Dark Souls: Prepare to Die Edition

 PC
User Score
7.8

Generally favorable reviews- based on 2514 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1,867 out of 2514
  2. Mixed: 224 out of 2514
  3. Negative: 423 out of 2514

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  1. ChrisPD
    Nov 25, 2012
    0
    Reading the critical reviews of this game you're led to believe that you're in for a challenging and rewarding game experience. However the only real challenge in this title comes from resisting the urge to turn it off when you're forced to repeat the journey to the 'Bosses' for the 20th time, wading through constantly respawning enemies that just stand there until being activated. That'sReading the critical reviews of this game you're led to believe that you're in for a challenging and rewarding game experience. However the only real challenge in this title comes from resisting the urge to turn it off when you're forced to repeat the journey to the 'Bosses' for the 20th time, wading through constantly respawning enemies that just stand there until being activated. That's the challenge. Not the ingenious game design or the (non existent) AI. Avoiding mistakes because you've repetitively completed this very journey 20 times before. Killing the exact same enemy exactly the same way for an hour.

    I could ignore the terrible repetitive gameplay if it there was a semblance of storyline propelling you through the game. Which is where we come to the second part of the 'appeal' of the game, how rewarding it is. Rewarding is seeing a story develop, overcoming a challenge and being rewarded with more exposition, more areas to explore and a change in challenge. The first 4 bosses require you to cycle around the same general area over and over killing the same enemies over and over, and the reward? Getting to do it again for the next boss, as everytime you save, all the enemies re spawn. Great idea, shall we spend time on story, enemy AI, environment design? Nah just respawn them all in the same place and get 'em to do it again. And again. And again, after all we've got their money right?

    Also the port is unplayable without an xbox controller.    … Expand
  2. roboticsun
    Sep 2, 2012
    3
    Overall this game is just a quick xbox360 build with optional key binds and additional content (they do not bother changing the on-screen key markers). To be frank, I played Demon's Souls as well as Dark Souls on PS3 and they both played and looked much better than this sloppy PC version. I know a lot of reviews here are biased because it is an amazing game, but it's really unfair to newOverall this game is just a quick xbox360 build with optional key binds and additional content (they do not bother changing the on-screen key markers). To be frank, I played Demon's Souls as well as Dark Souls on PS3 and they both played and looked much better than this sloppy PC version. I know a lot of reviews here are biased because it is an amazing game, but it's really unfair to new comers. If you are a new player who do not own a console then you need to buy a gamepad first to make the game playable and enjoyable, then hassle for a while with the third party fan-made patch to make it look as nice as console version. I do not think those hassles should be placed on an average gamer. If you want to try this beautiful game on pc then I'd say wait it on sale for $10.… Expand
  3. ayman03
    Aug 29, 2012
    3
    the worst pc port i have ever seen in my life
    locked resolution at 768?really
    stupid key mapping for keyboard and mouse
    tutorial with xbox controller keys
    frame rate issues
    menu is unfriendly unplayable
  4. Scrove
    Aug 30, 2012
    4
    This is an excellent game that is screwed over by a horribly executed console port. With the Resolution fix that was provide the same day as release by a user the game is playable and gets bumped up to a 6 or 7, but due to the massive amounts of technical problems, low fps, graphical issues and the sticking point of them not putting any effort at all into controlling the game with keyThis is an excellent game that is screwed over by a horribly executed console port. With the Resolution fix that was provide the same day as release by a user the game is playable and gets bumped up to a 6 or 7, but due to the massive amounts of technical problems, low fps, graphical issues and the sticking point of them not putting any effort at all into controlling the game with key board and mouse I can't rate it any higher than this, especially since they haven't bothered to announce fixes for anything.… Expand
  5. SleepingDog
    Aug 30, 2012
    0
    Just uninstalled it, this game is the worst port I've ever played. The controls are terribly clunky, and cause of that you will die many times, hence the name 'Prepare to Die'. Difficulty in any game should be caused by mechanics, not lousy and broken gameplay.
  6. Getterac7
    Aug 24, 2012
    0
    Dark Souls has been one of the worst PC game experiences I've had in years.

    First off: all help messages are given for the Xbox360 controller, even though I don't have a controller plugged in. I spent 5 minutes mashing every key on the keyboard trying to figure out how to get to the options menu before finally hitting "End" to open the options. What the hell? End? Really? Couldn't    Dark Souls has been one of the worst PC game experiences I've had in years.

    First off: all help messages are given for the Xbox360 controller, even though I don't have a controller plugged in. I spent 5 minutes mashing every key on the keyboard trying to figure out how to get to the options menu before finally hitting "End" to open the options. What the hell? End? Really? Couldn't use the Escape key like EVERY OTHER GAME?

    So I find out the D-pad corresponds to the arrow keys, then when I pick up my sword and shield, it tells me to use the left and right on the D-pad to switch to my sword, so I hit left and right arrow keys a few times and nothing happens. I have to dig through some inventory menus to equip my sword first I guess. Why not tell me that?

    While we are on the topic of controls: I use a non-QWERTY keyboard, so where the W key should be, is actually a comma. I tried to remap the move forward key and it would not let me set the W key (which is the comma character). Why on Earth would it not accept the comma character is beyond me. This is the first game I have EVER encountered (of the hundreds and hundreds I have played) that wouldn't let me do that.

    Let's get to the menus. They are absolutely not friendly to a mouse pointer at all. Some widgets you can click, some you can't; you never know what's going to happen when you try to click on something. The only reliable way to use the menus are with the arrow keys.

    Playing through the first area I noticed the camera felt pretty difficult to control and then it hit me: the camera is not moving based on how far I move my mouse! Moving the mouse simply makes the camera move at a fixed speed. Excuse me? I feel like I'm trying to play Doom 1 over here. While we're talking about the mouse: I constantly see my Windows mouse cursor over top of the game and it is incredibly distracting.

    Sound: I have a 5.1 sound system, but I play using headphones at night out of respect for my neighbors and roommates. There are no audio options to switch to stereo mode, so with headphones I could not hear any voices in the game, even while subtitles were playing.

    Graphics: I can accept the 30 fps cap and I can accept the 720p upscaling, but come on, this is 2012. At least try.

    So all in all I rate this 0/10 because, although it may have a cool story and fun gameplay, I couldn't experience it because of the shoddy nature of the port.    … Expand
  7. cryocore
    Aug 26, 2012
    3
    Game is great, brilliant in fact. Port is appalling. Crashes, stutters, drop frame rate, no control options outside of a controller (that may or may not work), no graphics settings, and a locked frame rate make it impossible for me to enjoy this. No one should support a developer who releases sub par dross like this.
  8. Donkaban
    Aug 24, 2012
    2
    Bad port. No bindings for mouse, bugs and graphics flickers. From console developers to console boys.
    Resolution is capped, FPS are capped, keyboard and mouse controls are a nightmare, video options are inexistant ... I think is damn timemachine from Skyrim to dark 2005 ages
  9. voathun
    Aug 25, 2012
    3
    I don't mind that there are no PC exclusive high res texture options. Dark Souls isn't about graphics.
    I don't mind GFWL. Annoying, but whatever.
    I don't mind the 30 fps frame lock. The gameplay experience is smooth enough. I don't mind the limited resolution. On the first day someone already provided a fix for that. .. but what I do mind is the fact how insulting the implementation    I don't mind that there are no PC exclusive high res texture options. Dark Souls isn't about graphics.
    I don't mind GFWL. Annoying, but whatever.
    I don't mind the 30 fps frame lock. The gameplay experience is smooth enough.
    I don't mind the limited resolution. On the first day someone already provided a fix for that.

    .. but what I do mind is the fact how insulting the implementation of the controls are. Wake up. This PC version isn't a love-letter from the developer to the PC community. No, the management looked at the 100'000+ petition and thought... wow, easy money. Lets do a port with the least effort possible!

    The result is, that they didn't even bother do remove the windows mouse cursor from the screen while in game! The ingame hints are based on the xbox controller layout and cannot be changed. The keyboard / mouse control method is next to useless. You need to play it in order to see how abysmal the controls actually are.

    "So what? Get a gamepad!" some may cry. The default PC peripherals are mouse and keyboard last time I checked and if you own a gamepad then the chances are pretty decent, that you also own a console. So whats the point of a PC version in the first place? The Dark Souls DLC is coming to consoles later this year anyway.

    But if you already own a gamepad or you're willing to invest into one, then ignore the user ratings, because with a gamepad the gameplay experience is as it should be. Read the official critic reviews, hype yourself up and enjoy one of the best mature RPG experiences that there is out there.    … Expand
  10. Carrot556
    Aug 24, 2012
    2
    There is no excuse for this port. Not a one. At first glance it seems like something someone at Namco ported this during a lunch break. There are bad PC ports where the game menus are keyboard only and are rough around the edges, and then there is this. In my first minutes of playing the game I ran into several problems. Right off the bat there is the FPS lock, the 720p resolution, theThere is no excuse for this port. Not a one. At first glance it seems like something someone at Namco ported this during a lunch break. There are bad PC ports where the game menus are keyboard only and are rough around the edges, and then there is this. In my first minutes of playing the game I ran into several problems. Right off the bat there is the FPS lock, the 720p resolution, the lack of options in to "options" menu. The options menu has a grand total of five options. Resolution, refresh rate, full screen, AA, and motion blur. What about texture quality or MXAA or particle effects? Jumping into the game there is a prompt to "press 'a' to pick up dungeon key". Now unless the use key is actually bound to the "a" key there is no reason to have the xbox key prompts instead of actual keys. "Press 'Start' to open menu and arms icon". After impotently face rolling my keyboard, I discovered "end" was the start key. Not escape. End. People claiming that this was meant for a game pad are delusional plain and simple. The majority of people who play on PCs use a keyboard and mouse and expect to have indicators that can be easily understood. That isn't entitlement, that is a fundamental right for a gamer. It would be just as surprising to me if an imported game was still in the native language and considering this port I'm surprised it isn't , in fact, in Japanese. There was no excuse to pay for a port as poor as this. After seeing how well crafted and great Dark souls was, I patiently waited for this port. It is such a shame such a beautiful gem was weighed down by such abysmal work in a port rendered this game frustratingly bad.… Expand
  11. alien5
    Aug 25, 2012
    2
    Worst port I've seen this gen by far. You don't release a game on a new system without supporting the controller. This is bonkers, and more insulting given From KNEW they had a market before doing the port. Ugly, entirely unoptimized, and terribly KB&M controls. Going to have to wait for people who actually care about quality to fix this mess.
  12. dopehat
    Aug 25, 2012
    0
    This is the worst port I have ever played in my entire life - Yeah, I am not kidding. They didn't even bother changing the ingame hints from keybinds from the Xbox controller to PC keyboard, so every time the game asks you to press a key to loot, open a door or whatever, its showed as if you were using an Xbox controller, and lets you sit and guess which botton that was again. - CameraThis is the worst port I have ever played in my entire life - Yeah, I am not kidding. They didn't even bother changing the ingame hints from keybinds from the Xbox controller to PC keyboard, so every time the game asks you to press a key to loot, open a door or whatever, its showed as if you were using an Xbox controller, and lets you sit and guess which botton that was again. - Camera swings around horribly annoying when using the mouse. I cant believe this game was ever, and I mean ever released for the PC, I would feel ashamed as a developer here. I can't believe people are poking this to a anywhere near positive rating, it's unacceptable to release a game that cant run with decent controls unless gamers invest in an xbox or playstation controller, - if players wants to use that, they would have gotten the game for their consoles. Wake up people, this is not acceptable. - I was stuck at some point trying to figure out how to open the main menu to check my controls, but I never found it after pressing every damn key on my keyboard. - Don't support this - Don't buy this game...… Expand
  13. xXMETALxGEARXx
    Aug 25, 2012
    1
    Despite the provided community fix in a mere >23 minutes, Dark Souls on PC doesn't really add anything to the already successful console version of the game. The developers didn't bother to remap the k+m keybinds, no graphics options and on top of all it uses GFWL for the online play that consists of people invading you and leaving meaningless messages at key points. A certain waste ofDespite the provided community fix in a mere >23 minutes, Dark Souls on PC doesn't really add anything to the already successful console version of the game. The developers didn't bother to remap the k+m keybinds, no graphics options and on top of all it uses GFWL for the online play that consists of people invading you and leaving meaningless messages at key points. A certain waste of money for me.… Expand
  14. Stormcrow666
    Aug 24, 2012
    4
    This easily could have been made into one of the better computer games this year, instead it is a terrible port that need a lot of work. The graphics are just plain terrible. 30fps limiter with dips to 20fps is just atrocious. This game uses approximately 10% of my gpu power. The camera is shaky and annoying. The controls are obviously ported. I was smashing buttons trying to figure outThis easily could have been made into one of the better computer games this year, instead it is a terrible port that need a lot of work. The graphics are just plain terrible. 30fps limiter with dips to 20fps is just atrocious. This game uses approximately 10% of my gpu power. The camera is shaky and annoying. The controls are obviously ported. I was smashing buttons trying to figure out how to do simple things like access my inventory. It is a real shame since this game could have been something so much better than this poor port. I understand that the console version is great but sometimes ports are not meant to be ported unless there is additional work done to make it a better experience for the PC user.… Expand
  15. JMILTON
    Aug 24, 2012
    0
    This has got to be the worst PC port I ever had a displeasure to endure. The graphics are horrible, combat controls are clunky at best, non responsive at worst, there is no real story attached to this game and the game difficulty that has been heralded as the savior of the challenging gaming is nothing but an over inflated trial and error garbage. To make things even worse it's not evenThis has got to be the worst PC port I ever had a displeasure to endure. The graphics are horrible, combat controls are clunky at best, non responsive at worst, there is no real story attached to this game and the game difficulty that has been heralded as the savior of the challenging gaming is nothing but an over inflated trial and error garbage. To make things even worse it's not even that difficult. I killed the first boss by dying once, and the whole "combat" experience could be described as just being tedious. Avoid at all costs, watching plants grow is more fun than this overhyped trash of a game.… Expand
  16. drwebs
    Aug 25, 2012
    0
    This is the worst port ever, talk about a crap game that stacks on hype and a steaming pile of nasty ports. This game was supposed to kill diablo 3, what a joke. The developers failed at their life
  17. Chapa9dj
    Aug 24, 2012
    4
    Overrated, uninspiring and boring. So this is the game that my friends pictured to me as the ''Panacea of Gaming'' and turned out to be completely wrong. The gameplay is clunky as hell, especially when you engage in a boss fight.. The map design feels bland and very empty, not to mention that the graphics are downright terrible. Is this 2012 or 2004? Ok, continuing with this, its not openOverrated, uninspiring and boring. So this is the game that my friends pictured to me as the ''Panacea of Gaming'' and turned out to be completely wrong. The gameplay is clunky as hell, especially when you engage in a boss fight.. The map design feels bland and very empty, not to mention that the graphics are downright terrible. Is this 2012 or 2004? Ok, continuing with this, its not open world as some people told me, its completely linear and boring and the character lacks personality and charisma. Also, it has GFWL. That is enough for anyone to stay away. I don't even know why companies still use this. I'm glad i got it as a birthday gift, but sometimes i wish my friend didn't have to spend that amount of money. I'm not ungrateful, on the contrary, but this game is definitely not my cup of tea. Definitely one of the most disappointing games of 2012.… Expand
  18. Elsje
    Aug 24, 2012
    0
    Do not buy this game.

