Well, I respect his opinion a lot. But I simple chalk it up to him not wanting me to creep up further on his gamescore.

Game is downloading.

A controller isn't mandatory on PC anymore since there are very good mouse fixes out now. Mods have pretty much fixed every major annoyance in the game (FPS, Resolution, Text, Mouse/Keyboard, Key/Button Display ect).

Anything that might affect the multiplayer is explained in the INI that controls all the settings of DSfix. I haven't heard about any bans related to it though, does anyone have some reports on this?

And yes, Dark Souls is a very fun game as long dying over and over again in a game doesn't break your motivation to keep playing. Be warned though that the multiplayer on the PC is filled with tons of cheaters - and I don't think that this is ever going to change.

I'm not sure if it's changing the FPS cap to 60 but if you run at 60 the engine will run twice as fast, possibly making the game even harder. Unintentional bugs may appear as well especially in multiplayer.

I would recommend the resolution fix at least and playing with one's favourite gamepad. Fix here: Dark Souls Fix

I don't know, Dark Souls is a game I really want to like... but so far I have been unable too.

I "get" what they were trying to do and it's interesting for some time, I like the combat system, but I can't help but feel bored very rapidly after some play time. I guess I prefer RPGs with more "involving" plot, here you read about the plot, you never feel like you are actually part of it. (But I only played the first 10 hours or so, maybe it's different later.)

If it's ever released on GoG I might give it another try but for now I pass.

I just started playing this the other day, myself. So far I really like the combat. It feels like it has weight to it. The setting and the way the story is left up to the player to find is something I also find appealing.

I'm having a hard time deciding if I should play it online, or use an offline GFWL profile for it, however. I like some of the online aspects, the notes, seeing the ghosts of other players, but at the same time have no interest in invasions and being unexpectedly forced into PvP.

The interface menu feels a little awkward to me and I do miss the lack of a pause button, as has been mentioned here in other threads.

Overall, though I'm enjoying the experience even though I'm fairly terrible at the game at this point.

I haven't bought the game yet, I will need a better PC first, but to me this only sounds like a good thing. Far too many games push their generic yada yada stories in my face and I couldn't care less. On the other hand, in the games that have used more subtle ways of storytelling I have usually been much more interested in what is going on. So what if I lose a bit, some mystique is more important than knowing everything the game designers wanted you to know. And often, what my own imagination fills out the blanks with is more interesting than what was really there.
Of course we all are different, but I think far too many players make the games less enjoyable for themselves by looking up "optimal builds", tips and story in FAQ's on the internet. Games aren't made to be played by using FAQ's they are made to be explored. I'm not saying there is anything morally wrong in using a FAQ but perhaps you are spoiling some of the fun you could have had.

I definitely recommend playing online. If oyu don't want to get invaded, simply don't play in body form.

And me. But I suppose it's a bit late to chip my opinion in, so I'll just stand over there.

No, no. I may have expressed myself wrong. I don't have a problem with how the story is told. It's just that in order to fully discover everything this game has to offer, you have to do really obscure stuff, that's never really explained or hinted at.

As an example on your first playthrough you will fail every single NPC storyarc (You'll probably just assume everyone in this game will die), except maybe those that result in the death of the NPC anyways. Because unless you already know what will happen, there's no way you could've known how to prevent it. And even if you do know what'll happen there's still one or two really tricky ones.

The graphics of the game look quite nice from the screenshots I've seen. The environments look good. The characters look a little more realistic than in many other current Western and Japanese fantasy games, but unfortunately they too are hideously deformed like most characters and weapons in fantasy games these days. I get it, it is a fantasy game, but that doesn't mean that everyone must look stupid and unrealistic. How about trying to make a world that tries to be internally consistent and realistic with your art design? Instead it seems like the guiding principles is to make the heroes and villains seem more powerful by giving them smaller heads and bigger weapons and the monsters more horrible by going against nature as much as possible.

You don't see this crap in older games so much so I think it must be a recent influence from Blizzard, anime and the other successful games that follows the same formula.

I'm not against using unrealistic design in general, I like the surreal, seeing the world warped through the mind of a person, art imitation like Apotheon and Incredipede but I really dislike the generic World of Warcraft rip-off you often see in Western fantasy games. Since the character design in this game is only 50% despicable, +++ to the developers.

You don't see it in older games because the graphics were old enough that people were ugly for other reasons. Yeah, Dark Souls does have pretty ugly faces, but what is with people saying that stylized graphics a Warcraft rip-off? How does Dark Souls look like Warcraft at all? Honestly, I think it's just a case of bad facegen (see also: every gamebryo game). And Dark Souls does a pretty good job of providing a gamut of weapons. Yeah, there're some goofy giant swords, but there are also plenty of normal-looking weapons you can be equally effective with.

And, although Dark Souls tilted more towards traditional than Demon's Souls, the enemy design is still really nothing like Warcraft.

Sure. I mean, it's not the kind of game where you can pop in for 15 minutes and then pop out, but you don't need to spend 6 hours a day playing or anything.

I dunno, have you ever seen most monster avatars in old school dungeon crawlers?

I agree that some bosses are a bit overcompensating with their weapon size, and you can do the same sometimes, but overall i think the style is very balanced.

If you have the patience to accept that on some segments you won't get anything back for sinking 2 hours into them, except getting to know the mechanics better, then yes.