A great game with one fatal flaw that prevents it from greatness.
The story of Demon Souls is pretty much forgettable, so those looking for a deep, engrossing plot should look elsewhere. And yet the setting and individual characters the player deals with are extremely fascinating, so the rather weak story can be overlooked. What stands out about this game is its dark, foreboding atmosphere: the specter of death and darkness hovers over the land, and the player, as they explore the expansive country side and desolate ruins. The games superb visuals and art design make Demon Souls feel entirely unique and original, something difficult to do with so many Tolkien inspired titles floating around. Demon Souls is defiantly eye candy, and despite not being a horror title often feels like one.
The games character customization is very deep and leaves a lot of room for experimenting with different skills and magics. There are several classes, each with a mostly unique feel. One thing I really liked about the class system was that any class can use any weapon, wear any type of armor or use any type of magic so long as they have the required attributes at the right level. This makes every created character feel different from the others, which is a nice change of pace from other more rigid RPGs. Obviously, some classes are easier to play with than others, especially the thief type class, which is not suggested for begging players.
The game play in Demon Souls, like the character customization, is also very deep, but the games punishing difficulty and slightly convoluted control scheme make combat that much more harrowing. Eventually, with practice, Demon Souls control scheme will become second nature, but it doesn't quite flow like other action-oriented RPG's and seems a little too convoluted at times. It is in the players best interest to master the controls quickly, however, as your foes have no sympathy. Your enemies are ruthless and often attack in greater numbers that you can handle. They are capable of using stealth, and seem to love nothing more than to ambush you as you walk down hallways or into a larger room. Death can come swiftly, especially since it takes no more than 3 or 4 blows(or as few as 1) to kill your hero. However, as you play, you learn that Demon Souls is set to a very rigid rule-set; one that must be followed if the player is expected to survive. The player must master parries, perfectly time their counters, learn when to block and only attack when your opponent is vulnerable. The player must resist the urge to start running down that dark corridor or slamming on the attack button to try and end a fight quickly. By mastering these rules, the difficulty becomes less harsh, and the sweet taste of victory will become an addiction for the player. Blowing off these rules and trying to do things Rambo style will lead to a quick and brutal death. And in death comes one of the most frustrating experiences any gamer will face, possibly ever.
The currency in Demon Souls is, well, the souls of fallen beasts. They are used for everything, including the purchase of items and equipment and the leveling up of stats. These souls are gained every time you slay one of the many creatures you face during your adventure. However, when you die(and you will), instead of respawning at a checkpoint with all your gear and souls, you return to an Archstone with your gear at half durability, with less health, and all those souls you collected? They are gone, stuck to the bloodstain left on the ground where you died. In order to re-obtain your souls, you must traverse the same path you took before at half strength. Oh, and all the enemies you killed along the way? They have respawned, and you have to kill all of them again on your way to the bloodstain. If you die before reaching the bloodstain, you lose all the souls you have collected. This is easily the most frustrating experience I have ever endured. Some will see this aspect of the game as a triumph for the hardcore gamer, but I find it tedious. It seems that Atlus was trying to artificially raise the difficulty of the game with this concept, but they merely succeeded in putting a huge black mark on what should have been a masterpiece. This serves only to stunt the growth of the players hero, and since excess equipment and items cannot be sold off, the only way to acquire souls is through battle. An obvious solution is to back track frequently, returning to the Nexus(the games hub world) and spending your collected souls as often as possible. Few things break immersion like constant back tracking.
Playing through online co-op makes the experience easier, as well as the innovative clues system. Players can leave clues in the game world for you, warning you of an ambush or trap just ahead. Any clues that are false or unhelpful disappear quickly, so the player won't have to worry about being misled by a spiteful prank. Highly rated clues last much longer, and can literally save your life if taken seriously. By touching another players bloodstain, you can see where and how they died, which helps prevent being taken unaware by ambushes or falls. But be warned: not every player online will seek to help you. One way players can interact with each other is when another player invades your realm as a black phantom. If the black phantom kills you, that player gets their body back. This adds another level of tension, although I have only experienced this once during my play.
Demon Souls is a highly addicting, uniquely original and extremely challenging experience. In fact, upon completion of this review I will be planting my rear in front of the television to play this game for many more hours. But one poor decision made by Atlus, trying to tune this title for the hardcore, has left a sour taste in my mouth and led to my PS3 controller flying across the room more than once already. Like a Picasso painting with a coffee stain, Demon Souls will enchant and excite you, while at the same time disappoint you that its value was so carelessly limited by one stupid choice.