Zero Punctuation: Demon's Souls

[Pingieking]

Perhaps Yahtzee isn't very good at the game?
On average, I died once for every different monster style and once for each boss. Because once you fight them once (or perhaps twice for some mobs), you know what they're going to do and have a fairly good idea of how to approach individual battles. Once you know that, it's quite easy. I died 4 times going through to the first boss the first time I played, and breezed through it with no deaths with another character. I actually like the way you're brought back to the start of a level when you die. I've committed suicides a few times just so everything will respawn and I can farm them for $$.

 

[zeratul123]

hhahhah lol sounds so fun hen you say it

 

[Quillpaw]

Is it just me, or does Yahtzee's boggle-eyed fish-lipped avatar with forehead the size of a fucking airplane luggage compartment look like that orderly from Psychonauts? Just a bit?

 

[yzzlthtz]

Why do I look at the comments for these? All they manage to do is piss me off. Every week there are aa bunch of stupid sycophants going "great job yahtzee! This game is terrible!" His job is too say bad things about games. If you're not taking his reviews with a grain of salt YOU ARE A MORON! Seriously, here he complained that a game that is known for being hard is hard, and it's clear he didn't even try to get good at it. The dodge button is useless? No it's not. That's simply wrong...you just have to actually use it well rather than mindlessly pressing it. It's also clear that Yahtzee didn't level up or even leave the first level. This is a great game but it takes time and effort. The game is actually very reasonably challenged and almost never actually unfair. It just starts out hard and gives you some strict rules and doesn't hold your hand. Almost every time I died in this game, it was a result of me being unskilled, rather than the game being unreasonable.
To reiterate, if anyone makes a decision of whether or not to buy this or any other game based on one of Yahtzee's "reviews" they are a moron.

Behind Yahtzee's over-critical facade he usually sneaks in some real juicy bits.....
this review goes into some wonderful detail about the first level or so.
I was honestly hoping he'd have manned-up a bit more for this one. My respect for him as a gamer is diminished, but he's still a great guerrilla reviewer.

 

[yzzlthtz]

Yahtzee couldn't take the heat :V Come on, Demon'Sssss Souls wasn't hard until you beat it once.

Yeah seriously...he didn't even get past the wrapper.

 

[Schlagwerk]

It sounds like the developers were one of the crazy ones that could actually beat I Wanna Be The Guy.

For the uninitiated:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uvL3Vxn1g-8&feature=video_response

 

[Lord_Seth]

This game sounds like what you'd get if you took I Wanna Be The Guy and NetHack, pulled out most of the things from those games that made them fun, and then combined the remaining bits.

That includes the fact that both NetHack and I Wanna Be The Guy are free, so if you want to torture yourself trying to beat them, at least you aren't paying for the privilege.

It sounds like the developers were one of the crazy ones that could actually beat I Wanna Be The Guy.

For the uninitiated:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uvL3Vxn1g-8&feature=video_response

To be fair, they were playing it on Very Hard. Playing it on Hard or Medium gives you a lot more save points. While IWBTG is very hard, the frequency of save points and the fact you have infinite lives makes it a lot more bearable. So while the gameplay is probably harder than Battletoads, unlike Battletoads you aren't given a limited number of lives and continues.

 

[Hazy]

Demon's Souls is pretty much on beyond hard difficulty.

True, but much like playing every other game on hard, you will be a much better gamer because of the fact that it kicks your ass and calls you a *****.

It's a fair game, though. I never once felt like I died because I was cheated, rather, because of my own careless mistakes.

 

[Halleys5th]

Demon's Souls has become my FAVORITE GAME OF ALL TIME, but after the first few hours I was ready to sell it on eBay.

You've just got to stick with it until you learn how to fight proficiently, level up, and upgrade your equipment. Then you'll reach the meat of the game and be dazzled by the variety of worlds, the multitude of uniquely-behaved enemies, and the sheer density of interesting situations. This game is hugely satisfying because each new victory, both large and small, is well-earned, a puzzle solved in the mind and then well-executed by the fingers.

It pains me that people are being discouraged from giving this game a try. If all you've done is beat the first level, you don't yet know what this game is all about. You can't even level up until you reach the point at which the review ended.

 

[Donttazemehbro]

yeah Demon'ssssssss souls doesn't deserve the rating it got.

 

[axleblaze]

This game sounds like what you'd get if you took I Wanna Be The Guy and NetHack, pulled out most of the things from those games that made them fun, and then combined the remaining bits.

This really isn't what the game is like at all, which shows how worthless this review ended up being.
I will say it is much closer to nethack than IWBTG (which really it's nothing like at a; but it is infinitely more forgiving than nethack. All dieing does in DS is make you lose you demon's souls. You keep all your items and you start from the last check point and any thing you've done to change the environment stays changed.
The problem with this review as it shows in many people comments is that Yahtzee makes it sound like a game like IWBTG that just hates you and lives to screw you over. Demon's Souls is entirely fair, it's just unforgiving of you if you mess up.

 

[yzzlthtz]

It actually sounds fun. I want to be challenged, i like the way they do that ''online'' thing, but why the fuck did they have to release it ONLY on PS3?

Uh...because it's Sony's game.

But why? They could get money by selling games to PC/Xbox owners. Instead people will download those games and run them with emulators. (if it's possible)

It isn't possible, atm, and probably won't be for a long time. Also, PS3 is the only non-cracked gaming system.
But why?! But why!? Why will Halo never come to the playstation?! Why will nintendogs always be on Nintendo?!
Who cares! If you really want to play it so bad, get the system it's on. That's half the point of exclusivity.

