DEMON'S SOULS A GAME FOR SONY PLAYSTATION 3

word, i don't think i've ever been happier to hit a shortcut/checkpoint. got through Garl Vinland using the shotel, now i just have Allant left.

ok, i don't feel great about i how i did it (Warding > Fire Storm > spice > repeat), but it's done. now i can go into Bloodborne with a clean conscience. :)

AGH TOWER KNIGHT MAKE IT GO AWAY

I survived for a little while by going up the staircase at the back and killing a couple of crossbowmen, but I can't quite work out the timing to attack the Knight when his shield is up- he seems to only lift it while he's attacking. I guess I could try and circle him from the back next time, but frankly I'm scared to get close to him.

BRING ME MORE DEMONS SOULS. take all the archers out and then attack the ankles from behind to cripple him then hit his head

Okay, so I'm on the right track! I'm trying to avoid wikis as much as possible, except in a couple of circumstances- I had to look up what exactly "quality" weapons were, since the game itself does basically nothing to tell you. In retrospect, I could have figured it out if I'd reread the manual a couple of times, looked at the second screen of stats for upgraded items, and consistently been able to remember the symbols for each attribute, but as much as I'm willing to stick my neck out for this game, I'm not quite there yet :)

I've got most of 1-2 down to a science (<3 Thief's Ring; I dunno how the dogs in the underside of the bridge or that mob of crossbowmen PLUS a blue-eyed knight would work without it) but I still kind of dread those two Knights in a row. Usually by the time I've finished the first one- in cramped quarters to avoid dragon breath or, god forbid, aggroing the second one- my heart is pounding enough that I can't quite calm down, string him along, dodge and wait for the right moment to get a parry kill.

My proudest moment so far was finally realizing on a repeat visit (after setting the game aside for a couple weeks) that the Armor Spider wasn't immune to ranged attack as I'd somehow thought after my first couple of attempts. I must have somehow missed with my crossbow- maybe I shot it as the spider was rearing up above the archway to shoot webs? Anyway, I went back, ground up enough souls in 1-1 and 1-2 to buy a bunch of arrows for my fancy new compound bow, bought Soul Arrow (reasoning that Flame Toss isn't going to do diddly-shit on a fire-themed boss), panicked when it looked like Soul Arrow didn't work, realized it just has awful range, and boom, done. I had to make another wiki visit just to see what was up with the alternate rewards for bosses' souls, though- and I'm glad I did, because I'm not sure I would have ever figured that out.

you can do tower knight w/ soul arrow too, just stay up above and dodge

Working on it. Took a swing through 2-2 until a crystal lizard (still haven't managed to kill a single one) led me straight to a couple of glowy red knights and I panicked, RAN back to the elevator and barely made it up to the surface; used the proceeds to buy a short spear and then immediately had a winged spear drop from a random guy in 1-1 while I was grinding up enough to start it down the upgrade path. I'm still 1 strength too low to use it, though, so I'm sticking with my +5 rapier/+3 quality dagger (which I seem to exclusively use for killing dogs) for now.

The Tower Knight is coming along. He's fast for such a big fucker. I'm still having some difficulty taking out the archers on the tops of the walls, since getting close enough to target lock them leaves me wide open for the Knight's lance throwing move, so I just ignored them and tried to work on the boss. I'm getting a better handle on his movement, and pretty much never die to that shield slam move anymore. Managed to get in and slash away at his ankles, which started venting that green gas (souls, I guess) that dead enemies bleed out, but he didn't take any visible damage or start behaving differently. He'll be my project for tomorrow evening, I guess...

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http://imgur.com/Znkm2Zs

the dream

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0UQtBMKCipk

there's a Demon's Souls sample on this track ;)

just playing this for the first time. holy shit, it is awesome. definitely better than DS2. maybe DS1? i don't know, i still have a long way to go. highly recommend playing this after DS3 - it is the souls game it feels closest to!

really great level design in this. it feels like DS3 is a conscious effort to remake a lot of DeS, maybe to bring the series full circle. there is the Nexus and Tower of Latria, but also the laughing Evangelists and red eyed knights, the dragons on the bridge, etc. lots of the stuff in DS1 and DS2 also copied from DeS. even Bloodborne! there are octopus-faced evil wizards, w stacks of coffins.

