, demanding that you set aside your pre-conceived notions of gaming fun and, instead, embrace an insane difficulty and all the failure that goes with it. Once you do, the game sucks you deep into its abyss, swallowing your waking hours as you wander, hunted and afraid, with nowhere to go but further into hell. Make no mistake, Dark Souls will punish you time and time again but if you can accept death you will find the game open up before you like a yawning chasm, drawing you relentlessly inwards and onwards. Easily the best game I have ever played on the 360, Dark Souls is like a digital nightmare where, sometimes, jut often enough, you figure out how to master and crush the demons.… Expand

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I waited until I could fully digest the game to give it a review. Rather than a knee jerk review based on the sense of adoration I've felt for the game since the start or the frustration that some of the levels provide I wanted to give it a fair shake. After fully playing the game I feel it was an adventure well worth taking. On one hand I don't think it is harder than Demon's Souls, but easier at points thanks to the well thought out Bonfire system. Later in the game, however, there is one area (Tomb of Giants) that is utterly frustrating. Having to swap out a shield for a lantern in a tomb filled with giant skeletons that deal quite a bit of damage is just sadistic. This is the only portion of the game that I felt could have been designed better.

The graphics are improved upon and the world is a pleasure to explore. The overall design of the world reminded me of the intertwining levels of a Metroid or Castlevania game. In Blighttown I did notice a considerable frame rate drop however. It didn't kill the momentum, but it was frustrating when having to fend off numerous and annoying mosquitoes.

The controls still feel just as tight as in Demon's Souls. I never had a problem with the combat mechanics. The targeting option is still just as finicky though sometimes leading me to my own doom much the same as it did in Demon's Souls. After plenty of practice with it you should be fine, but it can lead to disappointing deaths especially in areas where you are in combat on very small ledges.

All that being said I enjoyed my time with the game quite a bit. Between the wonderfully designed world to the myriad of combat options I had a blast finding a combination of weapons and magic that suited my play style. There are a few sections of the game that stand out as some of the most gorgeous and rewarding levels in any game let alone any released this year. Some people may fault the game for it's minimalist approach to preparing you for the challenge lying ahead, but that's where the fantastic Dark Souls community comes in. Much as I did for Demon's Souls when I reached a point I could not figure out for the life of me I went to find the answer online and I found it with the help of other intrepid Dark Souls players. While for most gamers this may be considered a travesty because I found answers for my questions outside the game understand that this is not the same type of game most people have grown accustomed to recently. There are no arrows pointing you to your next objective. No minimap with little icons for all the npcs. And certainly no little exclamation points above their heads for new quests. It's a breath of fresh air in an industry catering to the masses by holding your hand throughout the entire game. To some this may seem like a reversion to an older state of gaming, but it is one I welcome as most games move toward a very short and easy campaign sacrificed in the name of monotonous multiplayer. I'm already on my second play through and I'm still not bored. I can't wait to see what From Software has in store for us next.… Expand