Review: Demon's Souls

hazabaza1

Want Skyrim. Want. Do want.
Nov 26, 2008
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Now, this, along with LBP, Uncharted, and inFamous are reasons I want to get a PS3. Thanks for the review, I might have to pick this up if I ever do get a PS3.
 

Gruchul

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Aug 30, 2009
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The looks very much like Severence: Blade of Darkness to me, fairly frustrating at times but hugely satisfying when you get even with that horde later on
 

Casual Shinji

Should've gone before we left.
Legacy
Jul 18, 2009
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I usually try to steer clear of games that kick my ass. Though, that hint system sounds pretty freaking neat.
 

Kenjitsuka

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Sep 10, 2009
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Susan Arendt said:
Kenjitsuka said:
Great review as always.
As for the game itself.... eh, very hard to choose wheter I would love or hate it.
I'm really bad with dealing with failure, especially if it's unfair, but then again I also managed to beat Ninja Gaiden on xbox on all dificulty levels because I refused to let a game beat me. And yes, when you manage to get as good as to breeze through a level or boss fight without getting hit, it does make you feel really godlike. :)

My question; if you get really good at the game (like with Ninja Gaiden where you needed to get into the flow of the game) does the unfairness factor go down? I.e. does it keep you crying bitter tears through to the end, or does it eventually let up a tad?

Also, how many hours of gameplay are we looking at?
Ok, let me stress this -- while the game is very hard, it is never unfair. Yes, there are sneak attacks and traps, but when you die, it's not because the game is being cheap. I will say that at times the camera works against you, making it hard to see what you're fighting, but I don't personally count that as unfair.

If do very well in the game, the game gets easier and the loot becomes crappier. Conversely, if you fare poorly, the game gets harder, but the loot gets better. This is known as the world's "tendency" (light is easy, dark is hard). So the difficulty can adjust, yes, but let me be clear: Demon's Souls does not let up. You will never be able to relax. You will find, though, as you begin to understand the game, that areas you once found impossible become child's play. Not so much because you've leveled up, but because you're in the proper mindset. It's kind of difficult to explain.

Oh, and as for interactions with other players -- yeah, I assume people are going to be jerks, too, which is why it makes me glad to say that the messages I found were, in almost every case, quite helpful and well-meant.
Thank you so much for the extra information, it made it even clearer that this is an amazing game! And a game for me :)

Can't wait to get it, maybe I'll even see you invading my game :p
(And then I'd be dead for the billionth time, lol )
 

The_Echo

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Mar 18, 2009
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Looks really cool, and I haven't actually had a real challenge in a long while. Totally checking it out! :D
 

BlackDodongo

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Apr 15, 2009
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Monocle Man said:
Still no European publisher, I presume?

Import it is.
Better figure out whether I can use paypal through bank transactions since I have this special credit card that isn't supported by any site.
EDIT/ Quite amusing, Amazon is not willing to ship that particular game to an address outside the US. As if the gods are mocking me.
http://www.renchi.com/renchi/PS3_Games_Asia_Demon_s_Souls_AS.htm

Thats were me and my friend got our copy. Works perfectly :)

As for the game, definitely one of my favourites. I love the feeling you get after you get past that room you've been trying to do for hours. Although I had the benefit of watching my friend play through the game while I waited for my delayed copy so I knew about alot of the early traps :p

Also, brilliant review. Really did the game justice.
 

Monocle Man

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Apr 14, 2009
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BlackDodongo said:
Monocle Man said:
Still no European publisher, I presume?

