Dark Souls
8.2
10
139
139
A Breath Of Frustrating Fresh Air
I like to think myself an accomplished RPG player, But in the recent years every RPG has been a let down, I used to be a huge fan of the Final Fantasy series, from 1-12 I played and mastered them all, spent 243 hours on 10 alone. But I was tired of the lack of challenge any of them presented. Dark Souls is a compliment to everything an RPG should be. It vast, completely customizable, has more weapons and armor than you could possibly want, optimization is not a key factor in this game. I like that yes they have certain weapons and armor that are considerably better but they are not "THE BEST" in the game giving you a full range of who you want to become in the World of Lordran. Love the plot lines for the NPC's the game is just amazing. Most of all I like that theres little direction, and most of all i love the difficulty. Gives you a real feel of achievement.
5/2/13
A decent game for hardcore gamers
I'm still in the process of beating this game but after 45 hours of gameplay I feel I am equipped enough to write a decent review. If you have read any review besides mine I'm sure your well aware of the difficulty of this game, so I'll try to offer some fresh insight to the games experience and why its not as great as everyone claims. This game had tons of features that are a complete mystery to beginners unless you look them up online. I spent hours wondering why white smoke rings appeared out of nowhere. What the difference between being undead and human meant for my character. why do I keep seeing ghosts, and why are there bloodstains everywhere,
These questions might be basic but are only mildly annoying in comparison to even more simple questions you might have later such as "am I going the right direction" or "where can I find a spell vendor"? I even got so desperate for answers I read the user manual (nearly useless) . Its also worth mentioning this game has no pause feature. Never mind this is the 21st century and pause features are simple and easy to include. If your near an enemy and you spill your coffee or any other nuisance you can either set your paddle down and die or continue with annoyance.
I also found the lack of NPC interaction very depressing. You spend hours in dungeons and minutes talking to NPC's. Part of the joy of RPG's is when you walk into town and sell your gear and get new and better abilities and equipment, yet with this game I have yet to see a town or village. I would even settle for a vendor to sell me spells or allow me to sell my items (after 45 hours I have only had the option to purchase 4 usable spells). Instead I face a perpetual dungeon, the only relief I get is when I enter a new type of dungeon.
Lastly I would like to say that several reviews which persuaded me to purchase this game claimed that you have great variety in your character builds, but when it comes down to it, I didn't feel the same. Either your character is a spell caster, a melee class or a mix (hint: you probably will end up a mix or melee due to lack of spell options and limited usage). I originally wanted to be a spell caster but after 20 hours of gameplay and not finding any new spells I was forced to invest as a melee player. As for range, agility, defense your options are limited to fit a range that makes your character useful.
Now that I have cleared the bad air I might add some of the pros of this game. despites the games difficulties its still pretty addicting. Its gameplay reminded me of NES cartridge games that were nearly impossible to beat but just as hard to put down. The online features are interesting and original. to genuinely enjoy this game you must either be a hardcore gamer, or you are a bored and patient person who needs a lot of their time occupied. If you are prone to tempers with games purchase an addition controller along with your copy and enjoy.
4/23/13
A unique experience that is not for everybody
This game is claimed to be really hard, but really this is how difficulty should be when a game wants to be considered a hard game. The game makes you pay for your mistakes which in turn makes you better as long as your learning from them. If you can get past the difficulty the game is a one of a kind experience on the 360 (until the sequel comes out) with truly deep game mechanics and interesting lore. The story is very vague and you must pay attention to details of the items to piece the story together if you really care to learn more about it (or you can just look up epicnamebro on youtube). One thing I should note is that there is a part of the game that really chugs graphically and is almost unplayable and that is in blighttown. It is skip-able by taking the master key as your gift or by playing as a theif. Overall this is a fantastic game and is in my top 3 for best games on the 360.
4/18/13
All hype, zero substance.
I will use a metaphor I often use for food for this brief review.. I happen to like spicy foods of all kinds, trying new things, getting to try all the different ways that something can be made hot to the taste, and still flavorful. That being said, foods that are spicy for the sake of being hot, but don't have good flavor, arent as great. DARK SOULS is the latter. Its painful to play, punishes exploration and dying is enough to make you want to scream every time it happens. The funny thing is, I died 80% of the time in this game to level design (falling through floor boards, character weapon going right through an enemy and falling to my death, etc). The only people that like and will defend this game, are those that think difficulty equals value, which as Dark Souls shows, does not. If you feel like playing a game that is difficult for the sake of difficult, this game is for you.
