Please support Game Informer. Print magazine subscriptions are less than $2 per issue
Demon's Souls
This Japanese import has a bounty of treasures. Its deep brawler-like combat varies radically depending on what type of weapon you use, whom you’re fighting, and how you’ve built your character. The rich atmosphere created by its stunning visuals and outstanding audio is often creepy, sometimes breathtaking, and always engrossing. Its impressive breadth of content supports dozens of hours of play on a single run-through. Innovative use of the Internet to facilitate player interactions including, but not limited to, co-op and competitive play greatly improves the experience.
Almost none of it is accessible in the least. You’ll die in Demon’s Souls. A lot. Two or three hits from an enemy is often enough to kill you, and it’s not uncommon to be ganged up on. Every time you perish, you lose all of your souls (which function as both experience points and money) and are sent back to the beginning of the level -- which might be 45 minutes or more of fighting behind you. If you can make it back to where you died, you can retrieve what you lost. However, all of the enemies have respawned and your equipment has lost durability.
Beating the first level -- even with one of the easier character classes -- might take a dozen deaths for a reasonably skilled player. For someone having a hard time wrapping their head around the controls, or less experienced with 3D brawler melee combat, it might take more like 30.
The flip side of all this is the fantastic sense of accomplishment you get when you finally kill that boss (who, incidentally, is probably effectively immune to your weapons. Hope you brought some special items!). None of the superlative compliments to the game above are exaggeration. Demon’s Souls is one of the hardest and most rewarding experiences RPG fans will have this year -- if they’re up to the challenge.
Products In This Article
I’d like to ask you to support Game Informer’s continued coverage of games with a subscription. For less than two dollars per issue, we mail you a full year of 10 print magazines, each with cover stories and preview features filled with exclusive details about the most exciting upcoming games. We profile and interview game creators. We look back on the rich history of gaming, and we celebrate what’s next.
Here on the website, we offer much of our content for free, including game reviews, daily news, videos, event coverage, and more – all with minimal ads.
We do so with a small editorial team, alongside contributing paid writers from around the world – over 65 individuals from 9 countries around the world, just in the last couple of years.
It’s not possible without support.
In a time when game makers and games coverage have faced hard struggles and layoffs, the future of this 30+ year magazine and community is at risk. Our new standalone magazine subscription is the number one way you can keep us alive – and we believe you’ll get a pretty fantastic gaming magazine in your mailbox every few weeks for your trouble.
Thank you.
