Reviews for Dark Souls: Prepare to Die Edition (NA)

91 The name says it all! A true, fun, Hard Core RPG: Prepare to DIE

guywiththegun1 | May 18, 2013 | See all guywiththegun1's reviews »

Dark Souls is where Hard-Core RPG is really at

The game truly provides a challenge unlike most other RPGs which hold you by the hand to the end of the game. In this RPG, there is no hand to hold: you are literally on your own. Pros • The Game’s graphics aren’t the best, but they are nice (remember, this game was originally made for console, not PC). The setting is dark, so don’t expect things to be colorful in any way. • The gameplay gets your blood running! Your senses will never be so sharp and wary in a game like this. Every enemy, boss or not, has a fair chance at killing you! The dangers that lurk around every corner really give me a jolt when they jump out at me! • Combat is fun too. The fighting mechanics are similar to Monster Hunter, giving the feeling of real impact on every hit. Hitting your average enemy never felt so well, as you can’t really call it a hack-and-slash game, since, as I’ve said before, almost any enemy can kill you. • The social functions of the game are fun to have on the side. Players leave warning on the floor, which in my view, is a great way for the Dark Souls community to help each other out. You can also see how someone died which is a true spectacle to watch, and a helpful way to plan out what to do next, which is great. Players can even invade your world and challenge you to a fight! Its blood pounding! Or, vice versa. You can create a summon portal which will give people on the server an option to help you on your quest. Again, that’s a great way to have players help each other in a meaningful and fun way. • Loot finding is a nice tradition that I was glad to see in Dark Souls. As with many Japanese RPGs, finding rare super weapons in Easter egg-like crevices is always gratifying. • This is hardcore: saves are rare and death is meaningful. If you die, you may lose hours of progress. Cons • This game truly requires an Xbox controller to play! The game was literally torn out of an Xbox and was slapped onto the PC store! If you play without one, you CANNOT USE YOUR MOUSE! I highly recommend you get a dongle or a controller before buying this game!!!!!!!! • Getting together with friends is difficult, as the summoning function only summons random players. The only way to fix this is by playing over LAN, or with a mod that recently came out that allows you to find a friend to play with • The game can be frustrating at times when you lose progress when you die, but once again, that’s part of the game’s fun. • The story is a bit generic. My conclusion to this game: If you are looking for a serious challenge, and you have a high level of patience, GET THIS GAME! You won’t regret it. If you hate dying, you’re not patient, and you prefer casual gaming, then I would consider with care whether you want this game or not!

80 Difficult but fun game.

sittinghawk10 | April 27, 2013 | See all sittinghawk10's reviews »

The pc version is kind of a bad port from the consoles, but modders have fixed a lot of problem. I recommend using one of the keyboard+mouse mods which binds camera to the mouse if you prefer that option. Controller is a bit more intuitive in my opinion, which is obvious seeing as this is a console game and its "prequel" demon's soul was a console game.

Its a very challenging game. Not for impatient gamers. You have to be methodical or you will pay... a lot. But you keep coming back. That's dark souls in a nutshell.

90 Fantastic Game

meismike | April 27, 2013 | See all meismike's reviews »

I played this game first on the ps3 and had to buy it again when it came out on the PC. That's right, it's so good I bought it twice. There are, however, some major flaws in the PC version, like horrendous mouse controls for one. But once you plug in a controller and download some fan made fixes for all the other problems, it run's like a dream.

95 Pleasant Dread

Ramboknife | April 22, 2013 | See all Ramboknife's reviews »

It is hard to pull off being both beautiful and genuinely frighting at the same time. Where everything you see is ravishing, yet unnerving. In Dark Souls, From Software's spiritual successor to the cult hit, Demon's Souls, you are constantly scared of what awaits you around every corner- yet, you become absolutely engrossed in the games thick atmosphere that you are compelled to push on.

You play as the chosen undead; a character with an unknown past that is seemingly picked at random to fulfill an almost impossible task that has obliterated all of those who have come before. After testing your abilities in what amounts to the games version of a tutorial, you are carried away to the mainland of Lordran, a decrepit land that has been abandoned by the living for what seems to be hundreds of years. You are greeted by a crestfallen warrior who gives you the task of ringing the two Bells of Awakening. He explains that one is above, and one is below. You are then left to your own devices, because unlike Demon's Souls' Nexus hub world where you would load into specific levels via arch-stones, Dark Souls is set in an open world, where nearly everywhere is available to you at the start of the game. This can be very daunting for a new player, because what Dark Souls does in common with Demon's Souls is that almost nothing is explained. Other than very specific hints given by talking with NPC's and reading item descriptions, the player is left to experiment. As far as story goes, it only goes as deep as the player is willing to read into things. It can be completely ignored and the game would be still highly enjoyable, but don't think that there isn't any back story- it's actually quite detailed and deep. Most of it is quite confusing and convoluted, so it may be best to ignore it on the first play-through and look it up online and follow along for your next time through.

Along your quest you will find bonfires, which act as the games main checkpoint system. Once you light a bonfire and rest at it, this is where your spawn point moves to when you inevitably die. The bonfires are also where all of your leveling up is done. You level up by spending souls which are gained by killing enemies. Souls also act as the games main currency as well, making them the most valuable item in the game. When you die, you leave a bloodstain on the ground to mark your last death. In that bloodstain are all of the souls that you had at your point of death. If you can make it back and touch your bloodstain, you will regain all of your souls; however, if you happen to die on your path back to the bloodstain, those souls are lost forever as your new bloodstain replaces your last. This is where most of the tension in the game comes from, as all of those hard earned souls can vanish if you make a simple mistake on your path to retrieval. Along with the new checkpoint system, Dark Souls introduces the Estus Flask: a healing item that replaces the grass item used in Demon's Souls. They can be upgraded in both quantity and potency, and are refilled by resting at a bonfire. Be warned though, by resting at a bonfire not only will your Estus Flasks be refilled, by all of the enemies will re-spawn. You are encouraged to do this, however, because it is a great way to 'grind' out levels by finding an area where enemies are quickly re-spawned for you to kill them again and collect their delicious souls.

