Demon’s souls is a game where charming and pleasant is prohibited. Where tactics and persistence may or may not lead to glory. This world is hell on earth where there is no mercy and everyone is hungry, including you for souls. The journey starts by a non-user friendly tutorial ending by you being killed, and leaving you as a soul form back to Nexus, after that you start the game by trying to regain your soul’s back from the first chapter boss.
 

In my opinion this is where the hardest and the most critical part in the entire game, and I almost bet that everyone who has tried the game, either has continued or stopped playing the game after that point. Simply because it is hard to finish the first level without dying, and unless you are one of the hardcore gamers who enjoys challenging games such as Ninja Gaiden, you will end up confused and frustrated. But if you give the game a little more time you will play one of the best action RPGs ever made. And if you are a fan of Zelda games, then you will discover a new darker Zelda.
 
 

There is not much of a story in this epic journey, it is undemanding and brief. The depth of the game is found in the gameplay, online features and upgrades. But to make it simple and spoilers free, the story is about a king who channeled the power of the souls. Isolating his kingdom (Boletaria) by a thick fog, thus slaying demons will get you closer to overcome that fog.
 

The best thing about this game is its gameplay, it is very deep. No one could play this game unless he/she is willing to study all foes moves, to wait for the right moment with the right tool to strike. There are a lot of enemies in Demon’s souls and they keep coming even if you had beaten the chapter’s boss, the idea behind this is to dive into any chapter and start farming for souls in order to build up your weapons and character. If you get killed, then you will get back to the same spot to claim your souls. But if you fail and get killed before reaching that point, your souls will be disappeared forever.
 

Each of the playable characters or classes: Knight, priest, thief, magician, temple knight, soldier, wanderer, barbarian, royal and hunter can be male or female and it will not affect the story. However, it will affect the gameplay and each will have his or her strategy. The other important element in the game is world and character tendency, it is a bit complicated to understand at first, but you will get used to it if you know the drivers of the tendency. Killing demons and black phantoms offline or online would move your tendency and the world that you currently playing in towards white. But Killing harmless NPCs, invading other people/killing or getting killed in the world will move your world and character tendency towards black. In white tendency, foe are easier, but will drop less items and on the contrary. Black tendency will make foes much stronger, but with a higher drop rate of items. Each tendency has its own events: talking to some character, slaying some special demons and getting some particular items will require either a black or white tendency.
 
 

Other importing fact besides hunting souls is gathering stones, as you will need loads of stones if you want to upgrade your weapons and armors. Also, your character weight will play an important role in the game. So If your character weight is too heavy you will end up moving in a slow pace, in which it will affect your combat performance. The controls are great and once you get used to it, it will be easy to aim by pressing R3 near any foe you encounter. But at the same time the targeting system is not perfect. There are certain combos for each type of weapon. So, you will be experimenting with various weapons before you wield your weapon of choice.
 

The graphics are great, but they are not Uncharted 2 visuals. The characters and enemies’ design is top notch. However, it will not matter much in this game since you are going to be busy keeping yourself alive. There are some noticeable frame rate issues, but thankfully not to the extent of ruining the game. The game world design is unique with some great atmospheric environments. You will not hear any background music while you are playing through the game chapters, but only slashes of swords, bows and armors. Soundtrack is fresh and suits the game well. It’s dark and well picked to be side by side with each demon you will encounter.
 

The thing that really sets Demon’s Souls apart is how it handles multiplayer. Your choice of being a friend or foe will make your experience tense and dynamic. Black phantoms will hunt you either alone or with bunch of friends, either way you will have to be ready for them or just pull of the Internet cable and play offline. Red and white shadows you will encounter while you are playing online could give hints that you need in this game. Some people would enjoy helping out friends while other enjoy invading other worlds. The good thing about this feature is the fairness behind it. As people that invade you or people that you summon have to be in your soul range. So the only difference here is kind of magic weapon and strategy that you could do. There are some surprises, but thankfully there are few, some gamers would have much stronger weapons that they took from a friend by trading. Hence, if you have friends that own the game you should start negotiating.
 
 

The difficulty system in this game is harsh yet fair. But every time that you die, you die just because of your mistakes, and every time you die you will learn from your own mistakes until you master the game. Overall, the game is a lot of fun and enjoyable. So I will make it simple, it is a must buy for any action RPG gamer and for anyone else who consider himself/herself as a gamer, rent it and try to judge it after you finish the first boss. Demon’s Souls is just like any great movie, the beginning is a little bit boring then it will turn over into a piece of art.
 

Score: (9.2/10)