PS3 Review – Demon’s Souls
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Demon’s Souls is a PS3 exclusive action RPG from developer From Software and Published by Atlus. Demon’s Souls takes place in a world where Demons have gone Berserk, leaving your character the task of eradicating them and saving the world. Does your Hero have what it takes to save the world or are some things better left to die?
Upon firing up the game for the first time, you are greeted with an intro video and then a character creation page. You begin with the option of name and gender, then move onto the class and appearance. Their are 10 class choices in the game and they are Soldier, Knight, Hunter, Priest, Magician, Wanderer, Barbarian, Thief, Temple Knight and Royalty. Each class starts with different attributes points, for example the Soldier starts with 12 endurance while the Magician starts with 10. So each class gives you a very different feel on the game and how its played. Now you move to the appearance where you can choose to edit your characters Origin, Age, Hairstyle and Color. If you want to go deeper into this you can edit details such as forehead, eyes, Nose, Cheeks, etc. My guy just happened to be a male hunter with pink hair.
Once you have your character created you are thrown into a training world called “The Journey to Nexus” that teaches you the basic buttons that you will use to traverse the world. The button layout in Demon’s Souls is very accessible and makes a lot of sense for the game. If the button layout does not fit you very well then you are in a bind because the options to change them are very limited. You are given the ability to change the camera from normal to inverted, as well as its speed and that is it for controls. To attack in the game you will press R1, strong attack is R2. If you have a shield equipped then you will use L1 to block and L2 to parry. Circle is used to doge or roll, triangle two hands your weapon and square is used for items.
You can have 2 weapons equipped on both hands. For instance my character had a shield/sword combo with his left hand and an axe/bow combo on the right hand. Of course you can only hold one at a time per hand but this gives you options depending on what type of enemy you are currently fighting. You use the left and right D-pad buttons to switch between the weapons and you use the bottom D-pad button to switch between items, which you can have 5 assigned to that button.
As you finish your training you will arrive in the Nexus and find that souls act as the currency for everything in the game. You gain souls as you defeat enemies throughout the levels. You then use these souls to upgrade your armor, buy items, purchase arrows and improve your stats. Since souls are the currency for anything you will need in the game and everything is a bit expensive, you will need to do a lot of grinding in each level to make sure you are able to stayed supplied and leveled. Aside from souls you will also find items and weapons on the bodies of slain enemies. Oddly, there is no option to sell the weapons and items you find along the way so if you don’t need them you just discard.
The story follows a king who has awoken a great demon called the Old One. With the awakening of the Old One, a fog has covered the land causing Demon’s to appear and start devouring the souls of the humans. You are chosen as the one who will rid the world of these Demon’s and restore order to the world. It is a simple story told before but is effective.
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44 Responses to “PS3 Review – Demon’s Souls”
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October 6th, 2009 at 1:29 PM
I hope to god when I get home and check the mail this game is there!!! i WANT IT NAAAAOOOOO!!!!
October 6th, 2009 at 1:43 PM
This game looks epic, but the difficulty issues have scared me away. Just don’t have the time for it right now.
October 6th, 2009 at 1:44 PM
Lack of Difficulty Option, game can be too Unforgiving?
Bullshit. This game was not made for people that want a game to pick up and play. This game is made for the hardcore gamers and diehard JRPG fans. I will be picking this up in Feb 2010 with WKC because Feb 2010 is national JRPG month for me.
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Well to be honest, I am replaying Final Fantasy X right now until Uncharted 2 comes out
And will pick Demon’s Souls after MAG or before MAG next year.
October 6th, 2009 at 1:50 PM
well I’m definitely going to rent this because it sounds amazing, but I’m not known as the most patient gamer on earth so hopefully the gameplay is so amazing that I don’t mind replaying levels
October 6th, 2009 at 1:53 PM
yea well if your so hardcore then with a difficulty option you could just crank the difficulty all the way up right away and go “Lookit me! I’m so Hardcore!” Most people want a game they can just pick up and play. Not having a difficulty option and making it really hard means they’ll shut out a large part of the market, and hurt their own sales. Thats a shame, because this game looks cool.
