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I had imported Demon's Souls in April, and finished it 3 times since then. I have a long review below but if you want a few sentences here it is:
The game has an excellent atmosphere, great character customization, enjoyable combat, some unique online elements, but very little story and minimal npc interaction. It is also very unforgiving, but it is strangely addictive if you don't get frustrated easily. It takes about 40 hours in your first play through. It's not because the game is huge... It's because you'll die a lot and repeat a lot, which results in playing very cautiously (which also adds to the atmosphere).
***Review***
Demon's Souls is an action RPG game with some unique online elements. I loved the game but I can also see why some people (even RPG lovers) might hate it. Although I gave it 5 stars, I cannot say the game is for everyone. Just read the paragraph at the end where I explain some game mechanics, and if it sounds frustrating to you then might want to try the game first before buying.
For me 3 things are very important for an RPG. A good story and well-developed characters, deep character customization, tactical and fun combat.
Story
In DS, the people in different realms/worlds are possessed by demonic souls and you are to get rid of them. When you kill them you collect their souls and get more powerful and eventually fight against the final demon. That's basically it. The game has very little story and minimal amount of non player characters (NPCs). There are about 15-20 NPCs in total (including the merchants and blacksmiths), and most of them are located in a hub called Nexus. Furthermore, you can talk to them but there are no dialogue trees. They'll say 2-3 new sentences after each time you kill a demon boss, giving you some background about the setting. Sometimes they'll initiate a sidequest, by asking you to find/do something. That's all.
If you are expecting something like Mass Effect or JRPGs in terms of story or dialogue this is not it. However, the game has a very dark and immersive atmosphere. It just sucks you in and makes up for its lack of story. Also, sometimes new characters/enemies appear depending on World Tendency (world tendency is something like an alignment that can change toward black or white), which provides replay value.
In sum, unlike most other RPGs, this is not a game that you play for the story. There is minimal story and dialogue, but the game has an excellent atmosphere which gives you the feeling of being alone and overwhelmed.
Character Customization
Character customization is probably the most important aspect of an RPG and this is where the game shines. You start the game with a certain class you picked, but it doesn't restrict you. You can develop your stats in anyway you like and completely turn it into something else (kind of like Oblivion). For example, weapons/armors have different stats requirements, but they are not restricted to classes. As long as your character meets the stats requirement you can use it. So you can mix and mash classes anyway you like. There are 8 different attributes, and when you level up you can raise one of those attributes by one point (there is room for up to 99 for each attribute).
Weapon upgrades are done by using the ores you find. You can do regular upgrades (e.g. long sword +2) or you can change it into a different weapon (e.g. dragon long sword) depending on the ores you found. There are several different types of ores that opens a different upgrade branch. There are also some special upgrades, if you choose to use a demon's soul that you obtained from a boss, which will give you a unique weapon.
Combat
The customization also affects your gameplay. For instance, you can wield double swords, sword and shield, sword and crossbow, sword and a wand, two shields (if you want to be fancy) etc. Moreover, any sword can be wielded two handed or one handed. Of course, if you choose to wield a two handed sword with one hand, you character becomes clumsy. If you choose to wield a one handed sword with two hands, then you make stronger attacks with different animations.
The combat is in real time and it is like an action game. In the controller, L1-L2 is assigned to the left hand, and R1-R2 is assigned to the right hand. L1 is used for guarding, L2 is either for parry (when wielding a shield) or attacking (weapon on left hand)). On the other hand, R1 is regular attack, and R2 is strong attack. You can also roll, run, but you cannot jump. So you end up having different combat gameplay and tactics depending on what you choose to equip.
Online Gameplay
If your PS3 is connected to the internet, you'll automatically play the game online. That lets you do different things. First, you'll see some messages left by other players. They can provide some clues, warnings etc. You can also leave messages but you can only create them by combining preset words and phrases. You cannot type whatever you want. And if someone finds your message helpful and rates it, then your health replenishes. Second, you'll see pools of blood and if you touch them it will show you a ghost of some other player and how he/she died. It's just another clue to help you in the game.
