After spending a few hours in the world of Demon's souls I feel I am ready to review the content of the game and as the title suggests, this is my first RPG game.
- Gameplay -
Demon's souls, a game critically acclaimed for its difficulty. Personally, I disagree with those profound statements; if someone claims this game is by any means "hard" then I can only come to the conclusion that they are playing the game wrongly, this is particularly true when on their first playthrough. Demon's souls is no Skyrim or standard medieval-era RPG game, instead Demon's souls is a game that demands the player to analyse their enemy and wait for them to expose an exploitable weakness of which they can take advantage of. If you want to survive in Demon's souls then going straight into a fight is by no means the way to go, if you follow the play-style Demon's souls demands, you will have no problem with this game at all because you will feel more rewarded and deaths will occur less frequently pen-ultimately, leaving you feeling a greater sense of gratification. The gameplay is fluid and responsive and as people say, any death is entirely the players fault as they have either missed the right time to strike their enemy or disregarded the environment or health/stamina bars. It can be said that due to the tactical, engrossing gameplay you (as I did) will realise an estimated 1 hour play of the game quickly becomes 2 due to the concentration and fun this game needs and gives. This leads me onto the controls:
- Controls-
The controls for Demon's souls are absolutely perfect and are accessible to all audiences, even me, someone who has never played an RPG before. The controls are fairly basic and easy to pick up, the player should have no problem here.
-Graphics-
Playing a 2009 game in 2012 you may feel that despite graphical advances, you would be able to notice any differences made in the 3 year period inbetween. With Demon's souls this however, is not the case. The graphics for this game are excellent and look as good as a game produced now (as well as exceeding the graphics of some games produced now!). The graphics in Demon's souls really are perfect and no issues were found in this area.
-The difficulty-
A commonly raised point when talking about Demon's souls, the difficulty of the game is no problem at all infact, the real difficulty really comes when trying to conserve health supplies or being aware of your health and stamina bars whilst in a fight. If you're a careful player that doesn't play games that promote headless-chicken tactics (Call of duty) then I promise you, if you stay aware during this game and watch enemy attack patterns then you will have no problem at all with the difficulty. My first play-through actually lasted 2 hours as I had become so engrossed in the magnificent world created by From Software.
-The verdict-
If reluctant, BUY THIS GAME!
I have quickly gone from being reluctant to playing this game every night since I love it so much!
BUY IT NOW!
YOU WILL NOT REGRET IT!
DO NOT LET THE DIFFICULTY PUT YOU OFF!
You might not be able to believe this, but Dark Souls is a pretty tricky game on the PlayStation 3.
Dark Souls and its antecedent, Demon's Souls, changed the gaming industry, but some games came away with the wrong lesson.
I’m not at all saying the souls like games are bad. The fans speak to how good the games are, but those games just bore me to tears. It’s just combat combat combat. I know the worlds are interesting and there is lore if you search for it, but there just aren’t enough lulls in all the fighting to enjoy any of the art and lore. Wish there were more story elements.
Are you saying people can't have a preference towards story-driven games?
My wife is, frankly, not very coordinated, and that's a big reason she gravitates towards easier gameplay and more story.
And having many people (gamers) who have many different preferences and opinions is very good for the gaming industry.
You don't have to understand, but you certainly should be thankful and respectful, because diverse interests bring variety. That's a great thing to have for anyone who loves games.
I’ll try to explain. Not everyone wants to only do combat for 50 hours. Lack of combat doesn’t mean boring to some people. I never said I didn’t want there to be combat, but when there is a beautiful intricate open world with lore it would be nice to have the time to explore it and have some down time. In the souls games there is very little in the way of narrative, cutscenes, or exploration other than just finding the next boss. Too much of any one element can be boring. Sorry if that is too big of a concept for you.
"I never said I didn’t want there to be combat, but when there is a beautiful intricate open world with lore it would be nice to have the time to explore it and have some down time. In the souls games there is very little in the way of narrative, cutscenes, or exploration other than just finding the next boss."
These games are quite well known for their lore and narrative, it just isn't spoon fed to you. I really appreciate that the games aren't out to insult your intelligence and trusts you to read item descriptions, explore locations, meet NPCs, and put the pieces together. The macro level narrative is easy enough to understand, but it's when you want that granular understanding of the lore that you need to explore, talk to people, find items, play the DLC, etc etc. It often invites multiple playthroughs. It's one of the unique qualities about these games where you don't have to learn what happened/what's happening in detail, but it's a lot of fun. Reminds me of reading the diary entries in Resident Evil titles.
Yes, there's a ton of combat (who would've thought in a broken world of miserable vagabonds and corrupt abominations, am I right?) but they do a great job of varying it: you can play defensively, aggressively, evasively, from a distance (bows, spells, pyromancies), with various weapons, and any combinations thereof while incorporating secondary weapon effects like elements, toxicity/poison, bleeding effects. The combat isn't stagnant. If you find it boring, you might not be exploring your possibilities very well.
