Playstation Demon's Souls, the exclusive you SHOULD be getting excited about

[X Knight]

Yes, it's a odd that you can't delete characters. While I'm not really in need of it myself it feels like something that definitely should be implemented, and it should be really easy to do.

Some trophies are definitely best done on different characters since it would be neither optimal build-wise nor playthrough-wise to do it all on one character going further into NG+ playthroughs. As for the Ring trophy it shouldn't be that hard for you on tendency though, as you've already reached pure white and are doing pure black later, especially as going towards black is easier as far as the PvE part goes. I didn't plan my run optimally as I didn't use PvP and I went black first, and not until fairly late in my first playthrough, so I had to make my NG+ run pretty optimized. Then again I was completely wrong on the viability of my mage character in PvP so it would have sorted itself out anyway.

I certainly agree that it's a game where you have many details of gameplay to learn and you can certainly make your character better the second time around. I never used a build calculator but I did decide on a rough stat distribution before starting my characters so I never went far off my visions for the characters, but it does of course get more precise if you build it for real with a calculator. A calculator might also be more necessary with a build that uses many stats, like your Blueblood build, but I haven't tried anything like that myself yet.

If I'm to make another character I think I would go with a dual wield build. Perhaps a Dex build with some katanas.

I thought about making a Dex dual-katana or dual-falchion character. However, I can't imagine playing this game without a shield of some kind. Just by the way it is designed, this game emphasizes blocking and playing defensively.

Unlike, say Bloodborne, which emphasizes speed, mobility, and playing aggressively. So in Bloodborne, dual-wielding with Lady Maria's Rakuyo or the Blade of Mercy seems more viable and will probably be the route I take when I take on Bloodborne.

Plus, if I want to play as a katana wielding samurai in a Souls game, I'll just play Sekiro or Nioh 2......haha.

And yeah, you really need to have at least some kind of rough plan for your stat distributions. Using this Mugen build calculator this time around has been a huge help. Not only for the stats, but also to "test" out various weapon and armor layouts.

For the 1st version of my Blueblood build that I beat the game with, I did base it off of a build guide from Fextralife.

Demon’s Souls Builds: Blueblood Spellsword (PvE)

And that guide really helped to get me started. But then as I progressed, I started deviating from that guide to build up my character how I wanted to play it at that time. And there's nothing wrong with that. But now looking back, I can see where I went off track.

But, if you went into this totally blind without any type of build/stat plan, then you could really get yourself into trouble with a poorly built or sub-optimal character. Especially since there is no easy way to respec in this game. So, you would have invested all those stats (and time and effort) into a character, only to realize halfway or late through the game that the build isn't really working that good (or you can't use a weapon you're interested in because you neglected a certain stat).

However, I guess it wouldn't be a total waste. Since you would have learned lessons from your mistakes with the 1st character and then can go start a new character. And that fits inline with the experimental nature of the game. But it still sucks to have to start all over if you haven't planned out your character very well.

Anyways, I'm finding it hard to believe that since I got my PS5 back at launch in November, I have spent 99.9% of the time playing Demon's Souls!! I guess it's safe to say I'm enjoying this game......lol.

 

[Mjolnir Reborn]

I thought about making a Dex dual-katana or dual-falchion character. However, I can't imagine playing this game without a shield of some kind. Just by the way it is designed, this game emphasizes blocking and playing defensively.

Unlike, say Bloodborne, which emphasizes speed, mobility, and playing aggressively. So in Bloodborne, dual-wielding with Lady Maria's Rakuyo or the Blade of Mercy seems more viable and will probably be the route I take when I take on Bloodborne.

Plus, if I want to play as a katana wielding samurai in a Souls game, I'll just play Sekiro or Nioh 2......haha.

And yeah, you really need to have at least some kind of rough plan for your stat distributions. Using this Mugen build calculator this time around has been a huge help. Not only for the stats, but also to "test" out various weapon and armor layouts.

For the 1st version of my Blueblood build that I beat the game with, I did base it off of a build guide from Fextralife.

Demon’s Souls Builds: Blueblood Spellsword (PvE)

And that guide really helped to get me started. But then as I progressed, I started deviating from that guide to build up my character how I wanted to play it at that time. And there's nothing wrong with that. But now looking back, I can see where I went off track.

But, if you went into this totally blind without any type of build/stat plan, then you could really get yourself into trouble with a poorly built or sub-optimal character. Especially since there is no easy way to respec in this game. So, you would have invested all those stats (and time and effort) into a character, only to realize halfway or late through the game that the build isn't really working that good (or you can't use a weapon you're interested in because you neglected a certain stat).

However, I guess it wouldn't be a total waste. Since you would have learned lessons from your mistakes with the 1st character and then can go start a new character. And that fits inline with the experimental nature of the game. But it still sucks to have to start all over if you haven't planned out your character very well.

