Demon's Souls
Review
Mommy told me never to play with my souls
by Ingvi Snædal
reviewed on PS3
Got soul?
The souls are everything in this game. They upgrade the characters stats, they are a currency with which he can purchase, repair or upgrade weapons and equipment and they also make the player feel good when he sees them stacking up in the bottom right corner of the screen. It is very important to hold on to the souls because the equipment that players will find in the field cannot be sold or traded. If the player doesn't like his drop, he'll just have to throw it away, it does nothing but slow the character down. If a character dies -or should I say, when a character dies- a bloodstain will be left on the ground where he fell. That bloodstain contains all the souls that the character amassed up until that point. When he respawns at the beginning of the level, all the demons will respawn as well. The only way to regain the souls he's lost is to fight his way back to the spot where he died before and touch the bloodstain. If he should die on the way there, the souls are permanently lost. To make this even more of a challenge, every time the character dies, the enemies become a little bit tougher.
The way this game uses the Playstation Network is truly innovative. This is a single player game, but as players play through it, they will see ghostly figures running past them. Those ghostly figures are other players playing the same instance. They work wonders at warning the player of upcoming hazards and showing him where secrets are hidden. You will also notice that not only your own bloodstains are present on the ground. Touching the bloodstain of another player, you'll see how that character met his demise. This also works as a warning of upcoming dangers. Later in the game, the networking features become more pronounced after you earn a blue and a black soul stone. The blue stone can be used to summon up to two players to aid you. You are not, however, able to choose what players are summoned, making it very difficult to initiate a session with a buddy. The black stones on the other hand can be used to invade another player's realm and hunt him as a Black Phantom.
Separates the Hardcore from the Casual
Despite being over a year old, the graphics are very good. The gritty, cursed world of Boletaria will truly come to life in front of any player brave enough to play this game. The overall art style is excellent. You really feel as if you’ve stepped into a medieval kingdom plagued by a dark demonic curse that is turning everything lifeless. The character models are all incredibly detailed, despite the not-so good look of the character's face in the creation menu. All the character's movements feel natural and look fantastic. Even throwing one's self onto the floor to dodge an attack instills a strange sense of realism. If your character is wearing heavy armour, he'll feel sluggish in getting up. If he's simply wearing leather, he'll bounce back up in no time. The game sounds just perfect too. The groans of the evil minions, the roars of the dragons and the sound of steel clashing on steel during battles make this world highly immersive.
There are a few minor bugs where corpses will get stuck in your characters legs when he runs over them. In some instances, when there's heavy fighting going on with multiple enemies on the screen, there will be a minor drop in framerate. Ultimately, these are bugs that any hardcore gamer with a passion for Action RPGs will gladly suffer through for the experience that is Demon's Souls.
Demon's Souls is designed through and through to test the patience, resolve and mettle of the gamer playing it. It will sort the tough from the weak, the hardcore from the casual and the persistent from the impatient. It is without a doubt one of the best games I have played all year and if you, dear reader, don't like playing games that will kill you repeatedly and mercilessly until you amass the skill and learn the strategy you need to overcome the obstacles in front of you, then there are countless free versions of Bubble Shooter to be found online for you.
9.2
fun score
Pros
A very though game, immense feeling of satisfaction after each battle won.
Cons
Slight physics bugs and very high difficulty that will frustrate most, but invigorate some.
