Dark Souls: Remastered
QLOC · RPG, ARPG, Action
Overview
Then, there was fire. Re-experience the critically acclaimed, genre-defining game that started it all. Beautifully remastered, return to Lordran in stunning high-definition detail running at 60fps.
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Dark Souls Remastered includes the main game plus the Artorias of the Abyss DLC.
Key features:
- Deep and Dark Universe
- Each End is a New Beginning
- Gameplay Richness and Possibilities
- Sense of Learning, Mastering and Accomplishment
- The Way of the Multiplayer (up to 6 players with dedicated servers)
From the game's Steam store page.
THE GAMEQ VERDICT9,999 reviews analyzed
What players are actually saying
1. Summary
Players treat Dark Souls: Remastered as a classic that still holds up. The praise centers on Lordran itself: shortcuts and elevators that keep looping back to Firelink Shrine, a bleak and lonely atmosphere, and lore pieced together from item descriptions and sparse dialogue. Reviewers write about finally beating a boss or an area that stopped them for hours, and several name the included Artorias of the Abyss DLC as some of the best content in the game. Some say it changed how they see games, and a few credit it with getting them through hard times.
Fans still list flaws, and the same three come back. The controls feel slow by modern standards (four-way rolling when locked on, stiff animations, a fickle camera). The second half feels rushed, with Lost Izalith and the Bed of Chaos boss as the usual examples. And the walk from the nearest bonfire back to a boss is long, made worse by fast travel unlocking only around the midpoint. The remaster gets a cooler reception than the game: players welcome the stable 60 fps and working online, but some veterans say it changed little, made the lighting worse and replaced the delisted Prepare to Die Edition at a higher price. A third of the negative longer reviews compare it with Elden Ring, Dark Souls III or other later FromSoftware games, often to call it slow and dated next to them.
2. What keeps coming up
What players praise
An interconnected world that loops back on itselfHigh
Reviewers describe the moment an elevator from the Undead Parish drops them back at Firelink Shrine, or a door they opened hours earlier turns out to join two distant areas. The world or level design is praised in 23% of the longer reviews, and several say no later FromSoftware game matched it. "The shortcuts are the best in video game history," one wrote; another said "nothing will ever beat that first time you end up back to firelink by accident and hear the music again." Several tie this to the lack of early fast travel, which forces you to learn the map. The praise usually comes with a limit: the best of it is in the first half, and several reviewers say the world stops connecting this way once warping opens up.
Atmosphere, lore and musicHigh
The lore or story comes up in 21% of the longer reviews and the atmosphere in 12%. Players describe a dying world told through ruins, item descriptions and a few NPCs, and the contrast between grim areas like Blighttown and the arrival in Anor Londo. Solaire, Siegmeyer and Sif are favorites, and fans single out Gwyn's piano theme. Reviewers also like that the music is used sparingly, mostly at bosses and at Firelink. The indirect storytelling does not work for everyone: some say they only understood the story after reading item descriptions closely or watching lore videos on YouTube.
The reward of overcoming itMedium
The loop players describe is die, learn, return and finally win, and 11% of the longer reviews call the game rewarding or satisfying. Some say they quit on their first attempt years ago, often at the Asylum Demon, the Taurus Demon or the Bell Gargoyles, and loved it when they came back. A smaller group writes about the game helping them through depression or a rough patch, using the "don't you dare go hollow" line as a motto.
Artorias of the Abyss DLCMedium
Artorias, Manus and Kalameet are named as the best fights in the game by reviewers who played the DLC, which 9% of the longer reviews mention, almost all warmly. Some say it rescues the weaker late game: "the dlc redeems the second half and surpasses the first half." The catch is getting there. Reviewers say the way in is so obscure that they needed a guide ("The way to start the DLC, you'd never find out on your own"), and some missed it entirely before the game moved them into New Game Plus.
Builds, weapons and replay valueMedium
Reviewers enjoy the freedom to play as a heavy knight, a sorcerer, a pyromancer or a naked club-wielder, say most weapon classes can carry a run, and replay with new builds. Builds or playstyles come up in 8% of the longer reviews, and 11% talk about chasing achievements or a platinum. Balance draws some criticism: a few powerful early weapons, like the Black Knight drops or the Zweihander, make much of the game easy, and there is no way to respec.