Third, and the most important one, is playing with/against others. If you are in body form, you'll see blue signs on the ground left by other players. By touching those signs you can summon up to two more people to your game and they'll fight along with you in your game helping you out. On the other hand, when you are in body form some other player can invade your game and try to kill you. If you are in soul form, then you can put a blue sign on the ground in order to be summoned by others or you can use an item to invade another player's game. However, you cannot just invite your friends to your game. If you and your friends are on different servers (which you have no control over) you won't see the signs they left and will not be able to summon them. If you happen to be on the same server, you can arrange a location in the game to put the sign (via XMB message) and then summon the other person.
Conclusion
In sum, Demon's Souls is one of the best games on PS3. It has a great atmosphere and addictive gameplay that makes you come back, even after you died for the tenth time in the same boss battle. Unfortunately it is not a game for the impatient. Just take a look at the cover art (the regular cover art which happens to be the Deluxe Edition cover in US release) of the game. You see a lone, battered knight, who is about to give up. That's Demon's Souls for you. If you are willing to take the challenge, victory will be very satisfying.
***About the difficulty and potential frustration***
First of all, the game is very unforgiving. Even regular enemies can kill you with 1-2 blows, and they will kill you many times. However that's not the main issue. The real difficulty comes from not being able to save in the middle of a stage/map. The stages don't have checkpoints either. Also dying is very costly. When you die, first you will drop your souls at the location you died (You gain souls by killing enemies, and souls are used as both experience points to improve your stats and also as money). Then you will lose your body (which means losing half of your life bar, making the game even harder) and you will respawn in soul form at the start of the stage. However all the enemies will also respawn. Furthermore, if you die again before reaching the location you died, you will lose all the souls you have dropped previously for good. That means no experience/no money from all that playing. Also reaching your corpse does not give your body back, it only gives back your collected souls. You can gain your body (half of your life bar) if you beat a boss, or invade another player's game and kill him/her, or use a special item.
In brief, you will be playing the same stage from the beginning over and over again, until you beat the boss at the end of the stage. In a lot of cases, you will not gain any experience/level during this process, because you'll die a second time before reaching your corpse. However, the stages are not very big. It generally takes about 5 to 10 minutes to get to the boss if you know the way and IF you don't die. A new respawn point appears at the end of the stage, after a boss is defeated. (The game has 5 worlds and each world has 4 stages/bosses). So, after you beat a boss you can spawn from that location if you want.
Still, a lot of people would probably hate this no save/checkpoint mechanic combined with the games unforgiving difficulty. It's like 80s arcade games which takes you back to the beginning of the stage when you die.
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Having spent just several hours with this game, it is already difficult to describe. It's difficult. Actually, no, it's punishing. No...in fact, it can be maddeningly infuriating at times. It is also a complete blast.
I don't want to write an essay. In short, though, Demon's Souls is an action/RPG which is a bit like a combination of a 3rd-person adventure like Uncharted, a hack-n-slash action/RPG like Diablo, with the required thoughtfulness in swordplay of the original 2D Prince of Persia (you have to be an old-schooler to remember that one).
The game is difficult, but veterans of the 8-bit days will find the difficulty somewhat nostalgic. The game does not simply restart you unscathed 15 seconds from where you kicked the bucket. Rather, you have to start the level from scratch, and to regain your earned currency (which you earn by killing enemies, and use to buy improvements for your character), you must fight your way back to your corpse in spirit form with half of your health. Die before you get there? Kiss that currency good bye. The game is FAIR, though. You have the option of running, at your liberty, to the beginning of the level and exiting to the starting area to spend your winnings, so that you can return all-the-more powerful. When you feel like you are pushing your luck and the level is outgrowing your character skills, it's time to heed that advice. Of course, this IS a dungeon crawl game, so when you come back the enemies will have returned. Think of it as more souls (i.e. money) to be made.