Anyways, I'm finding it hard to believe that since I got my PS5 back at launch in November, I have spent 99.9% of the time playing Demon's Souls!! I guess it's safe to say I'm enjoying this game......lol.

I only used a shield on my first character so I think it works well to do without. The others two did two-handed sword and catalyst/talisman + sword respectively. With pure melee it's a lot about timing your attacks so you interrupt enemies before they hit you, alternatively timing the distance so they miss and you counter from that.

I agree that going into this without any knowledge about the stat system, and how it relates to gear, will likely generate a pretty poor character. I did read up on that before going in, as well as some gear tips, so I had an idea of what to shoot for. As you say you can learn it on your own but I prefer to not spend a lot of time only to realize that I've screwed up my character. Then again I guess this kind of knowledge carries over relatively well to other souls games so once one is mastered it will likely be easier to discover the others entirely on your own.

Yes, that game time distribution certainly points in that direction. I still haven't picked what to play next so I've had a bit of a break. I have installed Bloodborne though so unless something else grabs my interest soon I guess it will be that, and I'll have to suffer through the 30 fps limit.

 

[X Knight]

I only used a shield on my first character so I think it works well to do without. The others two did two-handed sword and catalyst/talisman + sword respectively. With pure melee it's a lot about timing your attacks so you interrupt enemies before they hit you, alternatively timing the distance so they miss and you counter from that.

I agree that going into this without any knowledge about the stat system, and how it relates to gear, will likely generate a pretty poor character. I did read up on that before going in, as well as some gear tips, so I had an idea of what to shoot for. As you say you can learn it on your own but I prefer to not spend a lot of time only to realize that I've screwed up my character. Then again I guess this kind of knowledge carries over relatively well to other souls games so once one is mastered it will likely be easier to discover the others entirely on your own.

Yes, that game time distribution certainly points in that direction. I still haven't picked what to play next so I've had a bit of a break. I have installed Bloodborne though so unless something else grabs my interest soon I guess it will be that, and I'll have to suffer through the 30 fps limit.

Yeah, I suppose playing melee without a shield or dual-wielding does depend on your timing and reflexes, as you said. Maybe I will give that a go on a future character, if nothing else for the challenge and something different.

And yes, playing Demon's Souls has definitely upped my familiarity with the other Souls games, even if the mechanics differ. I remember playing Bloodborne and one of the Dark Souls game back when they first came out and I was totally lost. That's partly why I never had much interest.

Heck, I even vaguely remember playing the original Demon's Souls on PS3. I remember choosing the Royalty class (funny how I seem to gravitate towards that class even now in the remake) and I remember that opening tutorial level. And maybe the beginning parts of 1-1. And that's it. I don't even think I made it to Phalanx, the 1st proper boss.

I was coming off of playing Dragon Age Origins, I think. So, I was looking for another medieval fantasy RPG with character creation and I'd thought I'd give Demon's Souls a try. However, the difficulty, challenge, and overall concept (dying, repeat, dying, etc.) was just so foreign to me that I quickly lost interest in the game. And the character creation wasn't that great either......haha.

And that affected my perception of all the subsequent Souls games. They just weren't my thing. So despite constantly hearing how popular the Souls games were, I just never saw or got the appeal.

So, that's why it's even more surprising to me now that, over a decade later, I've not only beaten Demon's Souls but now I consider the remake one of my top, favorite games of all times.

 

[Mjolnir Reborn]

Yeah, I suppose playing melee without a shield or dual-wielding does depend on your timing and reflexes, as you said. Maybe I will give that a go on a future character, if nothing else for the challenge and something different.

And yes, playing Demon's Souls has definitely upped my familiarity with the other Souls games, even if the mechanics differ. I remember playing Bloodborne and one of the Dark Souls game back when they first came out and I was totally lost. That's partly why I never had much interest.

Heck, I even vaguely remember playing the original Demon's Souls on PS3. I remember choosing the Royalty class (funny how I seem to gravitate towards that class even now in the remake) and I remember that opening tutorial level. And maybe the beginning parts of 1-1. And that's it. I don't even think I made it to Phalanx, the 1st proper boss.

I was coming off of playing Dragon Age Origins, I think. So, I was looking for another medieval fantasy RPG with character creation and I'd thought I'd give Demon's Souls a try. However, the difficulty, challenge, and overall concept (dying, repeat, dying, etc.) was just so foreign to me that I quickly lost interest in the game. And the character creation wasn't that great either......haha.

And that affected my perception of all the subsequent Souls games. They just weren't my thing. So despite constantly hearing how popular the Souls games were, I just never saw or got the appeal.

So, that's why it's even more surprising to me now that, over a decade later, I've not only beaten Demon's Souls but now I consider the remake one of my top, favorite games of all times.

