The idea of making this thread came by after talking a bit to Kupomogli about this game, watching some info about Scholar of the First Sin and overall being extremely hyped for Bloodborne.

Come to think about it, I've always had a fond memory of Dark Souls. I picked it up after reading things about Demon's Souls (couldn't play it at the time since I only had a 360), and without any pretentions or preconceived ideas (other than "I'm supposed to die a lot"), I started playing it, and inmediately loved it. Loved everything about it; the atmosphere, the gameplay, the lore behind items and the world itself and the messages on the ground. It's hard to describe for me how much joy I had playing it, whether it was being frustrated or conquering a boss and exploding with joy; but I just couldn't put it down. At times, I find myself replaying this game over and over (I think I have over 300 hours at it), and even when I have pretty much everything memorized, I still fail at times, which push me forward to go back again and conquer an specific area or boss.

And that being said, regarding memorizing, Dark Souls has the best dungeon design ever conceived as well.; at least, in my opinion. I have the map imprinted into my mind, and I remember every single enemy placement, every single secret area and every single item position. It just happened naturally, but I'd say this is the only time I've experienced something like this playing a videogame. For me, even with its flaws, Dark Souls is pure perfection; a tribute to gaming in general, an ode to amazing singleplayer experiences and a great multiplayer game as well. You might think I exaggerate, but this game inspired in a way very few games have been capable of.

As I said, though, the game has flaws. On the technical aspect, the game can be very bad at times (I'm looking at you Blighttown); some specific moments can be pretty cheap, especially the first time you're playing it, and the fact that the game forces you to die halfway through, during Duke's Archives, without any warning (with very, very low chances of you making it back to recover your body and your souls, so they're pretty much gone) was a dumb decision.

I often hear people saying Demon's Souls or Dark Souls 2 is much better than this. I can respect that, just like I can respect people disliking the Souls franchise altogether for the philosophy it portraits. But for me...there will be nothing that comes close to this, especially now when I'm tainted with nostalgia. I'm extremely hyped for Bloodborne, though, and if everything turns out right, it could dethrone Dark Souls in perfection. Time will tell.

Any plans to play Demon Souls? You really should give it a try if you get the chance!

People say Dark Souls 2 is better than Dark Souls? I thought Dark Souls 2 was a disappointment to some. Also, I've only ever heard people argue that Demon's Souls is better.

I should edit OP. I have beaten Demon's Souls, almost platinume'd it. It's an amazing experience as well.

Oooh the plot thickens....

So you prefer Dark Souls?

Indeed. I found Dark Souls to be a much better experience altogether; although I don't want to dismiss Demon's Souls success by wording it like that. After all, Demon's Souls is better than the 95% of the games out there.

Well, it's understandable, it is your first soul game. The thing that you felt with dark souls were the same thing that I felt with Demon souls since it was my first souls game. After reading a lot that you would die countless time, that only motivated me to tried a new type of game never experienced before. I played demon souls over and over again, couldn't stop playing it. When I played Dark souls, felt that it was a good game but not at the same level as Demon Souls, maybe because I already knew how to play the game, so I didn't find it that difficult. The struggle was nowhere near what I had with Demon Souls.

I feel the same about the game. I only played the game once but I spent almost 100 hours on it. I agree about the excellent dungeon design, I loved how the entire world was connected, it gave the game a cohesive world.

It's one of my favourite games of all time ( I think I rated it second in my top 50 list) and I can't uderstand why people like Demon Souls or Dark Souls 2 more. Those two lacked the cohesive world and they didn't feel as good as the first Dark Souls, I can't put it into words but I just know it's better.

The thing with me about Demon's Souls was not the fact that I had prior experience with Souls and therefore things got easier; that's something I can understand, despite having core differences both games (By the time I got to Dark Souls 2, I didn't have that much problems beating it, to be honest). My thing about Demon's Souls is that, while the lore feels more powerful than Dark Souls, its dungeon design wasn't nowhere as brilliant in my eyes, and ending bosses were way too flashy but with zero substance (not all of them, mind you). You kill a certain boss by pressing two buttons, then slashing him once when he's down, for example. There's another one that commits suicide in front of your eyes. That's awesome from a lore-perspective, but not so much when it translates into a turn-off when playing.

I approve of this 100%. Other than technical flaws, Dark Souls is one of my favourite games ever. It's a bit strange too, when I first played Dark Souls, I got to the Undead Burg and just put the game down, and for a year I didn't touch the game.

Afterwards I started to get into discussions about the lore of the game and I started watching a bunch of videos about the lore along with PVP, so I created a new character and gave it another shot. The game started off kind of slow but I was riding on all the excitement from the lore and videos but once I got to Sen's Fortress and Arnor Londo, wow. At that moment I just fell in love with the game. The rest of the game along with DLC was some of the most fun I had in a video game since finishing MGS3. I really liked Dark Souls, and I'm hoping to play the other Souls games sometime soon but next up right now is Bloodborne.