Dark souls is utter crap as a game.

[Daystar Clarion]

Kids today.

Wouldn't know a great game if it punched them in the balls.

Which is exactly what Dark Souls does, now I think about it

Dark Souls has a very different pace than a hack and slash.

Weapons have weight, and once you start swinging, you're invested in the attack, so you better fucking make sure that when you swing that sword, that it's going to hit something.

Knowledge is power, the more you know about your enemy, the better your chances of victory.

Remember those knights in Undead Berg? First time I faced one of those, I died really quickly, sure, I defended, but their attacks cleaved through my stamina like it was nothing, my attacks bounced off them, doing very little damage.

Now when I start a new game, I can run up to those knights and demolish them with counters and backstabs.

You start Dark Souls as nothing. Just a future stain on the ground, but if you're patient enough, and smart enough, you become an unstoppable force.

Games like Demon's/Dark Souls and Monster Hunter reward peserverance, they reward battlefield tactics, movement, knowing when to attack and knowing when to defend or evade.

Games like them are a breath of fresh air in today's market of brain dead crap that any moron can complete.

 

[Xangba]

So from what I've seen through the initial post and following comments is
1. You aren't terribly good at it (just saying that's how it comes across)
2. You want the story handed to you instead of building it up yourself bit by bit (nothing wrong with that, it's just taste)
3. You don't like that it's unforgiving, despite that being advertised about it
4. You think that dodge being a central part of encounters means there is no real challenge, you just dodge till you get it right (knowing when and how to dodge IS part of combat, seriously, how does that make it less challenging?)
5. You believe the combat is poorly done, despite it actually being a great combat system (so you likely aren't very good handling the combat system)

So, in conclusion in my mind, this is not your type of game

I'd say put it down, and go find something that you don't feel is such a "chore" because you're struggling through it. As many have said, Dark Souls is a marathon, not a sprint. Dodging till you die and chucking endless fire bombs are not real plans.

 

[Fishyash]

If you are running in and then dying over and over again in hopes of eventually defeating the enemy then you really don't understand what the challenge is.

I've been watching my brother play dark souls at times. He fights the enemy, dies, and then finds out the attack pattern pretty much by then. It's like in castlevania, where you need to assess the situation.

Seriously, the fights are ridiculously easy once you learn the boss' patterns, and it's refreshing to see a hack and slash style game where you don't just run in and mash buttons and defeat ten billion enemies surrounding you within ten seconds. I've never played or seen demon souls however, but I am guessing it is safe to assume the same design philosophy was in that game too.

Honestly, the person who posted Egoraptor's Sequelitis video on Super Castlevania 4 showed a rather fitting analogy. You seem to be playing the game like Super Castlevania 4, when you should play it similar to Castlevania 1. You can't instantly whip diagonal... sorry. Pay more attention to the enemies rather than yourself.

In regards to lack of story, I can't really say anything about that since I haven't really played the game myself, only watched. However I will say that good stories aren't a exclusive, or an important part of RPGs IMO. RPGs DO however tend to rely on good stories, since their gameplay isn't as exciting as a typical action game. Dark souls however DOES have gameplay that requires a lot of concentration, so the story isn't as big a deal to me.

I personally didn't really consider Souls Series much of an RPG. More traditional RPGs tend to have a more tactical and statistical kind of gameplay, which the souls games DO have, however it definitely has more of an action/hack and slash style gameplay as a whole.

In conclusion, if this game was made for PC, I would be playing it. I love the feeling of dealing with a tough challenge and then the relief of beating it is just amazing. I do like the stress and the relief of playing a challenging game.

 

[Mr Pantomime]

-snip-

I dont quite understand your complaint with the story. Dark Souls uses an establishing cutscene to set the game up, then lets you play through the world that was established in it. It doesn't tell the story through constant cutscenes or with glossaries, or with unskippable diatribes by characters. The story is told through the world itself, and reflects the atmosphere of the game. Its a game about surviving insurmountable odds, of a world long dead, and everything from the combat, to the story, to the environments and even the level design are built to reflect this. If you want concrete facts, pick up items. Most of them will have some sort of background telling you a little about the world. I can understand not wanting to deal with that. It takes a lot of effort to go through.

