Demon's Souls

You might hate it, but you'll love it too

Demon's Souls Japanese game cover (Image found using Google image search)

I suppose I'd call this a mini review, but it'd be more accurately described as a write-up of my first impressions of the game.

For those of you who haven't heard of this game, I'll just go ahead and throw this out there. This game is hard. You are guaranteed to die in this game and you are meant to die a lot. I can say for sure that even someone with the sharpest reflexes will die at least once. Why so sure? Because you are killed off at the end of the tutorial and sent to the beginning, the hub, of the game: The Nexus.


Even if you do beat the first boss in the tutorial, you'll run into this guy where you'll me certain death. (Image from Neoseeker)

To add to the fun, when you die, you are not sent back to a checkpoint. You are sent back to the beginning of the level you were playing. Not only that, every monster/demon you killed is respawned.

So what the heck is so fun about that? Sounds repetetive, right? You run through a level, you kill a lot of stuff, but if you die, you're sent back to the start and you have to do it all over again!

Well, for starters, this game forces you to learn from your mistakes. Since all enemies are respawned, it should be noted that they are respawned in the exact same places that they were before. So when you run through the level again, you know what to do and what to avoid. You know how to better fight so that you don't face as many injuries or death again.

This game essentially follows a more classic formula that newer games have all but forgotten. I found that it was best said in a review from Play Magazine:

"Unless you have been around since the 8-bit days, your experience of games has probably been pretty forgiving. 8-Bit games were more punishing in part because they were shorter; developers extended the life of their titles by padding the play-time with death. A difficult learning-curve meant more time spent with a title. But when games got memory cards and save points, replay was replaced with filler content. Then, when games targeted the mainstream market, they became easier still. Now, games feature unlimited continues as a given; the length of a title is not determined by how many times you play it, but simply how long it takes to physically get from the beginning of the title to the end.

Demon's Souls, on the other hand, is as long as you are stupid. Its length will be determined by how impetuous you are. Demon's Souls does not tolerate impatience. A castle filled with sword-weilding skeletons, where flying sting-rays throw thunderous shards of stone from the sky, would not turn a blind eye to a poorly-armored idiot charging its gates. So, take your time, select some good gear. Pay attention to your surroundings. And don't run in screaming your own name. Because Demon's Souls takes itself very seriously."

So basically, this game is awesome for reasons which were previously found mostly in games from decades ago. To make such a game by that old formula and give it some modern visuals and controls is simply the most refreshing thing I've experienced ever since I started playing games regularly over a decade ago, I really mean it!

Here's the big question though, being a guy who never played those old-school uber-difficult games, am I enjoying myself with Demon's Souls? Is my patience holding up against this game? Have I destroyed my PS3 controllers and put a hole in my TV screen?

The answers: Yes, yes, and no. I'm having a ton of fun with this game, my patience has been holding up just fine (if anything this game is teaching me patience to a different degree), and my PS3 controllers and TV are just fine.

As of writing this, I have only beaten the first level and its boss in Demon's Souls. I've also played through most of the second level 3-4 times. I say most of the second level because so far I've died on the way to the boss and was actually killed by the boss in my last run-through. I've yet to try it again.


This is the boss for the second level in the game. He's pretty tough, just a bit.

So, you wonder, if I've only beaten the first level and played through most of the second level a few times, just how much game time have I logged so far? The answer, my friends, is four. That's right, it's taken me four hours to complete, let's say, 1.9 levels. It may sound ludicrous to some of you, but trust me, it's been awesome so far and I look forward to playing this game all the time.

Here's the thing, the numerous times you die and the repetition and the lack of checkpoints serve a very good purpose. They make the player feel a sense of mortality and a need to actually pay attention and think when playing a game, as opposed to the newer "twitch" games such as Call of Duty 4 or Team Fortress 2 (both of which I love to play).

You need to approach your enemies carefully. You need to time your blocks and attacks properly. In the end, you are rewarded with victory knowing that you came out on top because you earned it. If you make just one or two too many mistakes, you will instantly regret them. The game will take your mistakes and knock you down and kick your ass. This seriously encourages a more serious and thoughtful gaming experience that can't really be found in many other places.

