[PS3] Demon Souls

[patsu]

That's the page I used to verify my WT. The surest way is to visit special locations where Black Phantom appears. In Pure White WT, they usually appear as real human.

 

[patsu]

Hey, people have been holding Demon's Souls cross-site PvP tournament on the US server and I didn't know. Wish they built spectating into the game

http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/954345-demons-souls/55647372

Atlus VS Wikidot.
Wikidot wins 7-5. Ilkarraven and LunarHostility remained for their team

Wikidot VS Gamegaqs.
Wikidot wins 7-5 Ilkarraven and Ryuzaki remained.

Atlus VS Gamefaqs.
Gamefaqs wins 7-6. A2thecs won the last fight against True Rememberance

This means Wikidot won in the advanced category. Congrats to them.

...

The Euro tournament is coming soon:
http://demonssouls.wikidot.com/pvp-tournaments

EU. tournament
August 7th,8pm london time
Soul level: 120 (100-130)
Organizer PSN ID: DeathEleament

 

[N_B]

Online support confirmed to at least March 2011 for the US. Seems a bit too soon, but I guess Atlus doesn't have a lot of experience with online games.

http://www.justpushstart.com/2010/07/21/demons-souls-is-not-yet-dead-online-support-continues/

Atlus is pleased to announce today that the online support for Demon’s Souls, exclusively on the PlayStation 3, will continue until next year.

Fans who love playing Demon’s Souls will don’t have to worry about losing the online support function until March 2011. The World Tendency event will continue and to celebrate the awesome news today, the world will be switched into Pure Tendency, making the game slightly easier to newcomers who just picked the game up.

I assume the tendency event is US only..

 

[Scott_Arm]

I think it has less to do with experience in the online market than it does money.

 

[patsu]

It looks like a simple extension of their previous server deadline.

Atlus also makes use of the opportunity to highlight the (new ?) $30 price.

The game is indeed still spreading based on word of mouth. The GAF thread continues to linger on the first page because of user posts like this: http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=22514771&postcount=33288

 

[minimoke]

Just killed the Phalanx Demon!

I'm really enjoying this game but it's flippin' hard

 

[patsu]

Phalanx is a piece of cake (literally).

The FlameLurker:
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=22614056&postcount=33584

.. and the Man-eater (mentioned in the previous post) are more representative of the Demon's Souls bosses.

 

[minimoke]

Yeah, the Armor Spider was a LOT tougher!

Had to get up close and personal with a Scimitar +5

 

[nightshade]

Armor Spider is a cake, just hide in the crevice & wait, once it stops attacking you can go halfway to cast some fire spells and then come back to hide again....repeat this 10 times & its dead.

 

[patsu]

Yap, I respect people who go toe to toe against DS bosses. For Armored Spider, if you have a good bow,

Spoiler

you can hide beside the boss entrance (right side) and fire at it freely until it dies. There is no need to dodge incoming projectile if you stand at the right spot.

 

[nightshade]

There's normally a message while playing online at that spot telling that its safe to stay there

 

[patsu]

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/uk-demons-souls-virtually-sold-out

The Black Phantom Edition of terrific PS3 role-playing game Demon's Souls has - but for a few "dribs and drabs" - sold out in the UK, according to publisher Namco Bandai Partners.

"I can't give you a number, but what I mean by an 'amazing success' is that all the stock we built of the Black Phantom Edition has sold out (apart from dribs and drabs)," Lee Kirton, marketing and PR manager for Namco Bandai Partners UK, told Eurogamer.

...

"We haven't done hundreds of thousands of units," he added, "but we've been pleased."

Demon's Souls: Black Phantom Edition, released 25th June, spent just two weeks in the UK all-formats top 40 chart - entering in sixth and then falling to 20th a week later.

This Friday, Namco Bandai will release the standard edition of Demon's Souls at the much cheaper price of £34.99.

 

[Akumajou]

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/uk-demons-souls-virtually-sold-out

Great news this really makes me want to write to the Official US Playstation magazine and blasting them for their coverage (or lack of) of Demon's Souls can't really do that with other magazines since they are confirmed sellouts...