The same applies to the combat. Its a solid system that always keeps you on the edge. But it does take commitment to get into the frame of mind. Some people just want to go up to a thing a wail on it. But Dark Souls doesnt work like that.

If you were enjoying the core game, but were getting frustrated, id reccommend keeping at it. If you like it, it is a great experiance. But since you clearly dont, I wouldn't bother. All that lies ahead is 70 hours of things you don't like. People like to treat this game as some sort of dick waving contest of being a "true gamer". But thats bullshit. Anyone commited enough can finish this game, it all up to whether you want to.

You didn't have to call it "utter crap" though. Thats just rude. I don't like League of Legends, but I don't tell everyone its shit.

 

[Xangba]

I still don't understand why people say trail and error isn't a valid gameplay experience, at least when it comes to the Souls series.

It's funny because I saw mentioned a love for I Wanna Be the Guy...which is pure trial and error

 

[xPixelatedx]

I'm thrown in to this "huge" fantasy world without much explaining of where I am or what I'm supposed to do , there's no characters that hold up real conversation and all I know for the rest there's a lot of enemies who're going to kill me and the combat tends to be quite shoddy so I have to do everything about 20 thousand times to get through somewhere.

I can name another game that meets this criteria. It's called 'The Legend of Zelda' for the NES and it's considered one of the best games ever made.

Super complex combat is not why everyone plays games. If the combat is just there, chances are it's just a means to get you through obstacles. That's fine, I don't want every game to be Gears of War or Devil may Cry. From what I hear of Demon Souls, it's more a survival game then an action game, and that sounds like something I can appreciate, being a fan of the original Silent Hill/Resident Evil games. People like that kind of stuff.
The lack of compelling conversations is also something most games don't need. Some of us are here to video game, not watch movies. Again, "It's dangerous to go alone, take this" was all Zelda needed, and as far as I am concerned that's all most things need.
I should also note that not knowing anything about the universe or what you are supposed to do is probably the best hook a game can have. It's one of the reasons Minecraft surprised and compelled me. Not to sound like a broken record, but the old Zelda games were the same. I would have totally despised those games if Zelda 1, 2 or 'A Link to the Past' were littered with condescending tutorials that took me out of the experiance. Believe it or not, people actually have a fun time figuring things out, sometimes that's part of the game itself.

 

[Westaway]

I never played Demon Souls. I bought Darl Souls out of the blue. I'm about 3/4 through the game at 45h, including waiting for coop and pvp. People who claim the game is hard are talking out of their ass. At first it was difficult, Undead Burg n what not, but now it's a cake walk, save s couple cheap areas and bosses.

 

[LookAtYouHacker]

I love Dark Souls, but I still respect your given reasons as to why you dislike it.

 

[Jewrean]

I disagree with just about every point. I respect your opinion providing you respect mine. And I assume you want to hear mine seeming as you are on a forum. Although seeming as you don't seem prepared for an intelligent debate and immediately assume those who like the game are all of a certain type:

I know you first posters are going to be

A part of me is thinking that this is trolling seeming as so many people like Dark Souls and it's pretty easy to see why. Although if you're serious may I first point out that a large number of people have returned the game for the points you have risen. That, however, does not mean it is a bad game.

Compare Dark Souls to Skyrim

There's your first mistake. Why are you comparing them? They shouldn't be compared. They are 2 extremely different games. I would find it stupid / boring and unoriginal if Dark Souls mimicked Skyrim.

I feel it does not qualify as an RPG

By definition you are playing the role of a lost soul (at first) and therefore you are meant to feel confused and lost.

there is no ACTUAL difficulty to the game , it's a suicide trial or a lesson on how to tuck and roll either way there is nothing in the game that's actually difficult, there's just the impossibility of doing something and doing it so many times it suddenly becomes possible.

