INTRODUCTION
Among the many RPG’s that have been churned out over the last few years few have left a lasting impact upon players in the way Demon Souls has. The standard was set with series like Final Fantasy, Oblivion The Elder Scrolls and the Fallout series there is no shortage of triple A standard RPG’s so to stand out from the crowd you have to do something incredible. A new edition hoping to etch its name into RPG’s greatest games is Demon’s Souls developed by From Software and published by Namco Bandai. Demon’s Souls is said to be the spiritual successor to the Kings Field series also developed by From Software. Why is it you may ask that Demon’s Souls is a fresh addition to the RPG genre? Well fortunately it will not take as long to explain as it does to complete the game.

MAIN CAMPAIGN
Demon’s Soul’s EU release had an undercurrent of positive whisperings as it was already enjoying critical acclaim from reviewers but also it was quickly obtaining cult status among those lucky enough to import it. From the moment you create your very own personalised character and take your first few steps into the kingdom of Boleteria you will see that something is amiss. Dark hallways create an eerie isolated feeling within the game, along with arguably some of the most challenging foes in an RPG game to date. This all builds to makes the player feel that the next foe encountered may be too powerful to defeat and slay you with ease and as it turns out this is often the case.

The atmosphere within the game is one of the key reasons for its daunting reputation, unlike most RPG’s where the people you encounter believe in yoru ability to complete your quests when you meet certain characters in Demon Souls they will either have gone mad from their recent transgressions or will have lost all hope and try to discourage you from proceeding ahead.

Demons Souls has a very unique system for upgrading, in that you collect the souls of your fallen enemies and use them to purchase new weapons, armour, spells and so forth, but the real specialty is when you defeat an area boss and obtain this demon soul. These souls can then be used to either add to your stock/pile or to save the soul to use with a certain spell or miracle that you cannot normally buy in the game. Or alternatively you can enchant a weapon with a demon soul.

This is one of two major aspects you shall notice in Demon’s Souls; the second is not such a pleasant one. The game lacks any checkpoints so while you advance through the game if you accidentally run into a demon that can easily kill you or you unwittingly stumble off of where you are standing and die then you are returned to the very beginning of the level and not only that but you are now returned in spirit form with all you souls removed, your health is halved and items burden is twice the weight. If you do manage to make it back to the spot where you died you have the option to regain your lost souls through touching a ‘Bloodstain’  but if you die again before you reach it the souls are lost forever.

Demon’s Souls is an unforgiving game and this is its unique selling point, even though it has many controller smashing moments it is also one of the most rewarding gaming experiences available. It pushes you to try your hardest to survive and improvise all the time. The lack of checkpoints makes every decision an important one, there are no sections you can just rush through and as such the game may not be for the new generation of Call of Duty players.

ONLINE
There is an online aspect of sorts, while you don’t play an online version the game you are playing in is inhabited by other spirits. These are other players around the world, they can jump into your game to help you out, they can leave you messages to aid your quest but be warned they can also attack and rob you. This is a genius concept while not being fully online you do feel like you are playing in a much larger universe and of course the anything can happen factor keeps this interesting.

CONCLUSION
Demon Souls is extremely challenging but rewarding in equal measures. The story, the graphics and gameplay are all well put together and the quirks implemented in the game set it apart from other RPG’s.

A multiplayer mode could be added to it such as cooperative play through of the full game for inexperienced players. Demon’s Souls still takes the average player 30-40 hours to complete so there is value for money to be had.

Coming winter 2011 is the spiritual successor to Demon’s Souls called Dark Souls which will be a multiplatform game. Around this time the online servers for Demon’s Souls are said to be discontinued.