Atlus' upcoming hardcore RPG Demon's Souls has been on our radar since it was announced- Just ask Jason! Atlus has been posting developer blogs to their forums for some time, and this week's edition focuses on the online play, which sports "seamless" online integration. It also provides a wealth of information about the three-player co-op!
As a living player, you will at times come across Soul Signs, glowing blue symbols on the ground that will at first resemble messages, but as you approach will also feature a transparent 3D projection of the player offering their help. You’re able to see the player’s name and how they have been ranked by others. Should they appear to be relatively competent, you can then summon them into your game. A moment later they will appear, and together you can then proceed.
Check out the Co-Op section below, and you can read the entire devblog by clicking the "source" link.
Cooperative Play
Having established the relevance of spirit form to cooperative and competitive play, let’s take a look at the cooperative experiences you’ll have in Demon’s Souls.
As a living player, you will at times come across Soul Signs, glowing blue symbols on the ground that will at first resemble messages, but as you approach will also feature a transparent 3D projection of the player offering their help. You’re able to see the player’s name and how they have been ranked by others. Should they appear to be relatively competent, you can then summon them into your game. A moment later they will appear, and together you can then proceed.
They will be returned to their own game upon their death, your death, or the death of the area’s boss. Should you both (or the three of you, as the game does let you summon two other players at any one time) in fact survive the region’s boss, as the living player you can then rank your helpers. Soul points will be allocated based on how you rank their performance, so the better they did, the more points everyone receives, an incentive to bring your A-game when you’re helping someone else.
From the standpoint of the player offering help, all you need is to be in spirit form (which, as we’ve mentioned, isn’t all that hard considering how difficult the game is) and to use a special stone that you will receive after a little progress into the single-player game. With the stone, you can leave your Soul Sign, which is seen by other players, and then hopefully, a short while later, you’ll be fighting alongside another daring adventurer as you quest to deliver Boletaria from the Old One.