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

[repeating integers]

When I finished reading the OP's post I predicted he'd have lots of people accusing him of just being bad at the game.

Lo and behold...

Anyway. From the OP's post, as well as all the posts defending it, this game sounds like I'd really hate it. I get pissed off at the Akrid bosses in Lost Planet (on NORMAL) & playing Reach on Legendary, these things sound even harder. No thank you.

 

[FriedRicer]

It got good reviews because it is groundbreaking..really,the game is hard if you lack patience...stick to it and NO COWBOY/KRATOS/MASTER CHIEF-antics...and you'll live...maybe!Oh. and it is quite fair.YOU SUCK-but not for long!lol

 

[Wolfram23]

Lol @ OP. QQ.

Seriously, you knew it's a tough game when you bought it.

Stamina is what makes the whole bloody thing WORK. Yes it's low at the start. The point is you can't just swing your sword like an idiot and win. You need to time everything from swings to blocks to dodges. It forces you to develop skill.

And clearly you need to read. The tutorial is basic, yes. The game isn't EVER going to hold your hand and help you through. The stamina bar is right there for you to see the entire time and if you want to know what it does, look into the manual. Otherwise don't ***** about it.

Finally, my knight's stamina bar is at 135 stam. I can swing a claymore around about 5 times before running out of stam, and it recharges super fast.

Oh yeah, and that red eye knight? Yeah, don't go there. It's something you learn as you play... blue eye knights = tough, red eye knights = very hard.

 

[Wolfram23]

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

Hahah that's an excellent review. Why? Because fuck you.

 

[varulfic]

The stamina bar replenishes itself in like a second if you stop blocking. Yeah, that's all it takes, and you can attack again. It's barely even a risk since you can raise your shield quickly if you see anyone about to strike.



Demon's Souls may be hard, but I actually think it's pretty fair in it's difficulty. Take the levels for example; when you die, you go back to the beginning of the stage, but along the way you can unlock shortcuts, and the hardest enemies (bosses, black phantoms) stay gone once they've been defeated. So if you die at the boss, it's not like you lose 1½ hours progress, you can pretty much run back in a few minutes. Also, the hard enemies gives you a fuckload of souls, so surviving a particulary gruesome encounter will put you well on your way to your next level.

 

[BolognaBaloney]

Because it was a truly wonderful gaming experience that harkens back to the much more difficult games of yesteryear. Just because you can't understand or play the game properly doesn't make it a bad game, it makes you a bad player.

 

[seraphy]

It does sound from op that game was just too hard for you. Seriously isn't that a good thing? That was also part of the reason it got such a good reviews.

Certainly being hard doesn't actually make the game bad.

 

[didoslament]

I'm still seeing the word 'hard' way to much! it is not hard it is a challenge, and i could name a hundred great games that would be considered far more relentless than this (im sure we have all died on the first level of Mario before). to many games of this generation will wrap you in cotton wool and bake you a feckin cake. ever played a game using a code that makes you invincible? yeah it sucks all the fun out of it in about three seconds.

 

[Korten12]

i still think it should have more save points and diffculty settings

that would ruin the whole game.

 

[Korten12]

explain

well first you need to quote me, so then I know you responded but onto the explination.

Because save points and difficulty settings would ruin the game as it would get rid of one of its unique features.

Save points would make it like every other game, and it wouldn't allow the game to have its unique mulitplayer because if you can save, how can you be online? Only autosave allows you to do that.

As for difficulty settings, that would ruin the fact that the game is supposed to be hard. It wouldn't be a hard game then, it would just be a game with a hard difficulty. You don't consider a COD campaign to be hard just because it has veteran mode? It would also ruin the games sense of great accomplishment.

 

[Defense]

I won't talk about the gameplay since everyone else did, but I'll talk about why I think everyone loved it. It was a game with atmosphere. It didn't have FFXIII graphics but every level was unique in some way, and they often had a very depressing environments with dilapidated buildings and level background(5-3 was actually a dumping ground for aborted babies). It's also a game that made you scared to die, which adds a lot of suspense, unlike most games.

And also, just because you're not spoon fed the information doesn't mean that it's not there. The first time I played I learned everything about the gameplay mechanics through the red signs in the Nexus.

 

[didoslament]

explain

well first you need to quote me, so then I know you responded but onto the explination.

Because save points and difficulty settings would ruin the game as it would get rid of one of its unique features.

Save points would make it like every other game, and it wouldn't allow the game to have its unique mulitplayer because if you can save, how can you be online? Only autosave allows you to do that.

