Dark Souls Magazine Reviews

We're really close to Dark Souls' release in Japan, so it's not surprising that From Software's title already received the review treatment a couple of times from magazines in Japan, as NeoGAF reports:
The first review for Dark Soul is on the new Dengeki:

Dark Souls 90/90/95/95

...

Dark Souls Famitsu score: 9/9/9/10

1UP elaborates on why Famitsu gave the title a high score:
"It's a very hardcore dark-fantasy RPG," one reviewer said of Dark Souls, "one that picks up right where Demon's Souls left off. It's role-playing right down to the roots, given that it's all about exploring an unknown world and finding ways to somehow survive enemy attack. The massive field map and powerful enemies serve to rev up both your sense of adventure and your sense of dread."

Another editor wrote about his Dark Souls addiction in a way that a lot of Demon's fanatics would probably commiserate with: "There are very few hints, the monsters are very strong, the game's over if you fall off a cliff, and so on. All the masochistic features of this title are sure to satisfy fans of the previous game. That makes it sound like a bad game, but the sheer happiness you get after the trial-and-error pays off and you overcome the challenge is absolutely impossible to replicate!"

Other reviewers pointed out how much more content there was to this sequel -- and they might be right at that, since developer From Software suggested to Famitsu that a full average playthrough will take approximately 60 hours of play.

One can hope these first positive scores are an indication of a title just as good as its spiritual predecessor.