demon's souls thread

[Jansen]

graphics are average and the story is practically nonexistent

[FatalT]

I just picked it up. PSN ID is FatalT1

[Smooth Groove]

Holy crap, Demon's Souls is averaging more than 90% on gamerankings. 

Can someone sum up real fast why this game might be that good?  Like what kind of RPG is it? 

[BlueTsunami]

Can someone sum up real fast why this game might be that good?  Like what kind of RPG is it? 

Straight up Dungeon Crawler and it doesn't pander to pussy gamers. The difficulty is high but (as stated in the Gamespot review) a lot of the deaths can be blamed on the gamer taking unnecessary risks or not being fast enough with the dodging/parrying. So there is a difficulty curve that feels insurmountable at first but as you play more the experience you gain from playing the game and learning the ins and outs allows you to level up in real life.

There has been comparisons to old school level based games. The way the levels are made up of this game, it could be seen as some Ghost and Goblins (without the platforming) where each level is accessible via a hub.

[Akala]

game is awesome so far, just passed 1-1. only died twice, and one of those was totally my fault.

started as the royal because everyone said it was easier, and it um, is. it kind of reminds me of soloing through a zone that's a bit over your head in an MMO. if you go slow, no real problems...although I haven't been invaded yet.

getting a weird ICO vibe off of it for some reason. probably the cohesiveness of the castle, and seeing it come together in the distance. if it stays strong like this for the whole game this is going to be great.

[Bebpo]

Can the asian version play with the US version?  I still haven't opened my asian version and I'd rather play in a world with an active online community

[BlueTsunami]

Asian version has different servers, I believe.

[MyNameIsMethodis]

started as the royal because everyone said it was easier, and it um, is. it kind of reminds me of soloing through a zone that's a bit over your head in an MMO. if you go slow, no real problems...although I haven't been invaded yet.

woah I think you just sold me on this game, I love those parts of MMO.

Is the game scary though?

[FatalT]

Fuck my ass this game is hard. I've died like 6 times already on stage 1-1.

[MyNameIsMethodis]

Well that's because you work at Best Buy.

[demi]

You're getting annoying again, dude. You must have some sort of disorder to continue the act after the groundings I've given you already.

[Smooth Groove]

Demi, yay or nay on Demon's Souls? 

I have more faith in the word of a non-weeaboo.

[Jansen]

Fuck my ass this game is hard. I've died like 6 times already on stage 1-1.

what class did you pick?

oh and make sure you return to nexus after beating the first boss

Can the asian version play with the US version? 

nope

[demi]

Demi, yay or nay on Demon's Souls? 

I have more faith in the word of a non-weeaboo.

I don't buy PS3 games.

[Smooth Groove]

Demi, yay or nay on Demon's Souls? 

I have more faith in the word of a non-weeaboo.

I don't buy PS3 games.

Big props to your integrity. 

[FatalT]

Well that's because you work at Best Buy.

I don't understand how this is an insult.

Fuck my ass this game is hard. I've died like 6 times already on stage 1-1.

what class did you pick?

oh and make sure you return to nexus after beating the first boss

Thanks for the heads up. I still haven't returned to the nexus yet and I've been getting raped by the dragon's fire on the bridges. I picked the Royal guy because I heard he's pretty easy. The magic he can use rocks!

[MyNameIsMethodis]

You're getting annoying again, dude. You must have some sort of disorder to continue the act after the groundings I've given you already.

You won't give me Search back

[MyNameIsMethodis]

And I wasn't insulting you FatalT I was just making sure you still remembered me <3

[Jansen]

since you picked royal i suggest going to the shrine of storms and grinding for souls. each kill nets you damn near 300. i did that yesterday for a few hours and hit soul level 27.

but be warned the enemies have a really annoying attack pattern there

 

[FatalT]

And I wasn't insulting you FatalT I was just making sure you still remembered me <3

I'll always remember you babe.

since you picked royal i suggest going to the shrine of storms and grinding for souls. each kill nets you damn near 300. i did that yesterday for a few hours and hit soul level 27.

but be warned the enemies have a really annoying attack pattern there

 

I still haven't even grasped the concept of how to level up lmao

[iconoclast]

You have to talk to the lady in the black dress inside the Nexus. Then you can pick one stat to upgrade for however many souls (soul requirement increases each level).

