I have never tried to force myself to like a game more than Dark Souls. Incredible atmosphere, visuals, and sound direction. I tried so hard to love this game. I really did. For the first half, I could say I enjoyed it in fact- but by the time the credits rolled, I absolutely hated and loathed everything DS in a way that is unprecedented in my gaming life. The gameplay with dark souls hinges on this concept: do something over and over again until defeating it, and after that you will feel a "rewarding, gratifying sense of accomplishment." If this sounds like a fun game to you, change my score to a 10. If you expect more from your games, like I do, and aren't as forgiving to games with major issues, like I am, you will want more forward-thinking RPGS like the Witcher. The issue is not that Souls is hard- it's the way it is hard that I have a major issue with. Being in a pitch black room, with instant-death pits surrounding you, while being shot at by arrows you can't see the source of- is not good game design, or even an accurate test of skill to be considered a proper challenge. (This is before being forced to fall into a pit that will claim 75% of your health, with a cutscene of the over powered boss who will cheap shot you during said cutscene, before starting the fight at 25% health). This is not the only example of how clearly unfair some situations are in this game. You want to make a game hard, fine- but make it rational, at least. Frankly, it's appalling that major journalists failed to mention these problems (or the camera, or the technical issues in some areas) in DS but fault other games for even less. (This site included). I finished this game in offline mode, and I cannot think of a time that I felt more robbed and absolutely furious at a lackluster conclusion than this game. The character walked into a room. Literally. No spoilers, because there isn't anything to spoil. My character just walked into a room. That's it. I was also extremely disappointed with the magic system- if you would call it that- as most spells are virtually useless, as are bows or diverse character builds- pretty much blocking and striking enemies is the common combat method. It's a shame, too- the world of DS is a rich, vibrant place with fascinating mysteries- but my trudge through it's mostly frustrating, unrewarding gameplay made the 68 hour experience not worth it.
