While some may know me from my notoriously hated Demon's Souls review, here is my Dark Souls review!
Dark Souls is an aesthetically beautiful game. This was improved in a variety of ways. More models, customizable physiques and better spell effects than its predecessor. That and it just looks better.
It's more than that though. The world feels more coherent than Demon Souls did. This has a lot to do with the texture transitions which were probably gleaned from MMO geography.
Sounds - The mood is often set by sound and Dark Souls won't disappoint here. Nothing in particular stands out but for an RPG of this magnitude I think that is a good thing.
Open world system - Far, far preferable to the hub system.
Magic - Also impressive. In Demon Souls once you reached a point you could sustain on 99 spices nothing was terribly difficult. Attunement seems to have changed that in a big way. It also removes complexity where it doesn't belong - on the character. I've always been a strong believer that the complexity should be in the interaction with the world. Simple inventories are a good step in that direction.
The bottomless box - Excellent! This would have worked great if there was still the penalty on carry weight. Still, that is splitting hairs.
The estus flask - Yes, this thing rocks. In a way it feels much more powerful than grass. One of the main problems in Demon Souls was inventory management. Reusable and rechargeable items removes the complexity and crap feeling of having to restock grass before every outing.
Bonfires - I really like the idea of upgradable checkpoints. The bonfire and the flask are quite crucial to the success of this game. They help to remove complexity in the character by moving it to the environment.
Well, now that we've covered what I thought was awesome about the game lets go over what isn't so awesome about the game.
AUTO TARGET
Need I say it again? AUTO TARGET
This feature is simply the worst, horrid, stupid thing in any game I've ever played. Ok, maybe not as dumb as a fatty in blighttown running right off a bridge. Still, it's a pretty stupid feature!
Dark Souls is a hard game but like Demon Souls is made harder by an unintentionally difficult targeting feature. I don't mind losing fair and square to a boss. I mind having auto target spin me around when the guy I wanted was 4 inches in front of my face. I mind the targeting feature walking me around a character and off a bridge. I mind it not working at all in random PVP invader circumstances.
That's my only gripe I guess. If a third game is in the works? Please, please, please do something about this auto targeting system.
So there you have it. A friendlier version of my Demon Soul's review. It's worth the price of admission (and ownership) but could use some work in the targeting department.