    The game starts out with a terrible intro which reminds me of games from the 90's and from there everything gets progressively worse. The menu interface is bad and lacks mouse settings. Even on the lowest dpi-setting, my mouse moves too fast. When you start the game you get cues for which games to press.. on a gamepad. No idea what to press on my keyboard. The    Do not buy this game.

    The game starts out with a terrible intro which reminds me of games from the 90's and from there everything gets progressively worse. The menu interface is bad and lacks mouse settings. Even on the lowest dpi-setting, my mouse moves too fast. When you start the game you get cues for which games to press.. on a gamepad. No idea what to press on my keyboard. The graphics are really ugly and worst of all.. the game runs jittery on my core i7 980X w/ Geforce GTX 570. When I encountered the first enemy, I died because apparently the character hitbox extends beyond the visible body.    … Expand
  19. MrImmoli
    Aug 24, 2012
    0
    Wow. This game. FPS is locked at 30 (same as on console), which by itself isn't a HUGE problem, but throw in FPS drops due to the engine and suddenly you're looking at much lower framerate in two areas (maybe more if the new content adds any). Naitively the game does not support resolutions higher than 1024X720 (though that was somewhat fixed by some random guy in about...23 minutes.Wow. This game. FPS is locked at 30 (same as on console), which by itself isn't a HUGE problem, but throw in FPS drops due to the engine and suddenly you're looking at much lower framerate in two areas (maybe more if the new content adds any). Naitively the game does not support resolutions higher than 1024X720 (though that was somewhat fixed by some random guy in about...23 minutes. Apparently 23 minutes is just too much time for From to put into the game. Keep in mind he had no experience with the game nore a source code). And the controls. The windows mouse arrow is in the middle of the game screen. That is just pathetic. Oh and instead of the mouse controlling the camera (like, ya know, practically all other PC games with a moveable camera) the mouse only acts to control a virtual joystick, and this virtual joystick move the camera slower than it is moved on the PS3 or 360 version. Mouse accerlation (which is a bad thing already) was reveresed and as a result if you move the mouse quicker it actually slows down the camera. And then the game uses GFWL...

    This port is just horrible. It is **** Do NOT buy it you would be wasting your money on a pile of **** and telling developers and publishers "Hey, I'm cool if you release broken **** I'll still eat it up nom nom nom!" The people giving it 10 stars or anything higher than a **** 5 are either fanboys or marketers being paid to do so. Hell, the two "professional reviewers" gave this **** an 92 and 89. I bet you almost anything they happened to get a little gift from Namco or FromSoft, that are the reviewers themselves are fanboys. Now, port aside. This game really is great, it is unfortunate that the port is such utter **** If you have a PS3 or 360 or if the PC version gets fixed then I do highly recommend you buy the game, but do not buy this port so long as it is a steaming pile of ****    … Expand
  20. necropsie
    Aug 24, 2012
    0
    This is the holy grail of all console ports to the PC: The worst of it all. Trust me, it is that bad. Default key mapping is a joke. Graphics are **** even 5-6 year old games look much nice. Sound effects are so simple and bad. And controls.. Oh, controls. They are.. stupid. Yep. Dont waste your time even with a pirated version, i think this gives an idea of how bad this game is. It isn'tThis is the holy grail of all console ports to the PC: The worst of it all. Trust me, it is that bad. Default key mapping is a joke. Graphics are **** even 5-6 year old games look much nice. Sound effects are so simple and bad. And controls.. Oh, controls. They are.. stupid. Yep. Dont waste your time even with a pirated version, i think this gives an idea of how bad this game is. It isn't even worth of pirated download..… Expand
  21. seuche
    Aug 25, 2012
    0
    im playing games since years and sometimes portations from the consoles to the pc are cheap and annoying, but this game.... this is the most terrible portation i have ever seen in my life! everything is just so cheap portated and without concideration of the requirements of the pc plattform, that it kills the whole game experience. everything there fails - the ui, the controlls, theim playing games since years and sometimes portations from the consoles to the pc are cheap and annoying, but this game.... this is the most terrible portation i have ever seen in my life! everything is just so cheap portated and without concideration of the requirements of the pc plattform, that it kills the whole game experience. everything there fails - the ui, the controlls, the graphics, the settings, everything. its so poorly done, that even a random guy from the street was needed to improve the graphics a bit. tl;dr
    ITS A PURE RIP-OFF!    … Expand
  22. johndoe0
    Aug 26, 2012
    3
    First of all why all these bad review with a 10 score??? Btw I had a really high expectations for this game. I love play games on hardnightmare, so this sounded like a good challenge for me. After few minutes bad graphic (late ps2 like), choppy frame rate(cheap console port style), bad pad mapping, made an hard game an impossible one! So im really disappointed. I don't suggest this even onFirst of all why all these bad review with a 10 score??? Btw I had a really high expectations for this game. I love play games on hardnightmare, so this sounded like a good challenge for me. After few minutes bad graphic (late ps2 like), choppy frame rate(cheap console port style), bad pad mapping, made an hard game an impossible one! So im really disappointed. I don't suggest this even on sale, too much frustration!… Expand
  23. Kriv
    Sep 7, 2012
    0
    I can believe that last week this game has a total of 400 hundred negative reviews and now there are only 145. The user score was in 3.0 or something like that. Come on be honest about this game. The game was not ready to be deliver to PC. Lack of graphics , terrible controls from mouse and keyboard and also using a controller. The story is not a big deal and the character classes lookI can believe that last week this game has a total of 400 hundred negative reviews and now there are only 145. The user score was in 3.0 or something like that. Come on be honest about this game. The game was not ready to be deliver to PC. Lack of graphics , terrible controls from mouse and keyboard and also using a controller. The story is not a big deal and the character classes look more like super Nes type. Most of the positive comments are from the developer… Expand
  24. Noolah
    Aug 24, 2012
    3
    I'm wishing I'd spent my money on Darksiders II instead. This game is just dire. The story is let down by graphics that wouldn't have looked out of place on my original Xbox. Yes, I can set the resolution to 1920 x 1080, but it's obviously still intended to be played on a big screen. Don't get me started on the control system; if I'd wanted to use a gamepad to play a game, I'd haveI'm wishing I'd spent my money on Darksiders II instead. This game is just dire. The story is let down by graphics that wouldn't have looked out of place on my original Xbox. Yes, I can set the resolution to 1920 x 1080, but it's obviously still intended to be played on a big screen. Don't get me started on the control system; if I'd wanted to use a gamepad to play a game, I'd have bought it for my 360 instead. You can customize the keyboard controls and even use a mouse (mouse support is just terrible), but all of the on-screen prompts assume you're using a game pad. So you're left either mashing keys until you get the right one, or having to look it up on the cheat-sheet you've probably had to print out to stand any chance of even being able to press the correct button. The camera controls are also extremely annoying. TL;DR - If you want this game, get the console version.… Expand
  25. Dimuscul
    Aug 24, 2012
    2
    Worst port ever. Resolution is capped, FPS are capped, keyboard and mouse controls are a nightmare, video options are inexistant ... in general it make me feel like I'm playing on a PS2 emulator.
  26. raidet
    Aug 24, 2012
    0
    Disgracefully blatant score-bumping from the developer/publisher here. As every other legitimate customer is saying - this port is dire. Given the enormous control issues, It's not in a playable state. I am not happy.
  27. fickett
    Aug 24, 2012
    0
    This has to be the worst pc port ever. The only reason they shelled this out is because pc gamers petitioned for it and they gave us a bad quality product. This is going to lead them to believe that if you make a pc port then pc gamers won't buy it but in reality pc gamers won't buy bad quality products.
  28. Neddy
    Dec 17, 2016
    2
    Why does everyone only criticise this game for being a bad port. The difficulty aspect of needs much more attention: Just don't buy it.

    One point for setting and concept. One point for atmosphere.
  29. Serio
    Mar 23, 2019
    3
    Dark Souls punishes you for not knowing things you have no way of knowing yet. Punishment is performed by excessively wasting your time.

    Things that you have no way of knowing yet but will punish you come in many variants: - walking in the wrong direction (wrong-level areas, missing a checkpoint (which are sometimes hidden)) - traps and ambushes along the way - spending exp/souls on    Dark Souls punishes you for not knowing things you have no way of knowing yet. Punishment is performed by excessively wasting your time.

    Things that you have no way of knowing yet but will punish you come in many variants:
    - walking in the wrong direction (wrong-level areas, missing a checkpoint (which are sometimes hidden))
    - traps and ambushes along the way
    - spending exp/souls on bad stats or weapons
    - basic rules of combat (invincibility frames, parrying, invasions, armour usefulness, enemy turn speed, some hitboxes)
    - behaviour of never before encountered enemies
    - enemy weaknesses
    - strategies that feel like they shouldn't be this effective in the first place
    - which enemies to better run past

    You'll get punished for not knowing this by either:
    - having to redo the last couple of minutes (this you will spend most of your time on)
    - wasting hours being in an area you have no business being in
    - having a weak character for the rest of the game
    - getting angry for having no way of having knowledge in advance how to circumvent the punishment
    - wondering if the designers of the game are actually trying to make your life worse
    - doubting if trying again is worth your time in the first place

    To fill the knowledge gaps needed to succeed you either use trial and error or one of the numerous guides which make most parts of the game easy and which most players seem to use. A big portion of the fun of exploration is destroyed by using guides but there is no fun in unfairly getting punished either so you have to pick your poison. In retrospect I regret not using a guide more willingly because it seems like a requirement to have insider knowledge about some aspects of the game (i.e. finding a certain door). If you look stuff up though then you miss out on probably the best part of the game which is the atmosphere of maneuvering through an unknown, grand and hostile world.

    Indeed the game world doesn't want the player to succeed which is surprisingly an interesting concept. It enforces a narrative of the player progressing against all odds by beating monstrous bosses and enduring senseless hardships by strength of will. This is funnily enough the beauty of Dark Souls.
    You will encounter a lot of reviews praising its difficulty from players who were captivated by this narrative and somehow didn't mind all those hours wasted by getting unfairly punished. But if you don't need a self-esteem boost or get one by enduring hardships and value your time then I can not recommend this game to you.
    Don't let your judgement be clouded by people telling you, you are bad for quitting. They might just be justifying having endured the punishments themselves. Most will quit this game and most will do so for good reasons.    … Expand
  30. ViperITB
    Dec 23, 2016
    1
    Fight with controls (why the LOCK function is on my Start button???). Fight with overpowered enemies. Die. Fight with controls. Fight with overpowered enemies. Die. Think what you did wrong. Fight with enemies. Fight with another group of enemies. Die. Fight with enemies. Fight with another group of enemies. Go to the third group of enemies. Die. (...) Time after time after time, the sameFight with controls (why the LOCK function is on my Start button???). Fight with overpowered enemies. Die. Fight with controls. Fight with overpowered enemies. Die. Think what you did wrong. Fight with enemies. Fight with another group of enemies. Die. Fight with enemies. Fight with another group of enemies. Go to the third group of enemies. Die. (...) Time after time after time, the same fights. Going 500 meters in the game world requires 5-6 deaths and beating the same groups of constantly respawning enemies. I thought games are supposed to be enjoyable. This one is infuriating. What a waste of money.… Expand
  31. TheXand
    Aug 3, 2013
    0
    Gave it a 0 for not having any story or characters to speak of. Very shallow game and the only thing it has going for it is the fact that it's got a reputation for being "very hard" which to me speaks volumes about it's lack of balance more than anything. Give this one a miss and play Devil May Cry instead.
  32. Napples
    Oct 14, 2013
    0
    decided against my better judgement to buy this game, even though I had heard it had been a pretty bad console port. I was thinking hey, people said that about Skyrim and I didnt have a problem with that! But this game has created a entirely new category for ports.