Isn't that what all difficult games do? Games considered as extremely difficult (such as that Mario clone, can't remember the name) is just extreme trial and error and doing it over and over until you get it right. Tell me a game that you consider difficult that doesn't include trial and error. Every game has trial and error. In-fact that's the whole point for many games.

I feel it's a bit bland it's mostly gray and empty with little to show for it.
Partly belonging with story but I find having conversations that go anywhere is a bit difficult for this game.

Again, that's the point. You are supposed to feel depressed, alone, and confused. Any conversations are supposed to be utterly insane.

See if you're giving me combat then It's supposed to be useful and I'm supposed to be enjoying fighting, instead I'm looking for cheap cop out ways to kill something that if it sniffs me it kills me.

Again, part of the point. It's different. Not necessarily original. Go play Fable if you want Fable-like combat.

Yes I eventually ventured further but there was no feeling of achievement there was just plain nothing, I'm stuck in a dreary world with dreary people gone mad , no real story and everything being covered with a fine layer of gray.

Then you are not really a gamer. All games have trial and error. In all games it's possible to fail at a boss fight. In this game that possibility is increased. Since the dawn of video games, gamers have had immense satisfaction for beating a boss because they studied their moves, they put in the hard work to level up and get the gear, and then they took the boss down through their 'hard work'. If you didn't get any satisfaction then not only should you not be playing games like this, you probably shouldn't be playing games at all seeming as most of them have bosses or challenges which require everything you've been taught up until this point.

I have yet to learn how you can enjoy this game being nothing but a challenge nut (Even though as I said there is no real challenge you're just doing something a hundred/thousand times till it actually works and then you move on to the next part where you're doing the exact same)

That's pretty much the definition of "challenge" when it comes to games. And it's not like it's random luck and that if you do it over and over again you will get it right. There is definitely skill involved. If you really think it's that easy of a game then suggest a much harder one (that doesn't involve the aforementioned hundred/thousand times crap). I'm sure we would love to hear it. And of course it should be an RPG. To suggest a Puzzle game or an RTS would defeat the purpose. I could argue Warcraft is difficult from a certain point of view. Just understanding all of the lingo is a challenge unto itself. But guess what? Bosses. Much easier ones. But still, you need to do pretty much the same trial and error situation again to beat them. How about Zork? A text-based RPG. Oh what do you know, you have to fight a dragon or something! Oh darn we got killed the first time. Oh well... trial and error it is. We can beat it this time! Do you understand where I'm going with this?

If someone can elaborate for me how this is such a great game without going "OMG BECAUSE OBVIOUSLY IT'S SUCH A CHALLENGE"
I am willing to listen to a sound view.
But nobody can deny there isn't much of a story, gameplay element or motivation in this game rather then "I don't want to die oh wait I can't die let's try this again till I can get past it alive for once "

At the end of the day, what you and I both say is OPINION and not fact. Maybe this game is just not for you? Accept it. Move on. But don't put your dick in a hornets nest. There are plenty of people who love the game. Let sleeping dogs lie.

I don't consider you having a sound view on the matter because you are not in touch with what games are all about. And yes I can deny your points about story, gameplay, and motivation. For me there was plenty and it had me hooked from the very beginning with its minimalist approach to story, its strategic gameplay, and its satisfaction for beating each boss and simply surviving for as long as possible.

If you had raised legitimate points, such as the flimsy rag-doll physics, monsters hitting you through walls, pyromancy making the game laughably easy, the list goes on. There are certainly things I don't like about the game. It is by no means perfect. But all of the things you have complained about, I consider as strengths and so do many others.

 

[krazykidd]

Why is it , when someone is terrible at a game . It's always the games fault? I mean really ... " i am terrible af dark souls/demon's souls , therefore the game is shit and frustrating ".

