Demon's Souls

[bobbynewmarkiii]

3-2 just killed me - stepped into one of the Iron cubicle type things on chains and it took me down into the depths... was being real careful and starting to make my way back to the surface until I saw one of the jailor type things with the bell - i shot it with magic for a while and then charged in, as I had been able to mele these bastards in 3-1, just as long as I got the jump on them. anyway, this bell bastard was red, and much tougher... ran out of stamina, the bastard froze me and then murdered me. Started the level again, a bit worried about going all the way down there to collect my souls, but one of those bastard gargoyles got me... don't even know how - can't have been paying suitable attention.

This really is one of the most miserable games I have ever played. I like it!

[DerekG52]

I need to get back into it, put it down for a few months now, was on pace to get the plat. It is probably my favorite ps3 game so far. I think I got bored because I started doing the grinding to get the pure Bladestone off of the dual katana black phantom.

[Gamerforlife]

I've been wanting to try this because people are raving about it, but everything I have read or heard about Demon Souls makes it sound very uninteresting to me. Yahtzee's review didn't get me excited either

Okay, the game is really hard. Ummm.... so what? I can appreciate a challenge, but that seems to be the game's only great quality. It's all anyone talks about. Does this game even have a story? Cause no one talks about that. This is an rpg right?

Oh, and everyone raves about the online feature....which just sounds like a gimmick to me.

I even saw a video with a few minutes of gameplay...and it nearly put me to sleep. This seems like another over-rated rpg in the vein of some Shin Megami Tensei games I've played(Nocturne, Digital Devil Saga...they sucked)

But given all the praise in this topic I'll have to try it out and see what all the fuss is about

[dlmvii]

I've been wanting to try this because people are raving about it, but everything I have read or heard about Demon Souls makes it sound very uninteresting to me. Yahtzee's review didn't get me excited either

Okay, the game is really hard. Ummm.... so what? I can appreciate a challenge, but that seems to be the game's only great quality. It's all anyone talks about. Does this game even have a story? Cause no one talks about that. This is an rpg right?

Oh, and everyone raves about the online feature....which just sounds like a gimmick to me.

I even saw a video with a few minutes of gameplay...and it nearly put me to sleep. This seems like another over-rated rpg in the vein of some Shin Megami Tensei games I've played(Nocturne, Digital Devil Saga...they sucked)

But given all the praise in this topic I'll have to try it out and see what all the fuss is about

Well, it's not a turn based RPG like the SMT games. There really is no story to speak of, but it doesn't really need one to be entertaining.
I didn't think much of the game when I was looking at previews and videos and the like, but something about it drew me in. Despite the difficulty (or maybe because of it) it's very addicting.
You're right about the online features. A lot of people thought they were really cool, but I didn't think they added much. You certainly don't need to play online to enjoy the game.

[MrPopo]

Okay, the game is really hard. Ummm.... so what? I can appreciate a challenge, but that seems to be the game's only great quality. It's all anyone talks about. Does this game even have a story? Cause no one talks about that. This is an rpg right?

The story is extremely light. You end up getting most of the story through the manual, the artbook, and the opening movie. There's almost no exposition. You get bits and pieces from the descriptions of the different worlds and certain NPCs might tell their story, but that only gives a tiny glimpse into the world. However, the game does a fantastic job of putting you into the shoes of your character. There's a genuine sense of dread as you move through the game. You are not an overpowered badass with spikey hair; you're a normal person moving through a supernatural world. The game is hard, but it is very fair and punishes you for playing it like a video game; instead play it like you might approach things in real life.

Oh, and everyone raves about the online feature....which just sounds like a gimmick to me.

What's great about the online features is that they take a great single-player experience and add in ways to receive help (or hindrance) from others. The messages are a very nice integrated help system. I don't even need to read them half the time; their existance is usually enough to make me wary of some kind of danger ahead.

I even saw a video with a few minutes of gameplay...and it nearly put me to sleep. This seems like another over-rated rpg in the vein of some Shin Megami Tensei games I've played(Nocturne, Digital Devil Saga...they sucked)

Oh, this game is definitely not for everyone. It really depends on your reaction to challenge and negative reinforcement. The game wants you to play it in a certain way (cautiously) and if you don't it will continuously bitchslap you until you do. Once you get more powerful, though, you can afford to be more reckless. There is a real sense of character progression, as the further I got in the game the more I was able to be more of a berserker in combat. But you still need to respect the bosses. As for the video, different levels have varying levels of action. For example, the first stage of the third world has few enemies, and they need to be approached cautiously and killed fast. So you end up spending most of the level moving through a deserted prison, aways on the lookout for the mobs and sometimes having to wait for them to turn on their patrol route so you can quickly take them out.

[DerekG52]

At a minimum, I think you will find it to be worth a rental. I bought it sight unseen (other than gameplay videos) because it sounded like something I would really enjoy. I like that it is light on the story, hard as nails and just generally has some very cool features. I liked the multiplayer feature a lot, playing online was very exciting in human form. Black phantoms can invade your game pretty much anytime to PK you to get their body back.

