Difficulty:

Very Hard

Time Spent:

40 to 100 Hours

The Bottom Line:

"Instant classic"

I waited a long time to play Dark Souls.

TOO long. Since I finally got around to playing it, I wish I bought it sooner.

I mean, I heard about how difficult it was but I thought, how difficult can it really be?

To my delight it was under $20 at the local game store so I gave it a shot.

Holy sh*t.

After the first couple hours of going in the wrong direction, I literally wanted to set the ps3 on fire. WTF? I didn't KNOW I wasn't supposed to be there. Why didn't the game tell me where to go? It wasn't obvious. The game basically gave me the middle finger and said SLOW DOWN and think for a second. So I did. I remember the subtle clue I was given, changed direction, and never looked back.

The combat ...is amazing. You can just grab the heaviest shield around and brute force your way through or you can spend a little time, learn the enemies timing and counter / back-stab e'rebody around. That's what I did and it was so f'n fun.

The lack of save points keeps you on edge the whole time, and if you make a mistake you shouldn't have made, the game laughs at you.

You will die no matter how good you think you are. But how cocky are you? Would you wear NO armor (for the speed advantage) and rely on reflexes to counter the enemy? Well you can, and the more challenging you make it, the more rewarding the experience.

This game is for patient gamers only.

I would not recommend it to everyone. If you have a short attention span and don't like to think very much, this isn't for you.

But if you want a game to throw you into a pit and you have to use your patience, timing and wit to get out of it. You WILL not be disappointed.

Beating this game is like getting your black belt in gaming.

Have fun and good luck sleeping. You will be up all night thinking of strategy for this one!