Demon's Souls: Hardest game ever made?

It’s been about 4 months or so since I discovered a little game called Demon’s Souls. Let me just say…this is by far one of the hardest games I have ever played. Example: you’ll be walking across a bridge minding your own business when a fucking dragon comes out of the sky, burns you to death then takes off as if it was just sneezing. Bosses are insanely hard to kill, but can kill you in one hit. It encourages you to play smart, not bold. The game also frequently punishes you for dying.

The gimmick when you die is that you come back as ‘soul’ you, this basically means your fucked even more then you were. You only get half your health bar to use, any items you have used previously will not come back to you, all enemies that you have defeated are back a ready to kill you all over again, and any enemy souls you’ve collected (which is basically the game’s currency for upgrades and weapons) are left near the spot where you died. Great, so not only do you have to fight your way through the enemies you’ve already killed, but the part that is hardest for you (because you died) is where all your cool shit is. That being said it is one of the most rewarding gaming experience finally getting through that level that had you in tears just hours before.

The online component is as fun as it is frustrating: you are always online and will show up as spirits in other people’s games around the world. You can leave messages for the other players to help them learn from your mistakes or fuck them over, your choice. Example: if you know that a hard enemy or a trap is ahead of you, you can write on the ground ‘treasure ahead’ and most people will charge into their untimely death. People are bastards online and you should take everything they say with a grain of salt. You also post a message that will allow you to enter another player’s game as a blue phantom (a helpful soul) to help them if they are having trouble passing a certain part. The problem with this is that voice chat isn’t supported in this game so it’s hard to link up with you friends. By far the best part of the online component is being able to invade another player’s game as a black phantom (prick) and become an enemy in their level. I can’t describe how fun it is to watch someone struggle with a boss then revealing yourself when they try to heal and getting the final blows that send him or her to the grave.

If you own a ps3 and you don’t own this game, you’re missing out. You should probably just wait for the sequel though which I’m sure is in the works. If your looking for a game that will make you laugh, cry, swear at your television, cry some more, throw your controller on the ground, and destroy your television, look no farther than Demon’s Souls.