Demon's Souls (PS3)

Without going into too much detail, Demon's Souls is by far one of the greatest games I have come across. Many months ago, I was a bit reluctant to buy it after having purchased many games in a short time span, but I was very glad when I finally purchased it.

The game is challenging, but not too challenging. Learning the ways of the enemy is key in helping you progress. Leveling up using souls you have collected can make you withstand more hits, carry more items, have increased stamina or cast more spells, but picking a base class at the start of the game doesn't limit you to what you can do.

Dying, will no doubt happen very often, but that isn't the end of the game. It actually helps you because it allows you to learn from your mistakes. If you die, you lose your souls, your means of leveling, your currency for trade, etc, but if you can manage to make it back to your blood stain, then you can reclaim the souls you lost. If you die on the journey to your blood stain though, you lose the last lot of souls you were trying to reclaim and drop any you had picked up on the way. You can however, travel to that last place to pick those up, collecting more souls along the way, but if you die, the cycle continues.

There are 5 worlds, but multiple levels within each and though I haven't had the game long, it is not linear, in the sense that you have to complete each world, from 1-5. You will need to play through World 1 - Level 1 and defeat the first boss, after which you are free to roam all of the other worlds in any order you please. You will likely find yourself replaying the same levels a few times over, but this isn't boring because you may have to go back to find other paths or things you have missed, which in turn can provide you with more demon's souls, extra NPCs in which to buy from, or information which can prove useful in your progression. The game isn't obvious either. The levels themselves may seem linear in structure, but the path to progression is not simple. You can end up finding it difficult to proceed through locked zones, but when you finally get round to doing so, the satisfaction of your achievement is well worth the effort.

When you defeat demon bosses, it is advised to hang on to these special demon boss souls instead of consuming them and adding them to your pile of currency-like souls. At the start of the game and through many of the worlds first levels, NPCs will happily accept any souls as currency. However after a while, some upgrades, spells or miracles will require only demon boss souls to obtain. You do not drop items on death - other than your current souls - but non-consumed demon souls from bosses, or lesser ones found lying on dead soldiers will be safe for use at another time.

The combat on this game is superb. Weapon wielding is great. Using the shield is very helpful, and whilst stamina plays a part in how effective both weapon and shield are, it recovers very quickly. It's incredibly well designed and the lock on system makes combat easy to use, but the battles themselves are obviously not a walk in the park. I haven't used magic yet but it's going to be pretty similar.

Graphically the game is amazing. It's a fantastic third person RPG, with a good challenging difficulty, which to some may seem overwhelming at first, but once you get into it, you will manage. The frame rate at times can become choppy but the PS3 handles the game very well - for the most part the game is as fluid as anything.

When you've completed the game with your first character, the game doesn't end. You get to NG+ (New Game +) which increases the difficulty of the foes, but lets you keep a few things from your previous play through.

I'd advise only patient players buy this, because this may be why Demon's Souls has bad ratings by some people. It's not for cry babies, or for lovers of games who play themselves. It's a mans game - or womens ;) - and the difficulty, an unapparent progression make this challenging RPG a fantastic play through.

Those of you considering purchasing this game, who are worried about difficulty, should check Gamespot.com's review of Demon's Souls. Those who are considering Dark Souls, I suggest they get Demon's Souls first.

9/10

Enjoy!

It's hard to think of another game which is as innovative and yet old-school, so punishing and yet open-ended, so brief and yet expansive as Demon's Souls is. It has been called everything from the best PS3 game to the hardest RPG ever, and having now earned the Platinum trophy over 75-odd hours, I'm inclined to agree with all the praise that has been heaped on this wonderful game.

My single favourite aspect is the combat. There's nothing quite like clashing with a tough enemy with a tight defence, rebuffing their attacks whilst waiting for an opportune moment to counter or parry. There are literally dozens of weapons in the game, from rudimentary swords, bows, spears and so on through to mighty blades which cleave the sky in twain. That every foe can, at the outset, defeat you if you let your guard down adds to the tension and makes every single battle intense and fraught.

You collect souls from each enemy you defeat, and these can then be traded for upgrades, items and weapons. However, should you die, you're returned to the start of the level, all enemies respawn and you lose accumulated souls, which languish where you died, awaiting to be re-collected (until you die again, then they're gone). It's a perfect risk/reward system, and the game thrives on careful play and forward planning. Most levels aren't particularly big, but with the number of enemies populating them, they can easily each take over an hour to complete. Luckily the game autosaves continuously, so if you do need to switch off mid-level you can do so and return later with no punishment. Shortcuts are also available in most levels, so huge chunks can be cut out if necessary, and these are permanently unlocked once activated.

