Demon's Souls Review (PS3)
Demon's Souls is known as one of the most hardest RPG games ever, due to it's hard difficulty and steep learning curve. Thus, players who are not good in RPG games are not recommended to play it. However, for those who manage to complete the game, you will get a great satisfaction of completing it as well as a rewarding gaming experience.
Story
The game takes place at Boletaria, where many powerful demons reside as the Old One has been awakened due to Boletaria's ruler, King Allant's deeds. Your character is one of those of few who attempts to save Boletaria, by defeating mighty demons as well as get their souls for power.
The story is rather mediocre compared with other recent RPG games. Fortunately, the story is not really bad compared with RPG games that have rather forgettable stories. The story is there to complement the game's setting. There is not much background explanation of characters in the game, since the game focuses on killing demons and saving Boletaria, except a few character's exposure including King Allant's evil deeds in the game. You have to read the item descriptions and talk to NPCs to get a better understanding on the game's lore. The characters are rather interesting with distinct appearances and mannerisms, such as Maiden in Black, Yurt the Silent Chief, and other characters as well.
Gameplay
Before playing the game, you need to customise your character's class, appearances, and stats. Picking any classes will do since eventually your character can be shaped into anything if your stats are high enough. But what makes it important to pick a class is your starting stats, since each class have their own different starting stats.
Stats are important in the game, as one or two points can differentiate between life and death in the game. Players who are specialised in using magic should focus on increasing their Magic stat and Intelligence stat, or players who like to use long range weapons should focus on increasing their Dexterity and Strength stats. However, other stats such as Vitality is important since Vitality increases your maximum HP. Increasing each stats will increase your Soul Level. Whenever your Soul Level increases, your Physical Defense and other stats will automatically increase. However, the higher Soul Level you are, the more souls you need to use in order to increase a stat.
Farming souls in the game is very important. Not only for increasing stats, but to buy items, weapons, and new spells.Souls are obtained by killing enemies while playing the game. Accumulating Souls are very important in order to increase your stats, buy new equipment and items, upgrade your weapons, and buying a new spell. Defeating bosses will net you large amount of Souls, as well as a special Soul called Demon's Soul, that allows you to do three things. One, to learn a very powerful spell. Two, to upgrade your weapon into a more powerful one. Three, consume it to increase your Souls. Farming souls in the game are very important as not all monsters in the game can give you large amount of Souls.
You can attack using any equipped weapon, such as sword, spears, bows, maces, and etc. You can also equip shields to block attacks. Your character can equip armour, boots, handguards, etc to change their appearances as well as equipping accessories for increasing defense and getting special bonuses. While playing, you can assign hotkeys to quickly switch items and weapons on the spot without going through the menu. Having proper equipment is vital in playing the game, since each sets of equipment can have different stats bonuses. Your character can sprint, and dodge sideways. However, each actions will consume some of your Stamina, including attacking. After a few seconds of not using any actions, your Stamina regenerates automatically. If you have low stats points for certain stats, you are unable to use a particular weapon or armour. For example, a sword requires your Strength to be 18+ in order to use it. Also, you can only carry a certain amount of items due to your Item Burden, as well as equipping a certain number of equipment due to Equip Weight.
You can also upgrade your weapons to be much stronger. However, in order to do so, you need to have the necessary materials and number of Souls in order to upgrade it. It is highly recommended to upgrade your weapons as enemies can be much tougher as you progress in the game, particularly in the first level, Boletarian Palace.
Bosses are very relentless, powerful, and hard to fight. Most of them requires a certain strategy to beat them.Your objective in the game is to kill every bosses in five main levels. Each main levels has it's own sub-levels, where you have to explore while fighting monsters on the way to the boss. The sub-levels are non-linear, since there is no guide to help you finding the correct path, or tips on fighting bosses. This is very difficult for non-RPG players if they are not familiar with RPG elements. As a guideline, whenever you enter a fog gate, that means you are on the correct path to the boss. Beware that when you entered a certain fog gate that is near to the end of the sub-levels, you have to fight a boss.
