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. CursedKnight
    Sep 7, 2023
    0
    Dark Souls: Prepare To Die Edition is a milestone in the history of video games. Its excellence shines through various aspects.

    Pros: Rewarding Challenge: Extreme difficulty is offset by the sense of accomplishment when overcoming obstacles. Intriguing World: Lordran is an interconnected world, full of secrets and submerged lore. Deep Combat: The combat system is precise and    Dark Souls: Prepare To Die Edition is a milestone in the history of video games. Its excellence shines through various aspects.

    Pros:

    Rewarding Challenge: Extreme difficulty is offset by the sense of accomplishment when overcoming obstacles.

    Intriguing World: Lordran is an interconnected world, full of secrets and submerged lore.

    Deep Combat: The combat system is precise and strategic, allowing for various approaches.

    Immersive Atmosphere: The dark ambiance and melancholic soundtrack create an immersive experience.

    Story in the Margins: The narrative is fragmented and requires exploration, enriching the experience.

    Cons:

    Technical Issues: Some bugs and optimization problems hinder gameplay at times.

    Steep Learning Curve: It can be intimidating for novice players, deterring some.

    Final Verdict:

    Dark Souls: Prepare To Die Edition, despite some technical issues, is unquestionably the greatest game of all time. Its complexity, challenge, and narrative depth create an experience that transcends any other title. This game is a masterpiece that will be remembered and cherished by generations of gamers.    … Expand
  2. draemato
    Aug 14, 2022
    3
    5/10 game but absolutely terrible PC port. You can't play online with DSfix and controls customizer, which is why i rate it 3/10. Play Remastered version instead but even Remastered is not perfect.
  3. TheW4tchT0wer
    Apr 20, 2022
    1
    Gotta give it a point for the art style and atmosphere - they're the only things going for it. I think this game is for people suffering to the extreme from 'sunk cost' fallacy ('I wasted so much time on this garbage, it has to be good! I will troll other people to feel better about my poor choices!'). Most of the enemies, I had no problems defeating with my tactics. But basically toGotta give it a point for the art style and atmosphere - they're the only things going for it. I think this game is for people suffering to the extreme from 'sunk cost' fallacy ('I wasted so much time on this garbage, it has to be good! I will troll other people to feel better about my poor choices!'). Most of the enemies, I had no problems defeating with my tactics. But basically to progress, you are forced to grind - and it's the most boring slog of a grind I can think of. I'd honestly rather grind old NES JRPGs than a Souls game. The only thing that has routinely defeated my playing this or Demon's Souls has been overwhelming boredom by the third or fourth hour in. If it was a traditional action game, it'd likely be 100x better. As it is, it's just a bunch of poor game design decisions hidden beneath a nice coat of paint.… Expand
  4. thenthomwaslike
    Feb 26, 2022
    0
    It's 2022, From Software still haven't fixed a single thing wrong with this game. Running it on today's hardware with dsfix is still an optimization mess. Instead of putting out any patches they tried to sell us a remastered version. Ha.
  5. KoKop0
    Aug 16, 2020
    0
    very very very terrible port to PC and very disappointing... you must download DSfix if u wish to play the game... FPS is capped and no input mapping you must download mod for it... overall awful unplayable port and poorly optimized if it was even optimized at all

    after playing dark souls 3 I wanted to play the 2nd one it didn't work at all so I tried the first one and its even worse    very very very terrible port to PC and very disappointing... you must download DSfix if u wish to play the game... FPS is capped and no input mapping you must download mod for it... overall awful unplayable port and poorly optimized if it was even optimized at all

    after playing dark souls 3 I wanted to play the 2nd one it didn't work at all so I tried the first one and its even worse port...its just sad    … Expand
  6. 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
  7. 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
  8. Vandark
    Jun 18, 2017
    1
    It's one of the best action rpgs I've ever played, but i do not recommend playing this game on PC.

    PC port of this game is some kind of joke - almost unplayable.
  9. 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
  10. 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.
  11. 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
  12. TemplarGR
    Sep 9, 2016
    1
    Well, to get this out of the way first, the port is somewhat decent now, it is playable, but you need a controller. This game is hell with keyboard and mouse. But i won't focus on that, because the main game is trash anyway.

    If you try to be objective for a moment, and look at this as a piece of software, comparing it with the competition, you can't help but wonder how can this pass as    Well, to get this out of the way first, the port is somewhat decent now, it is playable, but you need a controller. This game is hell with keyboard and mouse. But i won't focus on that, because the main game is trash anyway.

    If you try to be objective for a moment, and look at this as a piece of software, comparing it with the competition, you can't help but wonder how can this pass as a PS3 era AAA game. Seriously. The graphics are borderline PS2 level. Animations and hitboxes are archaic, controls are literally trash. Sound is nothing special, music, what is music? Dialogs are few. The character system is bad and not explained, you can't design a good character without a guide. Enemy AI is non-existant, enemies just stand on their place and just hit you with swords/arrows/whatever. They are just hit point sponges. There are bugs. This game could have been created with 4-5 interns at best. This is no AAA.