    After three hours of messing with options and trying different fixes I was able to get the game to actually start. I    decided against my better judgement to buy this game, even though I had heard it had been a pretty bad console port. I was thinking hey, people said that about Skyrim and I didnt have a problem with that! But this game has created a entirely new category for ports.

    After three hours of messing with options and trying different fixes I was able to get the game to actually start. I finally got through the pain of that to discover how bad the port of this game actually is. If you are potential customer please please heed my warning before buying this. It is simply not worth it. Here is some of what you will go through even IF you get the game running:

    The game requires you to be constantly connected to GFWL to even save the game; GFWL is a broken and discontinued service. Good luck finding some workaround.

    All of the default settings and control settings make no sense, and none of the tips are tied to a keyboard mouse. A few kind souls have tried to develop some fixes (dsfix and dsmfix) but they may not work for you. Even after downloading these fixes and messing with the .ini files, I cannot get my mouse to work with this game.

    Throw away your money if you want, but I've warned you.    … Expand
  33. Pomornik
    Jul 17, 2013
    1
    I heard alot about this game, some people even said it's their favorite game of all time.
    So naturally i had to try it. And let me just tell you, this is literally the worst i have ever played.
    Graphics (1/10) PREPARE TO PUKE Some games releases 10 years ago had superior visuals to this turd. I'ts muddy, colorless, blurry, low contrast, not to mention low resolution. If you don't    I heard alot about this game, some people even said it's their favorite game of all time.
    So naturally i had to try it. And let me just tell you, this is literally the worst i have ever played.

    Graphics (1/10) PREPARE TO PUKE
    Some games releases 10 years ago had superior visuals to this turd.
    I'ts muddy, colorless, blurry, low contrast, not to mention low resolution.
    If you don't plan to play on a TV at a huge distance, you might be kinda fine?
    But if you try to play it on a 1920x1080 screen, you will have a bad time.

    Performance (1/10) PREPARE TO LAG!
    Worst optimized game ever, i run skyrim and kingdoms of amalur at smooth 60 fps and these are not the best optimized games either, but with FAR superior graphics. And yet here, despite the 30 fps cap, my fps is usually around 20. What a joke.

    Gameplay (1/10)
    Prepare to Die, yeah no kidding. This is one of the games where error margin is very tight. Basically you will have to replay the same part of the game until you get it right, one mistake or two, and you're back to the checkpoint. That's alot like Hotline Miami, but that game had insanely fun and fast combat, also you didn't want to kill yourself when you screw up, because you lose nothing, except several seconds of your life Here combat is slow, clunky and boring, mostly due to terrible controls (even with a controller its still pretty bad). And you will die often, but checkpoints are far between, also dying causes permanent penalties, so every time you die you get so frustrated you'll want to really die, or just stop playing this game.

    On the bright side there is an awesome enemy variety, no wait, you just fight zombies all the times. Bummer.

    Voice Acting (1/10)
    Theres not much of dialogues here, and that's for the best, since the voice acting and writing for this game is just pathetic. Also no lipsync at all, people talk to you through their ass i suppose.

    On a side note, i had to start a game over again, because i accidentally attacked some NPC, and he (wait for it) KILLED ME, THEN KEPT GANKING ME WHILE I RESPAWN... OVER AND OVER AGAIN. There was a genius behind game design here i tell you.

    Final Rating (1/10) There are many factors that determines if a game is good or not. Audiovisuals, fun gameplay, good story... this is lousy in every of these aspects. Basically the only thing it goes for is a challenge. But dying and failing over and over isn't fun. Especially in a ugly, choppy, clunky and boring mess of a game. That's just my opinion, some people like this game, but i say they are insane.
    And stuff like graphics and performance are NOT subjective, in those terms this game really deserves a (1/10), so people who rate this game 10 or even 9, are full of sh1t.

    Here are games that you will enjoy more than this turd:
    Skyrim, Kingdoms of Amalur, Two Worlds II, Witcher 2, Darksiders II    … Expand
  34. Mortensus
    Aug 1, 2013
    4
    An horrible port from console to pc, unplayable as it with mouse & keyboard, you have to run through lot of tweaks to make it playable (provided by users!), for me the game don't worth the time spent to make it run properly...
  35. sephirotheu
    Jun 23, 2013
    3
    Awkward camera angles make this a pain to play. Also 1/3 of this game is in a place called Blightown which has constant frame rate problems and definitely not something i would recommend to others play it.
  36. marc5477
    May 26, 2014
    3
    PC Review: Out of box, this was a piece of trash. The game runs at 1024x768 natively no matter what resolution you select in the options... thats right. It runs at the same resolution as Diablo 2 and old 90s games... I got the latest patch and it fixed the resolution problem so I can play at 1080p. The graphics... are horrendous. Was this really on the PS3? Wow.

    OK no problem about the    PC Review: Out of box, this was a piece of trash. The game runs at 1024x768 natively no matter what resolution you select in the options... thats right. It runs at the same resolution as Diablo 2 and old 90s games... I got the latest patch and it fixed the resolution problem so I can play at 1080p. The graphics... are horrendous. Was this really on the PS3? Wow.

    OK no problem about the graphics since I am not a big graphics guy anyway. Lets go into the game and play. The game is an action/rpg. The story is bland. You start off as an undead and you start working your way out of some sort of prison on an island or something. The 1st thing you fight is a boss who will kill you a few times when you first start playing. Why you might ask? Well, because the controls are even worse than the graphics.

    1st glaring problem is responsiveness. The game is designed to react slowly... why anyone would enjoy a twitch action game with slow response is beyond my understanding but lets continue. You click a button and the character doesnt actually move right away but rather you have to wait about 1/4 second before he does. This takes time to get used to and results in getting hit a lot initially until you get the timing. Its frustrating at first because if the controls were instant then the 1st enemy would actually be very easy to dodge and attack but whatever. They wanted us to play like we are in a 2 ton tank. Ok fine. Next problem.

    Camera... Oh my god... how on earth can you make a game with this type of camera in this day and age. The camera is exactly like the horrible camera in Devil May Cry 1 on the PS2. It is so so bad that I refused to buy any more DMC games after finishing the 1st because my memories of that game are only of frustration. Like DMC, the camera in this game will eventually get you killed not because an enemy is hard, but because your view gets blocked by obstacles or the enemy itself. This is unforgivable in a modern game. Yes you can still finish the game, but it is not fun.

    OK so with the problems above, I decided to switch to my Xbox controller so that I can control the movement speeds a bit better (its analog which cannot really be duplicated easily on keyboard) and to see if I can control the camera better with the 2nd stick. The game played better with the controller but the problem with the camera persisted because sudden motions and dodges can often get you out of alignment and make you vulnerable without being able to see the enemy.

    The game itself is ok. It basically plays like Zelda or similar action RPG's but with a horrible camera. I do like that it is more rpg heavy than Zelda but the slow responsiveness and camera really makes it lose a lot in gameplay. After about 2 hours of play, I realized that the game is going to revolve around memorization of enemy movement and I decided to uninstall and return the game for a refund. Sorry but memorization of enemies is not how an RPG should be. RPG are supposed to be strategic where the player can overcome with good preparation and tactics. This game is less about that than it is about trial and error. This is not what I enjoy about RPG's. If I wanted that type of game I would have purchased an adventure game not an action twitch shooter or an RPG.

    I wouldnt say the game is horrible but lets be real. Graphics look a step above PS2 (not PS3 era). Controls on PC are not fully realized due to analog mechanics and camera movement. Even with a controller the camera is horrible. Its an action game with purpose input delay... Thanks but no thanks.    … Expand
  37. BAPACop
    Oct 28, 2013
    0
    I can't wait until gaming technology is advanced enough that developers will be able to implement a button that freezes the action to allow you to go to the bathroom, or answer the phone, or perform other basic real-life tasks.

    Oh wait...
  38. Odogreviews
    Sep 18, 2016
    4
    Intro:

    Dark Souls is one of the most critically acclaimed games of all time. The game sold very well and has created the current Souls series which includes Dark Souls, Dark Souls II, Bloodborne, and Dark Souls III. Dark Souls was created by Fromsoftware it was to be the spiritual successor Demon's Souls which was worked on by the same team. People praised the game for its difficulty    Intro:

    Dark Souls is one of the most critically acclaimed games of all time. The game sold very well and has created the current Souls series which includes Dark Souls, Dark Souls II, Bloodborne, and Dark Souls III. Dark Souls was created by Fromsoftware it was to be the spiritual successor Demon's Souls which was worked on by the same team. People praised the game for its difficulty and thick atmosphere. I have been told by many people to play this game. I finally played it and beat it in a few weeks. I frankly did not enjoy that much. If you are expecting a positive review you can look at another review now. I felt that Dark Souls was a flawed janky game that was hamstrung by its difficulty but had well designed levels and ambiance.

    Presentation:

    Dark Souls has a passable presentation. The graphics are decent for a game that came out in 2011. The game's visuals as an overall package can look quite excellent in times and give you the feeling of hopelessness and oppression. The menus are design can be a bit clunky with your inventory filling up too much. The levels are designed with a high level of detail that greatly increases the immersion. Overall Dark Souls has a presents quite well.

    Story:

    Here is the part where I begin to not like Dark Souls. Dark Souls has a highly convoluted story that follows the theme of light and dark. Dark Souls has a minimalistic plot. Historical events in this world and their significance are often implicit and left to player interpretation rather than fully shown or explained. Most of the story is given to the player through dialogue from characters within the game, flavor text from items, and world design.The opening cutscene begins in primeval times, with a world shrouded by grey fog and ruled by Everlasting Dragons. In this world, Gwyn happens upon the First Flame and finds a Lord Soul, and with his allies, use their power to defeat the dragons beginning the Age of Fire. But all flames must fade, so after thousands of years, the Age of Fire was dwindling. With the dwindling flame, the undead curse appears, where certain humans become branded with the Dark Sign and continually resurrect upon death, losing a small piece of their humanity and sense of self with each death. The player begins as one of these cursed undead, locked away in an undead asylum "To the North". After escaping the asylum with the aid of the knight Oscar, the player ventures to Lordran attempting to follow a mysterious prophecy, given to them by Oscar. From there the story takes off. I feel that the game's story is too convoluted and minimalistic to tell a great story I understand that many will disagree with me on this.

    Gameplay:

    Dark Souls most lacking aspect is in the gameplay department. The game seems to be more focused on difficulty than eljouablbilty. Many deaths in the game can be unfair such as the games poor hit detection and physics which can cause your character to sometimes corrine off a cliff. I feel that Dark Souls has created a nasty tread in this area of creating difficulty as the center of the gameplay which can greatly take away from the experience. I believe that games should be enjoyable experiences and not frustrating ones. I believe that Dark Souls difficulty would be much more fair if it had a difficulty setting so players can choose how hard they want the game. The very well respected game critic Jim Sterling agrees with this and has wrote and said in the past that he wouldn’t mind Dark Souls having an easy mode so it would be acceptable to less experienced players. The game uses a basic action RPG combat. The game also uses a basic leveling system where you choose a class and build it from there. The game also features many frustrating level designs especially Sen’s Fortress which features many cheap and unfair traps that makes you often have to restart the area many times. The game also features some of the worst platforming in video game history even worse than the original Half-Life. Dark Souls combat I mostly found boring frustrating and repetitive and incompetent. Overall Dark Souls gameplay is far more frustrating than enjoyable.

    Technical:

    Dark Souls suffers from many technical problems and crashed on me many times in the middle of playing. The game also experienced many strange glitches as well. The game also had a terrible physics system which would glitch in and out and ruin the entire experience.

