A wonderfully designed third-person role-playing action game that takes practice and patience. [VERY IN-DEPTH REVIEW]
You could easily look up a description of the story on this site, so I will not go into details, but the bottom line is that you are a lone warrior in a world filled with demons. You must kill as many of the demons as possible, and eventually lull the greatest demon of them all back into its slumber in order to save the world. Of all the aspects of the game, the story is perhaps the one area that could have used more work. The story is straightforward enough, but a little more depth would have been appreciated. The non-playable characters give some insights into the overall history of the world (Boletaria), but you could ignore them and it probably would not matter. Considering this is a role-playing game, I would have thought the story would be central. However, it was not. You defeat the bosses with little fanfare…no cut scenes saying why defeating the boss was important…you just collect its soul at the archstone, the only "save points" in the game, and go on your way. (Not to go on too much of a tangent, but this is just another example that makes me question the definition of a "role-playing game" nowadays. Demon's Souls has customization and an open world that I expect in an RPG, but it just feels like an action game without the storyline depth. Then you have another role-playing game in Valkyria Chronicles that has a great storyline, but little customization and the gameplay is linear and almost all strategy. Yet a game like Grand Theft Auto IV with the feel of an RPG with its open world and in-depth story is considered an action game. Maybe it is because Niko Bellic cannot do magic in GTA4?)
Customization is perhaps one of the strongest parts of the game. To start, you can modify the name and look of your character. Then you choose the class, each with strengths and weaknesses. Each class is balanced, so it depends on your style of play as to which one is the best. Personally, I think royalty is the easiest to start with. You start with a strong magic spell, a ring that refreshes magic points (MP), and a rapier sword that you can use while blocking. As the game progresses, you collect or buy many objects like weapons, armor, and rings. Each weapon, armor, and ring has pros and cons, further enhancing customization.
In terms of gameplay, the basic task is to collect the souls of demons that you slay. If you die during the game, you lose the souls you collected. You do have a chance to get them back if you are able to make your way back to your bloodstain and touch it. However, if you die before reaching your bloodstain, then the collected souls are lost. Souls are the currency in this world, and used to purchase items, learn magic/miracles, and upgrade attributes. I suggest developing a strategy early on in terms of developing your character. The cost of upgrading a single attribute increases with each attribute purchase; so early in the game, it is relatively cheap to upgrade. After defeating the first boss, I was able to upgrade about six attribute points. So I beefed up my magic-related stats, because I found myself using a lot of magic in my style of gameplay. Hand-to-hand combat lovers could upgrade strength and dexterity easily at this point. However, the further the game goes, the more difficult it is to upgrade more than one stat at a time.
Demon's Souls has gained a reputation of being an extremely difficult game. I have read in several places something to the extent of, "The game is so brutal that you get killed in the tutorial." Unless you are a super gamer, the end boss will kill you in the tutorial. But you are meant to die, because the dead enter the Nexus (the start point of the game). There are two states of being in the game: body form and soul form. In body form you have full health points (HP), take less damage, and able to summon help from other players. In soul form, you only have half of your HP (or up to ¾ HP if you have a special ring). A main character only appears after you gain your body again (accomplished by defeating the first boss). So losing your body is a significant event in the storyline. Even beyond the tutorial, the game is hard, and when you are first learning how to play, it can be frustratingly hard. I do not think this is necessarily a bad thing. The difficulty makes the game feel very real when you start. You can feel the tension that is supposed to be in the world, and you know that any simple blunder could lead to your death. You start watching closely where you are walking, listening to sounds, and utilizing all the controls.
I read several reviews before buying Demon's Souls, so I went into the game expecting to get my butt handed to me, and to my surprise, it did not really happen as often as I expected. Don't get me wrong, it is difficult, and I died many times. However, it did not feel excessive, and each time I died, it was because I did not think out the situation or was unfamiliar with an enemy's attack style. Also, enemies drop items that can recover HP and MP, so even after getting beat up I could recover. As the game progressed, I became used to the style and developed methods to minimize the threats presented by the enemies. You need to go into the game realizing you cannot speed through a level by pressing the sprint and attack buttons. In fact, going too fast often leads directly to being surrounded by enemies, making it much more difficult. Going at a slower pace will leave you with manageable encounters against 1 to 3 opponents. Another thing is that as I added attributes, I could really feel how far I progressed. Boletarian zombie-like slaves went from taking four stabs and a couple blocks to kill to going down with one stab. In addition, the controls do matter in this game. You will need to know how to block. You will need to pay attention to timing. You will need to know how to lock targets. And in certain situations, a timely roll or attack break will make things much easier. I found the controls to be relatively simple, despite needing to use all of the buttons. There are two types of attacks for each weapon, two types of blocks, sprinting, rolling, and an onscreen scrolling/selection of weapons, spells, and items. Also, realize that you cannot pause the game. So when ambushed, you need to think fast. I actually appreciate that time does not stand still in this world. Plus, if you really must stop playing while in the middle of a level, just quit the game from the menu. When you load the game later, it will start where you left off.
