Dark Souls for PlayStation 3 Reviews by Gamers

I did not play the first game but am glad I picked this one up. It remindes me of Ico, Shadow of the Colossus, Dragon Age, and Castelvania all in one! Controller smashing difficulty but huge gamer high when you take down one of the bosses or find hidden areas.

This is one of the Hardest and most rewarding Games i have ever played. There are Giant Monster Bosses, Awesome Custom Weapons, and Beautiful Crazy Fantastic Worlds that are open for you to choose when and where you go next. You can be anything from a knight to a wizard to an archer or a cleric. if you are not paying attention even the smallest enemy can overwhelm you, or other players can invade your world and give you a bad day. but if you can stick it out, and get good, it is one of the best games i've ever played as far as the fun factor. NOT FOR CASUAL GAMERS. trust me, you will give up before you really even start on the game.

...because I hated Demons Souls. I was one of the legions crying because I thought it was too needlessly punishing to be called "fun".

For some reason though, Dark Souls has me hooked. It is still punishing, but the pace and distance to the next bonfire is just right to keep you pushing forward, eager to see what new doom lurks in the next chamber. The bosses will kick your butt 9/10 times, but you learn something with each attempt and that 10th time is sweet when you triumph.

I feel the combat in Dark Souls was much tighter then in Demon's Souls. So that now, when I die, I curse myself and not the game for my error.

Now for the bad.

I STILL feel that these games ratchet up the difficulty to disguise a shocking lack of content. If this were a normal game, with weaker enemies and checkpoints every 50 feet, you would finish in less then a day and be screaming about how short it was. Forcing players to replay the same section of the game 50 times is still not "good" game design - it's just a time sink. The joy you feel for overcoming it is just a by-product.

I also feel they should give new players SOME guidance when choosing their first character. They should warn players that some builds will be WAY more difficult in the early stages of the game then others. I picked a heavy tank at first and just could not progress, then I picked a more nimble thief and the game got way easier, I could avoid a lot more damage by dodging around.

With just a few minor tweaks, more save points, more content and more guidance, Dark Souls could have a MUCH bigger fan-base, I wonder why they don't.

I personally didn't find this as an overwhelmingly hard game, but it was definitely hard and I loved that. It requires plenty of time with your first playthrough, after that you should be able to breeze through using prior knowledge. (with the exception of certain dynamic bosses)

My favorite thing about this game is it's world. The first time I played Dark Souls, exploring it was the funnest thing ever. Especially considering there's some places that are completely optional and you'll only know about if you stumble upon them or are told by a source outside the game. There's a lot of things to find and I garentee it'll keep you occupied for a long time.

As for the multiplayer, you got the co-op. Which is really nice although can essentially ruin the game's experience for you by co-oping with somebody that's very powerful and kills bosses for you effortlessly. I generally only used co-op for fighting other players.

Now as for the PvP (player vs player).. This is the part that irks me terribly. And it's mostly due to the poor way Dark Souls handles connections. There's absolutely no regional filters. It's extremely easy to get japanese or other foreign players in your match-ups. This is bad because it makes the lag almost unplayable, and it'll cause you to die many many times because of the outside influence. I found this way more frustrating than the single-player. You can also be forced to PvP, so it's not a very avoidable feature unless you completely disconnect yourself from PSN, which disables you from co-op and viewing online messages on the ground that give you tips.

Overall it's a excellent game, I just think the online needs major tweaking, especially since multiplayer is a very important feature in this game.

I'm not going to waste your time. I will get straight to the point: Dark Souls is an amazing game. If you are a fan of RPG's or fan of games that challenge you and reward you then this is your game. Every element about this game is A+. From the spot on gameplay...to the not cheap but not easy enemies...to the boss battles this game has it all. My time spent with this game(and still playing)has been just a great experience all around. Games aren't this good anymore. This is a gem. One thing you should not that this game is for the core gamer...not casuals. If you are a casual gamer and you like RPG's you might want to look elsewhere(Skyrim). This game will challenge from the moment you start. Don't be surprised if you see yourself fighting a boss 2-3 mins into the game. That's Dark Souls for you. A game that beats on you only to make you better. It's like your hard on you parents. Showing you how terrible you are doing but not to put you down but to make you better. Once you beat Dark Souls(that's if you can)you will feel unstoppable as far as this world goes. You will play it again. In New Game + mode you can keep all your weapons, armor, and whatever level you were. Then you can go back and fight the bosses who were once giving you a hard time...now you can show 'em who's boss. Note: This game does get harder in New Game + and the enemies/bosses have more health the second time around. Long story short this game cannot be missed. Even if you're not a fan of RPG's so much I still think you will have a great time with Dark Souls. This is the type of game that will make you a fan of RPG's. If I could give it a eleven I would. Now what are you waiting for? Add it to your GameQ now!