Bosses in the game are extremely tough. They can kill you easily with one or two hits if you are not prepared or skilled enough. To fight them, you need some strategy to fight them effectively. For example, Phalanx, the first boss in Boletarian Palace, is extremely weak against fire attacks. Thus, using fire-based magic and Turpentine will help you to defeat it easier. However, they have highly damaging attacks, which you need to either block or dodge expertly. Most of the time, you can easily die by fighting tough bosses such as Penetrator, Tower Knight, Old King Allant, and etc. Dying is very common in the game, so practice is perfect.
Dying in the game will cause you to be in Soul Form. Get used to it as you might be stuck in that form many times in the game.There are two main forms in the game. First, in Body Form, your character will have the highest maximum HP as possible. Second, in Soul Form, your character will have half of maximum HP as it's default HP. Dying is very common in the game, as you can die in many ways, such as getting killed by a boss, fall from a high place, etc. However, not only you will be in Soul Form if you die, your Souls will be lost as well. You can retrieve the Souls back from a blood spot where you died previously. However, if you died again, the Souls are lost permanently. There are two ways to restore yourself to Body Form. First, kill a boss. Secondly, use an item to return back to Body Form.
While you are playing the game, you may encounter enemies while in red aura. They are called Black Phantoms, where they are more powerful than their normal counterparts. Killing them may net you high amount of Souls and good equipment, which are recommended to do so. However, just be careful that they can kill you easily if you are not prepared.
World Tendency is a gameplay feature where certain things in that world can be affected by your actions. For example, killing a boss will make the world's Tendency to White. In White World Tendency, enemies are less difficult to fight, but nets you lesser souls and more common items/equipment. In Black World Tendency, enemies are much more tougher, nets you larger amount of Souls and also rare items/equipment. Certain NPCs will only appear at certain Tendency in a level, so plan accordingly as meeting them and do their quests can net your rare items.
The gameplay is extremely punishing and rewarding. It is punishing if you are not used to the game's system, not have high levels and stats, constant dying, etc. However, it is rewarding if you know how and where to farm Souls, know how to fight each enemies and bosses effectively and etc. Although this game is very hard, it provides great challenge and rewarding experience to players.
Graphics
The game have amazing graphics, with extremely detailed environments and monnters. The bosses, are especially creatively and expertly designed. There are some bugs in the game, but not really noticeable.
Sound
The game has a good soundtrack. Moody, dark and epic. However, most of it only appear during boss fights as during your journey, no themes are played except at your base, opening movie, etc.
The voice acting is mediocre, but fitting in the game's design. Fortunately, they are not as bad as Star Ocean: The Last Hope's English voice acting.
Replay Value
RPG games usually have high replay values. This is no exception. If you have beaten the game, you can play the game again in New Game+ mode. However, there is a penalty. For attempting a New Game+, the game will increase it's difficulty up to 50% for first New Game+, and up to 5%-10% in subsequent New Game+ plays. This is only for those players looking for great challenges, as well as collecting rare weapons etc. There are also some optional bosses that can be fought, such as Red Dragon. It is extremely tough, and you can't fight it in normal means, such as attacking it in close range.
Also, you can play this game in Online Mode. In Online Mode, you can play with other players to defeat a boss, trade items, and etc. You may also Invade another player's world and fight them. If you kill them while invading, you can retrieve his/her Souls. Conversely, they can also Invade you to kill you as well. You should only play Online mode only if you are prepared with these nuisances of invading by other players. Unfortunately, the online servers are strictly for certain regions, so you can't play with your friends if both of you have different regions of the game.
Conclusion
This game is definitely not recommended for players who are no interested in RPGs or not good at them. This is for real, skilled players that are looking for great challenge. Should you are a player that are looking for great RPG challenge and experience, then the game is for you.
Score
Story: 7/10
Gameplay: 10/10
Graphics: 10/10
Sound: 9/10
Final Score: 36/40 or 9.0/10.0
Pros
- Provides great RPG experience and challenge.
- Great gameplay system.
- Epic boss fights.
- Incredible, moody and dark atmospheric soundtrack.
