Demon's Souls

[Andromeda]

Atlus finally released Demon's Souls for the US last week. It's one of those RPGs that beats you rather than you beat it, in a manner of speaking. You learn by dying and you die a lot. But the game has a lot of interesting and fun mechanics. Like when other people die their deaths are recorded and you can view their deaths to see what they were doing to get an idea of what not to do. It can also give you an idea of enemies in the area if you just see them drop from surprise. It is also fun to see those that go diving off ledges to their death.

But in addition to that you can also leave messages to people. They'll be on the ground and other people passing through the same areas as you can read them. You can be helpful or a jerk depending on your mood. So you can alert people to an ambush or leave hints to some puzzle or confusion. Sort of like a living walkthrough and people can recommend the hints which will then restore life back you to when it happens. Which is a nice plus to being helpful. If you don't want the help then you can just ignore them, but you'll probably get a little edge on things with the blood of the dead, you can turn that off though. So you can play completely free.

I haven't gotten too far into the game, but you can invade other people's games and if you wish hunt them down and kill them. The main reason you would want to do this, besides being evil, is when you die you come back in Soul Form. The Soul Form has less HP, but if you kill another player in soul form you can return to your living body. You can also join other people's games and provide assistance to them as well.

So there is a fun little balance between things.

Anyone else pick up this game? I got one shot'ed by the tutorial boss. Yeah, that's pretty crazy. Die a lot so far? If we're lucky we might be able to play together. I haven't done it yet, so I don't know how it all works.

[LocoColt04]

I haven't picked mine up yet because I'm poor, but my deluxe edition is sitting locked up in a drawer at work until I do so :3

Andro, we should play post-Friday once I've got it in my possession!

I was watching my boss try to do the multiplayer though; it seems like the only real flaw in the game is the matching system... how there isn't a "friends-only" option when you're laying out your marker to be summoned into a multiplayer game. He got summoned into six other worlds before he finally managed to hide it well enough to be summoned by the right player. Also, no option to do in-game VoIP with headsets? They all just Skype on their computers while they play, but major inconvenience.

STILL, flaws aside, what I've seen from the gameplay looks AMAZING.

[Andromeda]

Yeah, I think I have to beat the world 1-1 first before I can do multiplayer, which I don't know when I'll be able to do. I've only played for a couple hours last night on it and I'm still stuck there. It's not hard except for these one guys that I haven't figure out how to beat in a reasonable time. They have solid defenses plus healing items.

But yeah that was what I was hearing about the multiplayer options. But like you said I guess if you plan it out ahead and making placing it in a specific spot that no one else will then you should be fine. Hopefully, by Friday I'll be through the first level. It's rough be stuck in soul form.

[Unknown Entity]

It's a game I want, but can't get my grubby paws on it just yet - there is no European release date. ¬¬

Or there might, but I've not checked today. >>;;

I can't wait though. I love a game which poses as a challenge (one reason I loved Shadow of the Colossus and the small demo amount of ICO I played). And all the online features sound awesome - invading other peoples games? Perfect for if you're in the mood to rampage and destroy. Not that I'm that kind of player... *coughs* all the time. I like helping too.

If/When it does come out over here, I'll play anyone who is up to a game. ^^

[Andromeda]

PS3's are region free and you can import it. The original Japanese release had English subs and dubs to start. ^^; So a lot of people not willing to wait just imported it and played on Japanese servers. So if you don't want to wait on Atlus being too lazy just to release the same game in Europe you can pick it up here. Honestly, Atlus probably did very little localizing for this game since it was already localized to begin with. >.> Should have come a long time ago.

[WilsonDean1990]

So is this game on one big server JPN, NSTC & EU can all play with each other

or

Is it like MGO with separate servers for separate regions

[Andromeda]

There are regional servers as best as I can tell, but I think it depends on the game disc you have which server you're dropped on. Either that or your PSN account, but seeing as I haven't talked to someone that has imported the game I don't know.

[DragonHeart]

At first it didn't seem like a game I'd like but the more I hear about this the more I want to at least give it a shot. It'll be a tough choice though, what with Dragon Age coming out in a couple days...

I keep hearing about the relentless difficulty, which is putting me off a bit. I don't mind a challenge but if it's throw the controller at the wall frustrating, I may pass. Andro, what do you think is the most difficult/frustrating aspects of the game so far? It doesn't sound like it but it would suck if the difficulty came from being cheap rather than any actual challenge.