    Then we have the supposed "difficulty". Make no mistake, this game is not difficult, it is cheap. Let no blinded fanboy and "hardcore gamer" tell you otherwise. There is nothing difficult with Dark Souls. If it had a proper save system and allowed proper difficulty settings (easy/medium/hard), it would have been much, much easier than other games, because there is literally no enemy AI on this game. If you play Skyrim on the hardest setting, enemies can become HP sponges too, and hit you harder. Same thing, on a far better video game.

    You don't have to be a good gamer to complete this game. I am all for a challenge, but i am 33 years old, and my time is limited. I don't have the time to die 500x times, lose all progress and have to travel all the way again, or grind endlessly in order to beat a boss. That sh1t should have died in the 80s/90s. This is not difficulty, this is tedium. Difficulty is trying to beat a hard AI in chess. Having to grind to win a boss or die repeatedly to learn its patterns, is just a way to waste hours of your life for no reason. It is just BAD DESIGN. A proper human being, that means not a basement dweller, has no time for this sh1t.

    Last but not least, there is no reward for suffering to complete this game. The story is trash, the lore is trash. You have nothing to gain by completing this, other than "bragging rights". For me, if anyone, and i mean, anyone, comes to me and tells me that "he is a hardcore gamer because he wasted hours of his life dying cheap deaths in order to finish a non AAA console port", it is a litmus test for being an idiot. "sure bra, you completed this abomination, what a life accomplishment you made!" All the while normal people play real games to relax for fun.

    I can't explain the high scores of this game by reviewers. Typically, the metacritic scores it has achieved are reserved for classincs and masterpieces, and this trash is not. Also, typically, Japanese games have becomes garbage in the PS3 generation and afterwards. Repetitive trash with low production values. From software was a small japanese developer never known for any good game prior to this. So how come they made it? I believe it is a combination of "marketing" (read:bribes), younger gamers' inexperience and vanity, and Stockholm syndrome. Sony and Japanese gamers/media, have every reason to attempt to push this cheap trash as a "masterpiece" in order to make a comeback in the industry. Professional reviewers don't want to score it lower to not be called "n00bs" and told to "git gud". They typically never finish their games, they almost always play on easy, but somehow they adore Dark Souls... Yeah right... Kids with no accomplishments in their real life, are eager to show off by finishing this turd, and then go online and tell everyone and their dog about it. And they call anyone who won't suffer this garbage "a casual". Most of those kids have completed this game by sheer repetition and grinding, or with guides and cheats. Yet they want to keep the appearence of having fun with it, because admitting this is trash, will make them having to admit they wasted their time and what they accomplished is nothing special. Probably the reason for the whole popularity.

    I have even seen a best game ever list on us gamer, putting Dark Souls on No1 spot. That is after the release of Witcher 3... Calling it a master piece and work of genius. My God, the emperor has no clothes. Are these clowns getting paid to write this?

    Waste no time with this game. Next time someone calls you a "casual" for it, just laugh at his face. This fad will be over soon.    … Expand
  13. 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
  14. 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
  15. MaddysonGovnoed
    Apr 10, 2016
    0
    Very bad game very bad gameplay its very stpd game !!! Very bad game very bad gameplay its very stpd game !!! Very bad game very bad gameplay its very stpd game !!!
  16. reguire
    Apr 5, 2016
    1
    Worst port ever. Even mods can hardly fix this. As a pc gamer, I don't support the use of controllers instead of keyboard+mouse. This is me surpassing the 150 characters limit.
  17. Molvanian
    Jan 18, 2016
    0
    This game is known for being hard. It isn't hard because it's a well made, challenging game. It's hard because the camera is game-breakingly awful, the enemies will awkwardly slide around at times while tracking you with attacks rather than animating movement (Or standing still like you have to), and they forgot to add any character motivation. The entire reason for literally everythingThis game is known for being hard. It isn't hard because it's a well made, challenging game. It's hard because the camera is game-breakingly awful, the enemies will awkwardly slide around at times while tracking you with attacks rather than animating movement (Or standing still like you have to), and they forgot to add any character motivation. The entire reason for literally everything you do is a guy says his family told him undead should go to this place. So... you do. Even though you must fight legions of monsters to do so. Because some dying guy mentioned it.

    Don't believe the hype, this game is poorly made, it's lazy, enemies attack through walls that instantly stop your attacks if you're even near. Save your money and don't buy into the hype. It's not worth it, and it's not the difficulty. It's just poorly made.    … Expand
  18. 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
  19. Keenanz
    Oct 3, 2015
    3
    BAD THINGS :
    Terrible PC port.
    This game is unplayable on average PC unless you download a mod called DSFIX. You can't even bind numeric key if you want to play this game with keyboard. Graphics looks bad and a lot of framerate drop in certain area. Terrible game Design This is basically a rage game, a Lot of enemies can often insta kill your character even if you wearing    BAD THINGS :
    Terrible PC port.
    This game is unplayable on average PC unless you download a mod called DSFIX. You can't even bind numeric key if you want to play this game with keyboard. Graphics looks bad and a lot of framerate drop in certain area.