Other aspects of Demon's Souls offset the game's difficulty. You can view the dying seconds of other players, presented as red apparitions, by touching bloodstains on the ground. Most of these are honestly not very helpful. However, there have been numerous that helped. These included replays that showed a red apparition running off in a direction then disappearing over a cliff or ledge concealed in darkness. Sometimes the sheer number of bloodstains in an area gives a clue that a tough foe is nearby. In addition to bloodstains, players are able to leave numerous messages from a set of available phrases. The first time in a level, I read lots of messages. Some are misleading, but it has been my experience that the helpful hints far outweigh the blatantly bad ones. This is partly because players can recommend others' messages. Therefore, if you see a highly recommended message, it probably has some merit. A drawback of this system is that the tension is sometimes ruined if you know what is coming. Reading "Beware of the enemy's ranged attacks" is helpful, but then it is not surprising when you walk a few steps and an arrow comes flying at you from the darkness. Some may feel it heightens tension when you know what is coming, but I find it less exciting. I still read them because dying means losing your souls, and I personally decide to sacrifice tension for success in the game. Another aspect, even though it is not interactive, you are constantly exposed to other players in the form of white apparitions. These add to the atmosphere, but can also give insight into where to go and if enemies lie in wait. Perhaps most helpful of all in terms of offsetting the difficulty is the use of a multiplayer feature. When in body form, you are able to summon other players (blue phantoms) to assist in your endeavor. Players in soul form can leave blue markers to alert players in body form that they are willing to be summoned. Blue phantoms can make a difficult level much easier, and they are sometimes invaluable in defeating tough bosses. Players can only communicate through gestures (you can access a menu by holding down the X button), so actions speak louder than words once a battle occurs. Of course, there are drawbacks. First, using blue phantoms can make a boss win feel cheapened. But let's face it, after you lose to a boss multiple times, sometimes you just want to get past it and into the next level. Second, all too often, blue phantoms end up being players that want to zip through the level. That is not very nice if you are exploring a new environment or facing new enemies against which you have yet to master your counterattacks. Third, and most importantly, if you defeat a boss, you must split the souls won with the blue phantom players.
Overall, Demon's Souls multiplayer features are very enjoyable. I already discussed blue phantoms assisting players in body form. The incentives to play as a blue phantom are multi-fold. First, as discussed, if you help defeat a boss, you get a share of the souls won. You may ask what if someone joins a game then hides every time fighting happens…it is not fair that they get the same points as the person that beat the boss. There is a system to prevent this: grading. After a boss is defeated, you grade the other players (S, A, B, C, D). Distribution of points is based on the grades. Granted, there are a few players that abuse the system and assign a D for no reason, but I have found this rare. If you or the player you are assisting dies before defeating a boss, you are allowed to rate a player afterwards. No souls are distributed, but it boosts the ego knowing you have high marks. (For those that are curious, you can check your grade by examining your own soul sign after placing the blue phantom stone). A second benefit of playing as a blue phantom is that if you help defeat a boss, you recover your body in your own world. A third benefit is that if you have yet to win a level yourself, playing as a blue phantom can let you see what to expect. And if you die as a blue phantom, you retain the souls you gained in your own game. When in soul form, you can also choose the multiplayer option to invade another player's game as a black phantom (you gain the black phantom stone after defeating your first cpu-controlled black phantom during gameplay). You are not attacked by enemies, but playing as a black phantom tends to be much more challenging than playing as a blue phantom. First, you have a lower HP than the player you are invading because you can only invade someone in body form. Second, it is normal for people in body form to have blue phantoms protecting them. Personally, I have yet to defeat players accompanied by blue phantoms. Third, the person you are invading receives notification you are coming, and black phantoms always appear at the start of the level…so they know where to expect you. Fourth, if you fall and die as a black phantom, you lose a soul level (soul level has different implications that you can read about elsewhere). Winning as a black phantom is exhilarating, and you are returned to body form if successful. However, it may lead to angry PlayStation Network messages from the one you defeated. When in body form and your world is invaded by another player, it is typically smart to try to summon a blue phantom or two for help. Otherwise, you must face the black phantom one-on-one, and if they are skilled, you could easily lose. I have also read elsewhere that you can arrange one-on-one battles, but I have no experience with this, so I will not comment on it.
There are a few negative aspects of Demon's Souls that I have yet to mention. First, the camera can sometimes go to terrible angles when locking onto an enemy or it may not target the enemy you intended. There is nothing more frustrating than to lock onto an enemy only to see the camera shift behind a wall, or points upwards and locks onto a flying enemy when a skeleton with a giant cleaver is in your face. Fortunately, this rarely happens. Second, some levels can tend to feel relatively long, and at least a checkpoint at the midpoint would have been nice. I guess this is less relevant at moments because there are often shortcuts that can be unlocked over the course of longer levels. Third, I wish it were obvious early on that boss' souls would be so significant. I consumed them for the souls and attribute upgrades, then I ended up starting the game over again after reading on message boards that boss' souls were needed for special magic/miracles and making special weapons. Fourth, there is no way to trade items for souls. Considering there are vendors, I would think these same vendors would like to collect items for their inventory. But Demon's Souls is set in a bleak world where you are likely the only customer and souls are more valuable than platinum. Fifth, when you kill an enemy, they drop dead and become a body that is kicked around way too easily. A 15-foot tall gargoyle gets kicked around like a plastic bag once it drops dead. Finally, multiplayer is difficult to coordinate, and friends are not necessarily going to be on the same server. This is not really a concern for me, so it does not matter. However, I do know some people would love to be able to always play with friends and even be able to talk using a headset. Despite these negative aspects and the ones I touched upon before this paragraph, the game is still engaging, addicting, and exciting.
Overall, I feel that Demon's Souls is one of the most enjoyable games that I have played in a while. The graphics are excellent and detailed. The characters, enemies, and especially the bosses look and move well. The bosses are each intimidating and take skill to defeat. I still remember facing the boss Flamelurker and literally feeling frightened as he charged me over and over until I crumpled and died. The gameplay is relatively easy to pick up, and with a little patience, success is not very far away in this game. I highly recommend it to anyone looking for a fun yet unforgiving challenge.