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

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

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

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

Dark Souls is the BEST RPG GAME THIS GEN!!! the only reason some people hate it is becasue its Hard.. Otherwise its a really great and fun game. You MUST by it if you have a PS3 or Xbox 360

Well, having never played Demon Souls the difficulty of Dark Soul's was initially a shock. However one of the main things I had heard about Demon Souls was that if you died it was through fault of your own, not thinking out something before you acted. There does seem to be quite a few times in Dark souls where this still holds true but there seems to be a bit of artificial difficulty in this game such as One Hit AoE KOs purposely distancing bonfires far from certain points so the player will have to keep travelling things like that deliberately put in to frustrate the player and waste their time making the game longer and "harder". Overall though I found Dark soul's to be quite a fun game especially after killing a boss that has been kicking your ass over and over. There's something about Dark Soul's though, no matter how many times I got so angry and quit the game 10 minutes later I'd be back playing it determined it wasn't going to beat me. There are very very few games I've quit this much and came back to play. Aside from the odd moments in the game that seem to have been designed specifically to piss you off as much as possible dark souls is a great game with a lot of different play styles and great graphics. Although a lot of the story and dialogue seems to be lost unless you make an effort to patch it together yourself by talking to NPC's. I really enjoyed my time playing dark souls and will more than likely play it through several more times when i get the chance. A must buy for any one who likes a challenge.… Expand

Great game, it is very fun and challenging. I only gave it an 8 because the graphics engine is far from perfected. Water and stair steps significantly drop frame rates. There's also an infinite soul glitch that makes the game lose its value due to over powering your character. Luckily, the glitch is only possible if you KNOW what you're getting into. Another major turn off was that New Game+ lacked new items and souls. There are no "upgraded" loot, just the same loot as last play through. All and all its a GREAT game, but only worth about 100 hours of play.… Expand

This game is simply not worth playing. it contains a decent amount of flaws, such as, the lack of multiplayer and co-op as the devs have promised that it would be included, you are unable to change your difficulty and the character creation is horrible. there is no beauty in this game so if you want a dead or broken game with horrible voice acting, then this game is for you.

An absolutely amazing game. Everything from Demon's Souls except done better....well almost everything. I can't agree with Bandai's decision to use a lobby based MP system, makes trying to play with friends near impossible to do, but nonetheless the game is incredibly, the story, while limited still leaves you with enough that it can leave it to your imagination to make it even more compelling. 8/10, with MP being what I really wanted to play it for Dark Souls still delivered everything I wanted from it. Make more amazing games From Software, I look forward to Armored Core 5… Expand

Are you ready to die? Are you ready to throw your controller across the room in nothing but pure frustration? Dark souls is the game for you! The game has a dark fantasy like setting and does good things for the general feel of the game. As I mentioned before, the game can be frustrating at times. Some enemies are quite hard to kill, and it only makes it harder when you're ganged up on by 4 or 5 of them you didn't even see coming. The game can feel cheap at times, the game can feel unfair and unforgiving too, but this is where it draws its sense of accomplishment from. Believe me when I say nothing feels better then FINALLY beating that boss you've been trying for the last hour, or figuring out how to bypass a group of enemies you can't kill on your own. The game has some cool online features too. If you're connected to the PSN while playing (or XBL for xbox) You'll see blood splatters on the floor, going up to these and pressing the action button will show you the last few moments of another persons death. These short moments can sometimes be the key to getting past an area you've never been to before. in addition to these blood spots, players can leave messages on the ground for other players to see. This again is also very very helpful, sometimes you'll be given a warning of a super tough enemy ahead, and other times you'll be told where a secrete passage is. But try and take them with a grain of salt, if a message says "jump off cliff" Chances are its somebody playing a joke on you. the third online feature is that players are able to invade and and be summoned to other players worlds. when a player invade you then fight them, the winner gets the other players souls and some humanity. You can also summon other players to help you with boss fights or difficult areas. You don't necessarily HAVE to be invaded, for these things to happen you have to be in human form, and you can play much of the game in non-human form to avoid being invaded. You'll still see the messages/blood on the floor when playing in non-human form too, so if you really don't want to deal with losing your souls and humanity, playing in non-human form is an option. Its overall a very fun game, I recommend it for anyone after a challenge but keep in mind it can mess with you at times.… Collapse

I completed this game and decided i should review it based on my opinion. having played demon souls i was aware of the level of difficulty prior and it did not let me down the fights were fun as you learn how enemies fight and the best tactic to counter them and take them down. The bosses were well designed apart from 3 the asylum boss stray demon and the fire version these seemed as the designers had run out of ideas and added the same boss with an increased difficulty and changed the design slightly. The gamepplay was brilliant i loved the feel of the different weapons and they felt like they had real weight to them and its the same with the armour which forced you to accomodate your gameplay to the choice of weapon and armour you used. another downside was i felt that some of the deaths that occur was cheap compared to demon souls, it was almost as if the game was making sure you perished. before people make the purcahse they should realise that some grinding is needed however it is possible to complete this game without leveling up it just takes alot of patience. After finishing this i tried to play skyrim which i cant get into as it just seems a little bit to easy and i am aware that you can raise difficulty levels, this game is currently my game of the year, and despite some flaws it is still a very good game, now just waiting for the patch to improve the co-op experience… Expand

Good game, but the cheap deaths is a very negative aspect to this game, and there's a lot of it. The story is not as good as Dark Souls and the absence of a central "Nexus" also ruins this game for me. I feel that the bosses are also not as memorable as Dark Souls. Another negative thing is that the game is full of people who spam "soul" glitches to reach levels that are far too high (300-700) to even challenge against when you are in certain covenants such as the Darkmoon covenant.… Expand

Blighttown... Just **** blighttown. Oh god the problems start showing up there faster then i have ever seen in a game. Blighttown is one of the WORST areas i have ever seen in any video game. 1. When you first get to the first bonfire (on the bridge) You are never getting out of blighttown... all it is, is **** platform after platform after platform, with ladders that you have no clue where they go. And if you didn't bring enough **** for curing toxic, or poison, YOU ARE **** "Oh hey this might be the way out *Fall* FFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU" 2. The camera becomes an enemy in this part as it will **** you up any chance it gets. 3. You will fall off tons of platforms when fighting. 4. One way this game try's to be harder then demon souls is by making you fight 2-3 guys at once, well here you're in very tight spaces, with little room to move, and you have to fight A gaint fat **** and some troll like thing. and you will fall off. 5. I get people like the whole "figure it out you'reself" but here I JUST WANT TO GET OUT TO BUY CURES FOR TOXIC! but i can't cause blighttown is so badly made.… Expand

