Demons Souls - The PS3 game You Have to Buy

[Flight]

Demons Souls finally gets a UK release in June. If you haven't heard of it look into it.

Unforgiving RPG, hard and harsh death penalty, but an amazing game with unique online play.

Order it early, you will want the limited edition because of the strat guide that comes with it. Strat guide version sold out at launch in the US and people who have the game are desparate about finding one. There are also online spoiler sites that you will want and enjoy.



http://www.zavvi.com/games/platforms/ps3/demon-s-souls-black-phantom-edition/10089364.html


http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B003H9NJFO/ref=nosim/?tag=hotukdeals-21




FoH thread on it :

http://www.fohguild.org/forums/other-games/40526-demons-souls.html

 

[Gottaa]

As you've said it does look amazing in so many areas, I love the idea that the more you fail the harder it gets (but the greater the rewards). I've pre-ordered the phantom edition which is the limited edition one I think (only one choice on play.com that I could see). I am a little concerned just how dark some bits looked, so it may be it'll be for sale cheap on e-bay a little after I get it but I hope they have a gamma setting so I can enjoy it, and not spend lots of time lost, or running into a wall because I can't see where to go.

Good spot though Flight !

 

[Soupytwist]

I'm been tempted by this. But i've heard so many horror stories about it's difficulty i'm not sure I can face it! I don't mind a challenge but this game sounds ridiculously hard and quite alot of people are finding it impenetrable not able to achieve even the first few hours without failing over and over. I don't like the idea of needing a stragegy guide to play the game or aleast be able to be able advance, that's just a rip-off.

 

[Gottaa]

Couple of things after more reading up

- Start the game playing a Royal, they start with a mana regen ring and you can then change stats to focus on whatever you want, it's supposed to be the easiest starting class (and for a game this harsh a good starting class seems a good idea)
- The Stategy Guide is written by fans, who didn't get paid, which seems win-win for the limited edition sellers, but is far from needed, infact quite a few seem to suggest not using the guide on your first play through as it removes some of the fun/trial-error stuff in game if you rely on it heavily
- Heavy plate armour makes you really slow and doesn't stop that much actual damage, mobility is key to survival
- World 5 takes what is a really pretty game engine and makes it black, really black, people with good vision say it's too dark (bodes badly for me this world)

As someone who used to enjoy the length and painful times sometimes of Elite, and who's first MMO was Everquest where you actually had to retrieve your corpse, this game sounds alot of fun, and I accept there are times I'll no doubt ragequit or throw the controller on the floor but I'm confident it will be worth it. The only point I'm concerned on is hearing of cheats where people powerlevel, then somehow drop there levels so they can invade your game and trounce you, but I think youhave to be carrying something to allow an invasion, so I just won't carry one of those around unless I've spent all my souls.

I'd certainly much rather put money into a game like this, than remade WW2 shooter '11

Edit: I take it back, you can't opt out of invasions, best you can do is just not log into PSN

 

[Treebeard]

Couple of things after more reading up

- Start the game playing a Royal, they start with a mana regen ring and you can then change stats to focus on whatever you want, it's supposed to be the easiest starting class (and for a game this harsh a good starting class seems a good idea)
- The Stategy Guide is written by fans, who didn't get paid, which seems win-win for the limited edition sellers, but is far from needed, infact quite a few seem to suggest not using the guide on your first play through as it removes some of the fun/trial-error stuff in game if you rely on it heavily
- Heavy plate armour makes you really slow and doesn't stop that much actual damage, mobility is key to survival
- World 5 takes what is a really pretty game engine and makes it black, really black, people with good vision say it's too dark (bodes badly for me this world)

As someone who used to enjoy the length and painful times sometimes of Elite, and who's first MMO was Everquest where you actually had to retrieve your corpse, this game sounds alot of fun, and I accept there are times I'll no doubt ragequit or throw the controller on the floor but I'm confident it will be worth it. The only point I'm concerned on is hearing of cheats where people powerlevel, then somehow drop there levels so they can invade your game and trounce you, but I think youhave to be carrying something to allow an invasion, so I just won't carry one of those around unless I've spent all my souls.

I'd certainly much rather put money into a game like this, than remade WW2 shooter '11

Edit: I take it back, you can't opt out of invasions, best you can do is just not log into PSN

Hey!! 6 months ago!!

http://forums.clanuk.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=26296

Royal is definately the way to go when first starting out. The mana regen makes things a lot easier. It does have a few cons. It starts at soul level 1 and so is the weakest class at the start and has no armour to speak of.

Some of the game is very dark. The palette in general is grey's and brown's mostly and the game is very oppresive. The Tower of Latria for example is just downright obscene and gave me the jitters. You'll go to sleep hearing the jingling noise of the jailors.

The key at the start is to walk (or run) everywhere with your shield raised. A mob, even a normal dude, or a trap will kill you quickly if you aren't prepared. You need to protect your stamina.

Think of your stamina as a Halo shield (but one that vanishes a lot quicker ). When you get hit it goes down and when you have none left you take damage. Wielding a shields means you lose less stamina when you get hit by something. Your stamina regenerates slowly when you move around but much quicker if you stand still.

Armour has its pro's and con's but the best defence I have found is to not get hit in the first place. Travel light and dodge (your stamina also goes down when you dodge).