October 6th, 2009 at 2:05 PM
@BigWoopMagazine
And you are missing the point of this game. JRPG are not meant to be pick up and play games. This game was build for a specific set of games, and those games are the hardcore gamers.
October 6th, 2009 at 2:14 PM
But even most hardcore games have difficulty options or atleast more help towards the more casual gamer
October 6th, 2009 at 2:22 PM
The whole point of From and Atlus games is that they don’t appeal to casual gamers. I think they get off on it.
October 6th, 2009 at 2:32 PM
@Cameron Teague/BigWoopMagazine
What? Let me get this straight. A company purposely makes a game difficult, with only hardcore gamers buying it in mind, and they have to make it easier because casual gamers won’t like it? I don’t think it’s a shame they made a game the way they wanted, I think it’s a shame you think they should completely compromise the game because some people won’t like it.
October 6th, 2009 at 2:43 PM
@megs1120
Completely agree with you dude
@JohnnyTruant5
I cannot believe I am writing this. But I agree with your 100%.
October 6th, 2009 at 2:46 PM
No one ever said compromise, heck I gave the game a 4 of 5 so I must have liked it. I just think you should make the game a bit more accessabile, doesn’t mean you have to compromise anything
October 6th, 2009 at 2:47 PM
release date delivery. still waiting… D=
October 6th, 2009 at 2:58 PM
Ah, you took me the wrong way here. And maybe I worded it poorly. I guess what I meant was that its a shame that a lot of people won’t play it because its so hard. Which will happen. Its also a shame that as a result the company won’t make as many sales… generally this leads to said company not making more games. Like it or not, profits run the industry. This doesn’t mean I won’t play it,,, I am a semi-hardcore gamer. However, it is usually relatively easy to adjust difficulties in a game without compromising the game play mechanics, style, art, story, strategy, controls, or anything else that makes the game what it is, by simply adjusting damage statistics and player/enemy health. But hey, if they can do it like this and still make the sales, more power to them. You won’t see me complaining.
October 6th, 2009 at 3:00 PM
@BigWoopMagazine
No problem. We all make mistake sometimes.
October 6th, 2009 at 3:04 PM
Great review, Cameron.
October 6th, 2009 at 3:05 PM
Oh, and PS, nice review Cameron. Keep ‘em coming!
October 6th, 2009 at 3:33 PM
@Cameron Teague
Yeah actually, compromise could happen if they intended to put out a hardcore only game. Horror movies shouldn’t get toned down so kids can see them, the same applies here. Death is more than just a time to restart, it’s a much bigger part of this game than others.
@BigWoopMagazine
Fair enough, I understand how financially it isn’t the best decision, but they weren’t going for an Uncharted or call of duty, so IMO I think they did the right thing, but you’re right it isn’t the best move financially.
October 6th, 2009 at 3:50 PM
On a side note: @TheHater
I’m pretty sure the world is going to end any second now.
October 6th, 2009 at 4:25 PM
@ any one with a difficulty setting reply:
Im not gonna read em all, but I doubt anyone has my view point on them… I actually rather dislike difficulty settings =\ Now hear me out please! *esp since im already seen as sort of a troll here =P* I dont know a lot of the exacts, but im sure when Devs make ANY GAME they make it fluid for 1 setting, like uncharted when they made it, it was normal from start to finish then they EDITED it to make it harder/easier… now I know now youre like, no ****ing **** =P but I dont like artificial difficulty its rarly any harder just minor things are different which make the game more annoying!
