Demon's Souls PS3

[Adam]

You can run through most of 5-1 without fighting anything I found, there's just a few tricky spots. The first giant troll after the rats can be run past but shortly after that one is another after a bridge which might need to be taken care of. After that it's an easy run to the boss room. I'm a Dragon Bone Smasher melee and I found using Warding made most boss fights comfortable, aswell as loads of cheat herbs which you can get in the later world 1 stages.

Ostrava can sometimes be found in the later levels even after being killed in an earlier one. I killed him myself for the key to the mausoleum, then Mephistopholes asked me to kill him later on. He was back in 1-2 for some reason and I ended up with 2 keys lol.

[Darwock]

Are you sure that wasn't a different game cycle? Ah it couldn't be as your keys are taken away each time. Weird.

[Shoju]

Played this through a couple of times and some of NG+. It's a good game with some interesting ideas but I'm not happy with some aspects (the backtracking, getting lost in bleak looking stages like 3-2 and 5-2 and having no map and trying to find out of the way vendors for particular supplies). Although the melee combat is really well handled I find magic and archery really bland and uninteresting.

I was gonna play through more of NG+ but the thought of getting lost in those dreary stages and all that backtracking after dying is putting me right off.

[Golgo]

I thought the magic was...well, magic!

[Shoju]

I thought the magic was...well, magic!

Much of the magic looks weedy and there's not much variety. Maybe I've been spoiled by Diablo 2 where there's huge range of interesting spells fulfilling different purposes (different elements, speeds, area effect, piercing, stunning, freezing, summoning etc). I have a tendency to compare hack and slash rpg's to Diablo 2 and Record of Lodoss War (the 2 best imo) but this game is quite different to be fair and has other strengths of it's own.

[Golgo]

Fair enough. I agree there's not a huge amount of variety. The combination of magic and miracles can lead to some interesting scenarios, though.

[randombs]

I was given the Japanese version of this today by a mate, and am looking forward to trying it out for five minutes tonight before giving up because it's too difficult, based on opinions from guys at work.

Wish me luck!

[Zaki]

I was given the Japanese version of this today by a mate, and am looking forward to trying it out for five minutes tonight before giving up because it's too difficult, based on opinions from guys at work.

Wish me luck!

You'll be fine! Great atmosphere! Very addictive

[Blaiz0r]

Wow this game is so rewarding, I picked it up last week and now that I'm getting the hang of it I can't put it down!

Playing through as a royal with a winged spear, but I'm really tempted to start again with a soldier or priest and mix in more melee.

It's nice to play a game that encourages the player to learn and play more skilfully in a more direct way, reminds me of the old Megaman games.

[rmoxon]

I still consider a Knight the best character to start with, but thats becuase I dont think magic is that important in the game. You'll get good starting armour and realitivley balanced stats at first too.

Others seem to disagree though. Still if you want more Melee, then you should start deffinitley start as a knight.

[briareos_kerensky]

I started as a Knight and the experience was extremely rewarding. However Royals are the best starting class overall: they starts with decent items and spells and no enemy in the first stages has strong magic defenses, if anything at all.
But the magic behind Demon's Souls is that each and every class can beat the game without meddling with things originally unavailable (magic/miracles for knights, heavy armor/shields for thieves and archers), the starting class is just a simple template on which you can build as you wish.

[Golgo]

^agree. I started as a knight and had an exellent selection of spells and miracles by the end to mix up with the melee approach.

[Brad]

My first go I went all magic and the game became pretty easy toward the end. I wore no armour and carried no shield. With powerful enough magic you can just stand back an decimate from a distance. The downside is that you don't get to werar all that cool armour or carry the sweet swords and stuff.

[Wools]

I picked the game up last week after hearing great things about it for the past year and played about an hour and a half of it on Sunday.

->Open Spoiler<-

The opening was atmospheric and brilliantly paced. With all this talk of insane difficulty, I was on my guard the whole time but found the combat really enjoyable, with enough health potions to get me by any scrapes. I loved the messages and blood stains that can be viewed, with the Nexus full of ghosts of people falling off the stairwells and plummeting to the bottom! After I explored the Nexus, I went onto my first level. I adored all of it with some great locations, fiendish traps and stunning set pieces.

The bridge full of guards and that Dragon was a real highlight, I ran back immediately after hearing the flapping of the Dragon's wings and quickly discovered I could lure the Dragon out and entice the guards across into its line of fire. After opening both switches to the front entrance, I went through the fog and discovered the boss. This is where my enjoyment towards the game dropped. After 10 minutes of endless circle strafing and dodging, I died and was brought back to the Nexus. I immediately went back to the world but realised that I could get my body back, but I would have to enter the no exit room of the boss and would proceeded to die again. I turned off and have not gone back.

My impressions are mixed, the core game is brilliantly executed, you feel vulnerable yet powerful in this fantastically constructed world. However, to someone who's new to the game, the boss battles feel cheap and unfair with little advice given and a endless health bar to diminish. I will go back and maybe I'll discover a trick or tactic, but it's a shame to build up all this goodwill and then be thrown into a boss battle.

In the end, I think I'll have to resort to a FAQ or Guide if I can't get past that point.

[Darwock]

That boss is probably the easiest in the game (on the first game cycle), and all the bosses are actually quite easy the first time you meet them so I don't say that to demoralise you.

It is weak to fire, and you should have collected a few firebombs around the first stage. You may also need to repair your equipment (something often overlooked). It also helps to know that if you hold a weapon in two hands you don't get the recoil stun when you hit a guarding enemy.

Oh - and of course, the thief's ring and/or hide spell will help you no end (reduces the range it can target you at).