Dark Souls

 PlayStation 3
User Score
8.9

Generally favorable reviews- based on 2451 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 2,188 out of 2451
  2. Mixed: 103 out of 2451
  3. Negative: 160 out of 2451
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  1. CHEESEDBEEF
    Dec 4, 2014
    6
    I have put about 5 - 6 hours in and am still not sure about it myself... I haven't got far at all but I have played enough to realise why it is liked. A good sense of achievement after tough fights pushes you to go on even further, and the combat is great too! Lots of classes to choose from but most are for experienced players and not recommended for newbies.
    My main problem with the game    I have put about 5 - 6 hours in and am still not sure about it myself... I haven't got far at all but I have played enough to realise why it is liked. A good sense of achievement after tough fights pushes you to go on even further, and the combat is great too! Lots of classes to choose from but most are for experienced players and not recommended for newbies.
    My main problem with the game is how unfair it is. I didn't just pick it up with no knowledge about it, I have many games for most consoles and consider myself an avid collector/ gamer. I knew the game would be hard, and its not that which puts me off... Enemies pushing you off cliffs, backstabbers and losing your souls every time you die is what grinded my gears. Honestly I was planning to play more but just wasn't interested in going back after I left It a few days. Most gamers will enjoy this for its sense of achievement and great combat system, but personally I didn't find it as enticing as you guys. 6/10 because it was good for the most part, but I probably wont play it again for a while.    … Expand
  2. disgruntlegame
    Jan 6, 2015
    6
    Not half as good as Demon Souls

    - Introduced a retarded poise system making like light armor all but useless

    -Took out the manna bar and replaced it with a D&D system which takes away from pure magic users

    -Took out the stealth system (No Thief Ring) Yes there is a chameleon spell but you stick out like a sore thumb

    -The new healing system is idiotic for grouping.
  3. Bossuk
    Feb 20, 2014
    5
    This game is a must have for those that like a challenge, and as has already been said, experienced player or not, you will die a lot.
    - It has great atmosphere, put the kids to bed, send the wife out for a night, lower the lights and crack on. It really does drag you in.
    - graphically, while not perfect, they are very dark and forboding, the lighting and character animations are cool.    This game is a must have for those that like a challenge, and as has already been said, experienced player or not, you will die a lot.
    - It has great atmosphere, put the kids to bed, send the wife out for a night, lower the lights and crack on. It really does drag you in.
    - graphically, while not perfect, they are very dark and forboding, the lighting and character animations are cool.
    - large range of character types to choose from
    - nice little things like the game sharing your frustration when you die a lot with glyphs/prompts like "i can't take this" and others like "I did it", when you finally kill a Boss are nice little touches

    However, despite the deluge of 10's that this game gets, it is not without it's faults.

    - Those glyphs are everywhere, and over 1/2 are useless things like "praise the sun". the problem is some are helpful, warning you of ambushes or bosses, so you have to click them all. but after a while, it does get tiresome.
    - Camera angles, especially when in enclosed spaces are annoying resulting in you looking at a brick wales when trying to move, especially if you are moving in a rush.
    - the targeting system sucks. If you click on an enemy but you are out of range, the camera centres instead of doing nothing, or at least it should target, but change the colour to show you are out of range. If you are running away/towards an enemy and targetting fails, the camera angles just flips to straight forward, which just becomes confusing, risking things like falling of edges and dying, or even running into an enemy you are trying to run away from.
    - As a sorcerer, you have only 1 spell..and then eventually you get a second spell but it looks exactly the same as the first..then a third..same again. Seriously, it's the most unimaginitive spellbook in the history of RPG's. Mages in RPGs make things go bang in wierd and wonderful ways.. DS just did not bother.
    - Risk of accidentally attacking NPC's. you rescue an NPC in a room, but the room has boxes you want to destroy. a swipe in the wrong direction and you end up in a fight with someone you don't want to fight.
    - This game is not caster friendly, at least in the early stages. Simply put, if you die or rest at a fireplace, all enemies respawn. If you are melee based then this is fine,as you can fight your way through to where you want with little cost in terms of resources. But as a sorcerer, your spells have a limited cast count, which means if you use your spells (which as a sorcerer you are supposed), you will run out of spells to cast very quickly. This means that you have no choice but to Melee as well, which as you have little strength and health, makes your job very difficult. Especially if there is a Boss at the end of Level you are getting to and need to save your casts for, you have to melee through a lot of enemies.
    - When you dies you drop all your souls. Ok, that's fine. but if you die again before collecting these souls, all the souls from the first kill are lost. This is especially tiresome if you have just killed a boss got 10k souls, but then continue on, die, then die again before getting to those souls, you've just lost over 10k souls, thats a lot.
    - Also, because you have died you have no souls, so you cannot restock on items or repair your armour so you are ready to face a boss again. It means you have farm some more enemies, then go back restock and eventually..try again. It is not hard..just annoying, boring and tiresome. Killing the same enemy 20 times so you can restock is boring..not hard.
    - Invaders. When in human form, a player can invade your game and kill you. If they are higher than you in level(despite the balancing) you are still in a weaker position, giving you a disadvantage. If you die you have to respawn but you have lost the humanity you used to turn human(which is rare). I'm playing a PVE game, not a PVP game so i should be able to play as such, especially when I have an obvious disadvantage when being invaded by a player 10 lvls above me, in much better armour/weapons.
    - No instructions on character creation on what the various things mean aka gifts. in the end i googled them and got to master key, but I should not have too.
    - Very little tuition for new players. i'm an experienced RPG player, so worked it out pretty quick, but no menu with controls. i mean WTF.
    - No pause button. Seriously???