from what i understand Bioshock is the same on easy – hardesst with just more def on creatures, and attack was also a lot higher. *according to my friend who played easy, and me who played hardest YAYS for brass balls =P* but thats not really making the harder, its more of a illusion like if you can dodge enough, and shoot halfway decent, you can beat bioshock on easy – hardest without much effort…
another game is Blazblue, i was playing on easy to unlock all the skills/pictures, and when I played it on hell, it wasnt like the AI was actually better it was just a LOT cheaper =\ this is something I notice in most/all fighting games, the higher you go, the more cheap the game is… not saying its not hard/easy but i am saying if the best you can do is just make the game use cheap tactics to make the game hard thats rather annoying =\…
finally you have some rpgs, usually harder just means youre usually under level, you gain less exp, and it takes a LOT longer to do anything short of dying, where as normal isnt much different, which is cool but annoying since they made a tweak to make the game annoying not hard =\ kinda like most ninja gaiden missions their not really hard and their more annoying and tiresome due to the ammount of BS they made =\
now i keep saying annoying = hard, so i must be a noob or something =\ but i dont feel on any game short of doing something very very hard is any game all too hard, just cheap and evil to make it seem hard *mostly due to money i assume* but in the end, usually all you get different is an ending at most, or some minor bonus which you dont really care about =P
now onto games that lack this, Demons Souls was designed to be EXACTLY this hard for everyone, meaning you either can or you cant, thats about it… though its sad some people will miss out, god knows ill miss out on good titles too *ive never seen the charm in uncharted forinstance but im more of a jap gamer =P* since this game was designed to be this hard, it was also designed so you have the best shot at winning! what i mean by that is, no power was made so you got to do 3 cycles on easy/normal/hard to win INSANE or HARDCORE mode, realistically… just saying from the start, they knew how hard it was gonna be so you have all the tools to win, as LONG as you can play the game properly!!!
October 6th, 2009 at 4:58 PM
(lol) at the difficulty being to extreme..
@cameron
Atlus stated it was a very unforgiving game and hack n slashing your way threw would kill you.. im guessing you imported the game? Most US reviewers haven’t even beat there review copy and still post there thoughts.. just doesn’t seam like Atlus would send a review version to anyone on the web. except selected sites.
@megs1120
100% DEAD ON..
@ BigWoopMagazine
After reading your 2nd response it makes more sense , but its not meant to be for everyone.. when you say most gamers want a game to pick up and play is a weak statement cause not everyones like that. Why do you think games like Mario GOKART and GT exist? Even cranking up the difficulty level on MarioGoKart doesn’t compare to GT, the realism in GT makes it hard even on easy. Some may say “its just a car game” when any gamer knows GT has alot more added that makes it harder. If its not the burnout series i cant play it.. but i always give GT my vote on making things so real that to someone who’s not into car games cant jump in and play. That can be applied to any game that has an insane learning curve.
Atlus has been known since the PS1 era and (if im not mistaken) longer for making hard RPG’s.. im sure theres reason behind it.. look around and see what RPS there are for the PS3? none.. except VC. Gamers are starving for any RPG. Valkyrie Chronicles was more strategy induced RPG like FF tactics and was more gun attack oriented and no magic so it was a break from spells, summons, medieval weapons, dungeons etc. Atlus made a ton of Money off the Japanese version..hence, why its coming to the US.
I do find it funny that Fat princess which has less replay ability, 2 music tracks, a handful of maps, basic level LBP customization would get a rating score of 5 on the PSL.. especially when after a few days it was released it became a thing of the past or just get a quick round. The PSL listed a few negatives for that game too and still retained a 5 rating.. which is why its strange that the difficultly would alter this review score. Theres a difference with CHEAP difficulty and a hard game. No one since its release date of Feb 2009 said it was cheap just hard. I kinda respect that.. any game with a cheap difficulty should be noted and effect the ending score.
I sometimes wonder if reviews fall into a hyper-bowl before a games released? The last statements not directed at Cameron but at anyone who reviewed Fat princess and gave it a 5 YET didn’t touch it again after the first week. Im glad some reviewers didn’t fall into the fat princess hype bowl and score it a 5 in every site.
@victorinox
exactly my point.. except i didn’t feel an increase in difficulty with Blazblue since fighting games are my main type of games. In the end, it comes down to what style of game play your better at..the average gamer can play a RPG but when you throw a hard RPG its a control breaker for some.