The areas that you visit are quite spectacular. The sheer amount of variety in the areas is shocking, and each of them have their own unique atmosphere and enemies. They can range from a dark and brooding forest, to a bright and brilliant place of royalty, to a virtual swamp of human waste. The level design is brilliant in that it eventually links all of the areas together by unlocking shortcuts. This makes traversing a lot more fun and takes out the monotony of walking through entire areas more than you need to in order to reach others. Dark Souls also does a great job of mixing up the kinds of enemies you will be fighting, and before you become tired of a specific kind of enemy, you're introduced to a new, more threatening kind.

In most cases, a boss will await at the end of these areas. Much like the levels, the boss designs and strategy's are unique and varied. They are absolutely stunning encounters that will keep you on the edge of your seat until their last bit of health is taken off by your weapon of choice. These fights are the real stand out moments in Dark Souls and provide a real sense of achievement when you take one down. Granted, some are harder than others, but all of them are uniformly thrilling. If you have a hard time with a boss, you can also summon either another player, an NPC, or both to help you in the fight. I never found myself stuck at a boss long enough to give up and summon for help, but having played and beaten Demon's Souls might have prepared me a bit more than a new player to the series.

Dark Souls really encourages player choice when it comes to play style. You can be a fully armored sword and shield wielding tank, a scantily clad bow and arrow ranged player, a low health high damage output mage, or some combination of all of them. The combat feels great but may take a little bit of practice to get used to. It is quite weighty and very timing heavy, but the controls are done so well that when a mistake is made, it is at the fault of the player and not the game. While there are classes, they don't confine you to anything. They really only define your starting stats and gear, and from there you can mold your character to how you see fit. A knight, for example, who starts off with low magic skill stats, can eventually spend his souls to level up to a point where magic becomes viable.

To call Dark Souls' armor and weapon variety large would be a disservice. The quantity of weapons and armor would be impressive on its own, by all of it is so thoughtfully crafted that any other game pales in comparison. For my money, the aesthetics of the apparel is top notch. Finding a new armor set or weapon is almost as exciting as defeating a boss. It can completely change up your play style and open up new avenues of experimentation. You're able to upgrade your weapons and armor at blacksmiths found throughout the game by using upgrade stones dropped from enemies. The progression of the upgrades is a lot more streamlined than Demon's Souls, but it can still be confusing at times. Again, don't be opposed to consulting the internet your first time through if you aren't sure.

I have played and beaten both the Playstation 3 and PC versions of Dark Souls. While the console version is competent, technical issues can make some areas of the game nearly unplayable. The frame rate can drop into single digits and can be the cause of some frustrating missteps or deaths. The PC version fixes this issue, as well as supports a mod that helps unlock the games native resolution. In high resolution Dark Souls looks stunning, and the mod is highly stable and recommended.

Dark Souls is one of the most rewarding games this generation, hands down. It is rare to find a game so perfectly crafted in terms of atmosphere and game-play. The only downfall is how confusing it can be to new players, which almost seems like an intentional design choice by the designers. They want you to feel alone and scared, and it is pulled off flawlessly. This isn't a game for someone who likes to pick up and play every now and then- it demands attention and effort for you to able able to succeed. With that in mind, pick up Dark Souls and know that you're about to face one of the most brutal, punishing, and profound games ever made.

95 Awesome

Jorgel | Feb. 22, 2013 | See all Jorgel's reviews »

Ok, first of all, you will die. This game is hard, insanely hard, and you will find yourself trying desperately to beat an enemy, just to die in the next corner. But the game is so exciting and challenging that you will spent hours and hours just to advance a few inches in the game(and die just before the next save point), and it will not be frustrating. The combat system is great and intuitive, with rolling and parrying, and it will test your real skills, not just some character attributes. Besides that, the evolution and item system is nice, not letting the game to became too easy. The graphics are also great (although some minor optimization issues) and the history is quite interesting. If you want a really challenging game, that will test your skills, Dark Souls is an awesome game, but be prepared to die. A lot.

96 Masterpiece

supernautbr | Feb. 12, 2013 | See all supernautbr's reviews »

I will not even mention that it's good to prepare to die (a lot), because the title already says that, but in the end you will not die as much as you think you would, because the game is really very difficulty if compared to what we are used to see. But before the details, I suggest that if you're the kind who likes RPG and a good challenge, play this masterpiece as soon as possible, otherwise you'll wonder why haven't played before. If you already decided to play, you don't need to finish reading this, I guarantee that when you finish the game you'll know it's true.

The combat system, the equipments and crafting are very well made, it's unique. Battles are epic and require patience and strategy, as each enemy, weapon or armor acts differently and really gives you an alternate play style. You must learn to adapt to conditions that constantly changes as you progress. There is not a single moment that you can stop and say "I finally made out of this hell" because the next area is certainly worse. This makes you feel very well about having overcome every challenge. It almost outstands every other RPG out there, fortunately or unfortunately, depending on your point of view. The PC port's technical problems can be fixed with a simple mod, and I say that I found only 2 places where I felt a framerate drop, but this is insignificant if we add everything this game has to offer.

My final thoughts are: buy it and enjoy it, while you're still alive.

