A game that is as much of a subtle reflection on the idea of entitlement as it is a great game.
Let's stop right there. Why in god's name would one ever want to play a game like this? Aren't games supposed to be 'fun'? Aren't they supposed to be 'entertaining'? Why would you go and pay $60+ for a game that completely hates you at every chance it gets?
The answer isn't all that simple, and that's ultimately what makes Demon Souls, and now Dark Souls, such a strange-yet-satisfying proposition.
At it's core, the game is a pretty simple action RPG where you choose a character type (Warrior, Sorcerer, Wanderer, Thief, etc.) choose some abilities and then proceed forth with your chosen weapons into the world.
But like the cake...the simple exterior is a lie.
Normally in a game, you're given a lot of background and a somewhat sequential list of things you need to go and do. "Go fetch this widget" or "Go kill that thing" or "Go to X place in Y amount of time." This...not so much. All you know is that when you start the game, you find that you're in some special undead asylum. You're given a few simple instructions on the controls as you start moving around. Beyond that, that's it. You're on your own. Oh yeah...and you're dead.
Though you don't know it at the time, waking up and being dead should give you some idea of what's coming to you. You are going to die. A lot. I mean...you're going to die in this game more than you've died in any 10 other games combined. You will be beaten, sliced, stabbed, burned, pummeled, stepped on, bitten and generally abused in myriad awful ways by some of the most horrifying creatures you will experience. At first it's frustrating because you're thinking, "Gee...it's almost like this game wants me to quit."
And you'd be right. It hates you and could give a damn less how much you want to do well. It forces you to do well, to play accurately, to pay attention because if you don't...you will die. Again. And again. And again. And the real kick in the nuts is that dying is actually a core mechanic of the game. When you die, you drop your souls, which act like a kind of currency. You use them to upgrade your character and buy new stuff.
Fortunately you're resurrected and you can go and retrieve those dropped souls. UNfortunately, all of the monsters that you killed are brought back to life so you have to go through them again. But while you're going through them again you're earning souls again so that by the time you reach where you died to pick up your old souls, you've now effectively doubled your income. BUT...if you die along the way, the souls you were originally going for disappear. You drop the new batch you had been collecting, get resurrected and then you have to decide whether or not it's worth it to try for them.
Talk about a brutal carrot/stick experience...
I'm making it sound impossible when, in fact, once you embrace the fact that you're going to die and that you have to pay attention to increase your chances of survival, you'll start to do well. You'll actually start to enjoy it because each small victory means something. It means that you're learning the game is really hard but ultimately very fair in how it presents challenges to you, how it expects you to overcome them, and how it ultimately rewards you for overcoming.
The game doesn't completely hang you out to dry. It has a very innovative online component where players are able to help player through a messaging system. These messages can warn you of what's coming up ("False floor up ahead"), give you advice on how to beat something ("Next monster requires fire") or direct you to an easier route ("Go south instead"). In addition to the messages, you'll also notice 'bloodstains' on the floor. One you interact with one, you'll see another player's ghost come up and 'replay' their death so you know what to expect. Finally, you can also summon other players (you can be summoned too) into your world to help you out with particularly challenging areas.
And now...the point: Once you understand all of this, you start to realize how much games have changed over the years. Think back to Castlevania or Mario or Zelda. When you died, you died. There were consequences to playing like a jerk, ranging from having to start a particular level all over again to having to start the entire game over. And yet you still played because you were motivated to do well. The majority of games coming out today present absolutely no challenge because there are no real consequences to playing poorly. You have unlimited 'lives', games tend to auto-save and you generally respawn close to where you were attempting to go. The monsters you killed stay dead and, depending on what your difficulty setting is, you are sometimes even 'refreshed' with bullets or energy or whatever else happens to be the way you get through the game.
Taking a step even further back, you start to realize how much games today reflect our state of mind around the idea of entitlement (e.g. "I paid $60+ for this game! I should be able to beat it however and whenever I want!") There's no reason why you shouldn't want a little bit of challenge along with your entertainment. Life is challenging, and sometimes that's a hard reality to face for some. You do yourself no favors by plowing through everything without putting some thought and care into it. Not only do you fool yourself into thinking the mundane is challenging, but you also lull your subconscious into complacency. And that, friends, is a dangerous place to be.
Consequences are not as bad of a thing as you might think. They keep you sharp and focused and force you to be excellent rather than just average. Just like in Dark Souls, the second you stop thinking about what you can do to stay ahead is the second you open yourself to disappointment.
See...video games are good for a little thought provocation every once in a while.