#and the world is genuinely such a terrible place and people are fucking monstrous creatures and it's hard to keep my head up even if i am

[rexbolt]

every minute of my life is health scare health scare health scare and now my stupidass dad is coughing and shit and going on a weekend trip just before my (only) big convention of the year I am going to blow up

[invokingbees]

Demon’s Souls: A Personal Retrospective

Well shit, they actually killed it. A very small part of me believed that the uptick in activity last night might make the parties involved ‘forget’ to shut down to online for a day or two. Maybe that activity had a positive effect somewhere. Ireland’s falling to shit with all this snow, so I’m gonna sit here and wax lyrical about one of my favourite games, in honour of the online passing.

Beware of spoilers and also a really really fucking long post.

The world presented to us in Demon’s Souls is one where a primal being, the Old One, has awoken due to the re-discovery of the magical and powerful Soul Arts. The northern land of Boletaria is covered by a Deep Fog which brings soul-devouring demons with it. It is dominated by the Boletarian Palace, wherein dwells Old King Allant, with additional regions spread out from it, such as the Stonefang mines where workers uncovered something ancient in the deep tunnels. There’s the Tower of Latria, whose ruler returned from a journey with a strange yellow robe and turned Latria into a nightmarish prison where he made his own demons. The 4th (or 6th, as fans call it) land is the Northern Limit, shut off to halt the spreading scourge of demons. The Shrine of Storms is a remote island inhabited by barbarians who worship the wind and storms and death. Lastly, there is the Valley of Defilement, a place where all that is unclean is cast, and festers.

The lands are divided into Archstones, for as the fog spreads, reality becomes more and more unstable. The Nexus is a temple built and maintained by the Monumentals, who keep everything running as smoothly as possible. The Archstones connect the different lands together through the Nexus. It is tended to by mysterious but kindly Maiden in Black, a woman wrapped in black, her eyes covered in wax. She is the first, and possibly best, Patented FromSoftware Level Up Waifu™, she provides the ability to level your stats and not much else but look adorable kicking her heels on the stairs. She’s a good kid. Maybe.

The story of Demon’s Souls concerns you, the player, the Slayer of Demons, your soul trapped by the Nexus. It is your quest to slay the powerful demons roaming the land to be called upon by the Old One. What happens next is up to you. Do you lull it to slumber, or take the power of Demon souls for yourself? The central themes to DeS are the loss of human identity, hubris and forbidden power. There is much talk of becoming a demon yourself, succumbing to the power. Characters reference it, such as the Crestfallen Warrior, who tells you after you’ve killed your first demon, that you’ve ‘fallen for their trap’. Stockpile Thomas reminds you almost constantly that ‘You’ve got a heart of gold, don’t let them take it from you’. The risk of becoming a demon is always there, if you’re not careful. He who fights monsters kind of deal. Sage Freke talks of the power of demon souls being able to ascend humanity to a higher plane. If all this sounds at all familiar, then you’ve played Bloodborne, arguably a spiritual successor to Demon’s Souls, which contains many of the same themes, albeit in a more overtly Lovecraftian sense.

Demon’s Souls true strength, to me, lies not just in its seamless multiplayer, strategic and tense combat or ingenious level design, but in its atmosphere. DeS draws you into its world flawlessly. The colour, the sound, the sheer emptiness of it. Some areas are stronger than others, and those stronger areas are, to this day, I believe unmatched.

Boletarian Palace resembles most its successor games, and has the atmosphere of decaying age like so much of Dark Souls. It’s a vast, mighty palace below a mountainous arch of stone. It would seem that at one time Boletaria was prosperous and powerful, but since the advent of the fog, it is abandoned all but for the soul-starved slave soldiers and mad warriors prowling the halls and ramparts. Two massive dragons, the king’s pets, circle the skies burning down anything at all. It is inhabited by four powerful Demons: the Phalanx, a mass of dark slime covered in shields and protruding spears, the Tower Knight, a colossal armoured behemoth armed with a magic lance and vast slab of steel that gives it its name, the Penetrator, an agile and powerful, looming warrior covered head to toe in armour, armed with a devastating longsword. Lastly, there is King Allant himself, or more correctly, his demon. Boletaria is a wonderful place to explore, with all sorts of secondary paths, hidden areas and ledges to get to. Its shortcuts feel great to unlock, too, the level design here is fantastic.