    Overall:

    Dark Souls is poorly made game. I don’t understand the praise this game gets. Maybe I am not the demographic for this game. I see Dark Souls has a bad influence the game industry. Bloodborne when it came out was praised for the same reason by critics but I hated it as well and they claimed it was a true survival horror game. As a survival horror fan I see it infest and ruin recent horror games to focus on difficulty to “scare” the player vs. genuinely trying to scare player in creative ways. I am greatly looking forward to Resident Evil 7. And so far from the trailer and demo it looks great but I hope that it takes influence from horror games like P.T. and SIlent Hill that focussed and real storytelling and scares over cheap difficulty to stress the player. I feel that games are made to be fun and Dark Souls is not that game. I give Dark Souls a very disappointing 4/10.    … Expand
  39. LighterThings
    Oct 16, 2013
    0
    This can't even be considered a port. The controls are horrendous, the UI only shows controls for the Xbox 360 controller, and there is no way to actually exit the game; you must ALT-Tab out to kill it. Absolutely atrocious.
  40. Enchanted_Legs
    Oct 18, 2013
    0
    Terrible game. I don't understand the motivation of the main character, whom you play as. You are seeking a goal but in the end the goal does nothing for your character, it is a flame that beckons and keeps you warm but upon sitting with it all it does is destroy you at the end. The end is nothing more than the relationship a moth has with a flame. So there it is at the end, after all theTerrible game. I don't understand the motivation of the main character, whom you play as. You are seeking a goal but in the end the goal does nothing for your character, it is a flame that beckons and keeps you warm but upon sitting with it all it does is destroy you at the end. The end is nothing more than the relationship a moth has with a flame. So there it is at the end, after all the time you spend with the flame, after all the trials and hardships and gifts it does nothing but destroy you. Enjoy your oblivious and pointless ending of nothingness. Sounds are subtle and that's a flaw because without the audio I can not sense theme or meaning. A large example of this is during the last part of the game it will only play an obtusely and exaggerated piano solo in a vain attempt to garner an emotional response from the player when at the time all you should feel as the player is a yawning sense of unease, boredom and just general defeatism. This is something that generally carries through the entire audio library of the game, monotone clang sounds for weapons that match one another and unsatisfying sounds when a weapon connects makes nothing but a small shearing noise. Controls are heavy and slow and overall confusing, for example once you hit the attack button you have to commit to the attack animation and if it misses this will result in a longer recovery meaning you are encouraged to really never attack except in the most assuredly favorable conditions. Chances are for the player that's practically never. I don't understand why a pole-arm would work differently than a sword or saber. Graphics are substandard and the player inexplicably always casts a light source which shows technical weakness such as 2D flora, characters generally rip from all 6th century archetypes and such. Example being the sun worshipping is not unlike Zoroarastrism. Additionally the commodity system is bungled in how that it is tied to your character's experience system for levelling making the overall game an absolute chore. That's just the game in the end: a job with no joy.… Expand
  41. m0rb
    Jul 21, 2013
    1
    seriously, I cannot understand the fanboys!

    yes, the game can be great at times, I liked many NPC, the artstyle and the story, sure. OF COURSE, everybody knew it would be a port... (that's what fanboys keep saying) only problem: there is ports and there is ports! meaning, better and worse ports this game is of the latter kind, it is "the WORST"! yeah, it's from a small developer    seriously, I cannot understand the fanboys!

    yes, the game can be great at times, I liked many NPC, the artstyle and the story, sure.
    OF COURSE, everybody knew it would be a port... (that's what fanboys keep saying) only problem: there is ports and there is ports!
    meaning, better and worse ports this game is of the latter kind, it is "the WORST"!

    yeah, it's from a small developer and they didn't have money or manpowert to make it better.... says the fanboy.
    **** is what I say! keyboard mouse implementation isn't exactly rocket sience; higher resoultion textures aren't either! the fact that it took only days, hefore a FAN made a high-res pack is all you have to know.

    this port is a pure money-grab! I wish they wouldn't have ported this title so extremely lazy and sloppy!

    It is a straight YOU!" to all PC gamers, an acceptable port would have taken ZERO more money and probably 2-4 days more.    … Expand
  42. WillG027
    Apr 11, 2015
    1
    Terrible Port. Programmers should be ashamed! Absolutely no care was given to the transfer from console to PC.
    The game itself, whilst having a nice atmosphere, has very simplistic controls - that are not responsive, which makes for a very amatuerish combat system. The graphics are VERY dated.
    If you like any sophistication in your gaming, then stay away from this abomination. Giving it    Terrible Port. Programmers should be ashamed! Absolutely no care was given to the transfer from console to PC.
    The game itself, whilst having a nice atmosphere, has very simplistic controls - that are not responsive, which makes for a very amatuerish combat system. The graphics are VERY dated.
    If you like any sophistication in your gaming, then stay away from this abomination.
    Giving it one out of ten just for the atmosphere.    … Expand
  43. Caputalis
    Jan 11, 2015
    1
    I'm being completely honest when I say that Dark Souls is one of the worst games that I've ever played. Seriously, I don't mind difficult games. In fact, I embrace them. They're fun in their own way. Dark Souls is not a difficult game. After fifteen-hours of torturous gameplay, I have come to the conclusion that it is a broken piece of garbage. The only way in which Dark Souls is difficultI'm being completely honest when I say that Dark Souls is one of the worst games that I've ever played. Seriously, I don't mind difficult games. In fact, I embrace them. They're fun in their own way. Dark Souls is not a difficult game. After fifteen-hours of torturous gameplay, I have come to the conclusion that it is a broken piece of garbage. The only way in which Dark Souls is difficult is that the controls are horrendous, the response time between when you press a button and when your character actually does what you wanted them to do is laughable, and the gameplay itself is dull and heavy, as if your character were obese. Literally, they make it seem as if your sword weighs one-hundred-fifty-pounds. I feel like my character is an overgrown baby trying to swing a longsword. All of this would have been forgiveable, if it wasn't for the fact that sometimes when you press a button, your character will do the complete opposite. For example, I'll tell him to dodge left. He dodges right. He dies. I then proceed to remember reading someone writing, "In Dark Souls, when you die, it really is your fault! It's fair!". Really? When my character decides to roll right into a spear, that's my fault? Get out of here. I love the reviews on here, too, where they'll list so many negatives, and then still give it a 10/10. How does this game have such a high score? I am genuinely baffled. I feel like it would be easier to discover why it is that kids love the taste of cinnamon toast crunch than it would be to discover why this game is so highly rated. It is ridiculous. I would sooner meet Vlad the Impaler than play Dark Souls one more time.

    0 Games for Windows Live out of 10.    … Expand
  44. Primax
    Mar 3, 2013
    0
    Quite literally the worse console port I have ever encountered. Not only is the port quality terrible, the game forces you to use the god awful Games For Windows Live. I deeply regret buying this on steam and will be refunding it.
  45. OmnipotentGamer
    Aug 5, 2013
    4
    An excellent game hidden beneath layers of GFWL and horrid technical issues. I honestly could not recommend the game unless you own a gamepad for your PC the controls on KBM are that bad. Also DS FIX is MANDATORY for full enjoyment IMO.
  46. truefreestyle
    Dec 26, 2012
    0
    If replaying the same 20 minutes over and for several hours is considered fun then this is the game for you. Dark Souls is a badly designed game that punishes you for making mistakes and the developers literally design this game to piss you off (they even intentionally kill you at times even right before you can save). To be honest I feel that their advertisements for it being anIf replaying the same 20 minutes over and for several hours is considered fun then this is the game for you. Dark Souls is a badly designed game that punishes you for making mistakes and the developers literally design this game to piss you off (they even intentionally kill you at times even right before you can save). To be honest I feel that their advertisements for it being an "extremely difficult game" is more like another way of saying "badly designed game."… Expand
  47. Widden
    Jan 31, 2013
    0
    Rubbish. It's an extremely shoddy console port, nothing else. Steer well clear of it to save your sanity. No proper mouse and keyboard handling, low-resolution textures, un-skippable movies; the lot!

    Does not worth a penny.
  48. Tharis
    Dec 22, 2013
    1
    I don't ever feel that games deserve a 0, but this one was close. Dark souls is original, in it's story and format, however the battle system that is used reminds me of the clunky and disjointed games from the 90's that failed all those years ago. It's not innovative, it's not creative, and it is certainly frustrating. Worst of all... it's boring, the aforementioned games from the 90'sI don't ever feel that games deserve a 0, but this one was close. Dark souls is original, in it's story and format, however the battle system that is used reminds me of the clunky and disjointed games from the 90's that failed all those years ago. It's not innovative, it's not creative, and it is certainly frustrating. Worst of all... it's boring, the aforementioned games from the 90's actually did a better job of implementing fighting systems like this.

    Games should be fun, and I'm glad that some people had fun playing this game, but buyer be ware. It seems to be more and more, that people just see something that is "Dark, and gritty" and slap a '10' on it. The darker theme of this game does not redeem the terrible game play. There are some who are saying the console versions are better gameplay wise, I certainly hope they are right, but there have been too many games as of late like this one that everyone lauds as amazing, when they are just absolute garbage like Derek Zoolander's: Blue Steele.    … Expand
  49. EddyHan
    Dec 30, 2012
    3
    The worst port ever for PC! No advance graphics settings and no way of changing the controller inputs around. I like the punishing and brutal gameplay, but the controls need to be changed.
  50. TheNikus
    Jul 22, 2014
    4
    Dark Souls, AKA "The Great Test of Patience", AKA "Frustration: The Video Game", is certainly one of a kind. This is not a game for everyone. Calling it "difficult" does not quite hit the mark, "challenging" is a bit better - but there really is no proper single word for it. Here's a quick test to find out if you'll like the game: Do you enjoy repeating the same little part of a game overDark Souls, AKA "The Great Test of Patience", AKA "Frustration: The Video Game", is certainly one of a kind. This is not a game for everyone. Calling it "difficult" does not quite hit the mark, "challenging" is a bit better - but there really is no proper single word for it. Here's a quick test to find out if you'll like the game: Do you enjoy repeating the same little part of a game over and over, memorizing everything and finding out how to best trick the game, only to move on to the next little part and do the same, and do you not mind a game's very stylish but nonetheless crude presentation and a sense of foreboding adventure, in part due to the fact that the game totally alienates you if you do not have a third party to explain it to you? If you can say yes, then Dark Souls is for you. The game has its charm, but as already stated, it's simply too crude, so I can't recommend it (except maybe at a discount - that's how I got it, thank God).… Expand
  51. leaveit
    Oct 18, 2013
    0
    QWOP: the RPG. While there are interesting and some decently deep action-RPG elements here, the game mostly serves as a filter for people who are willing to stand for unnecessarily naff and inadequate controls and unnecessary punishment. It's sort of like a modern version of the NES version of Dragon's Lair: completely trial-and-error, glitchy, with inferior graphics. It doesn't help thatQWOP: the RPG. While there are interesting and some decently deep action-RPG elements here, the game mostly serves as a filter for people who are willing to stand for unnecessarily naff and inadequate controls and unnecessary punishment. It's sort of like a modern version of the NES version of Dragon's Lair: completely trial-and-error, glitchy, with inferior graphics. It doesn't help that the PC port is awful either, lacking resolution upscaling out of the box and very weird mouse support to where you need to download user mods to fix everything. The story is shallow as a puddle and basically the long and short of it is that you're trying to make the world nice and cushy for humanity by fighting about 500 godlike creatures who can all easily kill you. They attack you on sight despite not actually having any purpose in life. The fans will deny all this; they will say it's highly skill-based even though they died thousands of times memorizing attack patterns, they will say the graphics are great even though they're about 6-7 years stale (probably unrealized because the fans are mostly console players), they will say the story is deep just because there's lots of informed background and some people act sad and crazy sometimes. If you are familiar with the game QWOP, this is essentially the RPG form of that. You try and try and try again to wrangle the controls to do what should be simple. Do not play unless you have thousands of hours to waste and enjoy wasting time.… Expand
  52. drachehexe
    Feb 12, 2013
    4
    I can't believe the gaming industry took this game seriously. This game is pure garbage. The graphics and models look 10 years old, the textures are among the wort I have seen in current generation game. And no wonder it's the hardest game to play, the controller setup is the worst. It's the most unintuitive controller scheme there ever has been and you can't change the controllerI can't believe the gaming industry took this game seriously. This game is pure garbage. The graphics and models look 10 years old, the textures are among the wort I have seen in current generation game. And no wonder it's the hardest game to play, the controller setup is the worst. It's the most unintuitive controller scheme there ever has been and you can't change the controller settings. The interface is also unintuitive and not very user friendly having to take several steps just to swap gear. Also, you left stick doesn't work in the menus, forcing you to use the dd-pad to navigate menus which is unintuitive as well and just plain stupid. This game is full full of bad design from top to bottom. I regret even buying this game at a discount. It sucks and it it sucks really bad.… Expand
  53. SwoopTrust
    Aug 31, 2012
    4
    For this review I'm going to split it in three parts. Technical aspects, controls and the game itself.

    Technical aspects: I expected more of this port on the technical side. First off, I want to say that the art direction is amazing. Now, 30fps are fine, I don't mind, but 60 would have been awesome. What I do mind, however, is the **** 1024x720 internal resolution which gets    For this review I'm going to split it in three parts. Technical aspects, controls and the game itself.

    Technical aspects:

    I expected more of this port on the technical side. First off, I want to say that the art direction is amazing. Now, 30fps are fine, I don't mind, but 60 would have been awesome. What I do mind, however, is the **** 1024x720 internal resolution which gets upscaled, making it look like a blurry goddamn mess at 1080p. A fix corrects this and lets you see the surprisingly high-res textures.
    Another thing I absolutely hate was that the on-screen buttons are 360 buttons and not PC keys, which just screams "LAZY". What in the **** were you thinking, From? do you think all of us own Xbox 360 controllers? I do, but still, that's some goddamn **** On the PvP part things aren't happy either. Items are client-side, which is a problem due to the game being easily broken with Cheat Engine and trainers, and also the online play uses P2P.
    P2P in a game like this is absolutely unacceptable. Also, this uses that GFWL mess, so pray to the sun that your saves don't get ****ed up.
    To resume online play, you're better off playing offline unless you like australian lagstabs. Controls.

