Demon's Souls will challenge and brutalize you, but its also one of the most rewarding and unique games ever made.
Story:
The world was once victim to a previous scourge of Demons in an ancient past before King Allant came to the throne. The Old One, an entity of unfathomable power, had awakened the bane of existence into the world, unleashing terrible Demons that ripped the land asunder, consequently exterminating half of humankind. Those that would become the Monumentals sought to spare the land from further harm, and combined with their knowledge of Soul Arts, returned the Old One back to its slumber. To divide the lands amidst different regions and to return life to where there was none, they ordered Archstones be constructed and placed throughout the world, all of which were connected to a central Archstone used for inter-regional travel.
Amidst the realm of reality and death exists a place known as the Nexus, a hub for the souls whom traverse the ethereal worlds hoping to reclaim their bodies. Below the Nexus sleeps the Old One, offering the promise of limitless prosperity to any that gives him or herself up to it. King Allant the XII of Boletaria dreamed of bringing eternal wealth to his mighty kingdom, and thus gave himself wholly to the Old One's will, awakening it from its long slumber. Prosperity did not befall Boletaria, but instead the colorless fog of chaos and calamity blanketed the lands, and those still living were soon no longer among the sane.
The many former-citizens of Boletaria once prayed to God to grant them divinity in life. Among the most notable figureheads of the Kingdom's parish were Saint Urbain, a highly respected man of great spiritual knowledge and an abundance of faith, and the Sixth Saint Astraea, a divine Maiden worshipped for her purity. Urbain's followers revered him as being in direct communion with God, and through him they believed His message was delivered. It is Urbain's belief that the Demons were placed into Boletaria, and the fog consumed the Kingdom, as a test from God, and that all must use His miracles to banish the soul-thirsty horde.
Surprisingly there isn't a whole lot of depth to the main story, but luckily there is a deep back story within each of the five worlds you will explore. Initially the story may not make any sense to you, but as you finish each of the worlds you will piece together a disturbing and utterlly engrossing back story, that ranks up there with the best stories in gaming.
In all there are five worlds in total to explore, each with three demon bosses to defeat. The worlds are: The Palace of Boletaria, The Shrine of Storms, The Tower of Latria, The Valley of Defilement, and Stonefang Tunnel. Each world is incredibly unique and disturbing, for example The Valley of Defilement, is a home for the abused and neglected citizens of Boletaria. Its found out later that it was also used as a dumping ground for aborted children that were unwanted by their parents. Its disturbing revalations like this, that make this game incredibly disturbing yet completely engrossing.
Gameplay:
The gameplay in Demon's Souls is one of its greatest strengths. The controls are difficult to grasp at first, but after hours of practice and numerous deahts you will finally master them. This is where the game succeeds, because it gives you all the tools to master its gameplay, but still expects you to put the work in to master them. The combat is excellent with an insane amount of depth rarely seen in any game today. There are several different clas*es to chose from at the start of the game and each of them has their own specific attack patterns and abillities. This makes for a lot of choice in the way you play the game. I personally chose the Royalty class and chose to use magic and axes for my playthrough. It really works, so long as you continue to put more souls into your specific stats. You can still become any type of player you want to be, but it helps to specialize in a certain area, or you'll have problems later.
Overall the gameplay is precise, weighty, and perfectly tuned. Its not an easy game to learn how to play, but once you learn there isn't a game with better gameplay and controls out there.
Graphics:
Demon's Souls being a PS3 exclusive helps it a lot. It may have come out a few years ago, but its still an incredible looking game. It looks great from a technical perspective with detailed amour and bosses that look as incredbile as they are menacing. What really makes it an amazing looking game is the art style, it oozes creativity and makes you want to explore it grotesque world. Levels like the Tower of Latria and Valley of Defilement are incredible from an artistic perspective and are some of the most disturbingly realized worlds of ever seen in video games. Every world is unique and has its own look, with absolutely none of the environments being repeated.
Demon's Souls has some of the most disturbing, grotesque, and horrifying worlds ever seen in a video games and it really offers a lot of variety in the graphics. Its not only a fantastic looking game from a technical perspective, but its also some of the most amazing art design you will ever see.
Value:
Demon's Souls is a long game. I spent over 50 hours in just my first playthrough, and the fact that you can continue on multiplae times with a new game + only adds to the time you can put in. Its a cheap game now and honestly one of the best valued games you can buy for under twenty dollars. For people that can get into the game you can easily spend hundreds of hours playing it. There isn't really much more I can say except that you'll spend a lot of time playing it and you will not regret spending the money to experience it.
Final Thoughts:
In my time with Demon's Souls I've died around 70 times, thrown my controller at my wall in frustration, and even contemplated taking the disc out and smashing it with a baseball bat. I love and hate this game. Its a contradiction, I know, but at the end of my time with Demon's Souls I experienced frustrating lows and glorious highs and a sense of accomplishment you can't find in any other game. Demon's Souls will punish you for your impatience, brutalize you for a wrong decision, and break your will as a gamer to the point where you won't want to push on. However, while its not a perfect game, its one of the greatest experiences you can hope to have in a game and its something you will never forget. This game is one of the greatest games of this generation and a game you simply have to experience in all its disturbing brilliance.
Scoring:
Story: 9.5/10
Gameplay: 9.5/10
Graphics: 9.5/10
Sound: 10/10
Value: 10/10
Overall Score: 9.8/10.
Note: *Overall score is not based on an average*