Demon’s Souls Review (PS3)

Introducing another of our new contributors, Dan Crawley is 35 years old, and started gaming in 1982, on a beautiful, but stubborn, ZX81. He enjoys playing classic Nintendo platformers, first person shooters and some of the more innovative PSN and WiiWare titles. Dan’s two favourite games from the last ten years have
been Ico and Valkyria Chronicles.

When I put Demon’s Souls into my PS3 for the first time, it was with a mixture of excitement and trepidation. This was a game that had attracted a huge amount of attention on import, not just for its innovative take on the RPG genre, but also for its notoriously high difficulty level, which had been discussed in hushed, almost reverential terms in certain quarters. So, did it live up to its reputation?

Demon’s Souls is set in the kingdom of Boletaria, which like so many other mythical kingdoms in the gaming world, has been besieged by a terrible menace. So far, so familiar, right? What isn’t so familiar is the fact that your character will be dead before the training section of the game is complete. Whilst this is a bit of a downer at the time, and might be considered a final act in many games, death in Demon’s Souls is something that you will quickly become familiar with. When playing this game, you will die. A lot. But fear not, for you will soon be reborn, in Soul form, to the Nexus.

The Nexus is the central hub of Demon’s Souls, a place to seek refuge from the brutality, horrors and hard-as-nails bosses that you will encounter in each of the game’s five worlds. You could think of the Nexus as a departure lounge, imbued with the aesthetic and ambient qualities of a gothic Café del Mar. It is a great place to catch your breath, check what you are carrying, drop off any excess baggage with a friendly NPC and prepare yourself for the next part of your journey.

Beyond the arches

Stepping from the Nexus into the world beyond the first Archstone will almost certainly come as a shock to the system. There is no doubt that it is hard going, especially if you approach the game in the same way as, say, God of War. Even the lowliest of enemies has the capability and desire to kill you off when you first set out. Couple this with the fact that bad guys seem to be, quite literally, hiding around every corner and you begin to get a feel for the challenge ahead.

At this point I would urge anyone who is struggling with the game to put their head down, their shield up, and press on. Yes, it is tough going, but if you respect your own vulnerability and edge your way through the game in the early stages, then you can and will succeed. If you find an enemy that appears to be too tough (I’m looking at you, Red-Eye Knight) then it quite possibly is, at least given your current experience level and equipment load-out. When you level up sufficiently and return to the area that gave you trouble before, you might just have a chance of making it through in one piece.

With regard to levelling up, I have to say that grinding is not a concept that usually floats my boat. Whilst Demon’s Souls does involve some grinding, the impact of this is lessened by the beautiful construction of the game world and the strength of its core concepts. At one point my (non-gaming) wife looked up from her work to witness me plunge to my death from the very same cliff for the nth time. “You’re not very good at that game, are you?” she commented. “That’s what I’m trying to do” I replied, and whilst this was true, and I was quite happy in my endeavours, it didn’t really support my ongoing argument for the positive value of gaming.

Otherworldly

The world of Boletaria has obviously been created with a great deal of thought, care and attention to detail. It really does feel like a living, breathing world, from the immense dragons resting quietly on a mountain side, to the Storm Beasts gliding ray-like across darkened skies, and the magical guards patrolling the pitiful prison cells of Latria. Some of the sights in this game are truly a wonder to behold, and I found myself stopping to gaze at my surroundings on many occasions.

The harsh beauty of the environment in Demon’s Souls is tempered by the incredibly hostile situation that you find yourself in. Whilst your journey can at times feel bleak and lonely, there is a wonderfully inventive online element to the game which helps to pull players together, to feel like part of a much larger game world. When playing the game online, you never feel truly alone, due to the anonymous messaging system where other players can leave notes, warnings or even cries for help printed on the ground. You will also witness the ghosts of other players drifting through your world, acting as prophets of impending doom or sometimes just a reminder that ‘you are not alone’.

The online features also include a co-op system, where players can call upon those who are perhaps more experienced, to assist them in their quest. The flip side to this altruistic element is the occasional appearance of a hostile ‘Red Phantom’ – the soul of a player from another game, who has invaded with one thing on their mind – your death and the subsequent return of their own corporeal form. Such occasions can fill you with genuine terror, as you struggle against the game itself and the extra threat of a human player baying for your blood.

Whilst discussing the Demon’s Souls online experience, and the sense of community that it evokes, it is worth mentioning that the EU release of the Black Phantom Edition comes complete with a comprehensive strategy guide. This guide, whilst not entirely essential, is very useful when tackling the game, as there is no easy learning curve, or in-game system to guide your progress. It is very much a case of learning through your own actions and mistakes. To this end, I would recommend making use of the strategy guide, or the equally informative Wiki site (whose authors were actually commissioned to write the Black Phantom guide), as and when you can.

Summary

Demon’s Souls is a game that offers a huge challenge, unsurpassed by nearly anything seen in this hardware generation. It is a game that rewards patient, careful progress, and punishes mistakes without prejudice. Those players that give themselves over to the game will bear witness to a beautifully crafted world, populated by a fantastic selection of characters – some good, some bad and some quite clearly insane. The innovative online features are nearly worth the price of admission alone – but catch these whilst you can, as the US servers are not guaranteed to be running beyond March 2011, and the EU servers may well follow suit. For now though, if you have a spare forty hours or so, and are happy to give it over to one game, Demon’s Souls will happily consume your time, and reward you handsomely in return.

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