    Terrible game Design
    This is basically a rage game, a Lot of enemies can often insta kill your character even if you wearing medium-heavy armor and invest a lot on vigor stats. Some bosses are easier than some normal enemies that you will encounter while exploring. Overall, this game is cheap and unbalanced in the terms of difficulty. If you want a balanced and challenging game, this is not the game for you

    A lot of area in this game are felt empty and lack of detail. the dev are even put strong enemies in ridiculous formation for preventing players to explore some unfinished area.

    took 30 hour less to beat the game on my first try, and i missed the DLC content because no way i can find the portal without reading online guide.

    GOOD THINGS :
    - O&S is my favourite boss fight in this series
    - Cool armor design
    - some enemy design are mindblowing
    - interesting lore
    - unique multiplayer design    … Expand
  20. Trebek
    Aug 30, 2015
    4
    This game for all its potential depth and story does a few things that are cardinal sins in my opinion. First off, it has very fiddly controls combined with a 3rd person camera that make the blocking and striking mechanics harder than they need to be. Secondly it combines punishing difficulty with a lack of a save/load function, so if you try something and mess it up, there's no tryingThis game for all its potential depth and story does a few things that are cardinal sins in my opinion. First off, it has very fiddly controls combined with a 3rd person camera that make the blocking and striking mechanics harder than they need to be. Secondly it combines punishing difficulty with a lack of a save/load function, so if you try something and mess it up, there's no trying it again - e.g. the sleeping dragon at the start with the items you're supposed to be able to sneak up, steal and get away with (or die but keep). In my game the fiddly controls had me smashing A for my character to pick up the 2nd item before the dragon murdered me only to find that it just wouldn't register the command, and now the game is saved with the dragon awake.

    Frustrating design combined with huge difficulty and punishing auto saving? You get to meet my friend called the steam refund policy!    … Expand
  21. 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
  22. Kovil1402
    Apr 2, 2015
    0
    I would give this game a 5 just because its the worst concole port I've ever seen and because it is impossible to play the game without the controller...Moveover the game is boring the plot is simple and vacuous not to say the least.The story is just not engaging and even the gameplay itself,which is supposed to be key in this game, is filled with walking through poorly designed corridorsI would give this game a 5 just because its the worst concole port I've ever seen and because it is impossible to play the game without the controller...Moveover the game is boring the plot is simple and vacuous not to say the least.The story is just not engaging and even the gameplay itself,which is supposed to be key in this game, is filled with walking through poorly designed corridors and engaging in combat with armies of skeletons.This is not fun at all!Difficulty is not enough for making a good game.Challenge is not the only thing needed to make an interesting game.I am concerned that this game has so many fans because this tells much about the gaming community as a whole.… Expand
  23. 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
  24. jimbobslimbob
    Dec 10, 2014
    3
    Meh.

    I don't understand the hype around this one. It's really nothing special. Couple this with the god-damn awful PC port that it is, it's enough to safely put me off from playing this anymore.I found the game to be significantly lacking in all areas. Sure, it's hard, but that is really all it's got going for it.

    Jimbo Rating: 3/10
  25. SpawnCap
    Nov 29, 2014
    4
    Dull boring environment. Boring combat. Boring world. Demon Souls was great both Dark Souls series very boring. The graphics on both Dark Souls on the pc are worse than the graphics of demon souls on the ps3. FANS OF SINGLE PLAYER GAMES AVOID THIS TITLE. Nothing but a bunch of children invading other's games.
  26. Azazaa
    Sep 20, 2014
    0
    7.3 ? Are you kidding me? Absolutely bad graphic! PC version is bad. It so bad - that mouse cursor runing over game! It so bad that i don see difference with resolution 640*480 and 2550*1440! It so bad that 4 kays not move to keabord! I see many games, ilsee thousands bad games. But this - absulutely record of bad games.
  27. Muffinrex
    Aug 13, 2014
    3
    The game might be terrific for all I know, but the PC port is so goddamn awful that I just can't play it. I spent hours trying to figure out how to get around Games For Windows Live, and when I finally got into the game, I FOUND OUT IT WAS HORRIBLE.

    I am so disappointed! The framerate and resolution are crap, as well as the over all graphics. You can clearly tell that the team didn't    The game might be terrific for all I know, but the PC port is so goddamn awful that I just can't play it. I spent hours trying to figure out how to get around Games For Windows Live, and when I finally got into the game, I FOUND OUT IT WAS HORRIBLE.

    I am so disappointed! The framerate and resolution are crap, as well as the over all graphics. You can clearly tell that the team didn't put any effort into this terrible port, because the bloody hotkey icons are still looking like X360-buttons! And the mouse, OH GOD THE MOUSE. The camera keeps spinning around, and the mouse cursor is still on the screen in-game.

