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. SuperSourSauce
    Nov 1, 2017
    10
    Remember Castlevania? It was like Dark Souls! Because it was so difficult for its time.

    And Battletoads? Ghosts 'n Goblins? Zelda 2? All those games were like Dark Souls! Because lord knows we can't have a conversation about ANY challenging game/game with swords and shields these days, without it somehow being compared to Dark Souls! Ocarina of Time may go down in history as    Remember Castlevania? It was like Dark Souls! Because it was so difficult for its time.

    And Battletoads? Ghosts 'n Goblins? Zelda 2? All those games were like Dark Souls!

    Because lord knows we can't have a conversation about ANY challenging game/game with swords and shields these days, without it somehow being compared to Dark Souls!

    Ocarina of Time may go down in history as being the best Dark Souls game, but all work and no Dark Souls makes Souls a Souls Souls.    … Expand
  2. Rangaman
    Aug 21, 2017
    10
    Quite simply, a masterpiece in game design and atmosphere that may have its flaws, but those flaws are more than made up for by the rest of the game. A game that mixes great ARPG combat with seamless Castlevania-esque design and an overwhelmingly melancholic and depressing tone. Also, it's rather difficult.

    It's worth mentioning that this isn't a great PC port. A 30 FPS cap and 360    Quite simply, a masterpiece in game design and atmosphere that may have its flaws, but those flaws are more than made up for by the rest of the game. A game that mixes great ARPG combat with seamless Castlevania-esque design and an overwhelmingly melancholic and depressing tone. Also, it's rather difficult.

    It's worth mentioning that this isn't a great PC port. A 30 FPS cap and 360 controller prompts suggest the port was rushed, and the options for graphics are "you can change the resolution and the anti-aliasing I guess". It's nothing mods can't fix, but it is annoying. I'm also told the KB+M controls are crap, but I prefer controllers for...basically any game that isn't a Tactical RPG or FPS, so I wouldn't know about that.    … Expand
  3. llamayarmybar
    Jul 14, 2017
    7
    I'm not sure if their is a game on this planet as infamous as Dark Souls, that actually makes you feel as though you've cheated throughout its entirety as soon as the ending credits begin to roll. I always considered myself a casual player in regards to the series, having mainly spent several hundreds of hours playing through multiple builds, with different weapons, different armorI'm not sure if their is a game on this planet as infamous as Dark Souls, that actually makes you feel as though you've cheated throughout its entirety as soon as the ending credits begin to roll. I always considered myself a casual player in regards to the series, having mainly spent several hundreds of hours playing through multiple builds, with different weapons, different armor combinations and different approaches to more or less the same thing, over and over again. However, when I did finally finish it, I felt as if I had stumbled upon a glitch. Early on I had come into possession of the "Black Knight Halberd," a weapon that has a certain random number generator factor in terms of how often it drops in the game. Most people would prefer not to use this weapon, or it typically doesn't spawn often enough, whichever the reason, I took it all the way to the end. I spent all my souls and items to upgrade it as high as it could go, I wore armor that was far too heavy, but provided all the protection I'd ever need, I found a "Stone armor" shield and used that for the majority of major battles. I believe all I ever upgraded was "Strength" statistics in regards to my own character. I felt impervious, really the only times I didn't were sections of the game that purposefully slow you down, put you in terrible positions, or squares you off against two bosses at the same time. Otherwise, I felt like my victories were undeserved and while this was going on, I also felt as though the game was missing something. Huge vantage points showed a massive world built for giants! Enormous structures lay about almost everywhere, but it was so spread out that the rest of the world seemed almost dead, almost silent. Many might argue that it created a more foreboding atmosphere, but I would argue that developers who designed such large open spaces, had neglected to place anything in them. While I don't believe Dark Souls is a bad game, I believe it is an acquired taste in the genre, to be fair their isn't much out there like it, but it lacks a kind of polish, it lacks a dimension of real proper design. I admit, I'm am just a casual fan, but even after spending hundreds of hours playing, even as the hollowed figure rose up from his imprisonment, after those credits had rolled for the first time, after everything had been defeated, even I had to set the controller down and walk away. Dark Souls possesses a kind of charm, that we don't see in many things anymore, and I do believe it is special, but it seems a shame that its uniqueness doesn't quite cover up its many glaring flaws. I think to this day it was one of the few games that had me utterly transfixed on its own pointlessness by the end of it.… Expand
  4. 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.
  5. Cech
    May 16, 2017
    8
    Главная фишка dark`а: НЕопциональный хардкор и я это одобряю, но есть множество игр сложнее геймплейно, чем эта: как слешер тот же ведьмак даст больше челленджа. Дарк Соулс на фоне других игр в плане сложности слабоват.

    Чем ещё игра у меня не в почёте? Так это тем, что если убрать карту из любой игры - она станет хардкорной, да и во многом более хардкорной, чем ДС Боссы 40% боссов    Главная фишка dark`а: НЕопциональный хардкор и я это одобряю, но есть множество игр сложнее геймплейно, чем эта: как слешер тот же ведьмак даст больше челленджа. Дарк Соулс на фоне других игр в плане сложности слабоват.

    Чем ещё игра у меня не в почёте? Так это тем, что если убрать карту из любой игры - она станет хардкорной, да и во многом более хардкорной, чем ДС

    Боссы
    40% боссов убил с первой попытки, на одного босса ушло 11-18 попыток, на "шикарное" "Ложе", что не является боссом ушло около 10 попыток, на остальных ушло до 5 траев, чаще всего вторая и третья были удачными (Оргазм от победы испытал за всё прохождение 1 раз, в остальном было "каменное лицо")

    Локации
    Мне больше всего понравился лес, а меньше всего анусы подземелий в которых ничего не видно. Проще говоря, неплохо, но можно и лучше

    Персонажи
    Колоритные NPC и забавные враги, я влюблён в людей-грибочков, из-за которых я когда-то купил эту игру

    Игра меня научила
    Многих эта игра чему-то научила, точнее научила не совершать ошибки. Бред. Все ваши ошибки в этой игре можно пофиксить фармом. Уверен, что никто не выполнил "фёрст левел ран". Игра учит основам "Защиты древних" выфарми - победи

    Графика
    Каки мамонта, особенно для 2012 года, а сейчас то - УХ!

    Сюжет
    Его нет, просто забейте. Если вы уверены в том, что он есть - вы ретард

    Отмечу слова своего коллеги о том, что многие путают термины хардкорность и нудность, да, нудности тут больше, чем нужно, а появление телепорта между кострами в последней трети игры (и то не на все костры) - абсурд, телепорт должен был быть изначально.

    Возможно обзор будет дополняться мыслями, на момент релиза игра могла тянуть на 7/10, сейчас это твёрдая 5

    Жаль, что игра отказывалась работать тогда, когда я её купил из-за гейсфорвиндовса и не только. Игра не хотела работать как на вин7, так и на вин8.1, и как здорово, что вышла 10ка, на которой всё работает

    Всеми руками рекомендую в этом жанре не следующую часть соулс, а Lords of the Fallen

    UPD. Через нескоько месяцев я понимаю, что от игры осталось очень хорошее послевкусие, так что повышу оценку до 6.5/10

    UPD2. Без стороннего вмешательства в файлы игры и скачивания оных - неиграбельный кусок кала

    7.5/10    … Expand
  6. LifeHistory
    Apr 19, 2017
    10
    This was my first Souls game. I had really hard time at first and kind of hated it a bit because of the difficulty and the new mechanics that I had to learn. From Software brought a whole new genre to us and it was very refreshing and satisfying. It has nice world design and the fun of exploring is made in a right way and the feeling when you slaughter you enemies is fantastic

    If you    This was my first Souls game. I had really hard time at first and kind of hated it a bit because of the difficulty and the new mechanics that I had to learn. From Software brought a whole new genre to us and it was very refreshing and satisfying. It has nice world design and the fun of exploring is made in a right way and the feeling when you slaughter you enemies is fantastic

    If you don't have the discipline of dying too many times at a game then move on because this is nothing for you. You will get angry and you will scream and swear at some point but that's also whats makes it fun.

    Good idea with cool gameplay and once you play it you will remember it for the rest of your life. I've played every soul game and even bloodborne. DS2 has more place in my heart than any other soul game for some mystic reason...    … Expand
  7. DariushL
    Apr 17, 2017
    10
    The 10/10 doesnt mean is a perfect game. It means it's PURE. It doesnt pretend to be what its not and i love that.

    A lot of atmosphere, a fascinating artstyle and lore, tons of personalization options and trial and error with no hand-holding; plus, the combat system is gold and the storytelling is unique in his cryptic fashion. The multyplayer invasion system is simply genious and    The 10/10 doesnt mean is a perfect game. It means it's PURE. It doesnt pretend to be what its not and i love that.

    A lot of atmosphere, a fascinating artstyle and lore, tons of personalization options and trial and error with no hand-holding; plus, the combat system is gold and the storytelling is unique in his cryptic fashion.
    The multyplayer invasion system is simply genious and offer even more thrills, mixing sp with mp for a one of a kind experience.
    NewGame+ Mode makes DS even harder to drop, and leveling up to NG+7 will be an amazing achievement!

    Dark Souls is as addictive as it gets, simply amazing.

    I'm playing with the 360 controller and while i could not play it properly with mouse+kb, many manage to...(my first hour with no gamepad...i was about to write for a refund)

    I was reluctant to try this PC port, but DS is now in my all time top-5.
    A MUST PLAY.

    10/10

    *OST is simply amazing.!!!    … Expand
  8. angelss_13
    Apr 12, 2017
    10
    Una obra de arte. El primer videojuego que me hizo apreciar al videojuego como un arte. Su atmósfera, su jugabilidad, su historia, su banda sonora, su apartado artístico, todo es grandioso. Transmite emociones variadas e intensas a pesar de tener una narrativa no lineal y hasta cierto punto críptica (o más bien, quizás precisamente por eso). Las batallas contra ciertos jefes son algunasUna obra de arte. El primer videojuego que me hizo apreciar al videojuego como un arte. Su atmósfera, su jugabilidad, su historia, su banda sonora, su apartado artístico, todo es grandioso. Transmite emociones variadas e intensas a pesar de tener una narrativa no lineal y hasta cierto punto críptica (o más bien, quizás precisamente por eso). Las batallas contra ciertos jefes son algunas de las mejores experiencias que he tenido en un videojuego.

