Spawn Kill: Review: Demon's Souls

The changes that From Software made to the traditional JRPG formula with Demon's Souls are astounding. The pressing question is, though, does the sum of all the odd components in this title equal up to an enjoyable experience?

[40cal]

8.0-8.5 is actually more where I was expecting this game to fall, all of the 9 and 9.5s have been blowing me away.

Either way I am very excited to get my hands on this bad boy, and am pleased that this game that I have been waiting for (over a year now)
shaped up to be a high caliber action RPG.

[K-Tuck]

I have a good feeling that its going to be love it or hate it with this title.

[foxtheory]

I agree. The difficulty factor will turn a lot of people away, but at the same time will be the best part for others. For me, I'll most likely be in between.

[raztad]

@^^^^^

Not every game is supposed to be casual. If game is challenging by design it is aimed to gamers that enjoy a challenge. Reviewers shouldnt drop points in the score due to the game difficulty, just to give an advice that game is hard but awesome like DS is.

[K-Tuck]

To raztad:

I assume that reviewers are meant to speak towards a general audience unless otherwise specified (IE Game Review @ WeOnlyReviewStrategyRPGs.com). If someone deems a game too hard for everyone but a specific crowd, I can only assume that the right thing to do is to judge the game as a non-specific fan of games in general (a.k.a. a casual gamer.)

[ThanatosDMC]

People that will play this game will need to just stop rushing an enemy. That's all. Carelessness kills you 85% of the time.

It's a completely different game from what gamers are used to. That's why they will die and die a lot. Everybody will have a good laugh at all those blood stains they'll see.

Oh yeah, parrying is the best way to effectively damage an enemy fatally. The big problem with parrying though is the risk that comes with it if your timing sucks. The enemy will take a big chunk of your life if you're not careful. So i suggest that you block then move to his back and back stab him for a critical hit. Bigger enemies cannot be backstabbed.

[FlatulentGhost]

"The changes that From Software made to the traditional JRPG formula with Demon's Souls are astounding."

Whoever wrote something that idiotic has no business doing reviews.

Demon's Souls comes from the EXACT same company that made the incredible King's Field games that this game is a spiritual successor to.

Give the game 1/10 or 10/10, but you sure as hell better know what the hell you are talking about before you put your opinion down in writing for the whole world to see.

[ChiefNuggz]

So you're saying Demon's Souls isn't different than traditional JRPGs?

And you think OP is idiotic? Lmao

[ReservoirDog316]

I decided I'm just gonna get this. I may or may not rent it before but I'm gonna play it for sure. It looks too good to pass up.

[Willio]

"In such a brutal title, having no pause not only means that the game won’t wait, but real-world issues like eating and using the bathroom will have to."

This is the best sentence in the review which sums up if the person is good enough for the game, not if the game is good enough for the player.

[simplyRealistic18]

most of the people who gave it below a 9 B***h about how hard it is, i thought people wanted a challenging game, now when they get 1 they complain

[K-Tuck]

Have you played this game? There is a difference between being challenged and playing a game designed so that every possible scenario is brutally difficult.

[ihaten4glol]

I don't see the need in any of your complaining about giving a game a lower score because of its stark difficulty. Not every gamer has the time to put into this type of game, nor do they want to. You have to understand that there are very niche categories in gaming, and the average person is usually not interested in something that will kick his ass into next week, not allow him to pause, and suck up a good amount of time with no reward. Most gamers just aren't into that. Some of us are, and we are quite interested. Dropping a game a few points due to this factor is expected, as the game will then not appeal to a wide audience, losing some of its effect. If you disagree, then write a different review instead of wasting everyone's time complaining about the subjective views of another gamer. JFC.

[ThanatosDMC]

Then i guess they shouldnt have played the game. The difficulty is the main pull of the game. If you understand that there are different niche of games out there, then why would you support that this game deserves low scores because of its difficulty.

I guess, you wrote it, huh? Damn, casual gamers... heheheh.

[ihaten4glol]

No, I did not write it. I'm Molotov Cupcake on the site. Did you even look at the author?

