Demons Souls
Score 8.5 out of 10.
A little late to the party as it was released a few years ago, but finally decided to give it a fair shot. I did a Royal build which imo is a good character to start with decent stats, low soul level so you can branch whatever way you want, and a solid overall character from a magic viewpoint from the start. I beat it in about 25 hours I want to say which included a bit of farming, but not too much.
I did some reading on it, and the goal was to work toward this build.
http://demonssouls.wikidot.com/character-builds:26
After I beat it I want to say my vitality was 30, intelligence about 22, endurance 20, strength, 13-14, decterity 13, magic 26 (was 30 until the 2nd to the last boss stole my stats), faith about 13, didn't put anything in luck.
Positives
- Challenge...fml if you don't know what you are doing, what stats to do for the character you chose, and where to go, what order is recommended etc then it can be beyond frustrating...BUT satisfying at the same time once completed. There are a couple of crucial items in the game which are life savers (cling ring for example)...things that when located can help give a bit of a sigh of relief. The boss fights were fun and had enough variety between them. I also really liked that the game required you to learn and play better depending on the enemy you faced. You couldn't necessarily just go in and spam magic attacks to every creature...now granted you could farm and level up to be a bad*ss...but for the person trying to beat the game through normally with minimal farming...this was a good thing.
- Graphics were solid...nothing breathtaking but given when this was made, was good enough for me.
-Story...story was decent...I didn't care as much about this because I really only wanted to play it for the challenge aspect I heard about.
Negatives
- No pause button...I mean ffs really? You need to make sure you are not in an area where enemies are or else you are SOL...I am not sure why they took this away but it was on occasion annoying, but not a huge deal.
- Lack of guidance on where to go. This can be a good or a bad thing. For the person who has a ton of time to play the game, doesn't mind dying a lot, likes free reign and no order requirement i.e. linear choices on the stage to play...this is great. I didn't necessarily like it as much as after you beat the first boss and you could choose to try 1-1, 2-1, 3-1, 4-1, 5-1, 1-2 etc...that wasn't really a great idea. I saw multiple websites pointing different directions one should go, once again not really a big issue because it forced you to have a strategy and understand dying is expected...potentially a lot. This was also not a huge issue as it forced me to choose my path wisely and get better at the game.
- Couple of glitches happened throughout the game, but nothing too irritating.
Conclusion: Don't feel bad for using a guide or looking up a build to still be able to enjoy this game. It isn't for everyone. I read one quote that a fairly high % gives up within the first hour or two. Don't do that. IF you get the cling ring, save fireballs for the first boss (or have turpentine for your weapon/fire spell) and finally beat it...it opens up the game into a lot of fun stuff you can do.
Small brags...beat the game NEVER using the L2 for a parry and stats a lot lower than the build I attached. Luckboxed a win the first time vs flamelurker as well.
Small beat....still got owned many time throughout the game in multiple areas. Hardest boss fights for me maneater 3-2, old alliant king 1-4 who ended up stealing about 4-5 stats of mine because I sucked at dodging (at first) his grab. This sucks even worse because even though you lose the stat the cost to upgrade the stat doesn't go back down to the next lower level, but stays the same.
Hardest enemy faced...debatable between rolling skeletons, and mind flayers.
Overall...satisfying game once completed...time for Dark Souls if I have the stomach to plunge through that one.