Demon's Souls Review - The Nightly Gamer

Andrew Weymes of The Nightly Gamer writes: "It's no secret that the Playstation 3 has been pretty starved for RPGs since its launch when compared to the Xbox 360. Demon's Souls which was developed by From Software is an exclusive action RPG on the Playstation 3. It's more of a dungeon crawlers dream than a traditional action RPG but it is a very enthralling game to the right crowd of gamers. After importing an asian copy of the game and playing it past completion of the main story, TNG has a full, in depth review."

[Sarevok]

7.5 = good game right?

[heyheyhey]

depends on the reviewer... some are harsher than others

the game looks like a decent RPG with a nice art style, but not the next Oblivion or whatever

from the looks of it 7.5-8/10 seems like a fitting score for the game... il pick it up when i see it in the bargain bin

[xabmol]

0.<

[PoSTedUP]

i guess ill check this one out, im down to experience a new game. it looks pretty cool and i herd some good things about it.

[SaiyanFury]

I bought the Asian version the day it was released, and it is, by far, the best action RPG I've played on the PS3. No the graphics aren't state of the art. Yes there's very little music. But the controls are very intuitive, and when something big comes you'll know it. Like when the huge fire-breathing dragon swoops down on you to blow fire up your ass. It lets out a huge roar and comes down fast and hard. The game is very hard. You WILL die, there is no question in this department. The online functionality is great, and you can read tips from people on the ground as you go through each dangerous level. This will certainly reduce the number of times you'll die, but you'll STILL die. I have yet to regain my physical form so I've not tested the online coop, but here's hoping I get it back soon. Demon's Souls is a fantastic game for us hardcore RPG fans that haven't been served this generation. I'd wholly recommend it if you like challenging and rewarding gameplay. Hell, there's even trophies.

[MrWeymes]

I reviewed the game. Don't take the 7.5 as a negative score. A 6.5 would mean that it's likely not worth your time. I found the gameplay to be excellent but everything else was so average that it dragged down the overall score greatly.

If you're interested in the game, give the review a read. It's explains a lot about the gameplay mechanics and you'll likely be able to summise if you're interested in a game with this kind of difficulty and tedium.

I personally loved the game. I never play games for more than 3-4 hours at a time but I ended up playing Demon's Souls for about 8 hours in one sitting. It's very addictive if you like games like this and I certainly did but I had to rate it accordingly.

[Nikuma]

I think overall you did a pretty good review. It's nice to see an English review of a game that hasn't been released in NA or EU. There were some things that you left out that I thought should be worth mentioning but for the most part your review is pretty spot on. Personally I feel the gameplay itself makes this game a 8.0 at least but others wouldn't think the same. kudos to you sir.

[MrWeymes]

Thanks. I'm glad that you enjoyed the review. I feel that an 8.0 would have been too generous of a score based on the gameplay alone. If I were submitting a user review, then I probably would have given it an 8.0 or 8.5 but I was trying to approach it without a large amount of bias. It's a great game in terms of gameplay but everything else dragged it down. If only the graphics, story and sound matched the gameplay, it would have likely been a 9.0 or higher.

[Sackdude]

check this another review

http://www.n4g.com/ps3/News...

[SaiyanFury]

I enjoyed the review. I scored it higher when I reviewed it, but as a huge King's Field fan I guess I'm a tad biased. Feel free to read my review if anyone's interested.

http://triplechat.com/?p=24...

[SeanScythe]

I bought it and it's really fun, and really hard at times. It's a love/hate relationship. I would have given it and 8 or 8.3 maybe. The first time you see the dragon fly in on the screen in real time you just about piss on yourself.

[San Frandisco]

ive seen gameplay vids and all screenshots and it acually looks awesome .. it looks like its more geared toawrds the hardcore side of gamers witch is rad cuz im a hardcore gamer so maybe ill enjoy it more then i think.

Hmm,the review is decent i guess,from wut ive seen i would give it and 8-8.5 but thats just from wut ive seen as i have not ever played it yet.

[Gun_Senshi]

Go in Japan and say you gave Demon Soul 7.5/10. They will point and luagh at you.

