Demon's Souls - Discussion Thread

[Ethan_Hunt]

Let this day be marked in the history, as the day I conquered this great game. I remember updating my status in my backlog list, when I added this game; "I doubt I would even dare complete this one". But that was ages back, this is now. After close to 47 hours of slugging back and forth, getting my ass kicked multiple times and then slaying all the demon's, I finally managed to beat this game. Absolutely brilliant game. Got the good ending, or so it's called. My soul level stood at a whopping 81, right before the f*ckin' False King drained 2 of my soul level. The last boss was a joke. Kudos to From Software for making such a challenging game. :hail:

Good luck to all the future players. Remember, this game is not impossible, it's very challenging and satisfying.

Dark Souls, you're next!

 

[dinjo]

I played Dark Souls on 360 sometime back i felt the controls and menus were better in PS3 for Demon Souls

 

[Gannu]

Let this day be marked in the history, as the day I conquered this great game.

Fcuking epic! GJ Allwyn.

So it wasn't all that hard as was perceived to be eh? Let me see if it lives up to all the hype it created. Although 47 hours doesn't look like it's too much for an RPG.

I recall this friend of mine (and Undy's who btw has now gone AWOL from the forums ) back in UAE, who got himself a console and a copy of Demon's Souls. He said he completed the game and it wasn't all that hard. I was like "Dude, are you serious?".

:unsure:

 

[Ethan_Hunt]

It's not THAT hard, but if you don't have the right gear/spell/soul level, you will have a difficult time. I'll be brutally honest, All final bosses of each worlds were extremely easy. I mean 2-3, 3-3, 4-3 & 5-3. All you need is to have a spell called 'Warding', cast it before (and during) the fight and you'll deal a lost less damage from the enemy attacks. Just start the game, you'll realise it ain't that hard. Heck, if I can do it, then you can definitely do it.

47 hours can be extended, depending on the amount of deaths and challenges you face in the game. Also, depends on the amount of grinding/farming you do. I did quite a lot to raise my soul level. It can be done in 35 hours as well.

 

[Gannu]

All final bosses of each worlds were extremely easy. I mean 2-3, 3-3, 4-3 & 5-3. All you need is to have a spell called 'Warding', cast it before (and during) the fight and you'll deal a lost less damage from the enemy attacks. Just start the game, you'll realise it ain't that hard.

Sounds good! Looking forward to dust my console, controller and shove that disc in. I need to complete MP3 today so I can begin the game tomorrow.

We have Prometheus and Madagascar 3 releasing this Friday.

 

[Ethan_Hunt]

We have Prometheus and Madagascar 3 releasing this Friday.

Dam! Totally forgot about it. Need to gather my peeps and perhaps go for a back-2-back show again.

 

[Gannu]

Allwyn, please give us lesser souls some guidance from time to time. Beginning the journey today! :fear:

*fingers crossed*

 

[Ethan_Hunt]

Fear not my friend. I'll be here. Keep Wikidot open. That's pretty much everything you need for reference on this game. Also, try not to look up for any boss battle tips or videos, in advance. You'll loose the charm of their intimidating nature.

Good luck and godspeed. You'll be fine, trust me.

 

[Gannu]

With a lot of anticipation, I finally began the title yesterday night. But before that, I went through the 3 YouTube tutorial videos for Demon's Souls. And I must say, the guy did a really good job with the tutorials and explained each and every thing one could possible ask for. It cleared a lot of my doubts. Ofc Allwyn as well helped with his response above so I could literally prepare myself for what was in store.

So the main catch in the game is the absence of save points within a level and this is what makes it a really frustrating affair for most of them. And it appears, many tend to take the challenge lightly and pretending this to be any other hack-n-slash title, goes straight ahead in front of the enemy AI and gets owned. Besides, every move of the player consumes some amount of stamina (I don't suppose blocking does?) and the stamina bar takes a moment before it recovers itself so during that brief period, we are vulnerable to any attack from the AI. This can be painful during boss battles or when a bunch of demons flank the player. Maybe stamina recovery items may help - haven't come across those yet.

I created a character quickly and chose the Royalty class. Completed the first part wherein the character is mandatorily killed by the demon boss (I suppose we are going to face him later?) and is sent to the Nexus. Quickly browsed through the Nexus, interacted with few guys and entered the Boletarian Palace.

I did run into few frame drops occasionally and noticed that the character is not very agile compared to the ones in the other titles I've played till date. He takes his time to dodge or parry and heck, even consume some medication to heal himself. Anyways, let's see how this goes. It is going to be one hell of a title, I am sure.