Most fights, even against the normal mobs, are very tactical. You really have to wait for your opponent to make a mistake as even a couple of normal guys will kill you in a flash. Weapons types like piercing, blunt etc are better against different mobs as well.

Then you have things like weapon and armour enhancement, PvP and World Tendancy which are like games in themselves.

Its a maddening game at times but unlike any other really. I'll be getting it again when the UK version is released.

 

[Gottaa]

Well you're ahead of the curve already Tree I'd like something like a karate character, no shield, no armour, just speed and agility, but I think I'll end up a caster/melee mix, I never get on with bows and arrows in console games, something about always having to buy arrows irks me for some reason.

 

[Soupytwist]

Reading what you've said I think i'll give it ago. Is there any reason to wait for the european version? I notice I can get the US version from a few of the sellers on Amazon.uk for �39.99 pretty much straight away.

 

[Gottaa]

UK/European servers for the multi-players/PvP stuff and the guide are the only reason to wait as far as I know

 

[Soupytwist]

Got my import yesterday had a couple of hours on it last night. Like it - it's not as hard as I feared, don't get me wrong it is hard but generally I was able to make progress and when I died it was down to me being slow to react, or unlucky!
Only gripe is the targetting system, it's fine against one enermy - but against multiple badguys it tends to get alittle confused, I also had a couple of 'falling to death' moments while fighting as the targeting tends to dictate which way to move.
But really liking what i've seen so far.
Thanks.

 

[Gottaa]

Hmm, I'll have to dig up a video of it showing the bad targetting, might make me change my plan and play mellee instead of ranged. And what class did you pick to start with ?

 

[Soupytwist]

I picked the Thief class. It seemed to be about the most balanced, with no glaring weaknesses, as I had no idea what to expect I thought it'd allow me to keep the most options open!

 

[Gottaa]

Just thought, is it only when you complete an area the game saves ? or could you for example dip in for 30 mins, get half way through an area and keep all the souls and it's you'd made up to that point, but obviously lose the progress in that area ?

 

[Soupytwist]

I think you'd keep your souls in that situation, but like you said you'd lose the progress you made much like when you die.
I beat the first boss last night, it was an epic feeling. I actually had to restart with a new character, as my thief had messed up to badly, I'd used to many items I needed for the Boss fight during the level and simply couldn't take the boss down without them - I either had the choice of grinding souls to buy more of the item or restarting, I think I made the right choice as I breezed though the level without dying once, then promptly died about 5 minutes into the next area!! Good fun though.

 

[Soupytwist]

Strange game. Good game but strange.

Alot of the difficulty comes from the lack of information in the game. The instructions are very basic and the game itself offers no hints at all, sometimes your not sure if your doing the right thing, or if you've missed something because you can't seem to do something that should be obvisous. I guess that's what the booklet is for, but i'm going to stay away from help - unless I get absolutely stuck.

Downed five bosses and one mini boss now and by far and away the boss at the end of the first level was the toughest - this is probably why so many people giveup. The other bosses have all gone down on my first attempt and none of them has been remotely hard, I still die plenty getting to them though!

 

[Gottaa]

I've watched a couple of gameplay video's of it, the action looks really good, but some of the puzzle/progress stuff seems amazingly hit and miss and I'm hoping the notes on the floors can help with this without needing a cheat book.

Overall though it's a keeper though Soupy ?

 

[Soupytwist]

Overall though it's a keeper though Soupy ?

Yeah it's a good game for sure.

Concerning your worry about the darkness, there are dark moments but it's not been to bad yet - the game also lets you adjust the games brightness on the first load.

 

[Gottaa]

the game also lets you adjust the games brightness on the first load.

RAR !

 

[Treebeard]

How have you progressed Soupy?

I believe I did 1-1, 1-2 then moved around and did the first boss of the other area's (2-1, 3-1, 5-1 etc) before moving further into the levels. I think I left 4-1 for a bit until I picked up a blunt weapon for the rolling skeletons.

Strange game. Good game but strange.

Alot of the difficulty comes from the lack of information in the game. The instructions are very basic and the game itself offers no hints at all, sometimes your not sure if your doing the right thing, or if you've missed something because you can't seem to do something that should be obvisous. I guess that's what the booklet is for, but i'm going to stay away from help - unless I get absolutely stuck.

Downed five bosses and one mini boss now and by far and away the boss at the end of the first level was the toughest - this is probably why so many people giveup. The other bosses have all gone down on my first attempt and none of them has been remotely hard, I still die plenty getting to them though!

 

[Soupytwist]

I've taken down the first boss on each level so far and Tower Knight from the second area after Phalanx - which I think is the same as you at that point. I've also killed the sub boss that kills you on the tutorial (refound on the rolling skeletons level) and I also killed the Old King from the very first level - i'm still not 100% I should have done that, but he did drop a soul!
I've been trying to see if there is anyway to kill the red dragon on the Tower Knight level, so far i've not had much success - but I have managed to damage it so I presume it can die. I tend to spend alot of time in each level trying to do as much as possible before moving on, but I will probably have to admit defeat with that Dragon for now and move to the new area!

Only real complain is the targetting system, it's slow and clunky - and you really should be able to target something as soon as you see it. I've had a few very annoying death due to the targeting, it's nowhere near gamebreaking though.

 

[Treebeard]

Have you found where the Dragons roost yet?