Ax Kicking- Demon’s Souls Review

Throughout gaming history, there have been a plethora of games that those who cherish the title of “gamer” cling onto with great fervor, despite a handful of flaws that make gameplay inaccessible to vast majority of those with access to a controller.  These interactive equivalents of the “cult classic film” can be found lurking time and time again on countless “top XX underappreciated games” lists, and maintain small groups of dedicated followers even decades after release.  Demon’s Souls is destined to become one such game.

As a reviewer, one is subject to wearing many hats.  One such cap is the enthusiast hat, which compels me to tell my readers about games that I love, and to convince everyone I meet to fork over their hard earned dollars to support the games I hold dear.  Another hat that I wear is that of the consumer advocate. While I am wearing this hat, it becomes my duty to protect my readers from making a purchase that they might not be happy with.  Usually, I can choose which hat I would like to wear while I am writing and apply the proper amount of gushing praise or punishing criticism as each case requires, but Demon’s Souls requires me to wear both hats, one on top of the other, and this not only makes me look silly, but also makes it difficult to write.  Make no mistake, readers: I adore this game, but it is not for everyone.

Demon’s Souls takes place in the dark, low fantasy setting of Boletaria.  The kingdom has been overrun by an evil fog, and you have ventured inside to rescue the kingdom and to become a great and powerful hero.  Upon arrival, you are promptly slain and sent to the Nexus, a sort of warrior limbo, and offered the opportunity to be brought back to life in exchange for collecting- you guessed it, Demon’s Souls.

You spend the majority of your time in “spirit form” and will earn the ability to become a living human-being only after you have defeated a boss.  Once you have been brought back to life you have twice as much health and can summon other spirits to help you in battle.  The spirits, however, are actually other players, who happen to be playing in the same dungeon at the same time.  This is where Demon’s Souls is most unique: it approaches the online multiplayer experience as a fluid, hierarchical toolset within the single player game rather than simply creating traditional cooperative game mode.  While playing a single person game, the player comes across notes and warnings from other players who have already passed through.  Bloodstains from fallen comrades can be activated, giving a ghostly account of how other warriors have died, so that you don’t make the same mistakes and, as stated earlier, players in Spirit Form may be called by those who have earned their bodies back to aid them in combat.

The combat system is surprisingly deep.  Boss fights are challenging and rewarding, and there are a lot of great items and weapons, so you can really customize your character.  Each weapon has its own unique feel and timing to it, which makes choosing the correct weapon for the current situation very rewarding – there is a great difference between using a broadsword and a rapier in a tight corridor, and that could be a life or death decision!  The environments are very well realized: each of the 6 worlds are unique, and an occasional punch of color or over-the-top set piece break up the grey-brown environments to create some very dramatic moments.

Demon’s Souls suffers from one major flaw : it does a terrible job of explaining anything to the player.  The game opens up with a brief tutorial, where you will learn which buttons do what, and then you are dropped into a castle and told to collect souls.  The game requires its players to either patiently discover all every subtle nuance of its gameplay by trial and error, or to get frustrated and destroy their television within the first few hours of play.  Without any real guidance, the player will stumble around in the dark for several hours, die, sit through a loading screen and restart every few minutes, because no one ever explains that you can’t just mash “attack” to survive: there is a timing element to every attack in this game.  Also, with no clear direction on what your end goal is, many players who make it deep into the level will perish, simply because they tried to tackle an enemy that can’t actually be killed at that point of the game!

Those patient enough to trudge their way through to initial dungeon will be rewarded with an overwhelming amount of content unlocked at once.  After defeating only one demon, the adventurer is given Carte Blanche to explore all but one of the areas lost to the fog.  Once the entire world opens up, the game changes a great deal, and becomes more about exploration and loot grabbing than item management and constant combat.