It helps to go into this game EXPECTING to be in spirit form more often than not. The game assumes you will die a lot. In that sense, one should avoid frustration over death. It's a natural part of the game.
Battle must be approached carefully. Running in and hacking mindlessly will only tire out your character, and likely result in an unceremoniously awkward death to even the most bottom-rungs of the enemy food chain. You must work with your shield, your footwork, and given the right character your magic and ranged weapons to succeed.
All of this alone makes for a fantastic experience beyond any action RPG offered in this generation of games. What makes it a slam-dunk are the online aspects. The single player game takes advantage of your internet connection (though you can opt out by signing out of your PSN account). You will see occasional apparitions of other players fighting through the same level you are. Further, before long you will obtain an item that will allow players to invite you into their games to assist them. Later, a more sociopathic ability is obtained: the ability to break into another player's game, without their consent, hunt them down, and kill them. Either provides a bit of a "shortcut" to regaining your body, with the further effect of easing/intensifying the difficulty of the world around you...helping people "lightens" the world, harming them "darkens" it.
On top of this, the ability to examine bloodstains to view apparitional replays of other players' deaths is fantastic and adds to the feeling that you're not dealing with this alone. The game punishes EVERYONE, and they are struggling with you, and it will prove it via these replays.
This is no quick game. Reports from those who have played the imported non-US version claim play times of 80+ hours to conquer the game for the first time...nevermind 2nd and 3rd playthroughs, which supposedly come at a higher difficulty.
All that said, it is not impossible. In my very first shot at it, I actually survived for a good half hour in the first non-tutorial realm without dying, and when I realized this, I quickly found my way back out and spent my winnings to upgrade before I went and got myself annihilated (and make no mistake...I did shortly thereafter). That is what is fantastic about this game (so far for me at least): if you respect it, play conservatively, and don't do anything you wouldn't try in real life, you CAN have a reasonable chance at survival. Stay on your toes, don't push your luck, and survival IS possible. Often death is simply a result of a lapse in attention or a reckless decision. If, on the other hand, you approach it like you would, say, "God of War" or just about any other action game from this generation, you WILL pay a price for your stupidity. And it's wonderful.
Just to wrap up: the graphics are nothing short of what you'd expect in a top flight PS3 game. The sound is amazing...I have never wanted surround speakers so badly. And, as I mentioned, the gameplay is phenomenal.
My only warning: casual gamers need not apply. Do NOT approach this game unless you like a challenge.
Looks like I wrote an essay, after all. It could use some editing, but I have some playing to do.
Buy Demon's Souls Now
I just got the game yesterday. After about 4 hours, the only progress I made so far is just past the tutorial. And I beat Ninja Gaiden Sigma on Normal difficulty for crying out loud!!! This is the game that tutorial stage could kill you!!!
This game is very unforgiving, so casual player be warned. There's no checkpoint and save point. When you die, you start at Nexus (the hub), you dropped all your souls at the place you died and reborn in soul-form, and if you die again, all the souls you dropped are lost. So, you'll most likely go through you first hours getting nowhere.
But, oddly enough, the game keeps you coming back. It's strangely and highly addictive in nature for those who prepared to accept frequent deaths and be patient with it. You'll learn little by little, use less and less time in each fight, and lose less and less health each time.
It's like those NES games (Ninja Gaiden, Megaman, Castlevania, etc.) that you keep dying and dying and dying and dying...and dying until you learn the patterns of enemies and traps by heart. It's frustrating, but satisfying as hell when you finally rise above the challenge.
Even so, I still prefer the game to have difficulty settings or save options for single player. People pay the same money, so they should be able to enjoy the game as they feel comfortable. Developers could reward them differently rather than leaving the casual players out of the circle entirely. And it'd be better for marketing too.
One flaw that I don't see the point why should this happen is that you can't pause the game in single-player. Why !?!? I know that adds realism to the game, but hey... players have to pee sometimes :P
Combat feels responsive and highly TACTICAL. This is by no means a hack-and-slash game, so bashing frenzy won't do you any good here. I'd call the melee combat in this game a fencing simulation. You're no God of War. You're just a person with a sword. You stab them, they die. They stab you, you die. So, be very cautious.
