The first thing I want to say about this game is: Don’t die! This is a dark RPG from going through dreary swamps to going through dark castle walls. It seems like hell has taken over this place called Boletaria. This RPG will not be your friend, in other words, it is extremely hard and frustrating. But Demon’s Souls is a brilliant one. But the thing is, the extremely hard and frustrating part, of you dying and having to start all over, slow progression, trial and error, and harsh enemies all what pull you in like few RPGs can do. Demon’s Souls is one of this years best RPGs and is one of the best games this year.

This won’t be that bad, right?

Demon’s Souls has five worlds. Each world takes up the usual medieval world: dragon slaying, knight fighting, castles falling apart, and all this just adds up to one of the greatest medieval RPGs of all time. Through this, the game just doesn’t look forgiving, but it isn’t forgiving either. You can do any of the five worlds at any time but that doesn’t mean that you will easily. The game starts out in a tutorial, and not the easiest tutorial either, but if that doesn’t get you then the end of the tutorial will surely get you. You are meant to die and return to the archstone at the beginning of the level. You are meant to die like I said, but you are meant to die a lot. When you die, you get to keep everything that you had except for the main dish: souls. Souls are the game’s currency, and the main way to get these are to kill those demons. Unlike most RPGs like Fallout, you can’t sell your used weapons, or put your souls away. You can use them on things that will replenish your magic or to improve your attributes. However, if you do die, your souls are lost forever. When you start at the beginning of the level again, you can go back to were you died to see a bloostain and in that bloodstain will be your souls. But if you die before you can get to that bloodstain, your souls will be gone forever. This is a very harsh game. This is a game where you get thousands of souls, you better go back to the nexus and spend them now, on upgrades, repair weapons, etc. because you never know what is around that corner.

The monsters in Demon’s Souls may be tuff and they are but there are ways to get around this that the game gives you. When you start the game, you choose a class but you aren’t stuck with that class. If you want to just fight your way through then all of a sudden you want magic, then boom, you can have magic if you have meet the requirements and the right item.

Did you know your head’s on fire?

What makes Demon’s Souls great as well is its combat. You can’t just go around hacking or slashing or you will die a lot. And you know what that means… beginning. The fighting doesn’t seem complex but it will keep opening up as the game progresses. You will need to think every swing through to make sure it isn’t countered or blocked. If it is countered, you know will may happen…beginning.

You will meet a lot of of crazy beasts in Demon’s Souls. But each one will take you a little bit to get their fighting down, but they will still behave differently a lot of the time. This game is just a game that takes time and practice. However, the combat feels just right with you moving as you really would and swinging as you really would. Everything happens the way you would expect it to happen. If your sword misses and hits the wall, it actually will hit the wall. If you and a demon are fighting and he pulls his sword back just a little quicker than you do to strike, then he will hit that unprotected spot that you left open. These seem little but when it comes between life and death, or starting from the beginning again, this means a lot.

The online feature is something that we at Gamingbolt have never seen before. When you are connected online, you see these ghosts running around everywhere. Now you can’t interact with them, but they are online players. You can watch them and see what is coming next around a corner, maybe a surprise ambush, or maybe where some loot is. You will also notice a lot of bloodstains on the ground when you are online. They happen to be other players blood. You can activate them and see that players last few seconds before he died. Also players can leave messages, and you can read them and they may give clues on what is coming next. If a note is read and rated good, then it will stay there longer and will give health to that person who wrote it. If the note is worthless and not rated, it will dissappear rather quickly.

The best way to get help is have someone hop into your world with you and you now have co-op. You can go at the challenges now together. If both of you are in body form, you can summon one more player to come along for the adventure. A downfall is that there is no way to invite a friend and no voice chat. This may seem like a way to not strategize your attacks, but you will realize that it just runs smoothly as ever.

I bet that felt good!

The boss fights are what Demon’s Souls is all about. They are difficult but rewarding. The boss’s are very unique and you will experience this the more you play. The boss battles aren’t as tuff as the gameplay leading up to them but they are tuff.

Also an exciting part of online is that other players can enter your realm once you reach gar enough in the game. These players can be your worse enemies. You will receive a message that another player has pentrated your realm. Don’t worry, the player won’t be a lot of levels above you. They have to be around the same level. Now going through castles and watching out for demons, and now you have to watch out for another player ready to rip you apart. When you see that message come on screen that someone is in your realm, you will move around cautiously and just look for that person to strike. This will be a moment where you are scared and do not want to die. But one you finally meet, it is an epic battle that you will just be biting your bottom lip and just hoping that you won’t have to start from the beginning again. But if you are the invader, you are watching and trying to stay out of sight and just see when the best time to attack is. But if you do win, the souls are totally worth it.

But overall, if you like medieval times and a great RPG, this is the game for you. If you get easily frustrated, this may not be the game for you. But Demon’s Souls is a great game and with online player hints and innovation is an RPG.

This game was reviewed on the PlayStation 3.