Demon's Souls - Atlus & From Software's Action RPG - October 6

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About Demon's Souls
King Allant the XII, the last king of Boletaria, searched tirelessly to expand his might. The Nexus, a great ice shrine nestled in the mountains, bestowed the power of the souls onto him, bringing prosperity to his kingdom. Still unsated, he returned again to the Nexus, where he foolishly awakened the Old One from its eternal slumber. This long forgotten evil, now wrought upon Boletaria, plunged the realm into darkness and fog. A mighty demon horde poured into the kingdom, devouring the souls of men.

Champions from other realms learned of Boletaria's fate and sought to deliver the kingdom from evil; none would return from the cursed land. Called upon by a mysterious maiden in black, you go forth, the last hope for humanity in a place lost to demons and darkness...

Key Features

  • Ultimate hardcore RPG challenge -- In this brutal land, death is inevitable, but not final. Combining the best features of an action game and RPG, you'll slice, smash, shoot, and ensorcel some of the most horrible, vicious enemies ever encountered. Are you strong enough to face the impossible and win?
  • Groundbreaking online capabilities -- Network features go far beyond any previous RPG, allowing players to leave hints for each other, replay death scenes, cooperatively revive dead players, or invade another player's game to wreak havoc. Not merely an add-on feature, multiplayer options are vast, and uniquely focused on changing and intensifying the single player experience.
  • Freeform and flexible -- The open-ended structure of the game means that there is no single path, but rather a wealth of options. Set your own pace and progress as you like. Build exactly the character you want by creating a detailed avatar, nurturing the right stats, and customizing your skills and equipment.
  • You act, the world reacts -- The World Tendency system changes the aggressiveness of monsters and the rewards for killing them based on players' actions. Different events and NPCs may be triggered, as well.
 
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I think the Asian version has English subtitles.

This was recently reviewed, here is translation highlights:

A bold game pursuing for the fundamental of joy in videogames.

This is an action RPG developed by SCE and From Software. Player must hunt down demons in order to save the kingdom. Information such as where you are supposed to go or how to defeat demons is intentionally provided in limited amount, so the player has to discover by try-and-error. This, instead of being nuisance, is the appeal of the game.
Also, for online co-op, there are interesting features such as leaving a dying message to leave a clue for other players.

Pros: Due to its high difficulty, there will be many unreasonable deaths, but because of that there is a big catharsis in finding out how to over come the obstacle. Control is very responsive and simple, so fighting against enemy is a breeze. Character making and leveling up give you a lot of freedom, so creating a character of your own is quite enjoyable.

Cons: You can't pause during game. Because of its serious and tense atmosphere and game structure, it's really not for casual gamers.

Also translation of interview.

Producer: Ken Horii
SCE Japan Studio External Production Division
Associate Producer

Director: Hidetaka Miyazaki
From Software Production Team 1 Chief Director

"The Reason for Creating a Fantasy Game Again"

- How did the team-up of SCE and From Software come about?

Horii: I have been a huge fan of games from From Software, especially King's Field series. One day I had a chance to visit the company, and in a brief conversation I asked, "You have no plans for making a sequel?" Then somehow conversation started heating up and ended up promising to create something together.

Miyazaki: When the project came in, I was mainly working on Armored Core series, and both the company and I personally have been away from creating a fantasy game, so there was a strong feeling inside me to do one.
I guess the timing was perfect.
Also I thought that teaming up with SCE could cause a chemical reaction to create something with new possibility.
And we did get a lot of advices and inspiration that From Software alone could never come up with.

Horii: Being a fan of From Software means I did have some problems with their games. If it was a sequel of King's Field, there would have been things that couldn't be changed because of tradition of the series, but by collaborating with them on new IP, we could create something new.
I remember we made a major change on something almost out of my ego.

Miyazaki: We also experimented with violence to push the envelope.

Horii: Because I'm from SCE, we tend to be careful with the rating, but we did some extreme things.

Miyazaki: For instance, I thought treasure boxes were quite unnatural in a battle field, so they were replaced with glowing dead bodies of other warriors.
We convinced them that we still needed treasure hunting element in the game.
In a way, we took liberty on this more than games published by ourselves. My boss peeked at the screen and asked me whether Sony would sign off on these things. (laughs)

"A Game System With Feel of Free Adventure"

- Looking at the story and the main character, there seem to be quite a lot of freedom.

Miyazaki: Main character is the player himself. You can set the name, sex, and of course facial features and appearances.
The fact that the protagonist is nameless is in a sense very From Software-ish. The purpose of the game is given to you in minimum amount, and you won't be forced to pursue it.
There will be some people telling you to "save the world," but you can say no and the game still goes on.

