It’s been about six months since one of the most difficult and innovative singleplayer experiences I’ve ever played went live on the Playstation 3. This is an aftermath review of one of my most hated and revered games.

The Experience

Demon’s Souls is one of the first games I’ve ever played that blurs the line between singleplayer and multiplayer.  This isn’t a typical coop experience.   It has a natural feel to it, without pressuring players to navigate invites and game connections.   As you play normally, you see the ghosts of other players running in and out of your field of vision — each doing the same thing you are.  It’s like a nice little game support group to know (in real time) that other players out there are also struggling with the hardest game to come out in years.

Difficult

This game is hard.  Did I mention that?  The frustration lies in this game’s flippant disregard for the norm in game design standards — that is, consequence-free gaming.   Demon’s souls is not a game which allows you instant restarts and lives.  It hurts when you die.   You lose hard-earned souls (money) and you have to find a way to regain your body (which you don’t get back except by very strict and difficult methods). The enemies in Demon’s Souls are unforgiving and ruthless, so this is not a game for the impatient.

We do have help, however–in the form of dead people looking to regain their bodies. If you die, you get to put yourself out there to be summoned by someone else. If you manage to succeed in helping them through the level, you will regain your body, and can start back where you left off.   Of course, all this sounds easy, but the rub is in helping them through the level.  Even 2 or 5 people working together to beat a level isn’t a guaranteed thing.

Also, you have the ability to decipher glowing messages that people leave for you — warning of troubles ahead, or strategies to beat a level boss, etc.   You can touch bloodstains to see how people died (which isn’t all that informative.) The biggest limitation here are the pre-fabbed messages you have to use. If your message isn’t in the list of choices, you’re out of luck.

Story

The story has a unique context for the setting, but it’s easy to lose track of what’s going on. There are extremely rich and amazing environments to explore, but interactivity is really at a minimum.  In other words, you can’t do anything except break things.   Other than the interesting multiplayer component…this is a pretty straightforward RPG with light support from the story and NPC’s. Without a “mission tracker” or map, it’s easy to forget who you’re talking to or where to go.

This really isn’t the driving force behind the game anyway, however.

Mechanics

The mechanics of the game are the biggest drawback.   One expects that a tough game so reliant on individual skill and accuracy would have a clean, accurate fighting system and animation set. Wrong.  Animations in this game are rough around the edges, and the visual cues for attacks, damage, and parries seem like an afterthought.   Parrying especially is a challenge when missing means instant death.  They should take some lessons from action RPG’s like Assassin’s Creed or Prince of Persia.

Multiplayer

So, while I mentioned that you can summon other people to help you through the level, there is a flip side.  People can invade your game to kill you too.  At one point, I got a big menacing message on my screen saying, “PLAYER HAS ENTERED YOUR GAME” and then a red glowing guy appeared and backstabbed me.  The second time it happened, I was better prepared, and managed to fend him off.  This made for interesting breaks in the gameplay.

Overall

This game is worth every cent, and has the best replay value of any singleplayer RPG I’ve ever played. It is incredibly satisfying when you finally get through to the next stage, and the rewards are not skimpy. The overall experience is stunning and atmospheric.

Fair warning: this game is not for the soft. It’s difficult and unforgiving. I would suggest looking up the Demon’s Souls wiki online for some strategy tips.