90 Great game, DSFix mod needs to resolve bad port issues.

Bigshrimp | Jan. 30, 2013 | See all Bigshrimp's reviews »

This is an excellent game, that runs better on the PC than on the Playstation 3. It is extremely challenging and gives you a sense that you will die at any moment. You have to be worried that you will lose all your souls when you die and when you do die, you have to attempt to get your souls back.

You need a controller to play this game well, also you need DSFix mod to get the best quality graphics on the PC. Online can be a tad odd, if you have a laggy connection. Overall though, this game will be worth every bit of money you spend on it, and you will feel happy getting past the next difficult part in the game. Definitely worth buying, two thumbs up!

95 Dark Souls, enough said

georgecopos | Jan. 27, 2013 | See all georgecopos's reviews »

The pc version isnt a good port, many saying its actually very bad. Personally i got passed this problem the moment i saw the amazing and captivating gameplay (and ofcourse with the community fixes )

Game has 3 big positive things : world's design, the combat and the atmosphere.

The level design is excelent and full of creativity; the world is basically open(world) , you can reach pretty much every place from the beginning with some small exceptions (and obviously the hoard of monsters trying to stop you). The areas are interconnected trough different shortcuts , and even sub-areas are interconnected trough shortcuts, each more suprisingly created than the one before.

The combat feels extremelly clunky at first, but after you catch the mechanisms (roll, parry, stab and so on) it becomes accessible. Obviously the things above wont make you like a god, every move you make requires a high amount of patience, observation, dexterity and tactics, these making the necessary skills required to advance in the world without the mobs making you a bloodstain every 10 seconds. More than that, the great diversity of tools to chop enemies, each with an unique move and attack, makes the combat even funnier and makes you experiment all kind of techniques on the monsters.

The atmosphere is also top-notch; since the intro full of riddles, you are thrown helplessly into the hostile world; the fact that the npcs also talk in riddles, adds to the atmosphere and makes you fight for every small thing to find out more and to try to survive.

This is one of the best rpgs the pc has seen and can wait for the sequel.

97 Challenging, but entertaining

starjack20 | Jan. 27, 2013 | See all starjack20's reviews »

This game is NOT for the weak-hearted. This game will take grinding, adjustment, and straight up determination to succeed in. The basic mechanics behind it are that you kill things and they drop souls/equipment. Souls are pretty much a currency in every way, shape and form. Their main uses are to buy items and level up. Now, the things you invest your souls in will heavily affect your play style because certain stats help only certain things. If you are ever having trouble, it's always a good idea to go grind a bit for some level ups and better equipment. There is also not too much direction in the world, and there is a possibility of you getting lost, but it's apart of the game and the experience, an experience that is the most rewarding, triumphant experience out there today if played right.

50 Overhyped

captainstark | Jan. 26, 2013 | See all captainstark's reviews »

I absolutely do not understand the hype around this game, except the fact that most games have become to easy these days and it has become hard to find a challenge, But when you make a game this hard and this unforgiving, you have to makes sure it doesn't glitch, and this game glitches like crazy, the worst being the lock on, which we can barely play the game without, and is one of the worst lock on systems i have seen, many many times i am looking directly at an enemy (relatively close) and it won't lock on.. or it locks on to a creature to my far left, ( which had me walk off quite a few ledges) or even to another creature that's not even in the same room!! And it's impossible to aim a spell without the lock on, then there is the item use, many many times i tried to use a potion (which take a few seconds to drink and get you killed if ill timed) press the button.. nothing happens.. no time to try it again, need to avoid the boss, and wait for another opportunity, but after running a bit or dodging, THEN, the system reacts, my character drinks a potion, no way out, i'm dead.... again!! In this game, any of these glitches usually means instant death, and with few save points, it gets extremely frustrating, dying to a challenging boss is one thing, but to glitches over and over, is unacceptable, and this game has virtually no story,or animations, the graphics are decent, but extremely monotone and dull... extremely over-hyped game in my opinion.

100 One of the best games I've ever played

Lekes | Jan. 21, 2013 | See all Lekes's reviews »

Dark Souls is simply amazing, an addicting challenge, one the most beautifully made hardcore RPG games ever. It's hard to put Dark Souls down, it sucks you in early on and keeps you grinding through hours and hours of death and rewarding conquest. This game will test your nerves and make your blood boil, you will die and you will die often. I guarantee your adrenaline will surge through the roof and you might even find yourself checking your pulse. Dark Souls is a outstanding game and one hell of a good time. One of the best games I've ever played.

94 Great and Challenging!

HeadCrabZombie | Jan. 8, 2013 | See all HeadCrabZombie's reviews »

Dark Souls is truly a successor to Demon's Souls, and it plays great on the PC. Some outside fixes, like DSfix are recommended, and a controller is almost necessary, but with that aside, the gameplay is solid. The online can be a little wonky at parts, not allowing me to summon players, but most of the time summoning is no problem, and the people are always helpful. Even the invaders are courteous, for the most part! Great community, and great game! Highly recommended!

99 Controller Required!!!!

rstokes | Jan. 3, 2013 | See all rstokes's reviews »

Never before have I played a non MMO game that has completely absorbed me quite like dark souls has. Nearly everything about this game is flawless, the graphics are amazing, the controls (with a controller as it should be played) feel very natural, and the engine is amazingly well optimized for a company that knows little to nothing about making PC games. You will constantly be on the edge of your chair and you WILL ragequit the game several dozen times per playthrough, Something about dark souls will have you booting it back up after 5 minutes though. Words couldn't even express how I felt after I finally bested dragon slayer Ornstein and executioner Smough after the 100th try and that will always stick out in my mind as the most impossibly difficult fight I have ever faced in a video game.