 

[Cheeco88]

I was absolutely thrilled to see Yhatzee review this game since I thought he had passed it, and I wanted to hear him ***** about it. I figured he'd do OK though considering the ,"bewilderingly easy boss fights" of Ninja Gaiden 2 didn't seem to bug him that much.

 

[BaldursBananaSoap]

yeah Demon'ssssssss souls doesn't deserve the rating it got.

Yes it does, I'm sick of these below 100 post tards who think anything Yahtzee says is true without even playing the damn game. Having an Xbox avatar doesn't do much for your credibility either

Yep it's hard and I LIKE IT. You have to learn your battle patterns and each enemy's weakness. Each death is a learning experience. Best game this gen imo instead of all that overrated crap that Infinity Ward keep churning out.

Sorry Yahtzee but you can't nitpick on a game that was designed to be difficult and unforgiving for being too difficult and unforgiving. Play further than the first dungeon and then create a new game. You'll wonder what you thought was so hard about those parts.

Oh yeah and dodging varies depending on your class, and is a roll to the side, NOT a step backwards. Man I can't believe people are putting what you say as fact when it's clearly riddled with uninformed crap and you didn't even complete fifty percent of the game. I know it's for comedy and it's your job to nitpick on stupid shit but man, people should stop taking it seriously.

And no save points? The game saves every time you gain experience, and after you get an item. Have you ever played Diablo, or any loot grabbing dungeon crawler? That's what happens there too. If you abort mid-mission, you have to start over, but keep everything you earned so far. And there are save points midlevel. Yet again, complaining because it's difficult.

This proves you played it for a few hours and it beat you and now you'd rather play those hand holding self-esteem raising games you "hate". That was the worst review from you I've ever seen. Your reviews usually have a point in with all that humour but this one was the worst representation of this game ever, full of contradictions and it was clear you didn't stick to your character style or level them.

Next time you call games these days too easy, make sure you don't call punishing and challenging games too hard.

 

[mGoLos]

You cant even pause it?!

Well screw that ...

Thanks man.

 

[sanzo]

I'm too lazy to go back and look up the quote, but someone said anyone who buys/doesn't buy a game based on Yahtzee's review is a moron.

I'd like to extrapolate on that: Anyone who buys/doesn't buy a game based on any review is a moron. Try it for yourselves

 

[Pyotr Romanov]

Dodging doesn't do shit? I don't know about that, I used it quite a lot and thought the dodging was fine.
The game isn't even that hard, it's just strict. Never has anything killed me without me thinking "Damn, I shouldn't have done that, well, I'll do better next time". Most of the time I screw up myself, the game isn't as unfair to do it for me.
But... I guess it's still good old ZP, I should not take it too seriously.

Demon's Souls is entirely fair, it's just unforgiving of you if you mess up.

Exactly. Finaly someone who gets it.

 

[waggonforce]

I feel bad for Yahtzee and all the people he just convinced to not play this game. It is now one of my favorite games of all time, not just because of the ZOMG HARD hype, but because it was legitimately challenging and very little was actually unfair.

It is DESIGNED to make you mess up, make you fall for all the pitfalls that Yahtzee fell for, so he rage quit over it and said it was pointless to go on. This game requires time, patience, and practice, and when you finally overcome each challenge (assuming it takes you time for any particular challenge) it is a massive sense of accomplishment. Beating the Tower Knight (2nd boss, Yahtzee was ALMOST there) was so fulfilling it reminded me why I played video games in the first place, and I feel bad if you are denying yourself the experience.

Yeah, it may take more time to beat the first couple levels of this game than it would to fall asleep through the entirety of MW2, but you'll really get something out of it. Go ahead and say it's "too hard," you're the only one missing out, because I love this game. Kudos to anyone who stuck with it.

 

[Donttazemehbro]

yeah Demon'ssssssss souls doesn't deserve the rating it got.

Yes it does, I'm sick of these below 100 post tards who think anything Yahtzee says is true without even playing the damn game. Having an Xbox avatar doesn't do much for your credibility either

Yep it's hard and I LIKE IT. You have to learn your battle patterns and each enemy's weakness. Each death is a learning experience. Best game this gen imo instead of all that overrated crap that Infinity Ward keep churning out.

Sorry Yahtzee but you can't nitpick on a game that was designed to be difficult and unforgiving for being too difficult and unforgiving. Play further than the first dungeon and then create a new game. You'll wonder what you thought was so hard about those parts.

Oh yeah and dodging varies depending on your class, and is a roll to the side, NOT a step backwards. Man I can't believe people are putting what you say as fact when it's clearly riddled with uninformed crap and you didn't even complete fifty percent of the game. I know it's for comedy and it's your job to nitpick on stupid shit but man, people should stop taking it seriously.

And no save points? The game saves every time you gain experience, and after you get an item. Have you ever played Diablo, or any loot grabbing dungeon crawler? That's what happens there too. If you abort mid-mission, you have to start over, but keep everything you earned so far. And there are save points midlevel. Yet again, complaining because it's difficult.

This proves you played it for a few hours and it beat you and now you'd rather play those hand holding self-esteem raising games you "hate". That was the worst review from you I've ever seen. Your reviews usually have a point in with all that humour but this one was the worst representation of this game ever, full of contradictions and it was clear you didn't stick to your character style or level them.

Next time you call games these days too easy, make sure you don't call punishing and challenging games too hard.

LOL, defensive. All im saying is that i tried it and returned it. Im not criticizing your for liking it. Im just saying i didn't. Thats what Yahtzee does, nitpick and find every thing thats wrong and thats what makes him funny. Live with it, if u dont care then why are u letting this get to you. Oh and my avatar, i liked the picture better than the premade ones so i chose this. So what