4/17/13
A realistic review of Dark Souls
THE GOOD: Insanely hard gameplay, very rewarding to win. GORGEOUS graphics; when you enter Dark Souls, you can't help but get sucked in. The world is dying, your not making things better, your just a hapless passerby in the visceral decay of the world. The game really is seamless, it feels like an old school arcade RPG. Combat for PvP is also kind of intriguing, I would have loved to see more multiplayer here, but it's definitely not something that can be just be added. <<<THE BAD>>>-----LORE- This game's lore really BLOWS. It's very cool and NOTHING feels out of place...but remember when I said get sucked in? you get sucked in to almost nothing. The developers give nothing a real backstory, character motives are all flat, and really the meaning of any one thing in the game is subject to infinite possibilities, which I take as a lack of effort on the developers part. <<<TEDIOUS>>>the fact that you respawn with all your enemies too means that you get to repeat the same tedious process over and over, you learn exactly where each baddie is, how to kill him, where to position yadda yadda yadda. You'd think the decay would keep the enemies broken and dying, but they come back fresh, and just as tactically stimulating as the last time you fought them; hardly. The only thinkgs I would call great are the boss fights- I love dying in those because they make me feel like I really am on the verge of death, not because I timed move x at time z incorrectly for the 100th time. But the repeat combat does sharpen your moves <<<THE VERDICT>>>The game I guess is designed to feel immediate, in the moment, and if so, which is achieved with flying colors. The developers do this at the expense of the background in the game, basically stripping the game of any potential to flourish outside of this games short (in terms of content) story mode game. I'd say it's a must try , but I'm going to play it till I get sick of it, which is within a month, then dump it.
4/2/13
Worst game EVER!
This is a game to test how long you tolerate seeing "You have died"With out using 5 billion needed words I will just say "this sucks".
4/1/13
Most Challenging and Rewarding Game EVER
This game is not for the faint of heart. If you just like playing Skyrim and other RPGs not on the hardest difficulty, then this isn't for you. This game takes difficulty to a whole new level. You may think I'm stupid when you play the beginning and it isn't that hard. Once you get to the Taurus Demon in Undead Parish, you'll know what I mean. Throwing bosses at you one after the other! There is no way point, so you must figure your own way. The combat and controls are very good, and the Replay value is super high. You're gonna keep play New Game +++ just to get more loot and more challenging enemies. It feels so rewarding just to kill a boss! The music and sound is actually pretty good, but graphics could be better. The environment and enemies look great, but the human models could be better. Other than that, this game is definitely worth $60, let alone $20. Go out and buy it. You won't be disappointed.
3/26/13
you will die a thousand times and another thousand
this game is full of hard boss and some hard enemies it has a unique multiplayer to it as well... but you will love it after you get good stuff also if you grind you will just be boss at the game know what to do you will love it for sure worth the money alot of people play this game still for it to be 3 years old but i recommend it for people you can sit down and play it for a while you have to have patients for this game...
3/17/13
Prepare to die
WARNING: if you buy this game do not expect to live long. If you get really angry if you die a bunch do not buy this game please. The gameplay of this game is okay the only thing I don't really like is that when ever you "pause" the game you don't actually pause it. If your are in a fight and want to use a different weapon you will still be fighting in your inventory. Also when you heal yourself, all the characters you have killed come back to life. This is a hard game. But if you're up for the challenge I would recommend buying it.
3/11/13
One of the best RPG's I've ever played.
I've been playing RPG's my whole life. None have ever hit the perfect note like this game has for me. The mood is perfect. The storyline minimal, but mysterious & very interesting with hidden paths leading to more lore of the world. The battle system is all skill based & takes perfect timing. If your timings off even the lowliest enemies can take you out. The online is a strange pseudo MMO with people entering & exiting your world. The boss fights are frightening & some of the most challenging I've ever experienced in my life. But one warning, do not expect this to be a cake walk. If you play games like The Elder Scrolls you'll probably rage quit in the first few hours of the game. It is relentless & requires more than just hacking & slashing away at enemies. But if you want an awesome game world full of secret areas & hidden treasure with terrifying enemies guarding them. This is your game. I would recommend anyone playing this game, but be prepared for many deaths. If you can take the punishment you will love this game.
2/13/13