Where players are split
Hard, fair, or just tediousHigh
Difficulty comes up in 36% of the longer reviews, and reviewers disagree about what it even is. Fans call it hard but fair and say deaths are their own fault. Another group says the reputation is overblown: the bosses are slow and often beaten in a few tries, especially by anyone coming from later games, and the real challenge is the areas, the gank fights and the drops. One fan who had been afraid to try it for years found it "more unforgiving and punishing than it is hard" and enjoyed it once used to the mechanics. Critics go further and call it unfair, cheap or BS. Deaths from falling, slipping off ledges and the Anor Londo archers are a running complaint.
Bosses: iconic, gimmicky or too easyHigh
Ornstein and Smough, Artorias, Sif, Quelaag and Gwyn are named as all-time fights in the 27% of longer reviews that discuss the bosses, and the boss music is praised alongside them. Players also call many base-game bosses simple, slow or reused, point to Demon Firesage and the repeated Asylum Demon variants, and say Gwyn falls to parries. A few find Ornstein and Smough unfair rather than iconic, and the Capra Demon's small arena with two dogs is a recurring grievance.
Starting here versus coming from Elden Ring or Dark Souls IIIHigh
Comparisons are common: 25% of the longer reviews set the game against Elden Ring, Dark Souls III, Sekiro or Bloodborne. Some newcomers from those games say they were surprised by how much they liked it and prefer its world and pace. Others find the step back hard: "After playing Dark Souls 3 and especially Elden Ring, Dark Souls 1 feels very slow and clunky," one recommending review began, before saying the gameplay felt normal after an adjustment period. Reviewers argue both ways about where to begin: some insist on starting here to appreciate the series, others warn that it makes a poor first impression of the genre.
Clunky, dated controls: charm or dealbreakerHigh
The specific complaints repeat: rolling locked to four directions while targeting, no way to move while drinking Estus, jump and roll sharing a button by default, weapons bouncing off walls in narrow corridors, hits landing through walls, and a camera that fights you in tight spaces. 23% of the longer reviews call the game clunky, janky or dated, or complain about hitboxes, the camera or lock-on, and those complaints appear in 38% of the negative longer reviews. Some positive reviewers say they got used to it within a few hours, and others find the weight and slowness part of the appeal: "It is old, it is sluggish and it is amazing," one short review put it. For the critics it is the reason they quit: "The combat is clunky and gives you the feeling that you're not in control," one negative review said.
Online play: co-op and invasionsMedium
Summoning help, player messages and hearing other players ring the bells are part of the charm for some of the 10% of longer reviews that talk about online play, and the Seamless Co-op mod gets warm mentions from people playing with friends. PvP draws more mixed comments: lag, backstab fishing and low-level twinks invading new players, and some reviewers recommend playing the first run offline.
Cryptic by designMedium
Guides, wikis or not knowing where to go come up in 8% of the longer reviews. Some praise the lack of hand-holding and urge others to play blind. Others list what the game never explains: what humanity and kindling do, how to upgrade Estus, which starting gift matters, how to keep NPCs alive, how to reach the DLC. Reviewers describe killing a merchant by accident, using up the Firekeeper Soul without knowing what it was, or wandering into the Catacombs at the start, and several recommend a light guide for the first run.
The remaster itselfMedium
Players who knew the original PC port praise native 60 fps, Blighttown no longer crawling ("Finally can experience the peak of Blighttown above 30fps"), working online with password matchmaking, and small conveniences like using several items at once. In all, 8% of the longer reviews weigh the remaster against the Prepare to Die Edition, and a few Steam Deck players report it running smoothly. The critics say it changed too little: lighting that looks washed out or blue on metal, older bugs left in, no frame rate above 60, and none of the late-game problems fixed. One negative review from a player who knew the original called it "a 40 dollar Blighttown framerate patch with lighting changes", and some veterans are angry that the cheaper original is no longer sold on Steam.
What frustrates players
A rushed second half and the Bed of ChaosMedium
The second half, a rushed or unfinished feel, Lost Izalith, the Demon Ruins or the Bed of Chaos come up in 16% of the longer reviews. Reviewers describe copy-pasted enemies (packs of Taurus Demons in the Demon Ruins), reused bosses, the darkness of the Tomb of the Giants and the invisible paths of the Crystal Cave, and say the quality drops after Anor Londo: "the game drops in quality so extremely and dramatically," one wrote, while another scored it "First Half 10/10 and 2nd is around 7/10." The Bed of Chaos alone appears in 6% of the longer reviews, rarely kindly: "That's not a boss fight, it's an instant-death puzzle with a bad camera and a hole in the floor." A minority defend the late game as overhated, and some say the DLC makes up for it.