This game is ridiculously awesome, but I wish it had more armor. I've cleared 1-1, 1-2, 2-1 and 4-1 and I'm still wearing my lame starting equipment. It's mainly the helmet that I'm sick of.

[cool breeze]

The perfect armor (and I think weapon set) for my character is pretty much thanks to Ostrava.  His weapons + that key to Doran are great.  My only issue is that I'm not strong enough to use the full set and only use the chest piece and boots for now.  Though, I don't know if the Crescent Sword people talk about is as good as the rune sword.  Right now I'm trying to get the Talisman of Beasts from Scirvir and it's insane.  You have to pretty much barrage him with attacks so he can't cast his healing spell (which would make all your attacks worthless) then avoid his attacks, which can kill you in one hit. 

[FatalT]

Sweet, I figured out how to level. I'm level 2 now weeee! I'm gonna grind some souls out and get my stats up I guess. What should I level up as a Royal? Strength?

[Don Flamenco]

Quick question--  does the copy that comes in the deluxe pack have its own UPC or does it say "Not For Resale" or something like that?  I won't have my copy until Sunday, but I'd go buy a copy right now and just return the one in the box later.

[Akala]

Quick question--  does the copy that comes in the deluxe pack have its own UPC or does it say "Not For Resale" or something like that?  I won't have my copy until Sunday, but I'd go buy a copy right now and just return the one in the box later.

Mine has its own upc.

[MyNameIsMethodis]

Wal-Mart didn't have this game I want it so bad.

Also does it have one of those new ugly PS3 box arts like Saw? 

[iconoclast]

It still has the original box art. My copy in the deluxe edition has its own UPC too.

Also, is it just me, or is 2-2 like 10 minutes long? I swear I was at the boss before I even knew what happened.

[Third]

It still has the original box art. My copy in the deluxe edition has its own UPC too.

Also, is it just me, or is 2-2 like 10 minutes long? I swear I was at the boss before I even knew what happened.

Yeah, there are two routes to get to him. You probably took the shortest route...
But did you beat him? I thought he was fucking unbeatable at first..

3-2 was the most difficult boss in the game, imo.

[iconoclast]

Yeah, I beat him. I thought he wasn't too bad (I have the purple shield from 1-1), but he was probably the hardest boss so far. My progression has been 1-1, 1-2, 2-1, 4-1, 2-2, 3-1. I think I only died on the tower knight (got crushed by his shield  ) and the

spoiler (click to show/hide)

Uroboros

[close]

guy in 5-1 (?).

By the way, does loot that you leave behind disappear forever once you leave? 3-1 was packed with items, I had to drop some stuff to make room. It's gone for good isn't it?

[Third]

Yep. Items will be gone if you leave them behind.

And better prepare yourself for boss 3-2 

Boss 1-2 was pretty easy. I used the bow and arrows and attacked from a distance lol. Pretty cheap, but going melee on him is way too hard.

[Akala]

game is so awesome. just ran the hell away from a giant spider. also, gets a lot harder once your magic doesn't one shot things. 

I seem to have missed the thief ring, so I may go back later and rolling crush.

[Jansen]

soul level 28 and i beat the boss on 2-1.

i have a bunch of swords and shields i can't use because my skill level is too low

[BlueTsunami]

How do you like it so far, Jansen?

[Jansen]

one of the best rpgs i've played in a long time and easily the ps3's best exclusive.

bout time a game lived up to the insane hype.

tuesday i ended up playing for 10 hours lol

[dark1x]

Seriously, I didn't expect this game to be THIS good.  It's a FROM Software game too?!  It's like they've FINALLY, after all these years, delivered on what they've been trying to do RPG wise.  I've enjoyed the King's Field series (and even Eternal Ring) in the past, but they were not polished games.  Definitely one of the best games to grace any console this generation.

[cool breeze]

It still has the original box art. My copy in the deluxe edition has its own UPC too.

Also, is it just me, or is 2-2 like 10 minutes long? I swear I was at the boss before I even knew what happened.

Yeah, there are two routes to get to him. You probably took the shortest route...
But did you beat him? I thought he was fucking unbeatable at first..

3-2 was the most difficult boss in the game, imo.

