With shield raised, I'm ready to face the beast that is Demon's Souls
Since we were little boys and girls, we often dreamt up worlds where men were brave chivalrous knights. Women were princesses imprisoned by maleficent witches and corrupt wizards. Books, movies, and electronic entertainment alike have been able to recapture, redefine and revamp this fantasy world for us. For once however, there is no princess locked in a tower. There is no sole evil entity moving throughout this world. This is a world plagued with demons; some of which are meek while others are maliciously powerful. This is the world of Demon’s Souls.
The moment Atlus/From Software starting toying around with the idea of dark fantasy action RPG, they made sure to bold, italicize and underline the word: Punishment in their brainstorm. Demon’s Souls is an exclusive for the Playstation 3 console, though I don’t see why they would minimize the number of people who have been clamoring for some brutal punishment. Gamers these days have become somewhat jaded. We want graphics, we want story, we want a well-behaved camera, oh and we don’t want to be treated like babies. Well Atlus and From Software heard you and gave you what you wanted. However I digress, so let us walk through this game one category at a time.
Visuals
The demon-infested world of Boletaria can be summed up one word: majestic. It is set in an Arthurian time period, which means: huge tracks of land! All of which is captivating to witness. However, this can only be said if (and I stress if) your PS3 is using HDMI cables. In this age of interactive video entertainment, playing a game with anything less then component cables is doing yourself a huge disservice. This disservice extends to that expensive HDMI-capable LCD flat screen TV in your bedroom/living room. There is too much effort put into this world to ignore it completely. So Don’t.
If you happen to be the kind of gamer who loves customizing your character then enjoy. You get the choice in Demon Souls to truly customize your protagonist. However if you are aiming to mimic your features to a fault, then I suggest you taking several pictures of yourself and pinning them up next to your screen. This is where you flick your directional pad either left or right while waiting to see your facial characteristics present themselves. If you have the patience of a saint, this will only take 30 to 45 minutes to do. Stay committed to your features because if you don’t, you’ll end up with a massive forehead, hair lip and wandering left eye.
Results: 5 out of 5
Story
Demon’s Souls tells the story of a king, King Allant XII, who sought great power. This power is obtained by the consumption of souls. This leads his kingdom of Boletaria to prosper until the plot arrived. A thick colorless fog starts to invade the land's borders, which, cuts Boletaria off from the rest of existence.
Many brave and noble heroes have entered the fog, never to be seen or heard from again. So the last hope for humanity lies in your sword… polearm…I mean weapon of choice and in you go into this fogged encased kingdom…only to be slaughtered by a gigantic demon. Which yes, kills you. This death lands you in the Nexus. It is here that we learn the origin of this colorless fog. Underneath the Nexus is beast of legend and lore, The Old One.
It was content in its slumber but has been awakened by a power hungry king. Yep you guessed it, King Allant XII. With the Old One awake and the colorless fog slowly engulfing all of Boletaria also comes with the addition of soul devouring demons. Those who fight these demons and lose do not just lose their soul—their sanity as well.
The Nexus contains five Archstones, which will take you to Boletaria Palace, Stonefang Tunnel, Tower of Latria, Shrine of Storms, and the Valley of Defilement these are all starting zones for the areas most affected by the Old One Being awake. Vanquishing the Arch Demon from each of these areas is the only way to be deemed worthy to encounter the Old One.
With a range of interactive characters and a concrete story, your presence in this game will be felt, measured and put on display for the whole Demon’s Souls’ world to see. The true demon’s souls begins here.
Result: 5 of 5
Gameplay:
Single player
The minute this game hit PS3’s all over the world, one word seemed to rise up like a phoenix from the ashes: RAGE. The gameplay isn’t hard but any measure, but your success in this game rests in a word that most gamers do not like to hear: Patience. No rushing in head first with a disproportionate broadsword…it will be the death of you. No invisible walls either so those long falls are looooooooooong, and death causing if you hadn’t figured it out. The majority of death in this game is in direct correlation with the assumption that the game would not let you fall. GET THIS NOTION OUT OF YOUR HEAD. Reality has hit gaming in a manner that we all wanted in theory, but not in practice.
