Scuigi

I know that there's no way I'd finish Dark Souls without a guide, so I have no problem with using Google/gamefaqs while I play. That said, the game is taking me forever to make progress even when I know what I'm supposed to do, because I'm still tense, inching my way around every corner with my shield up.

I use guides mostly to compensate for a poor spatial sense, because I get lost pretty quickly in the majority of games. For boss fights, I'll look up strategies after my 30th or so death.

Am I missing out on some discoveries by reading about what's going on in each level? Yes. Unfortunately, without guides I know that I'd reach my frustration limit and stop playing long before I managed to finish it on my own, so it's a pretty straightforward choice for me.

I like being able to see how far I am in a game, but it shouldn't be displayed on the first menu or the savegame screen, etc. It's best to have that kind of information in the Options menu or something similar, so if/when I want to see those kind of stats, they're there, but they're not visible otherwise.