It's at least worth trying. If you're able to take down Armor Spider and Flamelurker directly after Phalanx you can also get very powerful very early as you can just run into the Dragon God encounter and grab the Dragon Bone Smasher.

This was my first ever encounter with a Souls game so I don't know how it would be to get into any other but I would assume the complexity would rather increase than decrease with time. My expectations were gotten entirely from how I heard people saying that they were so hard, which became a bit funny in the end as I ended up expecting something clearly harder than it actually was.

Yeah, coming from DAO would certainly be a big step, even though that game is also a bit less casual friendly in its own way. Just not nearly as much.

It certainly sounds surprising that you have that opinion after actually having given it a go more than once before but hey, we do change with time. That the game is gorgeous and flows well both in gameplay and loading of course helps.

 

[X Knight]

It's at least worth trying. If you're able to take down Armor Spider and Flamelurker directly after Phalanx you can also get very powerful very early as you can just run into the Dragon God encounter and grab the Dragon Bone Smasher.

This was my first ever encounter with a Souls game so I don't know how it would be to get into any other but I would assume the complexity would rather increase than decrease with time. My expectations were gotten entirely from how I heard people saying that they were so hard, which became a bit funny in the end as I ended up expecting something clearly harder than it actually was.

Yeah, coming from DAO would certainly be a big step, even though that game is also a bit less casual friendly in its own way. Just not nearly as much.

It certainly sounds surprising that you have that opinion after actually having given it a go more than once before but hey, we do change with time. That the game is gorgeous and flows well both in gameplay and loading of course helps.

Yeah, the gorgeous graphics and satisfying gameplay are definitely a major reason why I'm enjoying this game. And the graphics especially are what sold me on the game (and on the PS5) in the first place. I wanted to try the game mainly because it looked so darn good and actually looked next-gen.

I've heard people say Demon's Souls is the easiest of the Souls games. So, I'd imagine it would serve as a great jumping off point for the future games. Personally, I found the difficulty and length/depth of this game to be just right for me to enjoy. Anything harder or longer might have discouraged me from continuing to play.

The Dragon Bone Smasher just doesn't appeal to me visually. For big swords, I really like the Claymore. But I am itching to change up my playstyle. So far, I've been playing mostly as mobile magic-melee hybrid characters. I kind of want to play through the game as a hard-hitting tank knight that relies less on magic.

Maybe I'll retool my holy paladin knight character into a high Strength/Faith tank character.

 

[Mjolnir Reborn]

Yeah, the gorgeous graphics and satisfying gameplay are definitely a major reason why I'm enjoying this game. And the graphics especially are what sold me on the game (and on the PS5) in the first place. I wanted to try the game mainly because it looked so darn good and actually looked next-gen.

I've heard people say Demon's Souls is the easiest of the Souls games. So, I'd imagine it would serve as a great jumping off point for the future games. Personally, I found the difficulty and length/depth of this game to be just right for me to enjoy. Anything harder or longer might have discouraged me from continuing to play.

The Dragon Bone Smasher just doesn't appeal to me visually. For big swords, I really like the Claymore. But I am itching to change up my playstyle. So far, I've been playing mostly as mobile magic-melee hybrid characters. I kind of want to play through the game as a hard-hitting tank knight that relies less on magic.

Maybe I'll retool my holy paladin knight character into a high Strength/Faith tank character.

The graphics were what drew me in as well. I started looking at a playthrough on Youtube before I had managed to get my hands on a console and it was so visually interesting that I went from thinking that it's fine if I get a PS5 by summer next year to actually wanting one early. I stopped watching the video not to spoil myself as well.

I've heard a few different opinions regarding the difficulty of the games (some say that the games with quicker playstyles are easier) but I agree with you on that the difficulty felt just right. I seldom found it extremely hard, it just posed a proper challenge which many games don't do. At least not on the standard difficulties.

I'm not a big fan of the look of the DBS either, but it offered a more distinct difference to the playstyle I had already tried, going even further into the risk/reward of being very slow and very powerful, and also so heavy that I couldn't use the best armor. That's why I ended up enjoying it, but in general I do like the realistic medieval European weapons and armor the most. That's how I did my first character and I was purely melee with that one, apart from using a bow where it's necessary.

 

[X Knight]

The graphics were what drew me in as well. I started looking at a playthrough on Youtube before I had managed to get my hands on a console and it was so visually interesting that I went from thinking that it's fine if I get a PS5 by summer next year to actually wanting one early. I stopped watching the video not to spoil myself as well.

I've heard a few different opinions regarding the difficulty of the games (some say that the games with quicker playstyles are easier) but I agree with you on that the difficulty felt just right. I seldom found it extremely hard, it just posed a proper challenge which many games don't do. At least not on the standard difficulties.