October 6th, 2009 at 5:29 PM
I would think that it would be too difficult to balance the online component if there were difficulty levels and a pause feature. They made it hardcore without pause and said “There, the difficulty can take care of itself.” You automatically get rid of whiners in the game because the game itself convinces them to not buy it.
I’m not saying that it is right or wrong, I’m just saying what is. I will note that people complaining about them writing a hardcore-only game would be like me complaining that there are casual-only Sims games. People write the games they write because they have a passion for their ideas – there is a careful balance in trying to find other people to fund them.
In saying all of that, I would bet for every casual sale they lose for being hardcore they likely gain a sale from the macho crowd that bought it ONLY because they said it was so difficult. Anyways, my pre-order shipped so I’m a happy camper. Here’s hoping for some old-school, kick-my-ass-until-I-cry-and-finally-figure-it-out beatdowns. Then again I’m 39 years old and I’m used to old-school beatdowns by impossible games
October 6th, 2009 at 5:31 PM
I also meant to add that I liked the review – I like that you didn’t penalize it explicitly because it was difficult. Thank you for taking the time to play it and write it up.
October 6th, 2009 at 5:54 PM
Man, work can’t end fast enough! I want to get home and play some Demon Souls. Oh yeah, I will give my 2 cents on this game. I am a one and done gamer (even though I am a pretty hardcore gamer). Meaning, I beat a game once and really don’t go back to it (except for a select few). That is just me. Multi. is ok to me, but I can’t keep going back to it. Anyway, I think the hardness is a good thing to be honest (at least for me personally). This is why I love the RPG genre; they are very daunting and many times very hard (for me, this is totally worth it). I can see where some people are complaining about the difficulty, but that was put in the game on purpose from what I know and have read. I mean, this is like me complaining that another genre is too short, easy, etc. Not everyone likes the same games. If you feel a game is too hard, then don’t play or buy it. Personally, I like the challenge of this type of game and can’t wait for a few hours from now!
October 6th, 2009 at 5:55 PM
@shadow
actually no my copy is a review copy sent from Atlus. I did not beat the game but i did get a bit into it and from what i felt far enough to give a pretty decent opinion on it.
Part of my issues did stem from an attempt at first to hack and slash which def. does not work, but even going slow the game is still very unforgiving at times. I too worry like BigWhoop about the effect that a lack of accessibility to the mainstream will treat sales but Atlus and From Software seem to love niche titles and that has worked for them in the past so go for it!
October 6th, 2009 at 6:13 PM
@Cameron
the reason i asked was because the reviews on games in the PSL don’t ever come out before the games released, normally late, when everyones cranked out full blown reviews and the games out in stores. i heard the import one had a few issues when connecting online from any other place outside of Asia.
@GATORJV
youll like it! mine just arrived at the store and gotta shower and run to get it.
October 6th, 2009 at 6:23 PM
This game is great and fun,but this game is hard i was seeing blood stains every 2 feet in the 1st area you could play, i got a little bit of a laugh watching how some people died.
October 6th, 2009 at 6:29 PM
I want this game but don’t have the cash for it at the moment..
oh, and to add to the redundancy of the discussion of difficulty- I like how they went about the difficulty of this game. It shows that a company isn’t going to sell out on their goal/dream in order to get more money..we need more devs who do that in today’s industry
October 6th, 2009 at 6:29 PM
If the game is too unforgiving then… just… grind… It’s an RPG after all
Unless you have a version with online stuff reviewing the game now isn’t too good of an idea cause the servers go up soon and without multiplayer that’s a huge aspect.
I didn’t read the review but that’s because I’ve already heard enough praise about the game and I’ll have it when ever Amazon gets it to me anyway.
October 6th, 2009 at 7:40 PM
It’s just mad hard, get over it
October 6th, 2009 at 9:31 PM
I played it for about 2 hours so far and am just at the first ‘major’ demon boss.It is a game where you will die quite a bit.I didn’t die until I got to the boss though besides falling off some stairs..my own fault not due to enemies…but I have died quite a few times on the boss battle.But overall its a fun game so far.And the difficulty hasn’t really scared me away from it.If anyone wants to add me on psn my psn id is tortured3
October 6th, 2009 at 10:29 PM
Funny thing is I died a lot up to the first boss but beat him first time
October 7th, 2009 at 12:52 AM
Yeah just waiting for mine to arrive in the mail…..not very patiently either….