- Great dark fantasy game design and concept.
- Awesome bosses' designs, as well as monsters' design.
- Good online features.
- Great level structuring.
Cons
- Extremely difficult for not only new RPG players, but to expert RPG players as well.
- Your character can't talk.
- Mediocre character creation options.
- Minor bugs issue.
- Not so interesting story, but not really a bad one.
- Mediocre voice acting.
**Images are from GamingUnion site.
Story
Takes place in a very dark fantasy age and kingdom, with your character on his/her journey on slaying demons to save Boletaria.
The game takes place at Boletaria, where many powerful demons reside as the Old One has been awakened due to Boletaria's ruler, King Allant's deeds. Your character is one of those of few who attempts to save Boletaria, by defeating mighty demons as well as get their souls for power.
The story is rather mediocre compared with other recent RPG games. Fortunately, the story is not really bad compared with RPG games that have rather forgettable stories. The story is there to complement the game's setting. There is not much background explanation of characters in the game, since the game focuses on killing demons and saving Boletaria, except a few character's exposure including King Allant's evil deeds in the game. You have to read the item descriptions and talk to NPCs to get a better understanding on the game's lore. The characters are rather interesting with distinct appearances and mannerisms, such as Maiden in Black, Yurt the Silent Chief, and other characters as well.
Gameplay
Perhaps one of the most hardest games that ever made.
Stats are important in the game, as one or two points can differentiate between life and death in the game. Players who are specialised in using magic should focus on increasing their Magic stat and Intelligence stat, or players who like to use long range weapons should focus on increasing their Dexterity and Strength stats. However, other stats such as Vitality is important since Vitality increases your maximum HP. Increasing each stats will increase your Soul Level. Whenever your Soul Level increases, your Physical Defense and other stats will automatically increase. However, the higher Soul Level you are, the more souls you need to use in order to increase a stat.
Farming souls in the game is very important. Not only for increasing stats, but to buy items, weapons, and new spells.Souls are obtained by killing enemies while playing the game. Accumulating Souls are very important in order to increase your stats, buy new equipment and items, upgrade your weapons, and buying a new spell. Defeating bosses will net you large amount of Souls, as well as a special Soul called Demon's Soul, that allows you to do three things. One, to learn a very powerful spell. Two, to upgrade your weapon into a more powerful one. Three, consume it to increase your Souls. Farming souls in the game are very important as not all monsters in the game can give you large amount of Souls.
You can attack using any equipped weapon, such as sword, spears, bows, maces, and etc. You can also equip shields to block attacks. Your character can equip armour, boots, handguards, etc to change their appearances as well as equipping accessories for increasing defense and getting special bonuses. While playing, you can assign hotkeys to quickly switch items and weapons on the spot without going through the menu. Having proper equipment is vital in playing the game, since each sets of equipment can have different stats bonuses. Your character can sprint, and dodge sideways. However, each actions will consume some of your Stamina, including attacking. After a few seconds of not using any actions, your Stamina regenerates automatically. If you have low stats points for certain stats, you are unable to use a particular weapon or armour. For example, a sword requires your Strength to be 18+ in order to use it. Also, you can only carry a certain amount of items due to your Item Burden, as well as equipping a certain number of equipment due to Equip Weight.
You can also upgrade your weapons to be much stronger. However, in order to do so, you need to have the necessary materials and number of Souls in order to upgrade it. It is highly recommended to upgrade your weapons as enemies can be much tougher as you progress in the game, particularly in the first level, Boletarian Palace.
Fight different bosses in different areas.
Bosses in the game are extremely tough. They can kill you easily with one or two hits if you are not prepared or skilled enough. To fight them, you need some strategy to fight them effectively. For example, Phalanx, the first boss in Boletarian Palace, is extremely weak against fire attacks. Thus, using fire-based magic and Turpentine will help you to defeat it easier. However, they have highly damaging attacks, which you need to either block or dodge expertly. Most of the time, you can easily die by fighting tough bosses such as Penetrator, Tower Knight, Old King Allant, and etc. Dying is very common in the game, so practice is perfect.