I'm not a big fan of the look of the DBS either, but it offered a more distinct difference to the playstyle I had already tried, going even further into the risk/reward of being very slow and very powerful, and also so heavy that I couldn't use the best armor. That's why I ended up enjoying it, but in general I do like the realistic medieval European weapons and armor the most. That's how I did my first character and I was purely melee with that one, apart from using a bow where it's necessary.

Yeah. Demon's Souls definitely sold me on getting a PS5 at launch. And, based on the number of hours I've already sunk into the game, I'd say it was definitely worth it to get the PS5 for this game alone!

I'm definitely experimenting with different playstyles and builds. I've already beaten the game once, so now I'm just trying stuff out. Of course, that also means I've created a TON of different character files, most of which are throwaway and need to be deleted. Another reason why I hope they patch in the ability to delete character files ASAP. Just seems like a HUGE oversight and omission.

My latest build that I started last night will be more of a versatile Dex-focused soldier that relies on melee and bow, with Magic only used as backup or buffing (Warding, Enchant Weapon).

MugenMonkey

It will be a challenge for me on 2 levels. One, to finish the game with my starting weapons, Broadsword and Short Spear (both upgraded to Sharp). And second, to rely less on magic. So, it will be interesting to see how I fare in the game as well as in NG+. It's so easy to become OP using magic spells and magic weapons, so this build should give me more of a challenge.

My idea for this character draws inspiration from Lara Croft - a tough scrappy survivor who favors "simple, practical" tools instead of fancy magic or "boss" weapons. I've also modeled her looks after Lara (brunette with a ponytail). Can you take a wild guess what I named her?

I'm also already proud of this build because she was able to accomplish what none of my other characters have been able to do so far. Defeat that Vanguard boss in the Tutorial level! I finally did it with this latest character and I got to see the "bonus" stage afterwards!

 

[Mjolnir Reborn]

Yeah. Demon's Souls definitely sold me on getting a PS5 at launch. And, based on the number of hours I've already sunk into the game, I'd say it was definitely worth it to get the PS5 for this game alone!

I'm definitely experimenting with different playstyles and builds. I've already beaten the game once, so now I'm just trying stuff out. Of course, that also means I've created a TON of different character files, most of which are throwaway and need to be deleted. Another reason why I hope they patch in the ability to delete character files ASAP. Just seems like a HUGE oversight and omission.

My latest build that I started last night will be more of a versatile Dex-focused soldier that relies on melee and bow, with Magic only used as backup or buffing (Warding, Enchant Weapon).

MugenMonkey

It will be a challenge for me on 2 levels. One, to finish the game with my starting weapons, Broadsword and Short Spear (both upgraded to Sharp). And second, to rely less on magic. So, it will be interesting to see how I fare in the game as well as in NG+. It's so easy to become OP using magic spells and magic weapons, so this build should give me more of a challenge.

My idea for this character draws inspiration from Lara Croft - a tough scrappy survivor who favors "simple, practical" tools instead of fancy magic or "boss" weapons. I've also modeled her looks after Lara (brunette with a ponytail). Can you take a wild guess what I named her?

I'm also already proud of this build because she was able to accomplish what none of my other characters have been able to do so far. Defeat that Vanguard boss in the Tutorial level! I finally did it with this latest character and I got to see the "bonus" stage afterwards!

Yes, it's definitely the killer app for the console in my view. It's pretty weird that I'm still not really interested in Miles Morales though, even though I'm sure it's a good game. I'm really just waiting for Spider-Man 2 I guess.

Yes, it must be really annoying with all that clutter like that. I've only made three characters in total, and all of them beat the game, so I haven't had to deal with that. At least not yet.

It looks like an interesting character. Based on my experience of my first playthrough I think you'll do fine in the normal game. Granted I did use the Winged Spear but I didn't upgrade it to a special version and I used no magic at all, and it all worked out well. I haven't tried that one in NG+ though.

I'm blanking on what would be the fitting name but I did realize that if you made a similar character in Bloodborne it could be named Lara Lovecroft.

Congrats on beating the Vanguard boss. It's not easy, although it was also the thing in my first playthrough that indicated that things might not be as hard as I thought it would as I didn't do too poorly despite being unfamiliar with the controls. Not close to beating him but I expected to have no chance at all.

 

[X Knight]

Yes, it's definitely the killer app for the console in my view. It's pretty weird that I'm still not really interested in Miles Morales though, even though I'm sure it's a good game. I'm really just waiting for Spider-Man 2 I guess.

Yes, it must be really annoying with all that clutter like that. I've only made three characters in total, and all of them beat the game, so I haven't had to deal with that. At least not yet.

It looks like an interesting character. Based on my experience of my first playthrough I think you'll do fine in the normal game. Granted I did use the Winged Spear but I didn't upgrade it to a special version and I used no magic at all, and it all worked out well. I haven't tried that one in NG+ though.

I'm blanking on what would be the fitting name but I did realize that if you made a similar character in Bloodborne it could be named Lara Lovecroft.

