Hard, hard, very hard and when you past the hard part it gets worse. Fun but can be extremely frustrating.
I guess that each review is done per the type of gamer and the games he is used to play, etc. Myself I'm more into the RPG, not too hard type of games, FPS, strategy, infiltration, etc and not focused on one type of game. This means that I am not specialized in the kind of Dark Souls.
Dark Souls is quite interesting, because you need to consider dying as part of the game. Dying is not a failure, it is a process towards conquest and a step of progress and advancement. This is something to have clear in one's mind before starting playing.
The whole progress is based on looking, observing your difficulties and then overcoming them. Sometimes, you may dye 30 times to get through a part of it. The question is are you willing and ready to die so many times. At one point you need to grind for souls in order to lvl up, this helps.
The way the game is done is very cool. The feeling is great, it is intense, etc. BUT if you are not a 200% technical guy that know with precision when, where and how to hit an enemy and drill again and again, till you know it so cold than don't take the game.
If you are the type of gamer that likes to go straight forward and beat everyone around, etc. this game is NOT for you. I love strategy, etc, and I appreciate that from the game, but even then I am having a hard time emotionally to remain calm while playing.
I'm not a noob nor a no-life, but gosh this one is difficult.
I do get confused once in a while with the buttons - not a big deal, and the only thing that I could say is that I died more than once because I didn't pay attention and the start menu was open on the top right corner of the screen and got bitten up several times due to it.
Once again, I think that this game has a specific type of public and not for everyone.
Hope this helped a bit and sorry if my grammar or spelling is incorrect, english isn't my mother tongue.
Saluations,
Zylaris...