Games of 2009: Demon's Souls

By Kristan Reed Published 23 December, 2009

Loss leader.

The old Japanese adage 'The nail that sticks up will be hammered down' could be the design brief for Demon's Souls. You are the nail. You must be hammered down repeatedly, without mercy, with extreme prejudice, forever. The end.

Like most of the useless souls that roam the defiled world of From Software's immense action RPG, I died a pitiful, inglorious death a long time ago. Ill prepared and most certainly ill-equipped, I got used to running around without my body, being crushed like a bug, over and over again.

Take the Tower Knight, for instance. Your first meeting with Mr Knight and his cronies is designed to emphasise that you're a feeble, useless no-mark, and that you might as well just go back to the Nexus and reflect on perpetual failure. Come within 30 feet of this metallic monster and you're likely to resemble little more than a bug smeared on a car bonnet at 130mph.

Fortunately, even 100-foot monsters in 12-inch-thick armour have their Achilles heels, and in this case quite literally. In classic videogame style, anyone brave or stupid enough to wander behind the Tower Knight while he's smashing up the world will notice that hacking him furiously around the ankles yields results.

Your mileage may vary, however. If you're brave/stupid enough to wade in with a puny little rapier and poke away manfully for 40 minutes, that's up to you. Wallow in the improbable glory. Me? I ran furiously up the back stairs, systematically hacked his weedy archer friends to death, and eventually found a beautiful sniping spot where I could periodically wield my magic in relative safety.

'Games of 2009: Demon's Souls' Screenshot 1

Protected by the blasts of his infernal magic-spewing lance, I found my moment and blasted soul arrows in his face every time he tried to fry mine off. With barely a scratch, the Tower Knight shuffled off in a blast of blinding light, leaving me, arm aloft in glorious celebration to no one.

Demon's Souls ought to be a hateful experience. It's a sobering and routinely punishing game that makes offers precisely zero concessions to failure, and yet somehow it's ended up as one of my favourite games of all time. It's a complex, uncompromising punishment-reward relationship like no other.

The enjoyment is all about the context. For all its RPG leanings, it's undoubtedly the survival-horror element that works best on me. Each and every encounter, from the very first shambling tutorial grunt onwards, is filled with the kind of eerie tension that keeps your heart rattling like a knackered clock.

Thanks to a masterful art style and imaginative character design, basic exploration becomes a key element in its appeal as you take every tentative step forward. The fear infused into every mist-shrouded stair and dank corridor ensures there is never any room for complacency, and it's this inherent need to focus every step of the way that makes for such a darkly compelling adventure.

The cold fact is that if you try and play Demon's Souls like a normal game you'll probably hate it, and question the sanity of those who find it so appealing. The complete abandonment of modern concessions is refreshing, but completely contrary to the way most people like to play games nowadays.

For instance, the way Demon's Souls treats death is darkly amusing in its almost fetishistic brutality. Not only does it force you to restart that stage from the beginning (regardless of whether you'd reached the boss), it also repopulates the area with most of the enemies you just killed, and then delivers the final kick in the nuts by taking all your hard-earned souls from you. Because you need these souls in order to upgrade, you then have to patiently battle your way back to where you last died to recover them and hope that you don't suffer the same fate again and lose everything.

With such astonishingly harsh punishment meted out at every opportunity, it's clear the game wants you dead, so the problem becomes learning how to fail. We're not used to much failure in games these days, and the extent of it in Demon's Souls can be hard to accept if you're used to recharging health, auto-checkpointing and forgiving difficulty.

It sounds insane to get so excited about a game so resolutely old-school in its mercilessness, but you find you can because any and all failure is your fault. I must have died several hundred times over the 50 hours I've sunk into Demon's Souls, but not once did I ever blame the game for doing something 'cheap'. Perversely, such crushing failures only hardened my resolve to go back and do better.

Perhaps the main reason for this is the fact that the process of 'doing better' is extremely rewarding over time. There can't be too many games where trudging through the same portion of the same level is still as enjoyable 30 attempts later, but the degree of satisfaction you glean from eventually kicking the arse of everything that got in your way is something few games offer.

Another curious element of Demon's Souls' appeal is the fact it rarely tells you anything helpful - so much so, in fact, that it almost feels deliberately designed to inspire a community to help each other out. First of all, the game allows players to write messages for one another on the ground to warn of trouble ahead, while bloodstains offer an insight into how other players met their end via an animation of their last few seconds.

'Games of 2009: Demon's Souls' Screenshot 2

But as wonderful as these ideas are, they sure as hell don't help you find out which class is best to choose, how best to upgrade, where the essential weapons and armour reside, or who best to give your Demon's Souls to. Without the community Wiki to lend a hand in those dark moments the game would be a complete bitch to figure out. Rather than take away the surprise element, the Wiki enhances Demon's Souls, as the experiences and trials of fellow travellers, catalogued on the internet, come to your aid. No surprise, then, that the deluxe US version shipped with a 160-page guide.

