Demon’s Souls Review

So, returning to the tutorial, having been clubbed to death you’re then banished to the Nexus – Demon’s Soul’s afterlife wherein you must regroup and prepare to reenter the world as a semi-tangible ghoul. Existing as this shadow of your former self, you have only half the vitality and less physical power, which is why it’s imperative that you return to corporeality as soon as possible. Ultimately, death is not the end for your hero, but accumulating souls is a ludicrous challenge.

Here be dragons. No fantasy RPG is complete without them.

Earning back your original body is achieved through harvesting and collecting the souls of fallen soldiers and enemies, or alternatively taking on and slaying one of the game’s gigantic bosses. Or, if you’re lucky enough, you might stumble upon a rare reviving item, enabling you to completely forgo the other options listed above. Whatever path you take to regaining your fleshy casing always proves to be a thankless grind, so staying alive (sorry to state the obvious) is of utmost importance.

Bereft of checkpoints, the game often feels like more of a chore than a joy to play as dying becomes a frequent occurrence. When this happens, you’re thrust back to the very beginning of the current stage, shorn of all the souls you’ve collected. Upon getting back to the position where you were killed, you can pick up the souls you lost, but then you have to forge forward, praying that you don’t meet the same fate once again before you finish the stage. It’s enough to make a grown man weep at the futility of it all.

Glowing green goodness usually indicates something going on with souls and that.

Online, Demon’s Souls is a unique experience that encourages an altogether different kind of cooperation between players. Pressing select anywhere allows you to leave hints and warnings for other players as to the hazards that lie ahead. Of course, if you’re malicious enough you can leave something deceptive to lead players to their doom, although you’ve nothing to gain in doing so except a perverse sense of satisfaction. [Nothing wrong with a bit of perverse satisfaction - Ed]