Demon's Souls

[txa1265]

Well I finally broke down and got a PS3 this week. I even managed to get an original 60GB version, with hardware compatibility for PS1/PS2 games.

What did you pay, if you don't mind me asking? I've been wavering, as I got a cash (well, Amex gift checks) for 'Intellectual Property Generation' (who knew!) and my (cool) wife said 'spend it on something you want for fun'. But only if I can get the PS2 compatibility so my kids can tap that library.

 

[JDR13]

What did you pay, if you don't mind me asking? I've been wavering, as I got a cash (well, Amex gift checks) for 'Intellectual Property Generation' (who knew!) and my (cool) wife said 'spend it on something you want for fun'. But only if I can get the PS2 compatibility so my kids can tap that library.

This is the auction I surprisingly won.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=280444682261&ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT

 

[stealth]

JDR13: Congrats on your auction win. Except maybe for it's size it really is the PS3 Deluxe.

I myself started getting interested in getting a PS3. I would like to play games like Uncharted 2, God of War and of course Demon's Souls.

I can't understand why there has been no european publisher interested in Demon's Souls. No matter I guess, as I can get an imported version for more or less standard PS3 game price and it should work without a hitch.

 

[txa1265]

This is the auction I surprisingly won.

Cool ... I will have to start watching eBay ...

 

[JDR13]

JDR13: Congrats on your auction win. Except maybe for it's size it really is the PS3 Deluxe..

Yeah.. if there's anything negative about the older PS3s, it's their size and weight. They also run pretty hot.

The new PS3s are a bit smaller and lighter, and they run cooler. Their lack of backwards compatibility kills it for me though.

I myself started getting interested in getting a PS3. I would like to play games like Uncharted 2, God of War and of course Demon's Souls.

I can't understand why there has been no european publisher interested in Demon's Souls. No matter I guess, as I can get an imported version for more or less standard PS3 game price and it should work without a hitch.

So DS hasn't been released in Europe? I wasn't aware of that. God of War is vastly overrated imo. A friend of mine loaned it to me once, but I grew bored by the 3rd level.



Eurogamer did a review on DS, apparently it was an import. PS3s aren't region locked?

 

[stealth]

PS3s aren't region locked?

Well, both yes and no. The PS3 does support it but it's apparently ignored for PS3 games. Only PS1/PS2 titles (which only matters for PS3s with backwards compatibility) and movies will be region locked in a PS3.

 

[JDR13]

Well I rented it from a local video store last night. My first impression is that I should get used to getting my ass kicked....

 

[woges]

More appreciation for Demon's Souls at Gamasutra. Writer/Professor Michael Abbot compares Demon's Souls environments to Assassin's Creed 2's.

I should have played it smart and returned to the Nexus, cashed in my souls and leveled up. But curiosity about an unexplored region got the best of me, and soon I found myself knee-deep in a decrepit, plague-ridden swamp with too few healing herbs and no clear idea how to get out.

Health slowly draining and vaguely aware of a sloshing menace in the water ahead of me, I knew that dying would mean losing everything I had worked hours to acquire.

I needed a moment to stop and think, but Demon's Souls offers no pause button. It was then that I noticed my hands - sweating, wrapped in a death grip around my controller. I was scared.
​

 

[txa1265]

But that is the fear that a gaming mechanic has conspired with his adrenaline rush to put him into a position of losing hours of work. Pretty typical console gaming mechanic, really.

 

[JDR13]

Demon's Souls is a solid game, but I didn't find it as spectacular as some people claim it is.

I enjoy games with a higher difficulty, but I get annoyed when a lot of that difficulty is derived from 'trial and error' type scenarios, which are prevalent in DS.

 

[Jaw]

I second(fourth?) DS as an atmospheric, challenging game which flings me from rage and despair to glorious victory. Personally, I was converted by this review/rant: http://www.reddit.com/r/gaming/comments/acz2t/let_me_tell_you_about_demons_souls/ , in particular the first paragraph: "Demon’s Souls is a game that will make you into a man. A scrawny fourteen-year-old, after two hours with this game, will be grooming his muttonchops and ready to ship off on the next boat to fight the Kaiser. If you are already a man, it will make you into some sort of bizarre double-man. What’s that you say? You’re a woman? You don’t want to be a man? Too bad. Too bad. That’s the Demon’s Souls way."