Also , why is it, people feel the need to make a thread about a game they don't like , but everyone else ( or almost ) likes? You are allowed your opinion , but making a thread title like : "dark souls is utter crap " , especially someone where you KNOW people love the game , is boarderline trolling/flamebait .

Dark souls is a great game , you are doing it wrong . Very wrong actually . You don't like the game , fine , but don't blame the game for your shortcoming . And in all honesty , if you bought demon's/dark souls , without knowing anything about it , well shame on you . You shoudl ALWAYS research games before you buy . I have no pity for you , nor anyone like you . Buy games withot reasearching , and whine when they get it . Let this be a lesson to you .

On a related note . Dark souls/Demon's souls , has a story , it's just not spoonfed to us , but you obviously like your story spoonfed to you . It is also difficult and every death if your fault , thus you should strive to get better , or quit the game. But you obviously like to have your hand held when playing games . You see, the game rewards the player for not sucking , usually people learn from their mistakes and get better , thus isn't not EVEN supposed to be that frustrating . But then you get that one guy , who keep making the same mistakes , over and over again . And then retreats and decides the game is terrible .

I understand it may not be your cup of tea . This isn't a game for everyone ( a little research would have told you that) , but that doesn' mean the game is terrible , it just means it's a game YOU don't like . Which is a shame because it's a very good and fun game when you know what you are doing .

Try playing kirby's epic yarn , it might be more you're speed . You can't die thus it won't frustrate you.

 

[Corporal Yakob]

Thats one of the reasons I lost interest in the game (aside from the laughably insane difficulty)-what I managed to gather in the form of a story was "You are dead but can still die: go out there and try not to die." Could anyone help explain it to me? In all fairness I didn't get very far but I feel that its a weakness of a game if you expects you to wander and explore the enviroments for little story clues but punishes you with extremely unforgiving enemies and traps for doing so.

 

[RJ 17]

I saw the game as having the same difficulty curve as QWOP. It's only hard because of how difficult the controls are to master. Since it really seems like you're the only one who's weapon bounces off the geometry and environment, the enemies have free reign at you when you're recovering from the many times you'll be recovering from your weapon bouncing off the walls of a cramped hallway.

This was pretty much my take on my short stint with the game. I don't mind maddeningly difficult opponents that are super-powered compared to you. The challenge there-in becomes coming up with ways to compensate for your lack of power compared to the enemies.

But to me the entire difficulty lied in the controls themselves. I think the comparison Jitters made to QWOP is really fitting. QWOP is a game specifically designed around being difficult due to crazy controls. To me that's not making a difficult game, that's rigging a game to be difficult. Think of the "land a quarter in the dish" carny game as seen in Joe Dirt. It's not too tough to get the quarter in the dish...but getting it to stay there when the dish is being sprayed with Pam to keep it nice and slick. Understanding your classes' strength and abilities and coming up with tactics to use in Dark Souls isn't that difficult...but when the controls themselves make it difficult to execute said tactics then it's a little bit just straight-up unfair, just like it's unfair to spray the dishes with Pam.

 

[Fightgarr]

Maybe it just isn't your thing. I loved Dark Souls in spite of its difficulty. You comparison to Skyrim rings a little dull in my mind. Dark Souls is the better art directed game, featuring a more cohesive, yet varied set of environments, characters and creatures. Skyrim is all about exposition. You know what Skyrim's story is because no one in the game will shut the fuck up. Dark Souls is based around embedded narrative. It's not trying to have a complex story for you to get caught up in, it's more trying to tell you, through architecture and ambience, what's happened already. Dark Souls, much like games like Shadow of the Colossus and ICO, hints at a rich history and a set of catastrophic events, that you're only going to really get by taking in the scenery. Dark Souls is a little over the top, and it's mechanics may not be your thing, but you are attempting to state "Dark Souls is a shitty RPG because look at Skyrim." The games are not attempting to do the same thing. Dark Souls is, at heart, an action game. An action game with deeper mechanics, maybe, but an action game nonetheless.