    Ahora bien, su adaptación a PC es realmente deficiente. Sin un control de Xbox simplemente no lo disfrutarás como se debe. Pero incluye uno de los mejores DLC's de la historia, así que se compensa.    … Expand
  9. JeromeLey
    Mar 28, 2017
    10
    Hands down the best game i've ever played. No sentence could describe the combination of dread, excitement, and awe that I felt every time I go through a fog gate and see a boss for the first time.
  10. vitucovigo
    Mar 22, 2017
    10
    This game is a masterpiece. PC port is bad, but with DSFIX is perfect. Controller highly recommended.
    The world is beautiful and really well connected. That connexions between areas are just crazy. It's awesome. The combat system is fantastic, the lore is dark and hard to find out without reading object descriptions. The bosses are incredible. The difficulty is well implemented. You must    This game is a masterpiece. PC port is bad, but with DSFIX is perfect. Controller highly recommended.
    The world is beautiful and really well connected. That connexions between areas are just crazy. It's awesome. The combat system is fantastic, the lore is dark and hard to find out without reading object descriptions. The bosses are incredible. The difficulty is well implemented. You must try this game out.    … Expand
  11. marcelus
    Mar 17, 2017
    9
    I made this review back in 2013 when the game wasn't available on my region (so I had the game but couldn't make the formal review):

    This is my humble review of "Dark Souls: Prepare To Die Edition". Souls games are between us since a while. I found them a few years after but not too late. Usually people make complaints and jokes about Souls difficulty but I think those games are fair    I made this review back in 2013 when the game wasn't available on my region (so I had the game but couldn't make the formal review):

    This is my humble review of "Dark Souls: Prepare To Die Edition". Souls games are between us since a while. I found them a few years after but not too late. Usually people make complaints and jokes about Souls difficulty but I think those games are fair and they're not randomly designed.

    The Gameplay: is an action RPG. You collect souls to level up and buy things...you have bonfires (like save points / check points) where you can spend those souls and capitalize your progress. What I mean with capitalize?

    If you die between those bonfires you loose all your souls and something called humanity wich gives you a lot of advantage. But here's the catch! you can go through the whole area again and find your souls and humanity in a bloodstain.

    It's a game about pacing, learning patterns and patience. If you played any tradition RPG you must know there's some areas you can't afford without an specific skill, weapon or stat. Here it's the same but simpler.

    At first you can feel confused by the key binding. You use triggers and buttons from the upper part of your controller to use each hand and the items equipped there. It feels great and natural.

    Something great and distinctive about Dark Souls is the feeling of weapons. Some are lighter some are heavier but they infringe more damage. Each area, each boss you'll have a long arsenal to make a different aproach.

    Graphics: Is a 2011 game. It wasn't the best graphical experience at it's release but the art style is one of the best one of its generation. Level design is not linear, it usually gives you different paths for different areas. Usually you're heavier with your armor. Gravity and environments imperfections are always something to use to your favor. Exploration in Souls games is the best part of the experience.

    Sound design: It's great, each weapon each foley is characteristic. The things outise camera are present too. The quiet areas are sometimes the most interesting with little details.

    The OST of Dark Souls is one of the best ones in a game. Period. Haha! its sometimes lugubrious illustrating the tone of the kingdom and the crazy NPC's. Talking about them. The voice acting hast not great quality the sound kind of low fi or with too much reverb (wich is planned think I guess) but they're in the right mood to me you feel hopeless or strange in that world. An important thing is that there's tons and tons of dialog with information about the lore. Wich makes me comment about one the Dark Souls strengths.

    Storytelling: Dark Souls puts you in this lugubrious world with an amazing intro, some important characters for the plot presented and you just a humble undead wich has the luck of receive a humanity and begin your path to be again non-hollow....and maybe...maybe...became something important ;)

    The world you meet is the result of the intro years events. Years has passed you're watching the aftermath of some big deals between human, gods and other beigns (I'm not gonna spoil anything).

    The souls experience makes me remind sometimes to Castlevania SOTN revealing things between the NPC's and sometimes with Tomb Raider (the classic ones) revealing things between the objects and each discover you make...(Other non-related games I see in Souls at times: Die By the Sword, Soul Reaver and Crusaders of Might & Magic).

    I got away from the story telling thing sorry (I'm not an experienced writer). Returning and to close this aspect. I think Dark Souls way to make you understand the plot is very indirect and for some people it could be annoying. But this makes you want to replay the game more than twice, more than 3 o 4 and 5 times even. And nothing is randomly delivered. It's poetic and one the best stories I've experienced :') (tear)

    Finally The Boss Fights...They're the most epic battles ever. Bosses are stylish different and has a lot of lore baggage. You can reach some of the hardest boss in game history. A very little amount of them are beyond your luck. But they're not impossible. And they are the ♥♥♥♥♥♥ of this expience haha yes you read it right. The feel of defeating a boss not only means the boss. It means you improve yourself. No only in stats, your skills, your mental strenght and you overcome that area behind him. It feels similar to Shadow of the Colossus with each win ;)

    I always recommend Dark Souls to all kind of gamers. Even non-hardcore. Is not a hardcore game (play Japanese shooters xD). It's on my top 10 of all time. Again...Really recommended and deep in my gaming heart ;)

    EDIT:
    - "Artorias of the Abyss" DLC worth every second! ;)
    - GFWL migrated to SteamWorks Yaaaaay!! (and DS Fix works again)    … Expand
  12. vzlaDavid
    Mar 4, 2017
    8
    To start this review, I must say that I have not played the console versions, so unlie probably many reviews I will not judge it by comparing it to the console versions. Well, to begin with the actual review, this game is beautiful in almost all aspects. The difficulty curve the game has is nice and feels very natural once you learn the basics of the game, giving my example, I tried reallyTo start this review, I must say that I have not played the console versions, so unlie probably many reviews I will not judge it by comparing it to the console versions. Well, to begin with the actual review, this game is beautiful in almost all aspects. The difficulty curve the game has is nice and feels very natural once you learn the basics of the game, giving my example, I tried really hard to beat the Taurus Demon my first time playing since I did not even get any time to get used to the game; then the Gargoyles didn't take as much tries, and the rest of the game, while difficult, was not as difficult as those two fights, so once you get used to the game, it becomes easier and much more enjoyable. You just have to persist! Anyways, the boss fights for the most part of it are really well thought-out and are difficult enough such as to not feeling overpowered against most bosses no matter your gear (especially Ornstein and Smough) (f**k bed of chaos though), not to mention their AMAZING soundtracks that will definitely help make the atmospheres for their battles. The level design is also made in a way that your first time playing you will most probably miss a couple of secrets, which is good, since the game really rewards for exploring the world. Not to mention that the world really feels natural and alive. Now, on the technicals ide of things, the optimization and controls with keyboards are a commonly criticized point of this port, but luckily they can be fixed with the mods DSFix and KB+M mods in general. I have never tried to play with a controller but it sure felt nice to play with a keyboard with those mods installed, but I still felt some issues with the controls that were more the fault of the game rather than the mods. The graphics are not outstanding but the game really stands out on some parts (specifically Lost Izalith and Anor Londo), and there are also a couple of bugs out there, but the game is very good nonetheless. 8/10: it's not perfect but it doesn't need to be to give hours ands hours of playtime though.… Expand
  13. AndreRLZ
    Mar 3, 2017
    9
    Un gioco che ormai si puó dire sia diventato "un classico". Tutti i giocatori dovrebbero provare almeno una volta nella vita Dark Souls, per poter capire di cosa si tratta veramente. É di piú di un gioco, é un'esperienza che va oltre il semplice videogioco standard fatto di comandi semplici, tutorial e percorsi predefiniti. Qui dipende tutto dal giocatore, proprio tutto. Bisogna sempreUn gioco che ormai si puó dire sia diventato "un classico". Tutti i giocatori dovrebbero provare almeno una volta nella vita Dark Souls, per poter capire di cosa si tratta veramente. É di piú di un gioco, é un'esperienza che va oltre il semplice videogioco standard fatto di comandi semplici, tutorial e percorsi predefiniti. Qui dipende tutto dal giocatore, proprio tutto. Bisogna sempre stare attenti a dove si mettono i piedi, a come si usa la spada, occorrono riflessi. É come se il mondo di gioco non fosse stato "creato" da qualcuno perché tu ci possa scorazzare allegramente, é come se avesse una sua anima, come se ci fosse sempre stato , fuori dal gioco, indipendentemente dal giocatore. É un mondo interconnesso, liberamente esplorabile (anche se non del tutto da subito) e sempre affascinante e misterioso. Il senso di sfida superiore a qualsiasi RPG, il senso di ansia superiore a molti horror, il livello artistico e la scelta dei personaggi e delle voci, é tutto cosí ben messo assieme che non é possibile non rimanerne affascinati. Poche musiche buone, tantissime armi meravigliose (ognuna diversa dalle altre) , nemici sempre ben disegnati, boss memorabili e una lore vastissima fanno di questo gioco un capolavoro. Purtroppo il porting su PC fa schifo, letteralmente , e la parte finale del gioco si vede che é stata "fatta in fretta" (alcuni boss poco ispirati), ma rimane un giocone.… Expand
  14. Hostani
    Mar 1, 2017
    8
    Отличная игра и, наверное, моя лучшая покупка за 6 рублей. Отбилась по эмоциям за каждую копеечку. Жаль, что хреновая оптимизация, обилие багов и мыльные текстурки в 480p не позволяют поставить оценку выше.
  15. SolidCenturio
    Jan 27, 2017
    9
    Dark Souls is a very difficult game, yet my experience with it can only be described as gratifying. It consistently challenged me and appropriately rewarded my efforts for taking risks, never treating me like a child that requires constant hand-holding, but as an adult who can assess and adapt to the situation at hand. The game forced me to be patient and calculating, testing my limits,Dark Souls is a very difficult game, yet my experience with it can only be described as gratifying. It consistently challenged me and appropriately rewarded my efforts for taking risks, never treating me like a child that requires constant hand-holding, but as an adult who can assess and adapt to the situation at hand. The game forced me to be patient and calculating, testing my limits, and mocking everything that I knew about games, but all of the challenges that I came across were worth it in the end because it gave me that satisfying sigh that one gets after overcoming an obstacle which kept you in place for minutes - even hours - on end. It will be jarring at first, but if you're prepared to die (a lot) and willing to take challenges which the modern gamer would quickly deem intolerable, I'm sure you'll be rewarded with the same satisfaction that Dark Souls gave its players.

    And there you have it.    … Expand
  16. lolplayer117
    Jan 5, 2017
    9
    Great Game, Bad Port, Use Mods

    I recommend the better tree/foliage, lave, and ui/text mods. Also the one that allows high resolution and fullscreen borderless. I usually don't use controllers but it's absolutely necessary for Dark Souls. You will need to google. A lot. And you'll probably have to look at a guide at least a couple times. Maybe even watch some videos on how to beat    Great Game, Bad Port, Use Mods

    I recommend the better tree/foliage, lave, and ui/text mods. Also the one that allows high resolution and fullscreen borderless.

    I usually don't use controllers but it's absolutely necessary for Dark Souls.