Graphics looks decent enough, not exactly PS3, but more like a PS2.5 game. The game looks better with low brightness, but that makes it harder to see enemies and traps. Though it's understandable that this game is not from a giant team like Square-Enix, but still, I believe they could do better with normal maps and texture details. Also, the character face looks hideous. Making the game looks Western doesn't mean they have to give up the pretty-face trend of the JRPGs. People still love looking at pretty people.
Also, the physics engine is a bit weird here. Pieces are flying around low-gravity-like when props are broken. Enemy corpses are rolling along when you walk over them, and their heads are twitching as if they're listening to iPod while lying dead XD
In conclusion:
I took one star off for the extreme unforgiving nature of the saving system, the lack of choice in difficulty, the no-restroom-break policy, and the less-than-impressive graphics. Other than that, the game is great.
Casual player who doesn't want any frustration should avoid this game at all cost. The game has gained its reputation for being very unforgiving since its first Asian release. You've been warned, and I'm warning you again.
If you can't take it easy when you die once and lose almost all your hours of progress, then DON'T listen to the hype of hardcore players. There's nothing wrong with liking easy games. Because even the greatest game of all eternity doesn't serve its purpose if it doesn't entertain you.
But if you feel up to the challenge, go for it. The game WILL forge you into a real warrior. I'm not there yet. But I'm having a lot of fun dying on the way there. I'm still halfway through Uncharted 2, but all I'm wanting to play now is this game.
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After playing this game for over 60 hours (including several re-starts), I decided it's time for a review. Let's start off with the good. The graphics are relatively good, but nothing really wows you here. The worlds are varied, and it is a treat to explore these lands, however dangerous and deadly they are. The combat system is deep and the controls are pretty good. The lock-on feature while essential to the game can be problematic at times, and at least for me has caused an untimely death on more than one occasion. The atmosphere in this game is out of this world. There are places in this game that will really creep you out. Some enemies will be two feet in front of you and will not be visible because sometimes you'll be wandering around in virtually pure darkness. This game definitely excels in the "freak you out" department with it's atmosphere and host of deadly monsters. On that note, let's talk about the bosses. Some of the bosses you encounter here are ridiculously terrifying and tremendously ferocious. I have caught myself holding my breath and shaking with fear before these behemoths... you will feel like an ant in front of a lion. For me, this is the best part of the game; to be able to fight bosses that are many times larger, faster, better equipped, and much more powerful than you are. It really does feel good to defeat such imposing enemies.
Now for some bad, and there's plenty of it. Let's start with this no checkpoint, no save, no pause, die and start all the way from the beginning, lose all your souls business. The only reason to have a system like this in place is to torture and frustrate players. There is no excuse for a game of this difficulty level to force you to start a level over, and over, and over, and over, and then some more over again. I would have given this game four stars or more if it at least had checkpoints and pauses, but they do not exist. In order to really level up, you will need to replay levels dozens upon dozens of times, if not hundreds, and it really does get exceedingly repetative and just not fun. Let's not even talk about 'farming' for items and hoping for an enemy to drop that special something you need. To be honest, my first couple of hours into this game, I didn't think it was that difficult. I had done some research and learned that the royalty class was an excellent one to start with and I was able to defeat the first three levels and bosses while only dying twice. I played extremely cautiously and treated every single enemy almost like a boss and it worked to my advantage. Everything was going great until the following... I recall fighting my way through and a tremendously difficult level and stayed alive long enough for the privilege of fighting an inconceivably difficult boss. I was somehow able to bring its life meter down to around 15%, and guess what happened next, I was annihilated... what this meant is that I was then forced to do this all over again from the very beginning of the stage. What's worse is all those thousands of souls I had accumulated now lay at the bosses lair. I lost my patience and attempted to rush my way through the level to get my souls back. By breaking my successful formula of caution and patience, I made the worst possible mistake one could make in this game... I began to die in a quick and consistent manner. This causes what's called your world tendency to turn black. What happens is the game becomes exponentially more difficult the more you die (in body form)... and this horrendously vicious system is never explained to you until it's too late. You will experience countless events that will make you want to yell expletives at the top of your lungs. Everyone who's played this game knows that souls are the "everything" of this game. You need it to buy equipment, items, level-up, upgrade weapons, and so on. I have lost over 29,000 souls at least twice now , and once I lost over 70,0000 souls cause I was in the middle of a boss fight and was trying to cast a spell to get me the "h" out of there and back to the nexus (home base), and the boss would damage me before I could complete the spell meaning my doom and the loss of all those souls forever. No player should ever have to experience such a loss. I believe this game is in desperate need of a strategy guide. I've had to go on Demon's Souls wiki about a million times already for help with weapons upgrades, special-items, NPCs, world-tendency, character tendency, etc. etc. etc. There's just way too much information that a player needs to succeed that is not provided. Some semblance of a story is there, but no nearly enough to satisfy even the average RPG player.
