It's like getting kicked in the balls, in a good way!
For that reason, Demon's Souls will be a cult classic that may very well be the best game of this generation (and of the previous two generations).
What's not to love?
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Besides the pure challenge of the game, this offers just about everything you will want in a slasher. It is extremely beautiful, it gives you the option to play as you want, and it doesn't try to fit in some extraodrinarily complicated yet shallow plot to appease to the RPG crowd.
No more cheap shots!
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Tired of games cheap shotting you? Oblivion is the perfect example of an RPG that likes to cheap shot. I mean, remember trying to dodge in Oblivion? It was impossible. If you side stepped, they turned. If you backed up, the enemy would go into ludicrous speed in order to land a blow.
In Demon's Souls, this isn't an issue. The AI doesn't try to cheap shot you in order to kill you, it just kills you because the game is designed so well. I can tolerate (with a bit of swearing) losing to a game that beats me. I can't tolerate a game that beats me because it says "I win". For example, games that read buttons really, really, really (did I mention really) annoy me.
You'll laugh, you'll cry....literally
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Never has a game taken me from one emotional extreme to the other in one gaming session. There was a point I slammed my controller against the couch, and 10 minutes later got up and did a nerdo-dance of victory. It wasn't pretty.
This game exchanges an emotional story with a different kind of story. A story you create yourself as you work your way through a mysterious and dangerous environment.
Innovative
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Title of this section was ironic, as it was not innovative at all. I apologize. At any rate, no one can argue that this game didn't try to innovate the way we play. I was blown away at how seamlessly they integrated their online and offline content. As a software developer myself, I can't even imagine pulling off something like that.
Ultimo's Verdict
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This game is a buy. Buy it. Go right now. Why are you still reading this? This is one game you won't want to miss out on. I can count on one hand the number of unforgetable experiences I have had playing games, and this is one of them.