    You will need to google. A lot. And you'll probably have to look at a guide at least a couple times. Maybe even watch some videos on how to beat the harder bosses. But it's worth it. This game will change how you view video games and kind of ruin less deep / mechanically interesting RPGs for you. Game has god-tier level design--everything, and I mean everything, is connected, yet each area has a very unique feel. Awesome monster designs. Terrifying music, although I wish it played more often than just boss fights.    … Expand
  17. 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
  18. 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.
  19. ozorxoron
    Oct 16, 2016
    10
    Years later and this is still the best Souls game, it has some balancing with weapons and paticular builds and lag issues but they don't hinder what is one of the best action RPG's ever made.
  20. loloppez
    Oct 1, 2016
    10
    this is simply the best game i have ever played, never before have i dedicated so uch time to wining a game and understanding its lore than with the souls series. this being the first one will remain in my memory, and in my drive, for ever.
  21. Kharon
    Sep 30, 2016
    10
    I only played it on PS3, and boy was it an experience. It is definitely one of the best games I've played, like ever. Gameplay is super fun (didn't try it with keyboard), story is really heart-touching and impressive, if you dig into it. Boss fights are designed beautifully (except a few :D) and are really rewarding. If you don't mind the challenge and have the patience for it, definitelyI only played it on PS3, and boy was it an experience. It is definitely one of the best games I've played, like ever. Gameplay is super fun (didn't try it with keyboard), story is really heart-touching and impressive, if you dig into it. Boss fights are designed beautifully (except a few :D) and are really rewarding. If you don't mind the challenge and have the patience for it, definitely give it a try.… Expand
  22. 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
  23. 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
  24. JustSomeGamer
    Aug 22, 2016
    10
    This is one of my favorite games of all time. Because of how hard and punishing this atmospheric game can be it's also very rewarding when you finally (somehow) beat that boss. Dark Souls also has AMAZING lore, although you will have so search it up for the most part, as the game doesn't tell you much and because some of the quest lines are easily overlooked.

    The only reason why i    This is one of my favorite games of all time. Because of how hard and punishing this atmospheric game can be it's also very rewarding when you finally (somehow) beat that boss. Dark Souls also has AMAZING lore, although you will have so search it up for the most part, as the game doesn't tell you much and because some of the quest lines are easily overlooked.

    The only reason why i didn't rate this game a 10 is because some aspects and mechanics of the game are very unpolished and not thought out very well. for example, if you accidentally hit a blacksmith once he will be hostile for the entire playthrough. another example would be how quite a big chunk of the content is practially impossible to know about unless you follow a guide or look this up on the internet. This includes things like optional bosses, npc, weapons and armor, and basically the entire story.    … Expand
  25. lolnomansskylol
    Aug 12, 2016
    8
    Great game with a great atmosphere. Though I wish it was worked on more to be a proper port. Luckily they were at least honest with it unlike other developers.
  26. Smilingcookie
    Jul 29, 2016
    9
    Not perfect, but still a masterpiece. Dark Souls offers a unique experience. Great exploration, the best combat available at the time of it's release and an amazing atmosphere. This one is a bit of a different beastie than it's sequels in the way that it's more geared towards exploration than only towards combat. You need to walk long distances between bonfires (checkpoints) and thoseNot perfect, but still a masterpiece. Dark Souls offers a unique experience. Great exploration, the best combat available at the time of it's release and an amazing atmosphere. This one is a bit of a different beastie than it's sequels in the way that it's more geared towards exploration than only towards combat. You need to walk long distances between bonfires (checkpoints) and those paths can be hard to find and perilious. When you need an item you could only get in one place, you need to track back a long way to go and get it. Dark Souls has great world connectivity though, and this makes up for the lack of fast travel in the first half of the game. The levels interconnect beautifully once you unlock certain shortcuts. What you see in the distance are places you can actually get to later in the game. The individual levels are imaginative and varying, though at times a bit empty. Great weapon, armor and enemy variety. Armors are not just for show, but give a very different feeling to your movement. I.e. the Elite Knight Armor gives a truly heavy and clunky feeling, but gives you high momentum and defense which is an enormously satisfying combination. Some interesting NPC's to meet along the way and a world that tries it best to kill you again and again. A classic that offers some real beauty if you persist and master it!

    Sidenote: Highly recommended to play with an xbox 360 or Xone controller and to install DS fix to get the framerate at 60 fps.    … Expand
  27. ultrasoft
    Jul 28, 2016
    10
    Love it. Might be my favourite game ever.

    Yeah, the port is dodgy. Download the mods, get a controller, and prepare to give a few hundred hours to this amazing game. It's such a unique experience, with a strange world crammed with character, atmosphere, and creativity. What's very interesting to me, and I don't think I've experienced this with a game before, is how the    Love it. Might be my favourite game ever.

    Yeah, the port is dodgy. Download the mods, get a controller, and prepare to give a few hundred hours to this amazing game.

    It's such a unique experience, with a strange world crammed with character, atmosphere, and creativity.

    What's very interesting to me, and I don't think I've experienced this with a game before, is how the consciousness that you develop when playing Dark Souls leaks into the rest of your life, and you find yourself examining reality with a different mindset. That's pretty amazing. I guess YMMV

    A challenging, magical, life changing game for me.    … Expand
  28. DeyvsonCaliman
    Jul 25, 2016
    10
    Dark Souls is able to make the player feel a great sense of achievement. I remember struggling to kill the first bosses and thinking about giving up, but then, as I progressed, I felt like I just had to end this game. The boss fights are sublime, they really make us fear them and be happy when we finally win. The game have this European dark medieval aesthetic that is very appealing, withDark Souls is able to make the player feel a great sense of achievement. I remember struggling to kill the first bosses and thinking about giving up, but then, as I progressed, I felt like I just had to end this game. The boss fights are sublime, they really make us fear them and be happy when we finally win. The game have this European dark medieval aesthetic that is very appealing, with great armors and weapons that look realistic, except for the big size of some. The story turns into mere background noise, although it has it's poetry, but what is really appealing about the game is it's sense of challenge against very strong enemies that you fear before you defeat them, and respect after.… Expand
  29. 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
  30. Gormph
    Jun 23, 2016
    6
    its OK, wasn't as hard as people said really you just take your time and look for the exploit. I like the story if you take the time to look for it, the only thing that really let me down about this game was the forced pvp, i didnt know it was a part of the game and its a real pisser to get far, or be near a camp fire just for some **** to jump in while you are surrounded and now you haveits OK, wasn't as hard as people said really you just take your time and look for the exploit. I like the story if you take the time to look for it, the only thing that really let me down about this game was the forced pvp, i didnt know it was a part of the game and its a real pisser to get far, or be near a camp fire just for some **** to jump in while you are surrounded and now you have to go back all over again. in the end if the pvp is a main stay of the game i probably wont play the other titles and just have to accept this game isn't for me.… Expand
  31. momsspaghetti
    Jun 18, 2016
    9
    Very interesting replayable game,but 8/10 because pc port is terrible,some areas are just freezing not because of bad computer(areas like new londo), playing game on computer with keyboard is similar to burning in hell,controlling camera view with mouse is also terrible because camera twitches and its not related with mouse sensitivity. TO HAVE A GOOD TIME PLAYING DARK SOULS: PLAY IT ON CONSOLE!!!
  32. micigelati
    Jun 1, 2016
    10
    Dark Souls is, to me, the most enjoyable gaming experience I have ever had in my life, not just because of the gameplay, but because of all the little things you could spend hours talking about. The flawless tutorial level, the impressive worldbuilding through visual, spoken and written means, the overarching themes which become more defined with later games, every aspect of the game flowsDark Souls is, to me, the most enjoyable gaming experience I have ever had in my life, not just because of the gameplay, but because of all the little things you could spend hours talking about. The flawless tutorial level, the impressive worldbuilding through visual, spoken and written means, the overarching themes which become more defined with later games, every aspect of the game flows into each other creating this harmonic interwoven story which can't be experienced in any other medium. From a technical standpoint, however, it does fall flat. If you are thinking of getting this game, I recommend using the mod DSFix which unlocks the framerate which is capped at 30 and using a controller since the game was poorly optimized for the PC. As a closing word, I do recommend playing the game without seeking any knowledge other than technical. You only get one first Dark Souls playthrough.… Expand
  33. faceless-1
    May 16, 2016
    8
    Dark souls have a lot of megative parts in it. For start PC version is broken **** port that needs mods to fix mouse and keyboard controlls to be even playable. The another proble what people have with this game is that dark souls are really **** in many areas (no NPC development and bad story), but it is par of what this game is. It is an old school dungeon crawler. On first look it looksDark souls have a lot of megative parts in it. For start PC version is broken **** port that needs mods to fix mouse and keyboard controlls to be even playable. The another proble what people have with this game is that dark souls are really **** in many areas (no NPC development and bad story), but it is par of what this game is. It is an old school dungeon crawler. On first look it looks like skyrimish game, but in fact it is something like Legend of Grimrock. The game it self is not that hard if you know what to do. Gameplay wise it is almost a puzzle game (The boss and large mobs work in a way as bosses from painkiller, they got specific movement set and vounerable places, if you find a way to exploid/learn these things they will die very fast, but if you dont they will erase you in few moments (until you leveled up)).

    PS: If you mod it, mouse and keyboard are even better than controller, but you need DSFix

    As a whole is it torment like TES arena? (no no way that difficult), but it is that level of games. Dark Souls is not a modern RPG it is old school dungeon crawler. No tutorial, no map, no holding hand. But also no NPC development, no grand story, no dialoges (well almost (yes/no does not really count)).

    If you wana another skyrim Stay away from this. If you like games like grimrock and dont mind Legacy of kain combat and need of modding it, you will love this game.    … Expand
  34. DickTracy
    May 9, 2016
    8
    Dark Souls breaks a cardinal rule of RPGs: you can beat it without leveling. But only if you’re really good, and only if you understand its systems perfectly—that its crafting system matters, that certain items can be obtained only by fulfilling obfuscated quests. Or you can just play as Pyromancer. In a genre where systems are king, Dark Souls reigns because it’s all about systems. JustDark Souls breaks a cardinal rule of RPGs: you can beat it without leveling. But only if you’re really good, and only if you understand its systems perfectly—that its crafting system matters, that certain items can be obtained only by fulfilling obfuscated quests. Or you can just play as Pyromancer. In a genre where systems are king, Dark Souls reigns because it’s all about systems. Just learning how each stat affects your character’s build is a process deeper than most D&D-themed RPGs, but it’s ultimately just as rewarding.

    So is discovering the rich lore of Lordran, which is told through cryptic conversations and subtle environmental clues. The depth of Dark Souls' world carries over into exploration, too. Everything is connected brilliantly, and secrets and shortcuts—including massive hidden areas and features—await the most dedicated adventurers. Dark Souls' summoning system is also unlike anything else in RPGs, but you can unplug and beat the whole game solo, or learn to love being invaded and fighting off another player.

