Paul Plays Playstation: Demon’s Souls – Nope
It’s a game I’ve been putting off playing since the day I got my PS3, but one I’ve been told is essential if I’m trying to get through all the best Sony exclusives, which is the purpose of this ongoing series.
Demon’s Souls’ difficulty is supposedly the stuff of legend, and I fully expected that with my short temper when it comes to particularly challenging titles, I probably wouldn’t make it through the whole thing. What I did not expect was how far I was actually able to make it before I quit.
Level one.
That’s right, level one.
Before you protest, let me stop you right there. This isn’t an actual review of the game in the traditional sense. No matter how much I personally couldn’t stand what I was playing, that doesn’t give me license to “review” a game where I couldn’t make it past the first level. That wouldn’t be fair.
Nice to see you again, for the 45th time.
What I can tell you is why I stopped, and why I don’t necessarily think that a huge degree of difficulty makes a great game.
I understand the argument. I get why in the modern era of gaming, it’s unique for a title to flash back to the old days of yore, where there were no save points and when you died, there were swift and severe penalties. Nowadays, there’s an auto-saving checkpoint every five feet and you can regain all your life if you crouch for four seconds.
But that doesn’t mean I’m supposed to enjoy a game this sadistic, am I? I’ll explain for the uninitiated.
The idea is simple. You’re a knight, you fight skeletons and demons through a castle and eventually slay bosses. The trick comes in the form of when you die, you’re dead. You go to a kind of purgatory and have to work your way through a different level at half health in order to find a demon’s soul that will allow you to get your body back.
Would you get off your ass and come help me?
This would be hard enough as is, but the reason this is insanely difficult to the point where it can make you start foaming at the mouth is because in each of these levels there are A) no checkpoints, if you die you start over B) lots of places where you’ll instantly die because you don’t know what’s coming and C) the controls are utterly horrid, so even if you’ve beaten a section a dozen times, you will still find a way to inexplicably die. Also, when I was playing the server was down, so there were no helpful warning notes or assisting ghosts to help me on my quest the way they’re supposed to.
The entire idea behind this is that through sheer force of will and infinite repetition, you will work your way through the same level about 50 times, learning where each and every enemy and trap is, and eventually you’ll be able to whip the controls into submission long enough to actually get to the end.
But when you’ve spent four hours on the first goddamn level, it becomes clear this game is only for the truly die hard and masochistic. There are few games I’ve EVER walked away from, and certainly none at level one, but it became painfully clear that this game was just not for me.
I don’t know what’s happening here, but I’m sure I’m going to end up dead.
There’s no joy in repeating the same level scores of times in order to make progress at such a glacial pace. The “challenge” might be intense, but is it creative? Is it at all fun? I’m not the type of person who spends twenty hours beating games on Insane difficulty. I never understood the point in dying ten thousand times just to finally live once. There are those types of people yes, and they’ll likely enjoy a game as difficult as Demon’s Souls, but to me there’s nothing at all worthwhile about boxing a brick wall just because it’s difficult. Even if you eventually punch a hole through it, you’ll have more broken bones than you can count, and the few seconds thrill of victory will be vastly overshadowed by the endless hours of despair that came before it.
If you like Demon’s Souls, I don’t think you’re stupid. I might think you’re insane, and might enjoy being chained up and whipped for fun, but you’re entitled to your opinion.
But I’m entitled to mine. If you took away every checkpoint from modern video games, cut your own life in half and doubled your enemies, would it make the game better? I’m just not convinced that “challenging” is necessarily “good” when repetition is the key to victory and your greatest opponent is clunky controls.
I guess I might be going out with a whimper here, as I can’t think of any other past classic PS3 title I’ve been dying to play. I’ve covered a lot, but now I think for the most part I’m caught up to present day, and will now be able to review the exclusives as they come. What? Twisted Metal came out two weeks ago? Crap, I’m already behind the times.
Any more suggestions for me? Here’s the full list so far of what I’ve covered
I played Resistance and Killzone before I owned the system, but I didn’t find them worth investigating further. Infamous made me not really want to play Infamous 2.
Wow. Based on your picture, you went to the wrong level. Again, it’s open boxed so most of the areas are open to you.
Your complaining because it’s hard or unforgiving. That’s the part I like. Where’s the fun of become powerful when everything scales to the same level as you. The point of leveling up is that you get stronger. Most games just scale the enemies with you.
Skyrim – for all the love people give it – was boring. The combat was uninspiring on the hardest level. The quests were horrible. People loved running around picking things up. Without a goal, that is boring to me.
I do agree that repetetion doesn’t mean challenging (Of course based on World of Warcraft leveling is doing the same thing over and over again people like it). There needs to be a fine line between the two.