    This is a good game, the atmosphere is great. i don't even have an issue with a difficult game, but the game should differentiate between difficulty, boredom and bad mechanics, and I do not think DS has got this quite right.    … Expand
  4. Pivot1022
    Jan 4, 2012
    5
    Blighttown... Just **** blighttown. Oh god the problems start showing up there faster then i have ever seen in a game. Blighttown is one of the WORST areas i have ever seen in any video game. 1. When you first get to the first bonfire (on the bridge) You are never getting out of blighttown... all it is, is **** platform after platform after platform, with ladders that you have no clueBlighttown... Just **** blighttown. Oh god the problems start showing up there faster then i have ever seen in a game. Blighttown is one of the WORST areas i have ever seen in any video game. 1. When you first get to the first bonfire (on the bridge) You are never getting out of blighttown... all it is, is **** platform after platform after platform, with ladders that you have no clue where they go. And if you didn't bring enough **** for curing toxic, or poison, YOU ARE **** "Oh hey this might be the way out *Fall* FFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU" 2. The camera becomes an enemy in this part as it will **** you up any chance it gets. 3. You will fall off tons of platforms when fighting. 4. One way this game try's to be harder then demon souls is by making you fight 2-3 guys at once, well here you're in very tight spaces, with little room to move, and you have to fight A gaint fat **** and some troll like thing. and you will fall off. 5. I get people like the whole "figure it out you'reself" but here I JUST WANT TO GET OUT TO BUY CURES FOR TOXIC! but i can't cause blighttown is so badly made.… Expand
  5. Snodog
    Apr 29, 2015
    5
    I'll be fair, this game has a truly amazing world, huge in scale and scope. Different paths can lead to different areas where you've never been and exploring and finding new things is amazing. The RPG element is solid, a solid level up system with your choice of stats and how you want to build your character. There are a staggering amount of items and some do hidden things that you mustI'll be fair, this game has a truly amazing world, huge in scale and scope. Different paths can lead to different areas where you've never been and exploring and finding new things is amazing. The RPG element is solid, a solid level up system with your choice of stats and how you want to build your character. There are a staggering amount of items and some do hidden things that you must discover by yourself. This game is hard. It takes me back to the SNES days of Super Ghosts n' Ghouls difficulty. The game and all of its bosses are very beatable, even if you're the worst possible build for it.

    However, that is also it's downfall. While the world is expansive, I've put upwards of 40 hours in this game and have only seen maybe a third of it. The co-op element is a joke, I couldn't find anyone to play with or help me out of those especially tough situations that maybe my build just wasn't right for. If you watch the speed runners of this game, you'll notice that they all have one thing in common, they skip the exploration, they skip massive amounts of game play and they all have the boss mechanics down to the letter. This game punishes you for trying to figure out its secrets and the rewards are very little to none. Amazing sets of armor are left just lying around with no one guarding them and the item behind the 15 boss clones are usually worthless. The story is tough to figure out too, you're spending so much time grinding souls and avoiding the harder areas of the game that you forget what your goal was in the first place. NPC's are scattered around and some seem to have little purpose until a very specific trigger is met.

    In short, if you're looking for a game to test you, this is it. If you're looking for a game to escape and relax, this is far from it. I do find the fact that you are not, by any means, powerful enough to kill everything by spamming the attack button like in a typical hack and slash refreshing. However, being the ant on the receiving end of a boot gets very old after a while as well. I, unfortunately, gave up on this game when I got to a point where one of the bosses has mini clones guarding absolutely nothing and got stuck behind them when I kindled the fire. I already killed this guy and he was tough enough, now I have to kill 5 for absolutely no reason? I gave it a fair shot, I farmed, I killed probably the first 1/3 of the bosses, and it just got old and boring after a while. I couldn't hoof the long haul but if you feel like you're up to the challenge, prepare for a time sink and grind fest.    … Expand
  6. Shoebox
    Mar 14, 2012
    5
    Dark Souls is a game that doesn't really make much sense, it has a lot of glaring problems and it's only advertised feature is that it will actively punish you for playing it. That alone speaks volumes about the game itself, which is both a nightmare to enjoy and wrap your head around. Playing the game is the same as playing any run of the mill MMORPG, with monsters running at you singleDark Souls is a game that doesn't really make much sense, it has a lot of glaring problems and it's only advertised feature is that it will actively punish you for playing it. That alone speaks volumes about the game itself, which is both a nightmare to enjoy and wrap your head around. Playing the game is the same as playing any run of the mill MMORPG, with monsters running at you single file when you approach them and flailing wildly whenever you're in attacking range. The ranged enemies don't try to get a better vantage point when you're behind a wall, instead choosing to fire at the wall that you're standing behind. Many of the trash monsters in the game have one hit kill attacks that they will use as often as possible and the bosses seemingly lack this feature, making them the easiest things in the game to fight. The last boss in particular is a walk in the park. All in all, the game does punish you for playing it and you will die a lot, but the difficulty of the game is really only in line with how much time you intend on investing in farming titanite or souls to advance your character. The online component of the game is peer to peer, meaning much of the things rife in other games, such as laggers, exploiters and hackers, run rampant here as well. Overall, if you're considering buying the game to bring back nostalgia from the games of old, this is the opposite of the game you're looking for. If you're looking for a game that punishes you at every turn, there are free games on the internet that are much more fun and challenging. If you're looking for a difficult role playing game, I'd advise you to get a guide, as there is absolutely no feature documentation in game or the manual. I'm giving the game a five if only for the fact the trophies are easy to acquire and it does tend to be interesting at certain points. However the online and core gameplay is just too tedious to enjoy and reviewing this as a single player experience with intermittent online, there's not enough here unless you want to platinum the game.… Expand
  7. Jacktheripper99
    Jul 14, 2012
    5
    A game that demands a lot out of, but doesn't really give you this sense of reward people keep yapping on about. It's highly recommend that you play Demon Souls first, seeing how the tutorial isn't really that helpful or good here, which it should be, seeing how this isn't a game that suppose to hold your hand at all, and suppose to be hard, which it is. There are also a lot of cheap, andA game that demands a lot out of, but doesn't really give you this sense of reward people keep yapping on about. It's highly recommend that you play Demon Souls first, seeing how the tutorial isn't really that helpful or good here, which it should be, seeing how this isn't a game that suppose to hold your hand at all, and suppose to be hard, which it is. There are also a lot of cheap, and harder enemies across the board now, and you will die a lot, which is the point of the game (trial and error). And the boss battles can be incredibly hard, if you don't know the strategy behind defeating them, or you can simply keep dying, and running back until you get it right, and this is of coarse with enemies you previously kill respawning back, Fun! The graphics have improve a bit, but not to much. There still no worth while story, which isn't the selling point with these games. And the music is fantastic, and better than the first.