 

[SpaceBat]

snip

Demon's Souls had the perfect difficulty as it wasn't easy enough to breeze through it, but it wasn't exactly difficult either. Has the difficulty in Dark Souls really been increased by THAT much?

 

[Dansen]

Thats one of the reasons I lost interest in the game (aside from the laughably insane difficulty)-what I managed to gather in the form of a story was "You are dead but can still die: go out there and try not to die." Could anyone help explain it to me? In all fairness I didn't get very far but I feel that its a weakness of a game if you expects you to wander and explore the enviroments for little story clues but punishes you with extremely unforgiving enemies and traps for doing so.

There are backstories to everyone and everything in the world. You just have to read about the items. THEY TELL YOU EVERYTHING.

MASSIVE SPOILER WARNING

You and all humans are descendants of the furtive pygmy, the fourth lord. This is why all the humans are so small in comparison to everything and that there is a race of giants. The other three lords are from this race, explaining their size. The first three lords claimed the most powerful souls to give them power, their strength comes from the fire. The pygmy or the fourth lord claimed the dark soul so that in time his descendants would come to rule the world. This is why the dark sign exists.

As time went on the power of the flames started to die out as darkness and humans began to take over. In order to stop this the Witch Queen of Izalith tried to artificially create the first flame(the fire in the intro, where the souls originated), using her pyromancy. However the power was to much and resulted in her downfall. The Queen and her daughters(except for one) were all consumed by the flame she had created and they were turned into horrible demons. The fire continued to exist and began to spawn even more demons. One of the primeval lords had fallen. The gods who had slain the dragons were fading.

The story diverges here because there are two interpretations depending on how you go through the story and the game, both are entirely valid, but I'm going to explain one

Gwyn, the Lord of Sunlight became frightened by the humans as a result, for the coming darkness marked the end of his reign. In order to stop the darkness, Lord Gwyn created the quest of the undead. The goal was to send the humans on a impossible quest so that they would fail and not realize their true destiny. Believing in the lord the undead humans began to undertake this quest only to die or go hollow. The age of Dark was averted for a time, but it wouldn't last. The fire was still dying, so in order to preserve the light, Gwyn sacrificed his soul in order to link the flames and strengthened the first flame. In the final boss fight Gwyn has become a hollow and you must defeat him. At the end you can choose to either link the flames to continue the age of light, or extinguish them so that you can usher in the age of dark as the dark lord.

There is hell of a lot of back story to everything, settings, characters, events, you name it. All you have to do is look for the clues.

 

[Windcaler]

*snip*

Before I say anything I would first like to say if you want to have an honest discussion about dark souls then you should cut down on the hyperbole. It makes you look uninformed and like you dont intend to take any counter opinions seriously.

Now I love dark souls, I really do because its a game thats trying to do something different. Its not trying to be anything but itself and that, to me, is probably the best thing about the game. It has an identity and its saying that its ok to be different.

The first thing I often say about Dark souls is I dont think its a difficult game. I think its an unforgiving game. If you make mistakes you'll pay for it some way. Dont notice that ball at the end of the extremely dark stairway? Well then you're going to get run over by it and die. Dont check the cubbys? Well then youre going to miss an enemy hiding there who will walk up behind you, backstab you, and probably kill you in one hit (and if you arent dead your close to it meaning using an estus flask). The game is built around the idea that its tough but fair, if you take your time while moving through areas you should do fine. If you rush through an uncleared area you're probably going to die.