[DaTruth]

Wait a minute, you can't pause the game? That sounds ridiculous! I was looking forward to this game, but I have two children and pause has become a very important function.

Please tell me you're kidding!

[simplyRealistic18]

im not generalizing you, just almost all the reviews i read, the online bad thing they had to say about it was, it was really difficult, for instance IGN

@ 2.2

its and rpg game of course they are going to put time in, if this was just a shooter or something else i would understand

***EDIT****

im not saying that 8.5 is bad, if you just gave a 8.5 ok, but you put the difficulty of the game a bad thing thus obviously changing the score, that why i commented like that, it's not like i said this was a horrible review, im just tired of reviewer wishing games were more difficult but when they are they complain

[Nikuma]

Have you played this game? Honestly? Brutally difficult? lol, don't make me laugh. This game is challenging at the beginning because you're learning the ropes, but once you get the hang of it the game isn't brutally difficult.

It keeps a degree of challenge throughout, but nothing that is controller smashingly frustrating... unless you're really bad of course. The game is never CHEAP difficult and that is the only kind of difficulty that can really grind my gears.

All gamers who want a fair challenge and a sense of satisfaction after beating a tough and epic boss....GET THIS GAME!

[Sarcasm]

"The game is never CHEAP difficult"

Ninja Gaiden comes to mind.

[ThanatosDMC]

No i didnt read it. For the most part, people summarize the article in the Gamer Zone. I dont want to support a website that's ignorant of the game they describe. I bet the only boss he was able to kill was the blob (1-1 boss not Leechmonger) and that's it.

[ChiefNuggz]

Making fun of OP saying he probably only beat the first boss is kind of like making fun of a review without having read it.

You ride your high horse and preach of ignorance, and yet you're willfully ignorant of the person and of the review you're criticizing.

Stay in school, kiddo.

[Solidestchimp]

cant wait for this to come out in america maybe it will cost less to ship to england than from hong kong

[K-Tuck]

I believe the Chinese version of the game is almost totally in English, plus it has the benefit of plenty of players already playing online. I imagine shipping would be less if didn't have to go overseas.

[ThanatosDMC]

Yes, the chinese version is COMPLETELY in english even when you load up the game. Btw, this game has no installs but does have a 1.04 patch last time i checked.

[Milky]

I really want it but cant find a good importer.

[poeo]

i would highly recommend Renchi.com for the asian version.

i dunno about importing the US version to Europe though, if that's your situation... but the versions are the same pretty much, the only difference is separated servers and better translations in the US version.

[Timesplitter14]

Dude just wait 2 weeks

[Slient Knight 9]

yes the chinese (hong kong) version of demon souls is all in english except manual book

[Ichiryoka]

AAA Status.

http://www.metacritic.com/g...

[GamerPS360]

that doesn't make game any better. Well, I will be buying this game over uncharted2 but GTA IV is 98.

[Ichiryoka]

annnnnd?

[GamerPS360]

AAA can wipe my as* all I care, gaming journalist morale is worse than hooker in craigelist. I believe myself more than metacritics.

[Saaking]

Demons Soul Metacritic= 90
Halo ODST= 85

Halo flops hahahahahahahha!! The very reason why sales =/= quality

[FiftyFourPointTwo]

bu-bu-bu-but teh Gaylo Leech beta...! :D

[Teabag_Titan]

Too many reviewers are scared to say a bad word about the Halo franchise in my opinion. If it is bad, let people know it's bad, don't treat it different than any other game, simply because it has a familiar title.

[chidori666]

demons souls>>>>halosdtv.

[Teabag_Titan]

If the only complaints are that it's brutal in difficultly and dark in visuals, it sounds like the perfect game for me!

[K-Tuck]

There really isn't much wrong with the game at all. Its brilliant in its execution. It's just much too hardcore for anything but a specific crowd.

[poeo]

the darkness is AWESOME. you never know whats lurking in there... in fact, i cant think of any other game that uses darkness as well as this game. maybe there was a Silent Hill game that did it better, but i cant recall (and i've played all of them).