I think 3-2 was pretty easy for me since I did it all out of order.  I did 3 after completing 1, 2 and 4.  I put on total protection and hacked away at the first one until the other one showed up, then I switched to my Kris in my left hand and got them with Soul Light (the magic that shoots through enemies) and finished them that way.  The only scary part is that you can easily fall off the edge when you dodge.

still, total protection

you just brush off damage

so far the hardest boss that there wasn't an exploit for was the end of 1-4.  I could barely even use magic or heal myself because the boss would constantly rush me, or I had to roll away since he did this big area attack.  The bosses in 4 are probably the easiest.

[Smooth Groove]

I don't see anyone talking about story.  Is it safe to say that Demon's Souls is more like a single player MMO than a traditional console RPG?

Btw, this game seems to be selling really well.  It was sold out both at Best Buy's and Fry's.  Fry's has so much stock that they rarely sell out. 

[dark1x]

I don't see anyone talking about story.  Is it safe to say that Demon's Souls is more like a single player MMO than a traditional console RPG?

Btw, this game seems to be selling really well.  It was sold out both at Best Buy's and Fry's.  Fry's has so much stock that they rarely sell out. 

Eh, I dunno, the story is not particularly fleshed out or important, but the sense of exploration and feeling of playing does not remind me of an MMO at all.  It feels like Diablo meets ICO or something with better controls and combat than either of them.  I was surprised at how fun the actual combat can be and how not clunky the game feels (a rare thing for a FROM title).  It's basically a challenging action RPG.

Rest assured that it does not feel anything like an MMO (which could be good or bad depending on your tastes, of course).

[cool breeze]

I don't see anyone talking about story.  Is it safe to say that Demon's Souls is more like a single player MMO than a traditional console RPG?

Btw, this game seems to be selling really well.  It was sold out both at Best Buy's and Fry's.  Fry's has so much stock that they rarely sell out. 

It's more comparable to Diablo or Monster Hunter than an MMO.  There isn't really a narrative.  The "story" mostly comes from the mise en scene and all that.

and I don't know how it's selling, but I'm surprised by how well it is getting scored on most sites.  It totally expected most reviewers to hate this game because it's a lot more deep and difficult than most games they review.

[Akala]

the game isn't super MMOish, but it kind of conveys the feeling to me. if you are familiar with avoiding aggro in MMO's, you already have a skill that (judging by some forums) many people don't have. fighting is either skill-based (melee) or environmental (magic). story is there, but not the focus at all. what's there is pretty cool though, and they don't (so far) go out of their way to overexplain everything. the zones are pretty diverse, and there is a good sense of overall cohesion.

broken record, but the whole game just kind of feels old school, which is awesome.

I think the biggest worry I had about the game going in was that it was going to be stupidly difficult and that I'd just burn out on it or give up. doesn't seem to be the case so far, although I've been relying on magic too much. mobs that are easier to melee are starting to give me problems.

[dark1x]

It totally expected most reviewers to hate this game because it's a lot more deep and difficult than most games they review.

I think it's the approach to challenge that makes it work.  This game could have been highly frustrating but there is something about its design that prevents such a thing from occurring.

[cool breeze]

my save data got corrupted and erased (about 40+ hours between the two characters)



oh well.  I'm not upset since I was kinda expecting it since I did the "turn off PS3 before it saves" thing too much to get the Pure Darkmoonstone to upgrade my blade to +5.  Seriously, the game has three crystal lizards in the entire game that drop them. 

[dark1x]

Can you not copy your save file to a memory stick?  Some games still allow this.  That would let you use this trick as much as you want without worrying about screwing up your data.

[cool breeze]

Nope.  It's one game you can't copy (unless maybe you back up the entire system).

it's no big deal.  I was more annoyed when my first character got the "Ostrava fucking sucks" glitch.  I already had my near perfect character and all I needed was that pure stone to max out the blade.  I also did most of what I wanted in all the levels except 5-2.

[Jansen]

what's the ostrava glitch?

[FatalT]

since you picked royal i suggest going to the shrine of storms and grinding for souls. each kill nets you damn near 300. i did that yesterday for a few hours and hit soul level 27.

but be warned the enemies have a really annoying attack pattern there

 

Holy shiiitttttt these rolling dudes are hilariously raping me but the 300 souls per kill is nice.

Hrm, is there really any negative to dying in soul form other than losing souls if you don't touch your bloodstain before you die again? If not then I'm just gonna keep dying to these rolling guys and getting my blood stain back over and over so I don't have to go through the loading screen to get back to the nexus.