The only gripes I can list are the atrociously implemented Co-op peer 2 peer system which makes playing with friends more difficult than the game itself , and from software's lack of native PC settings. The latter of the two is easily remedied with a mod called DSfix however, which allows you to set the resolution of textures (no longer stuck at 720p), remove the games 30FPS frame limiter which causes the game to lag terribly on even the best systems, and adds a plethora of visual settings PC gamers are accustomed to. Which is a shame because not everybody will know to use the mod and they will assume the game is poorly coded, which could not be further from the truth. With the frame limiter off the game NEVER dips below my monitors refresh rate and lag is completely eliminated.

The game is as close to perfection as I've ever seen, but the awful co-op and the necessity of using a graphics mod to make the game playable keeps me from giving it a perfect score. Still all issues aside this game is an absolute joy to play. I've never given a game a 99 before and believe me when I say this game has earned every last point

100 Hard but fair

SengChou | Dec. 29, 2012 | See all SengChou's reviews »

Dark Souls is a spiritual sequel to Demons Souls the game known and loved for its difficulty. Though not set in the same world as Demons Souls a lot remains the same in Dark Souls from the difficulty to the great atmosphere in the world. The gameplay remains is nearly identical but almost everything else has been improved in some way. The world is no longer based around a nexus from where you travel to small areas but a large open world without any real loading screens. The inventory has been improved substantially. The carry limit has been removed leaving only the weight limit on items currently equiped on your character. There are an enormous amount of weapons and armor compared to Demon's Souls making customizing your character a joy. Travelling around the world the bonfires functions as safehavens and checkpoints, a place to regain your strength and plan future fights. These are but a few of the changes since there are to many to mention here and I think it is best to experience them for yourself if you decide to take the plunge into the darkness. I recommend getting a controller since the keyboard and mouse controls are poor at best.

100 Best game ever made in my honest opinion.

Queiroz | Dec. 29, 2012 | See all Queiroz's reviews »

I have to admit the i thought about quitting this game right after i started to play it because it's very hard and challenging game. Do not understimate any enemy of this game. I kept on playing it until i've improved my playing skills and kept on going. I am glad that i did not give up. This game will reward you with some feelings that you won't find in any other games. The visuals are stunning and dark. You will need an gamepad to have good controls over your character and this is the key to success. This game you can't press the wrong button or you will die even for the weakest enemy. Buy it and play it!

100 No Game Has Yet Achieved Such Perfection

Beard_Whisperer | Dec. 24, 2012 | See all Beard_Whisperer's reviews »

Dark Souls is one of the most amazing gaming experiences I have ever had in my life. It reminded me of all the things I loved about video games as a kid that were missing more and more in each new game that came out. It has consumed hours of my life, and I know it will continue to consume countless more.

If you are tired of games that are made for everyone, that entirely dumb down the gameplay and make every "challenge" easy to accomplish, then there is literally no better game out there. This brings back old-school fundamentals and elevates them to new heights. Whereas old games were challenging to help make up for the lack of immersion (naturally due to level of technology at the time) this game is challenging just for the heck of it. You WILL die in this game more than you have ever died in ANY other game. You know how in Online FPS' you are bound to die various times throughout a single 10 minute play-through, well, this is exactly the same way only when you die it can completely change what you have accomplished. Remember those 50,000 souls you spent hours and hours to save up? Guess what? You just lost them all along with all the Humanity that you were saving.

Which brings us to a fundamental core of this game: souls and humanity. This game essentially operates entirely on the stuff. Souls are used for purchasing weapons and upgrades which are EXTREMELY important to ones survival in this game. Humanity is used mostly for Online multiplayer, which consists in activating summoning sigils that other players have set out for you (or many times, their friends as they irritatingly decline your summon for help, a small flaw but one that is not due to the game itself). Multiplayer plays a small, but extremely helpful role to those who wish to use it. There is also a fun section later in the game where essentially the whole role of Multiplayer is to do your best to defeat as many other players as you can, for a huge amount of souls and other goodies.

The game itself is extremely hard to describe. The story is very much a backdrop of the entire game, which to me makes the game that much more enjoyable. Where most games suffer from lousy stories, Dark Souls (although it seems to have a very wonderful story) allows the player to simply enjoy the game as it is without being forced into terrible plots and plot-twists that force the game in an awkward and terrible direction.

The size of the game is IMMENSE, and completely non-linear. When you very first start the game (after the initial 30 minutes at least) you can (theoretically) choose where you want to go, but technically you will be limited based on your skill. This adds to the joy (and frustration) of the game to new-comers. You have to explore in order to see exactly where it is you need to go and what it is you need to be doing.

The art of this game is absolutely mind-blowing. Both in the character models and environments. I have never been big on games made by Japanese publishers, I have often found them to be too ridiculous or be so absurd that I just couldn't get in to them. This game has completely changed that, and given me a better understanding and appreciation of what the hype is oftentimes all about. The enemies are varied and frightening. The levels are challenging and relentless. Everything about this game screams haunting beauty. Which makes dying in this game all the more fun, because you just get to look more and more at all the beautiful landscapes as you try and make your way back down to retrieve your lost souls and humanity.

This game is perhaps the most harrowing game of isolation one will ever experience. You know nothing of what you will experience, and you rarely meet a friendly face. Thus the game is extremely rewarding. For instance, Bonfires are essentially spawn points, that allow you to more quickly access various areas of the game without having to wade through tons and tons of enemies and landscapes. As such, the moment you see a new bonfire for the first time is one of the greatest feelings you will ever experience in a game. Honestly, I am envious of those who get to experience this game for the first time, because once you learn the ins-and-outs of the levels, it is a feeling you will never truly feel again, at least not in full.

