Title says it all
User Rating: 8 | Dark Souls: Prepare to Die Edition PC
I bought this game on a whim after listening to friends going on about how frustratingly good it was and how addictive it becomes thinking they were just a couple of bitching wussess. However after spending the best part of an hour trying to get out of the castle dungeon I was tasting to think they were right. Let's start from the beginning; I bought this through Steam for the PC, I knew at the time it was a port but did not realize the keyboard and mouse controls were a bit of a shambles, at the start of the game, just getting out of my cell to the first big room was a trial and error affair which should have taken me a few minutes but took nearly 20, once I figured out what keys did what I then spent some time reconfiguring my board and mouse to suit (actual keyboard layout was pants). Once that was out the way I sat down to see what all the fuss was and right from the get-go the game co mes at you like a runaway train, the difficulty was ramped up throwing AI at you that went from tough to dam well rock hard, within 10 minutes you come face to face with a boss who is not only tough but defeating him is made all the harder due to the crappie board and mouse controls which also appear to have a slight delay. For me it was only after defeating this guy and moving forward that I started getting immersed in the game, it throws at you challenges you don't get in many other games in terms of toughness, you will find you will die numerous times before you move forward and because you are unable to manually save you progress, when you do die you will end up way back having to relive the fights that may have taken you 30 mm in uses to complete (in some cases even longer). Upon death all your previously defeated foes re-spawn (except some main bosses) and any souls you have collected (the in game urgency used ed to buy weapons, armor and potions as well humanity) is lost, you can recover it, but only if you make it back to where you died, if you die again before you reach it, it is gone for good, that is one of the most frustrating elements of the game. individuals who sell you goods are few and far between and there is no in game map to show you were you are which makes finding your way back to a seller more difficult. All in all the game is frustratingly difficult, to the point where you can spend hours on one tiny section, using fire bombs, explosives, arrows or potions etc with no way of being able to replenish them (which in turn makes the game even harder once they run out) forcing you to quit the game for a breather for your own sanity. I enjoy games that challenge you but Dark Souls takes it to an unnecessary new level which causes the player more frustration then enjoyment, being a bad port to PC does not help matters. But because it is hard I keep finding myself drawn too it as, as my friends said, it becomes addictive. Am I enjoying playing Dark Souls? Hell No, but I'll be dammed if I am going to let a game beat me. To anyone thinking of buying this I would say, if your after a game you can enjoy this is not for you as any enjoyment is lost in the anger and frustration you will feel every time it kicks your ass.