Also, I personally like the no checkpoint/save points because than my dying has consquences. Unlike were you can save every second, you have to actually be prepared. If death has no effect, where’s the risk? Where’s the challenge? I enjoyed the first Everquest because dying had a risk.
For me, beating a Boss in Demon Souls is rewarding. Yes, it’s painful and frustrating but the accomplishment makes it worth while. I don’t like the repetation but I do like learning how to beat monsters by understanding their moves.
Guess I am old school…because video games today hold your hand and want you to do stuff in order. They don’t make it challenging (Played Mass Effect 3 demo – again – weak weak combat) or make you go in a certain order. While Demon Souls goes to an extreme, for me it does a lot of things right.
That’s my two cents. I know the game isn’t for everyone.
LittleBigPlanet
Metal Gear Solid 4. The game was way a head of its time, graphic and gameplay wise. I wish they’d remaster it with better facial animation.
Shame to hear you quit such a game. while i find the game challenging and eventually fun when you get to invade otherplayers and fight it out. I do however recommend you Try Dark Souls in its stead. with the newly update patch its not as difficult as it can be and its more open in terms of level design in comparison to Demon’s souls. The game has more checkpoints in a way as opposed to starting the level from scratch and its fun. Do try it out. Last comment. sas a player fighting such huge challenging bosses its overal rewarding when you make it through.
Play it Paul.
Very nice comment Nicholas. I do have to say i agree with Paul in that he does not have to enjoy a sadisic game but come on, games these days are childish, i am desperate for some challenge. It is Neither rewarding nor fulfilling to complete a game with a very low level difficulty but think the sense of acomplishment you felt when finally you reached the next level in a game ( and i am not even from that era !!) Come on the only challenge in games today is in Online gaming and even there ther is not that much of a challenge, and by that i mean that people who win in most of the games are people who play all day and they just because used to it. Of course there are good gamers like professional starcraft gamers but most of them are how i described them. This is not challenging, challenging is matching with someone on your level and having fun. Anyway no you dont have to like a game that challenging but in my opinion it is more fun than half the games out there and lets be honest when finishing a game in a matter of days at best from the time you buy it it can not be called challenging not even easy, i just call it ridiculous.
I’m a little conflicted when it comes to sadistic games too. Some I I can get into, like Ninja Guiden II or any of the Mega Man games (oh God, just keep making those Mega Man games, please), but I don’t know how I’d fare on this game.
Although, I’d need a Playstation 3 first. And even then, I’d make a b-line to Metal Gear Solid 4 😛
Paul, I couldn’t agree with you more. I bought Demon’s Souls and gave up on the first level as well. I’ve been a gamer since the NES days and played through some challenging games, but Demon’s Souls was absolutely punishing in it’s difficulty. Why should I have the play the level over and over and over until I memorize all the traps, enemy attacks, etc. etc. That’s not fun in my book. I can understand some games need to have that trial and error aspect in certain areas or boss fights, but when the entire game revolves around that one aspect, it ruins the experience IMO. I play games to have fun, not to be frustrated, punching walls, or breaking controllers.
I rented Dark Souls. I played as a thief and only got to the part where some skeletons kept killing me. I probably would have gotten farther if work and responsibilities hadn’t chewed up my time or if I had the money to buy the game. It was pretty fun. Just wish I could have figured out how to beat the first boss the first time around.
Lol I snickered to myself when I read this post considering another “Paul” actually did the same thing I did. I mean, I got farther than the first level but nonetheless I feel your pain! I’ve put this game off for a few years. Once I did, I was soaked into the world. It really defined what an adventure is supposed to feel like in a sense of the struggle & commitment you need to survive & achieve your ultimate goal.
I literally have never said “Fuck this.” over a game until I had to face 3-4 RED EYED KNIGHTS. Just to get to those bastards was hard enough… instant 1 hit death just put me down for the count. I couldn’t get myself to pick up my controller & try again. It was definitely overbearing & the repetition just gets annoying (definitely the reason why I never finished GTA4 fully either…)
BUT I’m pretty sure down the line I’ll eventually try again. It’s been said that its only for the “hardcore” gamers out there & I couldn’t agree more. I tend to get games that have a long lasting appeal anyway. This is one of them.
On another note, here’s what I think you should try on your PS3…
Ico/Shadow of the Colossus (HD) Action/Adventure/Puzzle
(I say this because I’ve been anticipating The Last Guardian for quite some time now…)
Mirror’s Edge
Vanquish (3rd Person Slick Shooter)
MGS4 (but only if you’ve played the previous titles because of the storyline)
*Oh & since video game companies are dishing out live action game trailers nowadays I want to mention Omega Boost (pS1). Considering when that game was released, it had one of the best mix of live action/graphics intro to a game ever. Youtube it.