    Don't buy this. If you have a PS3 or a Xbox 360, buy it for one of those. This port is a waste of cash. Totally unplayable.    … Expand
  28. 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
  29. Drago_Malik
    Jul 11, 2014
    1
    The game is not difficult. You can game it easily by learning to doge and evade the patterns of everything including bosses. Therefore you can kill anything easily. The only stumbles I found are the camera doesn't lock on the PC view so you end up having blocked views if you don't adjust the second axis for the camera while you move. The other is the stuns that cause loss of characterThe game is not difficult. You can game it easily by learning to doge and evade the patterns of everything including bosses. Therefore you can kill anything easily. The only stumbles I found are the camera doesn't lock on the PC view so you end up having blocked views if you don't adjust the second axis for the camera while you move. The other is the stuns that cause loss of character control from hits or falls that delay character reactions that are much needed. These two are very gamey things that add difficulty which is easy to adjust once familiar with the game. The game is very linear. You open up new areas which are also linear. I like the concept of being undead and collecting souls and monsters and gear look cool for the most part. The multiplayer is burdensome and clunky. Try to get a friend in the game with you and you can wait up to an hour before they can join sometimes. That doesn't add to difficulty, it just is a time sink. Combat is interesting, but easy to game around with good evasion and not using target lock will help you more. Easy mode = skip to any item you want for your build by remaining low endurance to dodge and weave your way through anywhere in the world. Farm exp / souls by running high value monters/npcs off cliffs. Way too gamey imo.… Expand
  30. tybalt777
    Jun 23, 2014
    0
    This is hands down probably one of the worst rpgs I have ever played, any money spent on this game is a waste. The game is such a let down that the programmers should feel a sense of shame just for bringing this load of crap into the word
  31. 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
  32. 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
  33. 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.
  34. mberserk
    May 12, 2014
    0
    This game doesn't works properly. Crash on start screen. I bought it on Steam. I've played with Windows 8. But Windows 8.1, crashes, crashes and more crashes. Tried several workaraounds but no sucess.
  35. 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
  36. howlhaku
    May 3, 2014
    0
    This game, just like the first, is broken. They pretend it's 'hard' but it's just an excuse for a lack of testing and play balance. The save points are sparse and the game play is tedious. Tbh I could forgive most of this if the graphics were at least decent but jeebuz they are terrible. Unless you are a cutter I would avoid this like the plague.
  37. bombrero
    Apr 26, 2014
    0
    Back in the day i didnt write a review for this game because it would be another 0, so I just thought "let it be, its not worth the rant, the game is unplayable and takes the bad pc porting to a whole new level, people will struggle to play it and the result will be all the same, low score for the controls high score for the gameplay, no need to punish it", but something happened that madeBack in the day i didnt write a review for this game because it would be another 0, so I just thought "let it be, its not worth the rant, the game is unplayable and takes the bad pc porting to a whole new level, people will struggle to play it and the result will be all the same, low score for the controls high score for the gameplay, no need to punish it", but something happened that made me notice that it had to be punished: The sequel came out. When I bought the first one (this game) It was the worst pc port I had EVER played (and thats saying something): Locked internal resolution (1024 x 720) and FPS (30fps), bad performance, CTDs, unskippable cutscenes and logos (which rapidly becomes a problem if your game crashes often and takes one full minute to restart only for it to crash again), and for the love of god! no keyboard and mouse functionality, as in the mouse didnt even had a chance in this game, and rebindible keys? be lucky with them, on top of some input lag that set the foundation to a horrible experience. But then, hours after my purchase one man, ONE TRULY DEVOTED MAN fixed a lot of the issues releasing a quickfix that let you set internal resolution, fps unlock, skip the cutscenes and logos, and somehow made the flickering graphics and CTDs I was experiencing go away. Then another man joined him and made a fix for the mouse making it fully playable with just minor inconveniences (negative mouse acceleration was still there). And It was hen that I started to have a damn good time. The game itself was good and nostalgic. It was like one of those unforgiving dungeon RPGs from my childhood, but with nice graphics (thanks to the savior who made the fix) and great inmersion. The game ended up being really enjoyable for me, so I bought the second one yesterday thinking that the huge backlash would have been enough for them not to make the same mistakes... Well, not the same mistakes were made, some of the issues were fixed, but it came with a whole new mix of old problems and new problems that make the game again a bad, uncomfortable experience, almost unplayable. That made me realize that thjis scores even if pointless, those "Its unplayable have a nice 0" people (and me) have been giving are completely necessary so these thing wont become a cycle. I'm getting a refund on DS2, and I will state that though I had a great time with this game, it was only thanks to the fans, who made the game possible, since the company sold an unplayable piece of garbage. Thats why I'm giving this game what it deserved in the first place.… Expand
  38. 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.
  39. pizzer123
    Mar 11, 2014
    0
    This is absolutely the worst game in existence i have no idea what kind of complete moron reviews this game and finds it "enjoyable" it is a game that aims to anger and does so again and again, if you are some kind of masochistic then this is the game for you, otherwise ignore what your friends say, ignore the reviews the only explanation i can possibly think for this horrendous game toThis is absolutely the worst game in existence i have no idea what kind of complete moron reviews this game and finds it "enjoyable" it is a game that aims to anger and does so again and again, if you are some kind of masochistic then this is the game for you, otherwise ignore what your friends say, ignore the reviews the only explanation i can possibly think for this horrendous game to get such great reviews is that this is some kind of sick internet joke.… Expand
  40. 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
  41. 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
  42. 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.
