Demon's Souls Review

In general, Demon's Souls is an action RPG (dungeon crawler) that tests the limits of your masochism, ambition, and frustration. And the amazing thing is that you will love every second of this fight. The game was launched in February last year in Japan by From Software (King's Field, Enchanted Arms, and 3D Dot Game Heroes). Only at the end of 2009 reached other regions by Atlus, famous for its series "Shin Megami Tensei", "Ogre Battle", among others.

Set in a medieval and gothic atmosphere, the game is called by some the spiritual successor of the King's Field series. Both Japanese and American markets were critically acclaimed and received significant praise from the specialized press. But is Demon's Souls worth the effort to prevent extreme difficulty for most players in finding out what this PS3 exclusive has to offer?

The plot unfolds in the Kingdom of Boletaria, a place ravaged by darkness and forgotten by God. An ancient evil dominates the region, where hundreds of brave warriors tried unsuccessfully to bring peace back. Demons and zombies lurk everywhere, skeletons and ghosts plague catacombs, hungry dogs leap in the dark, and anonymous cries can be heard through the shadows and transform the giant dragons of Boletaria ruins to ashes.

Why the hell does somebody want to go there? This is an answer that only those who play Demon's Souls will respond, and it takes so long to discover that there is a price and a reward for everyone who venture into its mazes and countless challenges.

The kingdom of Boletaria consists of five worlds: Boletaria Palace (Palace Boletarian); Stonefang Tunnel (Tunnel Stonefang); Latria Tower (Tower of Latria), Temple of Storms (Shrine of Storms), and the Valley of Desecration ( Valley of defilement). These regions reflect your behavior in the game through a morality system (Tendency), heroic actions and help lost can bring light and alleviate the difficulty; excess deaths, attacks on innocent or villain (how to kill someone asks you to help) and the region is beset by even more darkness and difficulties.

However, the darker the stage, the better items can be found. It is a difficult decision. Spread across these worlds, besides enemies, you'll find opportunistic traders, lone heroes and what remains of the boletarian nobility, lost souls of men and women consumed by evil mist.

These stages are connected to the Nexus, a sort of lobby where the players return to improve attributes, learn spells, buy and repair equipment, and store items. The Nexus is the only place where there are no hazards and works as a micro-city within a large cathedral. There, you spend the collected souls, which are the currency for both the purchase of artifacts, weapons, and spells and for the attributes improvement. By collecting souls, you also increase your level of Souls (Soul Level), which determines the evolution of the character. In the Nexus, you'll learn a little more about the mythology of the game and about the demon that plagues Boletaria.

The medieval-dark atmosphere in Demon's Souls is obviously bleak, inhospitable, and often frightening, where fog, fire, solitude, and silence are the tone of the steps. You navigate through swamps, caves, dungeons, narrow stairs, dimly lit corridors, unsafe land, and abandoned castles, among other scenarios that make up a rich universe to explore. Only one thing is shared by all of these locations: the sense of urgency and danger around every corner.

There are few times when you feel your heart beating while exploring the scares and surprises in the Demon's Souls. Monsters leap from dark rooms, with gleaming red eyes riders advancing in your direction, bridges crumbling under your feet, and destroying you with one blow. It doesn't seem easy, and indeed it is. Very! Due to the high difficulty, dying in Demon's Souls eventually becomes common, even banal and expected.

This difficulty is probably the main challenge, and the game is successful because it provides a competent system of trial and error that encourages strategic thinking and makes the players mere peons in a gothic opera in which the most important thing is not to win but to survive. In the realm of relentless Boletaria, there is no room for heroes. Those who want to win will need to possess the gift of perseverance before any weapon or magic.

The first thing to do is create a character. With a robust customization system, Demon's Souls allows you to create an avatar, the physical attributes, and their profession (those who played any traditional RPG like Elder Scrolls IV - Oblivion will feel at home). Altogether, there are 10 classes available, each with advantages and disadvantages: Knight (Knight), Priest (Priest), Thief (Thief), Magician (Magician), Templar (Temple Knight), Soldier (Soldier), Nomad (Wanderer ), Barbarian (Barbarian), Noble (Royalty) and Hunter (Hunter). The wisest thing to start the game is to pick a character with reasonable attributes, a good shield, a spear, and a healing spell that can be very useful.