Now the various bosses do take some practice to learn and sometimes it can seem like a cheap shot but after you've learned their patterns you tend to think of a death as "ok how did I screw up?". With the bosses you want to use everything in your arsenal. For example my first character was a knight who was deep into two handed weapons like the claymore, zwienhander, and black knight greatsword but I found fighting the two poison dragons in the game exceptionally difficult. Until I pulled out my bow, then the fights were probably the easiest in the game. Weapons arent the only thing though, sometimes you want to change armors, for example when fighting the Abyss demon when I returned to the asylum I found him easier by equiping a lighter set of armor so his slow attacks were easier to dodge and I had less problems getting behind him for free hits. Basicly what Im saying is you can make the bosses difficult for yourself or you can make them easy all by changing tactics.

The third thing Ill touch on is the story. There is one, you dont learn it quickly and I think Dark souls could definiately benefit from a class on pacing but its still there. Although to be fair, I still had several unanswered questions by the end though they were minor ones in the grand scheme of things

I really have to question whether your trolling or not, just because of all the hyperbole and responses filled with more hyperbole but on the off chance that you arent trolling Im going to suggest that Maybe the game isnt for you? If you dont like the game then thats fine, I totally understand that its not for everyone and I would never suggest you play a game you dont like. However our opinions on the game are just as valid

 

[Warachia]

Well this was disappointing, we were playing the same game in regards to the combat right? Because Dark souls has plenty of other things in it that make it a terrible game, like the PvP forest the game never warns you about, the tomb of the giants, the twin boss, not warning you that only holy weapons permanently kill some undead sometimes, etc.

Although I can't help but feel this isn't your type of game, and I hate using that argument because it is usually a cop out.

 

[lacktheknack]

Yeah, well, that's like, your opinion, man...

I've been told that Mirror's Edge, my all-time favorite, is a crap game. They attempted to justify it by complaining about how much they died and couldn't figure stuff out. Guess how much a grammatical trainwreck contradictory rant with blatant fallacies adjusted my opinion of it. (Hint: Not at all.)

 

[demoman_chaos]

-clippidy clop-

You are the chosen undead and must rekindle a fire to ward off eternal darkness. You do so by gather lords souls to unlock the area where Lord Gwynn so you can kill him and light the fire. Kingseeker Frampt (who appears in Firelink Shrine after you ring the 2 Bells of Awakening) explains it pretty clearly. Crestfallen (the bloke in chainmail by the main fire) explains what you are supposed to be doing until Frampt shows up, just don't skip his dialouge.

 

[AyreonMaiden]

So tell me how to turn this game from "suicide trial" Into"Brilliant game"

Dark Souls requires a few things from you in order to be enjoyed properly.
1. Mindset.
Understand that you're a worthless sack of shit and you don't deserve a fucking thing. You are literally a fucking sack of rancid shit who is considered to be worth less than a diseased, maggot infested corpse. You are scum; the dags on a dog's asshole.
In the world of Dark Souls, we are all less than nothing. We are all sacks of shit.
Dark Souls has no mercy. It doesn't want to make you happy. It doesn't want you to succeed. It wants to hurt you; it wants to break you; it wants you to quit.
The more people who quit Dark Souls, the more meaning success in Dark Souls has. This is a game so very few will finish. But those few who feel a sense of accomplishment for doing so that basically no game on the market offers.
Go into Dark Souls understanding that you're going to fail. Every time you come across a boss, you're going to die. A lot. Every inch of the game world that you progress, you do so on the back of a hundred failures. If you can't handle this, give up now. It will eat you up, and spit you out.

2. Skill.
Dark Souls requires skill, more so than basically any game made in the last few years. This isn't about twitch kills - it's about patience. DO NOT RUSH IN. You must study your enemies. You take your time. You must learn every attack for every single opponent. Every enemy - every. single. one. - will fuck you up, rape your corpse, eat you and shit you out if you don't slow things down and study them.
If you refuse to literally dedicate yourself to understanding every single enemy in the game, give up now - Dark Souls will not roll over for you. You have to focus 110% when playing. A single fuck up will end you.