Import it is.
Better figure out whether I can use paypal through bank transactions since I have this special credit card that isn't supported by any site.
EDIT/ Quite amusing, Amazon is not willing to ship that particular game to an address outside the US. As if the gods are mocking me.
http://www.renchi.com/renchi/PS3_Games_Asia_Demon_s_Souls_AS.htm

Thats were me and my friend got our copy. Works perfectly :)

As for the game, definitely one of my favourites. I love the feeling you get after you get past that room you've been trying to do for hours. Although I had the benefit of watching my friend play through the game while I waited for my delayed copy so I knew about alot of the early traps :p

Also, brilliant review. Really did the game justice.
Would I be correct if I'd assume that version is completely in English and has no subtitles written in strange characters?
And does the game still have an active playerbase in those servers since those servers are supposedly separate and a lack of players to co-op or murder/be murdered by would probably detract from the overall experience.
 

rmx687

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Mar 3, 2009
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I've had this game (imported) for a few months now and I have to say it's one of the most unique games out. To me it brings those challenging dungeon crawlers of the NES day to full HD life with great graphics and physics. The atmosphere it builds is haunting and it translates into the gameplay wonderfully.

I think the challenging nature is a bit, well, misunderstood. Don't get me wrong, the game is hard and it's 100% based on how skilled you are at playing. But I'm no where near a hardcore, challenge-oriented RPG player and I still have a lot of fun. That's because the game itself is built around the trial and error of the adventure, getting a little farther in a dungeon each time, banking on your skill in new areas, and of course, memorizing where the ambushes are.

One of the most rewarding aspects is that a big part of all of this is interacting with the community. You're constantly reading messages to know what's ahead of you, and leaving your own when you figure something out others before you might've missed.

Again, it's a very unique game and I absolutely recommend it to RPG enthusiasts or anyone who just got a PS3.
 

CBPodge

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Mar 15, 2009
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I imported this game a while back as it seemed that there's no hope of a EU release, and I absolutely love it. Great game. Its hard, but its hard in a really fair way - when you die its not because the game did something unfair, its because its better than you.

And when you complete it it basically restarts the game with you having the same skills but the enemies being a lot harder, so there's a good amount of replay value in it.

Definitely would recommend this, its a great game.
 

Avatar Roku

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Jul 9, 2008
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Looks interesting. I've never been too much of a fan of insanely difficult games, but that's because most of the ones I've played were only difficult because they were unfair about it (Resident Evil 5 on Professional mode unfair, I mean). If this is truly fair about it, I might get it. Besides, I think I have enough patience for this; I certainly have a high tolerance for repetition, if that helps.
 

Susan Arendt

Nerd Queen
Jan 9, 2007
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orannis62 said:
Looks interesting. I've never been too much of a fan of insanely difficult games, but that's because most of the ones I've played were only difficult because they were unfair about it (Resident Evil 5 on Professional mode unfair, I mean). If this is truly fair about it, I might get it. Besides, I think I have enough patience for this; I certainly have a high tolerance for repetition, if that helps.
Yep, that'll help. Success in the game comes from learning its vagaries, which comes only from playing it over and over and over again. It's also fun to try different character builds -- an armor-heavy Temple Knight won't be as quick as Royal, for example.
 

Venatio

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Sep 6, 2009
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Nice review, but like always made me kinda sleepy. Maybe I'm just too used to Yahtzee?
 

Omni-Bot

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Jul 5, 2009
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Yahtzee totally should have reviewed this. I mean, think about it, Demon's Souls is a JRPG that he might like, a lot.

No offense to you Susan, it was still a good review even if you did exaggerate the difficulty.
 

Souplex

Souplex Killsplosion Awesomegasm
Jul 29, 2008
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Looks like there is a new worthwhile PS3 exclusive! As of now worthwhile PS3 exclusives: Little Big planet, Valkyria Chronicles, InFamous, the Ratchet and Clank future episodes and introducing... Demon Souls!
 

dududf

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Aug 31, 2009
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Oh my god that template system is genius :)

Good review, it got the points stressed the good things, and ended with a chuckle.

Hi! Hi to you too!
 

Aptspire

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Mar 13, 2008
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I get the feeling that no matter how many Warriors or orcs there are, there'll still be WAY more trolls :(