Demon's Souls is quite possibly the hardest game, or more aptly put, the most frustrating game I've ever played. From the get go Demon's Souls takes no time in putting the very common and unwelcome "You Died" upon your screen. The "tutorial" is nothing more than a journey through a seemingly forsaken castle teaching you the basics, and then having your face mashed in by a giant brute of an enemy called "The Vanguard". When you die, you lose all of the "souls" you have collected throughout the level, the games currency. You may get these back, but you must fight your way back through the level as all enemies respawn, and whatever killed you will be waiting for you as soon as you return.
However, putting aside the games difficulty, it is one of the nicest looking console games out this generation. Not to say that it's Uncharted 2 equivalent, but it's still extremely good, locked at a solid 30 frames per second (Slight drops in some areas), and complemented by a bleak but beautiful world. For some, the setting will probably get a bit repetitive, as there are a variety in the actual area layouts, but the color palette is very monotone. Saying again what I said before, it still looks extremely good - especially considering the game was actually made a year or so ago.
The gameplay in this game is practical, strategical, and gives you only the essentials needed to kill an enemy. It requires you to think just enough, and none too much. The gameplay in demon's souls doesn't seem exciting until you're holding the controller in your hands. You really connect with your avatar, playing somewhat like a survival horror. Conserving your resources, and taking each step carefully to avoid falling off a stairwell or facing off with a medusa-like foe.
Demon's Souls soundtrack isn't a very prominent feature throughout the game, but when it does show up, it hits home. The scores go well with the scenery, and complement certain bosses you encounter throughout the game. The bulk of the game's audio is ambience and clashing shields and swords.
The online feature of this game is simply ingenious though. It's one of a kind. It enables you to party up with other players and tackle the levels together, as well as leave messages on the ground for other players to see. You may also invade others' worlds, to a more detrimental effect, of course.
All in all Demon's Souls is definitely not a game for everyone. I wouldn't blame someone for not playing it simply because of the difficuly level. For those of you who relish a challenge, and miss the old days of gaming when games were unrelenting in their quest for gamer domination: Look into it.
You might not be able to believe this, but Dark Souls is a pretty tricky game on the PlayStation 3.
Dark Souls and its antecedent, Demon's Souls, changed the gaming industry, but some games came away with the wrong lesson.
I’m not at all saying the souls like games are bad. The fans speak to how good the games are, but those games just bore me to tears. It’s just combat combat combat. I know the worlds are interesting and there is lore if you search for it, but there just aren’t enough lulls in all the fighting to enjoy any of the art and lore. Wish there were more story elements.
Are you saying people can't have a preference towards story-driven games?
My wife is, frankly, not very coordinated, and that's a big reason she gravitates towards easier gameplay and more story.
And having many people (gamers) who have many different preferences and opinions is very good for the gaming industry.
You don't have to understand, but you certainly should be thankful and respectful, because diverse interests bring variety. That's a great thing to have for anyone who loves games.
I’ll try to explain. Not everyone wants to only do combat for 50 hours. Lack of combat doesn’t mean boring to some people. I never said I didn’t want there to be combat, but when there is a beautiful intricate open world with lore it would be nice to have the time to explore it and have some down time. In the souls games there is very little in the way of narrative, cutscenes, or exploration other than just finding the next boss. Too much of any one element can be boring. Sorry if that is too big of a concept for you.
"I never said I didn’t want there to be combat, but when there is a beautiful intricate open world with lore it would be nice to have the time to explore it and have some down time. In the souls games there is very little in the way of narrative, cutscenes, or exploration other than just finding the next boss."
These games are quite well known for their lore and narrative, it just isn't spoon fed to you. I really appreciate that the games aren't out to insult your intelligence and trusts you to read item descriptions, explore locations, meet NPCs, and put the pieces together. The macro level narrative is easy enough to understand, but it's when you want that granular understanding of the lore that you need to explore, talk to people, find items, play the DLC, etc etc. It often invites multiple playthroughs. It's one of the unique qualities about these games where you don't have to learn what happened/what's happening in detail, but it's a lot of fun. Reminds me of reading the diary entries in Resident Evil titles.
