Gamertell Preview: Demon’s Souls for PS3

Death isn’t the end. Instead, it’s an opportunity to try and recoup your losses and regain your life.At least, that’s what I’ve gleaned from my first few hours of playing Atlus’ Demon’s Souls. It’s a game designed for people who take pleasure in challenging hack-and-slash, level grinding goodness.

The game begins with a bit of exposition before you can actually start playing. King Allant XII of Boletaria went to great lengths to not only make his kingdom prosperous, but also bring great glory, success and power to himself as well. Unfortunately, he was also quite greedy. He decided to use Soul Arts to tap the Nexus, a shrine in the mountains near his domain. He did it once successfully, but his own insatiable lust for power drove him to seek its power yet again.

The second time, King Allant XII wasn’t so fortunate. When he attempted to tap the Nexus again, he woke the Old One. The Old One swiftly took residence in Boletaria with its ranks of demonic minions. The land was cursed and many people’s souls became sustenance for the monsters unleashed. Survivors are left in terror, wondering who will get them first – the demons or the souless, insane men.

Countless heroes set out to try and save the engulfed Boletaria, prevent the spread of evil and banish the Old One and his demons. Players are one of these people. You choose a gender and class, then set out to accomplish your mission however you’d like. There are 10 classes available when you first start the game: barbarian, hunter, knight, magician, priest, royal, soldier, temple knight, thief and wanderer.

I spent about 10 minutes just in character creation, tweaking my character to make her perfect. Most of that time was spent customizing her appearance, since you can totally alter your character’s face. For a while, I toyed with the idea of making my character a priest, which I reasoned would come in handy in multiplayer, or a temple knight, who’s healing abilities and strength might make solo play safer. In the end, I chose to start as a royal, which meant I knew a good spell right away (Soul Arrow) and got a ring, but also meant I was at soul level 1 and isn’t as powerful initially as some of the warrior classes. I figured it was worth the trade off.

You begin in the Nexus. If you collect the souls of demons you fight, you may earn the strength to continue your mission to save Boletaria. After that, you’re pretty much free to do what you want. It’s a free-form, action RPG dungeon crawling experience. Your goal is just to get stronger and collect demons’ souls, which can do however you like. The only town area you can visit is the Nexus, but there are five locations you can explore to hunt demons: Boletaria Palace, Tower of Latria, Shrine of Storms, Stonefang Tunnel and Valley of Defilement. I spent quite a bit of time exploring Boletaria Palace and Stonefang Tunnel, myself. I also spent quite a bit of time dying.

Death is a major part of Demon’s Souls, and you shouldn’t be ashamed if you find yourself constantly failing at first. It’s very easy for enemies to surround you and take you by surprise. I found greatest success when I was careful and didn’t try to get to adventurous when exploring. If you do die, it takes a bit of work to return to life. You need to fight a boss, use a Stone of Ephemeral Eyes or go online and go into another as a Black Phantom to hunt down the opposing player.

Earning souls is a great boon. Your character can be customized however you like, no matter what class you initially chose. If you spend the souls you’ve earned the right way, you can create a royal class character who is a formidable physical attacker. Or, you could have a knight who’s a magic user or a priest who’s a fighter.

As you can see from the embedded gallery, there’s a lot of detail in Demon’s Souls. The environments are very intricate and typically interactive, and the assorted demons you’re facing range from smaller minions to hulking behemoths. Everything has a dark, and occasionally otherworldly, look to it. Fans of games with gothic designs or overtones will likely enjoy many of the game’s visual elements. I was especially struck by the use of light and shadow in the game so far.

Initially, I wasn’t able to test out the multiplayer since the PS3 I was using wasn’t connected to the internet, but after having spent quite a bit of time in Soul Form (dead), I decided it must be done. It’s quite beneficial to the player to do so. While you may have to worry about invaders eventually, other players who break into your game to try and hunt you down and kill you, you can also band together with these same players to survive. Strangers may leave soul signs, which are a bit like calling cards. You can use these to team up with two other people at approximately the same level as you to journey through the game. You can also see the remnants of the fallen. Bloodstains will appear on the ground, which are a good indication trouble lies ahead. You can use these to see the last moments of that player’s life when he/she was killed. You can also read or leave hint messages to help others and offer warnings, watch the shadowy actions of other players to possibly find hints as to what to check or investigate or duel to earn a soul level.

While I was connected to the internet, I found another player to go through Boletaria Palace with me. A soul sign showed up in the game, and I invited the other player over. I found I had a much easier time working with someone else, and having another player over didn’t cause any noticeable lag. We were only able to journey together for a short period of time (about 15 minutes), but it was still very entertaining and helpful. I also came across two hint messages, one offering a suggestion for a forthcoming boss and another offering a tip for defeating a certain kind of enemy, and a bloodstain from a fallen player who was killed by a monster that was some kind of beast.

The time I’ve spent so far has made me very interested to continue playing and see what else Demon’s Souls has to offer the player. At the moment, the best advice I can give is to pace yourself and make sure you take advantage of the online co-op multiplayer. Atlus’ Demon’s Souls is a PS3 exclusive and debuts October 6, 2009. It’s rated Mature 17+ and is available in $59.99 standard and $69.99 deluxe additions. Be sure to stop by Gamertell next week, when the review’s available!

Site [Demons' Souls]