Congrats on beating the Vanguard boss. It's not easy, although it was also the thing in my first playthrough that indicated that things might not be as hard as I thought it would as I didn't do too poorly despite being unfamiliar with the controls. Not close to beating him but I expected to have no chance at all.

Why, the fitting name for my Lara Croft inspired character would be......wait for it.......Lara of course.

And Lara Lovecroft! Good one....hah! I tend not to use last names when creating characters (in some games, you already have a given last name). But now I'll probably create a similar character named Lara in Bloodborne. I think the "survivor" theme would be quite fitting for that game.

And so far, I'm quite pleased with this playstyle and build. It definitely is a lot more challenging, though, not relying on magic and spell-slinging so much. Especially in the early going, as I'm trying to level up and gather equipment. But it does feel more rewarding once you pull through, survive, and accomplish your objective.

Also, I'm finding myself using different weapons that I overlooked in my prior playthroughs. Like the Bastard Sword you can pick up early in 1-1. I always picked it up but never used it before, mainly because the name turned me off.....lol. But this time, I equipped it and tried it out and found it was more practical for a large sword than something like the Claymore! The Bastard Sword is shorter in length (hence the name) than other large swords and weighs a bit less, too. So, it's more practical for swinging in those tight corridors and spaces.

So, it looks like I will be using the Bastard Sword as my large sword of choice until I pick up the Flamberge in 3-2. That's another weapon I always picked up but never touched. But reading up on the Flamberge, it's the only large sword that scales with Dex. So that will fit my character better. Testing it out on one of my older characters, the Flamberge is a bit longer than the Bastard Sword but still shorter than the Claymore.

Good to know that you had success with a non-magic character. I'm not completely non-magic. I still use magic, but sparingly and only when the situation or enemy calls for it. It will be interesting to see if I revert back to my typical "spellsword" playstyle once I level up my magic stats more. However, I will try to resist and stick with the "whatever works" theme for this playstyle. And I'll see how this playstyle fares as I progress deeper into the game and into NG+ and beyond.

And it's funny, but this playstyle is finally the closest to the Goblin Slayer inspired character I have been trying model my characters after. I don't know if you are familiar with the character or the manga/anime, but Goblin Slayer has a very practical, efficient "use what works, do whatever it takes" approach. In fact, it was the Goblin Slayer anime that made me more interested in giving Demon's Souls (and the other Souls game) another chance and has made me more receptive of these challenging games.

And yes, it is a rewarding feeling beating that first Vanguard boss. On all my other characters, I would either die right away in one hit or I'd manage to get off a few hits before dying in one hit from his axe. This time, though, I just waited for him to swing. Then I rushed behind him and tried always sticking to his backside and never letting up. To dodge his axe swings, I found rolling towards his axe hand (towards his armpit) to get behind him again to be effective this time around, even with my fat rolling.

 

[Mjolnir Reborn]

Why, the fitting name for my Lara Croft inspired character would be......wait for it.......Lara of course.

And Lara Lovecroft! Good one....hah! I tend not to use last names when creating characters (in some games, you already have a given last name). But now I'll probably create a similar character named Lara in Bloodborne. I think the "survivor" theme would be quite fitting for that game.

And so far, I'm quite pleased with this playstyle and build. It definitely is a lot more challenging, though, not relying on magic and spell-slinging so much. Especially in the early going, as I'm trying to level up and gather equipment. But it does feel more rewarding once you pull through, survive, and accomplish your objective.

Also, I'm finding myself using different weapons that I overlooked in my prior playthroughs. Like the Bastard Sword you can pick up early in 1-1. I always picked it up but never used it before, mainly because the name turned me off.....lol. But this time, I equipped it and tried it out and found it was more practical for a large sword than something like the Claymore! The Bastard Sword is shorter in length (hence the name) than other large swords and weighs a bit less, too. So, it's more practical for swinging in those tight corridors and spaces.

So, it looks like I will be using the Bastard Sword as my large sword of choice until I pick up the Flamberge in 3-2. That's another weapon I always picked up but never touched. But reading up on the Flamberge, it's the only large sword that scales with Dex. So that will fit my character better. Testing it out on one of my older characters, the Flamberge is a bit longer than the Bastard Sword but still shorter than the Claymore.

Good to know that you had success with a non-magic character. I'm not completely non-magic. I still use magic, but sparingly and only when the situation or enemy calls for it. It will be interesting to see if I revert back to my typical "spellsword" playstyle once I level up my magic stats more. However, I will try to resist and stick with the "whatever works" theme for this playstyle. And I'll see how this playstyle fares as I progress deeper into the game and into NG+ and beyond.

And it's funny, but this playstyle is finally the closest to the Goblin Slayer inspired character I have been trying model my characters after. I don't know if you are familiar with the character or the manga/anime, but Goblin Slayer has a very practical, efficient "use what works, do whatever it takes" approach. In fact, it was the Goblin Slayer anime that made me more interested in giving Demon's Souls (and the other Souls game) another chance and has made me more receptive of these challenging games.

