Screenshots & trailers
What players say
Why the number is what it is: aspect mentions counted across 392 sampled Steam reviews (362 positive / 30 negative), recent and most-helpful. Plain keyword counting, fully reproducible; nothing here is written by a machine.
What positive reviews talk about
- World & exploration8% mention it
- Story & writing6% mention it
- Combat5% mention it
- Visuals & art4% mention it
What negative reviews complain about
- Story & writing13% mention it
- Combat10% mention it
- Controls & UI10% mention it
Satisfaction by hours played
Same score, different games: see how sentiment holds up the longer people play.
Under 5h
77%
31 reviews
5-15h
79%
47 reviews
15-40h
95%
115 reviews
40-100h
96%
139 reviews
100h+
98%
60 reviews
Review sentiment over time
Weekly positive-review rate (green) and review volume (bars). Dashed lines mark significant patches; the amber line is the start of the current scoring window. Hover the dots to see what drove a dip or a jump.
How this score was computed
The VGC Score is a weighted blend on a press-comparable 0-100 quality scale. Steam approval rates are first calibrated (95% positive on Steam ≈ 89.5 quality, since Steam approval skews high). Press and tracked creator reviews each count ~2x a player review and share one cap against player evidence (creator buy/skip calls pool into an approval rate, calibrated like Steam approval); all-time sentiment is capped and halved (it's context, not verdict); reviews of the current build carry the most weight when a fresh patch anchors the window; and a 'typical game' prior keeps small samples from pegging the scale. Because press reviews and Metacritic user aggregates describe the launch build, their weight decays as the game ages (3-year half-life after a 1-year grace). That's how a game that launched rough can outgrow its old reception once updates win players over. Reviews under 2h playtime (the refund window), non-Steam activations, and free copies are downweighted.
| Component | Positive | Quality (0-100) | Weight (pseudo-reviews) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Press reviews (OpenCritic) | – | 84 | 37 |
| All-time Steam reviews | 92% | 87 | 1190 |
| Metacritic user ratings | – | – | 0 |
| Post-patch Steam reviews (trust-weighted) | 92% | 86 | 306 |
| Calibration prior (typical game) | – | 72 | 50 |
Scoring window: last 30 days (no significant patch detected) · 300 reviews sampled · 874 total reviews in window · weighted 214.4 up / 18.1 down · computed 1h ago · full methodology →
Press & Creators reviews (99)
Individual verdicts from outlets we track: scored reviews first, most trusted outlets first among them. The small badge is each outlet's trust score: how well its scoring history aligns with players.
- 90
“Dark Souls Remastered is a genre's classic at its best and the real "Must Buy" for all fans of the series. The same masterpiece, but more beautiful.”
read full review ↗ - 80
“Dark Souls Remastered shows that just as the extra visual definition giveth, it also taketh away.”
read full review ↗ - 100
“From Software and Miyazaki’s triumph with technical upgrades, dedicated servers and the DLC included. There is nothing better.”
read full review ↗ - 80
“Dark Souls: Remastered is not the definitive version of the game, but it's close enough.”
read full review ↗ - 90
“Subtle changes, such as 60fps support on consoles and a better PC version, makes Dark Souls Remastered the definitive version of a classic. Navigating on twisty hallways and cheating death at every step is as fresh as it was back in 2011.”
read full review ↗ - 90
“There’s never been a better time to jump in and play the original Dark Souls. Whether you’ve played it before and want to re-explore the expertly crafted world of Lordran or experience it for the first time. It’s hard to improve on something that was already so praised but with some visual, performance and quality of life improvements the team at QLOC that handled the remaster have managed to do so while still remaining faithful to what made the game great in the first place. While some of the in game assets are beginning to show their age and there isn’t anything new in the game content-wise for those that have already played through the game (possibly numerous times) it seems the true goal for this release was to make it accessible to those with current generation consoles and improve the performance. And that they’ve well and truly nailed.”
read full review ↗ - 90
“Overall, Dark Souls Remastered gets a 9/10, it revives the 7-year-old game from its undead status back into the limelight, even if it didn’t go far from it. The quality of life additions are welcome with no change feeling out of place or unwanted. FPS improvements make the whole experience more enjoyable, with less to blame your death on.”
read full review ↗ - 50
“Given that it’s a remastering, it probably won’t take too long for a cost reduction, and closer to $20 feels much more reasonable given what’s presented here.”
read full review ↗ - 50
“Strictly as a videogame, Dark Souls Remastered is the fantastic original, but with a bunch of welcome updates. Purely as a remaster, however, it's disappointing, to say the least. This had the chance to offer the best 'Souls' title (Bloodborne excluded), while also adding improvements from newer instalments - instead, it's just a patch/visual upgrade, and a low effort one at that. Plus, the PC version is currently the buggiest one.”
read full review ↗ - 90
“If you've grown a sudden fondness for the Souls series thanks to recent games and have yet to play Dark Souls, you are severely missing out. Dark Souls: Remastered will test the player in every respect, just like it did when it was first released. This is a genuine classic that deserves to be revisited every few years. If a player new to the series were to ask me whether they should play this first, I would say no - leave the best for last.”
read full review ↗ - 90
“Dark Souls Remastered is an excellent remaster of a standout entry in the Souls franchise. Those who played the original will feel right at home, and will really appreciate the visual and technical improvements, particularly to Blight Town, which now runs at a butter smooth 60 frames-per-second. However, those that weren't there at the beginning may not appreciate the inferior visuals and general jankiness that later entries have all but ironed out.”
read full review ↗ - 90
“It feels odd to say that a video game pushed me to my limits, but as a relatively calm personality I experienced some emotions I haven't felt since my teenage years. I haven't broken a controller since an infamous late night with my Nintendo 64, but on a few occasions playing Dark Souls Remastered I came close to crushing my Joy-Con between my fingers. Not everyone is going to find the soul-crushing difficulty as therapeutic, but amidst the rollercoaster of rage, frustration and depression, I learned the importance of perseverance and patience, and just how good it feels to accomplish something that you once thought impossible.”
read full review ↗
GameMAG
Slant Magazine
Jump Dash Roll
Gadgets 360
Hu3br
ani-game.com
Invision Community
VGChartz
Cubed3
Too Much Gaming
Push Square
NintendoWorldReport…and 87 more tracked reviews.