Dark Souls

Prepare to die! You might thing that Namco's newest role-playing game only exists to torment you. But look deeper and you'll discover that Dark Souls is one of the best adventure games in years. With an incredible amount epic boss battles, hundreds of hours of gameplay and a unique online interface, Dark Souls is one game you'll be thinking about for years to come!

Fantastically well-crafted, unbelievably atmospheric and impeccably balanced, Dark Souls will test your patience and your skill repeatedly, but the rewards are more than worth it.

Game of the year? Probably.

Dark Souls is the girl you had a crush on in high school. The one that really enjoyed teasing you, making fun of you or punishing you. But you couldn't help being drawn to her. And even when she was as mean as she could be, you still loved her. You knew in your heart of hearts that the torture was her way of saying she loved you. As harsh and unforgiving as Dark Souls can be to casual players, the pleasure and gratification received from completing seemingly impossible tasks are still off the scale. Bigger, harsher and even more atmospheric than Demon's Souls, this is an immersive and immense experience.

That's Dark Souls in a nutshell. The stakes being as high as they are adds a level of excitement all too rare in the hold your hand games of this generation. Without the punishment, there's no real fear, and without the fear there's no thrill. And in Dark Souls, much like Demon's Souls before it, you will most definitely fear.

It's tragic that not all of us have the time or temperament to play through Dark Souls, but one truth remains clear: if you're ready for it, it's ready for you.

In short, it's everything I could have hoped for in a (spiritual) successor to Demon's Souls. I'm pleased to recommend it to anyone who wants to see the medium pushed to its limits and beyond.

No video game released this Christmas runs contrary to prevailing fashion as hard or fast as Dark Souls. And no video game is quite so exciting or exhilarating.

It is, hands down, the best RPG of this console generation, but that one minor control issue keeps it just shy of a perfect score.

It captures you imagination like few other worlds in games. [Christmas 2011, p.100]

Dark Souls is a game for many hours and one of the most intriguing journeys this year. But unlike most games, it's not a trip to a lovely holiday resort where all your whishes come true. On the contrary - From Software's game doesn't want for you to get to know it. But after some hard work and battling all the odds you get to the end. And then you know: it's an experience that will stay in your memory for a long time.

One of the best games of the year and one of the most punishing ones. Dark Souls is superb, but it's not a game for everyone. You have been warned.

Dark Souls is easily one of the best RPGs on the market and manages to even eclipse Demon's Souls, its predecessor. The gameplay is slow and methodical, but never in a way that feels boring. The game is hard, but almost always in a fair way.

Dark Souls is an extraordinary role-playing game that transports you to an awesome and menacing world you may never forget.

This game will beat you to a pulp and not apologize for it, and then it will beat you again for bleeding too much. The small touches and attention to detail really make this game shine as one of the most difficult, rewarding, and unique experiences I have ever had while playing a game.

It is not a game for everyone, but From Software can again be proud of producing an instant classic in the action-RPG genre, which will be talked about for years. It is not as surprising as the original Demon's Souls, as we had great expectations for this spiritual sequel, but it improves on it and becomes one of the greatest games of the year.

So if you loved Demon's Souls, or like games that sadistically punish you for your mistakes, go out and pick up Dark Souls right now. If you like those types of games, and haven't played Demon's Souls on the PS3, then go get both (if you have a PS3). While it's not perfect, it can be a hell of a lot of fun and is definitely worth the purchase price.

If you enjoy games to relieve stress, this isn't the game for you. If you love feeling accomplished for completing something innately difficult, then you'll feel right at home.

Dark Souls is a game without compromises: you'll either love or hate it. The very high difficulty level could discourage the less undaunted players, but if you'll take your time to master its mechanics and "enter" into the game, you'll be rewarded with one of the most satisfying and memorable experiences in your life as a gamer.

From Software achieves one of the most addictive games this year. Dark Souls' difficulty level can sound just as heavy as it is, but at the same time it's enough to keep you engaged to its addictive gaming experience.

For those that enjoy a real challenging action RPG, than Dark Souls is the game for you. However if you believe that over the top challenges make a game more annoying than rewarding, than I strongly recommend you that you run for the hills or maybe stick to something like Zelda.