    Game is unplayable with Mouse & Keyboard. I'm dead serious. If you don't get a pad, you're ****ed.
    Now, to top that off, the mouse camera control is basically emulating an inferior input option such as the analog. Using a 360 pad makes this point go from **** to gold, but I'm judging the port itself and not the mumbo jumbo I have to go trough to actually play.

    Gameplay.

    After you get past the absolutely abysmal Keyboard + Mouse controls replacing them with a 360 controller, and after you can actually see what the hell is going on on the screen using DSFix 0.6, the gameplay is nearly perfect. The difficulty is just right and you really feel progression and power building up in your character with every level up or weapon upgrade. Seeing bosses fall is very satisfying, and every time you die you feel like it's your fault.
    It's a complex game, you can make lots of builds and try a lot of combinations. It's fun to try some new things or make already existing things better. AI is pretty smart and WILL **** you up if you're careless.
    Backstabs are a bit weird to perform.

    Technical aspects: 2/10 - Good art direction, surprisingly high-res textures, **** default internal resolution, horrid online, GFWL is always a minus, Xbox 360 on-screen buttons.

    Controls: 1/10 - Unplayable without a gamepad, which is unacceptable for PC. But hey, at least it gives you the "option" to use a 360 pad.

    Gameplay: 9/10 - Satisfying all around. Backstabs could use better hit detection, tough.

    Overall: 4/10. Get it on a sale, use those fixes and a gamepad, and you've got yourself a pretty good game.    … Expand
  54. lisac2k
    Sep 4, 2012
    3
    While eagerly expecting something as a new Severance: Blade of Darkness, this game did its best to burst my bubbles. Aside from being a terrible console port, it tries to break the record in un-inventive and scarce moves. The graphics seem to be locked to a certain resolution and stretched to higher resolutions with obvious edge-pixelation and blur, with next to none sharpness. While thisWhile eagerly expecting something as a new Severance: Blade of Darkness, this game did its best to burst my bubbles. Aside from being a terrible console port, it tries to break the record in un-inventive and scarce moves. The graphics seem to be locked to a certain resolution and stretched to higher resolutions with obvious edge-pixelation and blur, with next to none sharpness. While this can be overridden, you may ask yourself if an expensive AAA title should be published with such "features" and sold for petty 40 EUR (boxed version will cost you 45 EUR). In order to check the simplest stat one will need dozen of keys to be pressed, altogether with one of the worst mouse supports ever (no, you can't do anything with your mouse except moving camera in 4 directions and swing around with right hand weapon). While using the mouse, the cursor will be visible on the screen and fly around, helping you to de-immerse yourself from somewhat interestingly created world. It could have been much better... Better luck (or should I say "better corporate development decisions") next time. Console freaks with gamepads will enjoy this (I suppose), everyone else could save money and look for something else.… Expand
  55. Makaveli
    Oct 24, 2012
    4
    This game originally is one of my favorite games of all time. The PC version is crap though. I wanted to also comment about those sissy "gamers" giving this a bad score because there is no story or that if you get killed you lose all your souls. First off you are the type of people that make gaming worse. First off, they do not hand the story to you, you have to read item description etcThis game originally is one of my favorite games of all time. The PC version is crap though. I wanted to also comment about those sissy "gamers" giving this a bad score because there is no story or that if you get killed you lose all your souls. First off you are the type of people that make gaming worse. First off, they do not hand the story to you, you have to read item description etc to get the story.. Besides that whocares, you are playing a game. You do realise that early games didn't have stories either but they still were great games. This game has a unique way of telling a story and you idiots complain about it. You guys **** and complain and that is why most games today have no creativity or anything unique about them. How about you shut your mouth and stop playing video games all together, we don't need only 1 type of game to play. Yes I gave this PC port a bad review, that is because the PC port sucks. The console versions are masterpieces. You people complaining about the difficulty and making excuses are just sissies. You are the reason why games today hold our hands. Quit being a pansy ,grow some balls. You want a story? Have your mother read you one before you go to sleep at night. This game has a story but retards that don't no how to read or have A.D.D will not understand it. This is an REAL RPG that requires you to read, and has difficulty. Next time read the back of the box, somewhere on there it will say you will die a lot. Oh I forgot that you guys don't know how to read...my bad..This review will get a bad score but atleast it's the truth. And whocares if it runs at 30 FPS and 720 RES, that should of been expected from a company that said clearly that they are not good with PC games... Next time do some research on the game before buying it.....Opps my mistake again, you don't know how to read.. So have your mom read you Snow White, quit your whining,go buy a console ( there cheap now) buy Dark Souls and shut the **** up and be a man. I'm aware of the grammar mistakes and spelling but I'm writing really fast, and I figured since you guys do not know how to read that it shouldn't matter anyway.. Oh and for you people complaining about the difficulty and making excuses, how about you have your little sister play the game for you or perhaps your grandma, I'm sure they would **** less than you guys do. From Software gave the PC gamers what they wanted, the petitioned and From said they were not good with PC games but you guys still asked for it, and you guys got an inferior version of it. That's all.… Expand
  56. DrVarsims
    Aug 31, 2012
    0
    If you like incredibly difficult games that make you redo the same crap 100 times because you aren't "hardcore" enough then this game is for you; seriously, why can't I just make the game easier it is so frustrating. Graphics are terrible, game runs slowly, combat is slow and boring, controls are meh, and in general nothing is very exciting or intuitive about this game.
  57. xree
    Aug 28, 2012
    1
    The controls are awful. They ruin the pleasure of story by doing such "GREAT" job with the controls. Either they do it over for PC, or this is just some total waste of time this game. DO NOT BUY IT.
  58. not_good
    Feb 24, 2013
    4
    I kept hearing about how much better this game was than Skyrim, but at least you can play that This is the most pathetic port I've played in a long time, the graphics are stretched and look terrible, the controls... oh god the controls.If you need to download 'fixes' to get this game working properly they done up. End of story.
  59. IanHeres
    Dec 2, 2012
    1
    So-so idea ruined by awful controls. All the onscreen prompts are for an xbox controller, so if you have something else you're out of luck. Mouse+Keyboard is unplayable, and other gamepads have their keys mapped wrong. Even if you get going with a gamepad, the controls are terrible. You can't back up without turning around, you have to lock on to targets for spells but can't do thatSo-so idea ruined by awful controls. All the onscreen prompts are for an xbox controller, so if you have something else you're out of luck. Mouse+Keyboard is unplayable, and other gamepads have their keys mapped wrong. Even if you get going with a gamepad, the controls are terrible. You can't back up without turning around, you have to lock on to targets for spells but can't do that from far away, and so on.

    The actual game isn't bad, but isn't great. You'll be forced to repeat content many many times, and that gets frustrating. You can also grind out xp for better stats, which I guess some people like but I think that's bad design. Also the spell system is spells-per-day, which has stunk since D&D introduced it.    … Expand
  60. MikefromAngus
    Jan 24, 2014
    0
    Played the PS3 version of this game, and I wasn't a fan of the game. the graphics weren't the best. Bad textures, bad animations. I assumed it was because of the PS3 hardware. So, the PC version comes along and Im a sucker and I buy the game expecting it to be an improvement over the PS3. This is NOT the case!! It is EXACTLY the same game but just ported to the PC! the textures are just asPlayed the PS3 version of this game, and I wasn't a fan of the game. the graphics weren't the best. Bad textures, bad animations. I assumed it was because of the PS3 hardware. So, the PC version comes along and Im a sucker and I buy the game expecting it to be an improvement over the PS3. This is NOT the case!! It is EXACTLY the same game but just ported to the PC! the textures are just as bad! im running the game at 1920 x 1080 and it looks like a PS2 game!! Avoid this game!! DO NOT BUY!… Expand
  61. hwarming
    Nov 10, 2012
    2
    I thought the Sonic Generations port was bad, but wow. I shouldn't have to buy a controller for a PC game, come on man. And if you're going to map the controls to the keyboard, don't tell me on the tool tips the xbox controls, that's just lazy. I don't even care about the resolution stuff, I think this game looks pretty good, but the controls are just broken, why would I press "end" for aI thought the Sonic Generations port was bad, but wow. I shouldn't have to buy a controller for a PC game, come on man. And if you're going to map the controls to the keyboard, don't tell me on the tool tips the xbox controls, that's just lazy. I don't even care about the resolution stuff, I think this game looks pretty good, but the controls are just broken, why would I press "end" for a menu? What sense does that make? And the cursor shows up in game, outside of the menu, that's just unacceptable in 2012. I wanted to like this game, I really did, I love RPGs with this style, and with some difficulty, but at least put an ounce of effort into the port, don't just take it directly from the Xbox and put it on the PC. Skyrim did it pretty well, even though the UI was clearly designed for the 360, but it followed logical gaming conventions.… Expand
  62. Gabcd
    Apr 19, 2013
    4
    Horrible controller integration. Lots of user made fixes (that you have to figure out).

    Once you get to play the game, it doesn't look interesting enough to make you want to play.

    I'm sure this game is a lot of fun to most(some) people, but I am willing to uninstall this game without having played more than the couple minutes it takes to get past the first "boss".

    A waste of money to me.
  63. plotlesviolence
    Apr 30, 2016
    0
    [OVERALL = 0 (or less)]
    The Dark Souls series are the worst-designed games ever made and have no redeeming factor. They are also the most overrated, because for reasons I can't understand, the rest of the internet adores them and actually praises their flaws as if they were virtues. "Hard but fair" they say? Dark Souls isn't hard, it's time-consuming and obtuse; once you waste 5 hours    [OVERALL = 0 (or less)]
    The Dark Souls series are the worst-designed games ever made and have no redeeming factor. They are also the most overrated, because for reasons I can't understand, the rest of the internet adores them and actually praises their flaws as if they were virtues. "Hard but fair" they say? Dark Souls isn't hard, it's time-consuming and obtuse; once you waste 5 hours grinding your stats and find the "cheat" weapons with a walkthrough, most encounters become so easy they're boring; and it isn't fair, the game randomly punishes you (SEVERELY) often and without warning, and is totally unplayable without a step-by-step walkthrough. If someone patched the game to remove the upgrade system, properly balance the enemy encounters, and put a navigation arrow telling you where to go, a 50-hour-plus slog would turn into a 3-hour game that would bore you after the first hour.

    [PRESENTATION = 7]
    (Visuals = 7) Graphics aren't bad, but everything more or less looks alike (brick castle with vegetation); the only reason you recognize places is that the game halts your progress so much you become familiar with the most generic of locations.
    (Sound = 7)
    (Voice Acting = 5)
    (Vibration = 5)
    (Physics = 8) Enemies ragdoll when they die and the physics of broken crates/barrels is actually pretty cool, although physics never affect gameplay.
    (Plot = 5) The story isn't great but is unintrusive.

    [CONTROL = 2]
    (100% 3D hack-and-slash = 2) DS is a shallow hack-and-slash. Damage can penetrate blocking shields and is affected by distance and whether you press the light/fast attack or heavy attack button, with every move drawing from a limited but regenerating stamina pool. But there are only three moves:
    a) while locked-on, deflect an incoming attack to instant-kill; this reduces the game to a quicktime event without a button prompt
    b) while locked-on, hold the shield button to block a strike until the enemy staggers, then counter-attack
    c) do a dodge-roll to avoid a strike, then counter-attack. This is the most risky strategy, it mostly only works on bosses (whereas a and b only work on standard soldiers)
    All of these put you at risk when you face more than one enemy at a time, because you can only focus on one.
    The game also lies to you about there being other options. Supposedly it's possible to wield one heavy sword with both hands, or one weapon in each hand, but since you need the shield to block if you want to survive multiple encounters, these are impossible.
    There are also some purchasable projectiles, and the occasional rare item that grants you a significant advantage (like doubling your health or the weapon's damage, etc.) but you'll never use them because you die so regularly that any one-use item would be a waste.
    (Camera = 6)
    (Physics = 4)
    (Friendly AI = none)
    (Enemy AI = 3)

    [DESIGN = 0]
    (Menus = 4)
    (Upgrade System = 0) Non-automatic upgrade systems are a cancer on videogames, because they always result in boring grinding early on and then being boring-ly overpowered later. Of course DS embraces both flaws to both extremes. But worse, you drop all non-spent experience points where you die and they vanish if you don't collect them on the next life, so it's easily possible to waste 2 hours of your time for nothing.
    (Level Design = 0) Every checkpoint has like 5 paths branching from it, 2 of them hidden, only 1 of them feasible in order to advance the game, and of course there are no hints as to which path that is. It is unplayable without a walkthrough. This is a problem videogames solved around the GTA3/Crazy Taxi era: navigation arrows.
    (Difficulty Curve = 0) Personally, I don't like "exploration" games, but for those who do, one of the prerequisites is that exploration not be painful. In DS, the constant risk of losing all your experience holds you back from trying new paths or risky jumps. At one point I fell into a pit and got hit by gas that took half my health (aka "cursed"). PERMANENTLY. Unless you trekked across the entire map and bought one of a LIMITED number of cures. And since enemies respawn, it is totally possible to lose half your health forever.
    The game is so punishing that you stop feeling guilty about winning through exploits that aren't fun: spamming projectiles from outside enemy reach, tricking the enemy AI into walking off cliffs, etc.
    (Modes = Singleplayer campaign w/occasional online Players allowed in to fight you, 50 hours, 95% padded) Had difficulty been properly calibrated, you could get through the whole game in 3 hours if you could stand how simplistically boring the combat is.