 

[Ethan_Hunt]

I think you're referring to this tips guide: Demon's Souls Advice

If yes, then that's all the hand-holding you'll need to start the game. Heck, watching this guys video made me realise how easy it could be, if we were a bit cautious. But it also spoiled a lot of the hidden enemies for the first level and the boss fight. Nevertheless, that was about it.

So the main catch in the game is the absence of save points within a level and this is what makes it a really frustrating affair for most of them. And it appears, many tend to take the challenge lightly and pretending this to be any other hack-n-slash title, goes straight ahead in front of the enemy AI and gets owned. Besides, every move of the player consumes some amount of stamina (I don't suppose blocking does?) and the stamina bar takes a moment before it recovers itself so during that brief period, we are vulnerable to any attack from the AI. This can be painful during boss battles or when a bunch of demons flank the player. Maybe stamina recovery items may help - haven't come across those yet.

Yes. Stamina matters, at every point. I invested a major chunk of my souls for this. If you ought to go for a heavy armoured build later on in the game, then it dodge rolling with eat up a huge chunk of your stamina. Blocking consumes stamina too. Stay on your default build and it will see yourself through the entire game. The only protection you'd need is a good shield.

As far as the save points go, you can save at any point in the game. Just head into to the main menu and hit the inventory section and come out of it. The game will auto-save. Then just quit the game and when you continue, you'll be spawned at the same spot. But dying in between a level would send you back to the start, there's no way to dodge that.

noticed that the character is not very agile compared to the ones in the other titles I've played till date. He takes his time to dodge or parry and heck, even consume some medication to heal himself.

That's because the other RPG titles haven't portrayed a realistic aspect. Some can perform unlimited dodge rolls and back flips. Out here you everything depends on your stamina and your equip burden. If you have a very heavy armour on you, then your player will roll extremely slowly.

 

[Gannu]

So which of those attributes would you suggest investing the souls into? And how many times should we go about doing the soul farming? I believe it need not be necessarily the first level i.e. Boletarian Palace. Once the bosses of other levels are done with, we could use those levels as well right?

That's because the other RPG titles haven't portrayed a realistic aspect. Some can perform unlimited dodge rolls and back flips. Out here you everything depends on your stamina and your equip burden. If you have a very heavy armour on you, then your player will roll extremely slowly.

Makes sense actually. One cannot dodge/roll/parry with a whole lot of heavy equipment.

 

[Ethan_Hunt]

So which of those attributes would you suggest investing the souls into? And how many times should we go about doing the soul farming? I believe it need not be necessarily the first level i.e. Boletarian Palace. Once the bosses of other levels are done with, we could use those levels as well right?

Vitality, Intelligence and Endurance should be your first priority. Once they are strong enough, you can invest in strength and Magic.

Soul farming can be done end number of times. For the start, I recommend farming the first level of the Boletarian palace, since it will be a world you're familiar with and the enemies aren't very tough, except for the Red Eyed Knight. World 4; Shrine of Stroms is a world, which gives you the maximum amount of souls, but the enemies there are trickier, faster and do very heavy damage. So keep that for a bit later. Yes, once you defeat the bosses of any level, you could re-visit them for farming.

 

[Gannu]

Vitality, Endurance and Intelligence - got it. So when do I upgrade my weapons? Later perhaps?

the Red Eyed Knight.

This dude! I saw that the guy in the video took him down with ease using the Thief's Ring and the soul arrow and looked very simple! I don't think it is THAT simple yeah?

 

[dinjo]

It's simple since you first stun it and keep firing soul arrow and thief ring helps to get close and attack

 

[Gannu]

I'll know when I face him. Probably tonight or tomorrow. Have to go for Prometheus at the 10:45 PM show.

How far have you reached Dinesh?

 

[Ethan_Hunt]

Vitality, Endurance and Intelligence - got it. So when do I upgrade my weapons? Later perhaps?

You can upgrade your weapons, once you start exploring deeper into each world. Collect all the shard stones along the way and deposit them with Stockpile Thomas in Nexus. Once you meet up with Blacksmith ED, he'll introduce you to some kick-ass weapon upgrades.

This dude! I saw that the guy in the video took him down with ease using the Thief's Ring and the soul arrow and looked very simple! I don't think it is THAT simple yeah?

Yes. You can take him down with a couple of souls arrows. He was my prime target for soul farming in 1-1. 2k souls in one shot. At first, his strikes and stature is intimidating, but once you upgrade your weapons, he will merely be 2 hits kill away. But on lower levels, it will be the other way round.

 

[Gannu]

So I managed to slay the first boss - Phalanx but that was a fairly easy one so to say. As suggested in the video, smeared the Scimitar with some Turpentine, used fire bombs to clear those slimy hoplites guarding the boss and striked him. Kept running around the room to avoid getting cornered. Farmed close to 3k souls and invested them in vitality, endurance and intelligence. Got the theif's ring and cling ring. Collected a Stone of Ephemeral Eyes from a dead body in the Nexus close to the Monumentals. Rescued an NPC Ostrava from the Boletarian palace and this dude was kicking ass with those minions! From a distance I could notice the health bars suddenly going down and turns out he was killing them.

