Dark Souls Port

There is a mod to add options not included with the official release, and a gamepad is the preferred option for controlling the game, but its still good.

However, if you have a PS3, get it there along with Demon's Souls.

It's a pretty bad port that can be made into an average port with a mod. I don't know anyone who would think it's a good port...

Dark Souls is great on the PC, as long as you 1) install DSfix and 2) play with a controller (mouse support isn't that good). The port isn't so much "bad" (buggy, unoptimized, etc.) as it is just a straight bare-bones port of the console version, so normal things us PC gamers expect (like... the ability to render in different resolutions) just aren't there. After dsfix, I'd say it's the best version - higher resolution, support for 60 fps, better performance - your game isn't gonna drop to 15fps in blighttown, etc. like it does on the consoles, provided your PC isn't ancient. The worst thing about it is the game relies on GFWL, which is kinda crappy and unless the devs patch it out, the game is going to be crippled once microsoft shuts down the service sometime next year.

It's a bad port. That's why you use DSfix and a controller. Problem solved, enjoy a great game.

The port is awful. No question. That doesn't change the quality of the game. The game is awesome. However, having to use DSfix and a controller mean that the game was not ported to PC very well. Imagine if a game was ported to Playstation from the XBox and it required you to use an XBox controller and you had to mod your playstation to allow that. It's that shitty of a port. I still recommend the game though.

It is a bad port if you run it vanilla, but there is DSFix that fixes majority of issues and if you for some weird reason decide to play with keyboard and mouse, there is a fix for that as well, but I can't tell you the name of the fix from the top of my head. It is heavily recommended to play with a controller though and I personally would not recommend the game if you don't have one.

Ironically it's a way too good port.
It's at most a conversion 1:1, with the same bugs and slow downs on some places (hi there blightown, how are you today?).
Playing it vanilla can be a bad choose indeed, DSFix makes everything better (well not EVERYTHING).
And buy a pad, if you don't have a pad you should buy it.

A bad port, but with DsFix and a gamepad it turns into a very good port.

edit : I mean a very good game.

With DSFix and gamepad it's a good port. Definitely a game that you need to play with gamepad otherwise you'll just break your fingers. I really love the game but I can't buy it at Steam because of stupid region restrictions. God fucking damn it...

As a keyboard/mouse only gamer, you guys haven't mentioned DSMFix yet. It's a thing but I haven't been able to test it due to GFWL problems.

Whoever says it's a good port is retarded. It's a bad port, right from a get-go glance. It's not even debatable in the slightest.

It doesn't matter if there is a super DMSFIX1000XXXXXXXXXXXXXX. It's a fucking bad port, has been, and will always be.

You might want to wait to get it - Microsoft hasn't said whether or not they'll patch it to work after they deactivate GFWL.

Totally not a bad port. Actually is a crappy port.
but with dsfix+dsmfix is awsome, buy it. every cents is worth :P

Is the DSFix mod for steam, or can it be used for retail versions?

It's an awful port, but the game is so awesome that you overlook the flaws, instal the DSFix and enjoy it anyway. But as your question is whether it is a bad o a good port, it's clearly a bad port.

Your mileage may vary. It's been accused of being a bad port, but there are issues on consoles too. It's more of a question of optimization, and the answer is no, it's poorly optimized.
DSFix makes most of the issues much better; you can replace textures, change the internal render resolution (and make it look nice, if your computer can handle it), and unlock the framerate (beware of ladders).
I recommend a controller, but there are fixes that make mouse almost bearable.
It's totally worth it though. Totally worth it.
If you want to play multiplayer, look into DSCFix.

Well, just because something is a "bad port", does not mean it isn't better than the console version, especially when modded. Dark Souls is great on PC when you add the mods/fixes to let you run it in your native resolution (ex: 1080p), as it won't go higher than the console's 720p setting. There is also one to unlock the 30 FPS console framerate limit as well as some high resolution textures for things, custom HUD fix, HD fonts, etc. It's a direct console port but you can make it highly enjoyable and it will be better to play than the console version, in my opinion. All you need is a nice controller.

I've heard that it's a bad port. But I've also heard that people don't get framerate drops in Blighttown.

It is far from a good PC version, but I think a lot of people judge it unfairly.

This is a port made in response to an online petition, so the fact it was made at all is absolutely astonishing. However, as a result it was done on a very limited budget, with a very tight schedule (only about 6 months start to finish) and the developers were not able to hire any assistance for it. At the time it was the first attempt that studio had made at a large PC release and it shows. It is very, very rough around the edges and lacks a lot of features PC users might expect standard from a game.

That having been said, the developers were very upfront about the problems. They talked clearly about resolution restrictions and GFWL implementation and all sorts of stuff. Previews and Reviews were not screened or put under embargo to hide the problems.

It isn't a great port, but it was probably the best port they could have done considering their restrictions and they tried to make sure it wasn't a surprise to anyone. People who didn't bother to read up on it before hand only have themselves to blame.

Finally, yes; DSfix solved a lot of the problems with the game in a relatively quick amount of time, but DSFix is a mod. If it only works for 80% of users, that is fine. It doesn't have to report to shareholders, it doesn't have to issue refunds or recalls, it doesn't have to worry about reputation or anything else. On the other hand even a 5% failure rate can be unacceptable for certain publishers so they went with an option that looked like ass and had significant problems with keyboard and mouse controls, but wasn't inherently broken.

With the fix mentioned here and a gamepad (preferably the X360 pad) it absolutely worth it :) It can be concidered a bad port by our masterrace-standards, but its still a great game and better than the console versions.

Can't think of anything to add, everyone's explained the situation.

Unmodded, the PC version of Dark Souls is going to look and play just like the console version, with the only bonus features being a joke keyboard+mouse control, and the additional layer of misery that is GFWL. And when GFWL dies next year, what happens? Will you at least still get the single-player experience, like you'd get right now with no network connection? Or does the game stop working? From Software haven't said anything about the subject, you're welcome to speculate since we're all just guessing here. :(

With mods (dsfix, dscfix, etc.) and a controller the PC version looks and plays better than the console version. You can have your native resolution 60 fps everywhere, prettied up textures, AA, AO, blahblah etc.

Now, if you're curious about the quality of the game, rather than the quality of the port, I don't know what to say. Hmm, counting all the games I've played since the 1970s, it's probably one of my top 5 ever. Don't ask for a list. :)

The port is bare bones and the devs admit it beign like that as they had no experience in porting. So no, it is not a good port it is actually terrible. Luckily it can be modded and fixed for the most part.

It's better than the console version if you run it properly (with DSFix) and use an Xbox 360 controller.

It's a bad port that is easily fixed with a 3rd party patch, and has mods available to improve the play/gfx further. Go here:
http://www.nexusmods.com/darksouls/mods/top/?

Are you kidding me? No one says it's a good port in their right mind. From Soft even called it "half-assed" themselves . It's a straight port that doesn't take PC into account at all, that's what it is and all it is.