    Overall I did beat DS (without soul glitching), and just didn't really fun with this game. DS1 felt right, this DS is pushing you to the limit of frustration, which isn't for me. If you love intense challenges, and constantly getting beat down, with no advantages insight then this is for you. You'll get you money worth if this is your cup of tea.    … Expand
  8. iOnlySam
    Apr 16, 2013
    5
    This game is NOT for a wide ranged audience. It is for loved true RPG fans. It has a detailed system of weapons spells and armour. Good graphics and a long winded campaign. It isn't a game for me, but for someone who likes RPGs and strategic massive open world games, it's a seller.
  9. DKR
    Jun 10, 2018
    5
    Since my review is cut in half and I have no fkn clue as to how, I'll keep it short.

    Its like this: you spawn, fight enemies, instadeath. you spawn, fight enemies, boss 2 shots you. You spawn, fight enemies, ur R1 locks up, instadeath. You spawn, fight enemies, high lvl player invades and 1shots you. You spawn, fight enemies, instadeath. You spawn, fight enemies, get to boss, your    Since my review is cut in half and I have no fkn clue as to how, I'll keep it short.

    Its like this: you spawn, fight enemies, instadeath. you spawn, fight enemies, boss 2 shots you. You spawn, fight enemies, ur R1 locks up, instadeath. You spawn, fight enemies, high lvl player invades and 1shots you. You spawn, fight enemies, instadeath. You spawn, fight enemies, get to boss, your pixel-perfect-required roll/parry fails in the FPS drop, instadeath. You spawn, turn human hoping to invite some coop/NPC help, fight enemies, make it to summon, high lvl player invades and backstabs you...from 30ft away while you have him locked on, instadeath. You spawn, fight enemies, R1 locks up, instadeath. You spawn, fight enemies, make it to boss, abuse a cheap tactic, win boss, and next spawn point, and repeat. The game actively encourages you to abuse the ever living f* s* out of any exploit you can just to reverse the numerous unfair deaths. it's so tedious and time consuming your passion to finish it will fizzle out, and you'll grow weary of the tantalizing torture.

    ...mostly bc the ps3 port is dogsh. There's a reason streamers play the xbox version.    … Expand
  10. Willmoy
    Nov 5, 2017
    5
    Dark Souls is a good game. I won't even try to argue otherwise. However, unless you like repetitive grind and a very archaic plot, I cannot recommend the game. The game is very niche and beyond the average gamer's skill level, frankly. I played the game until level 40, and just became tired of trying to reach any coherent plot.

    It's just not something I would recommend to the typical gamer.
  11. JrDouble
    Dec 7, 2022
    5
    I really tried to enjoy Dark Souls and made some decent progress over the time I played it. Unfortunately, the more I played it the less and less appeal the game had to me. Gameplay and progress are painfully slow there was little to no story to keep me engaged. I'm glad I tried it though as now I'll be sure to steer clear of FromSoft and Souls-likes moving forward.
  12. Bizmal
    Nov 9, 2011
    4
    Simply put they advertised a game with Co-Op and Multiplayer. The game has none of that. Once again peer to peer networking is the bane of gaming,. They say the multiplayer is working as intended. Here's my stats.
    72 Hrs of gaming I have summoned someone twice and I have been invaded once. My friends all have the same issue. This is pretty much a single player game. It is no Demon Souls.    Simply put they advertised a game with Co-Op and Multiplayer. The game has none of that. Once again peer to peer networking is the bane of gaming,. They say the multiplayer is working as intended. Here's my stats.
    72 Hrs of gaming I have summoned someone twice and I have been invaded once. My friends all have the same issue. This is pretty much a single player game. It is no Demon Souls. Ps3 did it right the first time with DEDICATED SERVERS.    … Expand
  13. KhaaL
    Oct 12, 2011
    4
    To start with let me start by saying that I love a good challenge. I like hardcore roguelikes and I enjoy dwarf fortress regularly - which is known for its difficulty. The challenge in Dark Souls consists of learning by doing - you have to test your way forth. The tutorial is minimal and the character attributes do not come with an explanation. This is brutal, considering that there is noTo start with let me start by saying that I love a good challenge. I like hardcore roguelikes and I enjoy dwarf fortress regularly - which is known for its difficulty. The challenge in Dark Souls consists of learning by doing - you have to test your way forth. The tutorial is minimal and the character attributes do not come with an explanation. This is brutal, considering that there is no way to "un-level" and once you blindly raise a stat, there's no way back. The gameplay reminds of "oni", with the character moving towards the direction you point with the stick on your controller. The combat requires exact reaction from the player, the time window in order to execute moves is miniscule. Add actions that stack and are executed once the character recovers from his stamina loss/long fall/etc, you'll get a confusing control to add to the games "difficulty" layer.

    I haven't enjoyed this game since I don't see the point of wasting my time without making any progress. I like the idea of challenges being hard, but since this games difficulty consists of giving the player minimal information, grind through long distances through same enemies several times once your die (you can't respawn near bosses) in order to recover your souls and demands flawless execution of actions which is not entirely without technical faults, this game is not challenging - It's just tiring.

    Understand me correctly, I think it's silly that many of todays games hold your hand through the story (for example, FPS games that let you recover health just by hiding behind an obstacle or RPG games that shows you where the destination to your quest is on a map with a pin), but this game is trying the wrong way to give a challenge. Which is a pity, because this games visuals is truly beautiful to behold.    … Expand
  14. hy6e
    Oct 9, 2011
    4
    This is undoubtedly not a game for everyone, as I discovered. I read all the warnings about the difficulty, and the unforgiving gameplay, but figured it still sounded like my sort of game. It just isn't, and I'll tell you why. This is a game where you die a lot, and each time you do you'll redo a lot of the stuff you've just spent 30 minutes doing. And whilst you're redoing it for theThis is undoubtedly not a game for everyone, as I discovered. I read all the warnings about the difficulty, and the unforgiving gameplay, but figured it still sounded like my sort of game. It just isn't, and I'll tell you why. This is a game where you die a lot, and each time you do you'll redo a lot of the stuff you've just spent 30 minutes doing. And whilst you're redoing it for the second time, you'll probably die again, meaning you'll have to do it all again. And then you'll probably die again. And so it goes on.