That game was challenging for sure. No saves. You have to beat an entire Armada to finish the game. Once you die, your back to square one.
Remake worthy for sure.
Mega man, anyone? No? No one likes a game where you die you start over and the only experience you gain is your own knowledge on how to win? How about Monster Hunter, then? Timing out on a Rathalos = 45 minutes of nothing gained except the knowledge base to do it better next time.
I think the issue is closer to “I’ve been video gaming for 15+ years and my brain can no longer handle failure” vs. “Oh crap I died again, guess I should try something else”.
I think ‘insane’ difficulty isn’t just adding more warm bodies to stab, it’s the BS like instakills and ‘sneak’ missions and QTEs that modern gaming has invented in order to combat against the now-standard checkpoint every 30 seconds.
It has gotten to the point in my life that, if I ever do go back and play some older game (shit even Mass Effect 1), I forget to save! Thinking that if it should even magically come to pass that I die, I will pop right back up thirty seconds back, ready to go in guns blazing again.
I like Dark Souls a lot better, truth be told, but it forces to me to re-remember what it was like to be in that ‘oh shit wtf is that’ mindset where I had no idea what was around the next corner, I knew I was about to die no matter what I was doing, and after the game settled a bit and I got the groove of what was going on I became a goddamned terror of my own living room as I parry/riposted and backstabbed like a boss.
Not just play.
Fucking win.
Gamer ADD strikes again. Autosave is prevalent in games because we aren’t really playing them so much as watching them. Player control hasn’t been lost entirely, but the days when you had to actually develop skills to beat videogames are long gone. Now multiplayer games are a different animal but you can see the ADD in the twitch shooting of COD and its like.
I have always thought that increasing difficulty by halving your health and doubling the enemy’s is a lazy way to increase difficulty. To me, a challenge is something you can think your way round, or have multiple ways of succeeding.
Skyrim does suffer a bit from leading you around by the nose with the quest marker. Too many of them are “Find my [thing] for me?” ones without any sense that you had to do anything besides follow the marker. Also the combat system punishes you for doing anything besides tanking up in heavy armour. I honestly tried playing a mage in robes, I have all 3 mage armour perks and ebonyflesh on (so 300 armour) and I got killed with one arrow from a bandit.
Hard games are fine, games that force you to do the same thing again and again to learn by dying are just not fun. For me it’s frustrating because I want to feel as though I have some ability to affect what happens to me and being forced into dying a thousand times just to get to the next bit where I die another thousand times isn’t something I would do for recreation.
Paul I did the same thing. After about 20 tries on the first level where I think I got close to the boss I quit.
I would say check out Castlevania: Lords of Shadow. To me that game had the perfect learning curve. I rarely play games on difficulties harder than “normal” mostly because of all the previously mentioned issues with more enemies/less health and all that. However, Castlevania even on the normal setting provided the perfect challenge. It also is the definition of “epic” in my humble opinion. God of War meets Shadow of the Colossus meets god in heaven for tea time and THEN shit gets real. Honestly though, Mercury Steam and Kojima Productions made a solid game. Check it out.
P.S. I don’t think I ever gave up on a game out of frustration…maybe out of boredom. Anyway I’d like to hear about those other “few” games that you stopped playing out of boredom/frustration/whatever. I think it would be a good read lol.
I played it longer than you but gave up because I didn’t like it solo. If I had any friends who wanted to play that, I’d give it another whirl. With that said, I’m not sure what you’re missing on PS3. Folklore’s kind of interesting. Was Valkyria Chronicles also available on the 360?
You can get God Hand on the PS store. I love that game.
Demons/Darks Souls isn’t for everybody…
i’ll recomend Resitance 3, the campaing is excellent, reminded me a lot of Half-Life 2, skip resistance 1 and 2 and go and play the best fps on ps3
Ico/Shadow of the Colossus collection, sotc is a masterpiece, definitely a must play for every gamer
The last guardian…
My favorite type of difficulty is something like Mirror’s Edge, where beating the story mode is easy…but once you start feeling the urge to 3 star time trails, you’re in for a BEAST of a challenge. I would spend hours just grinding one trail at a time, over and over, and finally getting that 3rd star would be so exhilarating that I’d have to just go walk around the block a few times just to calm myself down.
It doesn’t hurt that it’s one of the most visually striking games I’ve ever seen, either.
There seems to be a theme with regards to video game articles on this site where as soon as the writer is hit with the realisation that they just aren’t very good, the story turns to a dissection of why hard isn’t necessarily good. The driving point being that you don’t feel rewarded for not getting better.