    [CONCLUSION]
    This isn't "hard", it's bad design. I've played bad games before, but never one made intentionally so bad to purposefully frustrate its audience. Super Meat Boy is hard. ANYONE can beat Dark Souls with a walkthrough guide and the willingness to be bored and frustrated for 50 hours straight. I only wasted as much time as I did to see what the fuss was about, and I regret even that.    … Expand
  64. PloppySon
    Aug 9, 2013
    0
    I saw this game in a Steam sale for £4.99. After a bit of research I downloaded the fixes in advance and noted that I should use a gamepad already have a 360 for windows pad so all was well. I bought and downloaded Dark Souls on Steam, applied the fix and followed the instructions in the Steam forums about switching off Anti Aliasing and Motion Blur game worked fine and with the pad iI saw this game in a Steam sale for £4.99. After a bit of research I downloaded the fixes in advance and noted that I should use a gamepad already have a 360 for windows pad so all was well. I bought and downloaded Dark Souls on Steam, applied the fix and followed the instructions in the Steam forums about switching off Anti Aliasing and Motion Blur game worked fine and with the pad i had no control issues either so it was a good start.

    You start the game fighting really easy monsters then a tough boss monster, after a few attempts I beat him then moved on to the next area 1st problem I had no idea where i was going and ended up fighting high level skeletons right away and took about an hour killing just a few and dying A LOT!

    Then I accidentally found the right way to go and the game got better as monsters we weaker and it seemed enjoyable for a few hours. Combat is very very unforgiving and you'll die trying to do simple moves that look like they will work but don't leaving you frustrated for most of the game.

    Once you upgrade your weapons and armour/items the game gets much easier and you just have to learn enemy attack patterns and so on all sounds fair but you have a lot of fights where you will be cheated out of a victory by glitches and other things that just waste your time. you respawn when you die and have to run back to where you died to get your xp back if you die trying to get it you'll lose your xp (Yes that's right, dying lots before you get to a bonfire/checkpoint/save means you can't level up).

    I could go on and explain every last detail about this game but it seems like it should be a classic but bad design flaws in the combat and instant death traps etc leave you wondering why you bother and certain class builds seem to be a requirement for every boss battle pick light/agile/caster or die.

    Most of the low scores here relate to the bad port but I just got bored of playing this game got to the DLC content and by that point still hadn't got to any part of the game that was exciting or cool.

    Very overrated by Fan-boys. I tried really hard to like this game and kept playing just to see if it got better and all it did was show how overhyped the game is.

    Who knows, you might like this game and give it 10/10

    If you like the quicktime events in Resident Evil 4 and being killed for not doing exactly what the game wants you to do at the exact time then this is the game for you.    … Expand
  65. Spanked_Ur_Mom
    Dec 25, 2012
    0
    Awful game. I bought this game for $15 on Amazon and still feel like I got ripped off. I definitely wish there was a one level demo that I could have tried because then I could have saved my cash. This is a game that I will not play at all. It will just sit in my library and rot. I would not even recommend this game to others if it was a free-to-play game. My complaints are notAwful game. I bought this game for $15 on Amazon and still feel like I got ripped off. I definitely wish there was a one level demo that I could have tried because then I could have saved my cash. This is a game that I will not play at all. It will just sit in my library and rot. I would not even recommend this game to others if it was a free-to-play game. My complaints are not because it is a console port. I actually like playing games with a 360 controller. If a game does not have controller support, I map out a profile to use with xpadder. My complaints are with the game itself. The controls are terrible. It is hard to make your character stab or throw something in the direction you want him to. The graphics are low quality, even the cutscense look bad. The screenshots on Steam make the game seem like the graphics are okay but they are no where close to being okay. The game is difficult as well. Difficult to the point of being frustrating. There is no way to change the difficulty setting to bring it to a level that I would enjoy. Namco Bandai has officially joined Atari and Sega on my list of Publishers to never purchase games from. EA is getting close to being on that list too. Right now they sit with Ubisoft on my list of Publishers to only buy games at half of retail or less.… Expand
  66. Bryan2013GC
    Jan 22, 2013
    0
    Essentially to begin with game mechanics & principles these days are consistent with real life mechanics; jumping, real time strategy, sneaking, crouching etc etc. Dark Souls on the other hand takes you right back to the dark days of gaming (sluggish controls, slow time ducking and dodging, button squeezing due to frustration) which is a consumer killer. This game is slowed andEssentially to begin with game mechanics & principles these days are consistent with real life mechanics; jumping, real time strategy, sneaking, crouching etc etc. Dark Souls on the other hand takes you right back to the dark days of gaming (sluggish controls, slow time ducking and dodging, button squeezing due to frustration) which is a consumer killer. This game is slowed and unresponsive especially to the fact of combat. I have given myself patience to cope with it. Ultimately I decided that having a brain aneurysm is not worth the time dedicated to this game and starting 33 times with the same re spawned enemies doesn't help either (nightmare much?). Another aspect is the system of combat and ammo; For example no arrows for certain classes in early stages of the game, so therefore close encounter combat would have to be necessary for the hunter or any other class that is reliant on distant damage before closing the gap with fast strikes. Its just redundant for that class to even have close combat. I give this game a 0 and would like to question the game developers in what the hell where they thinking? there is no excuse for such bad ports with amazing game engines and technologies we have now (2013 not 1990 anymore guys!!)… Expand
  67. kbl1983
    Apr 16, 2013
    0
    The Bad
    1. Terrible port
    2. Stressful for beginners 3. Can get PKed while online 4.Wheres a map?? 5. Poor character creation 6. NEED XBOX CONTROLLER TO EVEN PLAY! 7. Almost unplayable with keyboard and mouse "headache" 8. Tough as hell so cant rush through and will be chased down 9. YOU WILL DIE ALOT or "Prepare To Die" so not a stress free game The Good..... 1. Was able to    The Bad
    1. Terrible port
    2. Stressful for beginners
    3. Can get PKed while online
    4.Wheres a map??
    5. Poor character creation
    6. NEED XBOX CONTROLLER TO EVEN PLAY!
    7. Almost unplayable with keyboard and mouse "headache"
    8. Tough as hell so cant rush through and will be chased down
    9. YOU WILL DIE ALOT or "Prepare To Die" so not a stress free game

    The Good.....
    1. Was able to make it playable with some download fixes    … Expand
  68. Maxwanko
    Apr 27, 2013
    0
    This PC Port is a crime. Unplayable. I spent hours trying to get this game to work after purchasing it on Steam. I downloaded mods from the community. It remained a clunky piece of junk, and the partial controller support did nothing to help the play experience. Screen resolution was not modifiable. I'm sure the console versions are great, but if the game is not playable, it is a zero.
  69. scafutto20
    Mar 7, 2014
    4
    I really can't understand why this game is so acclaimed. Graphics are crap (looks like PS2), controls & gameplay are really bad, pc port is the worst ever. I'm trying to say something good about this game but I can't find it. The high difficulty is the "big point" of the game is not something that makes me wonder. So avoid it as fast as you can, don't give it a chance like I did. Wait forI really can't understand why this game is so acclaimed. Graphics are crap (looks like PS2), controls & gameplay are really bad, pc port is the worst ever. I'm trying to say something good about this game but I can't find it. The high difficulty is the "big point" of the game is not something that makes me wonder. So avoid it as fast as you can, don't give it a chance like I did. Wait for DS2 to be something at least playable.… Expand
  70. demondred79
    Dec 6, 2013
    0
    Dark Souls: Prepare to be Pissed at the worst PC port mankind has ever witnessed.

    As if the difficulty of the game itself isn't enough to make you consider bolo-whipping your controller through your family's skulls.....you get the fun experience of trying to make this gd thing even barely function. Lady's and Gents....this is what you call a "cash grab" where the devs saw an    Dark Souls: Prepare to be Pissed at the worst PC port mankind has ever witnessed.

    As if the difficulty of the game itself isn't enough to make you consider bolo-whipping your controller through your family's skulls.....you get the fun experience of trying to make this gd thing even barely function. Lady's and Gents....this is what you call a "cash grab" where the devs saw an opportunity to jam their console game through a bit-grinder and call it a PC game, and then laugh as they rub their nipples with dollar bills.
    So if you want to get this thing to run with mouse support, xbox gamepad support, and video graphics that don't look like donkey diarrhea, then be prepared to witness and experience the following:
    1. Remove all....yes...ALL of your USB devices
    2. Try to use your xbox controller. If that doesn't work, too bad I guess you don't have an "official MS gamepad" so you'll have to work harder.
    3. Install x360ce and go through a million hoops to get it to properly behave.
    4. Oh you wanted to leave your N52te gamepad plugged in? Well you'll have to unplug it, erase the x360ce config file, then disable multiple devices in your device manager, and then re-init x360ce, and then plug in your gamepad, and then pray to baby jesus it works.
    5. Oh crap....now you have a framerate issue.....oh crap....the intro cinematics are glitchy...
    6. Wow the graphics look like hell.....now we have to install Nexus Mod Manager and install the DSfix tool and a billion other mods.
    7. Ok screw the controller...let's go to the mouse.....oh man.....moving the mouse around is super glitchy and the camera studders so much you can't play it....
    8. Rage quit and then vent on Metacritic.

    True story. The End.
    Seriously though, the issues/events described above are littered all over multiple forums where people are having massive issues with mice, gamepads, USB devices interfering with the game, graphics issues, refresh issues, you name it. While I don't think it would be worth an actual court battle over $30, it is however worth it to post these grievances on metacritic to strike their pocketbook as much as possible. Never again will I make the mistake of buying a late-term PC port. Do NOT buy this for PC.    … Expand
  71. rillip3
    Dec 27, 2013
    0
    This game is UNPLAYABLE as sold. It is the laziest, most awful port I've ever seen. It has keyboard remapping for actions like 'heavy attack' or 'use item' but then continues to give you menus that say 'press (A)'. There is no setting to map '(A)' to anything! You can use the mouse to control your direction, and left and right click work, but sometimes you'll click behind the screen andThis game is UNPLAYABLE as sold. It is the laziest, most awful port I've ever seen. It has keyboard remapping for actions like 'heavy attack' or 'use item' but then continues to give you menus that say 'press (A)'. There is no setting to map '(A)' to anything! You can use the mouse to control your direction, and left and right click work, but sometimes you'll click behind the screen and end up on your desktop because they clearly don't know how to make mouse controls work. The tips from players are all around but all for XBox controls as well.

    Even beyond the horrible controls, the game telling is awful. You start off creating a character with no idea what any of the stats mean, and if you pick a class that uses magic, you get a skill that uses it, but not the resources to cast magic until later on. The very first enemy you have the fights back is a super boss fight that you absolutely can't win at this point, but there's no indication what you should do. Turns out, you can just run away.

    This is the absolute LAZIEST game port I have ever seen, and shame on Metacritic for not reflecting it's near unplayability in it's score. The critics clearly had to have played the Xbox version, or have installed the third party fixes, SINCE THE DEVELOPER NEVER BOTHERED TO PATCH IT, EVER.

    What a farce!!    … Expand
  72. bcsanches
    Jan 24, 2014
    0
    This game is impossible to play in PC without a gamepad. Really bad port from consoles, stay away. To make thing worse, if you have dual monitor setup, be prepared to have your mouse going out of the screen.
  73. Discerning
    Jul 14, 2013
    0
    Steaming pile of Microsoft LIVE and controller-needed Horribly executed port, as so many others have alluded to. Play it on your console if you have one, or just avoid it like the Microsoft-ruined plague it is.
  74. Soeverein
    Jul 20, 2013
    0
    Dark Souls was a good game, and I loved it when I played the original edition on my console a while ago. This is one of the sloppiest PC ports ever done though, in effect making the game nearly unplayable.
  75. Senopahx
    Jan 15, 2014
    0
    The worst port of a video game I've ever seen. There might be a decent game under there but, after spending 3 hours trying to fix things using user-created mods, I'm giving up. There is simply no excuse for this nearly unplayable mess.

    The controls are terrible and there was absolutely no effort made to adapt them to PC. The tooltips it shows are for the 360 version (it keeps telling    The worst port of a video game I've ever seen. There might be a decent game under there but, after spending 3 hours trying to fix things using user-created mods, I'm giving up. There is simply no excuse for this nearly unplayable mess.

    The controls are terrible and there was absolutely no effort made to adapt them to PC. The tooltips it shows are for the 360 version (it keeps telling me to pull the RT to attack). The actual on-screen play area is locked to a tiny area in the upper-left corner of my screen. Low FPS. Graphical stuttering.