Even 50 hours in, I'm not done yet. Having become slightly less rubbish at the game and levelled up to a semi-acceptable rank, I'm starting to roam around in body form more often than before, and experiencing the joys of Black Phantoms - other players forcing themselves into my world in order to battle me and bring themselves back to life in their own game. Brilliantly, not all of them are here to grief, either, with some helping me clear entire sections before bowing and making their exit. Blue Phantoms, meanwhile, introduce a superb co-op element.

The fact I'm still not done with Demon's Souls, and the fact that so many people seem happy to play the game through over and over again, demonstrates the quality of the core gameplay. Far from making the game predictable, repetition reveals more layers and, more importantly, ensures you get better.

The question for many Demon's Souls addicts now is whether this uniform critical appreciation will eventually secure a European release, but with region-free gaming making its non-appearance less of an issue there's every chance that prospective publishers will assume its niche audience has long since imported it. In other words, if you're one of those people who has held out on buying it so far, don't wait: there really is no excuse not to get one of the landmark games of the generation, if not the decade.

It won't be an easy ride, but then by the end of it you'll be glad that it wasn't.

Check out the Editor's blog to find out more about our Games of 2009.

Picture of Kristan.

About Kristan Reed

Kristan is a former editor of Eurogamer, dad, Stone Roses bore and Norwich City supporter who sometimes mutters optimistically about Team Silent getting back together.

Read more articles from Kristan by visiting the Kristan Reed archive page.

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Comments (103) Latest comment 2 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • AHiFi #1 2 years ago

    Great; sign me up...now I just need a PS3.

  • butler` #2 2 years ago

    I must have died several hundred times over the 50 hours I've sunk into Demon's Souls, but not once did I ever blame the game for doing something 'cheap'.

    This line sums it up more than any other for me.

    Probably my GOTY personally, and on the PS3! Nice retrospective from one my fav journo-types too.

  • JohnnyWashnGo #3 2 years ago

    Definitely GOTY for me. Sure, I haven't finished it yet and other games have since come along to take my precious gaming time away from DS, but I have put over 50 hours into it, got to soul level 70-something and still find it challenging.

    Its a tough game, but never unnecessarily so. If you find you have trouble in the game, it is your gaming credentials that are lacking not the game being too punishing.

  • j-bo #4 2 years ago

    Great article: finally gave me the kick up the bum to import Demon's Souls and stop waiting.

  • Widge #5 2 years ago

    Snowed in today. Plan is:
    Toast
    Tea
    Bit of work
    Ableton
    DEMON'S SOULS

    Happy excksmas indeed.

  • webcider #6 2 years ago

    i love this game so much i dream about the horrifying demon's its hard but not unfairly i feel a great progression when i finally win over the nasty demons whats even cooler is that the environments is like designed to punish you to keep you at bay it takes time to get through the first time but when you know the tricks its trying to play it becomes peace of cake. you die a lot but only because you are impatient not skilled enough or just don't know the enemies weaknesses the game can be hard but it can also be easy depending on if you read the messages laid out by the other players. its just Awesome :) best game in 2009 and this generation for me. and i am the type that chooses Easy mode in games :)

  • drewster #7 2 years ago

    recently sold my deluxe version after completing it a few times, i miss it, no other game gives you the buzz this one does. Think I'll order the standard version this time.

  • wizlon #8 2 years ago

    I'm still really bitter that they haven't released this in Europe despite the success it has had over in the US. Because of this bitter this I'm going to call it shit and go on about how Halo: Reach will be GOTY next year.... Damn it, I just want to play Demon's Souls so badly... I might have to crack and import it!

  • SlackMaster #9 2 years ago

    I've played through the first part of the castle level and then not played it since... I never died that often but I've found having to re-tread through the level a few times already a bit tedious especially since all the same enemies spawn and in exactly the same places.

    I was used to punishing difficulty and having to redo levels back in the 8Bit era but now not so much. It's definately an aquired taste and isn't a game for everyone.

    I'll have to start playing it again, as it was enjoyable just a little too repetitive.

  • Dizz #10 2 years ago

    It's just pure RPG/gaming bliss, so yes, GOTY for me too. Too bad I have to work in the week between Xmas and New Year's this year...

  • JahB #11 2 years ago

    @AHiFi

    I bought a PS3 for this game alone, and it was worth every single penny.

  • markymark22 #12 2 years ago

    Whoa that game sounds shit hard! Jesus.... I guess its fine as long as the game isn deliberatly being unfair to kill you. There's nothin worse than when the game cheats to kill you! Aaaargh!
    Is there a 360 release on this game?

  • erp #13 2 years ago

    Demon's Souls is definitely my Game of the Year, if not my Game of the Generation.

    I'm usually happy for a game to end after about 8 hours, and often completely bored of them if they last any longer than 12. And yet I've now sunk over 50 hours into Demon's Souls and I'm still not tiring of it in the slightest.

    Not since daydreaming about C64 games in school assemblies many years ago has a game occupied my thoughts as much as this does.

  • markymark22 #14 2 years ago

    Whoa that game sounds shit hard! Jesus.... I guess its fine as long as the game isn deliberatly being unfair to kill you. There's nothin worse than when the game cheats to kill you! Aaaargh!
    Is there a 360 release on this game?