Runbacks and late fast travelMedium
Complaints about the distance from bonfires to bosses, backtracking, or warping that unlocks only around halfway and covers only some bonfires appear in 9% of the longer reviews, and more often in negative ones. The Four Kings, Seath, Nito, Gwyn and the Bed of Chaos come up as the worst walks, often through respawned enemies that drain Estus before the fight. "The hardest part isn't the boss, it's getting from the bonfire to the boss," one fan wrote, and a short review summed it up as "takes longer running back to bosses then the actual boss fights." Some players defend the design for making the world matter; others install mods that add bonfires or early warping.
Price and the missing originalLow
Price or waiting for a sale comes up in 5% of the longer reviews. Reviewers say a 2011 game should not cost what this one does ("$40 is kind of insane for a game from 2011, remastered or not"), that it rarely gets a deep discount, and that owners of the original got no free upgrade. Several advise buying only on sale; a few say it is worth full price anyway.
PC setup problemsLow
A small group of reviews reports controllers not being detected or dropping inputs ("controllers are very buggy to connect"), awkward mouse and keyboard defaults, crashes on some hardware, audio cutting out after alt-tabbing, and corrupted saves. Two describe the game stuttering if your Steam blocked-players list is long. Players who raise these issues tend to have played far less than the reviewers complaining about grind or cheaters.
Cheaters in online playLow
About 1% of the longer reviews describe hackers invading to kill NPCs and bosses, plant items or corrupt saves, and say the victim can end up soft-banned: "Hackers will invade you in Anor Londo and kill the bosses and your NPCs and completely ruin your save." Their advice is to play offline, back up saves, or use community PvP mods.
Forced New Game Plus and the achievement grindLow
Reviewers say the game moves you straight into New Game Plus after the final boss without warning: "the game will throw you into NG+ immediately after you beat the final boss." That cost some players the DLC or quest endings they had not finished. Achievement hunters single out Knight's Honor as a grind of rare drops and both Artorias greatswords (which share a name); one puts it at two and a half playthroughs at least, and another says it failed to unlock.
3. The player conversation
The tone is affectionate and full of in-jokes. A large share of reviews are one-liners about praising the sun, Solaire, Gwynevere or "plin plin plon", and longer reviews tend to list flaws and forgive them in the same breath; some fans call it a flawed masterpiece. The negative minority is specific: a third of the negative longer reviews measure it against Elden Ring, Dark Souls III or Sekiro, call it dated, slow and tedious, and push back on what they see as nostalgia and "git gud" defensiveness. Some of them still admit the world design is brilliant.
Who raises what follows how far people got. Complaints about controller detection and setup come from players with much less time in the game. The second-half and Bed of Chaos criticism comes from players who reached the late game, and the achievement grind and cheater stories come from players with the most hours, often veterans replaying it on PC for co-op or a platinum. Veterans of the original release are also the main critics of the remaster's lighting and the delisting of the Prepare to Die Edition. Across the weeks covered, the positive share held steady, and the same praise and the same caveats repeat throughout.
4. What the developers could do
- Modernize the core controls in an update. Clunkiness, hitboxes, the camera and lock-on show up in 38% of the negative longer reviews, and the fixes players name are specific: omnidirectional rolling while locked on, separate jump and roll by default, and a less aggressive input buffer.
- Add bonfires or shortcuts before the worst boss runbacks and allow earlier warping. Runbacks come up more often in negative reviews than in positive ones, with the Four Kings, Seath, Nito, Gwyn and the Bed of Chaos as repeat offenders, and players are already installing mods that do exactly this.
- Rework the Bed of Chaos and polish Lost Izalith and the Demon Ruins. 16% of the longer reviews criticize the second half, and the Bed of Chaos alone appears in 6% of the longer reviews, rarely kindly.
- Offer the original lighting as an option and sell Prepare to Die Edition again or bundle it. Veterans say the remaster's lighting flattened the atmosphere and that removing the cheaper original left them paying again for small changes.
- Revisit the price or discount it more often. Price comes up in 5% of the longer reviews, with players saying a 2011 game at full price is hard to justify and advising others to wait for a sale.
- Explain core systems in game without adding hand-holding. Reviewers want short in-game explanations of humanity, kindling, Estus upgrades and the Firekeeper Soul, and a clearer hint toward the DLC, which several say they could only find with a guide.
- Stop cheaters from ruining saves and getting victims banned. Few reviews raise it, but those that do describe invaders killing NPCs or planting items, followed by the host being flagged.
- Ask before starting New Game Plus and fix the PC rough edges. Players lost DLC and quests to the automatic New Game Plus, and others report controllers not detected, audio dropping after alt-tab and stutter tied to a long Steam blocked list.
