Dark Souls is not just a game. It's an experience: an immersive, immensively difficult but rewarding experience offering endless possibilities in terms of play style and character building.

Many people are turned off by how difficult the game is. The game will punish you like no other. It will laugh in your face time and time again. It will make you question your life choices. But fellow gamer, THAT is what makes Dark Souls, well, Dark Souls.

Don't expect this game to hold your hand for you like every other rpg out there. There's no mini map or markers that tell you where to go. No journal or questbook to keep track of progress. It's up to you to figure it out and find your way. Listening to subtle "hints" in npc dialog, reading item descriptions, and reading messages left by other players are just a few ways to help. But many times you must simply venture into the unknown with no clues as to what you may find, what enemies you may face, what traps may lie on your path, or who may invade you at any second.

The level of difficulty and mastery of skills required in Dark Souls is what makes it such a rewarding experience. Finally defeating a boss on your 20th attempt, after you've memorized all their move sets and figured out all their weaknesses is a glorious feeling. The sense of accomplishment you get after a boss fight is the absolute most rewarding experience. You come out of each fight a better player, humbled, and ready for the next fight.

There's no other game I could recommend more than Dark Souls. Definitely one of the games every gamer should play at some point.

Hope this review was helpful. Be safe, friend. Don't you dare go hollow.