It's a tricky game. It truely is. But it's not too hard. I have red too many reviews telling this game is too hard. It's not. You just have to use some common sense to approach each situation and learn from your mistakes. If you are new to video games in general this may not be the best starting game but it is doable. Even a bad player can complete the game with help of some more experienced players.
The way different stats are displayed in Dark Souls is a bit confusing in the beginning and it takes some time to get used to. The game doesn't do very good job explaining what different attributes mean. Things like damage scaling, bleed, divine and occult damage and critical hits are never explained. That is left for you to figure out. Some use of wiki is adviced to clear those things out. Once you get the hang of those you start liking the presentation.
Dark Souls has also multiplayer aspects to it. Players can leave messages to help each other or to troll other players. This system is only needed during the first playthrough since you already know everything in new game+. The summoning and invading system is a great concept and a lot of fun. Nothing beats summoning 2 decend players to beat a difficult boss down after several attempts. Invading and PvPing is also a lot of fun. It's cool to test your skills and your build against other players. Most fights start with players politely bowing to each other. This reflects the amazing community Dark Souls has. The lore in Dark Souls incredibly epic and interesting. It is by far my favorite. The sad part is that many players completely miss the whole story. The setting is told in 4 minute long intro cinematic and the story progresses by listening to NPCs. A lot of background in the story are told in item descriptions which is a bit odd. Not only is the gameplay hard but the story is as well. It's annoying to read short pieces of text just to get the story. The best thing in my opinion in this game is the vertical level design and connectivity. They didn't just make a flat map with different areas like in skyrim for example. Everything is well thought out and the feeling blows your mind when you realize that the end of the first area is directly above the starting area. Even though most of the environment is build or it otherwise makes you run in pipe-ish areas there are still several ways to get from point A to point B and that is amazing.
SUMMARY: To sum this all up I'd say that the positives are: level design, lore, challenge, community and unique multiplayer aspect only shared by the previous Souls game Demon's Souls.
Negatives are: Beginner unfriendly stat presentation, lacking explanation of various game mechanics and unnecessarily well hidden story.
I love this game. 60+ hours in and enjoying every second of my adventure. It's always a challenge.… Expand

From Software delivers another gloriously dark fantasy gem with Dark Souls. It may not be quite as impactful as Demon's Souls but this game is bigger and features a more accessible interface and outlook. Dark Souls also has more to offer on the multiplayer front, introducing Covenants you can join to help or hinder your fellow online adventurers. What remains the same is the punishing difficulty, once again it is possible for any enemy to kill you if you let your guard down for even a second, regardless of character level. But with great challenge comes greater rewards and Dark Souls is immensely satisfying when you kill a huge boss, or save someone in co-op. A highly recommendable and engrossing world to explore and conquer in your own unique way.… Expand

To anyone that loves a good hardcore challenge, Dark Souls is the game for you, entering yourself a sadistic world where enemies are unforgiving and show no mercy to kill. The story line has an interesting detail to it, the combat mechanics is for people to learn, when you die, you lose some of you humanity and turns you into an undead, you can also try and assess the enemies location, find what weapon is best for killing them and how to approach them. From Software wanted to make a game which is really really hard for people, they have made it difficult for people because they didn't want to make a game which is too easy for people to play, it has 100 hours of gameplay and includes multiplayer, multiplayer can't be chosen, if you are signed in to PSN or SEN (they are the same thing, only named differently) you will have access to play with others, other players are phantoms, so they are with you, only they are a phantom. You can have an option to either help each other out on a hard situation and you can both become rewarded or you could become as sadistic as the NPC's and you could raid another person's session and kill the players that are there, you could become rewarded with a Black Phantom Soul, when you kill the player, they would try to strike you back, before you leave, make sure you forgive yourself from kill the player by talking to the person you see (not the player, the NPC character), if you struggle, there is a good advantage of having a PSN or SEN, you can write messages to others from your game, these messages can be read as advice and tutorials, you could rate these messages to recommend to others by rating them. Overall if you have money that you saved up and you want to get a RPG for the PS3, Dark Souls is recommended for you. And to say it once more, they have made it hard on purpose.… Expand

Dark Souls is one of the most misunderstood games of this generation, reported by the media as being one of the most difficult games of all time, a game whose difficulty harks back to the 8-bit era of video games. These statements I have a hard time agreeing with. Does Dark Souls give you a limited number of lives? No. If you die right after finding that Sword of Awesome, do you lose it? No. You do lose your souls, of course, but this is not permanent! You merely have to progress to the same point again to retrieve them. You did it once, didn't you? Now do it again. Simple! No, Dark Souls cannot be summed up simply with the word "difficult". It can be a testing game, for sure. To master Dark Souls requires the one virtue many gamers seem not to possess: patience. Patience to carefully traverse the world, navigating past the seemingly weak creatures while not allowing your frustrations to get the better of you. Patience to replay the segment you played just a few minutes before. Patience not to rush, to always keep your shield raised, and strike when your opponent is off guard. Patience. You must learn patience! If you're the controller-throwing type, this game might not be for you. But it is not the game's difficulty that is your enemy, it is yourself. There are some moments that might seem unfair, but these are almost always one-off occurrences. For example, the dragon that fire-bombs the bridge after you defeat the Taurus Demon - this will almost certainly kill every player's first time here, but it only happens once. When you return to collect your souls, the dragon does not attack again. The poison dart blowers in Blighttown? Once dead they never respawn, even if you rest at a bonfire. Same goes for the infamous pair of archers in Anor Londo. Take them down once and the area is forever yours (at least until New Game+). Sure, there are some bugs and frame-rate issues, but Dark Souls is not unplayable for them, as some might have you believe. Why do I like this game? Because Dark Souls has given me the most memorable game experience of this generation. I revelled in the intense atmosphere, tip-toeing through dungeons and sewers with my shield raised, invading others' worlds and being invaded. I enjoyed the time I spent helping other players defeat their current area boss. The time I spent pouring over weapon upgrade statistics at the various Dark Souls wiki sites, and tweeting incessantly about my latest victory, and when it was all over, all I wanted to do was start all over and do it again. 10/10.… Expand

(8.5 if I could) This game is a perfect example of what developers need to aim for: -A difficult game that requires thinking. -Actions that have consequences that effect the rest of your play through. -Suspense and a lingering unknown of what's behind the next corner. -A sequel that doesn't **** all over the predecessor Dark Souls took these three points and executed it almost perfectly. I have a few problems with the game though:
-Lack of dialogue
-Lack of story telling elements
-FPS drops pretty often

If you love tough and addicting game play with no true focus on story and characters, this is the game for you. Although, I would avoid this game if you are seeking a story telling adventure. Make sure to bookmark the Dark Souls Wiki, you're going to need it.… Expand

Dark souls is my personal game of 2011, superb combat, deeply immersive environments, singular online functionality more then outshine its sometimes inconsistent technicals. Exploration and challenging combat in this dark medieval setting is not to be missed.