And yes, it is a rewarding feeling beating that first Vanguard boss. On all my other characters, I would either die right away in one hit or I'd manage to get off a few hits before dying in one hit from his axe. This time, though, I just waited for him to swing. Then I rushed behind him and tried always sticking to his backside and never letting up. To dodge his axe swings, I found rolling towards his axe hand (towards his armpit) to get behind him again to be effective this time around, even with my fat rolling.

Ah, I started thinking a step further so the fairly obvious was missed. I do the same with you regarding last names, but when I saw that the name wasn't used in DS I realized that I could have given my characters full names. I named my characters after fantasy characters myself. I have Rhaegar, Imrahil and Raistlin in my roster.

The Bastard Sword does make more sense to use with a shield as that's made to be of a size that works both one- and two-handed. As someone that's interested in medieval weapons I do enjoy that they have some realistic options, although as usual the options are from quite different time periods and don't really go together. For example, when the full plate armor was used they had pretty much abandoned shields for many situations and were using two-handed weapons instead (not that too many people could afford full plate armor though). The armor was so strong that it was all you needed to protect yourself (together with parrying with your weapon of course) and you used two-handed weapons because they were more devastating offensively. Even the Longsword was mainly a two-handed weapon though and it came before full plate was common, so the shield hasn't been used quite as extensively as I think most people would think. But this is fantasy so I don't care all that much, I just appreciate the looks of it.

I'm unfortunately not at all familiar with Goblin Slayer so I'm not getting more of a sense of it than what you're describing.

Yes, patience and then fully exploiting any advantageous positioning you can find is a good thing in general in this game. Fat rolling is also acceptable since with good armor you at least aren't that likely to be one-shotted, leaving you with a much larger margin for error.

 

[X Knight]

Ah, I started thinking a step further so the fairly obvious was missed. I do the same with you regarding last names, but when I saw that the name wasn't used in DS I realized that I could have given my characters full names. I named my characters after fantasy characters myself. I have Rhaegar, Imrahil and Raistlin in my roster.

The Bastard Sword does make more sense to use with a shield as that's made to be of a size that works both one- and two-handed. As someone that's interested in medieval weapons I do enjoy that they have some realistic options, although as usual the options are from quite different time periods and don't really go together. For example, when the full plate armor was used they had pretty much abandoned shields for many situations and were using two-handed weapons instead (not that too many people could afford full plate armor though). The armor was so strong that it was all you needed to protect yourself (together with parrying with your weapon of course) and you used two-handed weapons because they were more devastating offensively. Even the Longsword was mainly a two-handed weapon though and it came before full plate was common, so the shield hasn't been used quite as extensively as I think most people would think. But this is fantasy so I don't care all that much, I just appreciate the looks of it.

I'm unfortunately not at all familiar with Goblin Slayer so I'm not getting more of a sense of it than what you're describing.

Yes, patience and then fully exploiting any advantageous positioning you can find is a good thing in general in this game. Fat rolling is also acceptable since with good armor you at least aren't that likely to be one-shotted, leaving you with a much larger margin for error.

Thanks for the history lesson - that's fascinating! I always love reading/learning about the real historical influences behind the fantasy. I guess the standard Sword + Shield knight/warrior is such a strong fantasy archetype that obscures the realities of the battlefield.

And I agree. In this game, the enemies, environment, and basically the whole structure is designed to be unfair or "cheap." So, you need any advantage you can get or find. Even with the Bosses, if there's a "cheese" strategy to exploit to beat the boss more efficiently, I'm not afraid to use it. Heck, I've even taken to using Poison Cloud on the in-game Black Phantoms (like Scirvr) to make those fights easier. Because those BPs can literally one shot you!

And one of the biggest advantages in this game is using magic (like Poison Cloud), since a ton of enemies are weak to it and the spells or magic enhanced weapons are so much more powerful than the standard stuff. That's one reason why the spellsword/battlemage is still my preferred playstyle after trying out various builds and styles. Everything else just feels relatively boring, and I appreciate how in this game you can easily switch between swinging a sword and slinging spells on the fly. I enjoy that level of freedom.

Speaking of which, I'm working on "version 2" of the Blueblood spellsword build which I beat the game with. Picked up the Crescent Falchion after defeating Phalanx and was quickly reminded how that (potential) early weapon is NO JOKE!! That thing cuts through enemies like butter! Even at a low level, my mage Royal can tear through demons faster than my higher level knights or soldiers with standard swords.

 

[Mjolnir Reborn]

Thanks for the history lesson - that's fascinating! I always love reading/learning about the real historical influences behind the fantasy. I guess the standard Sword + Shield knight/warrior is such a strong fantasy archetype that obscures the realities of the battlefield.