~DragonHeart~

[Andromeda]

The great thing about the game is that its only hard if you don't play smart. It is challenging, but in a rewarding way. Almost all of the times I've died have been from mistakes I've made not from the game being cheap. Once you figure out the enemy they are quiet easy to deal with. And the thing that I've noticed a lot is that the first area you are in after the tutorial is really, really hard. This really because you aren't use to the game and you can level up, you don't gain the access to leveling until you've been the first boss. So the introduction is really steep, but they pretty much force to learn how to play the game through trial by fire. If you can't beat the first area you certainly don't stand a chance against the rest of the game. But the more you die the more you learn about the enemy and their weakness. It is all about knowing your enemy and how to deal with each attack that they have. Plus being cautious. If you run everywhere you'll end up dead really quick. So you learn to be slow and move with your shield up all the time waiting, knowing there is an ambush around some corner. But the thing is once you finish the first area I felt the game really became pretty simple. The learn curve is high, but once you learn the game its not that bad. After that it is just remembering that you have to adapt to the new situations. New enemies come with new problems, but being alert and careful will get you a lot further than attacking.

The game has certainly made me frustrated, but I just kept coming back learning what I needed to change in my tactics and what failed me each time. That is the biggest thing about the game. It'll frustrate you, but you want to try again because you know what you did wrong and you can do it differently the next time. Plus the multiplayer part of the game is simply awesome. I really do wish more games had multiplayer this like game. I would say if you love RPGs and enjoy a healthy challenge pick this game up and quickly, since it'll probably disappear fast. The game will make you work for your victory, but you'll really enjoy that victory when you get it.

Wish Loco was around to play with me. I made a new character to play with him. If you pick up the game we can play together Dragonheart.

Oh and the game has really good atmosphere I can only imagine how this game feels in a HDTV with surround sound. The Tower of Latria scares me so much that I have to pace myself, but I'm not big into horror games so its pretty easy to freak me out. It doesn't help that you carry your light source on your belt at all times and the light source inside only has a range of like ten feet, but it is really muddy at that ten feet. So hearing all of the sounds that I can't see, but know are out there freak me out to no end. But I survived!

There even a boss that summons another player and forces you to fight a human player. Which I thought was an awesome idea. The game allow you to pick if you want to help someone's game or invade their game and try to kill them. However, in this one area regardless of which you chose you can be pulled in by the boss as an enemy even though you were wanting to help someone. You can still allow yourself to be killed to help them, but its a really awesome idea for a boss fight.

I can't sing the games praise enough. ^^; Its really worth the experience.

[DragonHeart]

Hmm, so it's not just the hack'n slash the trailers make it out to be. Interesting. Then again it's like movies, they only show the parts that will sell well. I will definitely consider this one. Actually a Gamestop just opened in the same plaza as my workplace, maybe I'll check it out tomorrow. I've been in the mood to play a new RPG lately so I'm checking out the few prospects for PS3.

I'll definitely let you know if/when I pick it up, which probably won't be too far in the future. Sounds like it may be more to my tastes than I originally thought.

~DragonHeart~

[Andromeda]

It certainly will look like a hack and slash game, but if you approach it with the same tactics you would in a hack and slash game you'll be dead really fast. ^^; Slow and steady wins the race as they say. The thing that will really probably surprise you is how empty the place can be with enemies. Since the game does not really rely on numbers to kill, but individuals that are strong. But the game does do a really good job of make you feel like the whole world is against you and you're just hopelessly trying to scratch your way through.

There's a PSN only PS3 game that's a RPG coming out, but it may not be up your alley. It's very Japanese, but its got a fun concept of playing a hero finding a wife and then depending on who you marry your child will have different abilities and attributes which you then play through him for a couple generations of story. It's called Record of Agarest War and they're only releasing it on the PSN here in the US even though it got a normal release in Japan and Europe. ; ; But its coming out soon if you're looking for a totally niche JRPG.

[DragonHeart]

Sounds very niche but normally it wouldn't have a release at all here, right? Hopefully with the lower costs of digital distribution we'll see more unusual titles making their way across.

Anyways, I did end up getting Demon's Souls today and...wow, that's not just a curve, it's a learning cliff lol. I don't usually play action RPGs so that didn't help much, I'm sure. It took several hours and five different characters but I finally toppled Phalanx not too long ago. He was a surprisingly easy boss though, reminds me a lot of Barinade from Ocarina of Time. Probably a good thing, I would have been so mad if I died to him.

