Finally. One of the hardest games I've ever beaten, and though it has it's flaws, I did enjoy Demon Souls. Some flaws are more major than others, but the good definitley outways the bad.
First off something good, the Level Design. I thought it was pretty fantastic. Memorable layouts and lots of places to go and secrets to find in the levels, and everywhere seems to be leading you in the right direction. You're definitely rewarded for looking around, I thought they did a great job with the Levels Designs and their memorability.
Some parts in the Levels, though designed well, either had enemies that just screw you in the way, or the players movement didn't really work well with it. The Players Movement can feel pretty Janky, and I fell so many times to my death, often by the jank in the game. I know it sounds like and excuse but I promise that shit isn't on me. 4-2 is the bane of my existence. So many enemies mixed with Ledges, it was such a long trek back to the already hard as fuck Boss, it was easily the worst area in the game for me. 4-2 shows where the Level Design at times comes up short, though besides that I felt it was usually great.
Speaking of Bosses, they were pretty damn easy. Old Hero was definitely the Hardest for me, not only could he see me even though he was Blind, the trek back to him was so long, which is something I already touched on. I heard people saying Flame Lurker was the hardest, but I didn't find him to bad. Old King Allant was a little tough, but I beat him on my 2nd try. Kinda disappointing but also a relief at the same time, since getting to them without any checkpoints is hard enough. The Arch Demons should have been much harder, but oddly enough they were the easiest ones. The Final Boss, was just terrible. I'm not sure if you can even call that a Final Boss, since he literally didn't even hit me, and was weak as hell.
The Checkpoints. Where are the damn Checkpoints? I know you get them after you beat a Boss, but the game would've benefited so much if they just gave me some like they did in the other games. You eventually get stronger but it's still hard and annoying as hell, especially if the Boss is far from the checkpoint.
The Gameplay, though at times very janky, was fun and satisfying. Spells were so OP, I have no Idea how anyone could beat this game without them. I played as a Knight for like an hour and a half, and I deleted that and restarted as Royalty. I'm so glad I did that, since without the magic I was really struggling. Sword fighting still felt really good, it's just that magic was so much more affective. The amount of Spells were cool as well. I used some sort of Fire spell of which I forgot the name, and Warding. Warding is an absolute must, it makes the game so much less complete horse shit.
The RPG leveling up mechanics were well done, and expensive as hell near the end of the game. Collecting the souls and making sure you don't lose them all was satisfying and challenging. Increasing the power of my weapons was a little grindy since I had so collect the Shards, but it wasn't to bad.
Characters and Enemies were well designed and pretty cool. The characters didn't talk much but they were still well done. Enemies, though often annoying, gave the game some more challenge and they were well though out.
The Story and Lore were pretty cool. I'm not gonna pretend that I can say that I know what exactly is going one, but It kept me invested and was well told. One of the games biggest strengths was it's world building and story telling in the world. Without any dialogue, the game could give you an image and you could understand exactly what happened. From Software, from what I've seen, is fantastic at in Game Story telling. They did a great job with it in this game.
I thought the Music was great. It didn't come up often, which did help set the unnerving atmosphere, but when It came on it sounded great. The Boss Fights especially had great Themes. Nothing I'd listen to in my free time, but that makes no difference on how good it is.
To touch back on the atmosphere, it's probably the best part about the game. Its this unwavering feeling of just utter despair and oppression, that It makes you believe that nothing will get better in this world. But it also keeps you going, trying to get rid of that atmosphere, kill the Demons, and restore the land.
I gotta admit something, I kinda cheated. I duped some items, like heals and Spices, and I honestly think it was the best decision I made. Grinding in this game is so tedious and just complete horseshit. For me to continue having fun I had to do something like that, or I would have just given up. I didn't dupe any souls or Stones, I thought that would've just ruined the whole experience.
If you want to get into the Souls games, I'm not sure if I'd start If with this one. I think I'm just gonna retire this game for ever, a great experience that I never want to have again. I definitely have my complaints with this game, No checkpoints, Levels at times very frustrating, Bosses a little to easy, some janky controls, but all in all, I liked it. Great Music, Great and Memorable Level Design, Enemies designs were cool, Great Characters, Great RPG Elements, Story and lore were good, and the Gameplay was fun. If you want something very challenging, Like the Souls games, and/or want a Dark Fantasy adventure game, I'd recommend Demon's Souls.