Its been awhile since I've played a game that trully hooks me into its story or the lack of one in the case of Dark souls. After dying for the hundredth time, I forgot about what I was fighting for. I had a personal vendetta, merely to prove that this game was my B,tch and not the other way around. well I lost that battle. On to the review then, game play is great its what kept me playing for hours. A few hit collision issues that were undeniable glitches but may have been psn lag.
There really is no memorable sound track that I noticed beyond ambiance or the boss battles.
weapons seamed very similar in combat but looked cool, especially those you gain from bosses.
graphics are better than demon souls and by far more colorful. great game but as with demon souls I just got tired of dying. definate Rent or Buy (for real Gamers)

Dark Souls is an awsome game were anything is pretty much possible. Offline play is awsome and Online play is just a blast!(Except for the trolls that try to get you to kill your merchants and stuff) But at the same time you pull your hair, sream obscenities at the screen, and almost snap your controller in half! But all in all the game is awsome and even when a cheap death robs you of 100,000 souls it still pulls you back in and makes you scream all over again.

Again, can't believe this game is getting 10s. Great combat? Sure, if you call A.I that just stands there and lets you shoot arrows into them until they die without ever moving. Hard? Hardly as once you learn the 2 or 3 moves that each enemy has it's simply a matter of blocking or dodging and striking while they are stuck in their recovery animation. These people giving 10s have zero idea what challenging combat is. The entire game is built around overpowered enemies with dumb A.I to kill you in one or two hits to falsely extend what would be a 5 or 6 hour game. Still a VERY enjoyable experience and one of my favs this gen.

As a novice gamer, this game is way too hard for me. It seems fun and I'm sure someone with better gaming skills will enjoy it. I only got a few quests in before I turned it off, put it back in the envelope, and then returned it. I totally recommend it if you've got skills, but for someone like me, not so much!

If you've read any other reviews then you'll know this game is hard. If I was given only three words to review this game I'd say 'compilation of frustrations'. The training area only explains the most basic game controls - after that you're on your own. This holds true for even the most helpful controls like hitting R3 to lock on a target and tapping O while on a ladder to slide down.
Handholding aside the gameplay and combat is also difficult - one missed parry and you are in trouble. Stack on top of this fighting ghosts that can attack you relatively safe behind the wall, floor or ceiling and you will be shouting profanities at your TV.
The PVP is very similar to Demon Souls in nearly every way. The players that have played through NG+++ and are now bored have re-rolled another character and have done suicide runs to obtain some of the best equipment and leveled just enough to use it. Now they invade players who are wearing base equipment and are still figuring out how to kill an undead spearman with a shield raised. Unfortunately, this only gets worse as you level up. I'm at level 49 and I can't get through Darkmoon Forest. My chances of successfully summoning a phantom to aid me runs between 5-10%, but my chances of getting invaded within 3 minutes are about 100%.
So as a word of warning, if you haven't beaten God of War, Dante's Inferno, Skyrim, etc, etc on the hardest difficulty then this game is probably not for you. Feel free to join me in Darkmoon Forest - I'll be the player that opens the PS menu and waits for the message to flash on the screen angermanagement-666 has invaded and then quit the game. Just sharing the frustration for the PVPers.

Let me just say this game did not feel like it was too hard too me, It was close to perfect challenge actually.

The beginning of Dark Souls actually gave me high hopes for this game. I breezed through the tutorial level I would call it which in all aspects should be a bit easy. The thing that got me was it felt fun and epic and like I was being tested! I was seeing where these people that praised this game came from. But then... I passed into the real desolate world of Dark Souls.

I admit I liked the graphics, and I enjoyed the atmosphere and surroundings. I was finally killed, my first experience with the difficulty of what Dark Souls is, And admittedly I was bit put off by how unepic it was. The enemy you deal with most of the first location pretty much entirely are skeletons, varied though not much different but enough to see the difference. You also deal with a few OP necromancers and what not but you get the jist.

The enemies quickly became repetitive and once they threw in the cheap method of necromancers that hide in some dank area and constantly revive the creatures you worked so hard to kill it gets quite annoying coupled with the fact that every flipping bonfire you rest at revives every skeleton you actually killed leaving you feeling like what is the point if I'm killing the same skeleton over and over again in a grind fest which gets repetitive VERY quickly? You're left wondering where the heck is the rewarding feeling I've been hearing? Its not very rewarding if you just killed 5 skeletons in a "Epic" battle and then rest at bonfire to know that those enemies are back and ready as ever its as if your pointless you did nothing to the world, you left no mark upon it. And yeah the bosses and specials don't respawn but every enemy is apart of this world right?!

I'm running out of chars to go further but immersion in this game is impossible which is for me the fun and finesse of games but here not soo much. Ill be sending this back tomorrow

The graphics and story line of this game are compelling. The game play is very slow and it is far too easy to die. I woulnd't have a problem dying in the same spot if it wasn't for the fact that all the enemies reincarnate and I have to retrieve collected souls.

I like hard games but this was ridiculous.