  43. 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
  44. Goden
    Jan 8, 2014
    1
    If you want to read about the story or gameplay then read a review from someone that can actually get it working. As for me, Steam's timer shows that I have played it for 27 minutes and that is about as far as I can take it. Keyboard Mouse controls are almost completely unplayable and illogically bound BUT FEAR NOT as I have a Logitech gamepad tucked away for games that require aIf you want to read about the story or gameplay then read a review from someone that can actually get it working. As for me, Steam's timer shows that I have played it for 27 minutes and that is about as far as I can take it. Keyboard Mouse controls are almost completely unplayable and illogically bound BUT FEAR NOT as I have a Logitech gamepad tucked away for games that require a controller to use, so I plugged that badboy in. Whoops, turns out that unless you're using an official Microsoft Xbox360 controller then there is roughly a 30% chance your controller will actually work. If it doesn't then you need to download, install, and then config a third-party 360 controller emulator and blah blah blah blah. This game was gifted to me by a friend and I would very much like to play it but so far that seems highly unlikely. I honestly have to question the legality over selling a product which more broken and dysfunctional than most early alpha test games. If I had paid full price I would certainly be requesting a refund from Steam support.… Expand
  45. Flash_Over
    Dec 28, 2013
    2
    DO NOT BUY THIS GAME! Any game that requires Windows Live Beware! I've been screwed again buying before researching! This game is horrible, the voice acting is really bad, the graphics are bad even with top settings, and the 'auto-save' system is horrible. up and want to start a certain part over? NOPE. You will replay that horrible save over and over unless you make a new game. SpeakingDO NOT BUY THIS GAME! Any game that requires Windows Live Beware! I've been screwed again buying before researching! This game is horrible, the voice acting is really bad, the graphics are bad even with top settings, and the 'auto-save' system is horrible. up and want to start a certain part over? NOPE. You will replay that horrible save over and over unless you make a new game. Speaking of making a new game, the story is very vague at the beginning and you get dumped into a jail and apparently you are a zombie, then with little to no tutorial and bag controls you are then pushed into a boss fight. I dont mine difficulty, but as a new play on level 1 everyone wants an easy level to learn how to play, but getting pushed into a ring with a boss right the get go only to be smashed 20 times before defeating it is just... Bad. This is a HORRIBLE console port (console ports are bad to begin with) But, the controls are really poorly done. if you do not have a Xbox controller, forget attempting to play this game. Luckily I got this on a steam sale for $6. TOTALLY not worth the full price. This game did however install perfectly and it didnt really have any bugs from waht I could tell. So it gets a 2. As for everything else over all, the story sucks, controls suck, graphics suck and voice acting sucked. Nothing good about this game but the music.… Expand
  46. 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
  47. 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
  48. 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
  49. mosti
    Dec 1, 2013
    1
    Absolutely terrible.Graphics are crapola! There's a patch mod to make it better but I spent 4hrs to try to get it to work without luck so I decided to just get into the game with it's crappy graphics.
    The idea of the game is great and is the only reason I'm not giving it a 0/10!
    What irritates me the most above the graphics and the usual glitch and bug is the difficulty and imbalance of    Absolutely terrible.Graphics are crapola! There's a patch mod to make it better but I spent 4hrs to try to get it to work without luck so I decided to just get into the game with it's crappy graphics.
    The idea of the game is great and is the only reason I'm not giving it a 0/10!
    What irritates me the most above the graphics and the usual glitch and bug is the difficulty and imbalance of this game. If you enjoy a game that you're finding yourself continuously having to kill the same enemies over and over and over to try to advance (as they respawn every time you die, or heal at your camp when you run out of potions), then good luck to you because this will certainly break you as it did I!
    The entire combat system is beyond retarded! Wayyy to difficult to block and counter enemies. Stamina is used to strike, block, dodge, counter you name it! So when you find yourself up against 2+ foes swinging their swords in your face...you die...why? Because you spend all your stamina blocking the first two strikes which leaves you open for a massive hit (3hits your dead).
    Horrible game, seriously steer clear    … Expand
  50. 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.
  51. 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...
  52. 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
  53. 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
  54. 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.
  55. 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
  56. 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
  57. giskarduk
    Sep 25, 2013
    3
    If there is 1 thing that really annoys PC users it is terrible console ports. It is not so bad if they make an effort but when they do not, it shows. The entire game becomes a reminder of how bad games get. Dark Souls is such a game. The games controls are super sensitive by default on modern PCs and because it is a bad console port, there is no sensitivity adjuster like you would expectIf there is 1 thing that really annoys PC users it is terrible console ports. It is not so bad if they make an effort but when they do not, it shows. The entire game becomes a reminder of how bad games get. Dark Souls is such a game. The games controls are super sensitive by default on modern PCs and because it is a bad console port, there is no sensitivity adjuster like you would expect in ALL PC GAMES made during the last 15 years. Also the keys that the game tells you to press are not the keys the PC version uses. So you are left guessing how to get back to the menu to check what keys should be pressed. Only they did not use the default escape key for that, that would be far too easy to find, no they used the END key... so you spend 30 minutes stabbing at the keyboard hoping to get lucky when half the time, keys do nothing unless your stood next to something special. So you still do not learn what the keys do simply by pressing them and the game makes zero effort to teach you them. A truly terrible game, no effort made during the porting process what so ever and it shows.… Expand
  58. lockie507
    Sep 25, 2013
    0
    This is by far the worst port I have ever seen. they have not even bothered to remove the Xbox controller promps when playing on a keyboard.