A rushed player can attempt to build a more specialized character, whether in combat or magic. However, it was clear from the beginning that specialization will not take you very far. The idea is to create a balanced character. That is, it can attack and defend effectively (shields will be the guardian angels here), cast spells (healing, mainly, and a good attack as Soul Arrow), and have at least one good weapon for distant attacks (bows and crossbows work very well).

The most important thing is that there are no final decisions. If you create a warrior, nothing will prevent him/her from learning spells. If you create a wizard or a thief, which is naturally more vulnerable, you can also arm them and improve their attributes for a fairer fight.

Although Demon's Souls has five worlds, there is no order to follow, and all the portals are immediately available after completing the tutorial. However, after several attempts, it is evident that the game does not encourage you to approach the world of Boletaria randomly. Each world has subphases with increasing levels of difficulty, and it is best to overcome them in stages and without haste. Therefore, it isn't easy to measure the time needed to beat the game. Everything will depend on the pace that you impose. The adventure is yours. But Demon's Souls is definitely not a short game and will take many hours.

The first stages of each world (1-1, 2-1, 3-1, etc..) are less difficult, so players can familiarize themselves with the controls, gain experience, and earn better equipment. This is not a rule, of course, and there remains the challenge for those who want to jump ahead. But be warned, when everything seems under control, you enter a hall where a Knight of the size of a building is waiting anxiously, And before you even have time to understand what is happening ... "You Died". This sentence is almost a red wallpaper on your TV while you play Demon's Souls.

However, dying is not the end. At least not in the Demon's Souls. When you die, the game takes you back to the Nexus. Your warrior takes the form of a spirit (with limited HP), and all equipment items and progress in the phases are kept. Unfortunately, the most valuable treasure is lost: the souls you've collected so hard. But there is still a light at the end of the tunnel. If you can return to the exact spot where you died, you can retrieve all your valuable souls. But if by chance you die along the way (and it is quite likely to happen), then, yes, all is lost, and you have to start from scratch.

Demon's Souls is a great experience and will move all the time with your ambition and curiosity. Picture this: you are strong, confident, well equipped, and have thousands of souls collected. The problem is that there is always a new corner, a new door, a new ladder. And you'll want to explore them to find a better sword or stronger armor.

Then, you end up facing a powerful enemy, and everything is lost. "You Died". It seems unfair and unnecessarily frustrating, and in some ways, it is. However, this is the real beauty of Demon's Souls. When you can swallow the frustration and try again, you become more familiar with the map and know by heart the location of enemies and traps. Your character is stronger and more resilient, and what seemed impossible soon will materialize before your eyes. The feeling of dominating the game is tasty, and you'll feel proud of yourself for having resisted.

Demon's Souls also offers an interesting online experience. When connected, you can see other players venturing (and dying) in Boletaria. There is also the possibility of leaving and reading messages on the ground about treasures and enemies ahead. For example, "Beware of the Dragon" or "White Arc forward." Throughout the stages, you can find marks of other players and see how they died, which also serves as experience. And yet, you can play cooperatively or even invade another game.

Interesting aspects that make the game more attractive. Who can not connect or be discouraged? Demon's Souls is a phenomenal experience offline. The creators know this potential because they made a perfect game to play alone. It is also noteworthy that the game does not offer a screen to pause, and all administration of items and status is done in real-time. The game literally does not give you a break.

It may seem contradictory, but Demon's Souls is a beautiful game. Each piece of weaponry, each new weapon, changes the character. The backgrounds are detailed, and nothing seems out of place: stones, boxes, chains, or torches. Everything seems built meticulously to offer an immersive and unforgettable experience in a gigantic and realistic medieval world; very well done.

The game runs fine, no dropped frames with beautiful textures and great fluidity. There are almost no load screens, except when the player travels between two worlds. The camera follows the character's back, full body, like in Zelda. It responds well and is often confused in the frame. Aside from the iconic opening music and main boss fights, there is music in the game, except for occasional notes that give the suspense atmosphere. The rest of the time, swords and armor clanking, water running, breaking wood, fire, trembling, falling stones, and cries of rage and pain. Demon's Souls is a game of sounds and whispers.

Demon's Souls is one of the richest, most unique, and most rewarding games in recent years. The experience is unforgettable, immersive, and highly addictive. However, it has its flaws, though insignificant. It's definitely not a game recommended for everyone, and brutal difficulty will deter the more casual players. The target audience here is, without a doubt, the hardcore. However, it is a game that deserves to be played, even for five minutes, more or less the time it takes until you see, for the first time, the two words that will follow you until the last minute: You Died.