[NomadX]

I'll definitely be getting this game. I'm glad Atlus decided to publish it for the US.

[JonnyBigBoss]

No pause feature? My goodness... what the?

[SaiyanFury]

There's no pause feature because of the other gamers who join up with you when you're playing. You can't "pause" persay, but you can remove yourself to an area with no enemies, and then hit start to access your menus and whatnot. The reason for the lack of a true pause is if people are joined up with you in MMO fashion, you can't pause their game too.

[UnSelf]

wait what?

u cant pause at all?

[poeo]

it's an online game, you don't pause online games.

[rrquinta]

Still, I'm very disappointed to hear this. I have four dogs that climb all over me and not having a pause feature is disappointing, especially since the difficulty level is already so high. I forsee myself dying many a time unnecessarily because of that. I have this on pre-order, but really wish they hadn't given enemies the opportunity to kill you while in your menu. That's just not cool in my opinion.

[ThanatosDMC]

No pause since it's online. If you want to be safe, go back to the nexus using the.. ummm... return to nexus miracle... i forgot what it was called. You'll need 20,000 souls and an amulet.

[jack_burt0n]

I have not played it yet but surely you can come offline if ur gonna need to pause?

[ThanatosDMC]

There's no pause even if you do not connect online. But it makes one particular insanely hard boss easier to fight if you're offline.

Old Monk is one of the hardest bosses you'll ever fight in the game since the enemy is completely random is leveled higher than the player to top it off, it's an actual online player you fight with automated magic missiles firing at you. Heck, getting to the boss fight in the small level is a pain all ready... i wont spoil the scare you'll see in those flight of stairs since it's almost instant death...

[theherp80]

when games seem like its hard for the sake of being hard it can def turn a lot of people off.

[54percent]

I guess the "low score" is because of the difficulty

[Figboy]

it's really all about strategy. EVERY enemy in this game has a strategy to defeating them. from the "lowly" zombie like soldiers, to the high level monstrosities you fight, each of them have a strategy, and no task is insurmountable.

take for example this one area where you are tasked with passing by a cliff face. there are giant flying manta like creatures that spew spears at you that hurt you pretty badly. not only that, but there are golden armored skeleton knights along the cliff face that slow you down, allowing the manta's to get their shots into you. two hits and you're done.

for HOURS, i tried to pass that area to varying degrees of success.

my wife was playing the game, and found that there is a sniper perch on one of the ruined buildings, which give you an excellent position to take out the manta rays (which die in about 1 or 2 arrows, generally 1), leaving the only task being the golden skeleton knights, which are slow and lumbering, so you can use your speed to your advantage to take them out with ease.

bosses that i thought would be impossible were really very simple once you found the proper strategy.

even the dragon that strafes the bridge with fire can be taken down and killed with patience (and a LOT of arrows and crossbow bolts).

patience and strategy are the key to this game. it's NOT a hack n' slash game, where you can just run in, mash the attack button, and be alright.

the game is most certainly not for everybody, but it's excellent nonetheless.

hands down it's probably the best RPG i've played this generation (with White Knight Chronicles being the next - i imported the Japanese version and had a blast, though the game started to get too complicated, and not knowing a lick of Japanese slowed me down, so now i'm waiting for the US release. lol).

i can't recommend it enough. Demon's Souls is the epitome of sleeper hit.

[ThanatosDMC]

Exactly! People will hate this game because they wont be able to adapt from their usual strategy of "swing away".

[Sarcasm]

This post is a better review than the review of this article.

[bjornbear]

I'm on the fence on this one...anyone help me out?! =D

I dno if i'd dig it long enough...they say its between 30 and 80 hours O.o i LOVE this type of RPG but dno...