    Also the Camera is very jittery and unpredictable, also why oh why would they leave the standard mouse pointer to be seen permanently in the game....

    Please don't waste your money on this.
  59. ALkasyn
    Sep 1, 2013
    4
    A friend suggested I buy this game because it is challenging and a good throwback to how games used to be. Well, I can agree that the game is indeed difficult, but unfortunately it is the dumb kind of difficulty, where the enemies just 2 shoot you. Normal creeps also have the ability to instagib you with an animated attack, even if you are at full health. The story is pretty muchA friend suggested I buy this game because it is challenging and a good throwback to how games used to be. Well, I can agree that the game is indeed difficult, but unfortunately it is the dumb kind of difficulty, where the enemies just 2 shoot you. Normal creeps also have the ability to instagib you with an animated attack, even if you are at full health. The story is pretty much non-existent, you are never told anything helpful as there is no tutorial/practice level and you learn the tactics for a particular boss by dying to them, respawning and running to them again. You don't really know where to go or what do to apart from a general idea of "ringing two bells". The NPCs don't tell you anything more useful than that. Top it off with PKers invading your world even though their level is twice as high as you and the fact that to understand anything of the game-play the Covenants, the Invasions, the Phantoms, Bosses etc. you have to browse the Wiki. Oh, and the abysmal respawn system where you have to run back to where you died to pick up your experience points before finding a shortcut this might take up to 15 minutes to reach your body the monsters have all respawned, too. All in all, a disappointment, and the only redeeming factor for me is that I bought it on a Steam sale. If you do play this game, do it on a controller, not the keyboard+mouse as the port sucks.… Expand
  60. Eitr
    Aug 12, 2013
    0
    Garbage port. Key bindings are the worst and the game wont even tell you which key because it only displays controller buttons. After finally getting it to go full screen and controller hooked up, gameplay was still buggy and the camera was awful. At one point an enemy had killed me at a bonfire, but when I respawned he still had agro on me again (and again). To make this worse, the gameGarbage port. Key bindings are the worst and the game wont even tell you which key because it only displays controller buttons. After finally getting it to go full screen and controller hooked up, gameplay was still buggy and the camera was awful. At one point an enemy had killed me at a bonfire, but when I respawned he still had agro on me again (and again). To make this worse, the game does not pause at all when entering any menu so I had to kite the enemy around before he killed me just to be able to exit the game. I can understand not pausing during pvp but this was in offline mode. Tutorial is practically non existent and expects you to just guess what the mechanics of the game are half the time. Little notes written on the ground where it's usually too late to respond to the situation after trying to read them does not suffice for helping new people get into the game.… Expand
  61. 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
  62. 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.
  63. 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.
  64. 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...
  65. Osmium
    Jul 30, 2013
    0
    The game itself is simply fantastic, a legend among videogamers. The atmosphere is always tense, the difficulty level is horrendous you need a lot of patience and will die very often in this game. But this is exactly what makes progressing in this game so rewarding. Great action RPG, though recommendable to hardcore gamers only.
    But: The PC version which I am rating here is by far the    The game itself is simply fantastic, a legend among videogamers. The atmosphere is always tense, the difficulty level is horrendous you need a lot of patience and will die very often in this game. But this is exactly what makes progressing in this game so rewarding. Great action RPG, though recommendable to hardcore gamers only.
    But: The PC version which I am rating here is by far the worst console port ever to defile my hard drive. Graphics are horrible, controls (with mouse and keyboard) are beyond broken, other technical issues (games crashes to desktop, freezes, inexplicable FPS drops) are taking away the rest of the fun. No effort whatsoever has been put into this console port, it is disgusting and a disgrace to the devs. I would recommend anyone interested in this title to get it on the console, not for PC.    … Expand
  66. zmaint
    Jul 22, 2013
    0
    Another console port. No keyboard support, you have to use an Xbox controller. Graphics are low res Xbox crap.

    Good news: I paid $2.49 on a Steam sale.
    Bad news: I wasted $2.49 on a complete and utter steaming pile of crap.
  67. 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
  68. MrFunsocks
    Jul 20, 2013
    0
    Worst purchase ever. Terrible controls, for mouse or keyboard. The joypad controls aren't rebindable, and the default bindings are atrocious. I spent about an hour messing with it before I started using JoyToKey to try and remap my controller. Just got fed up. Maybe it's good, but the intro (even aside from controller issues) shows some tired graphics, incomprehensible story setup, andWorst purchase ever. Terrible controls, for mouse or keyboard. The joypad controls aren't rebindable, and the default bindings are atrocious. I spent about an hour messing with it before I started using JoyToKey to try and remap my controller. Just got fed up. Maybe it's good, but the intro (even aside from controller issues) shows some tired graphics, incomprehensible story setup, and incredibly bland gameplay, along with a basically nonexistent tutorial. Maybe it gets better later, I don't know, but I'm not going to fight the game for another hour just to find out.… Expand
  69. 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.
  70. fnhostyle
    Jul 18, 2013
    1
    First of all ...I wrote this review jokingly... it doesn't really read that way tho.. anyway,.. read on....