    None of this would be a problem if I felt I was being rewarded for my time spent playing - but you just don't. In fact each time you die you have less to fight with the second time round. And this ties into my biggest problem of all. I keep reading about "the hardest game ever made", maybe so, but isn't gaming meant to be fun? This game quite isn't. I turn on my PS3 for escapism, whether it's for 10 minutes or 4 hours - all Dark Souls offers is frustration, the 4 or 5 hours I spent playing were some of the most miserable I can remember.

    A huge amount of effort has gone into this game, it looks absolutely stunning and generates an incredible atmosphere, but that's not enough for me. My advice? Rent before you buy - I've already traded my copy in.

    I know this review will get marked as unhelpful, but I think it would be to someone who isn't already a Demon Souls fan, as I can see so many of the people leaving high-scores on here are.    … Expand
  15. TooGoods
    Nov 19, 2011
    4
    Good game, but the cheap deaths is a very negative aspect to this game, and there's a lot of it. The story is not as good as Dark Souls and the absence of a central "Nexus" also ruins this game for me. I feel that the bosses are also not as memorable as Dark Souls. Another negative thing is that the game is full of people who spam "soul" glitches to reach levels that are far too highGood game, but the cheap deaths is a very negative aspect to this game, and there's a lot of it. The story is not as good as Dark Souls and the absence of a central "Nexus" also ruins this game for me. I feel that the bosses are also not as memorable as Dark Souls. Another negative thing is that the game is full of people who spam "soul" glitches to reach levels that are far too high (300-700) to even challenge against when you are in certain covenants such as the Darkmoon covenant.… Expand
  16. BonalsII
    Apr 27, 2013
    4
    This is not a horrible game, that being said it is not a good game either. It has very minimal story and once you get going you realize that its basically a grind fest. The difficulty is overrated, its not hard because your opponents are smarter than you, and you need to figure out tactics to beat them,its difficult because the are stronger than you, the game plays like this. Get killed byThis is not a horrible game, that being said it is not a good game either. It has very minimal story and once you get going you realize that its basically a grind fest. The difficulty is overrated, its not hard because your opponents are smarter than you, and you need to figure out tactics to beat them,its difficult because the are stronger than you, the game plays like this. Get killed by a big strong guy 10 levels stronger than you, grind out 11 levels, beat strong guy, go two feet, rinse repeat. It just gets really boring really fast. One thing that is a major nuisance is the lack of a pause feature, for people who get telephone calls or occasionally have someone knock at their door or simply have to take a piss, you have to either find a relatively safe place to stand, die, or use an item to transport to your campsite, i guess the reasoning is that it makes it more difficult where in reality it's just annoying.… Expand
  17. dcl2000
    Aug 6, 2013
    4
    In order to like this game you'll need to like tedium and frustration. Each time you die you respawn quite far from where you die and have to fight your way through enemies, obstacles you've already surmounted to get back to the part where you died.

    On top of this the game forces you to take time out because e.g. you might get cursed, or need a new weapon. This means you have to do    In order to like this game you'll need to like tedium and frustration. Each time you die you respawn quite far from where you die and have to fight your way through enemies, obstacles you've already surmounted to get back to the part where you died.

    On top of this the game forces you to take time out because e.g. you might get cursed, or need a new weapon. This means you have to do soul farming, killing and respawning lots of times to do the required amount of kills to win the necessary souls. then you go traipsing across the levels you've already completed to find the guy selling the rock weapon whatever before traipsing all the way back. then if you're unlucky, you might get cursed again or your weapon might break again and get to do all this again. not my idea of fun    … Expand
  18. susej79
    Jun 5, 2018
    4
    This game forces you to try same thing again and again...quite sadistic. And I hate labyrinth too. The enemy pattern is quite boring too. Only too much difficulty. I don't think this game is fun. overrated game.
  19. DrPhilweeb
    Sep 18, 2020
    4
    So I had recently beat the game on my PS3 and leaving the game I came away from it being disappointed with it. The normal enemies aren't fun or interesting to fight and the bosses were a mixed bag you had some good bosses like the four kings and Gwyn but you had some really horrible bosses like nito, the iron golem, and the bed of chaos and compared to later games dark souls 1 is lacking,So I had recently beat the game on my PS3 and leaving the game I came away from it being disappointed with it. The normal enemies aren't fun or interesting to fight and the bosses were a mixed bag you had some good bosses like the four kings and Gwyn but you had some really horrible bosses like nito, the iron golem, and the bed of chaos and compared to later games dark souls 1 is lacking, one of the best examples is character creation witch in the first game was super basic but in the other games is really cool and in depth. the game runs really bad on consoles capping at 30 fps and having alot of dips namely in Blighttown. the world thought inter connected isn't fun to traverse and you can only warp from the bonfire after getting the lordvessel witch is about halfway through the game. there are shortcuts in the world but most of them are dumb and won't get used very much, plus the warping is annoying and doesn't work well because you have to sit at the bonfire or if you die it will send you to the one you warped from. so at leased to me dark souls 1 is somewhat a relic of the past and if you want it start the series you should go with dark soul 2 or 3… Expand
  20. TheEighthDay
    Nov 14, 2011
    3
    This game just doesn't have quality like I guess I'm used to. The idea that a full screen announcement comes on to tell me that "You Lit The Bonfire" as if it was a significant achievement confuses me, especially since the game hides some much other information that is crucial for understanding how to play the game. The character classes are obscure and magic is pretty much a joke asThis game just doesn't have quality like I guess I'm used to. The idea that a full screen announcement comes on to tell me that "You Lit The Bonfire" as if it was a significant achievement confuses me, especially since the game hides some much other information that is crucial for understanding how to play the game. The character classes are obscure and magic is pretty much a joke as everyone has to engage in melee combat due to the restrictive amount of spells that exist in the first 6 hours I put in the game. Since there is a heavy reliance upon melee combat and health is so crucial the game becomes even more difficult if you pick a lower vitality, magic strong class. And the game is difficult, but the difficulty comes not from the game itself but from the horrible UI and controls. I died more from fumbling my controls than I ever did from underestimating my enemy and the heavy fog of ignorance the game keeps you in that hides some of the games mechanics is the other side of the difficulty. I don't know why people enjoy a game that makes it hard for you to enjoy its many aspects but this game succeeded. I mean, the starting gift you choose, what could be more obscure and then overly useless than blindly picking an item from that list. I would have rather it not existed at all since the item I picked was never useful for me.