Any luck summoning people these days?

i don't know, i don't have PSNow or an account, this is a used console. i thought they shut down the servers. or did they not?

i bought this in the January sale, servers still seem to be on

don't know if i like it yet, but i'm maybe in the wrong head-space

you can play online w/ PS3 for free. or at least that used to be the case. if so, worth firing up. playing offline is no way to play a Souls game.

Demon's was the only one I played offline. I definitely missed the interaction, but it was also kind of cool knowing that I couldn't cave and summon help if I was having trouble with a boss. Increased the sense of isolation that these games are so good at conveying.

Might have to play this again. Nearly the equal of the first Dark Souls, but Dark gets the edge because the interconnected world is a lot cooler than the hub system.

Think I'd rate em something like:

Dark Souls 1 >= Demon's Souls > Bloodborne = Dark Souls 3 > Dark Souls 2

i loved demon's souls, which i played and never beat at a time when i had neither internet nor a smartphone. the sheer incomprehensibility of it all was kinda sublime in the burkean sense, something i never got from the other games (perhaps because i was more plugged in by then).

if dark souls 3 captures some of that magic i might gotta check it out

I don't think anything other than Demon's or the first Dark Souls ever really captured it. Could be because I've spent so much time with these games, but I played Demon's years after Dark 1 and I got the same juice. Not so much with the other ones.

DS3 brings back some familiar levels and enemies from Demon's but... not quite the same magic.

And one of the great things about these games back when they were fresh is that friends and I would be texting/talking to each other about secrets or tactics or mechanics (which were so wonderfully obscure) in a way that hasn't happened for me since the 90s. Series got a little too user friendly (relatively speaking) and popular and you'd get like play through videos online almost immediately and a lot of that charm was lost.

yeah DS3 is far more friendly and comprehensible than DeS. not quite the same.

i played through DS1 the same way, no summons, single-player, off-line. this is how i played every RPG so it didn't seem weird. first game i used summons for was DS3 and while it was cool it also made it so rather than struggling w a boss on my own and having to learn it, it was too easy to just get help instead. in some way i'm glad i don't have that issue for DeS!

Dark Souls 1 >= Demon's Souls > Bloodborne = Dark Souls 3 > Dark Souls 2

same, except the multiplayer element clicked for me in DS3 more than ever before, which adds so much.

i used the wikidot a ton in Dark Souls but it didn't feel like it took anything away, it was a fun meta element where i'd be at the gym researching the area i just went through to see if i missed anything and figuring out how all the systems work.

I'm also anti bonfire teleportation from the get go. Loved how in the first Dark Souls you'd be down in damn Ashen Lake or something and get cursed or in over your head and you felt totally fucked and scared. Added a certain intensity. Helped you learn the world a lot better too, running back and forth. Was bummed about that concession in the later games.

One of the most painful experiences I had in a game was in DS1 trying to fight that hydra in Ashen Lake and being cursed and just completely unable to do it and then biting the bullet and fighting my way back up to the surface. Was super rough but exhilarating and typified what made the game so unique and refreshing. Games need heavier consequences, basically, but I feel like I've rattled on about that in other Souls threads.

Yesss, exactly. For me it was being at the bottom of Blighttown fighting Quelaag, and having already used up my humanity summoning Mildred, and being forced to actually learn all her moves and tells. Finally getting back up to Firelink and seeing the sunlight again was probably the best moment I've experienced in a game.

I also remember getting cursed in the Depths and having to fight my way out at half health to go get the purging stone, that was good too.

on that tip, there is no Homeward Bone in Demon's Souls, so if you find yourself carrying a lot of souls and low on health, it's do-or-die. there is a however spell that can warp you back home, it goes for 20k, i'm saving up for it now. this only takes a handful of runs through 4-1.