First to note, DO NOT GET THIS GAME IF YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU'RE IN FOR. This game is already established to be astoundingly difficult, and rightfully so, it can claim to be one of the most difficult games in modern era gaming. Someone who is looking for a good time, a good story or just to have fun will put this game down after just a few hours. The beginning of the game is like running into a brick wall, but after you get to the first bell ringing, the game begins to open up to become a much larger, much more enjoyable RPG. The combat is one of the most solid, fluid and challengingly simple battle systems I've seen on an action RPG. The careful micromanagement of your health, your stamina. And finding the right window to parry, block, attack and dodge is probably one of the most engaging things you could do. Every enemy is unique, and has their own little quirk that's key to taking them down as gracefully as possible. The bonfire system is a unique aspect, though also a somewhat frustrating one at the same time. Giving you checkpoints you head to so you could level up, and manage your items to prepare for the next step. Currency and experience is shared in a total pool listed under "souls" and while an interesting aspect. Time and time again you do need to see yourself grind to get a couple of your stats up high enough, if it's just to wear new and better weapons or equipment, get a new spell, or just get a small advantage against your adversaries. While more skillful players can progress while keeping grinding to a minimum. Less skilled players will be found doing this because it has less risk than going up against a powerful enemy, getting splattered on the ground somewhere and being forced to start over, going back to pick up the pieces of all your lost experience and coin.

The graphics? They're pretty good for a modern game, but to call them great or even the best would mark me as a liar. The facial models are horrible. God awful. When you're making your character. You have to spend time shaping their face and it makes me cringe about how deep into the uncanny valley these models sink into. The environment is both varied yet slightly repetitive. The above ground segments and level design is just brilliant. Making it feel like you're going forward, yet when you find a new path, it leads to a familiar area. It feels extremely well planned and very well thought out. Though at other times you'll just wonder how big this giant sewer you're in actually is as you spend time in it for hours and hours on end. The enemies in the game are.. well how do I put it? They can beat your ass. Every single enemy can take you out in just a few good hits, even with you wearing solid armor. They never let up OR go easy on you. You'll need your A game at all times to even consider beating them every time. If you get lazy or tired, these enemies you fought before can get the best of you. Making you rather angry you died to something you've beaten before. The boss battles are obviously both the most exhilarating aspect of this game, when the epic music begins to swell as you behold your behemoth sized foe, tossing about in an ever lasting game of david vs goliath. You with your slingshot, taking every chance you have at dealing a solid hit. It's just pulse pounding once you get past the 2 or 3 times they end up crushing you like a bug. If you do extra well, you even get special items.

PVP is just a blast to play sometimes. When someone invades your game and you spend minutes going toe to toe to see who is really best. Fighting off another person just made me smile in joy afterward. After hours of frustration for minutes of epic reward. This game is great but it still has a few flaws. It doesn't explain enough for people not familiar with this game type. The controls are slightly awkward to handle, and can be a bit clunky before you master them. It can piss you off at times with the fact it always has a brand spanking new way to piss you off. And because it clocks in at over 50 hours of you doing THE BARE MINIMUM during your first run. It can feel like you're making no progress for hours on end of repetitive combat. The plot is nonexistent, and made me disappointed they did not improve on the meat of the game, the force that drives you to set onward, a hope for progression and a feeling of closure that isn't there. Without the plot, it feels like there's no journey, just one big awesome dungeon crawl and the quest to find more loot. You'll find yourself here for hours as you try new and different characters, builds and equipment, so it has plenty of replay value on it as well.

Now you are asking yourself, Should I buy this game? My question is, why shouldn't you? One day this game will be seen as a classic, because it should be. I love it even if it hates me.

So yeah, go out there and get it if you found this review convincing!… Expand

In a generation of **** this diamond shines bright. Bursting with creativity & viscerally satisfying combat Dark Souls will keep u hooked. I wish more games were like this. Rich in atmosphere & with a diverse range of magic (fire, poison, protection etc), diverse range of weapons (swords, meat clevers, axes, bows u name it!), property enhancing rings, armour, shields, locations (ranging from castles to blood curdling poisonous swamps, ghostowns) all makes for the definitive RPG. Its a gorgeous dark fantasy RPG that requires patience & rewards that patience with intriguing new scenery & items. Biased be thy name, a 10 this shall gain ^^.… Expand

This game is as hard as it is amazing. Awesome and deep combat, great bosses, a great art style and very, very rewarding. Difficulty may turn some people off, and the camera can be annoying at times. Everybody looking for a challenge should play this.

In my opinion Dark Souls is best RPG ever made its challenging and there is much to explore. Like many games in these days are pretty short and easy Dark Souls is pretty long if you dont know what to do and its hard. I think this game is easier than Demon's Souls but that is just in my opinion . There are many weapons to choose from and many armor sets. I really hope next Souls game is even HARDER and it makes you more frustrated.… Expand

this is best game ever i would like to play it once finish all off design so cool action so great i would get stucked into game with action design i hope this game will get another game like these

Dark Souls is a game for people that love a challenge. This game throws you into the fray with JUST enough tutorial so you know how to play the game mechanically, but still approach every corner with absolute horror and fright. The game's difficulty ramps up perfectly throughout the game, so that the more tricks and nuances you learn, the more the game throws at you and demands improvement. It's refreshing to see a developer make the game they want in today's game industry, rather than rehash games that did well before or make something mind-grudgingly easy for the kids. This game has, hands down, the most perfectly done multiplayer I have ever seen in a video game. I played this entire game with a massive nerd boner. Must-play.… Expand

