So The World Might Be Mended...
Demon's Souls is an amazing game. An amazing, crushingly difficult, death-prone, seemingly unfair one, but an amazing game nonetheless. Go buy it.
Published: October 8, 2009
How can something so blatantly difficult be fun, then? There's no one right way to answer that, of course, just as there's no proper way to explain why this game is hands-down one of the best games ever made (not, it's not hyperbole, I assure you). The secret lies somewhere in the mounting sense of dread that piles atop you the further into the level you go. Oh, sure, you could go back, but what if you just head around this corn-BAM. DEAD.
Death carries with it a far heavier price than in other games, too. By killing enemies, you collect souls, the game's currency. It will allow you to buy upgrades to your base stats, which in turn will allow you to essentially sculpt your character into anything you want. Though you're given the option to create your character from the start, the "classes" are really just shortcuts to certain starting bits of equipment and base statistics. From there, you decide how you'll play, be it a long-ranged archer or magic user or close-up melee fighter -- or a little of both (something I highly recommend). Souls are also the key to buying new spells or miracles (read: dark/light magic, though they're essentially the same outside of what equipment is required to cast them), to buying new weapons and armor, and to upgrading that equipment, letting you stick with a loadout as long as you'd like (or until something really good comes along). They're also the way to get restoratives, though those can be found on slain enemies in decent numbers.
When you die. You lose your souls. There is no bank, no place to squirrel them away for safekeeping, and no way to sell equipment to get more souls. When die, that's it. You can chance running all the way back to where you last died and touch your body, regaining all those souls, but if you're killed on the way back, that becomes your only recovery point; all those other souls are gone forever. There are items that are effectively encapsulated souls, but if you use them while out in the world and they're added to your purse, you lose those too when you die. Yes, it's harsh, but that's kind of the idea. Rush into the fray and you will be put down like the overzealous fool you are. There comes a time when this too clicks and then you can only sit back and laugh at those that would complain about how unfair it all is. Like some wizened vet of a far-off war, you'll just chuckle and explain that them's the breaks, kid. It happened before and it'll happen again, and the sooner one comes to grips with that, the faster the game's real appeal can take hold.
Plenty of the attraction will come from just finding out who you are. Oh, you're the savoir of a world that was overtaken by a dark and powerful mist, a world held bleak and near-hopeless by The Old One who will need to be captured once again or you'll never leave the Nexus, as it holds your soul for all eternity, effectively trapping you in this world. But who you are as a role is entirely up to you. How you build your stats determines equipment and proficiency with it, but the ways in which you can deal damage or protect yourself are incredibly varied. Adopt a sword and shield and you can block in coming attacks. Ah, but what kind of sword, be it a rapier or a scimitar or a mace. Okay, so a mace isn't really a sword, but neither is a two-handed battle axe or a magic wand or a staff, all of which can have magical enchantments and, most importantly, all carry with them entirely unique attack animations.
Those attacks come in a quick and a heavy flavor, but they can also change depending on whether a shield is equipped (a rapier, for instance can be used while blocking), or whether you're holding that weapon with two hands vs. one. Attack speeds, damage dealt, clearance radius, wind-up times... all of these are different and all change the range at which you'll attack and how frequently. One thing is for sure, though: you'll be doing so with the utmost care. Most first encounters with enemies are do-or-die; either you'll kill them or they'll eventually kill you, and the potential for gang-ups or enemies attacking you from afar is great.
