Don't just die to the first boss and judge...
I've been playing now for about 38 hours, so I came on to Gamespot to check the reviews only to find that people are complaining about it because it isn't more like "The Elder Scrolls" series, or some other Action RPG. Lots of people complaining about there not being a map, or a quest log. Here's an idea... Remember what leads to where... Its really not that difficult. Players these days are just too spoiled with logs and maps and detailed tutorials that It takes a lot of the fun out of the game... someone actually said
"The combat is very boring, you have a button for attack and a button for block, and whoever hits first 50 times wins."
Hmm... well, if you have a weapon in your right hand and a shield in your left your options would be, Light attack, Heavy attack, Block, Parry, Riposte, Sprint attack, very heavy attack (toward + heavy attack), and kick (toward + light attack)... you can also press Y or to dual wield your right hand weapon, and most weapons have a different attack style and go through shields with 2 hands.
~~~Combat is fantastic and strategic.~~~
Other people were complaining about the story and how it isn't there. Oh? I need to ring some bells?... Ok?... This is essentially only the prologue, IMO most people who play games like Oblivion (which was an atrocity to the elder scrolls series, go play Morrowind) just skip all of the dialogue and just look for a marker on their map..."Durr... ok go this way!! :B"
~~~The story is there, your attention span isn't.~~~
Don't even get me started on the "difficulty" of the game, because it isn't difficult, challenging, yes... Learn to use your shield... I can just imagine so many people starting off 2-handing a weapon or dual-wielding...SHIELD, SHIELD, SHIELD... and stop crying. I felt that the entire game up until the first Drake was only getting players ready for later situations, there were no cheap sneaky enemies, they taught you that some enemies may be too tough right now but can be avoided (the first black knight), they gave you some ranged enemies, enemies with shields, slow - strong enemies without shields, and quick - weak enemies with shields. BTW, the introduction of the Estus Flask made this game MUCH easier.
~~~It's not a Hack and Slash.~~~
What I'm essentially trying to say to people who play for less than 10 hours and say the game is terrible, forget what you know about standardized RPG's... don't give Dark Souls a genre... its a game... play it as a game... don't play it as an action game, an RPG, or a hack and slash...
Other thoughts...
- I work at Gamestop, and I get to hear what people like and don't like all day. That's fine, Its your opinion, I don't care... People can go on all day and argue why a game is the best game of all time, and vice-verse... no game will ever be the best, and no game will ever be the worst, unless every living creature on the earth (that can play video games) agrees then it isn't possible.
SL:50
Just finished the Painted World.