[heyheyhey]

not really... Famitsu gave the game roughly the same score

plus i don't think this reviewer is Japanese nor do his reviews cater for Japanese tastes

[Nikuma]

Thing about Famitsu's review was at least 2 of the reviewers were more casual gamers and their main complaint was about the difficulty of this game. One of their reviewers gave the game a 9 while the others were 7s I think. There was another review by a different mag that gave this game a 9. How much you get out of this game really depends on the person playing it. It really caters to a certain kind of gamer.

[Gun_Senshi]

Latest Famistu poll showed that 85% are sadifised with demon soul and 17% with SO4

[heyheyhey]

that's great and all... but we don't live in Japan and this isn't a Japanese website, so your point is moot

[MrWeymes]

It's fine that japanese reviewers felt that the game deserved a higher score than I gave it, but I couldn't justify a score higher than 7.5. The game has excellent gameplay but everything else is completely average. I rate games based on story, presentation, gameplay and sound. I obviously have a reviewers tilt as well.

I enjoy almost every genre and I've played numerous amounts of games in all of them. In my opinion, a 7.5 is fair. I could have given it an 8.0 but that would be showing too much favourtism towards a game with very little story, decent graphics and decent sound.

I even said in the review that I greatly recommend it fans of deep dungeon crawlers and RPGs. However, it's not the type of game that appeals to most gamers or even most RPG fans. I'm a big RPG fan and I found it very tedious at times, but I haven't quit a game since I was a child and I refuse to ever again.

[Baka-akaB]

@MrWeymes

Overall you're review can't be harshly criticized and deemed unfair ... though i'd disagree on many points .

Starting with sounds and story . You can't just come across a dungeon crawler knowingly , expect any storyline and find it dissapointing . I find that quite odd . Or at least tell me that you rated Diablo 1.. 2 .. and most dungeon crawler on consoles and pc badly as well , in the story departement . Story always take a backseat in those type of games .

And even so i find that Demon Souls did that extra effort most game of the kind just dont even bother with , beyond a nice CG intro . they went through the trouble of even designing multiplayer around the main plot , wich is you lost your soul and want to get it back by killings monsters or selfishly hunting down other players .

I also disagree about giving 6.5 to the sound . It's not average at all , like everything else , they designed it around a global vision . They went for the eerie and creepy haunted place with no ambient sounds but your own , creatures , and the stuff you move and crash around . And it's effective ... and by your own admission as well voices and the occasional music are pretty good .

Anyway it's still a very good review , and while i know i'm whiny , i just can't understand that universal need to put "down and punish" hardcore games by restricting them to 6-7.5 ratings , even when they are excellent . Often reviewers focus on details and flaws that would get a free pass on bigger and more popular titles .

Take Oblivion ... you almost never see journalists point out that it's storyline is crap , that it's only good parts are in the many books you find on library shelves , that it's dungeon are poorly designed , and that fighting mechanics arent thrilling .

i'm obviously biased , but in the case of a niche and hardcore title like Demon Soul , with an actually pretty good design , good graphics , excellent gameplay without clunkiness , original multiplayer concept , and good challenge , easily deserves an 8 ... regardless of how it's welcomed by the masses or how niche it might be .

[MrWeymes]

I felt that it would be silly of me to try and write an unbiased review while overlooking the multiple flaws in the game. For instance, I gave Killzone 2 a 9. The only thing that I didn't like was the story.

Demon's Souls was slightly above average in every other area besides the gameplay. It wouldn't be fair to developers that take the time to have excellent graphics, storyline and sound design in their games if I were to give Demon's Souls a higher rating that I did.

Personally, I love this game but I didn't want my bias to come through in the review.

[devilhunterx]

I thought Oblivion sucked. Might try then.

[Gun_Senshi]

Oblivion did suck. Only kiddies that never played any TES series think its good. Its a huge downgrade from Morrowind.

[Baka-akaB]

Agreed , it's as flavorless as playing a mmo without people in it . Wait it's actually the same thing .

What irks me is how it became the current reference and model , after years of good stuff like Baldur's gate or Kotor , with actually freedom AND a plot worth something

[Trebius]

I havent heard anything really bad about this game...think ill still pick it up when it's released...i dont see why not. The footage i've seen for this looks very impressive, and i'll get it on my own accord and not based off of a review.