  • Pac #15 2 years ago

    Great article. Makes me want to play through it again over Xmas. Would really like a sequel even more though.

    Having said that, I am impressed that FromSoftware's next game is something completely different - 3D Dot Game Heroes.

    RE Demons Souls: Did anyone else lose all the souls from the last two bosses by accidently falling down the huge crater in the Nexus? Must say that nearly put me off playing again.

  • Widge #16 2 years ago

    My best Black Phantom moment:

    Went in to help someone on 4-2. He was busy taking out shadowmen in the opening area, but thanks to my stats, I could jump right down to the lower level, taking out the Grim Reaper spawning that. So he would have seen all of a sudden all the enemies die.

    At this point a Black Phantom invades and my bod I'm helping is upstairs with no help. I begin pegging it upstairs to find my bloke in dire straits on one sliver of platform, with the BP on the other side pinging magic into his face. Thing is the BP doesn't know I'm there... all of a sudden he is getting smashed in the back by my magic. A huge battle ensues with me and the BP running away to a cliff edge, facing off with a black skeleton trying its best to intervene. Epic. I win and my bod is safe.

    About 5 minutes later the bod goes outside and is speared by manta rays firing huge barbs through his chest. Oh well.

  • mikeck #17 2 years ago

    My copy arrives today - SO excited about getting stuck into this over the holidays!

  • Pac #18 2 years ago

    @farticusmaximus

    Demons Souls also reminds me of the Amiga game Imortal somehow. Despite looking like a primative Diablo it was something completely different. Imortal was also a fantastic game with great atmosphere and did not lead the player at all. At a time when there were was no internet, completing that game was also pretty hard.

    Someone make a updated version please.

  • Nightbite #19 2 years ago

    Finally pushed over edge by this article - picking it up online later!

  • Widge #20 2 years ago

    and don't be scared by the difficulty, its challenging but not unfair.

  • waggy79 #21 2 years ago

    @ Slackmaster, totally agree. Used to love the brutal games in the past, the more challenging and unforgiving the better. Made it even more satisfying to be in among the few who had done it.

    But I also didnt relish the idea of fighting all those respawned enemies again with even less items than before. Must be getting old...

    By the way, the price is reasonable on ebay so if its your cup of tea there's no reason to wait.
    Edited by 1 at 23/12/09 @ 10:03

  • TOOTR #22 2 years ago

    So there is an online element to this? Where you see other players in your game instance? Can one of you beautiful people please elaborate?

    This and Uncharted 2 are seriously tempting a PS3 purchase.....

  • Meho #23 2 years ago

    It's very challengng but never cheap. As this game never holds your hand (quite the contrary as Krudster points out, it's damn near obscure in parts) and doesn't give you artificial help (spawn points, checkpoitns etc.), it doesn't need to do the artificual difficulty either. It's just you and a relentless, hostile environment. Get better at playing and you thrive. Don't get better and you die, repeatedly. Simple as that. It's so pure in its concept and so beautiful when it comes to presentation that, yes, not only this is GOTY but quite possibly game of the generation as well.

  • Widge #24 2 years ago

    I found re-doing the level with gradually increasing competence rather satisfying. Skirting around 1-1, tentatively pushing into the bowels of the place, epic tense battles with Green Eyed Knights, running away from Red Eyed Knights... tough times to start with. Gradually got to a point where I was swatting the underlings aside, lurching and diving behind the GEK's and nailing them in 2 hits before taking on the REK in a bragging rights showdown.

    You only retread as much as you want to though, you can plod off to one of the other worlds. I don't even head into 1-1, 1-2, any of world 2 anymore, just started my first steps through 3-1, hit a wall of difficulty in 4-2 (now THATS a level) and not even dared world 5 yet!

    I tended to grind a bit when I was amassing a few souls and was having trouble doing 1-2, but bloody nailed the dragon and got on with it.

  • Widge #25 2 years ago

    Online:

    You see ghostly images of others playing around you, fighting unseen foes in their world.
    Bloodstains litter the ground, giving you the chance to replay another players last few moments. "Ah, something round the corner might kill me!" or "Ah, I CAN'T make this jump down there after all".
    Messages, true and false, litter the ground for you to take advice from. Leaving your own can refill your health bar if others recommend them. I often leave a message in front of 2-1 in the Nexus saying "Do not proceed without a spear!"
    Blue stone - available after a certain point, basically put your sign down to offer up your services to another player. Good way to get to learn an unfamiliar level.
    Black stone - invade anothers world and take them on! Reap the rewards of souls for doing so.
    Red stone - PvP, two players get to meet to show down.

    Its really good, just seeing the world alive with the images of players and messages gives a real sense of depth.

  • Meho #26 2 years ago

    "So there is an online element to this? Where you see other players in your game instance? Can one of you beautiful people please elaborate?"

