[2real4tv]

Seen this posted in GAF, fighting looks clunky but boss fights look awesome:

[obonicus]

Wow, it's a dragon alien.

[2real4tv]

thanks Al

[one]

official trailer (same as the above)
http://www.jp.playstation.com/movie/...mons-souls.asx
official website
http://www.jp.playstation.com/scej/title/demons-souls/

It has an interesting coop concept, you can summon up to 2 phantoms of dead soldiers who are other players. A summoned soul can help another player by showing how to enter hidden doors, leave graffiti, etc. By helping others they can be resurrected (or continue the game).

Also those who die leave bloodstain, when other players reach the location they can see it as a sign of danger. It plays back memories of how they died too.

[2real4tv]

Thanks was looking for a better trailer, this will be first day for me.

[patsu]

Cool, I missed this. When is it coming ?

[obonicus]

I'm still skeptical since people who played this at TGS said it was terrible.

[patsu]

Where can I find more info ? I only saw what one posted above.

[obonicus]

Originally Posted by patsu

Where can I find more info ? I only saw what one posted above.

Try going to that one popular gaming messageboard The GAF and look through the TGS '08 thread (maybe there's a Demon Soul one). Or listen to podcasts, I think 1-up yours from around that time had Shane criticizing it. Gaming journalists being what they are, they're not going to go on the record and say that some game looks terrible in a preview.

[2real4tv]

Originally Posted by patsu

Cool, I missed this. When is it coming ?

Feb. 5 according to a post in GAF
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthre...1#post14283121

[zoekimball]

In Asia, right? No word on US/EU release date.

[one]

Eurogamer is running a review.
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/demons-souls-review

[obonicus]

And that's a really good review. Not good because of the good score, but actually gives you a good idea of what the game is like.

[Gradthrawn]

From the Eurogamer review linked above, this wiki is helpful for importing, and links to a couple of other reviews.

Anyone here have it and care to share impressions?

[psorcerer]

Originally Posted by Gradthrawn

Anyone here have it and care to share impressions?

Finally I was able to order it and play, seems like backorder lists for this one are longer than Chinese Wall.
I can say only one thing: everything stated in Eurogamer review is true.

No, I need to emphasize it...
Just one millisecond of hesitation and you're dead.
Not concentrated enough even when killing the first, easiest mobs? They will tear you to pieces in a split of a second.
Do you think those slow moving zombies were easy cake? You'll be killed by insanely fast zombie-dogs a second later.

[Naboomagnoli]

I'm 60 hours in. I'd played 50 hours after about 10 days! Well worth getting imported, let alone waiting for the US release. I've been playing as a knight, as I always tend to do with these sorts of games, and the melee combat is as good as I've played in an RPG. It's a shame so little is done with the story really (and that most of the voiceovers, while all English, are hardly skilled actors), otherwise this'd be a comfortable 10.

The enemies and environments lend to an overbearing, suffocating sense of dread and gravitas. Your character feels mortal, partly because of the quality of the animation (for example, there is a separate, subtly more cumbersome walking animation for when you are heavily equipped), partly because you drop your souls at the point where you died, and partly because your human form is precious. If you die and become a soul you only have half your hit points, and the world in which you died shifts towards a blacker tendency, meaning enemies are harder and more numerous.
Combined with a black phantom (another player looking to kill you so they can be brought back to life from the soul form) being able to invade your game at any time to hunt you down, this is probably scarier than most horrors I've played of late. Thankfully you (the human you) can invite blue phantoms into your world, other players who offer their services to help you up to the point of defeating the next boss. Once this happens, they are rewarded by being brought back to human status and are given some souls based on how you rate their performance.

As it is, I'd heartily recommend it to anyone who thinks they'd have the stomach for working their way past respawned enemies to go and reclaim the souls they dropped at the point where they died - which doesn't really feel like a chore, as refighting the enemies with that extra knowledge you picked up the previous time makes the next battle that much easier and more satisfying. It's very much like working through an 80's montage to come out meaner and tougher at the end. There's nothing tiring about a successful parry and lethal riposte either.

To think, I've barely touched the magic besides a couple of protection / weapon enhancing spells. I'm decent with a bow but I've not really gone down that route so much, and I've started doing up some of the other weapons but I've got rapiers, spears, rods, maces, axes, katana and hand-to-hand weapons which I haven't got accustomed to at all.