[Figboy]

there are so few games these days that justify a $60 price tag, and Demon's Souls packs an insane amount of game time into it's package. it's wholly unique, yet utterly familiar.

i've been playing nearly non-stop since i got it two weeks ago, and even my wife (who is NOT a hardcore gamer), picked it up and managed to get her character to level 40 (with a little help from yours truly on the boss battles. lol).

i'm getting Uncharted 2 and Ratchet Future 2 also, but i'm forgoing Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 (as cool as the demo was, it just wasn't engaging enough like Demon's Souls. and besides, i only have room for one soul-crushingly difficult game, and at least Demon's Souls is hard because it's challenging, not because the enemies are cheap like in Ninja Gaiden).

i'm glad i invested in Demon's Souls. i don't specifically how long i've been playing the game, but it's at least 30 or 40 hours, and i'm only at level 80, on the long road to max level 712, and i've only fully cleared 1 area out of 5 main worlds, each with 4 sub-levels.

the New Game + feature guarantees i'll be going through it again after i finally complete it.

i recommend it to anyone who fancies themselves a truly hardcore gamer and lover of the RPG genre.

[poeo]

if you're on the fence, GET IT.

i was on the fence about importing the asian version for like 2 months... and boy was i stupid. the game is incredible, all my doubts were silly now that i think back.

and remember, the game is not too hard! it can even be easy as pie, if you summon help! so dont worry about difficulty, you WILL get through the game (i did 5 times with an ever increasing difficulty, and im not the best gamer ever).

[cmacdonald]

Can't wait to get my ass kicked in this game.

[Morituri]

I want a game that is challenging because it forces me to think, not because the enemies are programmed to be cheap. I have this on Amazon preorder. Can Not Wait!

[pixelsword]

but complaining about a game being too hard is a little baffling to me since games like Ninja Gaiden and other games are just as punishing, yet not docked.

[Figboy]

Ninja Gaiden is punishing for completely different reasons than Demon's Souls is.

Demon's Souls is punishing because each enemy has different timing to their attacks. a few have differing HP (i've discovered that most enemies can be killed in a few swipes when you exploit their weaknesses). every enemy has a weakness than can be exploited, whether it be magic, long range attacks, or taking advantage of their size and speed.

if you get careless or overconfident in Demon's Souls you WILL die. no doubts about it. i've been killed by enemies in the FIRST area, because i got to c0cky revisiting the area to farm, and got rocked.

Ninja Gaiden is punishingly difficult because enemies have cheap attacks and tactics. they can either get an attack off at the PRECISE moment you drop your guard to attack them, they will gang up on you, even though the blocking system isn't meant to handle 4 guys swinging at you at once, or they'll just outright not take damage from an attack from you and deliver a crushingly brutal blow to you.

Sigma and Sigma 2 do a good job of fixing that, but it's still there, and in abundance. just playing the demo for Sigma 2 had me frustrated when it was nearly impossible to dodge the bosses most damaging attack, and he did that attack over, and over, and over again, even before you were finished evading the LAST time he did the attack.

i like challenging gameplay, not cheap gameplay. Demon's Souls is challenging.

you will die. a LOT. it's designed into the game. once you accept that dying is a part of the game, and begin to exercise some patience, the game is a cakewalk. naturally, i use the term "cakewalk" loosely.

the internet is making this game out to be one of the hardest games of all time, but i still say that Ninja Gaiden 1 and 2 (current era), and the DMC series are worse, and for more gameplay design oriented reasons.

most people just don't like that Demon's Souls isn't a hack n' slash, where you can get by with just button mashing. it's not Batman: Arkham Asylum here.

[ChiefNuggz]

Did you guys even read this review? The bottom states the game is excellent because of the difficulty, but that the difficulty more than anything else will turn people away from it. It isn't a low score because K-Tuck found it hard. The score may be low relative to other reviews because it doesn't have a mass appeal.

[Snarkasaur]

Anyone who plays video games period is casual. You're sitting on your ass literally twiddling your thumbs. Stop thing you're badass because you might do it faster than someone else.

Buy this game btw. :x

[ihaten4glol]

So don't visit the website. We aren't in dire need of your "support" when all you seem to do is make blind assumptions. You don't know my writer, and you don't know what he has played, and you will never because obviously you are the authority on everything.