I thought I reached a turning point, when I defeated what's called an in-game black phantom of world 4-1. In my book, these things are major demons actually worse than most bosses. I was so happy I thought nothing could stop me now. I began to level up like crazy and defeating everything in my path. I am currently a level 92 character and I unlocked this new area and gave it a try. After a couple of stupid mistakes, this new area is now in "pure black" condition, meaning it's now at the absolute pinnacle of difficulty. Now, I run into these two mini-bosses that INSTANTLY kill me in ONE blow with either a melee attack or magic. What kind of game has REGULAR enemies that can immediately kill you in one blow when you're almost a 100 level character and have defeated more than 8 bosses and levels and even killed three in-game black phantoms and one archdemon(uber final boss). I mean, it doesn't make any sense to me at all and frustrates myself and so many others to no end. But wait, it gets worse..., when I switch to body form to try and get more hp and attempt to summon other players to help me to defeat this enemy, I get invaded by a black phantom (another player) who completely destroys all my equipment, kills me, and steals my souls. It cost me about 7,000 souls just to repair my equipment. I'm a life-long gamer and I do enjoy a challenge, but this is just one of the many examples I could list that keep me from loving this game.
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Never before did I expect this to be a smash hit. Never.
I had seen tidbits of gameplay and a few interviews pre-launch, but never did I see this as a game to spend $60 on.
Now? I happily shelled out 60 smackers, and I have not once regretted my decision.
If you can brave the harsh curve, and truly attest to your shortcomings, you will find one of the greatest RPGs ever made. And I am being dead serious.
Demon's Souls is the acclaimed title developed by From Software and published by ATLUS games. Now, like I said earlier, I had no interest in this whatsoever, partly due to the fact that I had never heard of From Software. However, I had heard of ATLUS, who had created the "Persona" series another smash hit. I figured that if they were backing this, then it was truly something to take note of. Boy was it ever. The guys, gals, and sadistic people at From Software have truly outdone themselves (See: My rating of 5 stars) and if you are even remotely interest in Role Playing Games, you owe it to yourself to check this out.
The story is as followed The kingdom of Boletaria comes under an infestation of demons. You, the protagonist, journey through the newly enveloped thick fog to attempt to stop them from the destruction they are causing. Right off the bat, this is not a pretty tale. You're told, in the intro, that many before you have died. And the best part? There is no certainty that you won't as well. It's great to be the underdog, especially when the game isn't really rooting for you.
And boy, is this game sadistic. I should probably make note of this really quick but this game is challenging. Not hard, but challenging. For you naysayers who claim that old school challenge is dead, I invite you to take one look at Demon's Souls. Let me get this out of the way before you even think about buying this game: You are going to die. You will die A LOT. The game simply challenges your mind and reflexes in ways that I have never seen, and it pulls it off beautifully. While you will die, you will never feel as if it is a cheap death (Atleast, not ALL the time.) You die because of your own faults, and there is no other way around it. This is one of the few games where people will just, for lack of a better word, suck. But, do not be discouraged! As Demon's Souls is also incredibly fair. Heck, if the developers intended you to play perfect, you wouldn't have the multitude of healing items and your hub, the Nexus (More on that later,) there to back you up.
