I consider myself a pretty hardcore gamer. I do enjoy the casual games during long commutes but I really like a game with meat that will test me. After reading a comic a while back I always play my games on the highest difficulty setting the first time around.

I play games the way the developers intended them to be played and so far it's been great. My games last longer and I get more satisfaction when I beat a boss that has me 2 inches away from a heart attack.

But what the hell did I get myself into with Dark Souls?

I keep hearing whispers of madness and broken controllers when googling this game and even the GiantBomb bombcast has references of it being "unfair and troll like".

Is this true?

Will this game finally do me in?

It's just unforgiving. But it's also fair.

Death...

There is no thing that is terribly difficult, but it's the constant threat of mildly difficult things that adds up.

You got yourself into a swirl of frustration.

You should have run while you had the chance, it's too late now.

To quote part of my post from another Dark Souls topic: This game is as if Mega Mans difficulty and the first Zelda's "go in blind" attitude started doing heroine in the Castlevania castle and accidently had a baby and threw it into a dumpster with a bunch of Metroids.

@imsh_pl:

I don't think the game is fair. The dragon comes out from no where and killing you first is not being fair lol

@BlameGamer:

Just do lots of research and take your times. Don't rush it. Once you have a certain epiphany, you will be able to enjoy. It depends on a person but it might take a while to see why people are going crazy over this game. It took me about... let's say 8 hours to finally experience that lol. People say relying on guides or walkthroughs ruin the games. I disagree. Just get all the helps you need. Giant Bomb Dark Souls forum is actually very active and helpful. Use it and don't be afraid to ask questions.

When you die, it is your fault. remember this!

It's a fair game, but unforgiving. If you make mistakes you pay for it. Just take things slow and be cautious and you'll be ok. Don't expect to every beat anything in one try. You will die no matter what. Accept it and don't get frustrated by that fact.

A never ending nightmare of pain and death. It'll start out like this: Remember that one girl you had a crush on for the longest time? She was just so perfect, wasn't she? Yeah, her skin was a little pale, and she did have that Harry Potter "hogwarts" leather jacket, but let's face it, that jacket was sexy, just like her. You stare at her from time to time, realizing how much of a creeper you are. But come on, she's so beautiful, you know? You can't help it. That's what love at first sight is all about.
 
But you're nervous. You can't talk to her. What if she thinks you're a total psycho? What if she's seen you stare at her? First impressions are everything, and some jackass with a stoner stare isn't the most impressive thing in the world.
 
Then it hits you, she's out of your league. Yeah, she totally fits into that whole "geeky" girl scene, or so she looks. But, damn, she's so pretty, so goddamn pretty. There's no way in hell she's single. Yeah. She has a boyfriend. You don't need to see it for yourself because it's so glaringly obvious. So the woman of your dreams will just have to stay in the imagination compendium; Your mind.
 
The dreams, on the otherhand get a little... bizarre. I mean, to be attracted to someone as much as you are, of course you'll dream about her, being a young man and all. But the dreams aren't making sense. I mean, you meet her in a Walmart, and she's your girlfriend already. It's interesting to see that she has so much in common with you, but you probably already guessed that. But why are you at a theater? That's the bizarre part of it all. What's the point of being here? Was it the Hogwarts jacket, does that correlate to a movie, which is shown in theaters? But... This is a stage, for plays and live entertainment. Why here? Oh, an Avengers cast get-together? Samuel L. Jackson, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johanson, Robert Downey Jr, Jeremy Renner, Chris Evans. Yep, they are all here... But why?
 
I mean, yes, Robert Downey Jr is EASILY you're favorite actor, but can that be the reason he's here? And what about her? Is it some sort of special event? Well it must be, they're all sitting down and talking to you and her... Oh man, I bet you can't wait to talk to RDJ, can you? So many questions you want to ask, so much you want to know from the man himself. A truly great actor in your eyes, and a great man on top of that. It's such a vivid dream... You don't even realize it because everything is so real, like you can touch and feel everything as if you were there.
 
