We recently decided a Demon's Souls Co-Op Review was long overdue. Why? Because it's August, that's why. There have been countless reviews of the difficult PS3 title. Well, they're probably countable, but who's got that kind of time? The game has been out for almost two years. The sequel, Dark Souls, is coming this October. That same month, poor little Demon's Souls' servers will shut down, effectively ending co-op play forever. For this review we'll be focusing on co-op, mainly because Demon's Souls is a very deep game. I originally wrote a 4000 word draft with more on the way. Nick and Mike recommended that I cut it down, mentioning something about me being out of my mind and attention spans on the internet... (I even left out a lot of good stuff, too.) Without further ado, the Demon's Souls Co-Op Review.
Demon's Souls starts out simply enough. Choose a character from one of ten classes. You'll be able to change your character's physical appearance and compare their stats, but the only way to find out exactly what type of gear or spells each class comes equipped with is to read the manual. Holy crap! When's the last time you had to do that?
You'll know if Demon's Souls is the right game for you about halfway through the first level. A lot of people just quit out of frustration. You begin the game at the gates of the the ravaged Boletarian palace. Think of a giant medieval castle crawling with shambling, desiccated soldiers, demonic knights, and fire breathing dragons and you'll get the idea. You're character will be in Soul Form, which means this opening level is a single player affair only, no co-op just yet.
The first thing that you'll notice is that while in Soul Form you only have half a life bar. The next thing you'll notice is that it doesn't take much to deplete that wispy little life bar. You will quickly discover that even the grunts in Demon's Souls mean business. If you aren't careful you will soon be 1) overwhelmed and 2) dead. Actually, even if you are careful, you're still going to die. A lot. The game's infamous difficulty is truly staggering, and a single mistimed block or parry can kill you. Demon's Souls feels and controls more like an action game than an RPG. You will need to be skilled at combat and you must have the ability to analyze enemy weaknesses. Even once you've thoroughly powered up your character you will still need superior fighting skills to defeat medium level enemies.
Look at that mouthful of medium level enemies. Just kidding! The dragon is the mid-level boss. I'm not kidding.