Zero Punctuation: Demon's Souls

[Gulzt]

Yahtzee is a professional gamer - and the reason I and others are critical of his review is that most of his mistakes and gripes are because:

A: he didn't bother to explore (checkpoints, no mention of: Items, Nexus shortcuts, merchants, upgrades, etc.)

B: didn't "mind his surroundings" (charred bodies, a dragon that flies behind the gatehouse you just exited out the back of, and a loud roar that gets closer aren't enough to tell you there's danger ahead?)

C: He misunderstood controls and game mechanics

If not for that I think he might actually have enjoyed it.

Couldn't have said it better myself. Maybe this just isn't the game you can play in a week, write a review about and animate it (don't underestimate how much work that takes!).

Demon's Souls takes patience above all else. Yes, this game is hard for the average gamer, but a more skilled player will only call this hard if he is reckless. The game is not very tolerant of mistakes, but that's why it is so very satisfying when you beat a boss.. even better, you'll frighten your balls off being faced off against one. Because of the punishment you do NOT want to die. This feeling is so strong that it makes it scary to die, which creates a mood that is very unique to this game.

This game is not for everyone, but it's brilliant in every way. It's the first game to beat Final Fantasy VII as my favourite game ever.

BTW: I was a bit disappointed with the first boss, because it wasn't as epic as I expected.. seems this is the only boss yahtzee saw.. if he had managed to get to Tower Knight (he was so close already!) he'd have at least experienced what makes this game so very great.

 

[SuperSquid]

I don't know what everybody is complaining about. It seems like a great game... if you're a masochist that is.

 

[Casual Shinji]

A: he didn't bother to explore (checkpoints, no mention of: Items, Nexus shortcuts, merchants, upgrades, etc.)

B: didn't "mind his surroundings" (charred bodies, a dragon that flies behind the gatehouse you just exited out the back of, and a loud roar that gets closer aren't enough to tell you there's danger ahead?)

C: He misunderstood controls and game mechanics

If not for that I think he might actually have enjoyed it.

If he doesn't like the game then he doesn't like the game. I'm sure everyone is cool with that.

I think what most people here are irritated with, myself included, is the mindless ZP fanbase that rears it's ignorant head every Wednesday.

 

[Helba1984]

A: he didn't bother to explore (checkpoints, no mention of: Items, Nexus shortcuts, merchants, upgrades, etc.)

B: didn't "mind his surroundings" (charred bodies, a dragon that flies behind the gatehouse you just exited out the back of, and a loud roar that gets closer aren't enough to tell you there's danger ahead?)

C: He misunderstood controls and game mechanics

If not for that I think he might actually have enjoyed it.

If he doesn't like the game then he doesn't like the game. I'm sure everyone is cool with that.

I think what most people here are irritated with, myself included, is the mindless ZP fanbase that rears it's ignorant head every Wednesday.

Well that's what I am sort of saying anyhow; I wish what I said above wasn't true, (and if it's not and it was all just for comedy's sake, good on yahtzee but most people are treating these like professional reviews) but having played the game and with an understanding of the mechanics, I not only feel sorry that he didn't have a better time, but moreso that the review treated in a serious sense rather than a comedic one is like someone who can't drive stick shift reviewing a race car's driving experience with no help and no manuals - it's not an accurate representation of the product.

He's of course entitled to his opinion but barring what I said above I think it would have been different. He's usually a pretty good judge of games.

 

[sephiroth1991]

You sold me Yahtzee, i will not buy this game. If you found it hard, then how do most of us have hope.

 

[Britisheagle]

made me laugh this did, although I have never even heard of the game haha
Great review but I think I will pass playing it

 

[Tonimata]

WAAAAit wait wait wait waaaaaiiiiiitttttt...
wait waiiiiiit...
wait.
Didn't Ms Arendt already review this? Like, AAAAAAAAGES ago?
Falling behind on schedule, Ben? Tsk tsk.

 

[asam92]

Why the hell would they make a game so hard, I bought this game thinking "Finally a challenge" but it is just riduculous, cudos to you Yahtzee my fellow Aussie you got further and put up with the frustration longer than I did. Now its in the corner of the cupboard and I am replaying through Uncharted 2 on crushing instead, surprisingly it is easier than Demon'ssssss SSoulsSS (but still difficult)

 

[asam92]

WAAAAit wait wait wait waaaaaiiiiiitttttt...
wait waiiiiiit...
wait.
Didn't Ms Arendt already review this? Like, AAAAAAAAGES ago?
Falling behind on schedule, Ben? Tsk tsk.

Just to let you know they took ages to release the game here in Australia for a longer than necessary time, hence the reason for being behind.

