Review: Demon Souls (PS3)

One of the more challenging games exclusively for the Playstation 3, Demon’s Souls provides the satisfaction that many seldom get from most other video games. The story behind the game is fairly simple: a soul-devouring demon called the Old One and his henchmen demons are plaguing the fallen kingdom of Boletaria. These demons take the souls of men to become stronger, and the kingdom is in dire need of a hero to save it and the rest of the world. This is the part where you, fearless adventurer, come in.

You start your adventure fighting an unbeatable Vanguard that invariably kills you, by design.
You are then sent to the Nexus. This is where the plot gets more interesting and creative. The Nexus gives you a ring that can’t be taken off and binds your soul to it. Technically, you are dead, but you are still permitted to travel to the 5 different worlds in the game. Each world has about 3 levels to it and around 4 Demon bosses. You aren't given much guidance after entering the Nexus for the first time, but the main goal is to defeat each Demon boss and reach The Old One at the very bottom of the Nexus.

To increase your stats with your character, you kill the monsters in each world and they drop souls, which you then collect. The catch is that every time you die, all the souls you have at the moment will be gone and you start back at zero in the Nexus. However, there is a way to get those souls back. All you have to do is make it all the way back to the place where you died before, without dying again, and touch your own bloodstain from your previous failure. To add to the difficulty (which is especially horrible if you die really far into the level) all the demons re-spawn in your absence. Also, you don't go back to where you died as a fully healthy, 'alive' version of yourself. You go as a 'soul'. When you’re in soul form, you can still do everything you could if you were alive, but your health is cut by 50%, just in case it wasn't hard enough already to get your body back.

The last very important thing about Demon’s Souls is the Soul Tendency feature. Each world has its own Tendency along with your character. Some areas in the game are not possible to reach without having a Black Tendency or a White Tendency in the world or from your character. Having Black Tendency in a world makes the enemies harder, but gives you better items. Having White Tendency in a world makes the enemies easier, but the items are not as appealing. Changing your Soul Tendency is not very easy, not that anything else in the game is either, and it sometimes takes 2 play-throughs to achieve pure white or pure black. If you die in a world, your tendency in that world will become more black. When you kill a Demon however, the tendency will sway more towards white. However, Soul Tendency overall isn’t vital to the game unless you like getting everything out of your game, so if it sounds too annoying or difficult, feel free to ignore it.

I think that overall this is one of the most challenging games for console systems. I've heard of several people smashing controllers over it [EDITORS NOTE: I myself smashed two controllers into tiny, tiny pieces playing this game]. With that being said, however, they always go out and buy another controller, just to continue playing it. It's beautifully designed, slightly addictive, and while it takes a while to get into, ultimately it can be very satisfying too. Especially when you finally manage to beat the game, since it really is an achievement to be proud of. [EDITORS NOTE: Make sure you keep your eye out for the sequel, Dark Souls, coming later on this year.]

Submitted By: Alex Abreu (Employee)