On a deeper level, Dark Souls' audacity at shoving you into an adventure, giving you a colossal world to explore, and forcing you to earn every speck of progress is downright exhilarating.

If you're looking for something that will kick your ass yet keep you coming back for more, look no further than Dark Souls.

It's still a brutal experience, surely the most difficult game of this generation. The idea of setting it in a wider world even raises the bar, but the freshness of the first one is sadly gone.

If you want a challenging, briefly terrifying, often maddening game with plenty to explore, experiment with, and beat your head against, this is your game.

Dark Souls' world is dense with something new around every corner. [Issue#78, p.76]

Dark Souls makes no bones about being unrelenting in its difficulty though, although it's by no means insurmountable. It's a rare game that's unlike anything else, refusing to pander or compromise in any way, shape or form. In this day and age, Dark Souls is hugely refreshing then, and well worth the time and effort.

Just as any masochist will tell you, with great pain comes great rewards. Dark Souls is the gaming equivalent, and I wouldn't have it any other way.

To sum it up, Dark Souls and its predecessor may be the most definitive example of what makes a videogame "Hardcore." There will be many deaths and many flaring tempers that may require a day or two of meditation to attempt jumping back in, but like an abusive lover, Dark Souls wins you back every time just before it delivers another bitch-slap to your face…and you just may learn to love it.

Dark Souls is a twisted, depraved, unforgiving bundle of death, hopelessness, and despair, and I mean that in the best way possible because if you can overcome the many, many obstacles it will throw at you over the 20+ hours it takes to complete, you will come away with a sense of accomplishment that few other games can match.

It's insanely difficult, incredibly unfair and frustrating at times, but we still love it. It takes you on a journey of death, valor and persistence, but it rewards you handsomely in the process.

It is not a game for everyone, it is not even a game for most, but for those who want a challenging, deep, role playing game that doesn't pander to a mainstream audience and pushes you as far as you can go then you'll be in for a treat, but be prepared to die!

I expect Dark Souls will sell more copies than its predecessor, but I'm sure many won't know what to make of this curious title. It harkens back to the days when our parents bought us a game and we played it all summer.

I have to say that I highly enjoyed Dark Souls. I'm a huge RPG fan and this is one of the truly exceptional pieces of hardcore gaming available for the console. This is not a game for everyone as it can be quite brutal and demands a lot of time to fully enjoy it.

Dark Souls is severely uncompromising. You will die again and again, hundreds of times - but It doesn't matter. In this dark and beautiful fantasy masterpiece you will still come back for more.

Dark Souls is one of the most difficult games of the year and adds a lot of crazy enemies and surroundings. The co-op could have been done better but that shouldn't stop you from engaging in this sixty hour long adventure.

Dark Souls is hard, but it succeeds - once again - at never feeling overwhelmingly cheap, or plain stupid.

Dark Souls won't be for everyone - that is guaranteed - but if it hooks you it won't let go. When you do stop playing - for work, school or to get some plasterboard and caulk for the brand new holes in your wall - you know it will only be a matter of time before you go back.

Dark Souls is an Action RPG following the unique gameplay legacy of Demon's Soul. The original online system comes back with a deeper world and more effective mechanics... in one of the most difficult games in this generation. You will love dying. Once again.

The cure for the common Triple A title, Dark Souls takes every gloriously strange and punishing moment from Demon's Souls and expands and improves upon it. While its fundamentals hew closely to the original's, Dark Souls is a completely unique experience with no direct competition on the market. For those who get it, it's undoubtedly one of the year's best.

A gem of sublime darkness. In the same way that an infamous ring did poison the soul of the one wearing it, this game becomes both the burden and the treasure of the one playing it. Cruel, even more so than its predecessor from which it keeps almost everything, Dark Souls offers a singular atmosphere, one where the player is prey, gambles its life with each step he dares to take, and its sanity every time he makes progress towards more evil that can kill him in a single strike. If you feel crazy enough to dive in, though, Dark Souls will possess you like very few can: it's a drug, and it's in the poison it exudes that lies its virtue.