Yes, there's a ton of combat (who would've thought in a broken world of miserable vagabonds and corrupt abominations, am I right?) but they do a great job of varying it: you can play defensively, aggressively, evasively, from a distance (bows, spells, pyromancies), with various weapons, and any combinations thereof while incorporating secondary weapon effects like elements, toxicity/poison, bleeding effects. The combat isn't stagnant. If you find it boring, you might not be exploring your possibilities very well.
"Too much of any one element can be boring. Sorry if that is too big of a concept for you."
You don't have to be condescending about it. I don't take issue with you not liking these games or finding them boring, but I also think your take is a bit myopic.
I don’t understand why people like Fortnitre ,CoD etc. I enjoy story driven games but love souls games too. We all have different tastes though
That's what people love about it. It's all about the Gameplay, challenge, world building. What more do you want from a game.
I though Gameplay was one of if not the most important aspect of a game? What's your idea of a better souls like game then?
"What's your idea of a better souls like game then?"
World building isn't the only element of story that people care about. That user said, "more story elements (plot, characterization, story growth, etc) and less combat."
It's perfectly healthy for people to express why they don't like From Software games, because a new dev might create a new, amazing game that bridges those dislikes into the genre for something new.
It's also great that you love all the aspects that Souls have brought to the gaming industry. Enjoy what you enjoy and let others do the same.
Some people prefer games where you spend more time watching than playing, and that's okay. Everyone doesn't have to have the same tastes.
Are CBR so desperate to generate clicks to their articles that they've got obviously spam accounts leaving random positive comments? sakshi97978 & arpitachowdhary9797 in case they've been marked as spam by the time you see this comment.
I thought I was the only one that noticed the spammish nature of those accounts. Glad to see I wasn't the only one
The spirit of each game ripples into the next, and Demon’s Souls was the trailblazing catalyst.
'Helped' shape? I mean this is the blueprint that the rest are built on. I often see many claim Dark Souls as the revolutionary entry in the series and responsible for the Soulsborne genre, but when I ask what Dark Souls did that Demon's Souls didn't, the only answer I get is 'it had a connected level design rather than separate levels'. Something that could be in most genres of games. The truth being that Dark Souls is the first one they played or the first one that came to their platform, it has a special place in their heart, and they want to give it more credit than it deserves.
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No, King's field was the blueprint that layed the foundation for future FromSoftware RPGs and Demon's Souls built on it. Environmental storytelling, difficulty, weapon degradation, strategic combat where every move counts and that opressive atmosphere of loneliness were all present in King's Field.
"Environmental storytelling, difficulty, weapon degradation, strategic combat where every move counts and that opressive atmosphere of loneliness were all present in King's Field."
These alone do not make a Souls game or else playing Fallout 3 with a hardcore mode would be a Souls game. To be a Soulsborne, you need to be a 3rd person action RPG. You need the death mechanic where you're gambling your XP (essentially) 'souls\blood echoes\runes' with one chance to win that progress back if you return to where you fail, this risk-reward element is essential. You might also need the co-op mechanic that allows you to be invaded and turned into PvP.
"These alone do not make a Souls game" I didn't say it did. I said that King's Field layed the foundation for future FromSoftware RPGs and that Demon's Souls built on it. The things I mentioned immediately come to mind when I think about the experience I had with Demon's Souls and I would bet that most people that played it think the same as well.
"The things I mentioned immediately come to mind when I think about the experience I had with Demon's Souls"
That's cool but my point and what this article is about is what shaped the 'soulsborne' franchise. Soulsborne is a distinct genre, Demon's Souls did all the heavy lifting for what we call Soulsborne today. King's Field contributes nothing unique to that genre.
Agreed. I personally enjoyed Demon Souls much more then the Dark Souls series for whatever reason, and it definitely served as the blueprint for those games and most of Fromsoft’s other IPs to current date. They found their “style” of game making Demon Souls.
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I remember playing demons souls on ps3 when it was released(not popular yet during that time), I didn't expect to be mind blown. Can't forget the feeling. Without it no DS1, 2, and 3 for sure.
