Demon's Souls... Why did it get good reviews?

[Wondermint13]

Ok, first off. Read the Manual

I've heard the game described as challenging and I think that pretty much sums it up. Demons Souls IS hard. Boo-bloody-hoo! Keep trying, learn from your mistakes and you'll get better. That is how us humans are meant to work anyway.
Expect to die in a game and the blow wont be so hard when you do die. And that is the wonderful thing about gaming isnt it? You get up and start again if you fuck up, we should be greatful for that little bonus alone. If you wanna whine, go ahead, you're obviously the people who like easy setting and only play because you want to see what happens at the end. Thats not how gaming was meant to be and Demons souls stuck with rewarding people who can actually play a real computer game. Good for them! =)

 

[Aethren]

I put Demon's Souls in the same boat as Dwarf Fortress.

The game is going to kick your ass, many times, and you'll feel a real sense of accomplishment when you finally win. You just don't get that sense of pride with modern games that coddle the average 12 yr old preteen boy with shiny guns and sniper auto-aiming.

 

[danintexas]

In the top 5 games of this gen across all systems

 

[psivamp]

I don't know why people like it, but I know why I don't.
I don't care for the "Do It Again, Stupid" method they use. All sorts of stuff will one-hit kill you and you just have to "Do It Again, Stupid" until you memorize the timing of certain events and triggers.

 

[Daedalus1942]

Ok, first off. Read the Manual

I've heard the game described as challenging and I think that pretty much sums it up. Demons Souls IS hard. Boo-bloody-hoo! Keep trying, learn from your mistakes and you'll get better. That is how us humans are meant to work anyway.
Expect to die in a game and the blow wont be so hard when you do die. And that is the wonderful thing about gaming isnt it? You get up and start again if you fuck up, we should be greatful for that little bonus alone. If you wanna whine, go ahead, you're obviously the people who like easy setting and only play because you want to see what happens at the end. Thats now how gaming was meant to be and Demons souls stuck with it. Good for them! =)

I'm not whingeing or complaining, so I'm not sure why you quoted me. I love demon's souls, and I've also recently finished Dead Space on the hardest setting, so no I don't play games on easy. It's always normal to start off with then hard if i like a game enough to play it multiple times.
I'm not great at Demon's Souls, but to be fair I only played it for a week and gave up on it in favour of some other older games i started two years ago and haven't yet finished. I'll go back to it eventually and I will beat it definately, just not right this second.
-Tabs<3-

 

[didoslament]

From what i understand this game very nearly never existed. Here are my thoughts, these can be read as reasons why i like it and why lots of people will not.

No story! there is some background story and flavor text. but the story is yours to make, you are one human and there are hundreds more just like you. This is beyond refreshing, I "played" final fantasy 13 it had lots of story, i just had to do all the boring bits, you know.... like the game!

No tutorial! finally a game made for a gamer, I'm not five. the controls are intuitive and have a very natural feel about them. You play a human! big weapons are heavy, amour will make it difficult to do a forward roll, yes!

No difficulty! this game is a challenge but it lets you dictate how much! find a level or enemy is killing you lots? go find one you are more tailored to beat and come back when you are ready. I don't tend to pick fights with heavyweight boxers its much easier that way.

No genre! Well it could roughly be defined as a Third person action role playing arcade survival horror fighter adventure. It draws elements from lots of these and could be easily argued as none. But again this makes a welcome change from the average "you army shoot stuff" title.

This game will probably remain to many as marmite in there minds but for simply breaking the mold it should be much lauded.

 

[mattttherman3]

Well the consensus here seems to be that the story isn't the big deal of the game, add that with the crazy difficulty and it is not the game for me.

 

[binvjoh]

I had the same sort of feelings as you the first time I played it, but after a while I started discovering its charm. Sure, I never finished the game, but I have respect for it.

I guess it takes a certain kind of gamer to enjoy it fully, I'm not one, perhaps you're not either?

 

[Wondermint13]

I'm not whingeing or complaining, so I'm not sure why you quoted me. I love demon's souls, and I've also recently finished Dead Space on the hardest setting, so no I don't play games on easy. It's always normal to start off with then hard if i like a game enough to play it multiple times.
I'm not great at Demon's Souls, but to be fair I only played it for a week and gave up on it in favour of some other older games i started two years ago and haven't yet finished. I'll go back to it eventually and I will beat it definately, just not right this second.
-Tabs<3-

Ah Crap Sorry Dude. I was actually LOLing and trying to quote at a comment on Halo <3, but my college computer screws me around and lag must have made me click you.. I didnt see your name appear when I submitted it so I thought It was removed. Sorry for the Misunderstanding. What you said was cool ok xD

The peice I have written was in general

 

[Smooth Operator]

Well it's a different type of game, you either need to deal with it or admit it's not for you and get something else.

Divinity 2 for example, seems only 5 people in the entire world know of it but it is an awesome RPG game.