It's happening! Everyone is sharing their stories and now it's just down to the man himself. It's time for you to talk to your favorite actor; someone you've followed in the industry for the last decade. Someone who has inspired you to follow in his footsteps. Someone that taught you that when life is just too hard, and everything is going wrong, not to give up because everyone deserves a second chance. Oh boy! He's leaning over the table and he whispers "So, you want to know about the experiences I had, early in my career?"
 
Then your alarm goes off, because fuck you, Dark Souls isn't a kind or merciful God, you piece of shit. Now get the fuck back to dying. Oh, and welcome to hell, bitch.

@N7 said:

A never ending nightmare of pain and death. It'll start out like this: Remember that one girl you had a crush on for the longest time? She was just so perfect, wasn't she? Yeah, her skin was a little pale, and she did have that Harry Potter "hogwarts" leather jacket, but let's face it, that jacket was sexy, just like her. You stare at her from time to time, realizing how much of a creeper you are. But come on, she's so beautiful, you know? You can't help it. That's what love at first sight is all about. But you're nervous. You can't talk to her. What if she thinks you're a total psycho? What if she's seen you stare at her? First impressions are everything, and some jackass with a stoner stare isn't the most impressive thing in the world. Then it hits you, she's out of your league. Yeah, she totally fits into that whole "geeky" girl scene, or so she looks. But, damn, she's so pretty, so goddamn pretty. There's no way in hell she's single. Yeah. She has a boyfriend. You don't need to see it for yourself because it's so glaringly obvious. So the woman of your dreams will just have to stay in the imagination compendium; Your mind. The dreams, on the otherhand get a little... bizarre. I mean, to be attracted to someone as much as you are, of course you'll dream about her, being a young man and all. But the dreams aren't making sense. I mean, you meet her in a Walmart, and she's your girlfriend already. It's interesting to see that she has so much in common with you, but you probably already guessed that. But why are you at a theater? That's the bizarre part of it all. What's the point of being here? Was it the Hogwarts jacket, does that correlate to a movie, which is shown in theaters? But... This is a stage, for plays and live entertainment. Why here? Oh, an Avengers cast get-together? Samuel L. Jackson, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johanson, Robert Downey Jr, Jeremy Renner, Chris Evans. Yep, they are all here... But why? I mean, yes, Robert Downey Jr is EASILY you're favorite actor, but can that be the reason he's here? And what about her? Is it some sort of special event? Well it must be, they're all sitting down and talking to you and her... Oh man, I bet you can't wait to talk to RDJ, can you? So many questions you want to ask, so much you want to know from the man himself. A truly great actor in your eyes, and a great man on top of that. It's such a vivid dream... You don't even realize it because everything is so real, like you can touch and feel everything as if you were there. It's happening! Everyone is sharing their stories and now it's just down to the man himself. It's time for you to talk to your favorite actor; someone you've followed in the industry for the last decade. Someone who has inspired you to follow in his footsteps. Someone that taught you that when life is just too hard, and everything is going wrong, not to give up because everyone deserves a second chance. Oh boy! He's leaning over the table and he whispers "So, you want to know about the experiences I had, early in my career?" Then your alarm goes off, because fuck you, Dark Souls isn't a kind or merciful God, you piece of shit. Now get the fuck back to dying. Oh, and welcome to hell, bitch.

...What?

It's not the difficulty that makes it special, it's the punishment for failure.

@imsh_pl: Ah... see.. I don't know.

Before I get some hates, I love Dark Souls. Been playing for awhile(like forty something hours and I'm level 53 warrior). But I still do not think the game is fair. Having a dragon not visible and all of a sudden it comes down from no where and kills you, I do not think that is fair. Granted you can avoid it but that is still hiding a giant enemy just to screw you over. And that is the only reason. You fight two bosses and if you kill one of them the other one completely heals himself, that is not fair.