    The online aspect of the game is usually most prominent in messages left on the ground, many of them stating this: "I'm tired of this"

    How useful. I died to a boss because I rolled off a cliff, unintentionally, I didn't want to roll my hand just happened to mash down R3. I died to a simple skeleton archer because I accidentally unequipped my shield in the midst of battle when trying to quickly switch to the healing potion from some bombs I was using. Bad controls should not be the main contributor to a games "difficulty" level. The targeting system also needs some help...which is another part of, I guess, the difficulty. Fix the controls, sloppy controls are never fun, fix the targeting, and provide more information about items and the overall why for running around in the world so I can enjoy the world you created and I'd rate this game much higher.    … Expand
  21. Jalopicus
    May 10, 2014
    3
    I did not like this game but I still finished it (which seems to be relatively unusual). Aside from the difficulty Dark Souls is pretty average. Yes, it is good-looking and atmospheric with a large catalog of combat-related items to collect and manage but no new ground is broken here. The PVP system is an innovative idea but ubiquitous latency issues have essentially transformed it intoI did not like this game but I still finished it (which seems to be relatively unusual). Aside from the difficulty Dark Souls is pretty average. Yes, it is good-looking and atmospheric with a large catalog of combat-related items to collect and manage but no new ground is broken here. The PVP system is an innovative idea but ubiquitous latency issues have essentially transformed it into a griefing mechanic for invaders who like to exploit the laggy netcode.

    The difficulty can indeed be refreshing but reaches diminishing returns when deaths that have little learning value start to pile up. These include, but are not limited to, frumpy hit boxes, oddly-clipping cameras, misinterpreted lock-ons and other things that are basically normal in an RPG engine but are occasionally pushed to the forefront in Dark Souls. Some areas and bosses become more tedious than challenging which takes away from the satisfaction of getting through.    … Expand
  22. JaimeGarcia
    Dec 20, 2013
    3
    Terrible software. Masochism shouldn't even be marketed as fun, which is what somehow happened with this game. Unbelievable to read the amount of 9's and 10's this game got when it is nothing but pure frustration. The worst thing about it are its fanatical followers that just won't see through a thick curtain of bought reviewers and artificial hype.

    A game shouldn't be unforgiving in    Terrible software. Masochism shouldn't even be marketed as fun, which is what somehow happened with this game. Unbelievable to read the amount of 9's and 10's this game got when it is nothing but pure frustration. The worst thing about it are its fanatical followers that just won't see through a thick curtain of bought reviewers and artificial hype.

    A game shouldn't be unforgiving in order to be difficult. Dark Souls isn't only unforgiving but it also shows the middle finger to the player by forcing a sluggish character with pretty consistent input delays into a world filled with enemies that can kill you in the most absurd and random ways.

    Spent hours trying to like this game but couldn't. I got really good at it but had to quit since I realized I was starting to feel really upset since it wasn't really my fault but the game's that I was making little to no progress.

    It is ridiculous and games that push their difficulty in such cheap ways shouldn't be scored that high. According to several people, gamers are masochists and love horrible gameplay mechanics coated with gorgeous graphics.

    Oh wait. That's actually true these days.

    Sad times for gamers.    … Expand
  23. JustSagan
    May 21, 2014
    3
    I do not get it. When I heard all the great things about this game, I immediately went out to buy it. I regret ever spending money on it. This game taught me to do more research on games. I honestly think the only reason people like this game is because of how hard it is. This game is hard, but to me its slow, and boring. I creating every type of class in the game, and played through theI do not get it. When I heard all the great things about this game, I immediately went out to buy it. I regret ever spending money on it. This game taught me to do more research on games. I honestly think the only reason people like this game is because of how hard it is. This game is hard, but to me its slow, and boring. I creating every type of class in the game, and played through the game with the different classes just to see if i was missing something. Every time I did, I did not have any fun. I do not have a problem with a hard game. I just have a problem with a boring game, and this is a boring game. so if you are considering getting this game then rent it first. Because what people are praising this game for may be to only thing they like about it.… Expand
  24. xrarara
    May 5, 2018
    3
    difficulty is based off horrible mechanics. story's cool, everything else is awful. Would never play this game again.
  25. punipuno
    May 28, 2021
    3
    ah yes, the infamous game dark souls, the one outdone by all of its sequels, I played the second one before playing the first, and it's clear where this game is dated, it's slow, rolling is clunky, and constant frame drops,blighttown was a complete nightmare at 15 fps, it's easy to get lost in general, and limited fast travel is inconvenient, if your going to play this game, play it firstah yes, the infamous game dark souls, the one outdone by all of its sequels, I played the second one before playing the first, and it's clear where this game is dated, it's slow, rolling is clunky, and constant frame drops,blighttown was a complete nightmare at 15 fps, it's easy to get lost in general, and limited fast travel is inconvenient, if your going to play this game, play it first so ds2 feels like an actual improvement… Expand
  26. neuralsturgeon
    Oct 9, 2011
    2
    Inferior to the original in every way. After the initial "tutorial" area (which is reminiscent of the original and well-executed), I ran into a multitude of problems. Within a span of five minutes, I got stuck in a tombstone, attacked by teleporting skeletons (not INTENTIONALLY teleporting skeletons, which I'd be cool with), had my vision blocked by a giant crow, encountered massiveInferior to the original in every way. After the initial "tutorial" area (which is reminiscent of the original and well-executed), I ran into a multitude of problems. Within a span of five minutes, I got stuck in a tombstone, attacked by teleporting skeletons (not INTENTIONALLY teleporting skeletons, which I'd be cool with), had my vision blocked by a giant crow, encountered massive slowdown and fell through a flight of stairs causing the game to lock up (and after restarting the system the game proceeded to berate me for turning it off without saving). I plan on changing this review if/when a patch comes out, but the game is completely unplayable for me at the moment. It's like trying to play Super Meat Boy with a trackball. I've tested 2 copies of the game on 3 separate PS3's, so it's not an isolated issue. Whomever was responsible for QA should be fired.

