Demon's Souls

gundamalpha said:

This game is great, finished it twice. The difficulty/penalty/challenge is the best feature of this game, something that many games are missing these days.

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So tell me...

At any point in the game did you get your hands on some rig that was anywhere close to what The Penetrator was wearing? That fucker was awesome.

Win

AncientFlounder said:

Got my copy in hand, but I gotta wait until I get home from work to play it. -_-

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I went four places and didn't find it.

Time for store #5!

Finally got the ability to level up my stats.

Lagduf said:

I went four places and didn't find it.

Time for store #5!

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And an hour later and a trip to Fry's (who always has everything the day it comes out) I finally found Demon's Souls.

And guess what?

It was only $49.99 for the Standard edition.

Awesome.

Lagduf said:

And an hour later and a trip to Fry's (who always has everything the day it comes out) I finally found Demon's Souls.

And guess what?

It was only $49.99 for the Standard edition.

Awesome.

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Whoa...to Frys i go

Kid Aphex said:

Whoa...to Frys i go

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I forgot to mention the sticker on the case listed it as $59.99 but when the clerk rang it up it was $49.99 and the receipt said "DEMON'S SOULS $49.99" so maybe it's a special?

Sp0o/\/?! said:

So tell me...

At any point in the game did you get your hands on some rig that was anywhere close to what The Penetrator was wearing? That fucker was awesome.

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"Penetrator's Trophy"

Don't most men already have that one?

Lagduf said:

"Penetrator's Trophy"

Don't most men already have that one?

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zing

But seriously he's retardedly awesome. Great name too. Like an evil monty python character or something

Sp0o/\/?! said:

zing

But seriously he's retardedly awesome. Great name too.

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Well I only just defeated the first Demon

I've got a ways to go.

Those vids make this game look pretty damned impressive.
Can anyone comment more about what the actual gameplay feels like? Is the combat fast, responsive, etc? How's the music?

Just spend the night playing this for the first time. Just finished area 1-1. Just can't decide which world to choose next!

I am liking this game a lot. Only minor quibbles (the auto-targeting has pissed me off a couple times already). Playing this games really takes me back to the excitement and sense of adventure I felt when I played Diablo for the first time. I haven't felt this kind of gaming rush in a while (though it could just be those British accents).


What classes are other people playing? What world did you challenge first?

I've died some many times

What irks me is the area right after you beat the first big demon at the Boletarian Palace(the blob thing with shield.)

At Phalanx Archstone - Fuck that Dragon, seriously.

It's easy to to advance forward - but not so easy to go backwards to the nexus.

I don't think it's possible to go backwards without getting hit by the Dragon at least once.

It seems like you should be able to go inside the tunnel but there is a closed gate.

Also, I found it impossible to beat the Wolves with the weapon I started with. The Halberd is all kinds of kick ass until you fight something really fast. Not to mention you hit the walls of the corridors with it, which will stop your attack most of the time.

Weak.

On the part just before you enter the fog to fight the Tower Knight boss, will the dragon killl you if you keep backing up?

astrodan88 said:

What classes are other people playing? What world did you challenge first?

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So far i've gone in to three worlds, took a peak at two to see what they look like but i'm focusing on Archstone of the Little King.

I'm playing as a Temple Knight.

So what's the verdict on this game for you guys? I'll have a lot on my plate soon enough, but if this title is really stellar, I'd like to hear about it. Fill me in.

What an amazing game. Started out with a hunter but switched to a knight and worked through 1-1. Got to where I could finally advance my stats and called it a night.

I love the combat in this. Although I died so many times to that red eyed knight with the spear. I'm going to go back and tackle him now that I have the shortcut gates opened up.

One of the best PS3 games to date for the action/rpg/insane difficulty lovers out there.

My second time through 1-1 was during pure white tendency and neither of the dragons were around. The tendency really adds some interesting twists to the stages.

I've been playing Royalty because I feel like spell-slinging. Also, Water Veil is excellent for not getting 1-shotted by dragonfire.

Lagduf said:

On the part just before you enter the fog to fight the Tower Knight boss, will the dragon killl you if you keep backing up?

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Took me forever to get past that. Ranged attacks vs the fighters at the gate will get you killed by the dragon. I think you have to run up to the fighters and engage at point blank, though using Turpentine before running past the dragon does wonders.

This game has the best dragons I can remember seeing in an RPG, hands down. They do tend to fly repetitive patterns for the purpose of gameplay, but so many RPGs have dragons that land next to you and try to claw/bite you while you cut them to death. This game, they use all their advantages, flight, airspeed, aerial breath attacks, armor, and they seem to be invincible to a low-level character.

neojedi said:

I've been playing Royalty because I feel like spell-slinging. Also, Water Veil is excellent for not getting 1-shotted by dragonfire.


Took me forever to get past that. Ranged attacks vs the fighters at the gate will get you killed by the dragon. I think you have to run up to the fighters and engage at point blank, though using Turpentine before running past the dragon does wonders.

This game has the best dragons I can remember seeing in an RPG, hands down. They do tend to fly repetitive patterns for the purpose of gameplay, but so many RPGs have dragons that land next to you and try to claw/bite you while you cut them to death. This game, they use all their advantages, flight, airspeed, aerial breath attacks, armor, and they seem to be invincible to a low-level character.

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If you're lucky and the guys at the gate are close enough together you can kill them in 1-2 quick hits if you have a long weapon.

I have a halberd, which can hit multiple enemies at once.

