I will periodically make a post about one of my favorite games. Today, I'll write about a game I haven't even finished yet. Demon's Souls (PS3).
Demon’s Souls is an action-RPG. You start by creating your character, choosing from among 12 classes. Your choice only matters at the beginning of the game, because none of the classes has exclusive abilities. Your choice will simply determine your starting level, equipment and attributes. For instance, the Royalty class starts with a weak attack spell, weak attributes, and a magic ring that allows to recover mana, while the Barbarian starts with great attributes, but almost no equipment. However, depending on how you level your character, your Royalty can become a tough fighter or your Barbarian can learn to cast spells or miracles.
After a short introduction, you are killed. You wake up a the game’s hub, the Nexus, where you are guided to the first level of the first world, Boletaria Castle. At this point, you cannot upgrade your character, and you cannot choose any other path. Boletaria Castle is, or rather was, a gorgeous place. The design feels very medieval Europe, and the place is surrounded by flying dragons, and swarming with zombies. Each time you kill a monster, you drain its soul, and those souls are your precious resource which you will use to upgrade weapons, level your attributes, repair your equipment, buy potions, and so on. It serves as both currency and experience.
Should you die, however, you will lose ALL your souls. You have only one chance to return to where you died - all monsters have respawned in the meantime! - and find back your souls. Fail to make it, and they are lost forever.
The game is not forgiving: a single mistake can cost your life. Bosses deal massive damage when they hit, and there are traps everywhere. To avoid trap, you use the clever online mode. You see, the world of Demon’s Souls is shattered, and you can see “ghosts” from other worlds – other players - from time to time. These ghosts can leave you message to warn (or trick) you. But just as useful are the blood stains.
Whenever a player dies while online, a blood stain appears somewhere near in the world of all other online players. So when you approach such a blood stain, you can see how the player died. For instance, in my first play through Boletaria, I came upon a narrow ledge. On the other side was a room with barrels. I touched the blood stain of another player and saw his ghost move carelessly along the ledge, only to die midway. I knew then that the barrels were a trap. Indeed, when I was walking along, I saw a zombie ready a fire arrow, but I was ready and jumped back, avoiding the explosion set off by the barrels.
The game may be unforgiving, but it is fair. Enemies are not cheap, and there are many tricks you can learn to make your way through. This difficulty and the constant fear you’ll feel when going into the unknown make succeeding very satisfying.
While the game might be action-oriented, it plays like a true RPG in some ways. For instance, my first character was a Temple Knight. I felt I was doing well, but when I started my second character, knowing how to level my attributes and how to equip adequately, it made a huge difference. Plus, once you finish your first level, you have more freedom: world are divided by levels, and there are five worlds. The game contains much more, I could go on and write about world and character tendency, item upgrades, death and rebirth, the story and the cool cinematics, but I’ll some it up in two words. Try it.
Demon’s Souls is an action-RPG. You start by creating your character, choosing from among 12 classes. Your choice only matters at the beginning of the game, because none of the classes has exclusive abilities. Your choice will simply determine your starting level, equipment and attributes. For instance, the Royalty class starts with a weak attack spell, weak attributes, and a magic ring that allows to recover mana, while the Barbarian starts with great attributes, but almost no equipment. However, depending on how you level your character, your Royalty can become a tough fighter or your Barbarian can learn to cast spells or miracles.
After a short introduction, you are killed. You wake up a the game’s hub, the Nexus, where you are guided to the first level of the first world, Boletaria Castle. At this point, you cannot upgrade your character, and you cannot choose any other path. Boletaria Castle is, or rather was, a gorgeous place. The design feels very medieval Europe, and the place is surrounded by flying dragons, and swarming with zombies. Each time you kill a monster, you drain its soul, and those souls are your precious resource which you will use to upgrade weapons, level your attributes, repair your equipment, buy potions, and so on. It serves as both currency and experience.
Should you die, however, you will lose ALL your souls. You have only one chance to return to where you died - all monsters have respawned in the meantime! - and find back your souls. Fail to make it, and they are lost forever.
The game is not forgiving: a single mistake can cost your life. Bosses deal massive damage when they hit, and there are traps everywhere. To avoid trap, you use the clever online mode. You see, the world of Demon’s Souls is shattered, and you can see “ghosts” from other worlds – other players - from time to time. These ghosts can leave you message to warn (or trick) you. But just as useful are the blood stains.
Whenever a player dies while online, a blood stain appears somewhere near in the world of all other online players. So when you approach such a blood stain, you can see how the player died. For instance, in my first play through Boletaria, I came upon a narrow ledge. On the other side was a room with barrels. I touched the blood stain of another player and saw his ghost move carelessly along the ledge, only to die midway. I knew then that the barrels were a trap. Indeed, when I was walking along, I saw a zombie ready a fire arrow, but I was ready and jumped back, avoiding the explosion set off by the barrels.
The game may be unforgiving, but it is fair. Enemies are not cheap, and there are many tricks you can learn to make your way through. This difficulty and the constant fear you’ll feel when going into the unknown make succeeding very satisfying.
While the game might be action-oriented, it plays like a true RPG in some ways. For instance, my first character was a Temple Knight. I felt I was doing well, but when I started my second character, knowing how to level my attributes and how to equip adequately, it made a huge difference. Plus, once you finish your first level, you have more freedom: world are divided by levels, and there are five worlds. The game contains much more, I could go on and write about world and character tendency, item upgrades, death and rebirth, the story and the cool cinematics, but I’ll some it up in two words. Try it.
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