"Too much of any one element can be boring. Sorry if that is too big of a concept for you."
You don't have to be condescending about it. I don't take issue with you not liking these games or finding them boring, but I also think your take is a bit myopic.
I don’t understand why people like Fortnitre ,CoD etc. I enjoy story driven games but love souls games too. We all have different tastes though
That's what people love about it. It's all about the Gameplay, challenge, world building. What more do you want from a game.
I though Gameplay was one of if not the most important aspect of a game? What's your idea of a better souls like game then?
"What's your idea of a better souls like game then?"
World building isn't the only element of story that people care about. That user said, "more story elements (plot, characterization, story growth, etc) and less combat."
It's perfectly healthy for people to express why they don't like From Software games, because a new dev might create a new, amazing game that bridges those dislikes into the genre for something new.
It's also great that you love all the aspects that Souls have brought to the gaming industry. Enjoy what you enjoy and let others do the same.
Some people prefer games where you spend more time watching than playing, and that's okay. Everyone doesn't have to have the same tastes.
Are CBR so desperate to generate clicks to their articles that they've got obviously spam accounts leaving random positive comments? sakshi97978 & arpitachowdhary9797 in case they've been marked as spam by the time you see this comment.
I thought I was the only one that noticed the spammish nature of those accounts. Glad to see I wasn't the only one
The spirit of each game ripples into the next, and Demon’s Souls was the trailblazing catalyst.
'Helped' shape? I mean this is the blueprint that the rest are built on. I often see many claim Dark Souls as the revolutionary entry in the series and responsible for the Soulsborne genre, but when I ask what Dark Souls did that Demon's Souls didn't, the only answer I get is 'it had a connected level design rather than separate levels'. Something that could be in most genres of games. The truth being that Dark Souls is the first one they played or the first one that came to their platform, it has a special place in their heart, and they want to give it more credit than it deserves.
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No, King's field was the blueprint that layed the foundation for future FromSoftware RPGs and Demon's Souls built on it. Environmental storytelling, difficulty, weapon degradation, strategic combat where every move counts and that opressive atmosphere of loneliness were all present in King's Field.
"Environmental storytelling, difficulty, weapon degradation, strategic combat where every move counts and that opressive atmosphere of loneliness were all present in King's Field."
These alone do not make a Souls game or else playing Fallout 3 with a hardcore mode would be a Souls game. To be a Soulsborne, you need to be a 3rd person action RPG. You need the death mechanic where you're gambling your XP (essentially) 'souls\blood echoes\runes' with one chance to win that progress back if you return to where you fail, this risk-reward element is essential. You might also need the co-op mechanic that allows you to be invaded and turned into PvP.
"These alone do not make a Souls game" I didn't say it did. I said that King's Field layed the foundation for future FromSoftware RPGs and that Demon's Souls built on it. The things I mentioned immediately come to mind when I think about the experience I had with Demon's Souls and I would bet that most people that played it think the same as well.
"The things I mentioned immediately come to mind when I think about the experience I had with Demon's Souls"
That's cool but my point and what this article is about is what shaped the 'soulsborne' franchise. Soulsborne is a distinct genre, Demon's Souls did all the heavy lifting for what we call Soulsborne today. King's Field contributes nothing unique to that genre.
Agreed. I personally enjoyed Demon Souls much more then the Dark Souls series for whatever reason, and it definitely served as the blueprint for those games and most of Fromsoft’s other IPs to current date. They found their “style” of game making Demon Souls.
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I remember playing demons souls on ps3 when it was released(not popular yet during that time), I didn't expect to be mind blown. Can't forget the feeling. Without it no DS1, 2, and 3 for sure.
Nice review, however, the game still has a pretty strong online community. It's not huge, but it's by no means a ghost town. I invade people regularly still and have messages that get recommended all the time.
yeah this game is a 10/10 bro
the souls series has taken me by the balls and made me its slave.
Can't knock a game's "online" three years after the fact. We the community will forgive this... "You have a heart of gold. Don't let them take it from ya"
Fantastic review. However, I play Call of Duty and I still wreck face on this game. I'm just diverse like that. It is a tad foolish to underestimate someone just because of a game they play.
Moving on, I agree with everything you say! The game is simply fantastic. The controls really are "that" responsive! You said the controls are easy to pick up and I agree with that, but at the same time if you want to get the most out of the game then you are going to have to learn some tricky maneuvers. Switching your target lock off and pulling off a pivot BS takes some practice for example.
Easy to pick up and will require some skill to master is what I'm trying to say.
I disagree with the score. I would score it much higher, but I agree with everything you wrote. Great review, bro!