Honestly, I do not know what to say about this game or how to even talk about it. All I know is that I cannot recommend any other game as highly as I can recommend this one. It is reminiscent of the Castlevania series, but even darker and more unforgiving. As such, this game is a true practice in patience. I guarantee this game will change you forever, and not just as a gamer, but as a person. That is something I have never truly been able to say of any other game. Hence, I feel this game deserves no less than an absolutely perfect score.

45 Unplayable

AppleMuffin | Dec. 23, 2012 | See all AppleMuffin's reviews »

First things first. The game itself looks awesome, and I'm sure it is on console. But on pc it is virtually impossible to play. Terrible controls, wonky mouse movement, awful button arrangement...who uses the end button for the menu screen? Seriously. Whoever ported the game to pc did a horrendously bad job. I understand the game was petitioned to be on PC, but if the devs agreed to this decision it should have been done with more grace. And effort. I can't play the game not because the game is bad, but because the PC port version is unplayable. I mean the control scheme is still shown with xbox buttons. Come on.

95 Patience and perception test

puppymang | Dec. 23, 2012 | See all puppymang's reviews »

I don't think I've played a game for so long that isn't an MMORPG in my life. I pre-ordered this game off GMG (at a discounted price because GMG is awesome like that) about a month before release, having my doubts of course, and I don't regret it one bit. The atmosphere, the gameplay, the PVP, the jolly co-operation, almost everything this game tries to do, it does it well.. the only exception being the story which is mostly left for the player to interpret through the lore and conversation with NPCs. Whenever I recommend this game to others I ask if they are patient and are willing to take their time to learn things because this game may seem easy enough after the first few hollows you face but after you open that giant gate you realize that it's not that simple. As a result, many people fear the difficulty that Dark Souls has to offer.

95 Can you survive?

CrimsonWizard | Dec. 13, 2012 | See all CrimsonWizard's reviews »

When you break down a good game, most of them are like a puzzle. They require you to think of a solution or strategy to overcome its challenge, rather than relying solely on luck. Dark Souls does exactly that and then some to its audience. Many people who complain about the ease of modern games should try out Dark Souls if they seek out a challenge.

Dark Souls is an action style RPG, but set in an interconnecting set of stages which coalesce into a lovely world of the undead. Some may compare the visuals to The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, but developers From Software made sure to give each section of the game it's own personality, from the style of creatures to the fantastic set pieces. The story itself is rather light with a short introduction to bring you into the world. Afterwards, you're left to wander and try to understand what brought about this undead land on your own with the subtle clues peppered throughout the characters you encounter.

The meat of the game though is in the combat, and preparations for such. Dark Souls is a brutal, but fair game. It will rarely cheat to defeat you, but will gladly cut you down for the smallest mistake. Even if you progress your character down a path of defense and HP, you'll find that only buys you an extra mistake or two against later foes. The game expects you to block, or dodge, or if you're feeling especially skillful, parry and counter. Simply attacking head on will usually fail. You need to exploit opportunities in close combat, use the environment's traps in your favor, or find a place to snipe with arrows or magic if you want to succeed against your foes without losing your precious little health.

Speaking of death, while the game isn't as cruel as to send you back to the beginning, dying can be quite costly. Each enemy defeated (and certain items) will reward you with souls which can be spent at the spread out checkpoints in the world. Death will force you drop those souls in the place you perished, which can be a real effort to retrieve if you died by a nasty boss or trap. The game doesn't demand you to grind, but this system does subtlety suggest that it might be a good idea to retreat to a checkpoint and spend that large wad of souls, before attempting the trek again stronger and wiser of the ambushes and perils.

Dark Souls is fair however in it's brutality. The game offers many ways for you to experiment and explore to find your path to victory, from character and class customization to weapon crafting. Also, even though several of your foes are massive, many have a unique weakness or strategy that can be exploited. Some may be vulnerable to a certain magical element, while others can be easily blocked if they rely on one style of attack.

A final note that is worth mentioning, and why I deducted an arbitrary 5 points from this score was because this game, as fine as it is, has admittedly some porting issues. While slowdown didn't prove to be an issue for me like some other reviewers, this game was clearly made to be played with a controller, rather than a keyboard and a mouse. For some this may not be an issue at all as most PC games have some gamepad support these days. For those who strictly use the keyboard and mouse for gaming however, keep this in mind.

All in all though, Dark Souls is a fine title that succeeds in what it set out to do. It proves to be a difficult, but entertaining challenge, and I look forward to the recently announced Dark Souls 2.

80 Good and Hardly Game :D

kalil | Dec. 11, 2012 | See all kalil's reviews »

Overall this game is amazing. It's very challenging and difficult, yet satisfying because of this. It's long, and fun the entire way, with some of the best gameplay mechanics I have ever seen (that is, if you are using a gamepad). The only two problems with this game are, first off, that you need a gamepad for any good controls. When a game comes to PC, I feel it should have PC controls, however, this does not. I would not recommend this to anyone who does not have a gamepad.

Secondly, the visuals are both stunningly beautiful, and horrid. When you go above a certain resolution, it starts to look stretched and pixelated. However, after a few hours of gameplay I quickly got over that fact and have enjoyed the game for hours on end being completely satisfied with the challenges it has one overcome.

85 No excuse for such a bad port

Mikester7 | Dec. 10, 2012 | See all Mikester7's reviews »

If I was reviewing this game taking into consideration the vanilla port, I wouldn't be rating it very high at all. The port is probably the worst I have ever seen on the PC and I have been playing PC games for a long time. The PC controls (you know, the platform the game was "made" to run on) are absolutely horrible, I used an Xbox controller and you must too, it is unplayable otherwise. On launch, the game ran at an incredibly low resolution and frame rate, which is totally unacceptable, even if it didn't bother some people, many are more sensitive to low frame rates and may find it unplayable due to this. There have been some good community made modifications to fix the frame rate and the resolution, but after those changes, it just feels like a poorly optimized port like GTA 4 was for example.