It irks me further when you label people who enjoy getting better with practise as “insane”. It comes across as very whiny, especially when the apparent hight of video game skill shown here is based on games with low skill ceilings.
To sum it up, articles like these only serve to shine a bright spotlight on the lack of understanding of gaming culture. I can handle it when its a naive outlook on where gaming is heading (I can’t place blame for this one, the “industry” as a whole doesn’t even know what its doing), but in cases like these, where the article is a justification of sucking at videogames that challenge you, I find myself wondering exactly why the writers here play videogames when movies and television seem to be able to provide them with the entertainment they’re after…
Hey Bob, did you play Demon’s Souls? I’m pretty sure he’s got every right to drop the controller because it IS insanely hard. Labeling these difficulty-junkies as “insane” doesn’t seem whiny to me at all; there might be a better word for it, but there’s a point where people challenge themselves way above and beyond what’s necessary to have an enjoyable experience and that can be seen as “hardcore” or “insane.”
A hard game isn’t necessarily good, and that’s a solid fact. The thing with Demon’s Souls is that even when you level your character up and get rewards like new equipment and weapons you don’t always feel rewarded; if you aren’t paying attention to your character build and the statistics on your equipment, you can be advancing and making yourself weaker.
Especially for somebody who’s struggling with the controls (which I didn’t feel were particularly bad, but to each his own) the distance between moments of gratification is quite large from the get-go and I can definitely see why it would put a bad taste in somebody’s mouth because they don’t have the required (colossal) amount of patience or skill to stick with such a merciless game.
I like what you’re saying Bob
Yup; I got a bit further than you, and still intend to go back to it, but the game just didn’t have anything going for it besides the difficulty… and that was not enough to make me say “ooh, ooh, lemme play!”
I’m not dissappointed I bought it, but, like Heavy Rain (though for different reasons), it’s a game I wish I didn’t grab full price–by the time I get around to playing it, I’ll have been able to pick it up for about 10% of what I paid for the special edition.
Folklore – awesome RPG, but kind of hard to get a hold of these days.
Paul, you should really try Dark Souls now. The fact that the onlinve servers were down really hurts the actual gameplay. Having other players come in and help is pretty great. I would suggest trying Dark Souls now that you experienced the pain of Demons Souls. Make sure you get the Xbox edtiton. Just because I hate those baby Ps3 controls.
Ico and Shadow of the Colossus
Little Big Planet 1&2
I am with you, there are not many games I walk away from but Demon Soul was one. I too lasted about 4 hours before making the trip back to EB and swapping it for a title worth playing. Personally I work full time, run a website and do 4 podcasts a week (plus cut and edit 2 more weekly) so I really really don’t have time for games which are not fun. Don’t get me wrong I love open worlds and full rich titles (Skyrim anyone ???) but this is too too much. I get that the game is supposed to be hard and that’s cool but it just is not fun. The controls suck and constantly getting killed and having to do all the crap to get back to the level is just a little much (as I said before).
You keep complaining about the difficulty and wondering why it’s so loved but the cold hard truth is not everyone sucks at it as much as you. Get over your delusions of grandeur.
People that enjoy Demon’s Souls enjoy it because they get good at it, not because it’s hard. Not that I expect much from someone who lists all of the PS3’s WORST exclusives at the end of his “review.”
Once I got relatively good at the game, after putting a good many hours into it, it turned into one of the best games I’ve played on the PS3. I wonder if you played online during Pure Black World Tendency or not?
The game is definitely hard in the beginning but its not for just hardcore gamers. It just requires a gamer that has some patience.
I utterly despised Infamous (1) but during the intervening months leading up to Infamous 2 I grew excited and was rewarded with a much better experience than the first. Give Infamous 2 a shot!
A shame you quit this one. It took me like 8 hours to pass the first level…had a huge learning curve for me. But after I was able to get through a nice chunk of the game. I’d recommend GoW 3 and Heavy Rain …. even though this is an old post. Today I’d say Twisted Metal
Infamous 2 is better than the first one. Amazingly so, even. As for Demon’s Souls: Yeah, screw THAT noise. Having to start all over because of one tiny mistake was one of the major downsides of video gaming when I was a kid and should not be allowed to return. I’m a skilled gamer, don’t get me wrong, but I don’t have the time to waste on endless deaths anymore.
The load screens every time I died really did it for me. For a game in which repetition becomes the sole purpose of playing, it needs to flow seemlessly, IMO. I loved Super meat boy and the old ninja gaiden games, but I couldn’t finish this.
Although I did put in around 20 hours, I might come back to finish in the later future.