Demon's Souls: a very difficult RPG?
 

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IGN video review | Gameplay clip: thief class (gamer narrated) | Gameplay clip: magician class (gamer narrated)

Just ordered it really cheap (along with Assassin's Creed II (PS3); $40 USD for both plus free 2 day shipping) from Amazon, which is currently offering Black Friday deals on games (all platforms).

Has anyone else played this? I've read it's very difficult, you will get your ass handed back to you several times - and that's with normal enemies, before any bosses. But according to reviewers' accolades it's not that it's frustratingly difficult, it's that it's strict. As in old school. You have to earn your badass status. (Some players gave up on it)

And the story's pretty thin compared to western action RPGs like Mass Effect or Oblivion, focusing more on atmosphere, gameplay, and micromanagement of stats and weapons.

But the features, particularly online, sound amazing and exploration for goodies and XP look to be deep.

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You who have played it (or still are playing it), what has your experiences been with it? Any tips for me?

Yeah, it's fantastic, there's really no other game quite like it. It throws you in this ultra-difficult complex world and aside from a simple tutorial at the start (which ends with you dying, just to get you used to the constant failure you will face ahead) the game doesn't explain anything to you and just pummels you relentlessly until you eventually power through it or quit in defeat. You never feel alone in your punishment though and it's all of the online stuff that really makes the game a classic. Reading the notes other players leave behind - some of them helpful, some of them deliberately trying to lead you into a trap - is addictive, and being able to watch the ghosts of other players meeting their ends is one of the coolest online features I've ever seen in a game. There's nothing quite like the feeling of entering a room for a first time and see it littered with the ghosts of people who died there before you, immediately letting you know that you too are about to meet a very grisly death.

If anyone wants to see a really compelling argument for why the game is so great, definitely watch this video from Gamespot where they explain why they chose it as 2009's game of the year: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YgYBivaVco8

its very good, and if youre familiar with atlus games, then the difficulties not that bad.

Thanks for the replies. Something tells me this is gonna be one of those games where I go "WTF I WAS JUST ABOUT TO PWN THAT BEEYATCH!!!"



....then 5 minutes later, "IMMA FECKIN' GET YOU, MUHFAH!!! COME 'ERE!!!".


As in "hurts so good".

looks interesting, if they ever port it to PC I'll probably give it a try

I really don't think this is going to happen anymore. One could hope for a simulator in a couple of years, I am currently playing PS2 games on my PC whose port would have never been made.

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I started playing the tutorial earlier. I really need to learn the stats system and attribute influences and all that. I created a sexy looking Asian thief class male and plan to build up his magic a bit later (that's possible, right?), turning him into a rogue style mage. I like combining the two like I did in Oblivion. There's something about a very dextrous and agile spellcaster working with daggers and a generous amount of critical hit points.

Combat feels a bit stiff, similar to Fable (in terms of third person action RPGs), but I think Fable's system is better, more fluid. Still, the various fighting moves are a pleasure to watch.

I quit the tutorial just before I met its boss. Will try to deal with that later but now I wanna start on Assassin's Creed II (sigh, to be in Venice during the culturally and politically over-charged Renaissance era).

Let me just say that Demon's Souls is great!
And ACII has the sickest most epic climax and ending.

Demon Souls is a fantastic game. I got it the day of release and some stores didnt even get a copy in, some only 2 or 3. I would get all pumped to beat a section after dying on it 40 times.... psyched up okay this time no screwing around i got this. Then i would die 10 seconds later. You make a mistake... you pay for it. No other game like it really out there with the whole karma system or whatever it is. You can experience a lot of things by being all white or all black. It's almost worth using a guide to figure it all out.

:crazy::crazy::crazy:

I really need to mentally prep myself.

Once you've played for a few hours you'll begin to appreciate just how precise the combat is. The system is expertly crafted to promote skillful play, which you just don't see in many action RPGs. In a game like Fable, it's more about the fun of taking enemies out and less about the skill required to do it. Bad guys are fodder, basically, for you to dispose of in fun and imaginative ways.

So many games are designed in a way that allows an 11 year old to button-mash their way to the end, while still allowing for some depth for more experienced players to mess around with. It works and it's fun, but Demon's Souls is just on another level. It's Mega Man. It's Ikaruga. It's Contra. It's on that level of "extremely challenging but completely (see: mostly) fair" and if you've beaten it, then you're a master.

Demon's Souls is really a one-of-a-kind game in this generation (I'm aware of its predecessors on PS1). And the difficulty has been blown way out of proportions, as I don't find it difficult in the traditional sense. This is a very fair game, if you die, it's your own fault. And believe me, you will die. Play it safe, and if you don't play it like an ordinary hack'n'slash, it's not that bad.

Also, you will spend most of the game with 75% health - during the first level, you will spend most of the time with 50% health. That's because if you die, you restart in soul form with 50% health. During the first level, you get a Cling Ring, which means you'll be able to have 75% health in soul form.

Also, the currency used in this game for buying stuff and upgrading your stats and weapons are souls. Whenever you kill an enemy you gain souls, like when you gain money to kill enemies in other games. If you die before spending them, you lose them and start the level from the beginning. To regain your lost souls, you need to get up to the point where you died, and interact with the blood on the ground. However, the game only lets you pick up the souls from the last time you died, so if you die again when trying to retrieve your souls, those souls will be lost forever.

Thankfully, you can leave the world (level) whenever you want, so it's possible to go for a soul hunt, then leave when you have enough.

Oh, and there is no pause in this game. So make sure you're at a safe spot when you go for a pee. Don't worry, there are planty of safe spots. Once you've cleared out an area/room, it's completely safe. Enemies don't respawn until you die. Of course, there's always the chance of getting invaded by another player though... ;)

The game is very difficult, but it's veeeeryy good game, the multiplayer is awsome!

More like: Demon's Souls: A very boring RPG.

I can see why a lot of people like the game, but I hated it. In the beginning it was nice and cool, but after a while the gameplay just got boring to me. And since there is no story going and the levels were quite boring as well I stopped playing the game soon after that.

This was a really bad buy for me. Way overrated.

Demon's Souls is probably the best game I've ever played. I can't think of any game that has been so immersive as it was. I'm really looking forward to the spiritual sequel Project Dark.

Teaser

I do think the difficulty is exaggerated, I made it through without summoning blues (except for Old King). I was just careful and didn't try to go God of War on anyone.

My class was Paladin and I've finished the game twice with that character.