Great news lets hope the sales continue we really need the message being spread.

Also really enjoyed reading Demon's Souls' director Hidetaka Miyazaki's Eurogamer interview that was linked in the story.

 

[minimoke]

The Black Phantom Edition sold out in Australia too!

 

[patsu]

New Demon's Souls interview with Edge:
http://www.next-gen.biz/features/interview-demons-souls?page=0,0

“I’m no fan of the genre westerners refer to as the JRPG,” says Takeshi Kajii, the producer at Sony Computer Entertainment who first approached From Software with the proposition to rediscover a lost breed of action game. “I’ve always loved the dark fantasy genre, from Wizardry right through to King’s Field. Yet games that assume that aesthetic these days are usually, at their heart, more like science-fiction. So my desire was to revisit this lost area of gaming, to rediscover a charismatic corner of the medium.”

...

For game director Hidetaka Miyazaki, the interest was shared.

...

Miyazaki explains. “I never had a videogame influence in mind when writing the design documents. Of course, people need to make comparisons and our game has been likened to Diablo, Wizardry, Monster Hunter and even Bushido Blade. But none quite fit. I think this is because our orientation for the game was so different. We weren’t built around cutscenes or scenario, as in so many action-RPGs. Rather, our aim was to have the player feel rewarded simply by playing the game. Not for completing a quest or finding a prize or winning loot, but simply by playing and experiencing the game.”

...

“When we first demo’d Demon’s Souls at the Tokyo Game Show it was nothing short of a disaster,” explains Kajii. “People were initially excited about the idea of a dark fantasy game, but they were so critical of the gameplay. Many people presumed we were still working on the combat at that stage of development, despite it being nearly finished!

...

[Read it yourself, mate. Not going to summarize all the way]

EDIT:
Finally read it till the end:

”The theme of risk permeates the game itself, where players are constantly tested, and the stakes are continually raised. “Initially the plan was to have the game feature perma-death, where death of the character would result in the save file being erased,” Kajii laughs.

 

[Cornsnake]

We weren?t built around cutscenes or scenario, as in so many action-RPGs. Rather, our aim was to have the player feel rewarded simply by playing the game. Not for completing a quest or finding a prize or winning loot, but simply by playing and experiencing the game.?

More games should try to do this. All too often they rely on repetitive gameplay for petty rewards. And I think it greatly improves the sense of immersion.

 

[nightshade]

More & more games these days rely on pre-determined set pieces to give you all the oohs & aahs instead of the gameplay to provide the same.

 

[patsu]

Yeah, I am a little worried KZ3 may be heading that way. Let's see.

 

[Cornsnake]

Yeah, I am a little worried KZ3 may be heading that way. Let's see.

I thought KZ3 was heading in the opposite direction. More open levels should make pre-determined set pieces more difficult to do. Of course they can still do more scripted stuff in between.

 

[patsu]

You're right. It's going open level, better online, more action (jet pack, melee), more destruction, plus 3D together.

The open level does not promise more interesting gameplay/interaction. Online is under-wrapped.

From the marketing material, I get the feeling that they are working very hard on the (720-targeted) 3D visuals and set pieces (which I like), but am worried that they get carried away. The press demo dwelt on 3D, jet pack, explosions/destructions and melee, which is expected. The actual combat/gunfight mechanics became secondary. I hope they don't forget about basic stuff like enemy AI (teamwork ?), pacing, level design, gunplay, etc.

EDIT: Oh yes, they did talk about revamped aiming. Will have to see how they manage everything together.

In comparison, DS is about very basic exploration, encounter and reward system. There is not much fanciful visual effects. The nice looking things (e.g., the bosses, environmental hazards like the dragons) are all interactive and "touchable" by the character, just like everything else in the game. Little details are overflowing with "personality": from the way the NPCs behave, to every single combat move, every step taken (Look, messages on the floor and white ghosts everywhere !), and death.