    You died. Mostly because it's a terrible port to PC; you're punished for trying to play with mouse+keynoard. The line where the fun of masochistically being killed time and again and suffering defeat because of the horrible port had to be drawn somewhere. Use a controller and get the graphic fix to alleviate the problems. Still dying? Git Gud.    … Expand
  35. 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
  36. PelusaChopo
    Apr 15, 2016
    9
    Se dice que la versión de PC está mal optimizada, y eso es verdad, pero en comparación al de PS3, este no tiene casi caídas. Juegazo en general, aunque a mitad del título la experiencia se ve un poco menos elaborada, pero igual de disfrutable.

    En general, si no fuera por las caídas de FPS este juego sería perfecto.
  37. Vicente_ao
    Apr 13, 2016
    10
    El mejor juego que he jugado.
    Donde cada error se paga caro, donde hasta el enemigo más debil puede matarte, donde ni la mejor arma ni la mejor armadura significa que ganarás fácilmente, donde la rejugabilidad es alta, donde tendrás que aprender por las malas que no hacer, donde los escenarios son magníficos, donde los diseños de armas y armaduras son originales y hermosos, donde los    El mejor juego que he jugado.
    Donde cada error se paga caro, donde hasta el enemigo más debil puede matarte, donde ni la mejor arma ni la mejor armadura significa que ganarás fácilmente, donde la rejugabilidad es alta, donde tendrás que aprender por las malas que no hacer, donde los escenarios son magníficos, donde los diseños de armas y armaduras son originales y hermosos, donde los jefes son hermosamente dañinos y únicos, donde la historia es tan poco contada y a la vez tan rica, donde la música es heroica y melancólica y de las mejores bandas sonoras que he oído, donde te tendrás que acostumbrar a morir,

    Lo bueno:
    - La historia o mejor dicho la mística y meláncolia del mundo de Dark Souls.
    - La jugabilidad.
    - La dificultad.
    - La música.
    - Las recompensas.

    Lo malo:
    ....

    10/10    … Expand
  38. Kamsy
    Apr 12, 2016
    9
    Igual es un poco tarde para hacer el análisis, pero viendo que acaba de salir la tercera entrega de la saga Dark Souls (o la cuarta de la saga Souls) y habrá gente que se interese por esta saga y quiera jugar a los anteriores.
    El juego es muy bueno la verdad, a mí me está encantando, el problema que tiene es que el port es bastante mediocre, pero no te preocupes, se puede poner DSfix para    Igual es un poco tarde para hacer el análisis, pero viendo que acaba de salir la tercera entrega de la saga Dark Souls (o la cuarta de la saga Souls) y habrá gente que se interese por esta saga y quiera jugar a los anteriores.
    El juego es muy bueno la verdad, a mí me está encantando, el problema que tiene es que el port es bastante mediocre, pero no te preocupes, se puede poner DSfix para que el juego vaya con un rendimiento bueno y puedes desbloquear los 60fps, ponerle mejores texturas etc.
    Jugarás mejor que en cualquier consola.

    El juego me está pareciendo una maravilla, igual para algunos tiene una dificultad más alta de lo normal al principio (ésto me ha pasado a mí) porque la primera vez que juegas a un Dark Souls te suelen hacer bicarbonato al no estar acostumbrado a ese estilo de juego. Este juego es un juego para tomárselo con calma, ir a lo loco es un error ya que cualquier enemigo te puede matar perfectamente. Aún así no quiero que la gente que me esté leyendo ahora mismo piense en no jugarlo por el tema de la dificultad ya que, el juego no es TAN TAN difícil como algunos hacen creer. Es solo acostumbrarse, aprenderte los movimientos de los enemigos, saber lo que significa cada cosa, porque la mayoría que juega por primera vez no sabe ni para que sirve la Inteligencia, la Fe, el Aprendizaje, para que sirven X titanitas, X anillos etc. (Cosa totalmente normal porque el juego a veces no te explica nada). Es cierto que, obviamente, tiene una dificultad alta. Hay X bosses que podrían hacerte llorar incluso, pero ahí es donde está la belleza de este juego, en ver todos los días unas 10 veces en la pantalla: HAS MUERTO.
    Hay zonas que te quedas asombrado la primera vez que las ves por lo bonitas que son, y otras que son muy lúgubres y tétricas.

    Juego muy recomendable para cualquiera que le gusten los videojuegos que suponen un reto.
    Un saludo ^^    … Expand
  39. 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 !!!
  40. 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.
  41. Look444
    Mar 13, 2016
    10
    It lost a few interesting things that Demon's Souls had but imo this is the best game FromSoft has developed til today (Dark Souls 3 not released yet). It has an interesting interconnected world with very different areas. It has a deppressing but interesting hidden ish lore. And most important of all, the gameplay is engaging and fun. You already know everything else about this game.
  42. GAGMR
    Mar 10, 2016
    9
    This is one of those games that I thought I'd never beat. I kept saying, "This game sucks!" or "This game is bogus & unfair!" But I couldn't stop playing it. I kept getting that itch to come back & play it. After several occasions of quitting & coming back, one day it just finally clicked. This game is amazing & one of the best 3rd person action adventure RPG's I've ever played. If I wasThis is one of those games that I thought I'd never beat. I kept saying, "This game sucks!" or "This game is bogus & unfair!" But I couldn't stop playing it. I kept getting that itch to come back & play it. After several occasions of quitting & coming back, one day it just finally clicked. This game is amazing & one of the best 3rd person action adventure RPG's I've ever played. If I was given a choice to spare just one game in my collection over all the others it would be Dark Souls.

    Just make sure you download the DSfix & Watchdog mods because the PC port is pretty bad so you need DSfix to get decent performance & to fix some issues & there are hackers in PVP so you'll need Watchdog to kick them when you run into them.

    PROS
    -Large Open World to Explore
    -Tough but fair challenge
    -Multiple Character Customization Options
    -Custom Classes (play how you want)
    -Great Atmosphere
    -Great Boss Fights
    -Online Co-Op & PVP
    -NG+++

    CONS
    -Bad KB/M controls (DSMfix helps)
    -Might be too hard for some people (Git Gud)
    -Has hackers in PVP (Watchdog helps)
    -It's a bad port (DSfix helps)

    GAMEPLAY

    The gameplay is actually fairly simple to learn but hard to master. It gets easier the more you play it. If you've ever played a 3D Zelda game you'll probably feel right at home here as the controls seem like they were inspired by the combat in those games. The best way to describe it is every fight is like fighting an Iron Knuckle. You get hit & you're gonna feel it. The best way to fight enemies is to either keep up your guard & wait for an opening or actively dodge & then attack. Or, just stack poise & plow through everything in your path.

    As you defeat enemies you will gather souls. Souls are your everything. They are your EXP, Currency, your upgrades. Everything! You use souls to level up at bonfires, repair equipment, buy items from shops & to upgrade equipment. When you die you lose all your souls & humanity & you only get one chance to reclaim them. Their will be a bright green glowy spot near where you died that contains them but if you die before regaining them then they will be lost forever.

    Your character plays how you want them & how you build their gear/stats. If you want to be a caster you're gonna need an item to do it with & a build that compliments it. If you want to just run around & smash things then you can do that too. You wanna wear light armor & backstab everything in your path, well some enemies can't be backstabbed but most can.

    That leads me to the advanced moveset of backstab & parry. Backstabs are performed by being up in your enemies butt & hitting the R1 button which should initiate a short animation that makes you immune to all damage during it. If it doesn't happen you done it wrong. Parry is similar but involves much more precise timing & equipping a proper item in the left hand. With proper timing you will see a slomo effect occur in which case you should hit R1 to perform a lethal counter attack. Not all attacks can be parried & it requires precise timing with some memorization to do it effectively.

    The boss fights are where this game shines the most. It's also where a majority of it's difficulty lies. They all hit like trucks & they're all usually big & take up half of the screen. It's also where Co Op shines the most but that also makes them fairly easy if you get players who know what they're doing. If not it's still gonna be quite a challenge.

    As you play through the game just keep in mind that death is inevitable & you will suffer many deaths on your first playthrough. Eventually it will just click. You will get better at the game. You will eventually beat it's challenges & you will feel good while doing it. Once you GIT GUD the game is a blast, alone or with co-op.

    OVERALL

    When I first played Dark Souls I thought it was one of the hardest & most challenging games I've ever played. I quit out of rage a few times but I always kept coming back. Trust me when I say this game is worth putting time in to GIT GUD. There isn't really any other game like Dark Souls on the market. After you beat it every other game will feel tame by comparison. Honestly, even with all it's flaws, the bad overall quality of the port & the lack of official anti-cheat support, this is now my favorite game on Steam & is worth playing through to the end at least once no matter how long it takes.    … Expand
  43. Amambay
    Feb 24, 2016
    9
    To start, I played with an Xbox 360 controller, not keyboard/mouse. I've heard bad things about playing the game with k/m, but it played fine with a controller.

    I'd give Dark Souls a 9.5 if I could, as it really is an amazing experience, but it's not for you if you're not willing to spend a lot of time with it and suffer through difficult moments. I carefully chose the word "experience"    To start, I played with an Xbox 360 controller, not keyboard/mouse. I've heard bad things about playing the game with k/m, but it played fine with a controller.

    I'd give Dark Souls a 9.5 if I could, as it really is an amazing experience, but it's not for you if you're not willing to spend a lot of time with it and suffer through difficult moments. I carefully chose the word "experience" to describe the game, because that's really what Dark Souls is.

    It's hard to say that I enjoyed the game. There were parts that I enjoyed, but also parts that I hated, that I couldn't wait to be done with and never return. That's what Dark Souls is, a game of contrasts, beautiful and ugly, fun and terrible, easy and hard, and I could continue.

    The environments in Dark Souls were particularly effective. From bright, well-lit castle ramparts, to dark, wet, ugly sewers, the environments in the game play an excellent role, almost characters in their own right. Again, contrasts. This was especially noticeable early in the game when you must get through a gauntlet that gets progressively uglier and harder. You descend to a dark, run down town full of dogs and killers, then to a darker, more unpleasant sewer full of even more unpleasant creatures. When completed, you are happy to be done with the sewer, but things get worse as you descend even further to a deeper, poisonous swamp.

    This is where I almost gave up on Dark Souls, and I'm sure that many do quit during the dark descent. It's not fun, it's claustrophobic and awful, but I'll always be glad that I fought through this section. It's one of those things that I'm happy to have had the experience, but wouldn't want to do again -- like graduating from college.

    That's only one of several parts of Dark Souls, and there are many more areas both attractive and ugly, but the game is full of difficult challenges that in the end you're thrilled to have finished. Dark Souls made me a better player of video games because I had to analyze and take on challenges in a way that no game ever had made me, and I have been playing since the Commodore 64.