Score: 3.8/5
Letter Grade: B+
First off something good, the Level Design. I thought it was pretty fantastic. Memorable layouts and lots of places to go and secrets to find in the levels, and everywhere seems to be leading you in the right direction. You're definitely rewarded for looking around, I thought they did a great job with the Levels Designs and their memorability.
Some parts in the Levels, though designed well, either had enemies that just screw you in the way, or the players movement didn't really work well with it. The Players Movement can feel pretty Janky, and I fell so many times to my death, often by the jank in the game. I know it sounds like and excuse but I promise that shit isn't on me. 4-2 is the bane of my existence. So many enemies mixed with Ledges, it was such a long trek back to the already hard as fuck Boss, it was easily the worst area in the game for me. 4-2 shows where the Level Design at times comes up short, though besides that I felt it was usually great.
Speaking of Bosses, they were pretty damn easy. Old Hero was definitely the Hardest for me, not only could he see me even though he was Blind, the trek back to him was so long, which is something I already touched on. I heard people saying Flame Lurker was the hardest, but I didn't find him to bad. Old King Allant was a little tough, but I beat him on my 2nd try. Kinda disappointing but also a relief at the same time, since getting to them without any checkpoints is hard enough. The Arch Demons should have been much harder, but oddly enough they were the easiest ones. The Final Boss, was just terrible. I'm not sure if you can even call that a Final Boss, since he literally didn't even hit me, and was weak as hell.
The Checkpoints. Where are the damn Checkpoints? I know you get them after you beat a Boss, but the game would've benefited so much if they just gave me some like they did in the other games. You eventually get stronger but it's still hard and annoying as hell, especially if the Boss is far from the checkpoint.
The Gameplay, though at times very janky, was fun and satisfying. Spells were so OP, I have no Idea how anyone could beat this game without them. I played as a Knight for like an hour and a half, and I deleted that and restarted as Royalty. I'm so glad I did that, since without the magic I was really struggling. Sword fighting still felt really good, it's just that magic was so much more affective. The amount of Spells were cool as well. I used some sort of Fire spell of which I forgot the name, and Warding. Warding is an absolute must, it makes the game so much less complete horse shit.
The RPG leveling up mechanics were well done, and expensive as hell near the end of the game. Collecting the souls and making sure you don't lose them all was satisfying and challenging. Increasing the power of my weapons was a little grindy since I had so collect the Shards, but it wasn't to bad.
Characters and Enemies were well designed and pretty cool. The characters didn't talk much but they were still well done. Enemies, though often annoying, gave the game some more challenge and they were well though out.
The Story and Lore were pretty cool. I'm not gonna pretend that I can say that I know what exactly is going one, but It kept me invested and was well told. One of the games biggest strengths was it's world building and story telling in the world. Without any dialogue, the game could give you an image and you could understand exactly what happened. From Software, from what I've seen, is fantastic at in Game Story telling. They did a great job with it in this game.
I thought the Music was great. It didn't come up often, which did help set the unnerving atmosphere, but when It came on it sounded great. The Boss Fights especially had great Themes. Nothing I'd listen to in my free time, but that makes no difference on how good it is.
To touch back on the atmosphere, it's probably the best part about the game. Its this unwavering feeling of just utter despair and oppression, that It makes you believe that nothing will get better in this world. But it also keeps you going, trying to get rid of that atmosphere, kill the Demons, and restore the land.
I gotta admit something, I kinda cheated. I duped some items, like heals and Spices, and I honestly think it was the best decision I made. Grinding in this game is so tedious and just complete horseshit. For me to continue having fun I had to do something like that, or I would have just given up. I didn't dupe any souls or Stones, I thought that would've just ruined the whole experience.
If you want to get into the Souls games, I'm not sure if I'd start If with this one. I think I'm just gonna retire this game for ever, a great experience that I never want to have again. I definitely have my complaints with this game, No checkpoints, Levels at times very frustrating, Bosses a little to easy, some janky controls, but all in all, I liked it. Great Music, Great and Memorable Level Design, Enemies designs were cool, Great Characters, Great RPG Elements, Story and lore were good, and the Gameplay was fun. If you want something very challenging, Like the Souls games, and/or want a Dark Fantasy adventure game, I'd recommend Demon's Souls.
Score: 3.8/5
Letter Grade: B+