Demon's Souls

[Yeargdribble]

Is anyone playing this or did anyone play it? I'm having a bit of a Stockholm syndrome love affair with the game and I'm surprised to not have seen a thread about it. It's a brilliant game, if a bit punishing.

[ljkkjlcm9]

my GOTY hands down.
Challenging, but fun. Hard, but not cheap.
Extremely satisfying to get past that part that has you stuck. Everytime you die, you know it's from your own mistakes, not the game being cheap.

THE JACKEL

[Nifleheim7]

my GOTY hands down.

Same here.

The innovative online gameplay alone makes Demon's Souls one of my best gaming experiences in recent years.
This game is on a level of its own,that's for sure.

[Bolivar]

Hard, but not cheap.

That's exactly it, it's a hard game, but not "cheap." It's not like the Hard Mode(s) on mainstream video games where it's just the game throwing tougher/impossible challenges at you which it's basically up to luck if you get past a certain part or not.

Game of the Year? Maybe. I've gotten past the first level in worlds 1 through 5, and am now on 2-2 (btw, does the ring of fire protection allow you to walk over those lava rivers?). Everything about it's been amazing and I like that the game does have a lot of level variety, even within the 5 worlds/zones. The boss battles are sometimes astonishing and the combat system is very deep. It's like a mix of so many things, sometimes it's like boxing, sometimes its hack n slash, but more often than not it's so strategy-intensive, which sounds weird since it's, kinda, real-time. The game actually reminds me of the tough dungeon crawlers in the NES days, but now in HD graphics with the Havok physics engine. And the level layout is like Ghouls & Goblins where it's all about memorization and getting better at the combat. You can't just grind and expect everything to be a breeze, it's all about how good you actually are as a player and your ability to adapt.

Anyway, I've been waiting a long time for a game like this, I just love it! I can't believe more people on EoFF aren't talking about it.

[Yeargdribble]

Yeah, I personally felt like it was a game designed with me in mind. I love to sword 'n' board, but honestly, most games these days don't reward a strategic defense. We're weaned on games like GoW where you can block, but it's almost always better to just kill something faster rather than block it's blows.

Challenging, but fun. Hard, but not cheap. Everytime you die, you know it's from your own mistakes, not the game being cheap.

This game does this so well that it makes you realize that almost no other game manages to do this. So few games train you to be better at how you deal with the game world so that under pressure you can improvise and actually feel like you're better at the game.

You can't just grind and expect everything to be a breeze, it's all about how good you actually are as a player and your ability to adapt.

You could hand the controller to someone who has never played it but is Soul Level 300 and they could get slaughtered in seconds in any world. But hand it to someone who has learned to play the game, don't give them high levels and they still might be able to work themselves out of a tough spot because having skill in the game actually matters.

And the level layout is like Ghouls & Goblins where it's all about memorization and getting better at the combat.

As much as I love that game, if someone told me this I just would hate it as a concept. Older games that force you to memorize feel terrible. The concept of losing souls sounds terrible. But somehow, the reality is different. It's amazing how if someone told you about this game and told you the way it worked, you'd probably spit at the thought.

The way the levels are designed, you don't really hurt for not having a checkpoint. Think of 1-1 where you finally delve deep enough to open a gate from the other side and now you've got a shortcut. Delve a little deeper and you can open another gate for another shortcut. Due to this any boss that's kicking you butt is actually not so far away as it seems. Once you've slowly dungeon crawled for an hour or so you find that avenues are open such that the boss is only a minute or so away in the end.

I love the atmosphere in many of the places. Tower of Latria, once you get over the earlier frustrations of getting around, is amazing. I find 3-2 especially amazing. When I'm in the deeper parts of Stonefang tunnel I feel sooo far from safety and a little claustrophobic. It's a fantastic feeling.

[LunarWeaver]

I've heard the game is pretty punishing at every corner, even if it is in a fun way. I am a pussy and don't feel like messing with something where I die a lot. I am so spoiled and weakened by the gaming of today, I totally admit it.

[Bolivar]

As much as I love that game, if someone told me this I just would hate it as a concept. Older games that force you to memorize feel terrible. The concept of losing souls sounds terrible. But somehow, the reality is different. It's amazing how if someone told you about this game and told you the way it worked, you'd probably spit at the thought.

Well what sold me in the game is that Demon's Souls does not give a flying smurf about the game industry or its accessibility-obsessed conventions of today. I thought it was going to be more tedious and demanding than it actually is, and went into it totally ready for it. But it's actually fun!