    If I were explaining the worth of this game to a friend... the descrption would contain, at minimum, several million swear words.....drowning out all comprehensible information. I will say these words.... .....console game... bad port....... ....terrible graphics........rip    First of all ...I wrote this review jokingly... it doesn't really read that way tho.. anyway,.. read on....

    If I were explaining the worth of this game to a friend... the descrption would contain, at minimum, several million swear words.....drowning out all comprehensible information.

    I will say these words.... .....console game... bad port....... ....terrible graphics........rip off .swear word...... refund different swear word.. bad port... (again).. nonsensical half finished swearword..etc

    Although I'm unfortunate enough to have purchased a 360 controller, I tried this tittle first time around using (what I prefer)...a keyboard and mouse setup.... the result talking to myself out loud about the lack of mouse pole rate adjustment or smoothing.... (without even knowing what I'm really talking about)....then the lack of being able to re-assign mouse buttons, screen refresh rate maximum at 60hz making my eyes sore being used to 120hz, the windows mouse cursor being stuck on the screen...and moving although not utilizable end result... me hitting alt F4.

    Player control, using the mouse and keyboard, is set up as if the character were a car or vehicle ....to explain better......Rather than turning both the character and camera as one unit with the mouse... the people that ported this title only linked the mouse to camera movement so as you walk.....turning is accomplished only via keyboard... leaving the camera behind to continue looking at a wall .....so constantly repositioning the camera view point using the mouse is necessary ...which is difficult considering the attack left or right hand and light attack left or right hand and block left or right hand is all controlled back on the keyboard by the mouse hand... and getting used to the fact that facing the enemy with the mouse will not ensure you faced your character at the enemy, with turning by tapping the turn keys to line the character and target up...or auto lock on target.. only accomplish-able really when the camera is also adjusted.....makes things difficult..... and all these complications might be overlook-able....to some people....for instance the people who did the port...., but making the matter worse the mouse is not calibrated correctly for widescreen use so up and down is more sensitive than left and right ruining the normal sense of balance that exists in basically every other game...and therefore the feeling of control or what little that may have remained from the 10 different mouse sensitivity adjustment settings the user may have try'd to settle upon.

    Keyboard assignments are so bad that the "end" key is used in place of the "esc" key to bring up the main menu..

    So anyway I restarted the game.....and After sitting through 15 different non skip-able splash screens again, I tried it out with the 360 controller... a lot better... I then find out that not even the buttons on the 360 controller are re-assignable... which leaves me with only swearing as re-course, once again, about how crap this game is..... at the same time the games for windows live menu is popping up over the game nonstop as I try every button on the controller looking for a "lock onto target" button ...or something else actually handy....and then once more after finding the difficulty of even the first boss creature damn near impossible....I give up.

    Thanks Good Game host Bajo for explaining about how great a game this is so great in fact ...he's playing it a second time through....apparently....
    I now...unfortunately.. have to re-evaluate any future usefulness of the aforementioned persons opinions.. lol

    I think this game may have been designed for 11 year olds...to be fair..... by 11 year olds... smart ones tho..... I'm sure..

    Value=$7.60    … Expand
  71. 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
  72. 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.
  73. zrrz
    Jul 14, 2013
    0
    Trash. Input made by a retarded donkey. Kicked me to the start menu because of "frames problem," when it was running perfectly. Would have been decent if Devs put 10 minutes into making it a PC game.
  74. 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
  75. 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
  76. 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.
  77. Snadiwchhhh
    Jun 13, 2013
    3
    The game earns high scores by its hardness. But even after many years, game on PC is horrible: controls, camera, lock on, movements, FPS, bugs, lags, graphics of games created in 2002, horrible in-game menu, no explain of controls, everything is shown as xbox controls, horrible combo controls and many other cons. Even game without them is average, im not saying on hardness, but whyThe game earns high scores by its hardness. But even after many years, game on PC is horrible: controls, camera, lock on, movements, FPS, bugs, lags, graphics of games created in 2002, horrible in-game menu, no explain of controls, everything is shown as xbox controls, horrible combo controls and many other cons. Even game without them is average, im not saying on hardness, but why demons are so easy to kill (hide behind the tree while demon swings with his weapon and then attack, or go above the beast and jump on his head to kill him) and why mini bosses kill you with one hit or 2 bites of huge rat will poison you for 2 minutes, what is fatal for your hero. Game is saying that you can do whatever you want and go where you want, but its lies. Because going wrong way you will meet enemies who kill you with one hit. Games biggest enemies are not demons or bosses, but lags and optimization of the game. Hope that sequel will fix all these cons.… Expand
  78. 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
  79. Andrew_Paterson
    May 18, 2013
    2
    Sometimes I wonder why I haven't learned to read meta critic user reviews BEFORE buying a game.

    Dark Souls is probably an awesome game provided you're not playing the shoddy PC port. But I'm getting ahead of myself and before I start ranting about how terrible the game-play is I must walk you through the issues in trying to get to game-play. Firstly there was the wait for the Steam key    Sometimes I wonder why I haven't learned to read meta critic user reviews BEFORE buying a game.

