Demon's Souls

[Dumac]

Demon's souls is an interesting JRPG that takes many cues from WRPGs. Your character is fully customizable (sex, race, facestyle, hair, name, etc), and there are 10 classes to choose from (Soldier, Knight, Hunter, Priest, Magician, Wanderer, Barbarian, Thief, Shrine knight, Aristocrat). The fighting is real time and the battle mechanics are supposedly very in depth and realistic.

As you level up, you can increase the following stats:

Body: hit points, amount of weight you can carry, physical defense
Knowledge: magic points, number of memorized magics, physical defense
Determination: stamina, amount of weight you can equip, physical defense, fire defense, bleeding resistance, poison resistance
Muscle: attack power, physical defense
Skill: attack power, falling damage, physical defense
Magic Power: magic effectiveness, physical defense
Faith: miracle effectiveness, number of memorized miracles, physical defense, magical defense
Luck: item drop rate, physical defense, plague resistance

A lot of players are praising this game as a hardcore experience found lacking in recent games. The game is said to be a tough experience at first, where the player will most likely die numerous times. However, as the player tries over and over again, he will become better at fighting (similar to Ninja Gaiden or old Castlevania games). Also, the game gives little in the form of a tutorial, assuming the player has at least skimmed through the manual.

A few reviews are up..
95, 85, 85, and 85 from dengeki
9, 7, 7, 6 from famitsu

Famitsu translation below...

Stage progression and battles are both very difficult, and it comes down to trial and error. In addition to all that, character development and item purchase both use the same thing (Souls) and there are no recover points in the middle of stages, so I came away with the impression that the game is really strict. The online portion is unique and interesting in that you can see impressions left by strangers. 7

There are screens where you will die over and over, and it's the type of game where you advance through trial and error. As an RPG, the battles are numerous... BUT... as you progress in the game you start to realize the variety of enemy attacks and the bizarre stage design and the game becomes very deep. If you want to try a particularly deep RPG, then by all means try this!! 9

Extremely difficult. It has a certain fascination in that you have a feeling of accomplishment and want to keep trying just one more time. Saying that, you have to use "Souls" to both strengthen your character and purchase items. This is severe enough, but on top of that the game gives you no hints and the game is just too stoic... 6

A game where death equals nothing. It shows From Software's true worth. I felt like it was a game that offered no compromise nor concern, but if you fall to hell you can see a little bit of heaven. ... (the rest was too blurry for me to read) 7

Although Famitsu gave is low scores, no one really considers Famitsu a credible review source anyway nowadays. The game is flying of the shelves (source), and a lot of players are giving positive feedback, despite negative reviews (a la God Hand or White Knight Chronicles).

The game was just released a couple days ago in Japan, and now US or EU release date has been announced. HOWEVER, the an "Asian edition" is being released on the 24th, complete with FULL ENGLISH menus, VA, etc. I'll probably wait till the 24th when more importers get their hands on it to get a more indepth view of the mechanics/flaws of the game, and post them here then.

Some screenshots...
Pic 1
Pic 2
English menus in the Asian version
A peek at character customization

 

[DaveSimmons]

Looks interesting. You might want to edit the title or post to mention it's for PS3.

 

[Dumac]

Originally posted by: DaveSimmons
Looks interesting. You might want to edit the title or post to mention it's for PS3.

Suggestion taken

 

[Bateluer]

Looks interesting, but the trend towards manual, real time combat in RPGs disgusts me. They're basically becoming FPS with a few stats and a slightly stronger plot than the average FPS of the month.

 

[DaveSimmons]

Originally posted by: Bateluer
Looks interesting, but the trend towards manual, real time combat in RPGs disgusts me. They're basically becoming FPS with a few stats and a slightly stronger plot than the average FPS of the month.

I somewhat agree with this. Part of the appeal of RPGs to me is being able to relax a little and play at my own pace without needing to up my adrenaline level. KOTOR II is positively soothing as my Exile slices and dices through those who oppose me while I sit back and watch.

I enjoyed Mass Effect, but playing at regular difficulty and having Ashley with me makes it a very forgiving FPS most of the time.

 

[Dumac]

Originally posted by: DaveSimmons

Originally posted by: Bateluer
Looks interesting, but the trend towards manual, real time combat in RPGs disgusts me. They're basically becoming FPS with a few stats and a slightly stronger plot than the average FPS of the month.

I somewhat agree with this. Part of the appeal of RPGs to me is being able to relax a little and play at my own pace without needing to up my adrenaline level. KOTOR II is positively soothing as my Exile slices and dices through those who oppose me while I sit back and watch.

I enjoyed Mass Effect, but playing at regular difficulty and having Ashley with me makes it a very forgiving FPS most of the time.

Manual, real time combat has is nothing new in RPGs, especially for the developers of Demon's Souls. They previously made the King's Field series, which is the spiritual predecessor to Demon's Souls and already featured first person real time combat back in 1994. But you are right DaveSimmons that this does not seem to be a game that you can really relax while playing. I think they are really stressing involved combat in Demon's Souls by upping the danger and speed.

However, I don't really get the FPS comment. The best JRPGs of the past are those that at least contained some kind of active gameplay while some contained full manual combat (Star Ocean, Tales Series, Chrono Trigger, Legend of Dragoon, Secret of Mana, Seiken Densetsu 3, Valkyrie Profile, etc). If you are talking about relying on "twitch" skills, I don't think any JRPG has wandered into that yet, including Demon's Souls.