As for difficulty settings, that would ruin the fact that the game is supposed to be hard. It wouldn't be a hard game then, it would just be a game with a hard difficulty. You don't consider a COD campaign to be hard just because it has veteran mode? It would also ruin the games sense of great accomplishment.

I've never been a big fan of difficulty settings, i play all my games on normal as i believe this is how they were intended to be played. i tend to find that games on a hard mode lose consistency e.g a guy that takes five times the regular number of shots to the head because its on hard mode seems a bit off to me.

 

[Googenstien]

This thread made me load up Demons Souls and start playing thru again, started a Royal and went into world 4-1 asap to get the magic falchion +1 and went on to kill Flamelurker and unlock the ability to make special weapons. Now I am working my way thru the Tower to free the Mage for more spell options.

I was thinking as I was playing that if I didnt know the benefits for doing what I did when I did and instead just kept pluggin away at World 1.. it would probably be fustrating.

There are some forums to check on builds and plans of attack that people should check out on the game like any other.. I highly recomend going to the Demons Souls wikia

http://demonssouls.wikidot.com/home

look for builds and tips on the forums there too.

If you cant tumble and roll quickly you have too low stam for the gear/weapon you are using. You always want to be able to roll at max speed. Being missed completely by an attack is the best defense in the game!

Also.. look for places were people grind souls, like any other RPG this one rewards you for leveling up and becoming more powerful.

 

[Ickorus]

You are gonna rage so hard the first time you get invaded by a black phantom.

Ok some bulletpoints:

- Stamina - You ever been in a sword fight? I have, it's tiring. Rolling about also wears you out in reality and I can't imagine how tiring it would be whilst wearing armor.

- Dying lots - You simply have to be really careful, Ramboing in Demon's Souls will get you killed. I admit at times it can be really unfair when you die but hell, I bought the game because I heard it was hard so I can't really complain now, can I?

- Storyline - You're right, there isn't much of one, it basically comes down to the kingdom being overrun by an evil entity and you are one of many idiots who decided he could kick the big bad guys ass, you are nothing special, just another guy.

I'll give you some tips on how to play the game well:


- Go slow, try to get as few enemies as possible in each fight and beware of traps, if you are online (very much recommended) watch out for signs left on the floor, they can give you forewarning of ambushes or traps.

- After defeating Phalanx (first boss, big turd monster) you can start using your blue eye stone to get summoned into someone elses world, this will get you souls and give you back your body if you defeat the boss you have been summoned to help with.

- Only block when you have to, it slows down stamina regeneration.

- If you get really frustrated turn the system off, you don't want to be dying lots because you're throwing yourself at the enemy.

 

[Moeez]

Did OP just drop a rant, and just leave? Means he doesn't want to give the game a chance, and just flamebaited. Get a blog, then.

 

[Lord Beautiful]

I like it quite a bit. It's punishing, but wholly worth playing just so you can punish the fuck out of what used to punish you. I practically busted a nut when I leveled up my Bastard Sword to +6, put my strength up to 22 (4 levels beyond the point where you can one-hand a Bastard Sword), and just fucking murdered everything.

It gets on my nerves from time to time, but it's pretty fun and its online play is just glorious.

 

[Korten12]

explain

well first you need to quote me, so then I know you responded but onto the explination.

Because save points and difficulty settings would ruin the game as it would get rid of one of its unique features.

Save points would make it like every other game, and it wouldn't allow the game to have its unique mulitplayer because if you can save, how can you be online? Only autosave allows you to do that.

As for difficulty settings, that would ruin the fact that the game is supposed to be hard. It wouldn't be a hard game then, it would just be a game with a hard difficulty. You don't consider a COD campaign to be hard just because it has veteran mode? It would also ruin the games sense of great accomplishment.

ill give you the savepoint part. but i dont agree on the diffculty settings.

you see, to some people who dont play games as much as we do the game may seem really really fucking hard and they just throw the controller on the wall after a shorth while. im not saying every game should be for casual gamers as well, but it would just seem fair to give them some form of an ease if they... you know want to experience the rest of the game.

i think devil may cry 3 did this well. Normal mode is already kinda hard and it still has 3 more harder settings after it. and i case you fuck up a few too many times on normal the game unlocks you the easier mode.

But thats the thing, the game isn't made for casuals. Not all games like you said have to be for them. Thus no reason they should add difficulty settings. Plus with New Game + which makes it even harder. That wouldn't work with difficulty settings.