[HEADING=1]Demon's Souls[/HEADING]
Demon's Souls is one of the classic games to bring up every time there is a discussion on ?WHY DOES AMERICA HAVE EVERYTHING SO MUCH BETTER IN VIDEO GAMES?!?. There are currently two games that have received a lot of notice for America-to-Europe/Australia release date. One was Rock Band which took nearly a year and Demon's Souls which also took nearly a year. Maybe we should have a hall of shame for the publishers and distributors behind this kind of nonsense?
The story of Demon's Souls is best explained as this: An evil fog went over a castle, someone escaped to ask for help, people went but never returned, so you decide to go in. That is all you really need to know and all you'll care about. Why does your character want to go there? Fame? Glory? Altruism? You never find out and I doubt you'll ever care. You start off by making a character. You pick one of ten classes, male or female (which, considering there are gender-specific armour, turns into guessing which you think you'll be better off with, which I will save you time and say that female specific armour is the most useful) and a name to give him/her. After that, comes the gruelling task that you'll grow to hate fast: Changing your character's facial appearance. No matter what you do, you will always look ugly. It's not to say the sliders don't affect much, oh they do. It's just...Well..It just sucks. Your best bet for a character that doesn't look like a mutant offspring of an irradiated Megaton citizen and a yao guai is to press the random button until something looks remotely like a human being.
You'll be surprised too to find someone so cool looking to be so useless and pathetic at fighting.
After that, you'll start the game. Assuming you play through the tutorial, you'll end it by dying and having half your health taken from you for misbehaving. Now, Demon's Souls begins. You'll then start off on the real first level of the game, the one where your actions actually matter beyond ?at what point will I die...?. Although the difficulty will suggest that not much has changed because you will die, a lot. The bad news? You'll drop your souls. Good news? If you get back to your corpse, you can get them back. Bad news? All the enemies re-spawn. Good news? Any routes unlocked or boss characters remain dead. Bad news? If you die in the process of getting to your corpse, then that's it, you lose all those souls. Good news...Wait, there isn't any? Now, the enemies respawning after death or going back in after going to The Nexus? Your health and mana regenerated? My god, is this an opportunity to grind so your character is competent?! God yes! Just don't expect any fun in grinding, as usual. Especially since levelling your character takes an increasingly large amount of demon souls and only raises your abilities a tiny bit.
Good luck beating a soldier as big as a large castle archway!
Another thing that may bug you is the health restoration system. Despite the ability to run and use your shield (which I am eternally thankful for), don't expect to be able to use your magic (which includes heal) or eat some grass while moving. Even then, it occurs at a leisurely rate as though the warrior against the forces of evil must examine and savour the flavour of the grass he/she is consuming. The final point that I can't help but feel a sense of confusion about is the good/evil system. This is something that you actually need to read up on because it gives no indication such a scheme exists and you'll only know of it by absolute accident. The good/evil system can affect the game a lot apparently, triggering certain events and changing certain aspects of the game (being dark can lead to more souls, but is harder, while being good has less souls but is easier). I say apparently because despite me playing it a good amount and my little brother playing it for much longer (over six hours game-play) and we have both been unable to noticeably affect it at all.
However, beyond all the large amount of complaints I've mentioned above, it's a very good game. It's hard without being too hard and it's got a lot there to explore. The environments vary a lot and enough to make you enjoy it. From a classic medieval castle, to a rocky mining place to a rotting prison, all radically different in every way; different enemies with different styles of fighting with different weaknesses. The weapon upgrade system is a nice way to make sure you hit more and, with the combination of the boss's demon souls, you can make unique special weapons. The graphics are interesting and pleasing. Each boss has a unique strategy which usually don't just leave you just power-housing your character to a high level and kicking all their arses. Despite this, I can't help but get the feeling that all bosses and enemies can die if you just stand far away and shoot magic at them until they die, dodging any attacks they shoot at you vainly. This game, in other words, punishes people who want to beat enemies up personally and not just throw magic at them. However, in a weird way, you'll still enjoy yourself. You'll still want to use weapons like maces and swords, you'll still want to have a spell or two as something fall back on and you'll still be at least tempted to get your faith skill up so you can heal.
Now, before we draw the lines in the sand and draw a conclusion, I am tempted to mention the things I got in the Dark Phantom Edition. I received a soundtrack of songs that I will likely never listen to because they just don't work as standalone songs like Silent Hill 2's soundtrack did, I got a strategy guide that, while helpful with some issues, was only really functional showing one way to complete the game (via as Royalty, if you're any other class then it would not work as well) and an art book. It also lacked any in-game items which was disappointing.
In conclusion though, Demon's Souls is a game worth looking into if you have a PS3 and want a hard game with RPG elements that love it's medieval elements. This may sound like a very small group of people, but it really entertains most people I think, just as long the person is looking for a challenge and doesn't mind RPG elements and to be fighting with magic and swords instead of guns. However, if you're one of those people who just can't stand a game that doesn't involve relinquishing temporary your blood lust by shooting someone in the face with a shotgun, I think you may need to see your local GP, or at least get back on Call Of Duty Modern Warfare 2 online.
Can't help but wonder if the Penetrator was a sarcastic idea created by someone who wanted to make the most stereotypically Asian outlook of cool Western medieval knights, which ended up being taken seriously.