You have a heart of gold, don't let them take it from you.
Demon Souls (I never acknowledge the ‘s when saying the name out loud), is a game that ranges from a 7 to 10/10 moments back and forth, it makes sense given how experimental it is, successes, failures, but always memorable in some shape or form.
The world of Boletaria is pretty coo with all the ways that it pulls you into that world, the level layouts, how each area has its own type of natural shortcut, minimalist sound design, great art direction, the enemies and items you can find in each of them, gives each area a great sense of identity.
Something I really liked about the level design comes from the structure of the game, from the Nexus you can go to any of the 5 main areas, and while they are interconnected and could be done in a single run (besides the Arch demon gate to enter Boletaria-3), every boss fight acts as a checkpoint that you can warp to, so is kind of like a level separation within the connected world; this means that every “level” can be pretty different and throw at you different set pieces and the like, it makes each portion within the world of Demon Souls feel pretty unique, which brings its hits and misses, but it adds to that level of memorability and janky-ness that really ties Demon Souls together.
Boletaria-1 is pretty big and circles back to its start for the boss fight, 2 is a straight line to the boss, 3 is back to a bigger level with a shortcut, and 4 is basically a spiral upwards to its Arch Demon fight, just to exemplify the changes in design within a single main area.
The not winner part of the world of Demon Souls is Stonefang Tunnel, I can live without it, the atmosphere can be pretty boring, the boss fights are not really good (Armor Spider is pretty spammy and ends up feeling like something you have to brute force, Flamelurker is fine in theory but I found his speed and patterns don't really mesh well with the combat of Demon Souls, and the Arch Demon could have been more interesting, could have done more with the idea), and Stonefang-2 in particular is pretty bad both going the normal way and using the shortcut for the boss fight.
The opposite ends are Latria and Shrine of Storms, kino af areas in atmosphere and design, can put both in top areas in gaming.
Boss fight are on the whole pretty interesting, very few are essentialy the at this point design meme of dodges and hits that indies and the more recent From Soft games seem to push, most of them are essentially some form of puzzle, they make for a memorable experience, in terms of challenge ranging from easy, a relatively mild challenge and rather difficult, I appreciate them considering I'm not really fond of the combat in the game, I'm more into it for the exploration and adventure feel. The Arch Demons more than anything being the great example of unique bosses, and despite my issues with the combat, Boletaria's Arch Demon is a really, really good fight.
The game can be quite difficult in its actual levels tho, but almost never unfair, and the format of choosing which level to do past the tutorial is a way for the game to help you as long as you pay attention and are willing to explore, very often you'll find useful NPCs across the starting levels of each area, and equipment that will make your life much easier for other areas, is a nicely designed balance of maximizing that sense of adventure and exploration.
In part I feel is pretty unnecessary for me to say more, it is a pretty well known game at this point, and other people have gone into much more detail and with better writing skills about the game and all its components, I don't really have much to add but I at least wanted to mention the stuff that stood out for me after finally experiencing this game, I'm glad I played it, that I finally went through with it till the end, because it gave me something very flawed, yet pretty special. Also I can finally see how much they messed up in the remake, they fucked you up Demon Souls.
Demon Souls (I never acknowledge the ‘s when saying the name out loud), is a game that ranges from a 7 to 10/10 moments back and forth, it makes sense given how experimental it is, successes, failures, but always memorable in some shape or form.
The world of Boletaria is pretty coo with all the ways that it pulls you into that world, the level layouts, how each area has its own type of natural shortcut, minimalist sound design, great art direction, the enemies and items you can find in each of them, gives each area a great sense of identity.
Something I really liked about the level design comes from the structure of the game, from the Nexus you can go to any of the 5 main areas, and while they are interconnected and could be done in a single run (besides the Arch demon gate to enter Boletaria-3), every boss fight acts as a checkpoint that you can warp to, so is kind of like a level separation within the connected world; this means that every “level” can be pretty different and throw at you different set pieces and the like, it makes each portion within the world of Demon Souls feel pretty unique, which brings its hits and misses, but it adds to that level of memorability and janky-ness that really ties Demon Souls together.
Boletaria-1 is pretty big and circles back to its start for the boss fight, 2 is a straight line to the boss, 3 is back to a bigger level with a shortcut, and 4 is basically a spiral upwards to its Arch Demon fight, just to exemplify the changes in design within a single main area.
The not winner part of the world of Demon Souls is Stonefang Tunnel, I can live without it, the atmosphere can be pretty boring, the boss fights are not really good (Armor Spider is pretty spammy and ends up feeling like something you have to brute force, Flamelurker is fine in theory but I found his speed and patterns don't really mesh well with the combat of Demon Souls, and the Arch Demon could have been more interesting, could have done more with the idea), and Stonefang-2 in particular is pretty bad both going the normal way and using the shortcut for the boss fight.
The opposite ends are Latria and Shrine of Storms, kino af areas in atmosphere and design, can put both in top areas in gaming.
Boss fight are on the whole pretty interesting, very few are essentialy the at this point design meme of dodges and hits that indies and the more recent From Soft games seem to push, most of them are essentially some form of puzzle, they make for a memorable experience, in terms of challenge ranging from easy, a relatively mild challenge and rather difficult, I appreciate them considering I'm not really fond of the combat in the game, I'm more into it for the exploration and adventure feel. The Arch Demons more than anything being the great example of unique bosses, and despite my issues with the combat, Boletaria's Arch Demon is a really, really good fight.
The game can be quite difficult in its actual levels tho, but almost never unfair, and the format of choosing which level to do past the tutorial is a way for the game to help you as long as you pay attention and are willing to explore, very often you'll find useful NPCs across the starting levels of each area, and equipment that will make your life much easier for other areas, is a nicely designed balance of maximizing that sense of adventure and exploration.
In part I feel is pretty unnecessary for me to say more, it is a pretty well known game at this point, and other people have gone into much more detail and with better writing skills about the game and all its components, I don't really have much to add but I at least wanted to mention the stuff that stood out for me after finally experiencing this game, I'm glad I played it, that I finally went through with it till the end, because it gave me something very flawed, yet pretty special. Also I can finally see how much they messed up in the remake, they fucked you up Demon Souls.
AngryAlchemist
4 months ago