 

[Tonimata]

You sold me Yahtzee, i will not buy this game. If you found it hard, then how do most of us have hope.

Gamefaqs?
And the fact that he already told you how most of the stuff in the beginning is going to function. And besides, it's just the gist of the game, to actually be so goddamn hard that beating it feels like... well, breaking a cement wall with your face...
Point is, there will always be an audience for that sort of games, even if it's just the masochistic retards that play I wanna be the guy.

 

[Tonimata]

WAAAAit wait wait wait waaaaaiiiiiitttttt...
wait waiiiiiit...
wait.
Didn't Ms Arendt already review this? Like, AAAAAAAAGES ago?
Falling behind on schedule, Ben? Tsk tsk.

Just to let you know they took ages to release the game here in Australia for a longer than necessary time, hence the reason for being behind.

Aaah, ok, that would make sense, and I sympathize, I'm also prone to receiving goodies later than the rest.

 

[BlueInkAlchemist]

Demon's souls was out way before dragon's age. It's also alot better than DA.

I've been made aware of the timing issue, and as for the quality, you are entitled to your opinion.

 

[zardosbacon66]

I loved this game from start to finish, and then from start to finish again.

Nothing more fun than Demon's Souls has been released this year.

Great review Yahtzee, it made me love the game even more.

 

[FROGGEman2]

You imported a game?

You imported a special edition game?

Jesus christ does Yahtzee get up early! Its 3:00am in Australia!

He submits it long before it is viewable. The Escapist post it.

 

[cjackson92]

Demon's Souls is in my top 10 for sure. It was very fun. It gets a lot of hate because so many people just suck too much to handle it, but if you can play it it is well worth it. Yahtzee got several things wrong in the review, notably he missed the rest of the online interaction (co-op and pvp).

 

[yzzlthtz]

w/e i can flame about how badly i hated this game all i want, because when i played it, i found the experience frustrating, pointless, and unenjoyable. it's only internet reputation anyways.

Too bad.
That's all you really had to say, though. No need to make supporting arguments just: "I played it and it made me sad."
Cause trust me: We Demon's Souls fans are relentless and pitiless.

well, then i can agree to (strongly) disagree with all of you, no matter how shitty i feel this game is, because I can't change anyone's opinion, but neither can you change mine, I will always hate 80% of what comes out of japanese publishers, so just ignore and don't respond to my statements (should be easy for everyone) when i make my strongly biased accusations and you make yours, then i won't stir up shit because both of us will always think we're right anyways. that's the fucking internet, and i always knew that, i just wanted to see how many fanboys i could piss off by throwing my (strong) opinion out there.

Wait wait wait...
SO, you hate Japanese games and yet you own a ps3 and/or you bothered to play Demon's Souls, is that what you're trying to convince me of here?
Here I'd thought you were just a barely-literate sap who had a hard time with a game and felt the need to vent his man juices, but now I realize that you're probably just a liar and a troll.
must....stop...responding....
oh well, to late.
Are you really happy with your life?

 

[yzzlthtz]

Well i can officially say i'm not on board for this game...specially since i tend to be a more defensive player in battle based games and it seems if dodging doesn't do shit then i guess blocking an attack would consist of sticking your face out whilst legions of guards come at you with sharp, shiny and pointed objects

Actually blocking usually consists of sticking a shield in front of your face. Works wonders.

 

[Carnagath]

I did give this game a try, and I did get past the ugly start, but really, when I realised just how many souls were going to waste, more than half (even though I did try to go back and spend them as often as I could), I just stopped playing it. I have no problem with challenge, as long as the game doesn't waste my time, and that is the main problem with DS imho. I would rather get my ass kicked in Dragon Age on the hardest difficulty (much harder than DS for sure) but be able to save when I want and concentrate on the challenge ahead, than die to something that requires multiple tries until you learn it but lose 1 fucking hour of gameplay every time that happens. That is shit.

 

[SasugaRIVAL]

This is my favorite Yahtzee yet, because it combines two of my favorite things:

1) Listening to Yahtzee complain about a game.
2) Listening to a newb whine about Demon's Souls' difficulty.

lol the game really isn't that hard if you combine two things, Patience and Logic.

We know Yahtzee has none of the first, but he should have employed more of the second. You can't blow through this game on a weekend on your first try. It just isn't that type of game.

It's a shame that Yahtzee gave up on the game at *snicker* 1-2. He would have found that this game is incredibly atmospheric and foreboding.

 

[UFriday]

Hey Yahtzee, If you are reading this, I wanted to ask...

Which do you hate more? Children or teenagers?

Just curious...