The way the levels are designed, you don't really hurt for not having a checkpoint. Think of 1-1 where you finally delve deep enough to open a gate from the other side and now you've got a shortcut. Delve a little deeper and you can open another gate for another shortcut. Due to this any boss that's kicking you butt is actually not so far away as it seems. Once you've slowly dungeon crawled for an hour or so you find that avenues are open such that the boss is only a minute or so away in the end.

Yeah, I feel like for every seemingly insurmountable aspect, there's a creative design decision to make things more interesting.

I love the atmosphere in many of the places. Tower of Latria, once you get over the earlier frustrations of getting around, is amazing. I find 3-2 especially amazing. When I'm in the deeper parts of Stonefang tunnel I feel sooo far from safety and a little claustrophobic. It's a fantastic feeling.

Agree 100%. I think if Demon's Souls has anything going for it, possibly more than the rewarding challenge, it's ATMOSPHERE. It's a smurfing Atmospheric game, yo.

[Yeargdribble]

I've heard the game is pretty punishing at every corner, even if it is in a fun way. I am a pussy and don't feel like messing with something where I die a lot. I am so spoiled and weakened by the gaming of today, I totally admit it.

It's something that will surprise you. It sounds terrible but isn't. It's impossible to understand without trying it. Bolivar said it well.

I thought it was going to be more tedious and demanding than it actually is, and went into it totally ready for it. But it's actually fun!

Agree 100%. I think if Demon's Souls has anything going for it, possibly more than the rewarding challenge, it's ATMOSPHERE. It's a smurfing Atmospheric game, yo.

The thing I find odd about this that Doom 3 tried similar things with Darkness and while it worked, it felt more frustrating than it needed to. Somehow Demon's Souls limited light just doesn't have the frustrating effect nearly as much. It has a very satisfying effect that adds to the game a ton and probably does with Doom 3 was trying to do.

I remember down on 1F of 3-1 there was some large creature writhing around and doing something. It would occasionally shoot at me or something. I once tried to run in and slash it but got knocked back without seeing it. I ended up carefully sniping it from a nearby doorway. I never saw the thing other than a very murky silhouette. I have no idea what it was, but it creeped me the freak out.

[Bolivar]

I remember down on 1F of 3-1 there was some large creature writhing around and doing something. It would occasionally shoot at me or something. I once tried to run in and slash it but got knocked back without seeing it. I ended up carefully sniping it from a nearby doorway. I never saw the thing other than a very murky silhouette. I have no idea what it was, but it creeped me the freak out.

I think I know what you're talking about. It's like some huge black ball of organic matter, kinda slimey and rubbery, and there's countless limbs protruding out of it and flailing around with some of them holding weapons. It can also shoot magic at you, so I'm sure that's what you're talking about.

There's some genuinely disturbing stuff in this game (especially in 3-1)

[Slothy]

I hate you all.

I'm not getting it until Christmas.

[Yeargdribble]

That's definitely the one. Wait until the thing in 3-2. God that level is so messed up.

[ljkkjlcm9]

5-2 is definitely the most annoying.
I think I liked every world except 5. It'd be cool if they made the broken spire a DLC world, but not likely.

As for the Ring of Fire Protection allowing you to walk on the fire rivers, it helps. I'm not sure exactly what the number is, but your fire resistance has to be at a certain number to be able to walk on them without dieing.

THE JACKEL

[Yeargdribble]

What types of characters are you guys playing? I started out wanting to go all heavy armor knight style, but ultimately I've had to adopt a bow and though I tried hard to deal with my speed I realized that it would be better for me to wear some lighter armor until my endurance is high enough to be able to wield the heavy armor effectively.

Now I'm sort of a sword/shield archer hybrid thing and scarcely have touched magic.

[Craig]

curse ye ps3 owners, this sounds amazing

[ljkkjlcm9]

well I actually have two different characters.
One is a Str/Dex build (with a few spells) that is mostly melee and a bow.
Weapons like:
Mercury Secret Dagger
Fatal Secret Dagger
Blessed Knight Sword
Crescent Falchion
Quality Kilij
Blind
Dragon Guillotine Axe
Crushing Great Sword
Sharp winged spear
Sticky Compound Long Bow
Talisman of Beasts

The other is a magic build. Focusing on Magic and Dex.
Blessed Knight Sword
Crescent Kilij
Moon Winged Spear
Kris Blade
Blind
Sticky Compound Long Bow
Talisman of Beasts

Clearly, some weapons are in common just because of usefulness.

THE JACKEL