Demon's Souls Isn't THAT Hard

Now I first want to say that Demon's Souls may be my favorite game on the PS3, giving little big planet a run for it's money (you can expect a post on LBP some time soon). It's a fantastic game with a great sense of reward and it is, as you've heard, difficult.

But posts such as this kind of get to me:
http://www.reddit.com/r/gaming/comments/acz2t/let_me_tell_you_about_demons_souls/

For example, it skips a lot of details. Yes when you're in soul form your health is halved, but your damage output increases and you can wear a ring to get your health at 75%. Yes, others can invade you while in body form, but you can only invade players at higher level than you. Meaning the person who is invaded has a health advantage and a level advantage.

I don't want to mislead people and claim that Demon's Souls is easy because it's not. However, Demon's Souls can be made to be easier. Once you learn the right places to grind and get an equipment setup you enjoy, a lot of the difficulty of the game dissolves. If you are over leveled it's very easy to tell you are as enemies will just be dropping incredibly easy. I grinded so much I beat a few bosses on the first try, one without even taking a single hit point of damage.

This is the why Demon's Souls isn't legendary hard; it's punishing but there is generally an out, a lifeline. Yes if you die you lose your souls, but if you can make it to your bloodstain then cast evacuate you're home free. Let's compare this to, say, Silver Surfer on the NES. I actually own this game, as apparently my parents hated me while growing up. In fact, a look at my NES library seems like I've compiled a list of Angry Video Game Nerd games and got them all.

Anyways, in Silver Surfer you pick whatever level you want to start with (kind of like Demon's Souls) and then get your ass handed to you. The "easiest" way to beat Silver Surfer is to never, ever fuck up. Start on the alligator level (probably the easiest), get full power, and then never lose it. The game was programmed as if you're always at full power, some enemies I feel would be physically impossible to shoot enough to kill before they hit you if you did not have full power.

Now, do you want to know how easy it is to die in Silver Surfer? If ANYTHING touches you, and I fucking mean anything, you die. That's it, try the level again. ANYTHING could be an enemy, or a bullet, or even a wall. Usually it's a pot or some leaf that looks like it's in the background but it turns out nope, you just can't touch that either. This game doesn't fuck around and there's no way out except brutal memorization and patience.

Another thing, those of you who played roguelikes will find Demon's Souls to be pretty forgiving. Demon's Souls has roguelike elements, but is much easier than even modern roguelikes such as Shiren the Wanderer. However, I think this works well in Demon's Souls favour. It really struck a good balance between accomplishment and giving up.

For instance, I've felt the disheartening feeling of essentially having 5 hours of progress absolutely lost in roguelikes. A modern equivalent would be like having your hardcore character in diablo 2 or torchlight die. That's it, games over. After that it may be a few days before you pick up the game again ;) Demon's souls is perfectly snuggled in between.

There is enough punishment that you learn and learn quickly that you are playing on Demon's Souls terms not your own. However, it is not SO punishing that you want vomit every time you see the game disc. It has what many games (at least I feel) should have; a sense of achievement.

Let me tell you, if you haven't played Demon's Souls you really should. The thrill of fighting the first boss and experiencing what can only be described as complete vulnerability was exhilarating. Something I haven't felt in a long, long time. I recommend this game to any who want to wear the label "gamer".

As someone who basically only had near impossible games to play I find playing hard games is fantastic for your gaming personality. I feel I'm often a "zen" gamer. Things do not bother me because I've played these games. I see people raging online when they die in shooters, or frustration mount when the team is under performing in League of Legends.

I, literally, do not understand this. These things do not bother me in the least; I'm accustomed to failure and I'm accustomed to losing because of these games. Losing is PART of a game being a game. It would not be fun if you did not have to fight for your victory. What enjoyment is there in winning if the win was not fought for? This is one thing I agree with the link at the top about; modern games are too easy.

For this, I really respect Demon's Souls and From Software. They made the game they wanted to make for the players they wanted without caving to corporate pressure of "accessibility" and everything for profit (and hell, the game did pretty well!).

To summarize, while Demon's Souls is not the hardest game ever made and is really not even as hard as everyone claims, it is still a challenge. If you want something a little different, a lot of fun and incredibly rewarding I very much recommend this title. Go in with the mindset "I'm going to die and die a lot... and that's okay!" and I assure you the game will reward the patient.