I'm going to ignore these problems however, as it wouldn't do such a great game justice. The games combat is incredibly fair and great, turning out to be highly rewarding when mastered. Boss fights are varied with many great mechanics which feel like old school RPG fights. The hard difficulty of Dark Souls will also prove a rewarding challenge for anyone. Dark Souls feels like a grand journey filled with dangers, varied monsters and environments, interesting characters and treasure.

Personally I think the Dark Souls multiplayer was a total waste of development time. You cannot play with your friends very easily at all, the whole summoning system is really bad and in many cases you find yourself getting ganked (in a single player RPG?!) by a maxed level, pimped out character with so much lag he teleports behind you and insta-gibs you without having a say about it. This game is hard enough without people barging into your game mid fight and killing you. Thanks to the crappy games for windows live DRM, there is no real way of going offline to play by yourself like a normal single player game. If you don't want to die from a max level player owning you, just Alt F4 the game and restart it (yes the game stops you from closing it when someone enters your game to kill you). It is kind of beyond me why they would think of adding such a terrible multiplayer system, it doesn't do the game any justice and has no reason whatsoever for being there.

Fans of both RPG games, and games that are difficult (you know, the ones who whinge constantly about games being too easy now days) should definitely pick this game up, though try to get it on the Xbox or PS3. If you can't, perhaps wait for a sale, and if you do buy it, research unlocking the frame rate and resolution, especially if you find yourself more sensitive to that kind of stuff.

80 Fantastic experience from beginning to end

Scorpy | Dec. 10, 2012 | See all Scorpy's reviews »

Dark Souls is probably the least polished game I've played in the past few years. The fact that I was able to enjoy it as much as I did is a testament to how great the design is. The game is not hard as most people claim it to be... it is just extremely unforgiving. There is no room for mistakes in Dark Souls, and that adds an atmosphere of extreme tension that never lets up. Even when you are safe, there is a pit in your stomach as you prepare to face what is ahead.

If you can get past the ugliness and terrible optimization of the game, you'll be in for a real treat.

100 Never thought a Perfect Game existed.

Darder | Dec. 9, 2012 | See all Darder's reviews »

Wow. Simply wow. I bought this game on GMG, by pre release and as soon as I got my hands on it I was hooked. After putting in a fix for the graphics that were ported to PC (Dante's Resolution Fix), the game was simply flawless. Vast universe, awesome and disturbing bestiary, Outstanding gameplay! The storyline is subtle, but intriguing. The gameplay.... Oh I could talk about it for hours! You have to strategically manage your resources to try and stay alive in the game against the vicious enemies. Timing is the key in combat, and it just feels so good when you manage to kill an enemy by slicing its throat. The bosses are impressive, and powerful too! You are going to have a hard time if you want to complete this game, and it never ends since you can keep on developing your character with New Game +, which never gets boring. You have to play the game yourself if you want to discover how good this game is. A must have!

92 Great Game with problems

gewgles | Dec. 8, 2012 | See all gewgles's reviews »

The game is absolutely amazing, but the pc port is pretty terrible. The port basically requires an xbox controller to play, but it is worth getting.

Dark Souls will give you hundreds of hours of playtime in between the invading system, pvp, and the actual exploration. The pc version also includes the new DLC which adds another 4 hours to the main game. Price wise it's cheap on here, but sometimes a better deal can be found. I love this game and everyone should try it.

100 Best game for some, maximum frustration for others.

digitalpunk | Dec. 8, 2012 | See all digitalpunk's reviews »

For me Dark Souls is one of the best games in history, it's a masterpiece, a beautiful experience. If you are not old enough to have played older games (Castlevania,Battletoads,Metroid and other games from their generation), or didn't have the chance or curiosity to play those games, you should really try this game too get an idea of how games were supposed to be designed and played. BEWARE, this is not your typical "hold my hand game", not at all. You have to think, struggle to stay alive, fear death like in no other game, explore (you have no map at all so you'll need to memorize all the zones) and be PREPARE TO DIE.

94 Best hardcore RPG

d965457z | Dec. 8, 2012 | See all d965457z's reviews »

i've finished this game one years ago on Xbox 360. I got to experience only part of the new content, but what I did see left me confident that fans will be pleased, if not exactly blown away. The Royal Wood that lies between the Oolacile Sanctuary and the battle with Artorias too closely resembles the main game's Darkroot Forest area, but its dozens of foes nevertheless provides a delectable challenge. And its fields of orange and yellow poppy flowers and warm-hued, dusky aesthetic differentiate it sufficiently enough from existing areas.

In true Dark Souls fashion, falling to Artorias will necessitate repeated traversals of the Wood, as the nearest bonfire is a lengthy trek away. But the unfamiliar enemies that I fought, despite superficial resemblances to existing ones, pack a wallop with new and unpredictable attacks, making the journey challenging, at least.

Even From Software's now-overused trope of scripting fierce dragons to make surprise landings on bridges just as you attempt to cross them hasn't lost most of its impact. And new NPCs, like a giant, depressed, blind blacksmith (no doubt distant kin to his main-game counterpart in Anor Londo) situated behind a locked door in the Township area, possess the cryptic and introverted air that makes Lordran's denizens so intriguing.

90 A clunky port... an amazing experience

Inuyashe | Dec. 7, 2012 | See all Inuyashe's reviews »

Dark Souls is quite a beast, especially on the PC. Graphical deficiencies, finger-breaking keyboard controls (seriously, play this one with a controller), limited FPS. Not the best PC port, by any stretch of the imagination. A decent one.