    Dark Souls is a challenge that is not always dark and miserable, and you can clearly see yourself getting better as you move on, but it takes serious perseverance to get all the way through. It's hard to describe it as fun, but it's a video game experience unlike any other. Are you up to the challenge?    … Expand
  44. Swagalf
    Jan 30, 2016
    10
    Dark Souls..
    First of all : Use a controller. And if you want to, use some mods.
    After that.. just enjoy. Enjoy, die, enjoy, die and enjoy again. You can go through the game without reading anything, without searching anything. And you'll play the ending cinematic , thinking : "What the **** happened there? This is the worst story ever blblblbl" and you know what? You'll still enjoy    Dark Souls..
    First of all : Use a controller. And if you want to, use some mods.
    After that.. just enjoy. Enjoy, die, enjoy, die and enjoy again.

    You can go through the game without reading anything, without searching anything. And you'll play the ending cinematic , thinking : "What the **** happened there? This is the worst story ever blblblbl" and you know what? You'll still enjoy the game.
    But.. you can explore everything and learn about one of the best story ever created in the history of video game. This game is simply beautiful, touching and incredibly deep. You'll have question, you won't understand everything and you'll make theory and search in the internet.. some people will have a different theory and you'll read.. read again, searching for more. And you'll discover the wonderful truth. You will never understand everything and be 100% sure. But you'll search again.
    This game is challenging, yeah. But it's fair. You can avoid 90% of it's difficulty by looking for clue or way to kill a boss.
    I don't recommend this game if you don't like a start without any clue about what's going on. I don't recommend this game if you need a game that hold your hand all way long.
    This game look at you and challenge you. You want to enjoy it ? You will have to deserve it before!

    You can think that this game hate you. And you will love it for that.
    But at some points, you'll understand that this game love you and all of the game community. And you will love it even more for that.

    This, is for me one of the best game ever.. if not the best game ever. This is an experience. This is an adventure. This is a tale. This is Dark Souls.    … Expand
  45. gloriouspotato
    Jan 23, 2016
    7
    First thing to say is that DSfix and a controller are pretty much a necessity for this game considering how much of a shoddy port it is. Without this mod and with kb/m, I probably would've rated my Dark Souls experience a 5/10 at best. Even with the fix in place, there are a couple graphical issues such as screen tearing, and performance can become unbearably bad in some segments even withFirst thing to say is that DSfix and a controller are pretty much a necessity for this game considering how much of a shoddy port it is. Without this mod and with kb/m, I probably would've rated my Dark Souls experience a 5/10 at best. Even with the fix in place, there are a couple graphical issues such as screen tearing, and performance can become unbearably bad in some segments even with high-end hardware (Seath the Scaleless boss battle comes to mind). Fortunately, these instances aren't commonplace and I was able to maintain 60fps most of the time.

    With regards to the presentation of the game, I thought the visuals and sound quality were unremarkable, even by 2011 standards. The level design was for the most part quite good, and I did like how interconnected the various areas of the game were. Many reviewers seem to praise the hidden backstory of Dark Souls as if it's some superior form of storytelling. While I do find the idea innovative in a sense, I do wish that the overarching story could be a little more cohesive and less up to interpretation. At best, the player finds small, disconnected snippets of lore from which the wider Dark Souls community have made vast extrapolations in order to produce some semblance of a timeline of events. I'm willing to bet that for most players, had they not consulted a wiki or accessed an online synopsis, they would've been quite lost in terms of the story, and wouldn't know that areas such as the Great Hollow or Ash Lake existed. My point is, while the plot that is deemed 'correct' by online consensus is a decent one, its delivery is too inaccessible.

    The gameplay mechanics are generally pretty solid. Combat system is decent, and there are some exploration and RPG elements. My complaints in this area include the lack of explanation of several mechanics such as rolling speeds, having longer/shorter parrying windows for particular shields, effect of humanity on item discovery and resistances etc. Enemy AI pathfinding also isn't very good, as seen when enemies roll off cliffs or get stuck walking up staircases. There are also a few enemies and bosses that felt 'cheap' in their design, usually due to forcing the camera into awkward angles in enclosed and narrow spaces (eg: Capra Demon, Centipede Demon). The difficulty is something that is often praised though I'm also not sure why this is so. While I don't object to hard games, it's not something I'll give free brownie points for. The game was challenging but not overly so. Like I said, some instances felt cheap, but otherwise with enough patience every obstacle in Dark Souls can be overcome.

    Overall rating - 7.1/10    … Expand
  46. 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
  47. Vzhik
    Jan 13, 2016
    8
    Пробовал раньше играть в ДС1 раз пять, все не шло: то графика отстой, то управление кривое, то сюжета мало.. Но отдохнув от ДС2 (два прохождения) несколько месяцев, возникло вдруг желание увлечься в какую-нибудь вселенную, посмотреть миры, посравнивать циферки в оружии. И тут же ждет неначатый дарк! Уже и управление нормальное, и графика ниче вроде :-)
    И побрел я по просторам мира,    Пробовал раньше играть в ДС1 раз пять, все не шло: то графика отстой, то управление кривое, то сюжета мало.. Но отдохнув от ДС2 (два прохождения) несколько месяцев, возникло вдруг желание увлечься в какую-нибудь вселенную, посмотреть миры, посравнивать циферки в оружии. И тут же ждет неначатый дарк! Уже и управление нормальное, и графика ниче вроде :-)
    И побрел я по просторам мира, совершенно ничего не знаю об этой игре, круша врагов и спасая невинных, проходить вслепую за мага. Очень хорошо, что сделали более живой мир - НПС перемещаются, че-то рассказывают.. Некоторые локи очень красивые - Кристальный Грот это вообще нечно! В меру сложное прохождение - некоторые боссы с первого раза, некоторые с 30-го. Иногда "вау" и "ух ты, как завернули" не отпускало. В общем хорошая интересная игра. Очень понравилось, что надо в начале много ходить ногами - прям реальное путешествие получается Очень понравилось как устроены локации и мир. Классные боссы. Но что вы думаете произошло? Я убил очередного (меня меня) босса и внезапно оказался на НГ+! Со стартовым посохом, с неполученным оружием из душ боссов, не найдя босса-мага, о котором знал заранее (думал от него нормальный посох дадут) и не найдя ДЛЦ!
    И как оказалось я пропустил, с наверно, треть игры! Надо сказать, что читая потом вики, у меня волосы на голове дыбом вставали! Как можно было так сильно всё запрятывать! Ну невозможно нормальному человеку так всё исследовать, чтоб самому найти ковенанты, оружие.. Вот в этом моё главное разочарование в ДС1 - перемудрили они с секретами, через чур это, не над так.
    Спасло что сейф был, откатился, допрошел всё на первом круге. Просто я не люблю спойлерить перед прохождением, и не люблю по второму разу проходить.
    Но даже так, играя вслепую и напарываясь на косяки, игра очень достойна, стоит того чтоб в неё поиграть.
    А для себя сделал вывод. Что похоже, дело не в играх которые либо затянут либо нет, а в личном настрое.    … Expand
  48. saxo27
    Jan 5, 2016
    8
    This is quite a fun game--but not hard (as everyone says). The hard parts of the game of simply the CHEAP parts of the game--Capra Demon, Archers in Anor Londo, Chaos Bed. No matter your skill, you will end up dying at certain cheap parts.

    I played with a controller and it was fine. Also, played on a laptop intel hd 4000 graphics card. Worked fine with the downloadable fix (forgot the    This is quite a fun game--but not hard (as everyone says). The hard parts of the game of simply the CHEAP parts of the game--Capra Demon, Archers in Anor Londo, Chaos Bed. No matter your skill, you will end up dying at certain cheap parts.

    I played with a controller and it was fine. Also, played on a laptop intel hd 4000 graphics card. Worked fine with the downloadable fix (forgot the name of it).

    In short, fun game but difficulty comes from being cheap at times. Dark Souls 2 is better. Enjoy!    … Expand
  49. Nathonas
    Dec 8, 2015
    10
    It's unfortunate that I only found out about this amazing game after first playing Dark Souls 2. Dark Souls is just so unique and refreshing with its difficult, but fun to master gameplay, minimalist storytelling, and amazing atmosphere. Absolute must-play for any RPG fan and easily in my top 3 games ever played.
  50. Tylaris
    Dec 5, 2015
    6
    + Overall good melee combat mechanics with a strong emphasis on "impact" behind every action, every action carries a price and must be calculated, making it one of the most engaging combat systems
    + Good soundtrack
    + Great variety of enemies and their move sets + Excellent weapon (with their own animations) and armor variety, customization to your play style + Entire Player subculture    + Overall good melee combat mechanics with a strong emphasis on "impact" behind every action, every action carries a price and must be calculated, making it one of the most engaging combat systems
    + Good soundtrack
    + Great variety of enemies and their move sets
    + Excellent weapon (with their own animations) and armor variety, customization to your play style
    + Entire Player subculture through "covenants"
    +Good boss fights...some great, some are poor( Discharge, Butterfly, Bed of Chaos, summon exploitsm etc), but overall enjoyable
    + Well executed concept of learning about the world through subtle hints through dialogue, discovery, items
    / Atmosphere, Lore and sound design
    / Art style, environment design and visuals
    / Magic system, extensive but very unimaginative
    / Difficulty...challenging and rewarding, but trial and error also often cripples the fun factor
    - Controls with very noticeable lag, especially with jumping, dodging and rolling
    - Very poor combat UI
    - Abysmal dialogue and npc's, very poor voice acting...most of the time WITHOUT any lyp sinc
    - Poor Archery
    - TON of repetition and grinding
    - Poor and easily exploitable enemy AI that attacks through walls or shoots arrows relentlessly at them, or is simply unable to walk across ledges
    - Very "clunky" combat system with poor animation transition...very stiff, unsatisfying, with very poor or barely any decent combat coreography...it simply isn't fun
    - no tutorial of any kind
    - very poor pc port...fps drops, controls, UI

    Personal rant:

    Nothing of absolutely "legendary" quality that DS fanatical ( and somewhat rabid and insane, at times) community would have you believe. It combines elements from different games, improving on some, degrading others, while attracting the crowd with "Dark Souls is what turns boys into MEN" silly propaganda .
    It is a very limited title, with as many flaws as positives and one that requires more patience than anything else. I personally don't get a hard on from clicking a mouse and Dark Souls, most of the time simply comes across as being a tedious chore, than a fun and challenging experience.
    Still, I respect a vision behind this game and I can see that a lot of effort went into it, so I cannot judge it negatively despite my impression.    … Expand
  51. ShadowU
    Dec 2, 2015
    10
    Dark Souls is the hands down the best game of the previous generation and will remain the best game of this decade. It just offers unparalleled gameplay and a story that's beyond anything we've had in RPGs so far.