    Dark Souls is probably an awesome game provided you're not playing the shoddy PC port. But I'm getting ahead of myself and before I start ranting about how terrible the game-play is I must walk you through the issues in trying to get to game-play. Firstly there was the wait for the Steam key it took about a week to acquire which is long in the digital age but livable. Then I had endless issues with Windows Live. I have windows live installed and working for other games but for Dark Souls it crashed and/or battled to sign in. Sadly you need Windows Live to save. I sorted Windows Live out and finally got into the game. Or thought I had: I got bogged down in the awful, awful character creation interface and then got stuck watching a long unskippable cinematic followed immediately by another long unskippable cinematic.

    I finally get to play but have very little good will left after the preceding mess. And then I discover that the controls are broken. A keyboard and mouse are not recommend and can't be used anyway as the mouse sensitivity on it's lowest setting will see a tiny bump swing the character through ninety degrees. An XBox controller (which is recommended) doesn't work because the button configurations are mangled and can't be re-configured. A genuine XBox controller on a genuine windows operating system (Win 7) and somehow the Dark Souls developers got the button mappings wrong.

    This game is broken.

    I finally quit in frustration. Or tried to. Because the controls are mangled there was no way to get back to a menu to save and quit; I had kill the process instead. Now every time I launch the game it chastises me for not closing it correctly.

    After installing various fan patches I got the game to a playable (and decently looking) state and unfortunately discovered that after all the effort I'd gone through the game play is terrible.

    The premise is that Dark Souls is unforgiving and will kill you again and again until you play cautiously which is awesome. I've been looking for a challenging game for years.

    The reality is the game killed me again and again as the camera seldom points anywhere useful and I stepped off ledges I couldn't see. Or the character locks onto an enemy far behind him and stops me from blocking an enemy immediately in-front. A stabbed in the back instant kill.

    Absolutely nothing about Dark Souls is good or even working.    … Expand
  80. 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.
  81. 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.
  82. 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
  83. Xanthor
    Mar 22, 2013
    0
    With most PC console ports I am willing to see past the problems and try to enjoy the game. But this game is horrendous. The resolution is awful (even running 1920x1080). Never heard of camera smoothing? Then, several keys just won't bind. Finally, after painfully setting up the controls, attacking the undead creatures will result in hitting air to the left or right.

    Well, Bandai,    With most PC console ports I am willing to see past the problems and try to enjoy the game. But this game is horrendous. The resolution is awful (even running 1920x1080). Never heard of camera smoothing? Then, several keys just won't bind. Finally, after painfully setting up the controls, attacking the undead creatures will result in hitting air to the left or right.

    Well, Bandai, enjoying the easy money? How about completely redesigning the PC port and RESPECT one third of your customer base for a change? It could be a great game, but the port makes it a complete waste. By the way, there are more publishers that could (should) set the same example.    … Expand
  84. AthanasiosT
    Mar 9, 2013
    1
    I really really tried to play this one. but when I play a PC game, I want to be able to play it as it's meant for PC. Meaning that this is a really bad console conversion. Mouse and keyboard have just decorative roles, even though I downloaded two extra moddings (1 for game and 1 for mouse controls). Framerate is awful and if you insist on using mouse control, the frames just hop like aI really really tried to play this one. but when I play a PC game, I want to be able to play it as it's meant for PC. Meaning that this is a really bad console conversion. Mouse and keyboard have just decorative roles, even though I downloaded two extra moddings (1 for game and 1 for mouse controls). Framerate is awful and if you insist on using mouse control, the frames just hop like a frog. Too bad, because the game seemed very-very good....… Expand
  85. 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.
  86. 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.
  87. 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
  88. 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.
  89. 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
  90. Kain
    Jan 17, 2013
    0
    This game is offensive to everyone that is not in coma since 2000 , it's rather easy to look for a game made in that time superior to this that they called a "game" , 0 graphics , 0 sound , 0 Gameplay , the one thing that could be interesting is the plot , but i will take my hat to the ones that have the courage to play this more than 10 mins .... 6.8 user score at the moment is veryThis game is offensive to everyone that is not in coma since 2000 , it's rather easy to look for a game made in that time superior to this that they called a "game" , 0 graphics , 0 sound , 0 Gameplay , the one thing that could be interesting is the plot , but i will take my hat to the ones that have the courage to play this more than 10 mins .... 6.8 user score at the moment is very flattering to this "game"… Expand
  91. 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
  92. Antiks
    Jan 7, 2013
    2
    Terrible port. Controls can't be reset and the mouse and keyboard stuff is just broken. Do not buy this game if you don't own and xbox 360 controller for your pc. Also you need to make several community fixes to the game to get it looking decent and running decent. Would not recommend anyone purchase this game for PC. Buyer beware.
  93. 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.
  94. 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.
  95. 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
  96. 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
  97. 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
  98. 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
  99. 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
  100. SohailACE
    Nov 21, 2012
    0
    Worst port of the year, worst graphics, gameplay sucks, biggest flop of the year 2012.................................................................
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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]
See all critic reviews »