Dark Souls

This is not a game for the faint hearted nor is it a game for those expecting a God of War style hack-n-slash. This is a game for the intrepid explorer, those who relish a challenge and those who have the virtue of patience.

You will die playing this game. Not just once or twice, but over and over again. But don't let this put you off because death is a big part of this game. Death in Dark Souls is not failure, death is education. You will generally progress slowly through this game, learning from each mistake and realising ways in which you could handle a certain situation better each time.

To begin with you create a character and the overall choice is really down to class. The other choices are aesthetic and also a small gift selection. You then set out on a very sparse tutorial which doesn't tell you much more than the use of the controls. This is intentional.

A majority of the game goes unexplained; you have to work out aspects of the game as much as you have to work out getting through the game itself. You may be tempted to look for answers on the internet or in a guide, but I suggest you try things out for yourself before seeking answers because that's the spirit of the game.

The gameplay is great, if your character is fully clad in armour wielding a long sword and shield, it actually feels that way. He won't manoeuvre as freely as he would just wearing a robe and clutching a wooden staff. The combat is fluid and has to be thought about strategically. If you're in a tight hallway facing a horde of zombies, is it better to throw in a firebomb, lure them out one by one, or try the swing of a sword? Well, the swing of the sword is going to catch on the tight walls, you may be down to your last fire bomb so you're going to have to lure them out or get a weapon that will pierce, thus thrusting forwards

To me, this game is not far from a masterpiece. The only gripe I had with the game is that it's not as easy to hook up with friends as it was in Demon's Souls. In Dark Souls there are multiple servers so getting on the same server as a friend is a bit hit and miss, but then I realised, that's the point! In Demon's Souls if you had a friend to play with you it made the game a breeze. In Dark Souls, they want you to feel isolated and to put your trust into strangers.

Finally, here are a few things I will say to take into consideration before playing.

-Set a few hours aside for your first time playing
-Don't buy a guide or look online for hints, try things out for yourself
-Expect to die and don't let it disappoint you - learn from it
-Consider your first class as one that focuses on range, the sorcerer or hunter for example
-Dont rush as this is the biggest factor that contributes towards dying
-Try boss battles on your own a few times before getting help
-Explore everywhere - you will be rewarded

I could go on forever about different aspects of the game, but I will just say - pick this game up if you want something refreshing, challenging, rewarding and most of all fun.

I thought that games completely taking over my life was a thing of the past, something that I'd outgrown. It turns out that it's not me that's changed - it's a problem with most modern games. Dark Souls, on the other hand, made me feel 14 again. It has invaded my life like an old Zelda game, or a PlayStation One era Final Fantasy. I'm on 30 hours and I've only had it a week - the time just flies by.

Not that Dark Souls is much like Zelda or Final Fantasy of course. It's a completely unique beast, a sort of amalgamation of Metroid style exploration with punishing arcade action. Much has been made of the difficulty but it really isn't that bad if you have the right attitude. If you like old school arcade games where death is part of the learning process then you'll be fine with this. With each attempt you'll get a little better and a little further toward the next checkpoint - the game is harsh but fair and death is rarely frustrating. Also, the world is so memorable that you never feel lost - moving from point A to B may take an hour the first time, but afterwards it takes minutes as you always know exactly where you're going and which is the quickest or easiest route to take.

I agree with a previous reviewer in advising that you start the game with as little prior knowledge as possible. The game purposefully restricts information to you and it really does add to the feeling of dread and mystery. Go in blind and then look at FAQs or forums if you get really stuck.

Ultimately, I can't recommend this game enough. It's mind-boggling, beautiful and horrendous. At times it will make you feel completely crushed and hopeless, but the pay-off is the utter ecstasy you experience when you finally kill a boss that at first seemed undefeatable. There's no feeling like it - just be prepared to die a lot in order to earn it.

I'll begin by reviewing the game on it's own and then by comparing it to its predecessor, Demon's Souls. Keep in mind that I haven't finished the game but I've put probably around 30 hours into it and I plan on finishing it soon.

Dark Souls has a vast open world that you can explore in pretty much any order, but in the beginning you'll be limited to where you can travel simply because of sheer difficulty. Most places have strong enemies that will kill you almost immediately so the tough part will be finding out where you should go. This makes the player quite reliant on outside help, either from a friend or over the internet unless you want to torture yourself with trial and error. After the beginning stages, the game really opens up and the level of the character is of less importance and the skill of the player takes over. At that stage your character becomes ''strong enough'' to tackle most foes when controlled properly. This makes this truly a game that requires a lot of thought and planning more than simply getting the best items because they tend to have as many weak points as they have strong points. A challenge may seem impossible to begin with but when dealt with properly, it is almost too easy. The checkpoint system in the game helps out a lot because you'll be dying many many times. The game has a ton of items, with weapons and armors that can be upgraded and you can make your character quite unique by making your own setup. Some people consider the first playthrough as training for your second playthrough, making it easier to build a better character the next time with all the accumulated knowledge you've gained.

The presentation of the game is pretty good overall but it's lacking in some aspects. While the graphics are good with a lot of atmosphere to each level, the game has hardly any cutscenes to guide the player and there is some terrible stuttering and frame rate drops in certain levels (both PS3 and Xbox 360). While the lack of help may have been a choice by the developer one might think that at least some warning could have been placed along the way to keep newcomers from traveling to difficult areas in the beginning. There are sometimes warning placed on the ground from other players (if your console is connected to the internet) but not always and the can be very vague (and even downright wrong). The sound in the game is fitting, nothing spectacular but it definitely sets the tone correctly. There is online co-op but it is quite limited however. I've managed to play with a friend numerous times and used skype on the PC but sometimes it can be a real hassle to make a connection. The player was intended to feel isolated so it's deliberately made difficult to seek help from a friend, but it's easy to get help from a random player.

Now I'll compare Dark Souls to Demon's Souls. I find Dark Souls a step up in many ways. The game is much more forgiving than Demon's Souls as it has bonfires spread around the world which act as a sort of checkpoints. This makes the game much less grind based since you are can restock on free health potions (estus flasks) and get to a boss fight much quicker which reduces frustrations. The downside is that there is no Nexus which made you feel like you had a home base. There is however a sort of a ''base'' but it's of less importance since you can travel freely from one place to the next without having to return home every single time. There are also more items to have, the is no limit to how much you can carry (only equip) and just a general polish here and there. Still, there are some terrible frame rate issue in certain places and I've heard that it's more difficult to invite a friend to play because changes in how online play works (although I haven't had much difficulty inviting my friend). If you enjoyed Demon's Souls, this game is a must have. I find it even better and so does my friend who I play with.

One last thought, this game is not for the faint hearted. It's not a simple hack and slash game that you can drop into. Even weak enemies will kill you if you underestimate them.