    The people complaining about the port are just silly. Yes, it's a bad port, but you only need a controller and 2 minutes of your life to install a mod that fixes everything.
  52. 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
  53. AndySwaggly
    Nov 17, 2015
    9
    I absolutely loved Dark Souls Prepare to die edition, **** awesome game, some of the best gameplay mechanics a game has to offer, when I finished it I immediately went back into playing it, I found this game remarkably fun I literally couldn't stop playing it until I finished it. Overall the story was a bit meh, I wasn't invested I just wanted to screw stuff up, and the framerate dropsI absolutely loved Dark Souls Prepare to die edition, **** awesome game, some of the best gameplay mechanics a game has to offer, when I finished it I immediately went back into playing it, I found this game remarkably fun I literally couldn't stop playing it until I finished it. Overall the story was a bit meh, I wasn't invested I just wanted to screw stuff up, and the framerate drops were bad until I installed dsfix which if you haven't YOU MUST DO. All in all a solid game, loved it so much.… Expand
  54. smilzoboboz
    Nov 11, 2015
    7
    The game is definitely good, challenging and with a nice and dark setting, but controls/bugs (only partially fixed with mods) kept me away from this title for a long time.

    When you release a game for PC, players expect to find 2 things, mostly: graphical options and working controls for mouse/keyboard (and eventually a controller too). This game actually lacks both (non-modded    The game is definitely good, challenging and with a nice and dark setting, but controls/bugs (only partially fixed with mods) kept me away from this title for a long time.

    When you release a game for PC, players expect to find 2 things, mostly: graphical options and working controls for mouse/keyboard (and eventually a controller too).
    This game actually lacks both (non-modded mouse-look makes you puke hard after few minutes of gameplay).
    After I switched to v2.0-beta, installed DSFix, DSMfix, KB+M icons and hi-res fonts it still isn't good: I can change graphical options and the mouse-look works "better" but it's definitely not enough to make me enjoy this game with KB+M.
    I know it is clearly stated that an xbox controller is strongly recommended, but again I think that for any PC game, working keyboard + mouse support is mandatory (along with basic graphical quality options). It's a pity we have to get what developers were supposed to do through unofficial mods.

    So, this PC port is still one of the worst ports I have ever played, but after you manage to get it playable modding/tuning graphic and control settings, I can easily say it's a gem, one of the 10 out of 10 that keep yourself playing hours and hours, amazed by atmosphere, story-telling and gameplay.

    In the end I'd say I totally recommend this game to hardcore action-rpg lovers but think twice before buying if you don't have a controller.
    Also, to my linux fellas: the game runs stable with staging wine, no framedrops.    … Expand
  55. Kampanius
    Oct 6, 2015
    10
    Bought it, played for ten ours. Got to sewers, hated the whole game from the start. Stopped playing. Gave another try after 6 months. Didn't die once going to sewers. Understood something about the combat. Something clicked. This game is the best in it's genre. Easily. Still the best game ever. Praise the sun.
  56. 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
  57. posthuman
    Sep 7, 2015
    9
    I played the game with xbox 360 controller and it's perfect. The one-on-one combat is the best you can find. The monsters are varied and although they are not often the smartest, they are really challenging to play. The weapon upgrade system is great, and it mostly stays away from the common RPG problem: by the time you get a powerful weapon, you most probably do not need it anymore. InI played the game with xbox 360 controller and it's perfect. The one-on-one combat is the best you can find. The monsters are varied and although they are not often the smartest, they are really challenging to play. The weapon upgrade system is great, and it mostly stays away from the common RPG problem: by the time you get a powerful weapon, you most probably do not need it anymore. In Dark Souls enemies re-spawn each time you rest at the bonfire, so you get to use the most powerful weapons on weakest opponents.

    I love how game forces you to change approach for new enemies you encounter. You cannot simply grab the mightiest weapon and kill everything. Different enemies require different tactics. For that reason, you might want to fully upgrade 4-5 weapons (regular, fire, divine, ranged, magic) and armor types (heavy set to sustain mighty blows or light but resistant to curse, poison and magic). The game also has a nice balance between might and magic.

    The only problem I found is that some things are obscured and hidden, and you have to watch for clues in the environment and listen to what NPCs talk about. If you don't have the Internet and actively search for stuff in the game, there's a high chance you would miss some of the adventure.

    The best RPG in the last five years. I spend around 150 hours before completing it.    … Expand
  58. StarGin
    Aug 31, 2015
    10
    Un juego desafiante, con una historia envolvente y gráficas aceptables. La dificultad se ajusta ante las circunstancias en las que nos encontremos, es decir, mientras más avancemos más complicado será progresar la aventura. Los personajes son originales y la trama llega a ser incluso hasta tétrica. Mientras que los jefes son todo un desafío e importa poco el nivel del que dispongas, ya queUn juego desafiante, con una historia envolvente y gráficas aceptables. La dificultad se ajusta ante las circunstancias en las que nos encontremos, es decir, mientras más avancemos más complicado será progresar la aventura. Los personajes son originales y la trama llega a ser incluso hasta tétrica. Mientras que los jefes son todo un desafío e importa poco el nivel del que dispongas, ya que la cantidad de daño que recibas de tus adversarios no menguará si incrementas tus estadisticas. Recomendable para los que buscan un verdadero reto y hará trabajar sus mentes al máximo para revelar secretos que solo harán más complejo el juego, pero más emocionante. Con gran variedad de atuendos y armas clásicos de la edad medía. Dark Souls que un videojuego que ha marcado la séptima generación.… Expand
  59. 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
  60. Nuker
    Jun 27, 2015
    9
    - Good: Gameplay, Exploration, Character progression, Boss fights, Atmosphere/Mood, Demanding

    - Mixed: Setting, Story

    - Bad: terrible mouse/keyboard controls, overall bad PC port.

    Great game after some mods, also u need gamepad because this game is unplayable with mouse/keyboard.
  61. Raven25
    Jun 21, 2015
    10
    To all the whingers - get DSFix, HD Texture pack and a USB controller. You'll get better graphics than a console and same controls. 100% win. As for the game itself. Its brilliant and integrated. The combat system, lore and difficulty are perfect.
  62. SilentBobVG
    May 23, 2015
    9
    First of all, before I can actually write a decent review of the game, I need to get the cons out of the way so I can move on to the pros. This is an absolutely horrific console port if you play it vanilla. Seriously one of the worst games (from a technical standpoint). And requires quite a bit of modding before it is in a playable state. Here's the main issues;

    1. 30fps frame lock    First of all, before I can actually write a decent review of the game, I need to get the cons out of the way so I can move on to the pros. This is an absolutely horrific console port if you play it vanilla. Seriously one of the worst games (from a technical standpoint). And requires quite a bit of modding before it is in a playable state. Here's the main issues;

    1. 30fps frame lock

    2. 720p resolution lock

    3. Horrid mouse and keyboard support (I wouldn't even use the word support here in all honesty)

    4. GFWL on launch (although that's thankfully been removed, and is now on Steamworks)

    5. The current Steamworks version of the game as quite a huge problem with the way the servers work, making it sometimes impossible to co-op with a friend.

    Thankfully most of this can be fixed by installing DsFIx and DSMFix, and tinkering around inside ini files.

    Alright, now that the quite hefty list of negative is out of the way I can talk about what I love about the game. And there is quite a lot;

    I have just over 100 hours in the Steam version of Dark souls, and hundreds more across the xbox and PS3 versions. I can honestly say without a shadow of a doubt that this is possibly one of my favourite games of the generation, and definitely earns a spot in my top 10 games of all time list. It's such a beautifully crafted game, in every single aspect. Playing through it for the first time provides you with a huge sense of awe. From the expansive world design, to the interconnecting areas, there's not a single bad thing I can say about the world design in this game.

    Every time you defeat and conquer an area boss, you feel more than a sense of accomplishment, it's euphoric. The constant feeling of wanting to continue to explore the deep and winding world leads you to never wanting to set your controller down (YOU'RE PLAYING WITH A CONTROLLER, RIGHT?).

    Of course, there is the element of the difficulty, but I feel people actually mistake involved gameplay mechanics with artificial difficulty. Dark Souls is not an inherently hard game, once you learn to master the parry and dodging mechanics, you'll be flying through the game in no time.

    I think what my absolute favourite part of this game is, is that you can play through the game dozens of times. Each time with a different playstyle, or weapon in miind, and your experience will be entirely different from the last. Not only that, but you still have the same feeling of wonder and enjoyment each time you beat the game.

    Typically, your first playthrough will come out to around 60-70 hours, if you're exploring all the areas. However, subsequent playthroughs can be cut down significantly in time, since you'll have a familiar understanding of the level design, enemy placement and the fastest routes to completing areas.

    From Software have created an unsung masterpiece in Dark Souls, and one I think a lot of people are fearful of playing because of the supposed difficulty or mechanics. I would strongly urge any and everyone to play this game though, for under £20 you will absolutely not regret it.

    TL;DR

    BUY THIS GAME    … Expand
  63. styku91
    May 19, 2015
    7
    First of all, if not the quality of the port, the game would get a strong 8 or even 9/10.
    There is practically no storytelling in the game, you are figuring out the plot out of the events and very laconic conversations. However, I find the lore of the Dark Souls world very appealing, even if not being proper cRPG (story-wise).
    On PC, the legendary difficulty of this game is mostly caused    First of all, if not the quality of the port, the game would get a strong 8 or even 9/10.
    There is practically no storytelling in the game, you are figuring out the plot out of the events and very laconic conversations. However, I find the lore of the Dark Souls world very appealing, even if not being proper cRPG (story-wise).
    On PC, the legendary difficulty of this game is mostly caused by a very poor port. The game is practically unplayable with keyboard and mouse. Don't even start it without proper controller. Things like constantly displaying windows cursor or capped frame rate are minor issues, but the keyboard/mouse support is ridiculous.
    However the game still managed to rip 40 hours of my life.    … Expand
  64. Stephen729
    May 2, 2015
    10
    after playing dark souls series, all the other games just seems silly now. When you have been playing dark souls for a few hundred hours, the AI and combat of the other action games just seems to be boring and unrealistic now.
  65. DianaWinters
    May 1, 2015
    10
    I feel that this game is one of the best that I've ever played. I did not find the controls complicated, despite using a keyboard and mouse. I do not see the problem that other people seem to have.
    If you're one of those people that have a huge issue with the graphics, feel free to download the graphics fix, but it was hardly a problem for me.
  66. Twade
    Apr 16, 2015
    10
    Dark Souls: Prepare to Die Edition is the PC port of the legendary spiritual successor to Demon Souls. It is a punishingly difficult game designed to make you think instead of rush. Don't try to play it without a game pad, the keyboard controls are famously unintelligent in their layout. Also, take the Master Key at the start. Just a hint. You need to use the beta edition on steam to getDark Souls: Prepare to Die Edition is the PC port of the legendary spiritual successor to Demon Souls. It is a punishingly difficult game designed to make you think instead of rush. Don't try to play it without a game pad, the keyboard controls are famously unintelligent in their layout. Also, take the Master Key at the start. Just a hint. You need to use the beta edition on steam to get rid of the former Games for Windows Live overlay, which will cause problems with saves and achievements if not handled properly. The environment, the game play, and the community all come together to make one of the best games of the decade.… Expand
  67. 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
  68. Akadrud
    Apr 11, 2015
    8
    Awesome game. This kind of old school difficulty games really rewards every step you make in finishing a magnificent story, full of epic fantasy and action. There's just one major issue... the pc port is bad. Really bad. With a fix you can find online the graphic will get better.. but still they could've put a greater effort in porting this gem to pc.
  69. twistedreal
    Apr 2, 2015
    9
    I would have gave this game a 10 if I didn't have to use a mod to get better graphic settings.