It's not cheap at all but I find I'm having a really hard time getting used to the combat system. I can't even remember half the controls. >_> Wouldn't suppose you have any tips for non-action RPGers.

That's as far as I got, figure I'll pick it up again tomorrow. Need to figure out where I should go next anyways, wouldn't want to stumble into an area I really shouldn't be visiting too early.

~DragonHeart~

[Andromeda]

Yeah it is a sheer surface straight up pretty much. ^^; But once you get a handle of the level and beat it, the rest pretty much falls into place really quickly. Yeah, Phalanx is a surprising easy boss, but they rest are certainly more difficult. But drop me a line on AIM or something if you want to co-op. I've got that second character I was talking about that I can join you with.

As for tips, the game controls end up being pretty straightforward as least I thought. L1 is normal attack for left hand and R1 is normal attack for right hand and then L2 and R2 is the strong attack. For shields you just hold it and keeps it up and for catalysts L1/R1 is magic and L2/R2 is the whack the monster with your catalyst. You'll probably have to tell me which controls you're forgetting. I think I had trouble at the beginning to remember the which do what, but after playing it enough it all worked itself out. For me, time is best tip I can give. Just play it and it'll be come second nature, especially after all of the deaths. ^^; I replayed World 1-1 a lot (Phalanx area) to grind out some souls for levels and spells. So that got me some good experience on the controls and combat. I actually got good enough to go through most of the area two handing my sword for extra damage.

Since you beat Phalanx, what did you think of the moment with the dragon on that bridge full of soldiers? I ran so fast away when I saw that.

As for places to go, I believe the worlds get progressively more challenging as you go through them 1-5 in order. I found world 4 be especially rough due to the type of monsters that come after you. World 1 isn't too bad and is pretty good place for beginners to the game to get time to feel comfortable. I would say if you want a change of scenery without being too bad, World 2 would be a good choice. If you scare easy I'd wait on World 3. I haven't been to World 5 yet so I can't say.

I've completely the first three worlds with the last boss in the fourth world to beat. After that I just have the five world and then the final boss.

And yeah, Agarest is very niche. So I'm grateful we're getting the game, but if Atlus or NISA had picked it up we would have gotten a disc release. ; ; Playing the game is better than nothing though. I get the feeling it is going to be subtitles only too.

[DragonHeart]

I think I'm finally getting a handle on it, I just suck at parrying.

The dragon was awesome...until I had to try and outrun him on those bridges. Easy way to get some souls though lol. I've actually not been torched by it yet, at least not fatally. Stood a little too close on that last bridge and got semi-barbecued.

I got blocked at the end of that bridge for awhile, damn crossbowmen and blue eyed knights. I spent most of the morning farming and upgraded my weapons/shield quite a bit, plus finally some much needed stat raising. I think I only got frustrated because you can't really progress your character much at all until after defeating Phalanx. At least now if I need to I can grind a few levels to help make things easier.

I did get to the Tower Knight but...he killed me. I took out all the crossbowmen and everything, he just backed me into a corner and stomped me flat into the ground. >.< I'm too slow to really dodge him that well. I only knocked him down once. At least now that I know what to expect actually getting to him isn't all that bad but I'm rather wary of going after him again right away. Might go back to farming for a bit.

~DragonHeart~

[Andromeda]

Yeah the blue eye knights are the rough ones in the bunch until you meet the red eye knight with the spear in 1-1. Hitting the stone catapult balls to kill all of the zombies is fun, but the souls aren't that much. The best souls to grind are off the red eye knight, but only if you have a ranged weapon or spell and the thief ring helps too.

I remember the Tower Knight, guy beat me the first time too, but I actually ended up taking the opposite approach that is intended. I nuked him with fire balls at a safe distance rather than getting up on his legs. I was too afraid of getting stomped since I'm a weakling magician.

You can kill the dragon in 1-2 if you want. You just need a lot of arrows.

And yeah I'm pretty bad at parrying as well. So I just go shield, but being the magician I went shield and spear for the longest time until I got the Crescent Scimitar, which has MP regen on it. And now I go almost all sword and shield again with my Sticky Composite Long Bow and Silver Catalyst on my secondary slots.