@Cameron
It would be great if you could do a post review follow-up in a week or so after playing on the servers.
thanks
October 7th, 2009 at 5:12 AM
@Cameron
after playing the game for 6 hours today in the first 7 minutes i realized the blue spinning ghost Icon means save, it also saves when you force yourself to warp back in the nexus, walk into a blue ghost wall which is considered a visual check point and starts to save, or change a weapons/armor by adding it as a new in your inventory. You can force it to save. When i came back or died i reappeared in the nexus with everything i had done previously ie opened gates, checkpoints and hidden items/weapons in my inventory just money gone. With all those options to force a save… is a save button needed? also on my first run of stage 1 theres a ring that when equipped forces your health bar to full strength so in essence, ghost form doesn’t mean half your life and makes things not as hard. This is all in the first stage, on the first locked gate (left side) that has to be entered by the tower which goes down. Once opened you can short cut thew from the start.
the only thing to worry about seam to come from re-spawed monsters which are all in the exact same place. I went and made dinner for a good 45 minutes, ate, wrote a few letters on the PSN and all i did was kill every monster in that area and stayed there. They don’t just walk by randomly if you kill them or re-spawned in different locations. What this means is that if theres 7 skeletons in a tower theres only 7 to worry about.
October 7th, 2009 at 5:19 AM
ok i’ve been playing this game non stop…the fact that this review doesn’t give 5/5 for the difficulty is kinda lame…it’s what us RPG lovers have been waiting for forever. the difficulty is actually a GOOD thing. lol.
October 7th, 2009 at 10:37 AM
@shadow yea i believe i got the ring, though i think it took me a bit, i just had a rough go of the game at first, but i kept plugging away.
@briandead, dude i am an RPG lover and I don’t play RPG’s for the difficulty, hell most JRPG’s are not hard and that is what i usually play. In my opinion, which is what this review is, the game was a 4 out of 5. I did not think it was perfect and though you may think a high difficulty is a good thing, I on the other hand thought at times it was too frustrating and when i am not having fun playing a game, that should affect the game score.
4 of 5 is still a great score, the game is a very good game.
@robotron,
I might throw up an updated opinion when i get more of a chance with the online.
October 8th, 2009 at 12:14 AM
I so want this game. But I could really use the “Pause” alot. I guess i’m not going to pick this one up. especially Uncharted 2 is coming next week.
October 9th, 2009 at 8:41 PM
“ok i’ve been playing this game non stop…the fact that this review doesn’t give 5/5 for the difficulty is kinda lame…it’s what us RPG lovers have been waiting for forever. the difficulty is actually a GOOD thing. lol.”
The fact of the matter is that there are 2 ways to look at a review. It can either be a recommendation to the general population or the sheer quality of the game. If you are wondering what the sheer quality of this game is, it’s absolutely a 5/5 must-have. If you’re wondering if it can be recommended to everyone, then it’s a 4/5. A ton of people prefer easy games and therefore it’s a 4/5.
October 10th, 2009 at 2:15 AM
I love this game but im just not good enough at RPG’s to beat this so i wish it had a difficulty setting
October 11th, 2009 at 9:19 AM
Nice review. All this talk about the unforgiving difficulty is starting to freak me out! Still waiting for my copy to come from UPS some time this week.
October 12th, 2009 at 1:59 PM
@marc
Don’t let it scare you aware, you should def. give the game a play
October 18th, 2009 at 6:56 AM
nice shot, i like it!
Sincerly,
Sodagod @ Modern Warfare 2 Forums
November 3rd, 2009 at 9:45 PM
@ Jonathan Leack
the fact of the matter is Johnathan is that a game shouldn’t be scored lower based on difficulty. Cheap difficulty yes. it was marketed as a difficult game THE END.
November 17th, 2009 at 4:59 PM
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