    Yes, but you don't have to interact if you don't want. It's a genius concept actually, here's a brief exlanation of its philosophy from another forum:

    "The multiplayer component is especially fascinating. Producer Takeshi Kajii invented it after an experience when he and several other motorists were stuck in a snowstorm. They all got out of their cars to help each other out of the snow, one at a time, but once a car was freed, the driver had to keep going or he/she'd get stuck again. So no one was able to stop and thank their fellow drivers or even really communicate. They were all complete strangers helping each other and then vanishing. The result is a multiplayer side that I've never really experienced before, and which is really a huge portion of the game's value"

    So, you see other people as ghosts most of the time and can choose to be part of their game (or to invite them to part of yours) but all is very anonymous, no chatting or anything. Also, the invading part, it is VERY exciting but you don't have to be part of it if you don't want to.

  • butler` #27 2 years ago

    tootr, yea you and two others (so 3 max per world)

    it's very, very fun, but possibly harder than it should be to get in with someone you know (though not impossible if you know the system well)

    there's also pvp, which is great even on japanese servers. i've only met one crazy jap guy that could put me down consistently who basically exploited the lag to perfection

  • M_of_the_sys #28 2 years ago

    In other words, if you're one of those people who has held out on buying it so far, don't wait: there really is no excuse not to get one of the landmark games of the generation, if not the decade.

    There is an excuse actually. I really want this game but can't afford the higher price for an import game.

  • mikeck #29 2 years ago

    Demons Souls also reminds me of the Amiga game Imortal somehow. Despite looking like a primative Diablo it was something completely different. Imortal was also a fantastic game with great atmosphere and did not lead the player at all. At a time when there were was no internet, completing that game was also pretty hard.

    Someone make a updated version please.

    Is this the same Immortal that was released on the Sega Mega Drive too? I loved that game, all the different death animations were really cool too.

    I second a nomination for an updated version :)
    Edited by 1 at 23/12/09 @ 10:20

  • GamesConnoisseur #30 2 years ago

    Ditto to everone re the game being very challenging, fun and time invest = rewards are great.

    I imported but still really rankles that this act is required for us European, so it's elitest in where the minority would have done so to their contentment and majority misses out. Those who would have purchased the game if it's get out in Europe outnumbers us I m certain.

    I think quite elitest for us to believe otherwise and difficult to prove as stats are not tracked?

    However to the people who waits..... Look at me describing my hurts for those who hasn't got the game and GET OFFA YER ARSE! Import the game today as your Xmas present from Eurogamer!

    Certainly the most radical, memorable game of the decade and there is nothing quite like it.

  • Gregolution #31 2 years ago

    So happy this game is being well reviewed. One of the best games I've ever played in my life. You can take your open world watered down content western RPGs and shove em. I want more challenges like this please. Phenomenal game!

  • welshben23 #32 2 years ago

    Has this game got turn based combat or "normal" combat?

  • Venkman90 #33 2 years ago

    So when you die the second time, you lose your gear?

  • Sonic_D #34 2 years ago

    This is a fantastic game, I've sunk 70 hours in to it, the first game in ages I've done this for (not counting SFIV). Fully justified my PS3 purchase. I'm on my second playthrough, which is much tougher than the first time round in some respects and easy in others as you retain all your items. The only time I thought it was cheap it where I am stuck now, which is on Maneater the second time round.

    Unfortunately the online element (beyond white phantoms, messages and bloodstains) has evaded me, I got an Asian copy about the same time the US version came out. I've only been invaded by a Black Phantom once and rarely find any Blue Phantoms to co-op with. This is a shame really, but the game still remains excellent.

  • darkphoenix #35 2 years ago

    My GOTY.
    160 hours to platinum, four playthroughs needed.

  • Jonesy81 #36 2 years ago

    I have just lost 100 hours of Demons Souls due to hard drive corruption (no recent backup) Just waiting for new PS3 to be delivered and going to do it all again! not bothered in the slightest thats how good this game is

  • Mr_Dodger #37 2 years ago

    So now Play Asia won't ship PS3 games to UK, who would you recommend for importing these days?

  • dudefella #38 2 years ago

    This game is amazing. I hope more people give it a chance now.

  • owl #39 2 years ago

    @mr dodger

    try renchi, ncsx or yesasia. you want the asian (not japanese) or american version of the game, both are in english.

  • Cappy #40 2 years ago

    Lots of people imported Demon's Souls via<a href="http://www.videogamesplus.ca/product_info.php?pro ducts_id=15657
    "> Video Games Plus.

  • ukBoodhunter #41 2 years ago

    I must've put so many hours into DS over the summer holidays... I got to my 2nd playthrough (the hardest I've heard), and I just had to do the storm bit, but after about 100 deaths I gave up, how come I managed to help about 20 people through that bit as a soul, but when someone decides to help me, I get like 100 black phantoms and the people with me are TERRIBLE >:(

    must go back to it sometime, goty though

    shame I got the asian version though, cant play with the english speaking people...

  • thefjk #42 2 years ago

    What I love about the game the most is the combat system. 3rd person RPGs should learn something here... the controls and fighting system make battles so much fun.

    You can't just run in and press attack with enemies trapped in animation loop that stops them from hitting you back, unlike other games... you will get mauled!

  • ukBoodhunter #43 2 years ago

    also, ive never had my hands get so shaky and sweaty in a game ever..

  • CUR715 #44 2 years ago

    What a fantastic write up! Demon's Souls is definitely my favourite game this year.