I don't know... I am playing this game and enjoying it and yet I don't really think this game is fair. The game mechanic that is base on "you died before and that's how you learn your lesson" is not really a fair method of teaching.

you will have a great time because of the highs and lows, the game is hard but not super hard i think the hardness of the game gets a little overly hyped. You just have to play it slow and learn from your deaths and or mistakes. once you learn the dark souls pattern you will be fine if not careful. And if all else fails you can look up on forum about dark souls to learn some tips and things that dark souls keeps hush about.

@nohthink:

I don't know maybe a little cheap but it keep you on your toes and to teach you to never let your guard down. Also its not to hard to go back and pick up your souls.

I always play my games on the highest difficulty setting the first time around.

I play games the way the developers intended them to be played and so far it's been great. My games last longer and I get more satisfaction when I beat a boss that has me 2 inches away from a heart attack.

It's just unforgiving. But it's also fair.

@N7 Love it!

I'm only 15 hours in and so far it feels like every death is a twisted checkpoint. You eventually get used to it and every death tells you what you did wrong. In that sense it is fair. It gets frustrating at points, I died a lot early on before I realised that there's basically a 'trick' to beating each enemy type. So in that sense it's not really hard you just have to do your research like nohthink said, or you can even figure it our yourself it just takes more deaths :P. I have to say it's one of the most addictive games I've played. I find myself thinking about it through the day and eventually I just have to go back. If you've seen the one of the behind the scenes videos that came with the limited edition you'll hear that their rationale behind the game is to give the player an immense sense of achievement, and that's pretty much the reason I keep playing. The high after you kill a boss or reach a destination is amazing when you've died 10 times on your way there.

You will die..and die...and die..

You will hella die. Also along the way, you might improve your analytic skills.

After reading your prologue, I think this game is right for you. It will test your mentality and your physical endurance to the very limits, but that's what you (and also some of us) like in games like Demon's Souls and Dark Souls, isn't it? Every session of Dark Souls resembles a small battle.

To be honest this is my GOTY I’ve loved it, raged at it but in the end it’s a game everyone needs to play.

Once you realize that the act of dying in Dark Souls is actually just another part of the gameplay it makes dying not a big deal. Every time you die you should be learning something that you can use on your next attempt. The game is completely fair so if you do die then 99% of the time it was your fault. Typically you immediately realize what you did wrong and use this to your advantage the next time.

Here's a tip which I learned the hard way. Since you die a lot in this game, don't put yourself into risky situations when you have a lot of souls on the line. ie. Avoid areas that you have not explored yet, avoid areas where you know there are challenging enemies, etc. Spend those souls before pushing forward because you don't want to lose souls that you spent hours acquiring.

Last night I found myself tiptoeing through Darkroot Garden trying to get back to my bloodstain where I had previously died while carrying 25k souls. My heart was beating faster and I was so nervous that I would die before recovering the souls. It also didn't help that it was my first time exploring the area. Anyway, I eventually recovered the souls and while doing so, I aggroed a difficult enemy which came charging toward me. I freaked out and immediately used a Homeward Bone to warp me back to my bonfire. What a relief that was.

do NOT read about any strategies or what weapons to get or ANYTHING on your first playthrough. TRUST ME.

Of course Dark Souls is not a "fair" game... that is the whole point. If it was fair, your attacks would do as much damage as a Boss and you have the same HP. This game is about using your brain and instestinal fortitude to overcome despite your weaknesses. There's always a better way to handle a situation, even the seemingly "cheap" ones.

@thehuntsmen5434: Will do, I'm not reading JACK SHIT about this game. I'm literally going in blind with just the knowledge that it's "hard". We'll see. I'll buy it for sure tonight, didn't have time to go shopping yesterday.

I'll post how it went. :D

What are you getting into? You're an ant and you just picked a fight with Godzilla. You're the new guy to the martial arts dojo and you just picked a fight with all the black belts, and the instructor, and all their twisted crazy martial arts relatives. Enjoy ;3!