Playing the game comes in two flavours - body form (nothing to do with ladies' hygiene) and soul form. You start the game in body form, but upon dying you come back in soul form - with half health (although kind of ¾ health really), and you must beat the level's boss, help out another player online or use an item to get back your body. There are different events which happen depending on what you do (far too much detail to go into here), such as meeting particular characters and unlocking hidden areas. To get the most out of the game you really need to use the Demon's Souls Wiki, but save that for subsequent play throughs.

The online modes are incredible. Basically, you can co-op with two other soul form players as well as get involuntarily invaded by another player, who will regain their body if they defeat you. Aside from this, players can post prescribed messages all over the game, so you might find out how to beat a boss, or use it to warn others of a trap or tough enemy. You can also see other players' last few seconds before death, which can help prepare you for the trials ahead.

The bosses are so good they deserve a mention all of their own. They range from twisted humans to massive deformed beasts, but most of them have a unique quirk, and beating them is a battle of attrition, skill and dexterity. Nothing is left to chance in this game and the bosses are perfectly balanced, and deserve to be remembered alongside the likes of Shadow of the Colossus or Zelda for its incredible and memorable confrontations.

Lastly, I suppose the difficulty needs a mention. Demon's Souls is a hard game, but most of it comes down to common sense, and most deaths come from avoidable player mistakes. Proceeding slowly, keeping your shield up and learning the level as you advance is the best tactic, and once you complete the first couple of levels, you'll have somewhere to grind for souls, which makes it all a bit more manageable until such a time as you can tackle the tougher enemies and levels. Patience and perseverance are definitely needed, but the game gets easier as you level up, get better equipment and learn the enemies.

Demon's Souls is an amazing game that embraces the new whilst keeping in touch with the aspects that made the 8- and 16-bit era so memorable. There aren't many games like it on PS3 - a third-person action RPG with an emphasis on combat and dungeon crawling, and with enough depth to rival the mightiest RPG - but it's so good that it sits up near the very top of the PS3 tree and occupies a niche all to itself. If you have patience, like a challenge and lament the lack of RPGs this generation, you owe it to yourself to buy this game.

Alright, Demon's Souls. Demon's Souls is a game I've knew about for quite some time, however I wasn't sure I should buy it. Let me explain: I commonly play online first person shooter games, and to put it simply I don't like loosing, or dying, and I do rage-quit quite a bit. With this in mind, I wasn't sure if I'd enjoy this, or if I'd end up being frustrated as hell. I obviously took the chance of buying it and boy I'm glad I did - this game is really fun, and I still recommend it to anyone who may be like me on the rage kind of things.

Less about me though, and more about the game. Demon's Souls starts of rough, to put it lightly. It tells you the controls in a small tutorial level at the start which ends in introducing you to death. After this don't expect this game to hold your hand, because it'd probably chop it off instead. Expect to open up the internet and search for answers or glance through the instruction booklet every now and then.

After the start you'll be introduced to the "Nexus". This is kind of like a safe place where you can manage your inventory, upgrade your characters skills, upgrade your equipment and more. It also holds the gateways into the different worlds or levels. Each level is made up of 5 different chapters, and you'll start off with only 1 chapter available to you. In total I believe there are 25 chapters, and the first one took me 6 hours to pass. Each chapter will end with a unique and difficult boss.

Chapters are fairly long, and are only made longer by the countless deaths you're sure to meet, the secret areas and more. If you die, you're made start from the beginning of the chapter and you lose all your souls (the games currency). However you're given a chance to retrieve your souls by making it back to the same area you died in, and if you die before you make it there then those souls are gone for good. It's not all bad however, as some chapters do hold many shortcuts which come in different forms. Maybe you'll make it to a lever, which opens a gate near the beginning allowing you to pass a chunk of the chapter, which is always nice - it keeps things from being TOO repetitive.

Combat in the game is absolutely brilliant. This is a game where the combat would NEED to be flawless, and fun to use, because it'd only be frustrating to die otherwise. The combat is very clean and fair. If something goes wrong in all but rare cases it'll be your fault, and you'll know this. You need to know when you can block, when you can attack, and when you need to dodge an attack. For example, if you're out of stamina and some big bugger is about to take a swing at you with a huge axe, you better dodge that because he will knock you off your feet leaving you stunned and vulnerable for a second. Stuff like this is what makes every fight in Demon's Souls one that will have you on your toes. When in a fight every attack from you and your foes feel powerful - enemies will stumble when you give them a good one, or if an enemy missed you with a huge sword they're gonna have to take a second to lift that weight off the floor they just pounded, giving you a chance to attack.

I've wrote a lot about this game and that's because this game has a lot of depth and a lot to talk about. I highly recommend the game and I've purchased Dark Souls (the sequel) even though I feel like I've only started the game.