    Also, judging by other people's comments, it seems like user reviews are being pulled from the site...? What kind of crap is that?    … Expand
  27. GrumpyReviewer
    Oct 30, 2012
    2
    Let's be honest for a second, here. Seriously. Ask yourself: "do I really like this game?" or "am I really enjoying this?". I think Dark Souls is the perfect example of Psychological Marketing. Developers and the media MADE US believe that suffering exhaustively with some sort of "do it again until you get good at it" business is something nice, something we want, the ideal gamingLet's be honest for a second, here. Seriously. Ask yourself: "do I really like this game?" or "am I really enjoying this?". I think Dark Souls is the perfect example of Psychological Marketing. Developers and the media MADE US believe that suffering exhaustively with some sort of "do it again until you get good at it" business is something nice, something we want, the ideal gaming experience. It's not. Dark Souls is, no question about it, a beautiful game, challenging and well crafted. That being said, the difficulty level is just way, way too high - to a point that there's not fun at all to play it. But we do, we play, we suffer, because "they" made us believe this was the best gaming experience ever. I gave up on Dark Souls as soon as I realized that I just don't have time for this. Being a gamer in my 30s, I have pretty much 1 hour per day to play games. And I don't want to spend these precious hours hating myself or hating a game because I cannot have any fun, because of frustration. I'm no masochist, sorry. For me, the ultimate gaming experience is HAVING FUN. And there's [almost] no fun to be had in Dark Souls, sorry.… Expand
  28. Neian
    Oct 5, 2011
    2
    Horrible. That is the best way to sum up this game. Extremely difficult to the point of complete insanity. Make one mistake and you have to repeat an hours worth of play to get back to the same area. No story line what-so-ever. No explanation of what different symbols, stats, etc mean on your character. The game was definitely banking on previous reputation. Controls are very buggyHorrible. That is the best way to sum up this game. Extremely difficult to the point of complete insanity. Make one mistake and you have to repeat an hours worth of play to get back to the same area. No story line what-so-ever. No explanation of what different symbols, stats, etc mean on your character. The game was definitely banking on previous reputation. Controls are very buggy with multiple button combos almost pointless because you can never get them to work.… Expand
  29. akakakakak
    Oct 18, 2011
    2
    If you think Silver Surfer is the greatest game of all time, and that difficulty means out-of-nowhere deaths that require psychic abilities to avoid, Dark Souls is for you. Everyone else, stay away.
  30. ohboy382
    Nov 10, 2011
    2
    This game is simply not worth playing. it contains a decent amount of flaws, such as, the lack of multiplayer and co-op as the devs have promised that it would be included, you are unable to change your difficulty and the character creation is horrible. there is no beauty in this game so if you want a dead or broken game with horrible voice acting, then this game is for you.
  31. XzRecolz
    Aug 30, 2020
    2
    This game is not good. I do not understand how everyone is so high on this game. FromSoft games are overrated in general, but decent (only great one is Bloodborne), but this game? Seriously? This is a 10/10? A standard for all games? Piss off. Get a better taste, please.

    This game plays like it came straight from the 90s, it has awful design choices, combat is extremely clunky with    This game is not good. I do not understand how everyone is so high on this game. FromSoft games are overrated in general, but decent (only great one is Bloodborne), but this game? Seriously? This is a 10/10? A standard for all games? Piss off. Get a better taste, please.

    This game plays like it came straight from the 90s, it has awful design choices, combat is extremely clunky with absurdly awful hitboxes, world is ugly looking, and some of the worst bosses Ive ever seen. If this was developed by any other gaming studio it would have gotten panned by everyone. IDK what the deal with FromSoft is. Stop sucking their dicks, they are decent, nothing more. How that company developed a masterpiece like Bloodborne, with other titles so mediocre is beyond me.    … Expand
  32. dannydans
    Oct 5, 2013
    2
    who wants to play the same level for a day just because its too dam hard to finish....waist of time and a big waist of money there is no joy in dying 10000000 time .....maybe for you very good gamers out there this is good but otherwise dont get it
  33. DarthLawyer
    Nov 14, 2015
    2
    This game is the anti-Skyrim. For me, good RPG's involve exploring beautiful worlds and interacting with them. Dark Souls trades those in for repeatedly trudging through boring, ugly stairwells, fighting the same respawning enemies over and over.

    Skyrim is admittedly easy since you can save at any time, but I'd rather enjoy a game than be angry at the game 99% of the time and then    This game is the anti-Skyrim. For me, good RPG's involve exploring beautiful worlds and interacting with them. Dark Souls trades those in for repeatedly trudging through boring, ugly stairwells, fighting the same respawning enemies over and over.

    Skyrim is admittedly easy since you can save at any time, but I'd rather enjoy a game than be angry at the game 99% of the time and then finally be relieved I beat some boss after 50 tries and several attempts at backtracking to grind souls to level up. When you reach a boss and die, you shouldn't have to re-kill all the enemies you beat over the last 15 minutes to get back to the boss.

    The camera is unforgivably bad. There are boss battles where you are instantly killed because you are in a tiny room and can't see what's going on, or you drop off a cliff because you can't see it.

    Dark Souls really feels like an unfinished game. I'm not a graphics snob, but this game looks like a PS2 game. There is a lot of empty space and minimal interactivity. There are a lot of game mechanics and item systems that are never explained. But since the game constantly saves, your whole game is f'ed if you improve or sell the wrong item--or accidentally attack a blacksmith or other NPC when fighting something else.