This is my main weapon for now, until I get in real tight situations - like underneath the tower wall where the wolves are.

I simply could not beat the wolves with the halberd - had to use a short sword. So thats what I use inside small areas, even though the halberd is sooo much more powerful.

Funny, I read the instruction manual and it actually suggests you use two weapons - one for groups and one for tight areas. It even said using large weapons in tight corridors will cause you to hit walls, hah!

Also I didn't realize it but the "class" you pick only effects your your starting stats. The instruction manual specifically states your class doesn't change how you level up or what weapons and gear you have access too.

Turpentine is indeeded awesome - but have you found any "White Sticky Stuff" (another quality Atlus translation?) - that will will enchant your weapon and make it pretty damn powerful.

The best part about this game so far?

You die in the tutorial. Hahaha.

Picked up a copy today.

Made a red haired bitch in the wanderer class.

Badass game so far but it's hard as hell. I can see it being very time consuming even for an RPG.

The atmosphere in this game is great as is the presentation and art direction.

Ok, if you guys AREN'T taking advantage of the online functionality of this game you are missing out.

Just beat the tower night with another guy. That was epic. I was a soul and figured why the hell not see if I can get in another game.

Made it way easier, plus having the tower knight distracted between 2 persons was great.

Someone left a sign on a cliff that said, "Take a step forward." Needless to say I went splat and left a blood stain

Snuh said:

Someone left a sign on a cliff that said, "Take a step forward." Needless to say I went splat and left a blood stain

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Ahahahaha.

Lagduf said:

Ok, if you guys AREN'T taking advantage of the online functionality of this game you are missing out.

Just beat the tower night with another guy. That was epic. I was a soul and figured why the hell not see if I can get in another game.

Made it way easier, plus having the tower knight distracted between 2 persons was great.

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This aspect of it really intrigues me...it just sounds fun as hell to leave good stuff and misleading notes behind for other players.

Should I be using Demon's Souls when I get them or should I save them?

EDIT: Anyone fought/been a black phantom yet?

I had a phantom invade my world - he killed me It was a good duel though, and I had him a single hit away before he took a potion after running away.

Loopz said:

This aspect of it really intrigues me...it just sounds fun as hell to leave good stuff and misleading notes behind for other players.

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It really is quite interesting how this works.

Obviously I'd prefer a system where I can team up with my friends and work together with actual communication, but the online component is cool and it works.

The notes are pretty interesting, and they've helped me before - stuff like "treasure this way" or particularly "beware ambush ahead" or "trap ahead" are life savers. Same with the Bloodstains.

It's cool to see how someone died, but I don't click on notes and bloodstains all the time. There appearance more so just serves as a sort of warning in general - be cautious and keep your eyes open.

Basically you can be a human or a soul while you're playing. But mostly you'll be a soul. As a soul you just have less HP, and can allow yourself to be summoned to other players games, while as a human you have more HP and can then summon those players who are souls in to joining your game and helping you out.

Helping someone defeat a demon when you're a soul gets you lots of souls (basically the ingame currency used to do everything) but it also restores you to your human form.

And I've found when in human form I'm more than willing to bring other friendly souls in to my world to assist me. It's just win win for everyone when they work together.

As a soul in another players world it doesn't appear that you can advance your own progress in your game though.

That is to say, I was summoned to another player's game and helped him defeat the Tower Knight Demon. But, when I was sent back to my world, I found the Tower Knight still existed in mine, so I, now in human form, summoned two other souls to help me in my game and together we defeated the tower knight. I was able to progress me game then, and those players reaped the rewards of defeating a demon.

You asked about the combat earlier - I like it.

I'd describe it as more tactical than hack 'n slash.

You won't be mowing down hordes of demons ala Gauntlet or Diablo. Instead each fight seems up close and personal. It's fun too.

Basically you have an endurance meter which dictates how many actions you can do. Swing your sword and your endurance meter drops. Sprint, and your endurance meter drops. When you have no endurance you can't do anything.

Granted it automatically starts to refill when you stop taking actions but in the thick of things you have to be careful.

What I like is how blocking works. A shield can block 100 percent of damage - instead of taking damage you lose endurance. So block a hit, lose endurance. Block too many hits in a row though and you'll have no endurance and be able to neither block or attack.

Also, when you have your shield up and readied your endurance meter refills slowly.

So you have to maintain a careful balance between offense and defense. You can lock on to enemies and do some other defensive moves such as rolling away or hopping back.

You also have some options to counter attacks. You can hit L2 at the moment an enemy strikes and deflect it and then follow up with a counter attack.

I tend to straight up block, rather than parry and counter attack.

My character is the Temple Knight which is basically a Paladin type character - I use melee weapons and can cast "Miracles" which are basically healing/status effect removing spells.

That said, once you gain the ability to upgrade your stats you can build your character in to any shape you want. You aren't shoehorned in to a particular style, nor are you limited to certain types of equipment.

Oh, and you'll die a lot. In fact, you'll die in the tutorial

Even a basic enemy can take you out in a couple hits.

It doesn't feel cheap though, at least not so far. You just have to be cautious, careful, and not be easily frustrated.

Lagduf said:

Should I be using Demon's Souls when I get them or should I save them?

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I'm sure there are FAQs already out there, but I scanned a page from the official guide (that came with the premium set) that answered your question. Apparently you can trade some of them to various NPCs to get unique items/spells, if you opt not to cash them in that is.
Damned if I know how you are supposed to know this without the guide.
Now venture forth, fellow traveler!