Dark Souls is the perfect evolution of the hardcore concept behind Demon's Souls. If you're looking for a truly hardcore experience, this is the only game you should buy with no regrets.

Dark Souls is a epic adventure-RPG for hardcore gamers. This game is hard, sometimes a little bit frustrating. But, when you do make it and kill a boss it gives you such satisfaction that no other game can give you. With some fantastic online options, atmospheric worlds, haunting game concepts and mechanics and an unconventional control scheme, Dark Souls is a little jewel.

For a game that's sometimes frighteningly unfair, it's shocking just how compelling Dark Souls is. While the first game was merely ruthless, its successor feels like full-on psychological warfare - we've played difficult games before, but this is the first we've seen that actively seems to be conspiring against you.

If you just play games for fun, this isn't for you, and no amount of insistence on my part is going to change that. But if you're interested in the limits of the videogame form – to see just how focused, how pure and how uncompromising in its vision a game can be – Dark Souls is unmissable.

Dark Soul's weakest aspect lies in failing to draw the player into something deeper, other than just leveling up and managing to stay in one piece after crossing swords with a Black Knight.

A highly frustrating, but also motivating Action-RPG in the best sense of the word: Keep yourself motivated and you will earn fame in this hardest game of 2011. A must-have for all RPG enthusiasts.

If you're more experienced and have an idea of what you might be getting into here, it's worth the pain and suffering – in a twisted way. The presentation is top-notch material; the gameplay, though punishing, does pick up over the course of the game; and the multiplayer is surprising, mainly because you don't know whether to expect a friend or foe.

Despite my complaints, I can't help but feel a rush of adrenaline just thinking about Dark Souls. I spent around 60 hours playing it over the last month and died nearly 100 times while doing so. I screamed, I cursed, and I threw down my controller in defeat more times than I'm proud of. I can't wait to get back in and do it all over again. Dark Souls probably won't be the biggest or best game released this year, but I'm already sure it's the one I'm going to spend the most time playing.

Dark Souls is brilliant as its predecessor, but this time, thrown in an vast open world without hints, the player will be a little more frustrated than before. Sometimes the difficulty can be frustrating, instead of stimulating, challenging and rewarding. Dark Souls remains one of the greatest examples of dark fantasy in this generation.

All in all, Dark Souls is a more difficult, but less enjoyable (and less accessible) Demon's Souls.

Few games have the intestinal fortitude to defy genre conventions and player expectations at the expense of enjoyment, but that's what hooked us. We obsessed over exploring every hidden area, slept less to slay dragons, and probably sustained a bit of psychological damage in the process. But it was worth it.

Grinding, leveling, and, of course, dying over and over again will keep the most dedicated players immersed in this world for a very long time.

Extreme difficulty, online interaction and totally absorbing atmosphere – you will hate and love Dark Souls to death but you will not be able to quit...for a very long time. [Nov 2011]

Hell can adopt many forms, but it's clear that if it were a videogame it would be called Dark Souls. It's not for everyone, but those brave enough will enjoy it a lot.

Dark Souls is one of the best action-RPGs this generation, as it pulls of the combination of both elements perfectly. It may only be suited for hardcore gamers, but they are given heaven.

Dark Souls will easily dominate your gaming skill making you submissive to its will. It's a ritual in frustration, yet one that is worth the journey, if you are OK with a little pain.

Quotation forthcoming.

Dark Souls is intentionally stubborn and mysterious throughout, and seemingly resists your efforts to improve, but that's all part of what makes it so enjoyable.

Dark Souls isn't a game you play for fun. It's something you do to say you've done; like running a marathon or climbing Everest. You won't enjoy it like you will other games, but you won't forget it either, and you'll be damn proud of yourself for seeing it through to the end.

This game preys on your feelings, and is very skilled at manipulating them. Make no mistake, it takes a certain kind of person (never mind gamer) to stick with and possibly enjoy this game - we believe they are sometimes called Masochists - but Dark Souls does what it does extremely well, and it's to be applauded for that at least.

Fancy yourself as a hairy-chested gamer, hardest of the hardcore, with extensive knowledge of the arcane conventions of RPGs? If not, look away now, as trying to play Dark Souls may well turn out to be the most frustrating experience of your life.