And yet, it is simply amazing to play. It keeps you on your toes constantly. It forces you to analyze enemy compositions, forces you to find a path through the hordes. Grinding is possible, but is not as helpful as you might hope. You will die. When you wrestle with the controls, at the start, getting used to your hero's realistic clunkiness. And then a spear pierces your heart. And you revive. And so do all the enemies. You will die. Every mistake can and most probably will be punished. So you will work to improve yourself. You shall learn the patterns, you shall master counters and ripostes. You will die. Your foes shall often be gargantuan, in size, power. Most often both. And yet you will persevere. You will cleanse the land of darkness, or doom it further. You will slowly, piece by piece, discover the lore of the world around you.

You will die. By spear, by claw, by lightning, fire, tooth, bolt, bomb, rock, trap, mimic, digestion.

You will die. And if you can accept that... you will love it.

99 More fun in dying then ever before.

Miro3no | Nov. 13, 2012 | See all Miro3no's reviews »

As the name of the game says, be ready to die. A lot. However its not just a pointless dying to overpowered creeps or bosses. Its a progress. Zombie that backstabbed you behind some dark corner will not do it again, because you already know its there. Whole game is based on trial and error. Even tough it sound punishing or even sadist, the good feeling you get from getting to another bonefire (something like checkpoint or a safe zone) is indescribable. Even after killing a boss you feel like you ve actually achieved something. This is very rare in most of todays games (I only felt that in Ys games, and those are remakes of old ones so they dont really count) and so I was pleasantly surprised by this.You are just thrown into this hardcore world with a small clue where to go or what to do. No one is holding you by hand and telling you "Here, this is your path". I also love the stylish, dark enviroment, possibility to kill anyone in the game and PvP aspect is also made very well. Only downside of this games is horrible mouse & keyboard control, its almost unplayable so you need to get a gamepad to get the most of this game. After all, bad PC control is only negative thing I can see on this game and i highly recommend it to anyone who likes the challenge :) Definately worth the money. Have fun dying :D

89 Feel the Burn

das_regal | Oct. 6, 2012 | See all das_regal's reviews »

Dark Souls is a lot like exercising: sometimes you hate it in the moment, but you know it'll pay off... eventually.

Where some games are satisfying on a moment to moment basis, Dark Souls is a lot like climbing a mountain. When you beat a really hard boss you were having a hard time overcoming, there are few things more rewarding. The game has an old school charm and design that sets it apart from today's fluid, player-slanted action role playing games.

Aside from the challenge, there are other things that the game offers. The graphics are deliciously dark. The setting is easy to get lost in. And the allegiance system is quite deep.

Dark Souls also features an interesting multiplayer component that allows you to invade (and be invaded by) other players. Your opponent (or victim) is randomly selected and you have no way to communicate by them. There is a cooperative component that is similar to this that allows you to summon players to help you with fights.

All and all, Dark Souls is a great experience, and a unique one on the modern gaming landscape which is characterized by casually accessible titles and easy wins.

95 A true RPG masterpiece.

fable2 | Oct. 3, 2012 | See all fable2's reviews »

Dark Souls is a true masterpiece all the way through. It is a fantastic gaming experience from start to finish. When you first start off, you're not explained what's going on, nor what you should be doing here. But you start putting the pieces together, and much because of this very laid back story telling, Dark Souls forces you to involve and take interest in every single detail in this dark mysterious world. I can honestly say that no RPG has ever quite sucked me in like From Softwares Souls games.

Running around in this beautiful landscape, hearing only your footsteps and the blowing of the wind, makes the enemy around every corner feel even that more threatening. And I can asure you, they are threatening. From the smallest insect and weakest undead to fire breathing dragons and giant soldiers the size of sky-scrapers, everything can kill you in Dark Souls. If you're not focused going up against a wasp, you will die, and one small miss-step will often see you falling to your death.

95 Prepare to Die is right!

sweetcuppincake | Sept. 28, 2012 | See all sweetcuppincake's reviews »

One of the best games of the current console generation and one of my personal favorites. This game exists on PC because of the acclaim the game received and because From Software listened to fans. Everything that made it great in its original form is still here, and some new stuff as well. The new stuff isn't just an afterthought either. The designers took concepts that didn't make it to the final product and added entirely new areas, enemies, and bosses. And it fits nicely into the storyline. There are some issues with the port like locked frame rate and no controller support. However, fans of the series have developed workarounds for those issues. That doesn't count for this review, but just know that solutions are out there. While not perfect, this game provides some of the greatest multiplayer and singerplayer experiences ever.

100 Best game this year (and last year)

BoomGroinshot | Sept. 25, 2012 | See all BoomGroinshot's reviews »

Not the greatest of ports but with a few community fixes it becomes a very playable experience.

What you get is a challenging metroidvania style game with easily 100+ hours of playtime if you so desire. There are very few games this "generation" that stand up to Dark Souls. It is probably the BEST game to come out in the last few years.

93 A game that doesn't hold you hand

Fkpuz | Sept. 8, 2012 | See all Fkpuz's reviews »

The current generation of games usually suffer from chronic hand holding disease. Unlike most games which will take you on a tour this game simply says "go". And I don't mean this in a bad way. The art in Dark Souls may be some of the most original art styles in any game to date. The enemies look like they could be monsters right out of your nightmares without seeming to ridiculous.

You will die. But most of your deaths will be your fault, it won't be due to random chance. The combat is fluid and rewarding, especially if you can get some back stabs. Each boss battle will leave you saying "oh god oh god" and after you complete each battle you'll be saying "oh yes oh yes".