    Save your money.    … Expand
  76. Specimen128
    Nov 28, 2013
    0
    This is total crap. You need to install 100 patches and hacks to make it kinda work on pc and its still unplayable. I tried to make it work for 1 hour and I surrendered. Even if you patch it up, you're still getting confusing Xbox 360 input tutorials. It's totaly broken.
  77. KeyserSose815
    Jul 12, 2013
    3
    What a dreadful console port!! Stay away. I cannot quite comment how good or bad this game would be in the long run, I gave up playing it quite rapidly. The controls are awkward, it's near impossible to use a keyboard and mouse, the gtaphics stuck at 720p standard, despite 1080p being offered (the textures are too low res). The framerate is cappedat 30 (often dips below that, despiteWhat a dreadful console port!! Stay away. I cannot quite comment how good or bad this game would be in the long run, I gave up playing it quite rapidly. The controls are awkward, it's near impossible to use a keyboard and mouse, the gtaphics stuck at 720p standard, despite 1080p being offered (the textures are too low res). The framerate is cappedat 30 (often dips below that, despite largely exceeding specs). Also the camera angles are annoying, you keep dying from stuff you could not see coming (Oh, cool, a giant boulder. I'll remember that the next 75 times I come here). The information messages during loading screens aren't readable because the loading aren't long enough. The voice acting is cringingly poor (the grunting when you take damage sounds like German p*rn) and generally speaking, there isn't much of a story to this game, at least not from the outset. I regret my £5.… Expand
  78. tjgiannhs8es
    Apr 5, 2014
    1
    Is there a worst console port? The keys you are asked to press only suit the xbox controller and you spend half an hour derping over the keyboard trying to learn how to equip a thing. The graphics look bad and there are only FOUR options in the video optimization tab(two of which are the resolution and fullscreen on/off). What a way to treat PC fans.
  79. Neardark
    Jan 16, 2013
    0
    I dont mind if this game is hard, This is one of the reason why I got this game. I play all my games at the hardest difficult always. I don't care about GFWL, the low frame and the outdated graphics, there are solutions for it, This game had the potential to be one of the best PC games of 2012, but the company was so lazy to put a little effort to make this playable. I spent about 10I dont mind if this game is hard, This is one of the reason why I got this game. I play all my games at the hardest difficult always. I don't care about GFWL, the low frame and the outdated graphics, there are solutions for it, This game had the potential to be one of the best PC games of 2012, but the company was so lazy to put a little effort to make this playable. I spent about 10 minutes trying to figure the keys, cause the game use xbox layout (the **** menu is on the END key). You die not because you suck, but because the camera keeps you changing your target between enemies. People are rating this with 10 because they are console players or because they played the game before at console and like it, Come on guys you know that this port does not deserve 10, the developers dont even botther to try make this playable with mouse and keyboard. This game should get a 5 score, but with so many people rating with 10 and defending a bad port game for no reason i will rate this with 0 to balance the score. My advice: Pirate this game from torrent sites and try it for yourself, then if you think developers should get your money for doing nothing with a pc port, feel free… Expand
  80. Nekh
    May 23, 2013
    1
    This had to be one of the worst ports ever, the textures was terrible and the controls were beyond a nightmare. They didn't even bother to remove the console buttons. Press 'A' to read and so on, and 'A' was on 'Q' well in till you got to the menus then it was enter. Controlling the camera with the mouse was jerky and flung about every which way. I hope playing this game with a consoleThis had to be one of the worst ports ever, the textures was terrible and the controls were beyond a nightmare. They didn't even bother to remove the console buttons. Press 'A' to read and so on, and 'A' was on 'Q' well in till you got to the menus then it was enter. Controlling the camera with the mouse was jerky and flung about every which way. I hope playing this game with a console controller is better because keyboard and mouse was just awful.… Expand
  81. TCoop888
    Jul 11, 2013
    2
    This game is good on the basic merits of a game but suffers do to bad porting.any possible enjoyment has been removed from this game by the necessity of using windows live and an xbox controller. This by far the worst pc port of a game i have ever encountered, i had heard about it but to experience the sloppy, inconsistent and at some point just plain idiotic transfer of this game isThis game is good on the basic merits of a game but suffers do to bad porting.any possible enjoyment has been removed from this game by the necessity of using windows live and an xbox controller. This by far the worst pc port of a game i have ever encountered, i had heard about it but to experience the sloppy, inconsistent and at some point just plain idiotic transfer of this game is indescribable. the greatest insult came from the message that said an xbox controller (30$ new by the way) was "strongly recommended". this is a lie. it is flat out required that you have a controller to enjoy this game. The basic control scheme looks as if a child designed it, and not only this but the game is incompatible with any of my other 3 controllers. and i am not willing to pay extra to play a game i already bought. The wors of it was the camera controls, you have the choice of using the j i k and l keys which interferes with combat to no end. or using the mouse which even on my computers lowest setting is more sensitive than a fresh chemical burn. i will not bore you with the graphical issues you have most likely already heard of as these were patched with a mod very quickly (although the fact that a single modder was able to accomplish this in a few hours and the entirety of the from software staff was unable to raises some questions) but this game is just plain insulting to pc players and is essentially a way of the company saying that we don't matter. I do not claim to know what they were thinking but i can say that they have lost me as a customer. i was lucky enough to purchase this game during a steam sale so i did not loose much money, but i can honestly say this game was not worth the 7 dollars i payed. It would have been better spend wadding up into a ball and throwing it at the back of the CEOs head.… Expand
  82. Denbushisan
    Sep 27, 2013
    3
    The first measure of a good game is does it make me want to keep playing it. This game fails that test. I even took heed of the numerous warnings to use a Gamepad, something I've never had to do for any PC game. I made it about 2 hours in, but I had to force myself to do that much, hoping to give it a chance to get better. It didn't.

    I honestly don't know why there are so many gushing    The first measure of a good game is does it make me want to keep playing it. This game fails that test. I even took heed of the numerous warnings to use a Gamepad, something I've never had to do for any PC game. I made it about 2 hours in, but I had to force myself to do that much, hoping to give it a chance to get better. It didn't.

    I honestly don't know why there are so many gushing reviews of this game. Apparently the standards for a console game are a lot lower. If this game had been released exclusively to PC, it would be relegated to obscurity in the shadow of games like Skyrim, which is superior in every way other than being so hard that you die 5 times before getting out of the tutorial. (Which could be a plus or a minus depending on who's asking I suppose.) I tried really hard to like this game, but the graphics (even after the 3rd party mod to unlock the resolution) are lack-luster, the environments are dull and uninspired, the enemies that I encountered are generic. The story is non-existant, and the protagonist has no personality what-so ever to make me want to care about him/her, neither do any of the scarce NPCs I met. The combat was bland and the character movements and animations clumsy.

    This game just feels through and through like something that was lazily thrown together to make some fast cash. Here are some real hallmarks of the laziness of this game. 1. NPC voice overs but static faces. I can't remember the last time I saw a game that did that. If you're not going to at least make their mouths move, don't bother giving voice overs. 2. Every single monster I killed ended up with a ragdoll corpse getting stuck in between my feet and kicked along as I walked. Really? 3. I routinely lined up a power attack on an enemy only to have my character leap diagonally 3 feet to the right of where I was aiming, leaving me vulnerable during the 5 second recovery time. Apparently you HAVE to use target lock if you want your attacks to hit. 4. See any of the reviews that harp on about the pure laziness of the terrible PC port.

    There's no joy in this game, just a dull grind through generic monsters with no real goal or story in evidence. The only positive thing to say about it is that it's "really really challenging". But I for one don't find that appealing in a game when it's to no end except to make you grind from the last save back through the same dull environments and bland fights again and again.

    Don't buy this game. Go re-play Skyrim instead, you'll have way more fun.    … Expand
  83. CallOfGaming
    May 13, 2014
    2
    Great game, too bad the controls are unplayable. I can't count how many times I used up a valuable potion or exited my inventory because I pressed the wrong key. I didn't got far, not because of the dificulty, but due to the awful control port.
  84. Frontsalat
    May 12, 2014
    2
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. First, let me point out a simple question, so that you might get an easier picture of what I'm up to. What exactly is the purpose of a game? Or spoken differently, why do humans play? There's probably tons of information on how to define what a game is, but I'll keep it simple due to character limit. Games are a form of activity done to amuse and/or relax to most times fulfill the simple pleasure of exercising them. Or expressed even more simple...Games are fun!

    So now let me list what exactly I've experienced when I first started up the game and played through the first 15 minutes: Graphical glitches and issues around almost every corner. Locked 30 FPS and 1024x768 resolution, I can't even remember when I last played a game with such low FPS and resolution. Somewhere around the mid 90's I assume, it almost felt like a dia show. I've got 3 crashes to desktop in less then 10 minutes. I've first tried to play with keyboard and mouse, which you might already have figured by other reviews, wasn't such a good idea, but unfortunately using my gamepad was neither.

    I wasn't capable of redefining keys like I wanted to, which is essential if you're left handed or play with arrow keys. The mouse acted wonky, unsmooth and sometimes completely crazy and there was absolutely nothing I could do to change it, as there where no mouse options. Hello?! No mouse option on a PC game? It doesn't matter if this is a console port, there HAS to be mouse options. And even IF I had the option to change keys/mouse, there still was this unswitchable stupid cursor flying over my monitor. The gamepad wasn't the holy grail everybody proclaimed. Buttons where reversed, the right stick (controlling the camera) had only one axis and the controls where lagging just as much as the mouse, plus it was extremely unprecisse and ~50% of hits where missed.

    Regardless of that experience I've installed the DSFIX, the DSMFIX and numerous texture improving mods. It's the first thing I always do when having a new game to look out for Mods. In 90% of all cases I do this to enhance what is already good, but for DS it's different. You'll need to search for those mods and fixes in order to even be capable of playing it. In no way it's possible to play this game without fixes and mods.

    So, after that 8 hour journey I finally got the game in an acceptable state. I'm playing with mouse and keyboard, which feels much more precise and right. I'm on my monitors maximum resolution 1680x1050. I have extremely vibrant textures, bloom, AA and all the modern graphical gimmicks possible for this game. There's still one thing that itches me though. I have to use different keys for menu navigation if I don't use a controller. Did not found a patch or fix that'd allow me to use arrow keys for controlling my charcter AND controlling the menu. But whatever, I've gone so far to ignore all flaws, as the game finally rewarded me superbly with fun and entertainment...or should I say positively rewarded me until I figured what this game really was about?!

    It happened then after the tutorial forcing me to have a deeper look into the reviews not only around here, but on a various of websites and online game magazines. I should have noticed it early on when fighting this fat demonic Jabba. I'd died 4 times before finally killing it, and ONLY due to a happy coincidence that made fat leged Jabba glitching inside one of the pillars. I've read myself through a miriad of reviews and forum discussions about the difficulty of the game, quickly figuring that there's two sides...the hardcore devoted fanboys, and those, like me, that just like to play a game to have fun, relax and getting some easy entertainment. Easy is the keyword, as the forum discussions almost made me feel like a sinner wanting just to enjoy the game and thus not wasting any time with something that creates frustration and forces me to die 1.000 times in a row.

    With increasing life expereince and age, the urge to prove something has been taken away from me. And even if I'd need to prove something, why would I prove it inside my lonesome gaming cellar where nobody's capable of witnessing? Apart from that, I'm practicing the art of Buhurt and as such would eat everyone inside this game and its players alive, plus I'm 6"2 and have a corresponding penis size.

    So here I am now, having a real jewel of a game not being capable of enjoying due to technical flaws and a sadomasochistic difficulty level, that must expel any ordinary gamer who's just playing games for fun. What's a challenge if the only challenge is to constantly die and repetetively play the same scene over and over again? Learning by dying anyone? So in all respect, I have to give this game three different scores. First score barebone game without mods/fixes, second score game with mods and fixes, third score is the final verdict after figuring the most annoying difficulty level which absolutely destroys everything go0d about this game.

    1: 4
    2: 8.5
    3: 2.5    … Expand
  85. heesoo91
    May 23, 2014
    1
    Created an account just tell you how horrible this game is. I love challenging games, but that's not why this game sucks. The absolute worst port I have ever played. Seems like the developers just wanted more money and put this game on PC with console settings. They highly recommend playing this game on a xbox controller which to me seems pretty ****** stupid. If i wanted to play this gameCreated an account just tell you how horrible this game is. I love challenging games, but that's not why this game sucks. The absolute worst port I have ever played. Seems like the developers just wanted more money and put this game on PC with console settings. They highly recommend playing this game on a xbox controller which to me seems pretty ****** stupid. If i wanted to play this game with xbox controller. Ill buy it for xbox. Horrible company and i will not be buying any other games from them. I wish they actually spent time creating a real port because i really wanted to try this game. ESPECIALLY on a laptop with a limited keyboard, do not buy. For someone who works 10- 12 hours a day like me, i just dont have the time to really sit and grind on this game trying to get past one enemy with controls that dont work. You have been warned; buy at your own risk. Shame on this company for being greedy.… Expand
  86. ivanncrazy
    Aug 19, 2019
    0
    dark souls 1 very outdated game mechanics and copy paste level designe, stupid key mapping for keyboard and mouse menu is unfriendly unplayable
  87. ugi_b
    Jun 26, 2016
    0
    The worst game experience I've ever had. It might be better on console, but it is obvious that no real effort has been made to make it even mildly enjoyable on PC. Unbelievable that it is still available as a PC version, as it can only give the game a bad name. Keyboard and mouse need elaborate mods and fixes (and even then it's not much better), messages for key presses come up withThe worst game experience I've ever had. It might be better on console, but it is obvious that no real effort has been made to make it even mildly enjoyable on PC. Unbelievable that it is still available as a PC version, as it can only give the game a bad name. Keyboard and mouse need elaborate mods and fixes (and even then it's not much better), messages for key presses come up with console buttons and not PC key bindings, menu system is awkward, movement feels clunky and awkward, directional aim is clunky, camera view is slow.… Expand
  88. nilsy
    Nov 25, 2015
    1
    This is not a good port from a console to PC game, its not halfway good its one of the worst ive seen.
    It did not feel like they spent half the time needed to make the controls work for a PC user and considering the difficulty in this game this is a to me like the 8th deadly sin:
    Though shalt not make a bad port from console to PC or you will burn in hell for all eternity. They didnt    This is not a good port from a console to PC game, its not halfway good its one of the worst ive seen.
    It did not feel like they spent half the time needed to make the controls work for a PC user and considering the difficulty in this game this is a to me like the 8th deadly sin:
    Though shalt not make a bad port from console to PC or you will burn in hell for all eternity.