And I agree. In this game, the enemies, environment, and basically the whole structure is designed to be unfair or "cheap." So, you need any advantage you can get or find. Even with the Bosses, if there's a "cheese" strategy to exploit to beat the boss more efficiently, I'm not afraid to use it. Heck, I've even taken to using Poison Cloud on the in-game Black Phantoms (like Scirvr) to make those fights easier. Because those BPs can literally one shot you!

And one of the biggest advantages in this game is using magic (like Poison Cloud), since a ton of enemies are weak to it and the spells or magic enhanced weapons are so much more powerful than the standard stuff. That's one reason why the spellsword/battlemage is still my preferred playstyle after trying out various builds and styles. Everything else just feels relatively boring, and I appreciate how in this game you can easily switch between swinging a sword and slinging spells on the fly. I enjoy that level of freedom.

Speaking of which, I'm working on "version 2" of the Blueblood spellsword build which I beat the game with. Picked up the Crescent Falchion after defeating Phalanx and was quickly reminded how that (potential) early weapon is NO JOKE!! That thing cuts through enemies like butter! Even at a low level, my mage Royal can tear through demons faster than my higher level knights or soldiers with standard swords.

Yes, we generally get a lot of our views on the subject from films and other media, but they don't always take much care to research the stuff. Even museums can sometimes be off as you can see William Wallace's sword in a British museum, but it's a kind of sword that didn't really appear for at least 200 years after he died (the same goes for the Braveheart film, but understandable given the museum piece). The sword in the museum is likely three different swords that have been put together over time.

Yes, the game sets up a challenge and it's pretty much up to the player to use all the tools available to pass those challenges. I'm glad I did a magic-less first run though as it was fun and challenging, but where I didn't do as much damage as later characters the first one was very sound defensively so I could survive long enough to take down bosses even if I couldn't avoid all the hits. I agree that it's nice that it's easy to swap between two weapon loadouts so you can swap in a talistman to cast magic or, as I did it, fight with a talisman and a sword and then swap in regen items. It's not that complicated to build a character with stats and gear but there are more than enough options to make it interesting for many playthroughs.

Yes, picking up that early Crescent Falchion is a really powerful move since so many enemies are weak to magic and it has such fast attack speed. With my second character I did that right after Phalanx and could then go straight through Armor Spider and Flame Lurker (both weak to magic) to get the DBS really early too. I could probably have done Dragon God right away as well if I wanted, but mainly because it's such a scripted fight.

 

[X Knight]

Yes, we generally get a lot of our views on the subject from films and other media, but they don't always take much care to research the stuff. Even museums can sometimes be off as you can see William Wallace's sword in a British museum, but it's a kind of sword that didn't really appear for at least 200 years after he died (the same goes for the Braveheart film, but understandable given the museum piece). The sword in the museum is likely three different swords that have been put together over time.

Yes, the game sets up a challenge and it's pretty much up to the player to use all the tools available to pass those challenges. I'm glad I did a magic-less first run though as it was fun and challenging, but where I didn't do as much damage as later characters the first one was very sound defensively so I could survive long enough to take down bosses even if I couldn't avoid all the hits. I agree that it's nice that it's easy to swap between two weapon loadouts so you can swap in a talistman to cast magic or, as I did it, fight with a talisman and a sword and then swap in regen items. It's not that complicated to build a character with stats and gear but there are more than enough options to make it interesting for many playthroughs.

Yes, picking up that early Crescent Falchion is a really powerful move since so many enemies are weak to magic and it has such fast attack speed. With my second character I did that right after Phalanx and could then go straight through Armor Spider and Flame Lurker (both weak to magic) to get the DBS really early too. I could probably have done Dragon God right away as well if I wanted, but mainly because it's such a scripted fight.

The scripted nature of the Dragon God fight was probably the biggest letdown, imo. It was still a challenge, but it's more of a puzzle challenge rather than defeating the boss in combat. Especially when you consider how prominent the Dragon God is in all the marketing. I expected more of an actual fight. And, in fact, at first I thought the Dragon God WAS the Old One, that he was the big baddie we had to slay in the end.

And just curious, for your defensive character, were you able to fast roll with that character or did you just fat roll and live with it?

I've though about turning my Holy Paladin Knight into a "tank" character who can take a lot of punishment and survive. But I've been debating if I should sacrifice Endurance points to be able to fast roll in heavy armor and instead invest those into Strength so I can rock a big, heavy shield like the Tower Shield or Brushwood Shield.

I'm so used to favoring mobility and fast rolling, so I tend to dump a lot of points into Endurance to be able to fast roll while being able to wear most of the armor that I want to for looks. It's kind of a shame that Endurance is the only stat that affects Equip Burden. IMO, that should also be tied to Strength.

