By Kristina Testagrossa
“Demon’s Souls,” an action role-playing game, is a game for the ages – a true test of gamer ability and patience. If you don’t have a PlayStation 3, and you are a serious gamer, you need to get a PS3 just to play this game. It’s that good.
Just like your typical RPG, “Demon’s Souls” starts off with selecting a character class. You have a whopping 10 to choose from! Each class starts off with different base attributes, weapons, and apparel.
Each class also starts with a different “soul level,” which determines the number of souls attained per enemy killed, and eventually determines the cost of souls to level up. For example, the thief class starts with a soul level of 9. Alternatively, the royalty class starts with a level of 1. Although the thief class obtains more souls per kill to start off, it also costs them much more to level up.
Don’t let class selection be too hard of a decision, though, for the character class only heavily affects the very beginning of the game before you can spend your souls on attributes. You can eventually build any character class to a point where they can use any weapon, magic or armor you desire.
So, souls have been mentioned several times so far, as well as the title of the game being “Demon’s Souls.” Souls must be pretty important then, right? Right.
Souls are the currency of the game. You attain them by killing enemies; each enemy is worth a different number of souls based on its difficulty. Not only do you use them to buy wares from various people you meet along the way, you also use them to buy attribute points which get more expensive with each one you buy.
The game starts off with a short tutorial, which makes things seem too easy – but that is only because you cannot die in the tutorial. Soon after, you are launched back to the Nexus. Here is where you will upgrade and repair weapons, drop off extra stuff, level up, and learn new magic and miracles.
Now you are ready for the very first area. At this point this is the only place you can choose to travel to, until you beat the first stage boss. After this, you can choose from five areas to progress your story.
It’s an understatement to say, PREPARE TO DIE, a lot. Try not to smash your controller/TV/ etc. during this first bit. Dying so much can get extremely frustrating.
Oh, and remember the importance of souls and how you collect them from each enemy? When you die, you lose every soul you have collected and return to the start of the area. But if you can manage to get back to where you died, they can be recollected.
Once you get the hang of the controls and remember where all the enemies will be, you’ll get through it no problem. The rest gets a bit easier once you attain more favorable weapons and skills.
Another feature worth mentioning is the revolutionary multiplayer mode. Technically, multiplayer is always active, as you will see the ghosts of people playing their own games. These players can leave messages to warn you of attacks or items nearby. It is also possible to summon a friend into your world to fight by your side if you find a blue message. This helps especially with boss fights.
“Demon’s Souls” is an adventure and challenge meant for the serious gamer. The fight is tough, but the rewarding feeling of being able to complete any part of this game makes it worth playing.
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Serious gamers need 'Demon's Souls'
February 6, 2012
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