    The writer mentions "Demon's Souls addicts", well that's me down to a tee! Haha! I've clocked over 700 hours on the Asian servers, and have 50-odd hours on the US version as well.

    I simply cannot get enough of it! :)

  • Widge #45 2 years ago

    I've only got to the bottom of 4-2 once! That was helping someone down there. The slugs are horrible and that boss seems nails, killed my summoner.
    Can imagine 4-3 is nails. 1-4 is very very difficult from what I've seen briefly.

  • UncleLou #46 2 years ago

    No. 1 on my "best games I've never played" list, and it will/would be the first game I buy when/if I buy a PS3. Shame there's no PC version, I am sure it would find an audience.
    Edited by 1 at 23/12/09 @ 11:53

  • AC!D #47 2 years ago

    Best RPG ive played this gen. First 5 hours are really tough but if you guys stick it out the game opens up and it all starts to make sense. The bosses also seem impossible at first but all of them have an achilles heal like the author says and once you are smart enough figure each one out they will be very lucky to even get a single one shot kill on you. The game also has tons of replay value. I finished my first playthrough with a knight and my second playthrough was with a mage which almost feels like playing a brand new RPG because your combat tactics change completely. If you really want a good challenge though the game offere game+ when you finish up and thats even better. Damn i hope Sony get From Software to make a sequel. Also well done to Atlus for picking up the publishing rights from Sony to bring us this game. Atlus rocks!
    Edited by 1 at 23/12/09 @ 12:00

  • Godhather08 #48 2 years ago

    Great article! Good job. Love the game.

  • feistycheese #49 2 years ago

    All I have to say is this - THAT FUCKING BLUE DRAGON IS DOING MY NUTT IN!!! WHY WONT IT JUST DIE!!!

  • WilsonPhillips-X #50 2 years ago

    Demon's Souls is a masterpiece - for me it is the second best game of all time. And importing was both a doddle, and about the same price as buying a retail release in the UK. Buy this game!

  • Sarge #51 2 years ago

    Buy it on eBay from a reputable seller. Love the game, but I often find myself staring out of a window while I mess up on a relatively easy part of a level when trying to get my souls back and wondering how I'm ever going to be able to look at the game again... As feisty above points out "IT WILL DO YOUR FUCKING NUTT IN".

  • GreyBeard #52 2 years ago

    I honestly think Sony dropping not releasing this themselves internationally is a huge own-goal. While I don't think it ever was likely to be a huge hit, heavy promotion plus word of mouth could have made it a substantial seller. Atlus did a great job in the US, but realistically they are a small outfit lacking the resources to push it to a wider audience.

    Yes, DS is unfashionably punishing by modern standards, but its atmosphere and pacing take a lot of the sting out of the learning process. The important thing is that the risk/reward is always in the player's hands - there are relatively few places in the game where you can't stop and decide whether to "take the money and run" back to the nexus, or to press on at the risk of losing your souls.

    The clever part is that although death is an ever present threat, you can always get a second chance. Loot you collect stays with you, but your souls stay at the place you died. Yes, you get set back to square one spatially, but that's not to say you have lost everything. The most important resource you gain is experience of where the threats lie, which should help you get back to those souls more easily.

    So you apply what you've learned, equip the better gear you've found, use the shortcuts you've previously made and head back out to your bloodstain. Obviously this is extra tense because you've just used up your safety-net (die again and your souls are gone for good) but hey, you've gotten this far before...

    You get there, and you feel great, but then it dawns on you that you've essentially "doubled up". You now have all the souls you had before, plus the ones you gained on the way back. You have your "second chance" again, but the thing that did for you last time is still lurking in the darkness ahead! Question is, do you face your fear and press on, or make a tactical withdrawal?

    And that - I think- is the key to what makes it so compelling. It feels like a proper adventure, not just a story where you are a knight fighting monsters on a quest.

  • mAc062 #53 2 years ago

    If you love pain and heart wrenching disappointment, you'll love this game. Awesome!!!
    Edited by 1 at 23/12/09 @ 12:40

  • Dural666 #54 2 years ago

    For non-UK people, the strength of the Euro would allow to import it from the US at a very reasonable price. My only real complain on the game is the non-random respawning of enemies, a bit of variety more would have been welcomed.
    Me too have fond memories of Immortal (played it on the mithical Apple IIGS), I remember the extreme difficulty and sense of cluelessness playing the game. Will Harvey was a genius (Zany Golf anyone?), don't know if he is still involved in game developing somehow..

  • webcider #55 2 years ago

    My grats to GreyBeard totally nails one of the reasons. Demon's souls is not unfairly hard or anything its focus is the Player and what the player does. Not the game which is just so awesome.
    Edited by 2 at 23/12/09 @ 13:04

  • TopKatt #56 2 years ago

    God I'm so tempted to get this game, every article or review I read gets me more and more intrigued. The only thing stopping me is the supposed difficulty level. I'm not a bad gamer by any mean, but I'm not one of those guys who ca finish a game on "Nightmare" difficulty. It's "Normal" settings for all the way so I think this might prove too hard for me to get the most out of it. I so need a demo of this one! :(

  • JahB #57 2 years ago

    @TopKatt

    Demon's Souls isn't hard in terms of twitch based reflexes, but because of its harsh punishment of every misstep. But just because of the constant harsh punishment every success feels like "OMFG WIN!!!", which is something no game since the legendary Contra ever managed to achieve.