And if you're having problems on a certain boss you can make yourself human again (you'll see when you're in game) and then summon people who have offered their help to people needing it. Or you yourself can be summoned once you get a white soapstone. Throughout the game you will see certain messages like "beware of right" and "enemy weakness fire." Stuff like that. These messages are left by other players, they are not programmed into the game. Also you may see ghosts every once and a while, those are other players too. And if you see blood on the ground you can click it and you will see how some unfortunate person just died.

Dark Souls is a unique experience that I promise you will not find in any other game on PC.

95 Great game with a few issues from porting

Novalis | Aug. 29, 2012 | See all Novalis's reviews »

While From software has had issues porting a game to the PC for the first time the finished product has come out rather decently . It is far more stable performance wise in areas that had struggled frame-rate wise on the consoles with far lesser hitches and slowdowns. Other then that it it a truly faithful port of the console version. Keys are rebind-able if you are using a keyboard and mouse but a controller is preferred to play.

While the textures look quite muddy and bad right out of the box with a simple download of dsfix. (resolution unlocking patch which you put into the folder that the game installed to) The game becomes far crisper and beautiful with tiny little details like nicks, scratches and engraved designs on many weapons and armors that otherwise would be near impossible to see on the default and console versions.

The Dlc is amazing and adds to the story and gameplay without changing anything that been in the game thus far and will add new many new layers of enjoyment and fun.

92 Very hard game!

maciej2601 | Aug. 29, 2012 | See all maciej2601's reviews »

Hack'n'slash rooted in fantasy. Another part of the Demon's Souls, which are moving to a fantastic land full of characters and unusual creatures, where our main goal is to collect their souls. The game features unique online system: we can leave hints to other players (awesome), and play with them in a cooperative or rival mode. Production is distinguished by amazing mechanisms of struggle and a high level of difficulty. Worth playing.

80 Bad Port, Good Game

Freyar | Aug. 28, 2012 | See all Freyar's reviews »

If only Namco had given From Software enough time and a better budget. Dark Souls is a great game that absolutely delivers on the PC crowd's demand for harsh, critically-thoughtful games. However, it is executed poorly as it is quite literally a rip from the Xbox 360.

Don't expect anything magically better here. Mouse implementation is a bad alpha build, and keyboard controls are atrociously horrible. The UI itself fails to even distinguish which control set you are using. The video (discounting the very-useful fan-made hack to improve the internal resolution) is limited in exactly the same way it's console counterparts are, with GFWL used for it's multiplayer backbone.

Sadly, because of it's ported nature, multiplayer security is extremely limited as well. Edited characters are fairly common, with the leaderboard dominated by a number of questionable-at-best characters.

While all these negatives are disappointing, the game itself is absolutely stellar. It is exactly up the PC enthusiast's alley with a game that flat out punishes you for doing wrong and failing to pay attention to the subtle signs it gives you.

Death is exceedly common in this game and essentially is just part of how it plays out. Combat is slower and more about timing your attacks, parries, ripostes and dodges just right. This is no Skyrim hack-and-slash and it is ALL the better for it.

If you can grit your teeth enough to play with a controller and put in a few fixes, this game can be an absolute favorite, and in the end you get extra content on top of it.

5 Broken console port

vanzi | Aug. 24, 2012 | See all vanzi's reviews »

This game is totally unplayable on keyboard+mouse PC setup.

1) The in game tutorial was not even updated for PC controls - all tips in game refer to pad controls. 2) The internal frame buffer is locked at 1024x720, meaning in 1080p the game looks terribly. 3) While in game the Windows mouse pointer is VISIBLE floating around. This is just pure laziness and incompetence. 4) There's no way to adjust mouse sensitivity so the camera goes nuts after even the slightest mouse movement. 5) All in game menus cannot be controlled using mouse, everything is mapped to keyboard keys (and the game does not even tell you the controls as mentioned above).

I just can't get myself playing this game until the very base issues mentioned above are fixed.

100 Got It For The DLC

BULLBOYKENNELS | Aug. 22, 2012 | See all BULLBOYKENNELS's reviews »

While this game is said to be basically a port of the console version & knowing that up front I still wanted it for PC. While I have already spent countless hours on the PS3 along with the Demons Souls I merely got it for the DLC. So I basically look at it like a $15 dollar game but yet I pay for the DLC & get to play it now rather then later.

Which I will still get for the PS3 when ever it comes out . If you have never played it before then this is a great game to get & die a whole lot over & over again.

100 Beautifully Atmospheric Mixed With Perfect Skill-Based Gameplay

aimforthehead | Aug. 21, 2012 | See all aimforthehead's reviews »

With heavy emphasis on a vertical world design and dark, creepy ruins and dungeons, Dark Souls contains some of the most well designed and immersive atmospheres of any game out there. The gameplay is challenging but entirely fair and precise, you'll rarely die without feeling you made a mistake somewhere. Another plus is that Dark Souls manages to mix all online elements into the lore of the Dark Souls universe, further immersing you into the game. Best fantasy game ever created, period. (If there were an exception, it would be Demon's Souls).

97 Amazing...

cdaburnab | Aug. 15, 2012 | See all cdaburnab's reviews »

It's rare to get a game that is exactly as described, then on top of that even much better. Make no mistake, this is not a walk in the woods like Skyrim, every turn could result in death. It's with those death's that you learn, adapt, and succeed. Add in twenty plus challenging boss fights, the best multiplayer co-op/PVP system ever created in a video game and you have the best RPG in years at your finger tips. The only downside are the few frame rate hiccups, but the game play is so good you'll hardly notice.

100 Excellence Tightly Wrapped Into A Skill

thekingcasper | Aug. 7, 2012 | See all thekingcasper's reviews »

This game is brilliant!

A++

If your into RPG games that require you to learn from your surroundings than this is the title for you! Brutally Hard,Challenging & Rewarding... Best Mature game around atm!