Got this game to see what all the fuss was about. I don't know where to begin, but luckily I wrote a rough review way back when so I wouldn't forget what it was like.
Good stuff:
Character design
•being able to create a personalized character
•creative enemy designs and some NPCS
fashion souls
•so many wearable outfits to choose from
Atmosphere
•dark atmosphere which fits the name of the game very well
Exploration (somewhat)
•being able to either slightly branch off paths or at the very least do things in different orders
Bad stuff:
Difficulty
•getting through the gauntlet of enemies is more annoying and infuriating than the bosses themselves
•some mid bosses are harder than the final boss
•carnal demon is in such a small boss area
•ornstein and smough
Level design
•blighttown
•skeleton catacombs
•tomb of the giants
•warping isn't available until after anor londo so backtracking was the only way to move around until then
NPC 'lore'
•NPCs barely talk
•most lore is given through item descriptions so anything can be missed very easily for the more casual player
Music (lack thereof)
•no music except for bosses
Multiplayer
•multiplayer can add to frustration in the idea of being invaded at inoppurtune times
Armor
•armor barely protects against attacks
•armor hinders roll-dodging
In conclusion, when I beat this game I didn't feel satisfied and haven't done another full run since.
Good stuff:
Character design
•being able to create a personalized character
•creative enemy designs and some NPCS
fashion souls
•so many wearable outfits to choose from
Atmosphere
•dark atmosphere which fits the name of the game very well
Exploration (somewhat)
•being able to either slightly branch off paths or at the very least do things in different orders
Bad stuff:
Difficulty
•getting through the gauntlet of enemies is more annoying and infuriating than the bosses themselves
•some mid bosses are harder than the final boss
•carnal demon is in such a small boss area
•ornstein and smough
Level design
•blighttown
•skeleton catacombs
•tomb of the giants
•warping isn't available until after anor londo so backtracking was the only way to move around until then
NPC 'lore'
•NPCs barely talk
•most lore is given through item descriptions so anything can be missed very easily for the more casual player
Music (lack thereof)
•no music except for bosses
Multiplayer
•multiplayer can add to frustration in the idea of being invaded at inoppurtune times
Armor
•armor barely protects against attacks
•armor hinders roll-dodging
In conclusion, when I beat this game I didn't feel satisfied and haven't done another full run since.
the improvements over demon's souls here are massive; they fixed the soul/human form mechanic to something that doesn't suck, estus flask>>>>>>grass heals, the interconnected world, cutting world tendency entirely... shit's great. still has some major tedious bs though like capra demon, bed of chaos, etc., the boss runbacks aren't genuinely miserable like in DeS but they're still boring and too long imo.
I resisted playing this game for a very long time because I didn't care that much for Demon's Souls when I played it. Turns out what I wanted from that game was an interconnected world to explore.
One of the few modern era games that really stuck to my bones and became a game I still revisit when I long to return to a familiar world.
One of the few modern era games that really stuck to my bones and became a game I still revisit when I long to return to a familiar world.
All the way back in 2013 I dropped this game after 20 hours playtime, around lvl 26. I remember getting irritated at constantly googling questions I had about the game every five minutes. I remember believing this to be a complete failure of a game. I remember feeling Demons Souls was 'better'. (quotation marks because that game was also quite obscure and required the help of google)
Since then I've platinum'ed games like Dark Souls 3 and Bloodborne, so it's safe to say I'm much more accustomed to this particular genre now, but still, I figure it's worth keeping my original memories of this game for this log entry. I really should try the remastered version some day.
Since then I've platinum'ed games like Dark Souls 3 and Bloodborne, so it's safe to say I'm much more accustomed to this particular genre now, but still, I figure it's worth keeping my original memories of this game for this log entry. I really should try the remastered version some day.