[Akala]

since you picked royal i suggest going to the shrine of storms and grinding for souls. each kill nets you damn near 300. i did that yesterday for a few hours and hit soul level 27.

but be warned the enemies have a really annoying attack pattern there

 

Holy shiiitttttt these rolling dudes are hilariously raping me but the 300 souls per kill is nice.

Hrm, is there really any negative to dying in soul form other than losing souls if you don't touch your bloodstain before you die again? If not then I'm just gonna keep dying to these rolling guys and getting my blood stain back over and over so I don't have to go through the loading screen to get back to the nexus.

I hope not, I was doing that earlier. I think it only affects the world light/dark if you die as a human, not in soul form.

Took me a little while to learn the pattern. I can smoke them now.

spoiler (click to show/hide)

if they're alone

[close]

[Jansen]

i can beat the hell out of them now.

sucks now tho since it takes me 5000+ to upgrade a stat.

[cool breeze]

what's the ostrava glitch?

He randomly disappears (even if you saved him) and you lose access to his key, which opens a door in 1-1 that could get you a powerful sword (more importantly one of the two swords required to forge an even better one) and a foe who drops the best armor in the game (imo, since it's the lightest and has great defense).  The person you fight is also one of the most fun fights in the game.

and for grinding, in my last game I would do it in 1-4 (assuming you can kill red-eye knights easily) and 1-3 (assuming you can kill blue-eye knights easily).  In both cases you have wide open areas and several of them that you can pick off one by one.  In this play through, 4-4 is definitely the best.

4-4

spoiler (click to show/hide)

is basically a bunch of enemies flying around that normally drop a bit over 1000.  Add the ring that increases souls earned + thirst spell and you get about 2000-3000 per kill, and there are quite a few flying around, and each can be taken down with magic easily.  You get about 20k+ souls in one go.

[close]

[Jansen]

5-1 boss is hella easy. i just stood above it and cast flame spells till it was dead. boss on 4-1 keeps kicking my ass tho

6000 souls to upgrade a stat is the pits

[cool breeze]

4-1 was maybe the easiest boss for me because I didn't even realize what was going on.  It was the first time a friendly black phantom came into my game (btw, I killed him and another guy before realizing they were trying to help  ) and he rushed through the level killing all the enemies for me.  When I caught up, he showed me the fog gateway, took a bow, and killed himself.  I went through the fog and realized I stepped into a boss battle.  I just shot whatever it was in the head a few times and it died.  Never even got a good look at it.

[Akala]

3-1 suuuuuucks. lost like 5k souls by rolling off a cliff like a distinguished mentally-challenged fellow way deep in the stage, then on the next run an octopus got me early because I kind of rushed it and didn't notice all the prisoners running around.

graaah.

[Jansen]

i just beat 3-1. once you figure out how to fight the mind flayers it's pretty easy and the boss on that level is a joke.

now i have advanced spells since i rescued sage freke.

[Akala]

is there a way to rescue freke before you fight the boss, or do you have to go back for him? I saw him and some other guy's soul locked up in cells, but didn't have keys on me at the time. the ledge near the big arrow statue was the farthest I got last night.

[Jansen]

i think you can save him before fighting the boss.

you need to go up the into the tower on the right when you're facing the cathedral (behind the crazy huge arrow shooting thing). once you get the special keys go back to the third floor and save him.

[Third]

You can rescue Freke before the boss. Just find the key and go to his cell. The next time you'll go to the Nexus, he'll be there too.

[Bebpo]

This game sounds so good!  Every single person I know irl is raving to me about it.  Going to open up my asian version after lunch and give it a try finally.  If the servers are dead and the game rocks I might double dip and start playing the US instead.

[Jansen]

i got raped by an invading black phantom and lost 25000 souls

in anger i invaded someone right after i respawned, killed them, and got my body form back but wasn't able to recover my souls.

ah well at least i beat the 4-1 boss.

[cool breeze]

This game sounds so good!  Every single person I know irl is raving to me about it.  Going to open up my asian version after lunch and give it a try finally.  If the servers are dead and the game rocks I might double dip and start playing the US instead.

Game still has a lot of player in the Asian version (version I was playing a day ago).  I've had several friendly and enemy black phantoms enter my game, plus there is always at least one ghost running around and a bunch of messages on the floor.

[Purple Filth]

its crazy how the perception of the game as done a 180 here.