Recent reviews by cruZak

Really liked the game. Has some minor flaws, which didn't bother me all that much.
Overall: 4.5/5

Great:

• SciFi Setting
  
• Design
  
• Soundtrack
  
• Gameplay (the "glitch" mechanic is very interesting and versatile)
  
• Lots of weapons to choose from
  
• Replay value (speedruns, secrets and achievements)

Could be improved:

• Amount of bosses (two are "non"-bosses and one is optional)
  
• Story delivery (mostly dialog, cutscenes and notes, would have liked the environment to tell me more, like the one wheelchair room)
  
• Level design (there are few spots where you can get stuck and don't know what to do)

Negatives:

• I got none

One of the best games I've played in the last decade. The game is most commonly known only for its difficulty, altough not entirely untrue it's much more rewarding than any other recent game. The main point of Dark Souls is not being difficult or to torture the player, it provides you with constant challenges, which is why it's so much more satisfying when you actually achieve anything in the game.
But the most I value in Dark Souls is that its developers respect YOU, the player. In these times most video games do everything they can to prevent the player from failing or not understanding by explaining every obvious story plot or making the player undergo excessive tutorials. The people behind Dark Souls don't expect you to fail, they know you will fail at some or many points in the game, but they trust in you to overcome whatever they can throw at you. That's what makes the game special.
Dark Souls makes you think before you act in various ways.
The story you are told to is very compressed and untransparent compared to today's standards. Cutscenes or given tasks may not provide enough information to understand fully what's going on, but the environment tells you everything you need. By reading lore provided by countless of item descriptions or simply by talking to the inhabitants of Lordran. On the other hand some of these sources might be deceiving you for their personal agenda. The Lore leaves much space for interpretation and there's lots of it out there worth reading/watching.
Another example are the enemies you will face. Would you charge into any enemy in real life, possibly risking your life? I hope not. In real life as in Dark Souls this course of action most definitely gets you killed. Trial and error can be a successfull way to proceed in the game, but patience and observing enemy behaviour is more likely to get you further.

There are many more reasons to give this game a try, but the main one I am trying to get across is:
Let the game challenge you!

Regards cruZak

Fast paced and beautiful game. Play it through every now and then. Definetly one of my all time favourites!!