 

[txa1265]

You were convinced by something based on stereotypical gamer misogyny? The game might be good ... but that is sad, and reflects poorly on the game.

 

[Anderson]

Real Men Play RPGs

 

[GothicGothicness]

I should have played it smart and returned to the Nexus, cashed in my souls and leveled up. But curiosity about an unexplored region got the best of me, and soon I found myself knee-deep in a decrepit, plague-ridden swamp with too few healing herbs and no clear idea how to get out.

Health slowly draining and vaguely aware of a sloshing menace in the water ahead of me, I knew that dying would mean losing everything I had worked hours to acquire.

I needed a moment to stop and think, but Demon's Souls offers no pause button. It was then that I noticed my hands - sweating, wrapped in a death grip around my controller. I was scared.

That sounds fantastic....... it is one of the things I loved about the original dark forces it was acctually exciting. Being able to save and load anywhere completely removes the excitement of gaming.

 

[DArtagnan]

Yes indeed.

The thing about Demon's Souls is that it plays fair.

I know some people consider it a "cheap mechanic", which might be because they're so used to the comfort of quick saving etc. that they might have forgotten the kind of excitement you get when you're forced to invest something.

But if you play carefully and you pay close attention to your environment, you can actually avoid dying relatively easily - but you can't be doing much else than playing. It's not a game you can play with kids running around, and you can't be answering the phone either. It's an immersive experience that does require you to dedicate yourself, but that's also the source of much enjoyment.

I don't think it's about being a "real" gamer or something ridiculously silly like that, it's just about how much you enjoy the fantasy of having something at stake. It's a game, afterall, and there's no real risk.

But I don't play because I think it's a risk or that I'm "tough" because I play a hard game. No, I do it because the fantasy of being at risk in a wonderful universe is something that draws me in.

If you don't enjoy that sort of gameplay, then by all means stay far away. You'll only be frustrated because you didn't invest what's required for success.

But calling it a cheap mechanic, while a fair enough statement, is sort of missing the point.

 

[metamorphium]

well, that's the end to demon's souls for a time being for me. Why? After 3 months my PS3 broke down. The 'authorized' Sony service took it for warranty repair. After another month (being today) they gave me brand new PS3 with no data. Not a single savegame, no nothing. They also told me that warranty doesn't cover data so it's my problem. They only guarantee hardware.

If I knew that, I'd probably try to back it up somehow, but like this, I just lost all my savegames (for all games) and I am not ready to start over with Demon Souls, where I was really far already.

Thank you Sony for great support. Next time I'll try to play mage though

 

[GothicGothicness]

Before you send something in for support always backup everything... that is kind of a rule of thumb!

 

[wolfing]

Before you send something in for support always backup everything… that is kind of a rule of thumb!

I'm afraid I'm with GG here, 99.9% of the times, when you send anything with data for repair, the first thing they'll do when they rule out the very basic troubleshooting list is just reinstall the system from scratch. This goes for pretty much anything with data in it (computers, consoles, MP3 players, etc.)
And it's strange your PS3 broke down, it's a fairly reliable system (compared to the 360 at least). Actually you're the first person I know have had problems with one (as opposed to pretty much everybody I know that had an Xbox 360 have had to send it for repairs at least once)

 

[txa1265]

I've heard a few PS3 (and even some Wii) breaks ... but this is really the first gen where you have to back it up like a PC, instead of just having things on a memory card like with the last gen.

 

[metamorphium]

Before you send something in for support always backup everything… that is kind of a rule of thumb!

well, to be honest, I don't quite now even yet how I would back up PS3 data. If anyone knows about tools for that, I'd be glad to educate myself. For me the data inside the PS3 HDD was a black box. I'd like to avoid next break down with the possibility to backup regulary on my external usb drive.

Also note, that I own the new slim PS3 and I bet that it's not cooled sufficiently. Unfortunately I didn't have the option to buy the old big one. I'll keep you informed how long this one will last.