[silverchode]

this would be a flop according to ps3 fanboys.

[1 HiT KiLLZ]

No a 6/10 for Halo Wars was a flop lol.

[Nikuma]

I have absolutely fallen in love with this game. It feels like a Diablo/Monster hunter mix.(2 of my all time favorite games)

The graphics are really quite good imo. They won't please a graphics whore but the environments and lighting overall is pretty good. Lets just say they get the job done with nothing so ugly that it makes you cringe. Bosses look amazing and are all quite unique and challenging. The atmosphere of this game really immerses you and can really leave an uneasy feeling while traversing the dungeons.

While there really isn't any music while moving through the dungeons, there is very creepy ambiance sounds that just add to the unsettling feeling the dungeons already give you.

Gameplay is ultra fun and very addicting. This game doesn't hold your hand and can be challenging and pretty much forces you to play better cause you'll get nowhere just trying to hack and slash everything. The difficulty imo just makes the game so much more intense and rewarding.

The online coop is uniquely done and puts multiplayer in the game while making it still feel like a single player game. You get a little adrenaline rush when a black phantom(other player looking to kill you) breaks into your game. I've seriously been stalked by a black phantom for a long time not knowing where he was only to be ambushed at a very inoppertune time.

I'm very happy with the first game that I've decided to import and think it would be really nice to get a NA release so more people can experience this awesome game. :)

[NNNW]

love it to bits. Apparently it's really tough in the beginning but if you take your time and with a little (alot, more so) of patience you'll get the hang of it.
I myself have been contemplating to get this game but time constraints have got the better of me

[jBat17]

if they release a revamped/improved version for NA.. otherwise, i'll stick with sacred 2 until the ARPG king arrives.

[Myst]

Hmm 7.5 doesn't really seem bad, then again and it's understandable as it is a rather difficult game from what I'm hearing. Yet since the PS3 is not recieving Monster Hunter Tri~ this will have to take the place of that for me, overall from the videos I have seen it looks like a rather good game and I can see as to how it got that score. In my opinion (Though I have yet to grab the game because it's sold out everywhere!) this could certainly ease it's place into the spot that was tri~

Also more anime pics huh ^_^;

[MrWeymes]

The gameplay got the highest score in the entire review. I think that it is the main thing. If the technical issues don't bother you and the gameplay sounds like something you would enjoy, I whole heartedly recommend it.

Yes, anime pictures all the time. I love anime. I have filthy thoughts about it at times. lol

[Myst]

Yeah I'm especially interested into the online aspect especially after hearing all versions connect to the same "plane" so to speak so I was really hyped about getting it. Though it just seems like a hard game to get and I'll just have to try again later.

Just don't go overboard on the anime :P!

[MrWeymes]

A word of warning, I may go in fact go overboard with the anime breasts. I'm a terrible man.

[patterson]

but sadly this is just a WRPG (that happens to be made in Japan O_o).

I'll pass.

[sarshelyam]

Great job Andrew. While 7.5 does SEEM a little on the low side, I'm easily biased because I've been enjoying the game. I think you hit on all of the strengths/weaknesses and remained completely objective when addressing them all.

Excellent work!

[Final_Rpg]

hey Weymes, I enjoy your reviews. Could you do one for WKC???
typing from ps3:)

[MrWeymes]

If I can find it somewhere with english subtitles. I don't speak any other languages. PM if you know where I can find a copy with english subtitles. I would love to review it. I'm an RPG loving maniac but I need the other genres to keep me from getting bored.

[KKanjiAnkh]

I played 10 mins of the Japanese ver. and loved the initial presentation, to me it seemed like a few games I've played from all over, and it reminded me a little of that old PS1 game, from Tecmo w/ the traps.

[JOEdANGEL]

That score is what The Elder Scrolls III : Morrowind averaged and it was a fantastic game. I'm sure if you like blisteringly difficult hardcore dungeon crawlers, you'll love this game.

btw, I'm not comparing Morrowind to Demon's Souls, just the scores.