Dark Souls is a fantasticly deep, brilliantly designed game. It is difficult, but if you've played Demon's Souls you should have no problems as it is no more difficult. The clear best part of the game is the combat. The sheer depth of the combat in Dark Souls is incredible. Want to wear heavy armor and wield massive hammers and axes? They have that, but you'll be sacrificing speed and mobility for it. How about an assassin who backstabs his foes into submission? You can do that to. The frame rate issues have been well documented, but they are in no means game breaking. I had them occur in area only, and only when fighting one enemy (Blightown, giant bug things). Everywhere else in the game ran flawlessly, and looked beautiful.… Expand

one of the most challenging games I play but well worth the time I put in Dark souls is one of the best game out there you die during the first few hours of the game but you steady get better until does enemy that gave you a challenge are a piece of cake but mess up and you will be right back to the bonefie

My favorite game of 2011. I've invested more time in this than BF3, CODMW3, and Skyrim combined. I don't know what it is about this game that I love, the difficulty, the dark environments, or all the insane armor and equipment combinations and spells that there are. Def pick this game up if you've got lots of free time and love a challenge.

It's been a long time since a game drew me in and made me want to play for hours, days, weeks...you get the point. FROM renewed my faith in gaming and I hope other developers are taking notes.

This game is a lot of fun and it has a great combat system. The boss fights are epic, you will easily find yourself playing this for dozens of hours. On the other hand, the controls feel unresponsive at times and the game has some camera problems, specially during boss battles.

Pros:
It is open world, with roughly equal graphics and frame rate to Skyrim. However, Dark Souls has no load screens. It's all seemless. Characters are graphically worse than Skyrim, but lighting and textures are generally better. LOD is much better in Dark Souls. Never any pop-in anywhere.

The characters are all killable, even the important ones. Some people might consider this a con, but I prefer realistic consequences and choices. It adds a new sense of urgency, caring, and caution that most games don't have. Voice acting is consistently good, and most npcs have informal, subtle quests attached.

There are multiple endings, but the chocies that lead you to the endings are hard to find and complex. There is both co-op and pvp online. Both modes are very fun, and take place in the seemless open world.

Variety- Dark Souls has a lot of it. Everything is unique. There are some very breathtaking set pieces, but everywhere in the game is a pleasure to look at in art direction and detail. Nothing is copy-pasted. Hidden areas- there are a lot of them, and they add replayability to the game, and stop backtracking from getting stale.

Unique loot- Most weapons and armor sets in the game are unique, and very hard to get. This makes getting things feel very rewarding. Much of the gear also has interesting special affects. For example, the heavy attack of the gargoyle tail ax makes the blade curve in 360 degrees all the way around your character.

Covenants- Basically online guilds that you can join (if you can find them in their hidden areas), they offer unique equipment and abilities in exchange for your services. Their special abilities are amazing. For example, one of them lets become a weird dragon-human hybrid thing and breath fire.

Crafting- you can craft and upgrade many weapons along branching upgrade trees using a variety of items which you can find, or take off of dead enemies. Multiple styles of play- You can play as a melee character, an archer, assassin, mage, etc. The weapons and spells are all very unique. Dual wield is possible. Inversely, you can choose to use a one-handed weapon in two hands to improve its affectiveness. You can block or dodge as well- blocking is useful for tanks, dodging more so for lighter characters.

No level restrictions- some items require you to have certain stats to use them well, but no items have actual level restrictions. If you get it, you can use it.

Realistic equip burden- Equipping heavy items without sufficiently high strength will slow all of your actions down progressively more, making it harder to run and dodge if you're wearing a ton of things.

Banking items- you can bank as many items as you want thanks to unlimited storage at bonfires. All bonfire storage areas are linked, so you can access anything from any bonfire.

No glitches- never, in all my time playing Dark Souls, have I seen a gltich. Apparently there were a few at first, but they got patched out in about a day after release.

No memory leaks- you can play for countless hours, and your frame rate will not lower due to memory leaks. Nice soundtrack- Music is rare in Dark Souls, but the music that there is is well-composed and never annoying. It conveys the intended moods perfectly. Great atmosphere- Tons of sound effects, small details, consistent colors, a great and unified art direction, and great lighting, and fluid animations on everything make the world seem vibrant and alive, even when everything is dead or trying to make you dead. :P

It's a long game- On average, it takes 80 hours to complete, but completionists may spend upwards of 120 hours on each playthrough, and it's not possible to get all the content on one playthrough, because some choices open up some areas or items and close others. New game+ :You keep all your level ups and items, and restart the story from the beginning as many times as you want. Enemy variety- there are tons of different enemy types- far more than in any competing rpg. All of them require different strategies to beat.

Optional bosses- Eight of the game's many bosses are optional, and some will even help you as long as the correct choices are made, but the game never tells you how to get out of fighting them. Neutral (Could be good, could be bad)

No "real" quests- There are quests in Dark Souls, but none of them are journalized, so many people think there are none. You'll have to remember things, or write them down. Quests are very informal- they're more of requests from npcs than anything else. However, they are epic.

No map- There is no map for Dark Souls. This would be a con, excepts, everything is so unique and the LOD is so good, you never get lost anyway. The game is VERY difficult, but never unfair.

Cons:

Pvp is quite laggy. (Co-op is fine.)… Expand

One of my favorite games of all time. Favorite game this generation. This game is masterful. One of the best gaming experiences that will be remembered for a lifetime.

My first (westernized) Japanese-published game, and I was completely blown away. After having accepted my fate of countless deaths due to clever traps, incredibly exciting bosses and monsters in general, I understood the world that is Dark Souls. This game will test you, and punish you for mistakes. You're going to be both laughing and crying as a result of the many, many deaths, but it's all apart of the process.
This game is really a gem, with choices that MATTER, being final and in many cases irreversible, and a multiplayer system that's completely different from what I was used to, but still fun and creative, allowing for both cooperative play and PvP.

I bought this game purely because of the fact that it had been described as the "hardest video game" (or at least the spiritual successor to just that), and I have NOT been disappointed!