Stonefang, I have to be honest, I’m not terribly fond of. I would rank it lowest in a tier list of lands. While the first section is mostly fine, it’s really in its second area that loses much of its fun. It’s a maze of tunnels I’ve found myself lost in more than once for a while. But luckily, if you know what you’re doing, you straight up just skip the entire level! Stonefang is inhabited by the mindless remnants of its mining population, shortish, what would almost be Dwarf-like people were they not covered in reptilian scales. It would seem that close proximity to the thing found buried within the deep dragon graveyard has caused this metamorphosis. Large, explosive ‘bearbugs’ and rock worms can be found here. Three demons take residence in Stonefang: the Armor Spider, a massive metallic arachnid, the Flamelurker, a fiery humanoid demon and lastly, the titanic Dragon God. Stonefang is also home to the advanced blacksmith who can upgrade weapons in a bunch of ways, as well as use boss souls to create unique weapons.

The Tower of Latria is the game’s crowning achievement in atmosphere, and is not only oppressive, but genuinely unsettling. From the get go you are greeted by an eerie stillness broken only by the moans of suffering issuing from somewhere far off and the sinister chime of bells. The bulk of the prison complex is inhabited by mindless dreglings imprisoned in the cells, left to some unspeakable fate. Patrolling the halls are monstrous guards resembling, slightly, Mind Flayers from D&D (indeed, the fanbase refers to them as such), but they also resemble not just in aspect but action, the Brainsuckers from Bloodborne, one of many callbacks BB makes to its great grandaddy. There are, too, gangly gargoyles crouching atop pillars, waiting to strike. After the first boss, you enter the perilous heights of Latria - thin walkways looking out over drops into pitch darkness, roaring winds, broken arches and vast towers. The area is dominated by a central pinnacle, in which hangs suspended by mindless worshipers, a huge beating heart, which drones and pulses. You descend to the depths of the towers, too, to the blood swamp beneath, where strange red tentacles lazily waver and hideous human-faced insects skitter about. Latria has three demons, first the Fool’s Idol, a fake god made in the image of Latria’s imprisoned queen, used to subdue to inhabitants. There are the two Maneaters, chimerical gargoyles utilizing strong tackles, pummels and sonic blasts to kill. Lastly, atop the dizzying zenith of Latria, is the Old Monk, a withered corpse barely alive, the body of Latria’s former ruler used as a medium by golden yellow robe, now seeking a new vessel. The Old Monk battle is unique in that it is an online experience (sadly now unattainable) where the robe summons an invader to fight you, or a nondescript NPC if offline. Unfortunately, the unique head gear, Old Monk Head Wraps, was only available if you were summoned as the Old Monk and defeated the host. The head piece provided additional magic damage at the cost of lowered magic defense.

Next, there is the Shrine of Storms. A bleak, weathered land of ruined fortifications, inhabited by undead skeleton warriors (gnarly skeletons, too, bones wearing bone armours!), a wandering Vanguard demon and the iconic Storm Beasts. Further within you encouter powerful Grim Reapers who summon strange, shadow creatures, slow but powerful. Even stronger versions with powerful lasers exist further into the tomb-riddled island. Invisible, stalking, giggling shadow creatures deliver fatal blows from behind of you take their bait. Explosive spirits and iridescent slugs also dwell within the Shrine of Storms. The Shrine’s three demons are the Adjudicator, a mythical figure brought to life by the deep fog, the Old Hero, a towering, agile, but blind humanoid demon and lastly, the epic Storm King, a vast version of the Storm Beasts which flies in the thick clouds around the stark monolith forest. One can fight the Storm King normally, with bows or spells, or you can venture into the monolith forest, dodging the Storm Beast spikes, and take the Storm Ruler ruler, and conquer the maelstrom... Shrine of Storms is probably my favourite area for its general aesthetic. It and Latria represent just how immersive Demon’s could get. Every area in the game has a cohesive, consistent theme and feel, but Shrine and Latria totally dominate the rest.