Shrine of Storms is amazing. for that i am glad this game is designed w teleportation from the start. windswept ruins littered with high-yield one-on-one skeleton battles, while malevolent manta rays are circling in the air above you, sniping you from the sky. the atmosphere in this game is incredible. i really like the early version of Blighttown. Valley of Defilement not only has one of the coolest videogame level names ever, it's really twisted and cool. the waterfall constantly running in the middle of this ascending spiral is such a cool design idea. it's claustrophobic in an evil yet cozy way.

really love Tower of Latria now that i have made more progress. the art design here is wonderful, and the lighting/shadow and colors are very vivid and surreal. this a giant proper dungeon, a deep green jail with Cthulu-headed sorcerers capable of one-hit electricity stun kills. there are stacks of coffins everywhere, and some rooms have iron maidens that you can open if you want to test your luck. then there is the giant steampunk machine that shoots arrows! getting by that is hard af. amazing level!

there is no Homeward Bone in Demon's Souls

http://demonssouls.wikidot.com/shard-of-archstone

yeah i just found those damn rats. damn rats, giving me the plague!

made it to Leechlurker and was kicking butt w some fire spells but i fell off the ledge to my death like a fool

i love how you can hop over ledges/climb up little barriers in this. back in Boletaria i was running and reached the end of the hallway and my dude LEAPED OVER THE RAILING woah dude, this rules

magic is pretty sweet, i just got my 2 miracle slots, healing/evactuating all day long

defeated Storm King last night with the Storm Ruler sword. man, Dark Souls 3 referenced Demon's super hard, people don't even know...

i have left: 1-4 & False King boss fight and 3-3/3-4 plus Maneater/Old Monk boss fights. then the endgame stuff. i got to Maneater a while ago but that's one tough fight.

had a really rough weekend. my grandpa died on saturday and the funeral was sunday. sunday night i got home and played DeS for some video game record spinning cat petting soul love. defeated Maneater & Old Monk both in one go. both very fun battles! now I'm at 1-4 and it is really tough just getting through the level. there are these red phantoms i usually run past that are insanely difficult fights. one of them has a spear w a huge shield that ends up breaking all my equipment, and it's a struggle just to scrape together enough souls to repair. tried to parry to no avail. so i just run by them for now.

sorry about your grandpa Adam

yeah sorry to hear that man.

have you done everything else? i think 1-4 is the unofficial last level. certainly ime it was the hardest boss.

ty guys

i finally beat those three red phantoms so i'm closing in! think i've done everything else. there aren't any hidden levels are there?

secret boss: http://demonssouls.wikidot.com/walk1-1-oldking

so THAT's where that door goes!

http://i.imgur.com/ZHRQZWw.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/g9W8Z27.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/DgP0YdX.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/4jM9uHw.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/XIiqQWk.jpg

ah memories

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totally beating this game today. only King Allant (and whatever is after) remains, and i've fought him a few times, it seems a lot like the Artorias and Abyss Watcher boss fights.

so far its not going good. im having a hard time just getting up the stairs! at least they drop lots of Full Moon Grass.

fought him only a few times. his attacks are not that hard to anticipate/dodge but you can't afford to make many mistakes. once i got him to 10% and then i healed when i should've rolled.

i beat Demon's Souls late last night/early this morning. really love the ending, very mysterious. great final boss, cool final area and final final boss. Dark Souls tried to pull this off and flailed-failed spectacularly w the Bed of Chaos. no Izalith here - Demon's Souls is very consistently good throughout, maybe the most consistently good game in the series next to 3.

what great game, and great to play coming off Dark Souls 3, which in many ways pays homage to this first entry. Demon's is the essence of souls, it is all here, not even really that roughly, but in a very polished and realized state. it was truly a game-changer.

i would rank it above Dark Souls as a better game tbh. Dark Souls is much more cruel of a game and somewhat inconsistent in its second subterranean half. Dark Souls 2 is a weird spin off and 3 feels like the true sequel to Demon's Souls. one day i will have to buy a PS4 and play thru Bloodborne for the first time. :-p

this game is so good, the level select screen is one of the coolest most memorable areas in gaming.

i got the platinum for this, don't typically care for that sort of thing but i figured why not. pure bladestone took only abt 15 min of farming. so there's that