While not considered as difficult and time-consuming as its prequel Demon's Souls, this game still warrants a 4-star rating mainly for its difficulty and skills involved on the higher modes, as well as the time required for grinding.

The game can go smoother if you have a co-op partner, and have done some research (check out the Links tab) but overall, expect to put in well over a hundred hours into this game.

This is not one of those games you can rush through to claim the Platinum - there's a reason why we gave it 4-stars for difficulty. You may want to read up on some of the introductory guides and strategies we've posted under the Links tab before you start.

On your first playthrough, what you'll want to do is try to get all the trophies you can since the enemies will get stronger later on. This includes acquiring all the covenants, sorceries, rings and pyromancy trophies, as well as those related to the boss battles. You'll need to study the trophy guides and walkthroughs in our Links page to find the best course of action for yourself. Also, you'll need to do some farming of enemies in order to obtain certain miracles and pyromancies, and again this is easier to do on your first playthrough.

Next, you'll need to start a New Game+, where the enemies are much stronger. This is where some serious skills come in. The good news is, you can skip ahead and only focus on finding the rare weapons that you need.

Finally, load up a New Game++ and look for the final rare weapon you need, which should be the Sif's Soul and perhaps the Titanie Slab if you missed it earlier. You'll also still need to reach Anor Londo so that you can use the soul and create the last weapon you need for your final trophy.

Overall, a very challenging and complex game which requires a fair bit of planning. but in the end, a Platinum you can be proud of.

Here's a basic Walkthrough, on IGN:
http://www.ign.com/wikis/dark-souls/Walkthrough

And another Walkthrough, this one by Musa Omar:
http://www.gamefront.com/dark-souls-walkthrough/

This is a fantastic Trophy Guide, by Dropeti:
http://www.ps3trophies.org/game/dark-souls/guide/

Another great Trophy Guide, this one by Hitman and Nero:
http://ps3trophies.com/forums/showwiki.php?title=PS3-Trophy-Guides:Dark-Souls-Trophy-Guide

And PSN Profiles has some useful Trophy Guide tips:
http://psnprofiles.com/guide/1057-DARK-SOULS

This is a useful Introduction to the game, also by Dropeti, which includes a Covenants and Weapons section:
http://www.ps3trophies.org/forum/dark-souls/129487-dark-souls-trophy-guide-road-map-tips-strategies.html#post2213267

This is a useful Wiki filled with all kinds of detailed information about the game:
http://darksoulswiki.wikispaces.com/

And another Wiki, here:
http://darksouls.wikidot.com/

This is a printable Checklist, by Birr1978, for all the Weapons to acquire:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AidgZbNyd3zEdHkxcHJadjBUajlHczFMQUt0VzcwaEE#gid=0

And a printable Checklist for all the Sorceries:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AidgZbNyd3zEdHkxcHJadjBUajlHczFMQUt0VzcwaEE#gid=2

A printable Checklist for all Pyromancies:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AidgZbNyd3zEdHkxcHJadjBUajlHczFMQUt0VzcwaEE#gid=3

And Birr1978's printable Checklist for all Miracles:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AidgZbNyd3zEdHkxcHJadjBUajlHczFMQUt0VzcwaEE#gid=1

Lastly, here's a basic Trophy List:
http://www.allps3trophies.com/retail-games/dark-souls-trophies.html