There's a lot of game here. Yes it's a tough and cunning bastard but it's always fair, and you'll always want to improve.

[obonicus]

Oh, apparently Atlus is bringing this to NA. Not sure if there'll be any differences from the Asian version.

[Gradthrawn]

Originally Posted by Naboomagnoli

and partly because your human form is precious.

And a curse! Particularly in online mode. Having full health and being able to summon others is a god send. But knowing that you're now a target of Black Phantoms and that your death in one area can send its tendency into black, means you might not be as adventurous as before. Exploring unknown areas seems like it might not even be worth the risk anymore. As much as I like to keep my body, sometimes I'm relieved to lose it (sometimes even purposefully ).

[Sigfried1977]

I always tend to suicide in the Nexus. Your world tendency isn't affected that way. I only do it during actual combat levels if I want a full black world tendency shift (which makes it a lot easier to get the world to full white afterwards and nets you better enemy loot drops) The Cling ring makes fighting as a soul rather bearable actually. That's also my biggest gripe with the game: playing the game in body form is a little too risky in my opinion, especially since you probably don't carry PVP gear with you if you intend to slay regular enemies.

Anyway, I love that game. It's hella addicting and some of the stages make good old Silent Hill look and feel like a pleasant vacation trip. World 3 and 5 are simply insanely creepy. (5-3 Boss is pure awesomeness by the way)
Yesterday I got summoned by the game to be the level 3 boss. That's just an insanely cool idea if you ask me. I didn't even got to fight the player, though. I guess the Mindflayer before the boss room took care of him instead.

[Yemeth]

I have preordered the North American (Atlus) version... Hope the online play will not be laggy as I'm in Europe...

Looking forward to it, too bad I can now only choose one more game for end of year and Uncharted 2 (currently leading ), The Agency, Heavy Rain et al are also waiting...

Hope I will be able to play with some of you .

Cheers,

Mijo

[szymku]

I'm 6 hours into the game and it's excellent... I've been killed like every 5-10 minutes but that doesn't bother me at all... World creation, gameplay and atmosphere makes this game so addictive that you want to play it again and again...

[Rolf N]

Best western RPG in a long time. Love the desolate, nearly survival-horrorish atmosphere. Reminds me of Dungeon Master but with a much more modern structure.

Combat is very rhythm/cooldown based and is balanced quite well. Stamina depletes fast while fighting, so you only have three or four light strikes before you have to retreat for a bit. You can do heavy attacks if you think you can risk a longer setup time and more exposure. Blocking redirects damage taken to stamina and at the same time almost completely halts stamina recharge, which makes blocking strategic and turtling impossible. Counterattacks/"ripostes" are risky but very effective.

They made it depend on player skill more than on stats, too. You can be 30 hours in and still get killed in four or five hits by your regular starting-area enemies. Very challenging but rewarding game.

I also love the area designs. They seem so natural, not designed for a game in any obvious way, if that makes any sense.

[DrJay24]

I dread this game being to hard for me I hope they have a wimp choice in the NA release.

[szymku]

This game is all about being hard.... Every time you die, you are gaining knowlege about enemies, enviroment etc and next time you are doing better Theres one thing you have to rememeber while playing - death means losing all the souls which are necessary to develop your character and buy new weapons, therefore retreat is always an option

[I.S.T.]

Originally Posted by Rolf N

Best western RPG in a long time. Love the desolate, nearly survival-horrorish atmosphere. Reminds me of Dungeon Master but with a much more modern structure.

Combat is very rhythm/cooldown based and is balanced quite well. Stamina depletes fast while fighting, so you only have three or four light strikes before you have to retreat for a bit. You can do heavy attacks if you think you can risk a longer setup time and more exposure. Blocking redirects damage taken to stamina and at the same time almost completely halts stamina recharge, which makes blocking strategic and turtling impossible. Counterattacks/"ripostes" are risky but very effective.

They made it depend on player skill more than on stats, too. You can be 30 hours in and still get killed in four or five hits by your regular starting-area enemies. Very challenging but rewarding game.

I also love the area designs. They seem so natural, not designed for a game in any obvious way, if that makes any sense.

Western? It was developed by From Software!