So I just got paid from my first job and saw Dark Souls for 20 bucks with free shipping. I never played Demon Souls before, but was interested in this. Like the only other hard game I played recently that was in 3D was Ninja Gaiden Black and I beat it, but those 2 probably aren't comparable.

Like how are the mechanics in the game? Help a duder out.

Not sure what details you are looking for exactly but the game is absolutely excellent so I congratulate you on your purchase.

In regards to gameplay it's mostly just a slower-paced action RPG with a weird levelling mechanic (spend currency per stat point, increases semi-exponentially). It's really not as hard as people make it out to be if you are actually paying attention and play carefully (though my opinion on that may be spoiled by my three playthroughs of Demon's Souls (which is harder than Dark) and about 8 playthroughs of Dark Souls).

There is also tons of depth to item upgrading/elemental affinities/etc. and you can spend hours just trying to make the perfect weapon, though no weapon will really trivialize any boss encounter.

If you have any specific questions about the game I would be happy to provide any input I can, as mentioned I have played the hell out of both the games and love them to death.

Thanks dude, now I just have to wait 3 days

I suggest watching some videos on youtube to give you a decent idea of how the game plays.  EpicNameBro's very early Dark Souls videos are a pretty good set of informative videos.  Though if you're in the mood for some comedy, James's Dark Souls series on the gamefront channel is a pretty damn hilarious example of what happens if you actively refuse to play by the game's rules.

Dark Souls is a very methodical game. The first couple times you get through an area you have to, ideally, check every corner before turning, avoid running and keep your shield up at all times. Leveling your character is important, and vitality and endurance are probably the stats you should focus early on, increasin dex/int/faith/str only enough to equip the weapons/spells you wish to. Don't neglect saving some souls to improve, especially, your weapon on the blacksmith. Having a +5 weapon early on is real useful.

Spears are good beginner weapons, since you can poke enemies with your shield up with it, personally I felt it really beneficial throughout the first 20-30 soul levels. A regularly good starting class is the pyromancer, since it gives you quite a bit of room for leveling up your stats the way you wish, and gives you access to a couple spells early on that are really useful against bosses. You don't need them, but they definitely help.

To kick you have to tap forward and press the button (R2?) at the same time.

Try to avoid using too many guides and spoiling your first playthrough. As a thumb of rule there is a bonfire near every boss fight. You might have to run past trash mobs/unlock the passage/hit the illusory wall that is hiding it, but they're there, use the messages written by other players to guide you to them.

If a boss is too hard you might want to call help from npcs/other players. To do that you have to unhollow and use someone elses white/yellow summoning sign on the ground. They're are usually located near a boss area fog, but you can only see them if you're human. To turn human you have to: 1-equip and use a "Humanity" or "Twin Humanity" item from your inventory; 2-sit on a bonfire and then use the "Reverse Hollowing" option that shows up. By doing that you character appearance goes back to normal and you can summon and be invaded by other players. You only stay human as long as you haven't died, so you'll usually want to turn human before fighting a boss that you think you'll need help with.

Don't be afraid to be "cheap". The game will sometimes give you the opportunity to "snipe" enemies, kick them off ledges, hide somewhere the boss can't really hit you, you might as well take them since it'll try to fuck you up at every turn.

If you ever get cursed you can buy an item to remove it from Oswald of Carim the laughing npc by the first bell.

goddamn. i remember spending like 70-80 bucks on demon's souls after seeing the quick look. awesome that you can get the sequel for so inexpensive.

1. don't be careless
2. don't be afraid
3. don't forget to level up
4. don't forget to light bonfire's
5. don't forget that lighting bonfires respawns all enemies
6. be a badass and kick motherfuckers before you impale em

Congratulations on your Dark Souls purchase! It's an absolutely excellent game!

Try not to go through a lot of videos of the game in Youtube or read spoilers. Not knowing that much is part of the game's charm. You learn the world through exploration and experience, it's awesome. :)

As for mechanics, it's not a hack and slash fast-paced type of game. It's a very methodical RPG that has an old school style to it. It requires patience, learning, dedication and a lot of free time. It's very rewarding though, you just need to go through the game with a slow-medium pace. It's not that type wherein you barge into a door expecting to slash every enemy inside with one blow, it's a thinking game.

As for difficulty, just like what others mentioned, it's not really that difficult. You just have to make sense of what's happening around you on why you're having a difficult time. If you can't beat an enemy, level up or find a better weapon or maybe he/she has a weakness. Can't seem to get a hit, try rolling or parrying, etc.