    If you tread carefully, you'll be fine, but if you run into level and start mashing buttons, you're dead. Simple as that. Just don't tread anywhere near that red-eyed asshole.
    Edited by 1 at 23/12/09 @ 13:16

  • systems #58 2 years ago

    Game of the Generation for me, not just GOTY.

  • einheri #59 2 years ago

    This game remind me of playing the beastmaster class in Final Fantasy XI. As a beastmaster death is your only companion. And usually your own. I really hope for a sequel or at least something with the same game mechanics. The best RPG on my PS3 so far, shared winner of GOTY with Mr. Drake.
    Edited by 1 at 23/12/09 @ 13:27

  • Ornithophobe #60 2 years ago

    Fantastic game, love how it encourages thinking, caution and tactics instead of button mashing.

    Well, except certain self healing BPs who required a machinegun like approach to my spellcasting to be applied once they reached a certain level of hps, but even that had to be timed correctly.

  • butler` #61 2 years ago

    Funny how there's so, so much love for a game that isn't even released in the UK.

    As I've said before: publishers, wake up? :(

  • lennon #62 2 years ago

    Once you get rid of the archers the tower knight is relatively easy with a sword. I think I got him in about 2 minutes at around level 38. To echo others though superb game and one that I am glad I imported. Might be my game of the year would need to think about it a bit more certainly love it very much.

  • flaming.carrot #63 2 years ago

    I absolutely love Demon's Souls, never sunk so many hours into a game before (currently 120 hours+). Hope that one day that broken archstone comes into play via DLC.

  • TopKatt #64 2 years ago

    Thanks for that JahB, seriously thinking of importing this now.

    Has anyone got any recommendations for the best sites to import to the UK?

  • Synthesis #65 2 years ago

    A proper game.

    Lets have some more of this please developers.

  • Jonesy81 #66 2 years ago

    "I have just lost 100 hours of Demons Souls due to hard drive corruption (no recent backup) Just waiting for new PS3 to be delivered and going to do it all again! not bothered in the slightest thats how good this game is"

    One really annoying thing is that the game resets all my trophies as there is no saved data. Anyone know a way around this?
    Edited by 1 at 23/12/09 @ 15:06

  • RESIDENT_nEVILe #67 2 years ago

    TopKatt:

    http://www.videogamespl us.ca/

    Really good service. Took 7 days to arrive.

    EDIT: Sorry, looks like they have sold out :(
    Edited by 1 at 23/12/09 @ 15:17

  • Jonesy81 #68 2 years ago

    Apparently all online worlds have now been set to Pure White Tendency as it is Christmas. This makes the game easier and you can get some of the hardest weapons in the game - this is much harder to get than Pure Black Tendency.

  • Sarge #69 2 years ago

    @TopKatt

    I've never had any trouble using eBay for imports, most are UK based powersellers and you'll have the game next day if you order early. In fact just received God of War Collection this morning... and I'm already moist with anticipation.

  • TopKatt #70 2 years ago

    ^^

    Damn, this game is popular! Thanks anyway. :)

  • Cpt.Hindsight #71 2 years ago

    I love this game so much, def the game of this generation! I own the standard Chinese version, have clocked 90+ hours, soul level 150, completed it once, went straight into my second playthrough, trying to Platinum it, have 50% so far including some weapon crafting ones, I have also ordered the Deluxe Edition and if they release it in Europe, I will buy that aswell, so could end up owning 3 versions of it!
    Edited by 1 at 23/12/09 @ 15:43

  • Sarge #72 2 years ago

    Seeing as we're raving about it, what was everyone's first class choice? I went Rogue and then after a few soul levels started investing heavily in magic... Now I can't tell if I'm just dying alot because I'm sh!t or because I should've stuck to more 'rogueish' style stats...

    I'm guessing it's because I'm sh!t.

  • Atropos #73 2 years ago

    Far and away my game of the year, and so f---ing scary that my girlfriend liked to just sit next to me while I played it. I finally beat it, and that was one of the most triumphant moments I've had in gaming since... well, since NES and C64-games would routinely be this hard. But hard is only part of the secret - Demon's Souls is also a blindingly GOOD game. Buy it now.

  • TopKatt #74 2 years ago

    Okay, I've taken the plunge and ordered it from Movietyme for £42. Looking at some of the prices it's fetching on ebay, if I really can't get on with it then I should get my money back from selling it on there.

    One last thing, can I assume that this isn't a game to play after a few beers?

  • Sonic_D #75 2 years ago

    I've beaten the first playthrough, but it didn't feel like I'd really beaten it due to the New Game+ difficulty spike. Until I beat my second playthrough (damn you Maneater) I will not consider it done. Now I've beaten AC2 I might go back.
    Edited by 1 at 23/12/09 @ 16:35

  • Stoatboy #76 2 years ago

    I lost 60 hours of save game when I upgraded my hard drive recently. It absolutely wouldn't restore after backing up, and since it's copy protected it can't be copied to external storage and then back again. So I immediately started a new game while waiting for my PSN purchases to download again. Chose thief class this time, and waltzed my puny character through 1.1 and the Phalanx boss fight without dying once. It's amazing what a few skills and knowledge of the level do for you. I almost gave up on the game the first time, because I was so crap at it and kept on losing all my hard-won souls.