All said and done, death was inevitable. I died thrice in the game and lost close to 3.5k souls. Was terribly disappointed. More so because this was purely due to my stupidity and complacency! Fell down from a flight of stairs in the palace as I was climbing it, got rolled over by a bunch of boulders and got cornered by the minions. Really stupid I'd say. I should have carefully moved when I was scouting the new area but like a rockstar went ahead and died. The good thing being all the things I collected was retained so i had plenty of those medication grasses. Couple of my friends who were watching me play got frustrated so badly, they had no idea how I intended to complete the title! Hell, I do not wish to give up anyway. Intend to do a bit more farming today, slay the Red Eyed Knight and improve my stats. And maybe proceed to 1-2.

However, right now I am in my soul form because after slaying the Phalanx, instead of returning to the Nexus, I tried to kill a few minions at some stairs and got cornered. Came back, touched the blood stain and recovered the souls but couldn't regain my human form back. What would I do now? Should I proceed with some farming and killing the Red Eyed Knight or consume a Stone of Ephemeral Eyes that I have now? Only collected one till now and I do not want to use it.

 

[Ethan_Hunt]

Really stupid I'd say. I should have carefully moved when I was scouting the new area but like a rockstar went ahead and died.

:lol:

Don't worry about it. You'll have plenty of those "in your face" surprise moments ahead. I once fell off a cliff trying to dodge roll and evade the Silver Skeleton in 4-2 and you know the funny thing, I fell from the same spot 3 times over in my next attempts too.

It helps you to re-work your strategy. The pattern remains the same, but you become wiser on your next attempt. Always have your shield up and don't RUN, especially in narrow areas. Some areas won't be well lit and that leaves more room for errors and quick deaths. So proceed slowly.

The good thing being all the things I collected was retained so i had plenty of those medication grasses. Couple of my friends who were watching me play got frustrated so badly, they had no idea how I intended to complete the title! Hell, I do not wish to give up anyway. Intend to do a bit more farming today, slay the Red Eyed Knight and improve my stats. And maybe proceed to 1-2.

That's the spirit! Keep grabbing those Moon grasses as much as you can. This is the best world to farm for healing items. Spend your souls in the Nexus as soon as you feel you have enough for your next soul upgrade. I hope you're now familiar with the upgrade pattern with the Maiden in Black.

However, right now I am in my soul form because after slaying the Phalanx, instead of returning to the Nexus, I tried to kill a few minions at some stairs and got cornered. Came back, touched the blood stain and recovered the souls but couldn't regain my human form back. What would I do now? Should I proceed with some farming and killing the Red Eyed Knight or consume a Stone of Ephemeral Eyes that I have now? Only collected one till now and I do not want to use it.

Recovering your bloodstain only grants you back your lost souls and does not restore your body form. To get back into body form, you'll need to either kill another boss or use the Stone of Ephemeral eyes. Don't use the Stone just yet. Equip the cling ring and your health should now be around 75 percent in total. As a thumb rule, always have this ring equipped when you're in soul form. Trust me, you'll be in soul form for most of the game and you'll get plenty of Stone of Ephemeral eyes later on, which you probably won't use anyway. Proceed to farm the 1st level and then visit other areas. Remember to visit every nook and corner of each area, you'll have a lot of stuff to grab. Last but not the least, whatever you do, please play World 3-1 & 3-2 at night. I can't stress how important this is for creating the perfect atmosphere. You'll be scared out of your wits.

 

[Gannu]

Oh shit so I'll be playing most of the game with half the health? Instead of the cling ring I prefer the thief's ring since I can closely approach the enemy AI without distracting them.

whatever you do, please play World 3-1 & 3-2 at night. I can't stress how important this is for creating the perfect atmosphere. You'll be scared out of your wits.

Will do or rather try. Horror movies (not those panzy ones) and games scare me when I play them during the day time. :ashamed:

 

[Ethan_Hunt]

Oh shit so I'll be playing most of the game with half the health? Instead of the cling ring I prefer the thief's ring since I can closely approach the enemy AI without distracting them.

You can equip both the rings.

There are 2 ring slots and you can equip any 2 rings at any given point. And don't worry about the health being halved. The more you keep investing your soul points in Vitality, you should have enough to last you for the entire level.

Will do or rather try. Horror movies (not those panzy ones) and games scare me when I play them during the day time. :ashamed:

During day time?

Anyway, believe me, it will be worth it. Crank up your volume too, so you can hear those subtle sounds.