***Spoiler-Free Review***
Dark Souls is by far, the most immersive, addictive, and well-rounded RPG I have played in many years. I recommend true RPG afficionados to play it. That being said here is a brief run-down of the most common quesions I have received from early adopters:

-The Difficulty -
While it is a game that is willing to punish the player, it does not do so unfairly. If you are the kind of player who expects to run headlong into an ambush of 12 undead skeletons and live to tell the tale, this is not the game for you. You gain no special status by being the player, other than your ability to learn. If you like that, you will LOVE this game. If you dislike having to learn how to play a game properly, you will dislike this game. It is that simple. The immense sense of accomplishment you gain from learning more about this game is what keeps players coming back again and again.

- Level Design -
Dark Souls understands something that I think Bethesda has missed with Skyrim, and that is that the immensity of a map does not equate to content. Dark souls is by no means a monster of a game, but the number of things to do and places to explore is quite overwhelming. Every nook and cranny of the game is jam-packed with new characters, invisible walls, diverse weapons, and extensions of the storyline. Another thing that is to be applauded is the masterful connectivity between areas. You may not know where you are until you find a shortcut to some previous area you had been. Learning about these shortcuts makes the map a bit easier to traverse, but also puts on display the genius of the game designers. Everything is connected and makes perfect geographical sense. The use of depth to create distance and elevators to reduce it was a stroke of pure genius. It makes it all the more satisfying to travel to an area using the shortcut you found.

- The Story -
There is as much story in Dark Souls as you want there to be. That is not cryptic language or market-speak either. If you so wish, you can completely ignore the story of Dark Souls and kill everything in the game. For a lore-lover like myself, that would be a travesty. Through dialogue of the NPCs as well as item descriptions, you can gain insight into this deep, rich, and intriguing universe full of betrayals, discovery, wonder, and of course darkness. Many of the NPCs who aid you in battle have motivations, hopes, and backstories of their own which give them reasons to help you along in your quest. Discovering these relationships and motivations is part of Dark Souls' charm.

- The Combat -
Dark Souls uses a very deceptively simple combat system. Without going into too much detail, melee combat consists of timed attacks and blocking as well as some critical attacks, while the various magics are mediated through their respective "wands". When you kill enemies, you acquire souls, the world's currency. These can be used for leveling up, buying items at vendors, or improving items at blacksmiths. Dark Souls rewards players greatly for specializing early, but does not punish those who choose to spread their experience points around. Upgrading weapons and armor encourages you to try many different configurations to find the one that suits you as well as the different enemies you are fighting. For example, you may want to have high fire-resistance for a dragon fight, if you intend to take the flames head on. Another major factor is that Dark Souls contains dynamic weight for your character. Want to wear 120 lbs of armor? That's fine, but you will have to accept that your character is going to move around like a sloth until they are strong enough to move around in it comfortably. All of these factors combined make battles in Dark Souls different every time you play them.

- The Bottom Line -
So is Dark Souls good? I would go beyond saying Dark Souls is good. It is masterfully simple, rewardingly addictive, and unbelievably rich. If any game this decade was worth full retail, it is this one. And you won't even have to pay that anymore! So buy it!

[b][u]***Spoiler-Free Review***[/u][/b] Dark Souls is by far, the most immersive, addictive, and well-rounded RPG I have played in many years. I recommend true RPG afficionados to play it. That being said here is a brief run-down of the most common quesions I have received from early adopters: [u]-The Difficulty -[/u] While it is a game that is willing to punish the player, it does not do so unfairly. If you are the kind of player who expects to run headlong into an ambush of 12 undead skeletons and live to tell the tale, this is not the game for you. You gain no special status by being the player, other than your ability to learn. If you like that, you will LOVE this game. If you dislike having to learn how to play a game properly, you will dislike this game. It is that simple. The immense sense of accomplishment you gain from learning more about this game is what keeps players coming back again and again. [u]- Level Design - [/u] Dark Souls understands something that I think Bethesda has missed with Skyrim, and that is that the immensity of a map does not equate to content. Dark souls is by no means a monster of a game, but the number of things to do and places to explore is quite overwhelming. Every nook and cranny of the game is jam-packed with new characters, invisible walls, diverse weapons, and extensions of the storyline. Another thing that is to be applauded is the masterful connectivity between areas. You may not know where you are until you find a shortcut to some previous area you had been. Learning about these shortcuts makes the map a bit easier to traverse, but also puts on display the genius of the game designers. Everything is connected and makes perfect geographical sense. The use of depth to create distance and elevators to reduce it was a stroke of pure genius. It makes it all the more satisfying to travel to an area using the shortcut you found. [u]- The Story - [/u] There is as much story in Dark Souls as you want there to be. That is not cryptic language or market-speak either. If you so wish, you can completely ignore the story of Dark Souls and kill everything in the game. For a lore-lover like myself, that would be a travesty. Through dialogue of the NPCs as well as item descriptions, you can gain insight into this deep, rich, and intriguing universe full of betrayals, discovery, wonder, and of course darkness. Many of the NPCs who aid you in battle have motivations, hopes, and backstories of their own which give them reasons to help you along in your quest. Discovering these relationships and motivations is part of Dark Souls' charm. [u]- The Combat - [/u] Dark Souls uses a very deceptively simple combat system. Without going into too much detail, melee combat consists of timed attacks and blocking as well as some critical attacks, while the various magics are mediated through their respective "wands". When you kill enemies, you acquire souls, the world's currency. These can be used for leveling up, buying items at vendors, or improving items at blacksmiths. Dark Souls rewards players greatly for specializing early, but does not punish those who choose to spread their experience points around. Upgrading weapons and armor encourages you to try many different configurations to find the one that suits you as well as the different enemies you are fighting. For example, you may want to have high fire-resistance for a dragon fight, if you intend to take the flames head on. Another major factor is that Dark Souls contains dynamic weight for your character. Want to wear 120 lbs of armor? That's fine, but you will have to accept that your character is going to move around like a sloth until they are strong enough to move around in it comfortably. All of these factors combined make battles in Dark Souls different every time you play them. [u]- The Bottom Line - [/u] So is Dark Souls good? I would go beyond saying Dark Souls is good. It is masterfully simple, rewardingly addictive, and unbelievably rich. If any game this decade was worth full retail, it is this one. And you won't even have to pay that anymore! So buy it!