So good luck and I hope you enjoy Dark Souls! It's awesome. :)

You got the equivalent of a few hundred dollars worth of entertainment and satisfaction for $20. Congratulations and enjoy!

I still need to get it, but I'm waiting for my first paycheck to come in. (yay me.....).

I bought it at Best Buy yesterday and i am frustrated as all hell because my body vanished under the bride, i made a dumb mistake of drawing aggro to some knight guy and tried running away and he got me under so i fight my way back and my body wasn't there, lost out on other 7000 souls and around 6 humanity. It's not that i am really that upset over the loss of the souls because i can farm those it's just the fact my body vanished really fucking pissed me off.

Other than that i don't mind the whole trial and error and being severally punished for stupid mistakes (like accidentally attacking a vender with my bow and ending up having to kill him so now i can longer buy from him :/) dying doesn't really bother me but if you are the type of person who gets mad from dying i suggest staying the fuck away from this game.

@TheHT said:

goddamn. i remember spending like 70-80 bucks on demon's souls after seeing the quick look. awesome that you can get the sequel for so inexpensive.

1. don't be careless
2. don't be afraid
3. don't forget to level up
4. don't forget to light bonfire's
5. don't forget that lighting bonfires respawns all enemies
6. be a badass and kick motherfuckers before you impale em

Does leveling increase the difficulty of the enemies? Because the first like 3-4 hours of the game that is all i spent my souls on. I leveled the shit out of my Knight in health and a mix of 2 other stats. I would of used more money at the merchant before the first boss, not the "tutorial" boss but you know what im talking about. Anyways yeah i accidentally hit him and he got all butt hurt over it so i had to put him down.

@Brandino said:

I bought it at Best Buy yesterday and i am frustrated as all hell because my body vanished under the bride, i made a dumb mistake of drawing aggro to some knight guy and tried running away and he got me under so i fight my way back and my body wasn't there, lost out on other 7000 souls and around 6 humanity. It's not that i am really that upset over the loss of the souls because i can farm those it's just the fact my body vanished really fucking pissed me off.

Other than that i don't mind the whole trial and error and being severally punished for stupid mistakes (like accidentally attacking a vender with my bow and ending up having to kill him so now i can longer buy from him :/) dying doesn't really bother me but if you are the type of person who gets mad from dying i suggest staying the fuck away from this game.

I had the patients to beat all the light worlds in Super Meat Boy with A+s' without throwing things in rage. Like how long are the levels? Like in games like skyrim or fallout where I forget to save, I'll lose 15 minutes of progress and want to just stop playing the game.

Demon's Souls is not harder than Dark Souls, in Demon's Souls I beat 13 of 16 bosses on the first try, in Dark it was more like 60/40 or so; the only thing remarkable about Demon's Souls is how terrible the Valley of Defilement was.

@Serpentenema said:

I had the patients to beat all the light worlds in Super Meat Boy with A+s' without throwing things in rage. Like how long are the levels? Like in games like skyrim or fallout where I forget to save, I'll lose 15 minutes of progress and want to just stop playing the game.

Dark Souls saves your progress all the time. The only way you lose any "progress" is when you're not able to recover your corpse and lose a ton of souls. If you accept it as inevitable that you'll lose large chunks of souls from time to time, you'll stay much more sane.

Dark Souls is similar to Super Meat Boy in that you can keep replaying the same section until you make it to the next bonfire.

Block and attack. Block and attack. Block and attack. In that order. Once you get used to blocking and attacking, you can try not using a shield and rolling to avoid the attack.

Yes, you've used 20$ to buy lots and lots of pain. You'll die over and over again. You'll say goodbye to your controller at some point. But there is one thing I'll tell you: when you kill a boss, the satisfaction is overwhelming. And so, congratulation that's a 20$ well spent b^^d

@Serpentenema: No just a bit of frustration from time to time. The style of gameplay is slow and methodical. You will gain most experience through slow and careful exploration as well as repetition. It's a very interesting world to explore, but almost annoyingly slim on actual narrative. Be prepared to piece a lot of things together yourself.

@Fredchuckdave: Valley of Defilement was still better than Blighttown as it had a lot more character and atmosphere. From the moment you appear there, the stick huts and flies buzzing around give off the feeling that this is a filthy, festering place of decadence inhabited by depraved creatures. Blighttown was just a swamp, with ninjas, and fire dogs, and rock golems. None of it was thematically related - which is an ongoing problem throughout Dark Souls in my opinion.

You bought yourself a world of happiness!