I had to take one score-point off the perfect ten, because of the poor performance in Blight Town, which was a bit of an annoyance.… Expand

Don't let this game's reputation for "extreme difficulty" discourage you! I've never been a fan of very difficult games, but Dark Souls is one of the best PS3 purchases I've ever made. The combat is reactive and fun, but this is the sort of game where offense really isn't the best defence -- if you don't keep your shield up or dodge an incoming attack, there's no forgiveness. Even standard minions might take you down a few times, but the feeling of mastery you get in this game is rarely found in others. As others have stated, you do feel genuine pride after taking down some of the harder bosses (but don't worry, they're not all that daunting).

On the aesthetical side, the graphics and creature/weapon/stage design are all top grade. The story of the game is told with little direct exposition, but fits well in the game world which really does feel very solid.

My first playthrough took me close to 40 hours, most of which was exploration and doing optional side bosses. It's definitely doable in far less time, but there's so much well-designed content and fun little quirks in this game that putting in some extra hours is definitely worthwhile.… Expand

I would prefer to give this game an 8.5. Great game. Love the multi-player component to it. It seemed more difficult than its predecessor, Demon Souls, to summon people however. I love that the story line was simple, diverse enemies and the look and feel of the game.

It's really, really good. Combat extremely hard, but incredibly satisfying; parry repast takes a lot of practice, but once you have it down, nothing makes you feel more suav. Loads of classes for easy customisation, you can truly be whatever you want! Bosses grotesque and huge, again very, very difficult, but each death spurs you on to try again (last boss took about 8 tries)! Armour looks incredible, as do high-end weapons, amazing graphics, fantastic atmosphere, and the boss soundtracks are second to none. Just watch out for the four kings!… Expand

First of all i have to say that the story is not that good or epic. But the game play and the atmosphere is epic. First you have no clue where to go or what to do. No NPC that says go there kill X come back and then bla bla. You have all the choice's to make. The fight system is skill based so its very rewarding for skilled players and very punishing for lesser skilled people, but you get into it really quick. All in all its very good game for people who like this genre.… Expand

First things first this game is as difficult as people have been saying but never in my life have i found a rpg or even game quite like this not only i don't rage every time i die i learn from my mistake and overcome like at the start a powerful armoured knight was guarding something i died going head on but then i found out if i lure him to the building with the ladders i could safely bombard him with firebombs and arrows i am loving this game so far and recommend this as a must buy for rpg enthusiast's or gamers who like a challenge… Expand

This game is a HARD 10, there is no other series like the souls series in terms of smart, connected level design, brooding ambiance, and consistent controls. I cannot stress the quality of the controls enough, they are absolutely perfect. This is a game that makes no concessions for BAD PLAYERS. Repeat, if you are a bad player who has been spoiled by the glut of hand-holding, cooing sissy games that let you save anywhere without any consequences whatsoever, then GO AWAY. I wish I could stuff you all into a box and launch you into the sun, unfortunately that box would have to be **** huge considering that the majority of gamers seem to consist of these sissy man-children.

This game takes PATIENCE. There is no sprinting through levels, jumping around like a ****ing idiot collecting rings or coins or whatever, if you want to play one of those games, take your pick of the ump-dillion sonic and mario clones out there, this is a game for real people, this game will kick each and every poser's ass until they cry about it on metacritic about why they are such bad players.

NOTE: In the beginning, you WILL suck at this game, but if you are smart, you can get up to speed in just a few hours of play. It is extremely helpful to watch a few videos on how experienced dark souls players play the game. Remember, patience is the key. When traversing a new area, WALK. Dont sprint like an idiot, there could be curse basilisks around the corner or some other variety of ungodly horror's waiting to eat your souls.

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm busy finding out what lurks within the depths of this dark tomb.… Expand

An amazing game, I've put in at least 500 hours into multiple different character builds, there is so much to do, so many little things to see, and so many different character builds to master..
Although the Pvp is little broken, it's still great if you find a fair fight..
Pve offers much more in the way of community play, item trading, Ng+ and regular game cross over (beware)..
I've got plenty of games, but this one keeps bringing me back to play it over and over again..… Expand

This game is definitely not for everyone. It's hard, it's unforgiving but i like every minutes of it ! The boss fight are all epic and challenging and you'll keep wanting for more. One of my greatest PS3 game.

To say the least, get the combat of a action game with a few neat innovations, and without the combos. Get the character creation, customization and limitation, with every point counting from a tactical RPG.
Get the world a large book series, complete with hidden intricacies, plots and characters and make people read between the lines to find out more. Then mash them together and remove a tutorial. Take the hardest difficult, put it on steroids then repeat a few times. Prepare to die.
This game then takes what a action RPG should be, and makes it perfect. Every fight, whether against a dragon, knight or un-dead feels challenging and worthwhile. Combat is about combining precision, tactics and execution. Lure out enemies so you don't get over whelmed, bunch them together for a fireball, all while watching your supply of potions and spells decrease. You shape your character how you want, with the story even offering flexibility its progression, as well as about 10 different stats to focus on for development (in comparison to certain RPG's with 2-3 development stats).
But there's the beauty of the game. As you traverse the beautifully crafted areas of the world, you play as you character. And that's what makes it satisfying when you kill a normal enemy, sub-bosses releasing great happiness. After your character figures out how to beat a boss after dying to them a bazillion times you receive a sense of satisfaction and ecstasy that no other game can provide. And that's why you play dark souls.… Expand

I played this game and hated it the first time I played it, then the second time, then the third and even fourth time. But when i played a fifth time it got a little better. It isn't so hard to get used to the controls even if they do suck so bad they want to make your face explode. I did yell "What the FREAK!!!" quite a few times when I died from pure lack of good controls, and I did hate the fact that the pretty backgrounds were just that, pretty backgrounds. The internet play sucked the story line sucked, but once you got used to it, it was ok. Definitely not my favorite game though. Ive played worse. What made me the most angry was that you couldn't pause it. It just expects you to play forever. Put the game back in and if it is still too hard to get used to a new game play style then you are a noob.… Expand

(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

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

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

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

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.

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

It's hard for a sequel to be better than the original but Dark Souls does. The open world set up is different than Demon's Souls but I actually found that to be a better experience. Bosses are just as difficult, and I would have to say much more challenging. Anybody who calls themselves a gamer needs to at least give it a shot.

Extremely hard and frustrating yet addictive and fun. It is a much better game then skyrim.