    This is something that really needs highlighting - if you get the game and are stuggling with it before you've beaten the first boss, bear with it - the game really starts to shine afterwards when you can actually spend those souls on levelling up, and have 5 different worlds to plunder rather than just the one. I actually cheated and used a walkthrough to get me through the first bit, because I really was getting a bit pissed off with it, but I'm so glad I stuck with it. I'd guess that people who've played this fall largely into one of 2 categories; those who love it to bits, and those that haven't beaten the 1st boss.

    Another vote for this as GOTY from me.

  • VMerken #77 2 years ago

    Heh, I went searching for it in the stores yesterday after watching last week's Zero Punctuation and reasoning that "If it's released in Australia, it should be out in Europe, too".

    So this is a bummer :( as it's been a very, very long time since I've heard of a game that COULD POSSIBLY DO MY NUTT IN.

  • Chufty #78 2 years ago

    This game is so awesome. L4D2 just pipped it to my GOTY vote, but after this article I'm starting to get niggling regrets...

  • Mr.DNA #79 2 years ago

    It often annoys me when a game review tells us that a game has "great replay value", when it doesn't have anything of the sort. What such comments really mean is that it is possible to play through the game again in a number of different ways, although the reviewer rarely considers whether or not the player will actually want to play through the game again. Many reviews will give a game a middling score, and then announce, "but at least it has good replay value...". No! If the game is shite to begin with, who in their right mind is going to want to play through it again, albeit in a slightly different manner?

    OK, so what am I rambling on about? Demon's Souls has the best and most satisfying replay potential of pretty much any game that I ever played. It took me about 70 hours to complete the game, playing as a mage. I am in the middle of my second play-through with my mage character (NG+), and I will definitely try to complete this play-through. I also made a different character recently, a melee-based build, and it's like playing a totally different game. Playing through Demon's Souls feels totally different depending on what type of character you choose to play as, and I'm finding that playing with melee weapons instead of magic means that I'm having to re-learn every facet of the game all over again. Whereas my mage could just blast enemies with Soul Arrow or Soul Ray from afar, my melee build has to get up close and personal, and really study and learn the movements of the enemies in order to be successful. The amount of things for the player to see and do in this game is staggering, and the game plays very, very differently depanding on which type of character you choose to create.

    Demon's Souls is also, without a shadow of a doubt, one of the finest and most compelling games that I have ever played. That it probably won't find a European publisher is nothing short of sickening.

  • Badassbab #80 2 years ago

    Hmmmm I dunno...as long as it really is the players fault for dying and not simply a case of trial and error than I guess I'll have to give it a go.

  • Ornithophobe #81 2 years ago

    I was dubious about whether I would like it after hearing about the difficulty and the dying, but I was hooked to the extent of it being only the second game I've platinum'd.

  • antasari #82 2 years ago

    @ Venkman90 "So when you die the second time, you lose your gear?"

    No. You lose all your souls (ie all the "money" you are carrying that you haven't spent yet). You keep all your equipment and all the upgrades your "spent" souls have gone on.

  • Killerbee #83 2 years ago

    I'm only at an early stage of this game (completed 1-1, 1-2 and 2-1; just working my way through 3-1) but already it's right up there with Uncharted 2 as one of my games of the year and almost certainly in my top 10 of the decade too.

    It's the one and only time I've imported a game and I can honestly say importing was (a) very easy, and (b) well worth it. If it helps, I used renchi.com, paid via Paypal and it cost me about £45 including postage. Don't hesitate because there's really nothing to be gained from having a Euro version (which may never come) - the US version is perfectly good.

    I was also nervous of the notorious difficulty level, but if you play the game right and treat it with respect it isn't that bad and it's certainly not frustrating and unfair. This is an excellent appraisal of the game by Krudster and it sums up why I'm loving the game pretty much perfectly.

    Seriously: Buy it.

  • Tallon4 #84 2 years ago

    Demon's Souls is fantastic. I still haven't opened Assassins Creed 2, Left Four Dead 2 and A crack in time.
    Buy it....You don't need another game for months to come

  • neems #85 2 years ago

    This game is why I decided to get a PS3 - unfortunately, I can't dig in until Chrimbo. The Slim is sitting under the tree waiting for me, and I've got Demon's Souls, Uncharted 2 and WipeOut HD/Fury sitting on the shelf, taunting me. Midnight tomorrow; I can practically taste it.

    FWIW I got my DS from Axelmusic, it cost less than buying a ps3 game in the shops - in fact it cost less than buying Modern Warfare 2 on pc.