Horii: I think it does have a lot of freedom. The difference between weapons isn't in the parameter but in the moves, and it changes the whole tactics. Even with a same weapon, the motion will change depending on whether you grip it with one hand or both hands.
The game won't give you a helpful hand telling you what to do next, so how the story progresses and style of play will depend on the player.
There are many episodes.. (unreadable)

"A Game That Feels Like a Game on Playstation 3"

- What is the aim of this game coming from the company that made the system?

Horii: We are trying to create a game with distinctively new feel while being a traditional, carefully crafted action RPG. We want the gameplay itself to evolve rather than cutscenes or graphics.

Miyazaki: We are always thinking of ways to tell the joy of classic RPG with modern technology.
For example, long weapons will be hard to wield in small corridor or torch lighting up the dungeon in realtime. We want to express things that we have ignored in past generation and integrate it in the gameplay.
By doing what Wizardry games did in commands by player's action, realism, speed, and immersiveness will be enhanced greatly.
We call it a "strategic action," but it's a system with strategic element in classic RPGs in mind.

Horii: It's not exactly a pure action game where you need reflex and button mashing ability. Rather, you need to... (unreadable)
It's more of an tactical action.

Miyazaki: We want to create a "videogame that feels like a videogame" that we used to play when we were little with the latest technology, and I believe we see a new possibility in that direction.
But because a small tweak changes the whole balance of the game, we are taking a lot of time balancing the gameplay.

- It seems like there will be a lot of discussion among each other in terms of the balance.

Horii: As a SCE title, it's preferable to have the game played by wide variety of audience, but because I'm a fan of From Software, it's leaning toward "From Software" balance. (laughs)
These days the general consensus is that a game is better when it can be beaten easily, but I think a game used to be something you try again and again because you want to kill the enemy that killed you. By making a game which you can enjoy the process of trying, I want to wake up the gamers who are being used to easy games.

Miyazaki: But that doesn't necessarily mean we are making it insanely hard. There will always be a good reason why you die, like "you forgot to kill the archers" or "stepped inside without caution and surrounded by enemies."
If you analyze and think, you will be able to progress even if you are not good at action games, and that means even if you are, you will get stuck if you don't think.
 
I do love me some Monster Hunter, but I'm not sure about this. Online co-op makes me kind of hard, though. And hey, Monster Hunter can be really unforgiving, too.
 
I was one of the rare King's Field fans back when, so I'll be watching for this one.

I was hoping the PSP remakes of the King's Field games would get a US version but no luck so far.
 
[quote name='RelentlessRolento']i really want this even though it has mixed reviews. i feel it treads similar love or hate grounds of Monster Hunter games, so I want.[/QUOTE]I heard what gives the game a mixed review (it did very well at Dengeki) is because it's hard. It's one of those games where if you die, you start back from a distance.
 
I loved Kings Field before I played Morrowind on Xbox. Is 3rd person the only view in this new game or do they have the classic first person view as well?
 
[quote name='The Mana Knight']I heard what gives the game a mixed review (it did very well at Dengeki) is because it's hard. It's one of those games where if you die, you start back from a distance.[/quote]

I like hard games, but games that make you start way back annoy me. I'm fine with SMT, because if I don't save before a big fight it's my fault in that. That said, this sounds interesting so I'm hoing it comes over. Might as well just release it with subtitles, the people who will really be interested will be perfectly happy with subtitles.
 
[quote name='happy']I like hard games, but games that make you start way back annoy me. I'm fine with SMT, because if I don't save before a big fight it's my fault in that. That said, this sounds interesting so I'm hoing it comes over. Might as well just release it with subtitles, the people who will really be interested will be perfectly happy with subtitles.[/QUOTE]If it comes stateside, it WILL have English voiceacting, since it's a requirement by SCEA.

I thought I saw somewhere it had the first person view option, but can't remember.
 
It's not loading for me either. I think he's playing alone. From what I can tell he's grinding for better equipment right now. He keeps getting his ass handed to him every time he gets to a boss.

Wow. It also appears that the bosses have health indicators which is my single biggest complaint with Monster Hunter. IMO it makes all the brutal regular enemy fights, the lack of character leveling and the equipment loss all fair. If I know what I'm up against it makes it a lot harder to tolerate a hard fight. God damn I want this game.
 
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Heh, I just saw him get destroyed by a fire-breathing spider boss. Kind of getting Mythos vibes from it.
 
