Dark Souls

This is a truly inspired game, it brings a breath of fresh air into a stale market and gives us something truly wonderful.

From start to finish it is simply riveting and it's challenging combat has you between fits of rage and despair to an ecstatic state of joy that no video game has done before (even it's predecessor Demon's Souls). The story, although perhaps not the most obvious nor linear is amazing if you can be bothered to look into it, and that is another point about the game, it requires your unwavering attention. If you play this game with the right mindset, it can be truly breathtaking.

And to people who say that it is 'overrated' or has 'artificial difficulty' all I can simply say is, you just went full retard.

This review is spoiler-free!

This game isn't made for the masses, that much is certain. Although its marketing and public identity revolves around its difficulty, there's so much more to this experience than you could ever grasp without playing it for yourself. Difficulty is there pretty much just as a key storytelling device, and it's put to good use, too.

Dark Souls is mysterious, lonely, atmospheric, interconnected and difficult. That's how I'd sum it up in one sentence.

The few friendly encounters with NPC's will quickly imbed themselves in your memory. Names such as Siegmeyer and Lautrec give me goosebumps every time I speak them, simply because of how masterful the storytelling and character archs are in this game. Each of them are only given around 15/20 minutes of screen time, total. But the whole world around you and them help tell their stories in ways no movie could ever do.

Places like Darkroot Garden, Anor Londo, Firelink Shrine and Ash Lake (and practically everywhere else, too) will stay with me forever, as their individually unique and unmatched atmosphere, mystery, and lore is proof video games is an art form.

The music, aaah! There's FOUR places where music is played, apart from during boss fights. Four. It's nothing, I know! Other games have music playing through every tiny battle and inside every single tavern, but Dark Souls spends it sparingly, thus making it feel that much more impactful.

Dark Souls is such a fantastic metaphor for depression and loneliness. It doesn't welcome you with open arms in the form of a super easy tutorial, helpful ways of learning its mechanics or hour-long cutscenes explaining what you're even supposed to do. You best it as best you can, as is with the real world around us. The people and characters you share your place in the world with travel about, trying their best at carving out a meaning of it all, same as yourself.

Dark Souls is just so damn good, and there's no way of understanding it without actually playing it for yourself, and finding the many fantastically written storylines and lore within it.

Without a shadow of a doubt - this is one of the finest video games to ever be produced. Dark Souls is also, without a shadow of a doubt, one of the toughest video games to be made, perhaps excluding it's spiritual predecessor Demon Souls (which I highly recommend also).

When the game begins you will need to choose what type of character you would like to control for this epic adventure. The choice of classes (10 of them) such as a thief, warrior, hunter, cleric, pyromancer - you get the idea. To be perfectly honest it does not really matter which class you choose because you will evolve your character in any way you see fit as you progress through the game. I started as a pyromancer but as I approached the last boss, if anything I was more a knight than a pyromancer.

The main selling point of this game is probably the difficulty level as strange as that sounds. "You will die - a lot!!!" This game will frustrate the hell out of you and at times leave you wondering if it is even possible to beat certain bosses but YOU WILL keep coming back, why? Well because it is such a brilliant game. Some of the weapons you can create in this game are fantastic, but it's the way you get these weapons which makes them even more special because it is not as simple as finding them or just beating a boss. You must have certain things and do certain things to get these weapons.

I don't really want to talk about anything in the game but you need to get this, it will take priority over all your other games (yes I'm talking MW3, BF3, FIFA etc) and you will then probably go back and buy Demon Souls because these games are on a different level to those in the mainstream.

Good luck and prepare to die a lot!

Having finished Dark Souls 2 and Dark Souls 3 spending a crazy amount of time (I still play them), I was hoping to see the HD remaster of the first Dark Souls on PS4, but realizing it's not gonna happen in the near future, I considered buying PS3 to play it. Am I happy I did it? Oh yes! More than happy! I can't find the words to express what a greatly constructed and smartly programmed game it is. The detailed enormous world here stands out as one of the most spectacularly designed ones ever with plenty of enemies/secret passages/traps, you name it, and a wide variety of weapons. The first installment delivers in spades everything we love about Dark Souls. This game is so addictive my sleepless nights have again begun. In a nutshell, if like myself you are crazy about Dark Souls 2 and 3, don't hesitate to buy an old console to play Dark Souls and Demon's souls.

Dark Souls is known as punishing, unforgiving and very challenging game. But it is also very rewarding and satisfying. It is tough, but fair (mostly). The game design, the level design, the inter connectivity of the world, is outstanding in every possible way. The story, yet very vague and cryptic, is more deep and emotional that you would have thought. Hidetaka Miyazaki's masterpiece is an unforgettable, memorable experience that every serious gamer should look for. For example, you pass hours, hours, trying to kill a certain boss, getting more and more frustrated. But the moment you land the final blow on this boss, you'll feel so happy, satisfied, proud of yourself, and the game will reward you for that. It has flaws for sure, but this is a complete, and unique gameplay experience. Try it someday. Or now, if you haven't already. It is a must-have for every gamer looking for a brilliant, unique experience, that you won't find anywhere else.