    If the only thing you care about is a challenge, then this is the game for you. The only positive thing I can say about the game is that it I appreciated the inter-connectivity of the level design.    … Expand
  34. GatoVillano
    Feb 19, 2016
    2
    Nice graphics (1 pt), bosses are original (1pt), clumsy controls (-1pt), awful awful caracter apperence (-1pt), no real story (-1pt), weird symbols instead of actual words we could understand in the weapon status (-1pt), fights that are basically ''all or nothing'', you do the fight perfectly or you get killed by1 shot or 2 shots (-1pt), almost no ingame information of where you areNice graphics (1 pt), bosses are original (1pt), clumsy controls (-1pt), awful awful caracter apperence (-1pt), no real story (-1pt), weird symbols instead of actual words we could understand in the weapon status (-1pt), fights that are basically ''all or nothing'', you do the fight perfectly or you get killed by1 shot or 2 shots (-1pt), almost no ingame information of where you are suppose to go or what you are supposed to do (-1pt), you lose all your progress when you die, and you die a lot, so you have to redo EVERYTHING again and again (-1pt), their is no pause button (-1pt)… Expand
  35. KletassVanDam
    Oct 16, 2011
    1
    I had fun setting up my character, and starting thru the tutorial... That's about it. After I escape the first dungeon, I meet a knight and decide to fight him and take his soul (I'm a thief in the game after all...). He kills me in 3 hits... Fine, try again. Respawn/reload the game, he kills me again! The fighting is so lame... He hits me, and my character has to go thru this delayedI had fun setting up my character, and starting thru the tutorial... That's about it. After I escape the first dungeon, I meet a knight and decide to fight him and take his soul (I'm a thief in the game after all...). He kills me in 3 hits... Fine, try again. Respawn/reload the game, he kills me again! The fighting is so lame... He hits me, and my character has to go thru this delayed reaction/animation, realizing he's getting hit, and by the time I regain control, I'm hit again, then dead... again. Fine, can't fight him, I'll reload the game and run away. Nope, he just follows me no matter where I go, and how far I run. My hits are so weak, they barely register, and of course, he has no slow down from my hits, just continues thru his attack motion as if I'm not hitting him multiple times. 9 Deaths later, and screaming at he TV, i quit. Not fun. Why not at least "reset the scene" if the player is killed? If it was a mistake to fight the first character I meet, why not let me learn that, and leave him be. Do i have to restart the whole game, and go thru the tutorial dungeon all over again? How many similar situations would ruin my evenings if I decided to keep this torture session disguised as a video game? I would have loved to play with a friend to help me, why restrict me from doing so? Muliplayer i random and can't be coordinated. Not fun. I gave it a rest and tried again the next day, still not fun. At all. Trading it in for Batman Arkham City.… Expand
  36. Duekiller
    Nov 4, 2012
    1
    Dark Souls start out in a similar manner to Demon Souls, but unlike Demon Souls - Dark Souls is rife with frustrating deaths and cheap mechanics that lock the player to play the game the way the designers intended instead of being open ended like its predecessor. No longer does the play have the choice of which challange to tackle next, instead we have an RPG on rails due to the designDark Souls start out in a similar manner to Demon Souls, but unlike Demon Souls - Dark Souls is rife with frustrating deaths and cheap mechanics that lock the player to play the game the way the designers intended instead of being open ended like its predecessor. No longer does the play have the choice of which challange to tackle next, instead we have an RPG on rails due to the design scaling enemies by area. Thus if the player is stuck in a specific area he or she can no longer try a different challenge instead the game forces you to try the same long sequence over and over, which can lead to frustration and annoyance. When you have to run the same 15 minute sequence in order to fight that boss that you keep dying with no option of game progression, the game become an exercise in repetition instead of exploration and progression.

    Also, a year after release the game is still rife with frame rate drops, graphical tearing, enemy glitches, and bad clipping. It is incredibaly frustrating when fighting a single skeleton and the game locks up or a two ghosts and the game drops down to single digit fps causing you to miss that roll. The worst though is enemies hitting the player through foliage or solid objects that should be impenetrable.    … Expand
  37. pissedoffgamer1
    Jan 5, 2013
    1
    I played this game and hated it the first time I played it, then the second time, then the third and even fourth time. But when i played a fifth time it got a little better. It isn't so hard to get used to the controls even if they do suck so bad they want to make your face explode. I did yell "What the FREAK!!!" quite a few times when I died from pure lack of good controls, and I did hateI played this game and hated it the first time I played it, then the second time, then the third and even fourth time. But when i played a fifth time it got a little better. It isn't so hard to get used to the controls even if they do suck so bad they want to make your face explode. I did yell "What the FREAK!!!" quite a few times when I died from pure lack of good controls, and I did hate the fact that the pretty backgrounds were just that, pretty backgrounds. The internet play sucked the story line sucked, but once you got used to it, it was ok. Definitely not my favorite game though. Ive played worse. What made me the most angry was that you couldn't pause it. It just expects you to play forever. Put the game back in and if it is still too hard to get used to a new game play style then you are a noob.… Expand
  38. Insaner
    Oct 22, 2011
    0
    There is a great deal of difference between being challenging and being unfair. This game is simply unfair, and, as someone said, this is the kind of game that you play just to say you played it. There is nothing to like here: is just a struggle, like putting yourself on diet, or working your biceps to exaustion at the gym. I could play this game for a wage, not for free. And if I think IThere is a great deal of difference between being challenging and being unfair. This game is simply unfair, and, as someone said, this is the kind of game that you play just to say you played it. There is nothing to like here: is just a struggle, like putting yourself on diet, or working your biceps to exaustion at the gym. I could play this game for a wage, not for free. And if I think I even payed for this one, well, I can just blame myself...… Expand
  39. nmaxw63
    Nov 2, 2011
    0
    Demon's Souls was/is 1 of the best games I've ever played. the balance between frustration & reward was perfect. every death was your fault. I have never put so many hours into a game.
    as spiritual successor, dark souls lacks the same balance & polish the graphics are an improved, however the character animations are a step backwards - my deprived runs like a legless chicken. the levels    Demon's Souls was/is 1 of the best games I've ever played. the balance between frustration & reward was perfect. every death was your fault. I have never put so many hours into a game.
    as spiritual successor, dark souls lacks the same balance & polish the graphics are an improved, however the character animations are a step backwards - my deprived runs like a legless chicken. the levels in DS were tight, the game was about itching forward. in going more 'open world' ds loses the focus that DS had. o
    the combat feels sluggish in comparison, & there's a noticeable lag betwixt button press & action. every time, bar 1, I've died in my short time with dark souls, I felt it was the game at fault, not me.
    I score half what I give Demon's Souls minus 1 for disappointment.
    Return game to shop, back to Demon's Souls, maybe get Skyrim?    … Expand
  40. Avin
    Nov 12, 2011
    0
    I have never written a review for a game before but I feel that in this case I need to. If nothing else than to lower the user score of this game ever so slightly so that someone else won't have to go through what I did. In short the game is unplayable and I would like to explain why so as both not to get flamed and just banished to the bottom of the pile as another person who says "itsI have never written a review for a game before but I feel that in this case I need to. If nothing else than to lower the user score of this game ever so slightly so that someone else won't have to go through what I did. In short the game is unplayable and I would like to explain why so as both not to get flamed and just banished to the bottom of the pile as another person who says "its too hard waaaaaah". I do not deny that the game is hard and I have no problem with difficult games, I went through battletoads, Ninja Gaiden Series and Devil May Cry on the hardest of difficulty settings. However Dark souls is not a game end of. There is no reason this game has a score as high as it does but I suspect that it is where it is on metacritic because of very clever marketing ie One guy says this game sucks his friend says no its just hard you are being a **** its the same as saying "I can't punch my way through this wall" "well clearly you aren't trying hard enough and are just too weak". Thats what Dark Souls feels like to me. One of the main things is wrong with the game is the controls and the lag from pressing buttons to the character actually doing something. There is simply no reason for this kind of lag not on a console game. I have designed games before and the point is to make the character an extension of the player, the closer you come to that point where the player ceases controlling the character and the character becomes an extension of that player the better. Please take a look at this game and ask yourself why is it difficult is it because it requires me to think more about my actions, requires me to have lightning nay superhuman reflexes, or is it simply because the games bad game mechanics shoe horn you into a play style that goes against every natural instinct.… Expand
  41. lazy_davey
    Aug 31, 2018
    0
    I felt no extra sense of achievement from killing the bosses or fighting through several sets of the same enemies repeatedly to do so. All it did was steal my time! I don't like this level of pressure in a game either, it's no fun - and guess what - I play games for fun!