I found the Visuals to be a bit weak compared to games released in the same time, stuff breaks, blood flows & characters are shiny & detailed but that's about it. but all the other aspects of the game are very very good indeed. it's fun, challenging, satisfying & addictive

The unfortunate trend of sequel goes as follows; do exactly what you did in the first only do it in instalments and pad it out with features that will only serve to attract additional customers. Yes dear readers, the cold hard truth is that Dark Souls isn't anything near as gratifying or as enjoyable as its predecessor. Avoid the panic button however, since it is still quite easily one of the best RPGs we will see for another few years. The co-op component has been tweaked unacceptability so, the difficultly of the previous game has been explored and then ultimately abandoned in favour of magical camp sites and replenish-able health potions and perhaps worse the developer has refused to take a single serious step forward with the core mechanics so beloved in the original. Still a great game, just a very unsatisfactory sequel.… Expand

Dark Souls is a game that doesn't really make much sense, it has a lot of glaring problems and it's only advertised feature is that it will actively punish you for playing it. That alone speaks volumes about the game itself, which is both a nightmare to enjoy and wrap your head around. Playing the game is the same as playing any run of the mill MMORPG, with monsters running at you single file when you approach them and flailing wildly whenever you're in attacking range. The ranged enemies don't try to get a better vantage point when you're behind a wall, instead choosing to fire at the wall that you're standing behind. Many of the trash monsters in the game have one hit kill attacks that they will use as often as possible and the bosses seemingly lack this feature, making them the easiest things in the game to fight. The last boss in particular is a walk in the park. All in all, the game does punish you for playing it and you will die a lot, but the difficulty of the game is really only in line with how much time you intend on investing in farming titanite or souls to advance your character. The online component of the game is peer to peer, meaning much of the things rife in other games, such as laggers, exploiters and hackers, run rampant here as well. Overall, if you're considering buying the game to bring back nostalgia from the games of old, this is the opposite of the game you're looking for. If you're looking for a game that punishes you at every turn, there are free games on the internet that are much more fun and challenging. If you're looking for a difficult role playing game, I'd advise you to get a guide, as there is absolutely no feature documentation in game or the manual. I'm giving the game a five if only for the fact the trophies are easy to acquire and it does tend to be interesting at certain points. However the online and core gameplay is just too tedious to enjoy and reviewing this as a single player experience with intermittent online, there's not enough here unless you want to platinum the game.… Expand

As discussed before me, i can see this not being a game for everyone. The best advice that i can give is that you are meant to die, and it is about learning and accomplishing. You will not be able to take 50 hits before you go down, expecting your armour to take the flack, no no no, this is a game about being accurate and timing your moves correctly. Rushing through will get you killed quite quickly, even by the easier enemies. Every battle could be your last, and you dont want to loose those souls that you've collected! The areas in the game are astonishing, be vastly different from the last and the bosses and truely unique. As per the IGN review, this game gets in to your head, and it really does. I have not thought about a game when away from my console for a fair few years now, and dark souls will do that to you... if you give it a chance … Expand

A game that demands a lot out of, but doesn't really give you this sense of reward people keep yapping on about. It's highly recommend that you play Demon Souls first, seeing how the tutorial isn't really that helpful or good here, which it should be, seeing how this isn't a game that suppose to hold your hand at all, and suppose to be hard, which it is. There are also a lot of cheap, and harder enemies across the board now, and you will die a lot, which is the point of the game (trial and error). And the boss battles can be incredibly hard, if you don't know the strategy behind defeating them, or you can simply keep dying, and running back until you get it right, and this is of coarse with enemies you previously kill respawning back, Fun! The graphics have improve a bit, but not to much. There still no worth while story, which isn't the selling point with these games. And the music is fantastic, and better than the first.

Overall I did beat DS (without soul glitching), and just didn't really fun with this game. DS1 felt right, this DS is pushing you to the limit of frustration, which isn't for me. If you love intense challenges, and constantly getting beat down, with no advantages insight then this is for you. You'll get you money worth if this is your cup of tea.… Expand

Good game but you better be prepared to die alot. This game has a huge difficulty right from the start and bosses and enemies are tough. You might feel huge frustration while playing this game but if you can overcome that, then this is easily one of the most best games to ps3.

I had this game for 14 months, in that time I played it on and off for 8 hours total game time. Something kept bringing me back to it, but 30 mins into a session I would rage quit without fail. Then I spent some time online and read every single last piece of advice on the game. Where do I find the best armor, where do I find a good starting weapon (drake sword), where is the first blacksmith (upgrade your starting weapon ASAP), how do I kill this dude... you get the idea.

I went back to it this weekend. On Friday evening Havel must have killed me 40 times, but eventually he fell :)
It's been a joy ever since, this is quite possibly the best game I've ever played. You just need to be patient and use your brain, read advice on the net and open your eyes while playing. And NEVER panic.

In the past I often felt that I would never get that feeling of power from this game. In something like Diablo 3 it is sooo easy to feel powerful, but that's because of your character and your gear, a blind monkey can play D3 if the character has good gear. The beauty of dark souls is that gear takes you only so far, it's your skill level (yes you on the couch fatty) that determines your success, and that is awesome.

I hardly die at all anymore, unless I'm facing off against a proper boss, the mini bosses don't even scare me.

The world design is fantastic, there is so much to explore in such a small area. The interface is terrible, but after a while you get things done very quickly, it's just not what we've come to expect from modern game interfaces.

The heavy feel that combat has to it is so addictive, I think that's what kept me coming back. How I wish Skyrim felt like this.

I love this game, but I don't recommend it to everyone. It's unforgiving if you are impatient or unwilling to learn from your mistakes. As stated earlier, it's your skill that makes you succeed, not your character stats or your gear. Sure, those things help, but you make the difference.… Expand

This game is NOT for a wide ranged audience. It is for loved true RPG fans. It has a detailed system of weapons spells and armour. Good graphics and a long winded campaign. It isn't a game for me, but for someone who likes RPGs and strategic massive open world games, it's a seller.