    This is a great game that took me about 70 hours to beat! I got completely stomped on by the O&S battle more than 30 times and took a lot of week long breaks playing due to how difficult some of the areas are. This game has restored my faith in gaming. This game doesn't hold your hand and    I would have gave this game a 10 if I didn't have to use a mod to get better graphic settings.

    This is a great game that took me about 70 hours to beat! I got completely stomped on by the O&S battle more than 30 times and took a lot of week long breaks playing due to how difficult some of the areas are.

    This game has restored my faith in gaming. This game doesn't hold your hand and doesn't have tons of check points to restart from. You must plan every move carefully to advance.

    If you are a casual gamer who likes to play games for the sake of making progress every time you log in then stay away. This game will test your abilities as a gamer as well as your patience.    … Expand
  70. 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
  71. Messerschmitt
    Mar 31, 2015
    10
    Despite the broken port it's a MASTERPIECE. A game you'll be thinking about while working, learning, praying, eating, banging. Of course if you like difficult and rewarding games plus you have a gamepad.
  72. ReSultZ
    Mar 28, 2015
    10
    ***Super Late Entry***Take the amazing console versions add the worthy DLC,a low price and enhancements due to mods and you the Ultimate game. A must buy.
  73. PessimisticMan
    Mar 20, 2015
    7
    My favorite game of all time gets a 7. The reason for this is, while it is my personal soul-mate, it is definitely not for everyone, and plenty of flawed game design is in it.
    PROS:
    + The art direction is so incredible! This is one of the main reasons my love for Dark Souls is so enormous. If you decide not to get this game - at least pick-up an art book. + 90% of the bosses are    My favorite game of all time gets a 7. The reason for this is, while it is my personal soul-mate, it is definitely not for everyone, and plenty of flawed game design is in it.
    PROS:
    + The art direction is so incredible! This is one of the main reasons my love for Dark Souls is so enormous. If you decide not to get this game - at least pick-up an art book.
    + 90% of the bosses are challenging but fair (most of them). They can be amazing, brilliant, beautiful, and sometimes (if you know the lore) tear-jerking.
    + The lore is so deep; every character has an incredible back-story, no matter how small their role. A prime example of this is Knight Lautrec of Carim, who has more story than screen-time.
    + While some levels are hot smelly trash (*cough* Blighttown *cough*), some levels are amazing, for example, the Painted World of Ariamas.
    + So many weapons, so many spells, so many upgrades, so many classes; your character is a slate for you to do what every you want with.
    CONS:
    - Some bosses (the 10%, if you will), are just stupid. Bed of Chaos is one of the most frustrating bosses ever, Priscilla can be irritating your first few playthroughs, Gwyndolin decides if you live or not. But including maybe a few others, there aren't many.
    - Some levels are dumb - just designed to make you angry: Blighttown, The Depths, The Great Hollow, Ash Lake, and the route to Manus (if you have the DLC) is another awful one. But keep in mind, again, there are some AMAZING levels in this game.
    - Invasions, they aren't fair. But at least they don't pretend to be fair.
    - The biggest learning curve in any game every. You'll be frustrated when on your first playthrough you find out you've screwed yourself by wasting humanity and leveling the wrong stats 10 hours ago.
    If you're skeptical about a purchase of this game (unfortunately there isn't a demo I can recommend), just watch a Let's Play of the game on YouTube, and decide from there. But it is my favorite game of all time, and I would recommend picking it up on sale.    … Expand
  74. gracjanski
    Mar 15, 2015
    5
    5/10
    I am so dissapointed by this game. I thought it would be one of the best console game, maybe it is, but is this great?
    1st: I am not complaining about the ridiculous port from console to PC: with some mods this is technically not bad. Ok, there are some things, that is normal and great in PC games: free saving for example: I dont want to go through all the same enemies all over    5/10
    I am so dissapointed by this game. I thought it would be one of the best console game, maybe it is, but is this great?
    1st: I am not complaining about the ridiculous port from console to PC: with some mods this is technically not bad. Ok, there are some things, that is normal and great in PC games: free saving for example: I dont want to go through all the same enemies all over again, because I am killed by a boss, what is normal until you know the strategie.
    Now the game itself: Storytelling is so bad, I needed to search in internet to understand, that the story is... this never happened to me before. Gameplay...Hack n slay can be fun, but not here: you re doing the same little things million of time just to be perfect and not be killed... so often. Graphic + Sound: perfect. After about 15 hours I had enough and installed a PC game from 1997, that is better in my eyes: Fallout 1.    … Expand
  75. Cornfalcon
    Feb 23, 2015
    9
    Probably one of the most console-like games I've ever played on a PC. This definitely starts with an annoying controller setup. Jumping in this game is silly. The gameplay and story line, on the other hand, are rivaled by few. You really have to pay attention for it, though. The bosses seem different, but most are stab-in-butt-until-victory sorts. Few bosses are different andProbably one of the most console-like games I've ever played on a PC. This definitely starts with an annoying controller setup. Jumping in this game is silly. The gameplay and story line, on the other hand, are rivaled by few. You really have to pay attention for it, though. The bosses seem different, but most are stab-in-butt-until-victory sorts. Few bosses are different and parrying is oddly calculated, making what seems like great timing turn out as instant death.
    I do enjoy this game, though, having played over 150 hours in the game, so some part of it might be captivating. There are numerous ways to play the game, including well-developed classes which are better balanced than many other games.    … Expand
  76. Loskutorr
    Jan 28, 2015
    9
    PROS:

    - Exploration is great. - Map design is brilliant. - Combat is easy to learn, but hard to master. - Game feels very rewarding after beating tough boss/passage. - Game is fair and does not cheat on you. - Atmosphere is dark, heavy and keep you tense. - GFWL is gone, only Steam is needed. - Challenges can be often beaten by many ways. - Co-op and interesting multiplayer    PROS:

    - Exploration is great.
    - Map design is brilliant.
    - Combat is easy to learn, but hard to master.
    - Game feels very rewarding after beating tough boss/passage.
    - Game is fair and does not cheat on you.
    - Atmosphere is dark, heavy and keep you tense.
    - GFWL is gone, only Steam is needed.
    - Challenges can be often beaten by many ways.
    - Co-op and interesting multiplayer mechanics.
    - Bloodstains of dead players can tell you what killed them.
    - Messages from other player to help you/troll you.
    - Game can be easily played on keyboard and mouse.

    CONS:
    - Game mechanics are not that well explained in game, you should look through a Dark Souls Wiki or a beginners guide.
    - Not very interesting story.
    - No map, you can get lost sometimes.
    - Inventory made for consoles (of course!) and is controlled by keys. (Not a problem after few minutes)

    Easy fixable CONS:
    - Mouse feels a bit weird, but there are fixes to deal with that. (DSMfix)
    - Graphics is outdated, but there are many graphics mods on Dark Souls Nexus.
    - FPS, resolution and other things are easily unlockable/modable by DSfix.

    I bought a XBOX controller before getting this game. I ditched it after couple of hours, when i discovered that game is easier on K+M. In fact controls are changeable for the keyboard and mouse, but not for controller. Dont believe people complaining about controls and graphics. They are lazy retards, they didnt even bother to do 1minute long google search to fix few things. This is one of the best games i have ever played.    … Expand
  77. matt79
    Jan 27, 2015
    10
    Bad PC port, but this game is still good enough to deserve a 10. It has a brilliant plot, combat system, world and artistic design. Just please do not call it an RPG, as there are no plot altering decisions here.
  78. Magnethead
    Jan 22, 2015
    9
    Man... this game. You play it and it's kinda fun at first and it's called "Prepare to Die" so you're ok with dying. At least you think you are.

    Then you meet the Taurus Demon and it keeps killing you even though you feel like you should be able to do the technique, it's not that hard, and a few times you get close but no cigar. You make one mistake and you're a spot of entrails and    Man... this game. You play it and it's kinda fun at first and it's called "Prepare to Die" so you're ok with dying. At least you think you are.

    Then you meet the Taurus Demon and it keeps killing you even though you feel like you should be able to do the technique, it's not that hard, and a few times you get close but no cigar. You make one mistake and you're a spot of entrails and blood on stone. In the end you get frustrated and you mess up on the way back to the demon, before you can reclaim all the souls you were carrying, and you lose 14000 souls which is a lot to you because you're a complete noob. And you get angry, you shut the game down and you hate life.

    And yet, an hour later you're back, you face the demon again and this time you get it. It dissolves and you feel like a hero. For about a minute until you run onto a bridge and a Wyvern roasts you from above with no warning at all and for no apparent reason. You realize that the game is never going to play fair. On the way back you see a comment left by a player that you should use ranged weapons. Surely he doesn't want you to fight that fire-breathing hellhound with wings?! You look it up online and find out you should shoot the wyvern's tail while hiding below the bridge. You do and you get a cool sword, an awesome one. And now the Hollow fear you, they fall before you like sheep to the slaughter and you can now face up to the big lump of armor in the cellar who wields something that looks like it's the petrified bone of a giant chicken and you kill the damn thing and he drops a very cool ring. Now you can move fast while in armor and now you want to see more. You want to fight more. Sure, you're still a noob but you get it now, you want to be more, to practice your parry and riposte, your movements, your strikes.

    Welcome to Dark Souls.

    (Edit: The game itself is a clear 10 but the port to PC is so poor it has to be a 9. If you want to play it on PC, you need to look up DSFix and if you want to use keyboard/mouse also DSMfix in the newest versions. This game needs work and patience to run on a PC but the game itself is worth it once it does)    … Expand
  79. 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
  80. Mearehear
    Dec 27, 2014
    8
    A game that unforgivingly punishes you for your mistakes, with death never far away even against the most lowly of ingame characters. There is none of that fetch quest back and forth nonsense here as seen in the likes of Skyrim, just a deep dark, surprisingly interconnected, world for you to lose yourself, stripped back of all the gimmicks used in many other games. Frustration will giveA game that unforgivingly punishes you for your mistakes, with death never far away even against the most lowly of ingame characters. There is none of that fetch quest back and forth nonsense here as seen in the likes of Skyrim, just a deep dark, surprisingly interconnected, world for you to lose yourself, stripped back of all the gimmicks used in many other games. Frustration will give way to a rewarding feeling of achievement, as you learn your way and progress.… Expand
  81. 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
  82. 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.
  83. anomander
    Nov 19, 2014
    10
    There is no reason not much to write, this is a must play, so in a nutshell. Best game of the last generation and one of the best game in history. Enjoy this refined diamond!!!
  84. Belydrith
    Oct 14, 2014
    9
    Dark Souls: Prepare to Die Edition is everything an RPG Fan seeking for a little more challenge could ever hope for. This is hands down one of the hardest AAA games in the last 10 years, but having excellent gameplay that requires alot of dedication and time to master.
    The story, while not easily understood by the average player, isn't actually too bad - if you take the time to read item    Dark Souls: Prepare to Die Edition is everything an RPG Fan seeking for a little more challenge could ever hope for. This is hands down one of the hardest AAA games in the last 10 years, but having excellent gameplay that requires alot of dedication and time to master.
    The story, while not easily understood by the average player, isn't actually too bad - if you take the time to read item descriptions, listen to the more than often mad NPCs and keep adding new pieces to this story puzzle.