Ah, they finally beat the spider boss. And it looks like there's separate hubs (the game calls them "Nodes") where, I assume, you can buy better and better equipment.

Man, the guy sees two dragons and he runs away?! Coward.
 
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[quote name='theblizzman']How can we find out if this is coming stateside? Anyone import this yet?[/quote]

This game is comming stateside, at least its suposed to. There is no exact date yet, but it's in QTR 4 2009.
 
[quote name='kurokubushi']This game is comming stateside, at least its suposed to. There is no exact date yet, but it's in QTR 4 2009.[/quote]
Says who? IGN? Wikipedia?
 
[quote name='cochesecochese']Says who? IGN? Wikipedia?[/quote]


I double checked the resouces of the article a I read, and they seemed a little fishy. I rechecked and there are currently no plans to bring this game to the US.
 
[quote name='epobirs']I was one of the rare King's Field fans back when, so I'll be watching for this one.

I was hoping the PSP remakes of the King's Field games would get a US version but no luck so far.[/QUOTE]

I couldn't agree more. I loved Kings field, but have given up hope the PSP remakes will be coming stateside. I am not getting a warm feeling that this will see a US release so I just bit the bullet and bought Demons Souls from yesasia yesterday. They listed it in stock, but it will not ship for a month (then a week for delivery).

Have any CAGs actually imported the game yet?
 
[quote name='RelentlessRolento']where's the cheapest place to order this?[/quote]

I just ordered from Play-Asia.com, it came to $67 shipped via 5-10 day shipping speed, pretty good knowing this game probably wont come to the US, Asian version is full english (Text, voice, menu), Online mode is compatible in all regions (Mean US players can play with people in Japan and Korea)

http://demonssouls.wikidot.com/

Their is the English Wiki, Great info
 
If they even have english voices already done they would be stupid not to do some kind of US release. Even if they only print 10K copies and don't advertise much, I think the fact that it is an RPG will move enough units to justify getting a rating and printing the discs. They should put it out sometime during the summer, after InFamous just so they can have exclusives coming out throughout the year.
 
[quote name='happy']If they even have english voices already done they would be stupid not to do some kind of US release. Even if they only print 10K copies and don't advertise much, I think the fact that it is an RPG will move enough units to justify getting a rating and printing the discs. They should put it out sometime during the summer, after InFamous just so they can have exclusives coming out throughout the year.[/QUOTE]

Why even wait that long? If you want it now, there's no reason to wait since this game has 100% english support. The ONLY thing that's not in english is the instruction booklet. Even then you get an insert that's in english which tells you the important features within the game. Also there's a Demon's Souls wiki out there.

I ordered it on the 14th from play-asia, I don't know when they're going to get more stock in since it's still back ordered. I'm thinking I won't see it till late April-May. Hoping I'm wrong.
 
Argh....anyone else order this from Play-Asia? I ordered it on the 14th of this month and its status got updated to back ordered the following day. I've been waiting since then and I'm just curious how long it takes these bastards to restock?
 
[quote name='punkmaggit']NCSX seems to keep getting new shipments in of the Asia version, but they sellout in a matter of seconds!!

http://www.ncsxshop.com/cgi-bin/shop/BCAS-20071.html

Read the comments on the page. They're very helpful.[/quote]

Canceled my Play-Asia order for the asian version since people who ordered in Feb, are still on Backordered.

I ordered it from NCSX on 3/26 (Click details on the product and they list in most cases the EXACT day they expect to receive more of that item, so I placed an odered and it shipped a matter of hours later (Ships from NY), I received it today, and cant wait to try it out!
 
I managed to get two of these. One to play and one to keep. I have the feeling that this game is going to be rare. Hopefully ill get a chance to try it out sometime soon but Killzone 2 has me hooked
 
Looks like a great game but not enough for me to spend almost 70 dollars. It costs too much for a game that has not been rated from American game critics like gamespot or GT. Seems risky to me. Also anyone notice the health, mana, & stamina bar looks like its from oblivion?
 
I got this game, verdict is.....I love it 9/10 easily, very challenging but reward is that much better. I dont regret my $75 purchase one bit. Here is my character so far....

Knight w/ Black Assassin's Leather

DemonSoul_Knight.jpg


Anyone care to share their characters?

I beat 1-1, 1-2, 2-1, and working on 3-1 currently
 
Gave up Eternal Sonata so I could play this one... have to say I'm loving it!! (Ba da ba ba ba) Not quite sure what I'm doing now, but it's feels rewarding once you learn the system better. Kinda like how Etrian Odyssey felt once you got into it. :3
 
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