I haven't played much Dark Souls so that may be a cause for not knowing much about it but it seems the difficulty is through the roof. I suppose if you have patience, dedication and time it's doable as much as any other game. I would also recommend a controller for that game along with and perhaps [url=http://pages.cs.wisc.edu/~petska]MouseFix.

Anyway, my vote goes to DAO UE. It's an excellent modern-day RPG.

Dark Souls for atmosphere. Hard to explain, but there's something very sinister about it - to me, anyway. In a good way. I felt the same way playing its spiritual predecessor, King's Field, all those years ago. Maybe it's because you're alone so much of the time, I don't know. Oh, wait, I just realized - DARK Souls, not Demon's Souls. I haven't played Dark Souls yet. Duh. So anyway, my comment was based on Demon's Souls.

That said, I also love Dragon Age. I'd be hard pressed to pick one over the other.

The ultimate edition of Dragon Age Origins will last you a longgg time , depending on how fast you play through it.
There's always tons of different character combinations and origins to choose from which give a wide variety of dialog and character choices options throughout the game.

That being said, Dark Souls is your choice if you're looking for a darker game. It's definitely a long game in the sense that you'll die.. A lot. Guaranteed. It's definitely not as casual as Dragon Age Origins and that's what makes it a long game in it's own right.

These are my opinions of course, i'd say you can't go wrong with either of them my friend!

For me, I'd go with Dragon Age Origins, and then pick up the Dark Souls when you can.

Well, right now (based also on stuff I've read elsewhere) Dark Souls seems more like the kind of atmosphere I want to experience, yet the control pad thing still has me holding back (plus it's my brithday in January so might manage to sort something regarding that around the time).

I've been wanting to play DA:O for a long time, yet the universe it offers just seems a little bit... dunno... not dark enough (?!). On the other hand I know it's a good value package and will probably like it.

Has anyone any further input - or some other suggestions of stuff thats on a good deal in that price range right now (bearing in mind I have all the D&D games here)?!

Hmmm... edits not going through.

you should seize the opportunity to get dragon age origins: ultimate edition when its available to you its region locked here , over the two i would pick dao , you are looking at over 40 hours of experience without hassles nothing comes close to this bundle.
dark soul is a more brutal game , you must be willing to die a lot to experience it and way less stable than dao: ultimate which is polished and dont forget
almost no drm all you need is a bioware account for the dlc vs gfwl in dark souls

Put your mind to rest. You do not need a controller for the game. I suck at gamepads, I've never owned one. Like I said, just get the mods, you're fine.

Your impressions about atmosphere are right on. Dark Souls is darker, sinister-er, also has a wonderful slogging quality to it - no hope, might as well go on. DA:O is pretty chipper, noble, up-beat, hopeful. Sound like you'll like the former.

I'll put it this way - I listen to drone music! heheh!

Aye, I think so, but then... I'm bloody indescisive! heheh.
might come down to a coin toss!

Ah, yes. DS has also the bloody GFWL and that service will end in june 2014. If the devs won't patch it you might end up needing a bloody crack for your legally obtained game...:(

Gotta love digital distribution. Except GOG, no one seems to do it right...

read this dev interview and see what they describe the game themselves before going for the coin toss, dao is the choice
http://kotaku.com/dark-souls-iis-pc-port-will-be-better-1486815319

Purely pragmatically, Dark Souls appears to be on a general 66% off promo, and it should go even lower, to -75% or maybe even -80%. If you decide on it, wait it out.

As to the pick, I only know something of DA and I don't really consider it dark. More like EA dark :P Both are, as far as I know, superb games, so it would really be up to you to decide what you want to play.

You probably know the DA experience by now: fight starts, game pauses you issue instructions, stuns, AoEs, tank and spank... NWN, KotOR... it's good and fun, and you should know what to expect, really.

DS, might be more unconventional. It's not a genre I'm well-versed in, but it's definitely had my attention. If you're looking for some skill-based combat, rather than spreading points along stats, that would be it.

So really, sit back and just ask yourself "Is this the game I'd like to be playing?"...

Dragon age is almost best game ever.. Dark souls.. well it isn't fun at all. =)

Coming from a person who has both games:

Both games are good in thier own way at what they are, but in terms of being a "Dark Fantasy" Dark Souls (and Demon's Souls) is obviously superior. Dragon Age is sort of a mixture between Game of Thrones (minus the constant swearing) and Lord of the Rings in terms of setting.

Thanks - thats confirmed what I thought on those points.
Exactly what I'm chewing over.
Thing is if dark souls goes to 80% off in the coming days, thats a fair saving on an already decent price too.

I doubt it'll stop working (maybe multiplayer), but yes - you're right about GOG!

Sachys, some TB commentary about DA, if you haven't picked yet:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=ZWTaPt_4hYI#t=773

Since you do not own a controller: Dragon Age.
And that's about the only reason why I would recommend it over Dark Souls. While Dragon Age is great, and many things that I won't go into here speak for it as a great game.
But those two games are completely different.

Dark Souls is the most intriguing game I've seen in recent years. Play it and prepare to die.
And when you do, I would recommend playing it completely offline or mostly in hollowed player form, beat the game without multiplayer help.
You will have to be observant, study the enemies and their attacks, be patient and determined. In that respect, it teaches you good things. ;)
It's tough, but it gave me the best experience I had in a game in years. At the same time I can understand why someone would hate this game.