[the7k]

I've been wanting to try this because people are raving about it, but everything I have read or heard about Demon Souls makes it sound very uninteresting to me. Yahtzee's review didn't get me excited either

Okay, the game is really hard. Ummm.... so what? I can appreciate a challenge, but that seems to be the game's only great quality. It's all anyone talks about. Does this game even have a story? Cause no one talks about that. This is an rpg right?

Oh, and everyone raves about the online feature....which just sounds like a gimmick to me.

I even saw a video with a few minutes of gameplay...and it nearly put me to sleep. This seems like another over-rated rpg in the vein of some Shin Megami Tensei games I've played(Nocturne, Digital Devil Saga...they sucked)

But given all the praise in this topic I'll have to try it out and see what all the fuss is about

The only reason everybody talks about the difficulty is because this generation is filled with a bunch of fucking babies. Seriously, there's nothing hard about this game so long as you don't approach it like it's Knights of the Round.

As for the story, there is a story. A great story. It just isn't shoved down your throat. If you want the story, you have to seek it out. Characters like Maiden Astraea, Biorr of the Twin Fangs, Selen & Garl Vinland and Yuria the Witch have some great backstories - but again, it's not something that is shoved down your throat. You can either take it or leave it - and most people just leave it.

More important than the story is the atmosphere. Demon's Souls is easily the most atmospheric game I've played this generation. It's hard to explain, but you can really feel the history in each of the worlds, even when it isn't spelled out to you.

Seriously though - you go to Yahtzee expecting the game to get a fair shake? You don't partake of Yahtzee's reviews to decide if the game will be good or not. You go to Yahtzee for when you've just spent $60 on a game you didn't like, and you need to see someone publicly take it down a few pegs - even if those pegs are based on misunderstandings.

And what RPG have you seen a video of that did excite you? This isn't a high-kinetic game with explosions and tits. It's closer to a survival horror game than anything, and there's nothing that puts me to sleep more than watching someone play Silent Hill 2. Actually playing it, though? That's another thing entirely.

Even the best action in this game is going to look boring to the outsider. It doesn't matter. When you are in the middle of a duel with a Silver Skeleton, it's just going to look like a bunch of blocking, rolling and occasional slashes to the observer. For the player, though - it's the most tense moment of their day. The whole time they'll be trying to figure out which action is going to be most beneficial to them - all the while keeping an eye on their stamina gauge.

If I block this, will I be guard crushed? If I roll, will I not get hit on the rebound? If I attack, will he parry my hit? Can I parry his hit at just the right time, or is it safer for me to block/dodge? These questions will be running through your mind at a million paces a second.

And that's just for a one-on-one duel.

[Gamerforlife]

Wow, okay, you guys have convinced me to give the game a shot. I can see the7k is quite passionate about the game. I disagree with you on two things though the 7k, Yahtzee does sometimes make some very good points even though his reviews are more about bashing on a game and being funny about it. Also, Final Fantasy 13 and Valkyrie Profile are two games off the top of my head with visually impressive combat that could sell each game just based off of a video. There's also the Kingdom Hearts games, a few Bioware games, I could go on and on. There's no rule that says rpg combat has to look boring

But looking at what you, MrPopo and others have said, I'm putting Demon Souls on my to do list and will probably have my own impressions on it at some point in the future. I'm very fixated on my PS3 since I got it a few months ago and am always on the look out for other exclusive titles to try out

[the7k]

Well, I'll give you that the Final Fantasy and Kingdom Hearts games have impressive looking combat.

... if only it felt impressive for the player.

Even though we obviously aren't on the same page with the Final Fantasy/Kingdom Hearts games, you have to admit that the only reason the combat looks 'cool' is because they snatch control away from the player.

"Cinematic Gameplay", they call it. Never been something I'm a huge fan of. I'd much rather do mundane things that I have total control over than awesome things that are a result of developer-induced voodoo.

[Gamerforlife]

Well, I'll give you that the Final Fantasy and Kingdom Hearts games have impressive looking combat.

... if only it felt impressive for the player.

Even though we obviously aren't on the same page with the Final Fantasy/Kingdom Hearts games, you have to admit that the only reason the combat looks 'cool' is because they snatch control away from the player.

"Cinematic Gameplay", they call it. Never been something I'm a huge fan of. I'd much rather do mundane things that I have total control over than awesome things that are a result of developer-induced voodoo.

That's debateable. I always feel in control over what my characters do in combat in FF games, unless I'm watching a summon spell or limit break attack go off. The problem with Final Fantasy 13 is that you have no control over everything OUTSIDE of combat. No control over how much money you have, no control over how much you can level up, no control over who is in your party, no control over where you're going, no control over pretty much anything. These are complaints specific to FF 13 though, not previous FF games, but it's something you can justifiably bash the game for and hopefully not the direction the franchise is moving in.

Kingdom Hearts gave you plenty of control combat-wise, much more so than any FF game because like Demon Souls, it's an action rpg, which always give you more control over your characters in combat, though they do take SOME control away from you in Kingdom Hearts 2 when they started incorporating more quick time event style gameplay, but it wasn't too bad.

I get your point though. It sounds like Demon Souls plays a lot more like an action game than most rpg games, which I guess is part of its appeal