  • DeAd_H0miE #86 2 years ago

    Love this game , The best thing about demon's souls is that dying actually means something so you end up being terrified of what's around the next corner just creates an amazing tension for the whole game easily my goty shame it's not getting a full european release

  • JahB #87 2 years ago

    this is bizarre. a eurogamer thread where not a single poster is bitching about the game in question, which speaks volumes about quality, yet no single european publisher is willing to say "yes, we'd like your money".

    i'm sure it wouldn't sell less than any of the 50 shovelware games i saw while doing the xmas shopping today.

  • mustardkid #88 2 years ago

    yay demon souls!

  • login_name #89 2 years ago

    Excellent game, one of my favourites.

  • mikeck #90 2 years ago

    So I'm only two hours in, and not much further than when I began really - I died in the first stage at about six different points, and whilst most of them where definitely my fault, I would say twice it was trial and error issues.

    I can feel already that this game is going to suck my life away - but I also know I'm not going to be able to withstand long periods with this game, because I had to stop yesterday because I was getting so frustrated. There's a limit to how many times I can kill the same enemies again and again.

    I don't mean this to sound negative in parts, as I am enjoying the game...it's just frustratingly tough in places, but a lot of fun perversely too ;)

  • neems #91 2 years ago

    I gather that it's this initial slog that determines your ultimate opinion of the game. Once you get past it the game opens up, you can start upgrading your character and so on and so forth.

    It feels really weird to actually be excited about Chrimbo at my age. I want my Demon's Souls!

  • TitusCrow #92 2 years ago

    Full of win this thread :) reminds me why I am a gamer, you forget sometimes in these days of instant gratification and easy games.

  • Jonesy81 #93 2 years ago

    @ farticus

    Sorry about that! Just to rub it in, playing a new game now and it is a lot easier with WWT its just an absolute pain to get without them changing it maybe thats just because I have played it through already as Stoatboy says.

    I know they changed it to Black world tendency for halloween - may just have been US version as well though.

    Definately my game of the year and I loved Uncharted 2 and will be playing MW2 for the next couple of years but nothing beats a really hard game.
    Edited by 1 at 24/12/09 @ 16:09

  • zztopp #94 2 years ago

    From the article: "If you try to play it like a normal game..."

    what the heck does this mean??

    Love the art and atmosphere, but the game is broken and needlessly hard. With so many other quality games out there to gobble up your time, why bother? Only for masochists.

  • captain_spaceman #95 2 years ago

    Absolutely love this game-I haven't gotten very far but every encounter is memorable. The game isn't that hard, at least not yet:)
    Game of the year!

  • NonniR #96 2 years ago

    zztop: That's exactly what they are talking about. The game isn't broken, it isn't even unfair. It requires you to actually become good in the game via your own skills/timing. The joy of the game comes from actually beating it as opposed to being beaten by it. Perhaps a bit masochistic but totally worth it :D

  • mowgli #97 2 years ago

    One of the best games I have ever played. Totally justifies an otherwise wanting PS3. The sense of dread when you are invaded by a black phantom is simple unmatched in ANY game and the simple satisfaction of managing to survive and win gets better each time (as yourself and them are leveling up!). And the only game in my life time I am actually lookin forward tonstarting again - I never do this!

  • webcider #98 2 years ago

    To people who don't get it:

    You don't get it so enjoy your other favorites.

    And what is a masochist ?
    Edited by 1 at 25/12/09 @ 14:43

  • spiny #99 2 years ago

    " For all its RPG leanings, it's undoubtedly the survival-horror element that works best on me. Each and every encounter, from the very first shambling tutorial grunt onwards, is filled with the kind of eerie tension that keeps your heart rattling like a knackered clock."

    Bang on the money. I'm sure my heart rate raises by about 10 beats when I fire DS up.

  • Bangaioh #100 2 years ago

    My GOTY too, challenging but satisfying like no other. Possibly my best game ever, difficult but not impossible, requires patience but an investment well worth the time and the effort. Thank you Atlus / From for this masterpiece. Can't wait to play a sequel!

  • Bangaioh #101 2 years ago

    To HugeXbox360Fan: It's an action RPG with an atmosphere similar to Berserk (Kentaro Miura's manga), grim and challenging but always excellent and rewarding like no other. Worth buying a PS3 just to play this, can't really think of many other last gen games worth buying a system for but this one is special (and I am lucky enough to own a 360, PS3, Wii, DS and PSP).

  • Retro_ #102 2 years ago

    My GOTY for 2009 without a doubt. Utterly astonishing atmosphere and the first game for years that honestly scared me in places and I've been a gamer since I received an Ingersol Pong machine back in the Mid 70's

  • Les #103 2 years ago

    "You have your "second chance" again, but the thing that did for you last time is still lurking in the darkness ahead! Question is, do you face your fear and press on, or make a tactical withdrawal?

    And that - I think- is the key to what makes it so compelling. It feels like a proper adventure, not just a story where you are a knight fighting monsters on a quest."

    +1

    Started only recently (had it on the shelf for some time after initial delivery problems) but it's really great. Cleared 1-1 with a warrior type character. Thought I was starting to become reasonable as I didn't have much trouble with 1-1 except for the red eyed knight. Went to 4-1 (suggested for warrior types because of the loot available) and was killed by the first enemy in the level twice (without losing souls though) before I was able to kill him. Guess I still need some more practice... ;)