    They didnt actually try to make a good PC game in my opinion just a quick money grasp, lets see who will buy the game based on its strong console game reputation.

    This gets a 1 there may be a few extreme case games that are actually worse but i cant think of any i remember the name of but im sure ive played some.    … Expand
  89. Pirate_Who
    Sep 1, 2012
    3
    I heard using the keyboard for this port was nearly impossible, so I used my X360 gamepad. I still found the controls to be to clunky and very poor for combat. I found the graphics to be terrible even with the resolution fix. The item menu was also terrible to navigate though even with a gamepad. I feel this game has a lot of potential that was wasted due to a lack of refinement of theI heard using the keyboard for this port was nearly impossible, so I used my X360 gamepad. I still found the controls to be to clunky and very poor for combat. I found the graphics to be terrible even with the resolution fix. The item menu was also terrible to navigate though even with a gamepad. I feel this game has a lot of potential that was wasted due to a lack of refinement of the game mechanics and controls. Not to mention there is no way to pause even when navigating menus. Also let me emphasize "Prepare to Die Edition" really means just that. The poor controls and game mechanics make this a real grind fest that takes extreme patience.… Expand
  90. Lako
    Sep 8, 2012
    3
    How can people complain about the controls and graphics and then give it a 10? I bet half the people here are console gamers defending their title. Notice how short the reviews are on the reviews with a score of 10.
    Pros...
    Costs less than the console version and comes with a DLC. A challenging game with an interesting story. Cons... Internal resolution locked at 720p. Almost    How can people complain about the controls and graphics and then give it a 10? I bet half the people here are console gamers defending their title. Notice how short the reviews are on the reviews with a score of 10.
    Pros...
    Costs less than the console version and comes with a DLC.
    A challenging game with an interesting story.
    Cons...
    Internal resolution locked at 720p.
    Almost complete lack of graphical settings.
    Having to sign into Windows Live. I'm already signed into Steam.
    The game still displays 360 controls on the screen when there is no controller plugged in.
    The KB&M controls are very hard to use.
    The default controller/keyboard mapping is terrible.
    The game play is really slow and clunky.
    The graphics are really cheap, like flat lo-res images being used as backgrounds(not talking about sky).    … Expand
  91. Galnospoke
    Aug 28, 2012
    0
    100% mistake. Terrible port. We have AD 2012 and max 30 FPS?! No resolution?! Lags on fast computer?! What the f*ck! And bad camera, only MS Pad supported, Windows Live system. Piece of junk!
  92. Sevair
    Sep 30, 2012
    2
    Simply put, the game's port was so abysmal that I couldn't play it. Controls make no sense and the camera moves 'wrong'. Anyone who hasn't already formed an affectionate bond with this tittle via some console, stay away from the PC version. Stay far, far, far away.
  93. Diswin
    Oct 3, 2012
    0
    It seems FromSoftware really hates PC users. There are a few good ports from modern consoles, but DS:PtDE definitely is worst of the worst. I want my money back. I'll buy PS3-version.
  94. umad
    Aug 29, 2012
    3
    What makes this game hard are the god awful controls. Mind you I'm using an xbox controller, dont even think of playing this game with a keyboard & mouse. Just pressing the attack button slightly will make your character attack leaving you vulnerable. if you press any button while swinging, even just a tap the character will execute that action after the swing, so if you make just oneWhat makes this game hard are the god awful controls. Mind you I'm using an xbox controller, dont even think of playing this game with a keyboard & mouse. Just pressing the attack button slightly will make your character attack leaving you vulnerable. if you press any button while swinging, even just a tap the character will execute that action after the swing, so if you make just one wrong tap you're probably dead. I don't know who designed the menu system but it is horrendous , at first you'll have no clue what you're doing, after getting used to it dropping weapons , sorting, everything is just tedious. Exiting the menu is a pain, you have to exit the main window, then press B to exit it completely, if you forget to turn it off PREPARE TO DIE in battle cause you can't attack if the menu wasn't exited completely. The upgrade system is just confusing, they probably wanted to look complicated to make it seem it has depth, but really all it is, is just get the required items, and use souls to upgrade a weapon. It could of been done much more simpler.
    The developers were right to name the game "prepare to die", cause you'll be seeing the words "YOU DIED" 70% of the time while playing. Found a new area to explore? well PREPARE TO DIE cause most likely the stronger enemies there will kill you instantly. Finally the english is awful, it reminds you of the badly translated games from the NES days. Every NPC in the game you meet are ... weirdos... they all do a creepy laugh after everything they say WTF? it all adds to the frusturation. The only thing good about this game are the graphics (Only if you tweak it with an unofficial patch), the weapons/armor look pretty, and the scenery is nice, but the rest is just a pain, and the only reason you'll be playing this game is to beat it and get done with.    … Expand
  95. wandervon
    Sep 9, 2012
    1
    Fanboys are all over this game, and you may be wondering how people can be so divided, but let me give you a rundown of an average Dark Souls gaming session, minus all the talk about the technical problems with this (very poor) port of a console game.

    You enter the game, you fight enemies that lob off 1/3 of your HP with a single light attack even when you are wearing heavy armor, you    Fanboys are all over this game, and you may be wondering how people can be so divided, but let me give you a rundown of an average Dark Souls gaming session, minus all the talk about the technical problems with this (very poor) port of a console game.

    You enter the game, you fight enemies that lob off 1/3 of your HP with a single light attack even when you are wearing heavy armor, you can't dodge worth a crap because your character is slow clumsy and slow, your attacks have terrible response times because its so loldifficult, you get to a boss, you die, lose all your exp, and have to run back.

    You do this over and over, gaining no levels because you lose all your EXP on bosses, until you finally get so fed up you look up a youtube video of the boss fight/read a guide. You then feel a sense of accomplishment because you beat a boss that you shouldn't have been able to beat because the game does not ask that you be intelligent, all it asks is that you have a TON of free time to die 257 per boss until you beat it.

    This game's difficulty is completely artificial. Instead of actually challenging you, it consistently wins using cheap stun locks to keep you unable to attack, you get chain combo'd to the same unable to attack effect, you get pushed off a cliff (this game is filled with cliffs everywhere by the way), or in your attempt to explore you are not rewarded, but penalized by being confronted with an enemy 10000x stronger than you who 1 shots you and you lose all your exp and have to spend 30 minutes running back trying to get it, only to aggro that enemy again and die once more.

    And that's before the poorly designed boss encounters, which consist soley of dying, running back, and frantically trying new things until you figure out the single zelda-ish trick to actually beating the stupid thing. The farther you get into the game, the more ludicrous damage bosses do until it gets to the point where you are simply 1-hit-killed by anything on the screen, as well as bosses themselves, regardless of what armor you are wearing.

    After the 47593475938479 run back from a boss, through the same group of heavily placed enemies, you will finally realize that this game is only out to challenge your patience, and nothing else.    … Expand
  96. Vercinger
    Jan 1, 2013
    0
    Obligatory 0 for using Games for Windows Live. An unforgivable offence, as GfWL is Microsoft's attempt to kill PC gaming in favor of the Xbox. There might be something playable under the DRM, but I'd have to pirate it to find out.
  97. entar256
    Sep 4, 2012
    1
    TL:DR Do not buy to PC, get it to a console. The console version must have been great, however for the PC it is a train wreck. Resolution, FPS-lock and controls this bad does not belong in a PC-game. The game felt like it really hated me and tried to make me stop playing it at every corner. Using the mouse to look around is nauseating at best as the camera is really jerky, you can forgetTL:DR Do not buy to PC, get it to a console. The console version must have been great, however for the PC it is a train wreck. Resolution, FPS-lock and controls this bad does not belong in a PC-game. The game felt like it really hated me and tried to make me stop playing it at every corner. Using the mouse to look around is nauseating at best as the camera is really jerky, you can forget any attempt at making smooth sweeping camera pans. I read a lot of review that tells of the rewarding controls and difficulty, that when you die it was because you made an error. I have yet to feel that way as the jerky controls have sent me over cliffs, made me attack twice and leaving me open to counterattacks, made me do some weird jump attack into a bunch of enemies that promptly ended my characters life. Not once I have felt that "Oh, if I used attack *A* on enemy *B* wouldnt have used attack *C* on me and I would have survived" it has been more of "A**!" or "Why the **** did he do that?!". Frankly, this is really a hardcore game now when I think about it; pattern recognition, trial and error, cheap deaths, bad controls. All in an attempt to prolong a short game, which was a common practice in the NES days, and I dont even think the game actually needs to artificially increase its length. So, if you want a hardcore NES experience today, by all means: buy Dark Souls. You will have many an hour filled with frustration and cursing. But if you rather stay sane: buy Dark Souls to a console and forget about the PC-port. Final thoughts: Graphics: artistically bland, grey and brown. Technically bad, looks blurry and messy. Controls: Keyboard and mouse: dont even try, and if you need to get a gamepad to play a PC-game its not worth your time (imagine if an FPS to a console required you to get keyboard/mouse to be able to play properly...) Gameplay: Hardcore NES experience. If that is your thing: get this game to a console. Sound: irritating, and where is the music? I really wanted this series ever since I saw Demon souls for console, and I almost got a PS3 only for this series, however after this atrocious port and blatant attempt at milking money I lost all desire to play it. I also created an account here on Metacritic only to review this "game". This review only regards the PC-port of the game, I have not played the original, but I hope/guess it is 1000% better than this... thing.… Expand
  98. Azurim
    Aug 28, 2012
    1
    The game is simply not playable on the PC. 1. Did not launch. To launch had to reinstall windows live, reinstall the game, run in XP compatibility mode. Took me several hours to find out what needs to be done. 2. Outdated graphics (and I did not find a way to improve it any way through settings or by forcing)
    3. Terrible interface.
    4. Awful controls. I was unable to figure out how to use    The game is simply not playable on the PC. 1. Did not launch. To launch had to reinstall windows live, reinstall the game, run in XP compatibility mode. Took me several hours to find out what needs to be done. 2. Outdated graphics (and I did not find a way to improve it any way through settings or by forcing)
    3. Terrible interface.
    4. Awful controls. I was unable to figure out how to use spells. Still don't know how to do it. These are the cons, I can't figure out any pros. Results: was really looking forward to play, but un-installed after 15 minutes of torture. The game was actually so bad I even decided to make an account here to write about it to save some people their money. Don't buy the game on PC. If you want to play the game, get it on PS3, maybe it doesn't suck there.    … Expand
  99. macronus
    Oct 5, 2012
    0
    This game is absolutely anti-fun and terrible designed. Checkpoints 3km away from bosses/important spots, minimum information about important things making this game unplayable without reading tons of guides/watching letsplays.
  100. Khornez
    Nov 25, 2012
    2
    Im extremely disappointed to see this horrible port made with no effort that they hope we will somehow love because the original game was awesome. Crappy res, untranslated keys, horrible key mapping... but the worst is a shaky camera even when mouse sensitivity is at 1 that simply makes it unplayable without having a headache, not to mention that if you use window mode, the mouse isn'tIm extremely disappointed to see this horrible port made with no effort that they hope we will somehow love because the original game was awesome. Crappy res, untranslated keys, horrible key mapping... but the worst is a shaky camera even when mouse sensitivity is at 1 that simply makes it unplayable without having a headache, not to mention that if you use window mode, the mouse isn't immediately locked, meaning you can move it out from the window by mistake and click outside, forcing you to make weird moves with that shaky camera just to keep it in the center, as if it was made in flash or something.

    To all those who say "buy the xbox pad": if i wanted to do that, i'd buy an Xbox and forget about PC.    … Expand
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Awards & Rankings

22
#22 Best PC Game of 2012
10
#10 Most Discussed PC Game of 2012
20
#20 Most Shared PC Game of 2012

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
85

Generally favorable reviews - based on 42 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 36 out of 42
  2. Mixed: 5 out of 42
  3. Negative: 1 out of 42
  1. PC Master (Greece)
    Feb 6, 2013
    72
    The irony is that the PC version could have been much better than the PS3/360 ones, with higher resolutions to make the textures look better, a cornucopia of mods and/or an active (in theory at least) community. But FROM ruined it all (with the assistance of Games for Windows Live). It’s a shame really, if we at least had just a decent port (or a better infrastructure for a less appalling multiplayer mode), Dark Souls could have been one of the best RPG for the PC. [November 2012]
  2. GameFocus
    Nov 19, 2012
    80
    Not often do you see a game that is equally rewarding as it is frustrating; and it's not because the game is unfair.
    Read full review
  3. LEVEL (Czech Republic)
    Oct 29, 2012
    80
    Dark Souls returns the hardcore elements back to action RPGs – heavy focus on uncompromising fight mechanics and absolute freedom in hero profiling. The price of this game is not for everyone. [Oct 2012]
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