Lastly, there is the Valley of Defilement, a deep, dark crack in the earth where all the filth of the world ends up. You first traverse the shanty town of rotting wooden planks, built into the sides of valley, which eventually widens and descends into a gaping mire of poisonous swamp. The level of toxicity grows the deeper you get, and ends in a cave where the worst corruption lies. The valley is inhabited almost exclusively by its goblinoid residents, outcasts and exiles, who grow to great sizes and strength, surprising the unwary. There are also, to be found, some blood-swollen tics and flies as well as a mass of giant slugs latched onto the FromSoft mascot weapon, the Moonlight Sword. The valley’s three demons are the Leechmonger, a monstrous mass of swamp leeches brought into cohesive existence. There is the Dirty Colossus, a shambling form full of bloated flies. And there is the Maiden Astraea, guarded by her loyal knight, Garl Vinland. If I’m to be honest, I kind of hate the Valley of Defilement. For me, it’s the least fun to play in, Stonefang may be boring, but the Valley is frustrating. Then why do I rank Stonefang lower? Because valley has Maiden Astraea.

Astraea is the point in the game where the player is really confronted with the reality of what they’re doing. It asks them do they really know what they’re doing? Astraea implores you to leave, that there’s nothing here for you to pillage or plunder. Her guardian, Garl Vinland, stands firm between you and her. You are greeted not by towering demons or creeping monsters, you’re met with people. Garl Vinland, giant mace aside, is a man in armour. Astraea is a woman in robes. Nothing more. She came here to ease the suffering of the residents and Garl came with her, to protect her from the likes of you. But you need that demon soul, to save the world...or claim the power for yourself. Regardless, Garl and Astraea do not make it, and you’re left with a particularly sour taste in your mouth after she says ‘Take your precious demon soul’ and dies right before you. All the whole, the best theme in the game plays.

Demon’s Souls is somewhat famous for its gimmick boss fights, something that occurred less and less in Dark Souls games, although DaS3 had a few more unique battles than ‘large creature’ and ‘armoured humanoid’ or ‘Artorias clone #15′. Bloodborne matched DeS in this regard with bosses like Micolash, One Reborne (a straight Tower Knight callback) and Witch of Hemwick. I personally like the boss fights over later Souls games because each one is unique and brings a lot of flavour to the proceedings. The levels are the real challenge, the strange bosses simply top of the experience with something memorable. But a lot of people don’t seem to like the gimmick bosses, which is a shame, because From has made a good few memorable ones. There’s nothing like Demon’s bosses: the fierceness of Flamelurker, the cinematic marvel of Storm King, the heart-wrenching dialogue from Maiden Astraea, the sheer mortal terror of Allant’s level drain attack, the level of dread seeing a second Maneater health bar pop up or the excellent HA HA-HA HA HAA theme of Tower Knight and Penetrator.

I don’t know what else to say about Demon’s Souls, I’ve said way too much already. In the short time I’ve known it (I only bought this game sometime last October I think), it’ quickly become one of my favourite games. It’s a raw game, that’s for sure, experimental and this is why it’s so good. Dark Souls may have been more fleshed out in some areas, but Demon’s Souls captured an idea unrefined and it’s interesting to experience that vision. It has unparalleled immersion and atmosphere and a uniquely horror-tinged fantasy world. It’s also a great game! Honestly, genuinely it still holds up. If you’ve played Dark Souls or Bloodborne, you’re right at home and I earnestly believe it deserves to be played. The online may be dead, sadly and the custard tornado forever out of reach, but it’s still perfectly playable and needs to be played.

I hope this awful, awful torrent of words spurred you into digging out your PS3, or maybe even buying a cheap one, and giving the grandaddy of Souls a shot.

Until the Old One awakens from its slumber once again.

Umbasa.