The combat is great. The graphics are detailed. The story does not press itself upon you. An open world with only your findings to direct you. Not to mention a game where you can beat over and over. A rare find indeed. A must buy if not rent.

This was my game of the year for 2011, hands down. It was going to be Skyrim, but with the memory leaks and frequent crashing, I grew more and more frustrated. Speaking of frustration some didn't like Dark Souls for that reason. It's grueling and challenging, but it's also the most rewarding game I've ever played.

Utilize the online community and the wikidot page as your guide when you hit a wall, the chatango dark souls was loaded with people helping each other when it was released. I've never seen a community so involved in helping me.

What's better, a turbulent age of Fire or one of serene Darkness?

This is a pretty fun game, but it is also the most frustrating game I have ever played. It is crazy hard. When you die, you lose all your souls and any humanity you have used or acquired through defeating enemies. The only thing the game lets you keep are items you have picked up... such as weapons and special items.
It is really fun to play though. It is quite scary and nerve racking to play... especially when you are carrying a lot of souls you don't want to lose. LOL. This game requires lots of strategy and nerves. You can not win this game by pounding the controller. I decided I would buy it and keep it just because I plan to try multiple characters and strategies to try to get through it. Happy gaming!

but yet cant put it down. good game. (slaps butt)

Everyone on gamefly needs to play this game.

THIS GAME IS SO HARD... finally a challenge! its funny because this game is old

I put in 100 hours in demon souls and so no doubt I loved dark souls. The game is nearly identical to demon souls but with more spells, weapons, bosses, etc. What surprise me was how long the game was, took me 38 hours compared to 13 hours in demon souls on the first playthrough. The huge landscape looks beautiful, the atmosphere is dark and scary, and the enemies are relentless. There were two things that frustrated me, the jump should of been on another button instead of the roll button and there is no tips to where you suppose to go next. I kept getting lost another words. Overall, amazing game. Only the best can beat this game, and I give ya huge praise.

this game is only for those you are looking for a good challenge & hours of game play value

Dark Souls is definitely going to give you a run for your money. The challenge from Demon Souls has returned but now it's even harder. The game is of course, very challenging, which is what makes it fun. The graphics are beautiful as well. Unfortunately Dark Souls falls off it's horse on some things. For instance, not much is new besides the bonfire system, which really just makes the game slightly easier. The combat is the same, monsters(besides demons)are the same, it goes on. Yeah it's a sequel but it doesn't mean the creators can't add some new things to the mix to keep the players of their games interested.

Overall, Dark Souls is a long and very frustrating, yet rewarding game, filled with unexpected deaths around every corner. I give it a solid eight.

If you liked Demon's Souls you are going to love Dark Souls. Unlike many developers, From Software did not blow it on the squeal. They kept the core mechanics that made the first game so rewarding. They didn't implement auto-takedowns or any other cheap tactic and call it an upgrade. The kept the combat exactly the way it was, perfect. This game, though did expand where it needed to. The world is huge, the level design wonderful and the enemies just keep on coming.

If you enjoyed having your backside handed to you over and over again in Demon's Souls then you are going to be quite thrilled at this game. Requiring constant paranoia, it forces you to slowly move around the world just waiting for the next attack. The monsters are substantially better and in a lot greater numbers. The levels seem to go on for days and just when you think you are near the end, you find you are maybe half way there.

In closing, this game is a perfect fit to the RPG genre. Taking classic pieces of the games of yore and mixing it up with modern graphics and the use of an analog stick. You will be angry, you will be crying you will be texting at 2am that you FINALLY beat the boss who had you stumped for days. You will feel what a real game should make you feel like. Exhilarated.

I've found myself reading the low score reviews for Demon's souls as well as Dark Souls and everytime I read I find myself laughing at how many of their claims are false. For one the controls are perfectly responsive and yes the game is hard, Heck the back of the case even says "prepare to die". Even with a strategy guide I found this game intensely difficult. I almost wanted to sell it like when I first played Demon's Souls. But you have to understand the in this game patience is a liability. You will lose your patience and that's inevitable. Once you get into it though, you'll feel like freakin superman everytime you kill something you found completely impossible and even terrifying a few days before. You'll have the keys to the door and realize once that door opens you will have the keys quickly ripped out of your corpse's dead hands (thats a far fetched metaphor). If you have poor patience you'll die hundreds of times, if not you will likely still die a few hundred times. It's a great game though.

Dark Souls is one of my favorite games of 2011. I wouldn't go so far as to say that the game is very difficult. However, it is unforgiving. If you are impatient, and prefer to rush through rambo style, this game will chew you up and spit you out. As far as the combat mechanics and leveling system goes, this is the best by far. It is wonderful to play an RPG that requires skill in melee and strays away from the typical automatic battle sequence with the push of one button. The only reason i don't give it a 10 is the flawed multiplayer. Very rarely was i able ever to summon or be summoned. Other than that, its a perfect game.