Dying in the game will cause you to be in Soul Form. Get used to it as you might be stuck in that form many times in the game.There are two main forms in the game. First, in Body Form, your character will have the highest maximum HP as possible. Second, in Soul Form, your character will have half of maximum HP as it's default HP. Dying is very common in the game, as you can die in many ways, such as getting killed by a boss, fall from a high place, etc. However, not only you will be in Soul Form if you die, your Souls will be lost as well. You can retrieve the Souls back from a blood spot where you died previously. However, if you died again, the Souls are lost permanently. There are two ways to restore yourself to Body Form. First, kill a boss. Secondly, use an item to return back to Body Form.
While you are playing the game, you may encounter enemies while in red aura. They are called Black Phantoms, where they are more powerful than their normal counterparts. Killing them may net you high amount of Souls and good equipment, which are recommended to do so. However, just be careful that they can kill you easily if you are not prepared.
World Tendency is a gameplay feature where certain things in that world can be affected by your actions. For example, killing a boss will make the world's Tendency to White. In White World Tendency, enemies are less difficult to fight, but nets you lesser souls and more common items/equipment. In Black World Tendency, enemies are much more tougher, nets you larger amount of Souls and also rare items/equipment. Certain NPCs will only appear at certain Tendency in a level, so plan accordingly as meeting them and do their quests can net your rare items.
The gameplay is extremely punishing and rewarding. It is punishing if you are not used to the game's system, not have high levels and stats, constant dying, etc. However, it is rewarding if you know how and where to farm Souls, know how to fight each enemies and bosses effectively and etc. Although this game is very hard, it provides great challenge and rewarding experience to players.
Graphics
Amazing graphics.
The game have amazing graphics, with extremely detailed environments and monnters. The bosses, are especially creatively and expertly designed. There are some bugs in the game, but not really noticeable.
Sound
Moody, and dark atmospheric soundtrack. Mediocre voice acting, but does not affect negatively in the game.
The voice acting is mediocre, but fitting in the game's design. Fortunately, they are not as bad as Star Ocean: The Last Hope's English voice acting.
Replay Value
Exceptionally high replay value, if you are looking forward to more harder challenges.
RPG games usually have high replay values. This is no exception. If you have beaten the game, you can play the game again in New Game+ mode. However, there is a penalty. For attempting a New Game+, the game will increase it's difficulty up to 50% for first New Game+, and up to 5%-10% in subsequent New Game+ plays. This is only for those players looking for great challenges, as well as collecting rare weapons etc. There are also some optional bosses that can be fought, such as Red Dragon. It is extremely tough, and you can't fight it in normal means, such as attacking it in close range.
Also, you can play this game in Online Mode. In Online Mode, you can play with other players to defeat a boss, trade items, and etc. You may also Invade another player's world and fight them. If you kill them while invading, you can retrieve his/her Souls. Conversely, they can also Invade you to kill you as well. You should only play Online mode only if you are prepared with these nuisances of invading by other players. Unfortunately, the online servers are strictly for certain regions, so you can't play with your friends if both of you have different regions of the game.
Conclusion
Great, ultimately challenging and difficult game for those who are looking for hardcore RPG experience.
This game is definitely not recommended for players who are no interested in RPGs or not good at them. This is for real, skilled players that are looking for great challenge. Should you are a player that are looking for great RPG challenge and experience, then the game is for you.
Score
Story: 7/10
Gameplay: 10/10
Graphics: 10/10
Sound: 9/10
Final Score: 36/40 or 9.0/10.0
Pros
- Provides great RPG experience and challenge.
- Great gameplay system.
- Epic boss fights.
- Incredible, moody and dark atmospheric soundtrack.
- Great dark fantasy game design and concept.
- Awesome bosses' designs, as well as monsters' design.
- Good online features.
- Great level structuring.
Cons
- Extremely difficult for not only new RPG players, but to expert RPG players as well.
- Your character can't talk.
- Mediocre character creation options.
- Minor bugs issue.
- Not so interesting story, but not really a bad one.
- Mediocre voice acting.
**Images are from GamingUnion site.
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