    Also I hate the lag in the controls, intentionally programed in or not it's something else I hate about the game. Not    I felt no extra sense of achievement from killing the bosses or fighting through several sets of the same enemies repeatedly to do so. All it did was steal my time! I don't like this level of pressure in a game either, it's no fun - and guess what - I play games for fun!

    Also I hate the lag in the controls, intentionally programed in or not it's something else I hate about the game. Not to mention lag stabbing and invading a*#@holes messing up my escapism time. Precious time I put aside to enjoy myself! (I soon learned you could turn that off fortunately!)

    I play games from easy to hard mode, normally giving up on some section half way though hard mode and trading the game in once I feel I've had my level of ability challenged enough. Not having the ability to choose that level is another thing I hate and pure laziness on behalf of the developers!

    So in closing then, f*#k Dark Souls and the elitist c#*@s that continue to play and praise it!

    If you want a better time, try the often overlooked Majin and the Forsaken Kingdom.    … Expand
  42. Rb420
    Mar 29, 2019
    0
    Game lacks the shine of bloodborne and I played this after so it’s very jarring expiernce
  43. Sleuth
    Jun 19, 2020
    0
    Enemies are always fought the same way: Dodge, hit enemy twice. Rins, repeat. it's genuinely bad. Level design is mostly corridors without verticality or interactivity. Shortcuts are nothing special, every game has those; Tomb Raider, Zelda, Metroid.
  44. Raknner
    Jul 9, 2021
    0
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  45. G0jiman
    Mar 12, 2021
    0
    I ate this game up like an anchovy free pizza when it was released back in 2011.
  46. yourmomlmaogote
    Jun 3, 2021
    0
    This game is truly something magical.
    It was my first souls game.
    It gave light to my love for fromsoftware in general, it made my days, whenever I came back from a sad, disappointing or annoying day, I always get happy again, knowing ill get to play this masterpiece again. From the atmosphere of the game, the enemies, the bosses, level design, how everything is intertwined, and you can    This game is truly something magical.
    It was my first souls game.
    It gave light to my love for fromsoftware in general, it made my days, whenever I came back from a sad, disappointing or annoying day, I always get happy again, knowing ill get to play this masterpiece again.
    From the atmosphere of the game, the enemies, the bosses, level design, how everything is intertwined, and you can see the previous area, and the next from any point.    … Expand
  47. JuliaBohn
    Aug 24, 2023
    0
    Perhaps the most overrated game in history next to Zelda. The difference is that Zelda has more colors. They are games of the same style, based on memorizing the moment to dodge the monster's attack by rolling with your character, and then attacking to dmg the life of the same enemy.

    Games simply made easy with just two buttons for a target audience that doesn't like difficulty. The    Perhaps the most overrated game in history next to Zelda. The difference is that Zelda has more colors. They are games of the same style, based on memorizing the moment to dodge the monster's attack by rolling with your character, and then attacking to dmg the life of the same enemy.

    Games simply made easy with just two buttons for a target audience that doesn't like difficulty.

    The story in this game is simply non-existent. It copied several previous games, but because it was so accessible for ease, it became more popular and rightly named after a perjorative genre called “SoulsLike”.

    If you don't want to play easy games, when you come across this Tag, stay away. It is aimed at players who got tired of Nintendo's repetitive knight saving the princess stories and decided to play with less colors on another platform.    … Expand
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Awards & Rankings

16
#16 Best PS3 Game of 2011
6
#6 Most Discussed PS3 Game of 2011
4
#4 Most Shared PS3 Game of 2011

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
89

Generally favorable reviews - based on 54 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 52 out of 54
  2. Mixed: 2 out of 54
  3. Negative: 0 out of 54
  1. Playstation Official Magazine Australia
    Mar 6, 2012
    80
    It would be foolish of us to pretend that Dark Souls is a game for everyone. It's perfect at what it does, but a big part of what it does is make you suffer for your mistakes. It is a harsh, uncompromising task master and you will have to work to win its approval, because it certainly won't work to win yours. [Dec 2011, p74]
  2. RPGamer
    Jan 5, 2012
    90
    At the end of the day Dark Souls succeeds in producing a game that is both incredibly challenging and fair.
    Read full review
  3. Gamer Limit
    Nov 29, 2011
    85
    All in all, Dark Souls is a more difficult, but less enjoyable (and less accessible) Demon's Souls.
    Read full review
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