This game takes the difficulty and challenges in a very different level, although it's not good for some people, that find the idea of learning with your mistakes over and over again disturbing, the challenges offered can make many other people dive into the greatness that the game offers.It's nothing but a shame that not everyone can play it and enjoy it the same way, it's not a game for everyone, but it does a very good job entertaining those that are fit for it.… Expand

I love a good challenge in a video game, but this game is not a challenge. It's an attempt to drive you insane by making you feel like you're nothing. People argue that the extreme difficulty will make you feel satisfied when you beat a hard boss or a hard level, but I didn't feel satisfied once while playing this game. I did maybe for the first thirty seconds after beating a boss, but that didn't last long because you're forced into another hard level afterwards. The game isn't even fun, mainly because of its combat system and level system. When you level up, your stats are hardly even increased, and you need a lot of souls(currency) to level up. Let me add that once you die, all of your souls are gone, but you can get them back by going back to where you died. If you die again without getting your souls back, they're just gone forever and there's no way to get them back. I know that your equipment is more important than your stats, but to play the game and not die every five minutes you'll need some really good equipment, and that's not easy to find. The combat system is seriously among the worst that I've ever seen in any video game, and it gets really repetitive. Block, attack, block again, attack again, repeat. Progressing in this game is a nightmare, it's entirely composed of trial and error, which is a horrible way to make a game. Needless to say, with constant trial and error and constantly dying, the game is no fun at all. The online features are also bad and completely unnecessary, you can either summon someone to join your game, or someone will just join your game automatically and mess everything up for you. Being allowed to let someone else join your game to help you is a nice feature, but just having someone butting into your game without you wanting them is just a terrible decision, and I really can't stress that enough. They'll just try to kill you, and mess everything up. They'll most likely have the best equipment and kill you like nothing, like the game wasn't already terrible enough without that feature. As an attempt to make the game a little easier, the developers put in a feature where you can leave messages to help other people, but most of the time what the messages say isn't helpful at all. Most of the time the messages I saw said "praise the sun!" which isn't the slightest bit helpful. I also saw things like "jump" at an edge of a big drop. I also saw stupid things like "I did it!" in random places, none of those things are helpful at all. The game is also completely absent of a story. So to summarize, the game has an unfair, brutal difficulty, terrible combat, poor level system, bad and unnecessary online features, progression that consists entirely of trial and error, annoying messages, gameplay that just isn't fun, and a nonexistent story. The one online feature that actually works is letting other people into your game to help you, which is the only reason I gave it a 1 and not a 0. Dark Souls is possibly the most overrated game of this console generation.… Expand

I LOVE THIS GAME.. I'll admit, when I first bought this game, I got rid of it within days. I bought it a few more times and had the same outcome.. About a month ago I bought it once more.. I still died alot but I decided not to give up.. I just started progressing further and further with each win over an area or boss felt like a victory IN LIFE. This games is the most rewarding gaming experience I have ever experienced. If you are a VERY experienced gamer well honed in the art of defeat and overcoming that defeat this is the game for you. Its beautiful, sounds great and doesn't hold your hand one bit.… Expand

No doubt this is one of the best game I've ever played in a very long time.

But be ready to throw in at least 10+ hours before you could feel the beauty of it

Dark Souls is a true masterpiece, in my eyes the best game of this decade so far.
The game is notorious for it's difficulty, and a lot of people seem to down rate it just because they become frustrated whilst playing it. When playing Dark Souls, you need to be in a set of mind that the game is SUPPOSED to be difficult, in this game, clearing an area or beating a boss is a true accomplishment, it's something you worked hard to achieve... And whilst it is true that Dark Souls is very difficult at first, it is never unreasonably difficult, if you are dying on a boss, it's because you are doing something wrong, not because the game is too hard. Each boss requires a certain strategy, there's never an enemy that's a pushover. This is a game, where you need to use your brain to progress, the weakest enemies in the game can kill a character that's cleared the game with only a few strikes, but then that wouldn't happen, because you would have learned to evade them so well. It's a game where you're constantly forced to say, what if I tried this, or what if I dodged this way instead, till eventually you figure out the proper way to defeat an enemy or boss.
The difficulty in Dark Souls lies not in overwhelming enemy stats or bad balance, it lies in the level of skill required to play it; the game is perfectly balanced.… Expand

In my opinion as a gamer one of the best crafted games of all time... classic solid action/rpg gameplay with a slightly retro feel, inspired worlds, characters, and lore. Tough challenging gameplay which never feels cheap, repetitive, or unfair. Brilliant pacing, hidden boss encounters, awesome loot will keep you exploring. This is a game for the true gamers, there's a reason why this game is still top 10 most discussed games on GameFAQ's folks. That being said, this game isn't for everyone, to put it simply, this game is hard and requires good patient pacing to play effectively. If you die you're returned to the nearest bonfire you rested at,which acts as a minimalistic hub of sorts and allows you to access some of the games features like level up which aren't available while roaming, bonfires also restore HP and relieve most status ailments amongst other things. Catch is that resting at a bonfire resets the world around you, so all the monsters you just killed? They're back. Leveling up requires souls, which are collected throughout the world mostly by killing enemies and bosses, say you've accumulated 5,000 souls, you're ready to level up, but you can't until you reach a bonfire, say you lose before you reach a bonfire, you will be returned to the previously rested at bonfire with 0 souls and you must travel all the way back to where you died to retrieve your souls. If you die a 2nd time before retrieving your souls then they're gone forever. So as you can see, the game can be pretty darn grueling. The game punishes you for making mistakes and you might find yourself cussing up a storm once or twice (I know I did), but for those wiling to endure the trials and to anyone who likes being challenged and immersed- If you're ready for it, Dark Souls is ready for you.… Expand

This is the best game ever hands down! The difficult of this game remind me of what old school games in the 80s and 90s used to be like including Castlevania, Contra, Ninja Gaiden, etc. The people who gave this game a low score must be casual gamers that want every game to be easy like Call of Duty for example. This game may not be for everyone but it mostly for hardcore gamer like me, that want a challenge and the long length of the game and that are sick of modern games going water down and give us 4-6 hours single player length and getting rip off from 60$ games. This game has everything what hardcore gamer want. If you want a hard enemies, then you have it. If you want hard bosses, then you have it also. Struggling to see what items or weapons that is useful to you, then you have it. I love the dark atmosphere of this game. It make you feel like that there is no hope and everything want to kill you. After killing the boss that you have hard time on, it feel satisfies and rewarding. Anyone who never played Demon Souls like me, you haven't missed a thing but it take time to get used to the control and the game play. If your hardcore gamer like me who looking for a challenge, i would highly recommend to pick this up and also pick up the DLC of this game.… Expand

This game is not meant to hold your hand. There is a plethora of strategy and fun to be found in this game, even while you are trudging your way along bowels of the world. It's lonely, yet it's not - the co-op and pvp make you feel like there is always somebody else struggling along, and the boss fights are simply amazing. This game is all about survival, and if you do survive, the game rewards you and makes you feel like a true champion. Quite simply this is one of the best games ever.