Let's not forget that when you die you're sent back to the beginning of the level, with all enemies respawned! This really emphasizes the need to be thoughtful, serious, and careful as you progress. This in particular also really adds to that sense of mortality that your character in the game has, because if you die, you have to do everything again.

I recall on one occasion specifically, where I found myself in a pincer attack (enemies on both sides) when I stepped out of a doorway and into a narrow corridor. I frantically ran to the right so that I could try and get past one of my foes, and I did. However, there were two more waiting for me. Bad idea. So basically at this point I had TWO enemies on each side. In the end, I stabbed two of them with a spear, ran by again, had all four of them in front of me, started slashing away with a sword while blocking when needed, and got away with just a sliver of health left. During the fight though, I kept on thinking about how much I did not want my character to die, and that I even felt desperate in my attempts to stay alive, but it felt great when I came out in one piece.

Situations like this are one of the main things that make the game shine. You get ambushed, what do you to? You try to take action so that things are fair or so that you'll have an advantage, but then the game slaps you in the face. What do you do then? You adjust your tactics and take the challenge. As you fight, you really fight with a sense of urgency and a desire to survive, because you know that if you lose this fight, you have to do everything again (although you will know better when you return). No checkpoints for you, that'd be too forgiving. No pausing, that gives you too much time to sit and think. Enemies will not pause and fight you one on one (like Assassin's Creed) and they will not pause for too long as they fight you, that'd be too easy. The enemies in this game are out to get you, and the game does not try to hide that fact.

I even forgot to mention, that when you die, you respawn in "soul form". In this form, you only have half of your health. Great, right? To get your body back you have to beat a boss or help another person beat a boss in their world.

There's a lot of interactivity between players both directly and indirectly. I won't go too far in detail here, but you can leave hints for other players. You can't leave anything inappropriate as you choose from a preset list of hints or messages. If you leave a bad message, it won't be rated well by other players and it will disappear faster than better-rated messages. If another player recommends your message, some of your health is replenished. Also, when you see other ghostly apparitions while you play, they are actually other players in their own worlds playing the game. There are ways to join these players in their world also. Lastly, as far as I can remember, you will also see several blood splatters on the ground as you progress. If you touch these, you will actually see a replay of another player's death who died there. This can be very helpful by allowing you see potential challenges up ahead.

There is so much more to say, but I'll go on and refer you to the GameSpot review, as it covers all I've said here but in more detail in some areas:


Just to reiterate, this game is hard. I sometimes even find it cruel. I've even wished for checkpoints. But when I come out of situations victorious, it all makes sense. The difficulty and gameplay design decisions are all very much deliberate and intended.

This game is the hardest and most rewarding game I've ever played. Even after just beating one level, I wonder why games like this aren't around much, but then I realize it's because most gamers now are used to being given a lot of slack.

Play this game and you'll find everything else, well, far too simple and easy. You may even consider other gamers pansies if they complain about this game and consider it to not be "well-made". Those people have either not played this game or they couldn't take the difficulty. On the contrary, this game is one of the most well-made I've ever played, and reviews listed at metacritic.com and gamerankings.com agree (for the most part, except for those few that complain about the difficulty and lack of checkpoints, figures). Honestly, not having checkpoints and having things be so hard does not detract from the experience. If anything, it adds to the experience and even immerses you even deeper into the game, just knowing that you really have to fight hard and intelligently if you want to make it.

This spiritual successor to the similarly unforgiving and difficult PS1 game King's Field (which I haven't played, but have heard a lot about), gets my stamp of approval. With a great story, excellent and refreshing gameplay, and great visuals, I give it a 9.5/10, given what I've played so far.

If you're looking to get a PS3 (in case Killzone 2 or Metal Gear Solid 4 weren't good enough reasons), this game would be a good excuse to. Let's not forget that Uncharted 2 also game out this week!

On an unrelated note, everyone's favorite trio of gearheads will be back with a new season of Top Gear on November 15th!

-Allen

EDIT:
IGN has posted their video review of Demon's Souls, in case any of you are curious, here it is:

More Demon's Souls Info