Once you know an opponent's attacks and patterns, you can begin to fight back. Understand that this is a game of back and forth; block a few attacks until your opponent is stunned, than attack. Learn the openings in their moves. If you're opponent is a massive soldier with a giant sword, dodge their attacks as blocked will stun you.
Take time; respawn enemies deliberately by using a bon fire and practice an area until you've mastered the opponents. Don't be afraid to die.

3. Rest.
Playing Dark Souls is a draining experience because of the dedication it can demand, especially against some of the bosses. Don't be afraid of looking things up on the Wiki; there is a difference between not trying and just looking it all up, and reaching the end of your rope and needing a little help. Don't be afraid of playing online for the tips and hints; we're all in this together, working together against Dark Souls.
However, nothing helps like a solid rest. You can't play Dark Souls for 12 straight hours. This isn't Skyrim; Dark Souls challenges you, and never gives you a moment's rest. Fuck, even pausing doesn't actually STOP the game.
I play about two hours every other day. I prepare myself mentally. I can't come home from work and jump into Dark Souls to relax; if you relax, you're dead.

If none of this sounds enjoyable, don't force it. Those of us who love Dark Souls aren't better than you - despite what some people will tell you - we're just a different breed of gamer. We love to be challenged. A lot of gamers pretend to enjoy the challenge; Dark Souls murders those pretenders and rapes their undead bodies while they weep.

Oh and a BRILLIANT GAME is a total package, which means you have to give me some points for wandering where the fuck the story want in something that's dubbed an RPG...

Not all RPGS are Final Fantasy exposition-heavy games where you spend as much time watching the story as playing the gane. If you think an RPG is dialogue trees and World of Warcraft-grind heavy combat, quit now.
Dark Souls is an RPG - it's just an old one. It's an RPG in that it requires exploration, understanding and personal drive - it's an Old School RPG, like the early Ultima games, and Dungeon Master. The story is in the world - you have to work to put it all together, though.
If you think a "story" is what defines an RPG, you're not understanding what an RPG actually is, and you've been raised on mainsteam console titles. Dark Souls is none of these things.

A Brilliant Game is one which achieves what it sets out to do. Dark Souls set out to be a true challenge in a world where failure has literally been removed from every title on the market. Dark Souls set out to give you an honest to god feeling of accomplishment that modern games lack, and remove this bullshit "you are entitled to see the end of the game because you bought it" mentality.

When you finish Call of Duty, do you feel like you did something worth anything? No. You throw it onto the pile and play the next retarded game. Call of Duty is a fucking piece of shit because everyone who buys it CAN finish it.

When you finally finish Dark Souls, you fucking go bananas: YOU FUCKING BEAT DARK SOULS. It's an accomplishment to do so. It makes you earn your success.

If doesn't sound fun, if this isn't what you want: sell it now. Do not try. Give up. You will not succeed. It will break you. It will make you want to die.
Dark Souls isn't for everyone. And because it's not everyone, it's absolutely fucking brilliant.

I have to look down and applause at this post. I'm an acolyte of this game, about to enter Sen's Fortress after CONQUERING BLIGHTTOWN, and I gotta say...I've yet to play a game where I've felt more empowered than Dark Souls. I've played games like Gears of War and other action dudebro-looking-character games that people like to call "power fantasies," and none of them make me feel half as brave or strong as Dark Souls. The Undead I'm playing as, in a way, is someone I look up to as a character. He/She, like Link in LoZ, is just relentless courage and perseverance personified. He just stares the horrors of Lordran in the eye and does. not. stop. fighting. Utterly admirable and terrifying. I'm pretty convinced that I might be the scariest thing in all of Lordran.

Lordran just draws me in and the challenge is so awesome. The combat system has weight and precision very much unlike any action game I've played. Every single time I've died, I've known precisely why, and was able to correct. I used to scoff at the whole abstract "reward" and "achievement" crap that the reviews spewed, but it's all so true for me. The achievement is the victory, far more than any loot. I was terrified of touching this game but I've come to adore it in my 20 hours with it so far.