Demon's Souls is just one of those punishing games that feel somuch more rewarding at the end, but replaying an entire level after a 1 shot kill is not my kind of fun, tho I see the appeal of it.

 

[Daedalus1942]

I'm not whingeing or complaining, so I'm not sure why you quoted me. I love demon's souls, and I've also recently finished Dead Space on the hardest setting, so no I don't play games on easy. It's always normal to start off with then hard if i like a game enough to play it multiple times.
I'm not great at Demon's Souls, but to be fair I only played it for a week and gave up on it in favour of some other older games i started two years ago and haven't yet finished. I'll go back to it eventually and I will beat it definately, just not right this second.
-Tabs<3-

Ah Crap Sorry Dude. I was actually LOLing and trying to quote at a comment on Halo <3, but my college computer screws me around and lag must have made me click you.. I didnt see your name appear when I submitted it so I thought It was removed. Sorry for the Misunderstanding. What you said was cool ok xD
Urm... I never wrote anything about Halo... I think you have me mixed up with someone else, seeing as though I'm a girl :S
-Tabs<3-

The peice I have written was in general

 

[Aphex Demon]

I hated this game, but then again I rage if I die once on anything, so repetitive deaths combined with having to start a level again really fucks me off.

I think to play this you have to be in the right mindset, a patient one, and one that doesn't rage. I unfortunately am the opposite.

 

[malestrithe]

I like Demon's Souls because its mere existence means that there is some worthwhile JRPGs coming out of Japan nowadays. Instead of making 13-26 part anime series in video game format, some developers are going into different directions and focus on gameplay and that touted western trope of sandboxing.

Winning this game is all about having the proper attitude.

The wrong attitude is telling the game, "Fuck you you will do what I say!" This game will kill you if you have that mindset.

The correct attitude is saying to the game, "Thank you sir, may I have another?" All of the enemies have specific attacks they will do all the time and you will need to learn that in order to kill them.

You have to let the game do what it wants or else it will fucking kill you. Shin Megami Tensei is just like that.

 

[Spookimitsu]

This review says it all:

http://www.reddit.com/r/gaming/comments/acz2t/let_me_tell_you_about_demons_souls/

Edit: I liked it. This is a punishing game but sort of addicting once you get the swing of it. Hopefully the next one will have better multiplayer though.

The commentary at the bottom was well worth the price of admission. LOL the review itself sounded like it was penned by Maddox

 

[Susan Arendt]

You apparently dislike the game because it wasn't designed to your personal tastes. While that's a perfectly fine reason to not like a game, that's not a good enough reason to declare that the game is bad. It's your fault you couldn't be bothered to crack open the manual, so you can hardly fault the game for that. Demon's Souls is extremely hard, but it is also very fair. It will beat you into the ground, but if you are willing to put in the effort to understand it, you'll be victorious and feel like a god for having mastered the challenge.

It is definitely not a game for everyone. It's very much an acquired taste, and there's no shame at all in not wanting to spend your leisure time banging your head against a wall. But none of that means the game is bad, merely that it's not for you.

 

[CTL1989]

I can understand that some people are not going to like this game; I mean, it's difficulty alone is enough to put off people lacking in patience. The game heavily rewards skill and patience over luck; it's all about learning how the mechanics work, how the enemies react, the layouts of the levels. It is a difficult game, but immensely rewarding if you have both the mindset and the patience to give it a good go.

What I can't understand is your criticism of the mechanics, namely stamina. I mean, of course it's there to increase the difficulty of the game. That's what the majority of mechanics do. You dont *need* a health bar in the game, but it's usually included, because where's the fun of playing without risk?

I mean, Shadow of the Colossus is, I think most people will agree, a fantastic game. Yet, in essence, its stamina bar worked exactly the same as Demon's Souls. Sure, they didn't *need* it in the game, but would it really have been such a classic if you could have simply climbed up each Colossi without the risk of falling off?

It's the same principal in Demon's Souls. Including a stamina bar forces you to stop and consider your decision, as well as to be cautious in your actions. Sure, that great sword may have a longer reach and do much more damage, but I can only swing it twice before running out of stamina. So, I can either get more stamina, or switch to a light, faster weapon. It's all about choices.

Besides, the game wouldn't even be remotely difficult if you could just stand there blocking all the time.

 

[didoslament]

Why do i get the feeling that people would be happier if this where a god of war game? Press Start Button.........fancy cut scene .......x,x,x,x,x,x,x........y.....fancy cut scene.......End. no no no no no!

 

[Anti Nudist Cupcake]

Just because you're shit at the game, does not make the game itself shit.

He explained other reasons why it sucked, the difficulty being shit wasn't the only reason.
I agree with OP, graphics are bland, story is boring, art style is uninspired and uses a cheap way to be difficult, not a real way that involves sophisticated AI and strategy.

Never played the game, but that's what it's looking like from my perspective.