You may come to find that 95 % of this game is played in death. Yes, this is correct. Instead of the standard “Oh you die and come back to life” bit you assume the form of a spirit, this cuts your health by half, if you don’t have a particular item that gives you a little bit more than that. Demon’s Souls’ philosophy is rooted in the fact that you do not need your body. Success comes with death.
Methodically planning out a set number of maneuvers is key to survival. Each enemy has a different pattern ranging in severity of attack. This means that one poor judgment can result in the weakest of enemies claiming your body, and or the souls you have previously gathered on your first attempt in the area. All of these mixed together is a recipe for: over-the-top rage quits, several fresh fist impressions in your wall, and calling a loved one something that you’ve only ever thought about saying to their face. (I am sorry about that Mom.)
Demon’s Souls is very complex and detailed. Some of these concepts should be learned straight away. Here they are:
1.Every action you make can influence your Character Tendency.
2.Every action you make can influence your World Tendency.
3.Don’t assume that button mashing will save you: it won’t
4.Learn every attack command, they are there to help you
Now I know most of these reek of common gamer sense, but many of us over look number 3 and 4. 1 and 2 are specific to this game. Character Tendency deals with your character. The more good that you do by clearing worlds of arch demons, saving captured NPC’s, and not dying in body form will all raise your Character Tendency this can in turn unlock other NPC’s and better weapons. The reverse will yield the same kind of result except some of the weapons are a lot more powerful.
World Tendency can be hard to master. Most will situate themselves in a pure white or just plain white WT during their first playthrough. However when entering New Game + one may want to start turning the World Tendency to Black or Pure Black. When we think White and Black, we think of Easy and Hard. This is exactly as we perceive it. In a White/Pure White Tendency enemies are easier to handle, and certain NPC’s will be unlocked. In a Black/Pure Black World Tendency all the enemies are a lot harder, and certain NPC’s will appear as Black Phantoms. Their rewards are worth manipulating the world however. Also, as an aside, if you are a trophy hunter you will have to manipulate the world tendency to get the platinum trophy.
Atlus has already given us previews of these world tendencies in the form of events. If you picked this up on Halloween you took part in a world of Pure Black. Winter Solstice brought with it a Pure White World. There are ways to get around having to actually do work to manipulate the world tendency, but what fun is that?
Result: 5 of 5
Multiplayer
From Software, the developers of Demon Souls, did not just want to give us a standard, run-of –the-mill multiplayer experience, they wanted to make it more of a test of faith in a silent partner. That’s right people, Demon’s Souls makes you believe that you can rest comfortably in notion of co-play but then strips the must fundamental aspect from it: game chat. Sure you can summon Blue Phantoms to help you in a level, but don’t expect that you’ll be sharing your life story with them. They-can-not-hear-you. They are simply voiceless spirits out to reclaim some souls and their bodies. Also there is a heavily implied threat to summoning Blue Phantoms into your game. This requires you to be in body form, which makes you prey to Black Phantoms. They are not usually very kind, and in fact are there to tear you a new one and laugh about it later.
Obviously the option to be a Blue or Black Phantom is something that all players in this game have a choice to do. Being a Blue Phantom who successfully assists someone in body form will gain a decent amount of souls and their body back. Black Phantoms, if successful will gain the same things at your misfortune. Which one will you be? Dare I say Schadenfreude?
Result 5 of 5
Overall Result 20 of 20
You will get a sense of accomplishment by completing this game. It will in a way, make you appreciate all the other games you played that made it impossible for you to die by anything other than the action of an enemy. You will think twice about when you will take a health potion, when you’ll lead with a strong attack and when you’ll attempt stealth by ranged attacks. In fact you’ll think twice about EVERYTHING, which isn’t as bad as it sounds.
Labels: Pandalicious, PS3, RPG, video games
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