Controls - 10
Story - 10 (if you can piece it together (check out EpicNameBro's vids on youtube))
Gameplay - 10 (tailored to your playstyle, 100%).… Expand

This game is so awesome! I love how this game is so brutal to noobs and it punishes you for not strategizing before a boss fight. Almost all the bosses are really fun to fight (not the Bed of Chaos). Theres heaps of cool items to collect. Every boss you kill rewards you greatly. The Lore is great if you ever look up the lore on youtube. This game can be really unpredictable. The graphics, landscape and detail is amazing. The NPCs have their own character and the decisions you make on how to approach things can effect the rest of your gameplay however the PVP is terrible. Most PVP in this game involves some sort of cheap tactic such as: Super OP Magic, Lagstabbing, Hacking and Ganking.… Expand

This is the absolute best RPG of this generation. Story the story is very interesting and deep, it isn't told to you, you have to discover it by yourself, which increases the replay value by a lot. gameplay absolutely amazing if I were to explain everything now it would take way too long. Graphics on an artistic view beautiful on a technical view ok. Sound voice acting is fine but nothing special but the music is just amazing from boss themes or just laying around a bonfire it's subtle and epic at the same time. Overall easily a 10/10… Expand

Don't be fooled by people who give this game a low review, or anyone who said they played this game once through and where done with it. Anyone who has stuck with this game til the end knows that this game is a masterpiece deserving nothing less than a 10. Also note it is impossible to play it once and be done, because of new difficulty and how many things you will miss in one playthrough (I am talking who new areas with bosses, covenants and equipment) not to mention also the multiplayer.… Expand

Pretty good game... but definitely not for everyone! Including me haha! but still there is no denying that this is a good game and i probably would have enjoyed it alot more if it were not for the crazy difficulty and frustrating save system

This is the best game of this generation. It nails gaming on so many levels. Yes, it's difficult for new players, but it gives the best feeling of success once you finally finish. Then play it through 100 more times!

This game is very fun and well designed. It is the first time I have ever died in a long time. Sadly most recent games like Skyrim or Fable 3 are far too easy. When I walk into a room I instantly know I can clear it. And just this morning when I was playing Skyrim I sat there being bored out of my mind as the same poorly designed and easy to kill NPCs charged at me. I than pulled out Dark Souls and got killed within the first five minutes by a fire breathing dragon. This game is beyond hard which makes it so interesting. It may lack side quests and a main storyline, but I have rarely played a game where it actually tests your ability not to die. Most games these days make combat as simple as press one button. This is one of my favorite games and deserves some credit.… Expand

This is not a horrible game, that being said it is not a good game either. It has very minimal story and once you get going you realize that its basically a grind fest. The difficulty is overrated, its not hard because your opponents are smarter than you, and you need to figure out tactics to beat them,its difficult because the are stronger than you, the game plays like this. Get killed by a big strong guy 10 levels stronger than you, grind out 11 levels, beat strong guy, go two feet, rinse repeat. It just gets really boring really fast. One thing that is a major nuisance is the lack of a pause feature, for people who get telephone calls or occasionally have someone knock at their door or simply have to take a piss, you have to either find a relatively safe place to stand, die, or use an item to transport to your campsite, i guess the reasoning is that it makes it more difficult where in reality it's just annoying.… Expand

This game is the most overrated ever! Let me Explain why I think this game is bad.......1st: There is no choice of difficulty settings, instead you were force to be challenge all the time (which I hate).......2nd: Its exactly the same game as Demon Souls, only difference is the place, environment and the monsters, people was mad that "COD" always being a rip off from its previous game every time but what about Dark Souls rip off Demon Souls?..... 3rd: Its not "open world" type like Skyrim or Fallout 3 but instead your were force to go on a linear path anywhere........4th: There is very few dialogue choices while communicating with several NPCs (infact there were very few NPCs) on a game which its genre has being called an "RPG" game........5th There is no "cheats" or "easy mode" for players who are so frustrated by the game and doesn't want to be challenge.......6th: There is no storyline to it, just a linear dialogue and lame cutscene to push you forward? To me gaming is about "fun" and I find this game isn't about "fun" but "challenges". For me who has less "free time" and a busy person, I find this game a horrible game for me...... If I want to be challenged, I'll do it in real life like challenge myself in sports or any competition but not on a nerd virtual videogame that was made by someone who is successful at making money from giving others "challenge" which is unnecessary.… Expand

I would like to start off with my positive thoughts of this wounderful game called Dark Souls. Firstly I am going to talk about the single player, Dark souls is very hard but a very easy game at the same time for you see that the game teaches you to play it very well, but punishing you if you don't try hard. My second point is about the story or lore of the game which is done in a good way, it makes the community work together to find the meaning by hind this dark story and how characters desive you to to their will ect. Thirdly is the gameplay which is spot on. Weapons sound and move like you would expect and the enemies are effect by you attack as you would expect. My last point is about the muilt player, there are two modes where one is to help another player though an area and the second is to kill them, they are both balanced and very fun. Unfortunately with all good games they have bad parts to them and Dark souls is no exception. Firstly is the terrible FPS lag in some areas of the game, and I am not going to lie and say I don't know why it is laggy there. Second point is that is very laggy online for Australians such as my self, but I do not know how it is in other places such as the USA or Japan. Due to the negitive points above I have to give Dark Souls a 9/10 but I recommend it to every one who has the rage suppression skills to cope with it. Thanks for reading, KarjoTheCat.… Expand

Dark Souls is a beautiful, fascinating game with a lot to explore and many deep ways to draw your attention. Brilliant game play systems, complex immersion elements, and a player-reliant approach to gaming put this far above any game I've ever heard of.
It has taken up much of my life since its release and I eagerly await more games of the franchise.

This is an absolute amazing game. The combat is revolutionary--with the required timing of a parry and a followup riposte, the satisfying jab of a backstab, and the excellent customization system. Additionally, the multiplayer aspect of this game is wonderfully unique with the ability to play with other friends cooperatively or to engage in one of the most intense and rewarding Player vs Player experiences on the PS3. This game may seem difficult at first but once you get the hang of it, it is exhilarating! I would recommend this game to anyone.… Expand