And of course, with your (inevitable) death, you're going to need a way to continue playing. This ties the "Soul Form" into the story, as you will likely be spending quite a bit of time as a soul. If you die Sorry. WHEN you die, you will spawn at the start of the same level you were currently playing. Only this time you're dead. But fear not, as you are still able to fight. You see, when bloodstains are dropped by other players (See: Next paragraph for more details on bloodstains) coincidentally, you drop them as well. Your goal, as a spirit, is to reach your blood stain. Why would you want to do that, you ask? Well, so you can re-obtain your "Demon's Souls," which act as the currency of the land of Boletaria. But be warned: If you die as a spirit, they're gone for good. No chance to get them back, better luck next time. And believe it or not this system is incredibly fair. It punishes you for making mistakes, and if you do, you have a second chance to rethink your actions. Refusing to do so will result in your loss a second time. However, if you're wanting to actually return your body to normal, you will have to tackle one of the many boss demons. These are incredibly varied, each with their own tactics, moveset, and weaknesses. When you tackle one, the feeling of glee washes away all traces of anger or frustration.
Which leads me to the multiplayer, which just happens to be synonymous with the word "genius."
You see, when you log into your PSN account, you are playing Demon's Souls online. You will see ghostly apparitions of players as they are solving the same challenges as you. Likewise, there are red blood stains littered through out the world. Of course, this also has a purpose in the sense that you'll be able to watch the last few seconds of a person's life, before their untimely death. This is a great way to rethink your strategy and plan ahead, something the game rewards greatly.
And yes, it gets deeper than that. You are able to call in up to two souls to help aid you in fights. The three of you are then able to tackle the aforementioned bosses, and if you succeed, they reclaim their lives. But, however, there is another way to reclaim your life. You will be able to invade a world as a black phantom and reap the life of it's inhabitant. Being invaded is the most terrifying feeling that you will ever encounter while playing a video game. You'll think it won't happen, and BAM! you're scared out of your mind as you pray the phantom doesn't round the corner to finish you off.
Still with me? Good. Because Demon's Souls is dark. And I mean REALLY dark. It's gritty, atmospheric, and at times it's just plain gothic. You would never believe me if I told you that From Software is a Japanese company, because this aptly mimics the medieval ages in ways that confound the mind.
Quite a bit of your time is spent running through dark and claustrophobic environments as you tackle hordes of enemies. When you arrive outside, it's usually over a sweeping landscape of ruin and destruction, with the sun barely shining through the specks of kicked up dirt and gray clouds. And let me tell you having to venture past the sanctity of the light, the feeling of a safe haven, and battle your way into the unknown once more, unsure of whether or not you will emerge alive, is a frightening feeling that hits you where it hurts, and it never truly lets go.
I would be lying if I didn't tell you that, while venturing through 1-2, I heard the growls of what seemed to be wolves, and I stopped in my tracks. Heart racing, shield drawn. The sound design is perfect. That's all there is to it.
Rarely do I regard something as "perfect," but the sound design is nothing but. I invite you all to stop in 1-2 and listen to the ear-splitting roar of the dragon, as he swoops down onto the bridge, incinerating all in it's path. Your mind will be blown.
But it doesn't stop there, oh no. Some of the greatest orchestral scores in the game are heard during the massive boss fights. As if comparing to a total of 1/25th of the demon's size, and having to tackle it as a result, your ears will be treated to a fiesta of strings and haunting choral melodies.
So, if you've sifted through this rambling even a little bit, you can tell that I LOVE THIS GAME.
You owe it to yourself to check this one out. It's not for everyone, and even if you hate Demon's Souls, you cannot help but acknowledge that it does so much right, it makes up for the very few flaws that permeate it.
Two thumbs way up.