    Only downsides are:
    - weak graphics & technical execution ( INSTALL DSFIX!!! IT TAKES LESS THAN 5 MINUTES AND WILL MAKE THE GAME ALOT MORE ENJOYABLE!!!)
    - unplayable keyboard controls (you definitely want a gamepad for this)
    - Online features not working as intended, mainly due to Games for Windows Live ( Thanks, Microsoft.)

    But all of those points (except the online thing sadly) can be easily fixed and once solved, provide a unique gaming "experience". Yes I did just use the word experience. Dark Souls is literally a journey of emotions, from depression to unlimited joy. Just don't give up on it.    … Expand
  85. FrenchToast
    Oct 13, 2014
    9
    Poorly designed port but can be fixed easily by downloading dsfix and placing it in your DS folder. Game all but requires a controller but I prefer controllers so I won't knock it for that.
  86. Steeldude
    Oct 13, 2014
    8
    A horrible port of a great game. The biggest problem I have with this: I had to download 5 mods for it to work. And even now, the most deaths come from the retarded function that switches locked targets when you just slightly move your mouse ... which you have to use to attack in the first place. Despite the flaws, the game is still way above average as well as a serious challenge.
  87. 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.
  88. Centrey
    Sep 17, 2014
    9
    A beautiful game. A game, so rich in lore and pristine storytelling, surely people can get past the PC port issue. The enchanting music, interesting characters and unique game-play make this one of the greatest games of all times. When a game almost makes me tear up after killing a hostile boss, you know that it's pretty amazing. The Daughters of Chaos story makes me feel things I neverA beautiful game. A game, so rich in lore and pristine storytelling, surely people can get past the PC port issue. The enchanting music, interesting characters and unique game-play make this one of the greatest games of all times. When a game almost makes me tear up after killing a hostile boss, you know that it's pretty amazing. The Daughters of Chaos story makes me feel things I never thought a game could make me feel. But unfortunately it does have faults so that is why it is only a 9.… Expand
  89. khronlk
    Sep 16, 2014
    10
    The game itself is amazing, graphics are pretty nice, the flow of the map and game run very nice and the lore is pretty damn cool if you look it up. The controls is what people seem to have the biggest issue with and yeah it's not as smooth as a lot of games but you can use a controller or download a mod to fix things up.

    At first I wasn't a fan of the game in the 30 minutes I took to    The game itself is amazing, graphics are pretty nice, the flow of the map and game run very nice and the lore is pretty damn cool if you look it up. The controls is what people seem to have the biggest issue with and yeah it's not as smooth as a lot of games but you can use a controller or download a mod to fix things up.

    At first I wasn't a fan of the game in the 30 minutes I took to try it, seemed difficult and the controls did get to me but after giving this game a second chance and installing a mouse mod to help I really came to love the game. I have beat it twice now and am on my third run through, I always find myself looking up more lore about the game because it is so interesting. I would give the game overall a 9 out of 10 but I am giving it a 10 here to offset the stupid reviews here giving it a 0 for no reason but them being to dumb to comprehend anything about this game.

    Buy this game if you like a good challenge and wanna try something new.    … Expand
  90. Archimedesx
    Sep 12, 2014
    10
    Dark Souls is a very unique game. For one, It has a very rich and detailed story with many characters, but it's told to you in a way that is indirect. You either have to figure out what's happened to this desolate world by talking with people in it and noticing clues, or you'll be left in the dark. Their are many choices to be made as well, like what covenant to join or which direction toDark Souls is a very unique game. For one, It has a very rich and detailed story with many characters, but it's told to you in a way that is indirect. You either have to figure out what's happened to this desolate world by talking with people in it and noticing clues, or you'll be left in the dark. Their are many choices to be made as well, like what covenant to join or which direction to go or what weapons to use, and there's no one right answer for every playthrough you might do. Finally there's the notoriously unforgiving combat and dungeons. While not being too complex, it's refined enough to give you many options for different situations to get you through the game.
    All these things tied in with the beautiful graphics, atmosphere, story, and boss battles make Dark Souls a unique experience you will not soon forget. While the online and co-op aspects of the game are somewhat lacking, the other aspects more than make up for it.
    This isn't going to be a game for everyone, but if you're the typical gamer that craves a challenge, then you should definately hit Dark Souls up.    … Expand
  91. Squerol
    Sep 4, 2014
    10
    Get gamepad controller, DSfix (to tweak performance and quality) and DSCfix (for better connection with friend-list players and either non-friend with DSCfix installed), so you are ready to go (it will be long)...

    Dark Souls is just perfectly done old-school Action-RPG, not affected with latest games "innovations" (sarkasm). #Great world (not kilometers long, dull, empty world, its    Get gamepad controller, DSfix (to tweak performance and quality) and DSCfix (for better connection with friend-list players and either non-friend with DSCfix installed), so you are ready to go (it will be long)...

    Dark Souls is just perfectly done old-school Action-RPG, not affected with latest games "innovations" (sarkasm).
    #Great world (not kilometers long, dull, empty world, its some sort of open, just great designed, where everything fits with everything , with atmosphere around, interconnected areas which makes exploration awesome, very interesting locations, no chances to boring around),
    #Greatly done, deep combat, especially boss fights and PvP, near every weapon have diffirent movesets, here are comboses, blocks, counters, rolls, jumping attacks, challenging enemies, everything what makes combat superior, need to play some more time it out to know what I'm talkin about, only backstabbs are some sort of cheap feature,
    #Character development - earned souls are like expierience points and some sort of cash, raising attributes is well done, there are plenty of them, which every of them have affect on our gameplay, inventory managment is great too, lot of customization and good upgrade weapons/armors system, And there are no best equipment, it all depends how are you playing and how do you use things to make yourself complete...
    #World lore and characters - who goes deep in game, knows what Im talking about,
    #Game design - art design of game is just excellent... Everything in game is not generic, is just well crafted, detailed as hell, world locations, enemies, bosses (awesome), items, evetything around looks like hand made masterpiece, From Software earned applaus again here,
    #Sound effects - good, which fits to game, einvorment SFX, and soundtrack, which some tracks here are again some memorable masterpiece (Four Kings theme, Golem/Stray theme, Gwyn theme),
    #Gameplay/Atmosphere - game plays excellent and long, well done controls if played on gamepad ( well, its console port), combat, exploration, suiting yourself with better things, discovering deep world around and rich game mechanics, nothing more to tell ;), no chances to gets bored, atmosphere of game is thick as hell,
    #Online interactions - well there are messages leaving system, PvP and Co-operation system, and other miscelanous things, that shows other players egsistence, Well there are flaws and bad things, but about bad later. PvP and Co-op are great additions which makes gameplay more and more awesome, combat system is just great for PvP (tons of people just made characters for PvP only). On beggining it can be overhelming, but after some hours spended here it will be superior expierience.... And there are a lot of various covenants, which have affect on how we will interact online.
    #Artorias of the Abyss DLC content - fullfilment to the core game, great quality addition, best bosses from the game here,

    Bad things
    #Port quality - issues can be fixed with DSfix tool, mentioned above,
    #Online play quality - one big mess here, annoying GFWL system, all time lags (you must all time think some seconds forward, forseeing alot), not depending a lot on our connection quality, damn bad players pairing, most of time invasion/summoning failed communicates, often disconnections, it makes online playing only for players with some patience, I didnt ever saw worse than that online playing system on my eyes, check it out to get qucikly annoyed....

    So final - game is overall masterpiece. From Software made near perfect game, made for gamers, not just for commercials (sadly, Dark Souls 2 gone to wrong way...) Game that you need to play, if you like action-RPG (well mixed, lot of action), with great depth in its, a lot of memorable things there, 10/10 note fully desreved. Issues to bad port quality can be easily fixed, so I dont take that on final opinion. One of the best games made ever. That's not a lie people, play it by yourselfs. Worth buying without any hestitations, and its very cheap to buy in this time.    … Expand
  92. Garfoodle
    Sep 2, 2014
    9
    I mean, besides the god awful PC port, its one of the better games i've played. I came from the land of DkS2 first, so I was at some sort of an advantage. I mean, this one is a lot less linear, a lot more intimidating, and thats good. I mean, there just isn't anything to be said that hasn't been said, but I will say this
    Git this game and GitGudScrub
  93. JLK88
    Aug 21, 2014
    10
    Dark Souls was one hell of a game, a serious game. The graphics though slightly dated have a neat, unique touch to them that still stands out to this day. The atmosphere and setting of this game had a lot of care. This is not a typical hack n slash game where you can run in swords blazing and rip everything to shreds. This game required patience, tactical fighting, and timed blocking andDark Souls was one hell of a game, a serious game. The graphics though slightly dated have a neat, unique touch to them that still stands out to this day. The atmosphere and setting of this game had a lot of care. This is not a typical hack n slash game where you can run in swords blazing and rip everything to shreds. This game required patience, tactical fighting, and timed blocking and healing. Another thing I liked about this game was the magnitude of exploration required and the huge rewards for doing so. Exploration is key in this game. I guess I might as well share I loved the staggering amount of armor and weapons to be found.… Expand
  94. Amfibios
    Aug 18, 2014
    9
    one of the best games i've ever played but maybe not for everyone since there's alot of trial and error and backtracking. still it's very addictive and the atmosphere/combat are amazing.
    the PC port is the worst port i've ever seen but modded it becomes even better than the console versions.
    note: u WILL need a controller to play it or else u're gimping yourself.
  95. 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
  96. 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
  97. 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
  98. RingK
    Jul 4, 2014
    10
    Best game of its generation, if you like games where you actually have to think about what you're doing . Best combat system ever. Hard to learn, but really rewarding.
  99. axolotl777
    Jul 1, 2014
    10
    Everything abut the game is amazing, except the port, but that is easy enough to fix with DSfix. A complex and epic fantasy story, a well done combat system that will leave you craving more, and plenty of mods to make the game run and look amazing.
  100. 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
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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

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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.
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  3. LEVEL (Czech Republic)
    Oct 29, 2012
    80
    Dark Souls returns the hardcore elements back to action RPGs – heavy focus on uncompromising fight mechanics and absolute freedom in hero profiling. The price of this game is not for everyone. [Oct 2012]
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