I agree that there is a trend towards more manual combat, but I don't really see it as a bad thing. I don't think menu-driven combat really counts as satisfying gameplay by itself, unless its backed by elements that make it more active, like action bars or timing.

 

[Kromis]

Second and third pics are wack

 

[Dumac]

Originally posted by: Kromis
Second and third pics are wack

Yeah, I just changed the links.

 

[erwos]

Being bitch-hard is a flaw, IMHO. It generally means the developers did a crap job on balance and helping you learn the system. I say this as someone who's reasonably good at everyone's favorite bitch-hard JRPG, Fire Emblem.

As for "some people like it despite the low review scores", some people in Japan are gluttons for punishment.

 

[Dumac]

Originally posted by: erwos
Being bitch-hard is a flaw, IMHO. It generally means the developers did a crap job on balance and helping you learn the system. I say this as someone who's reasonably good at everyone's favorite bitch-hard JRPG, Fire Emblem.

As for "some people like it despite the low review scores", some people in Japan are gluttons for punishment.

I have to disagree with you here. Modern games are WAY to easy. You can just breeze through them with no challenge. A "bitch-hard" game is refreshing everyone in a while. And I don't think it has anything to do with balance and helping you learn the system. Some games (like Ninja Gaiden) are very balanced; it just takes the player a while to get better at playing the game. Also, these games are usually the type that don't require a tutorial, and instead teach through experience and failure.

As for being gluttons for punishment, I don't think that is a facet of Japan only. We'll see when the Asian version comes out

 

[erwos]

Originally posted by: Dumac
I have to disagree with you here. Modern games are WAY to easy. You can just breeze through them with no challenge. A "bitch-hard" game is refreshing everyone in a while. And I don't think it has anything to do with balance and helping you learn the system. Some games (like Ninja Gaiden) are very balanced; it just takes the player a while to get better at playing the game. Also, these games are usually the type that don't require a tutorial, and instead teach through experience and failure.

I'm completely OK with a game providing a good challenge. I'm _not_ OK if the only way to play the game is when it's insanely difficult. That's what user-selectable difficulty levels are for.

 

[destrekor]

I've never enjoyed a game made by From Software.
There is always just something strange about it, that makes it not exactly enjoyable. Then again, there have been many cases where a developer doesn't make that great of games suddenly releases an enjoyable one. So we'll see, but I've been keeping myself out of the RPG land except for rare cases. Looking forward to FFXIII, and if there is ever a PS3 release of a Xenosaga/Xenogears game.

 

[mmntech]

Looks an awful lot like Oblivion to me.

 

[zerogear]

Originally posted by: mmntech
Looks an awful lot like Oblivion to me.

Except it doesn't have a bug/crash every other minute.

 

[Dumac]

Originally posted by: destrekor
I've never enjoyed a game made by From Software.
There is always just something strange about it, that makes it not exactly enjoyable. Then again, there have been many cases where a developer doesn't make that great of games suddenly releases an enjoyable one. So we'll see, but I've been keeping myself out of the RPG land except for rare cases. Looking forward to FFXIII, and if there is ever a PS3 release of a Xenosaga/Xenogears game.

I never really enjoyed the King's Field series either. The combat seemed too slow and...something was missing. However, a lot of people who weren't fans of From Software seem to be enjoying Demon's Souls, so I have my fingers crossed. I'm waiting for the 24th to hear more feedback on the game.

Always good to have another game to add to my PS3 collection.

 

[Dumac]

Originally posted by: mmntech
Looks an awful lot like Oblivion to me.

I think any similarities to oblivion are only graphical and superficial. Demon's Souls seems very action oriented, unlike Oblivion. There is a lot of focus on mastering combat, where Oblivion was more focused on quests and such. Also, Demon's Souls seems to contain exploration more of the Castlevania type than the open world Oblivion type.

I don't really think the two are comparable at all.

 

[Dumac]

Originally posted by: erwos
I'm completely OK with a game providing a good challenge. I'm _not_ OK if the only way to play the game is when it's insanely difficult. That's what user-selectable difficulty levels are for.

I see your point. Having user-selectable difficulty definately opens up the game to a wider audience. However, I think From Software is trying to hit the small population of "hardcore" gamers that would be attracted by the lack of an easy difficulty. Honestly, I don't think From Software expected the game to sell so well, seeing that its initial shipment completely sold out.

 

[Dumac]

Just a quick bump to see if anyone on AT bought this game. People on other forums like it, but I wonder what you guys would think..

 

[erwos]

I'll probably buy it when it comes out domestically. No sense importing if I can get the full localization by waiting a bit.

 

[bl4ckfl4g]

Originally posted by: DaveSimmons

Originally posted by: Bateluer
Looks interesting, but the trend towards manual, real time combat in RPGs disgusts me. They're basically becoming FPS with a few stats and a slightly stronger plot than the average FPS of the month.

I somewhat agree with this. Part of the appeal of RPGs to me is being able to relax a little and play at my own pace without needing to up my adrenaline level. KOTOR II is positively soothing as my Exile slices and dices through those who oppose me while I sit back and watch.

I enjoyed Mass Effect, but playing at regular difficulty and having Ashley with me makes it a very forgiving FPS most of the time.

I love turn based, grid based srpgs, and real time rpgs.

I hope none of them go away!

 

[Dumac]

Originally posted by: erwos
I'll probably buy it when it comes out domestically. No sense importing if I can get the full localization by waiting a bit.

Oh wow, thanks for that. I didn't know they were bringing it to the states.