 

[Mjolnir Reborn]

The scripted nature of the Dragon God fight was probably the biggest letdown, imo. It was still a challenge, but it's more of a puzzle challenge rather than defeating the boss in combat. Especially when you consider how prominent the Dragon God is in all the marketing. I expected more of an actual fight. And, in fact, at first I thought the Dragon God WAS the Old One, that he was the big baddie we had to slay in the end.

And just curious, for your defensive character, were you able to fast roll with that character or did you just fat roll and live with it?

I've though about turning my Holy Paladin Knight into a "tank" character who can take a lot of punishment and survive. But I've been debating if I should sacrifice Endurance points to be able to fast roll in heavy armor and instead invest those into Strength so I can rock a big, heavy shield like the Tower Shield or Brushwood Shield.

I'm so used to favoring mobility and fast rolling, so I tend to dump a lot of points into Endurance to be able to fast roll while being able to wear most of the armor that I want to for looks. It's kind of a shame that Endurance is the only stat that affects Equip Burden. IMO, that should also be tied to Strength.

I agree that it's a little bit too scripted and rigid, in particular for further playthroughs, but it's at least pretty impressive in sound and the size of the boss. I too thought that he was the Old One based on the trailer I saw, although I do understand that he's much more impressive to show off like that than a normal human looking character.

I did fast rolls as soon as got the Ring of Giant Strength from the dragon nest. I gradually increased my armor as my Endurance went up, eventually being able to swap out the ring for something else, and at 40 I ended up with the Gloom Knight armor set but with the gloves swapped out to some lighter variant, plus a shield and spear.

That's a touch choice, at least if you don't want to use the ring. Even with the loadout that I used on my defensive character I don't think I could get away with the Tower Shield without swapping out something more. Rolling is the more effective defensive measure but since we're talking multiple characters it's also about just getting a new feeling. If you can sacrifice a ring for it you can of course do both with great armor.

Strength would make logical sense to affect equip burden but I get the design choice of not having one stat both increase your offense and defense. It makes for more interesting choices when making a character and at least you also make a similar choice with a ring.

 

[X Knight]

I agree that it's a little bit too scripted and rigid, in particular for further playthroughs, but it's at least pretty impressive in sound and the size of the boss. I too thought that he was the Old One based on the trailer I saw, although I do understand that he's much more impressive to show off like that than a normal human looking character.

I did fast rolls as soon as got the Ring of Giant Strength from the dragon nest. I gradually increased my armor as my Endurance went up, eventually being able to swap out the ring for something else, and at 40 I ended up with the Gloom Knight armor set but with the gloves swapped out to some lighter variant, plus a shield and spear.

That's a touch choice, at least if you don't want to use the ring. Even with the loadout that I used on my defensive character I don't think I could get away with the Tower Shield without swapping out something more. Rolling is the more effective defensive measure but since we're talking multiple characters it's also about just getting a new feeling. If you can sacrifice a ring for it you can of course do both with great armor.

Strength would make logical sense to affect equip burden but I get the design choice of not having one stat both increase your offense and defense. It makes for more interesting choices when making a character and at least you also make a similar choice with a ring.

Normal Human Looking Character - you must be thinking of Old King Allant not the Old One......haha. The Old One looks like a giant tree thingy, so that would have been even less impressive than showing off the Dragon God for marketing purposes.....lol.

Speaking of which, I guess you could say the final showdown with the Old One is anticlimactic, too. But it definitely subverts your expectations, so I didn't mind that as much.

And thanks for sharing the info about your builds. I don't really want to waste a ring slot for Giant Strength ring, so that's why I pump End to get enough to fast roll with the armor I want.

And the Gloom Armor seems to be my go-to mid to end game armor as well. Visual wise, it's the coolest looking that fits my "dark knight" character theme, especially for my Blueblood battlemage. And yeah, I have to swap the gloves, too. I like to use the Black Leather gloves with it.

For my Lara Croft inspired "ranger" character, I think I'm going to forego the Gloom Armor this time and stick with the Coat of Plate + Leather Gloves + Leather Boots. Think that fits my "ranger" theme better and the lighter armor gives me more mobility without having to raise End too much (yet).

In fact, I am quite enjoying playing this agile ranger build with my "no fancy weapons" rule. I'm approaching LV60 and mid-game with it, so I'm going to see how she continues to fare. Trying to see if I can beat the game at around LV75-80 this time around.

 

[Mjolnir Reborn]

Normal Human Looking Character - you must be thinking of Old King Allant not the Old One......haha. The Old One looks like a giant tree thingy, so that would have been even less impressive than showing off the Dragon God for marketing purposes.....lol.

Speaking of which, I guess you could say the final showdown with the Old One is anticlimactic, too. But it definitely subverts your expectations, so I didn't mind that as much.

And thanks for sharing the info about your builds. I don't really want to waste a ring slot for Giant Strength ring, so that's why I pump End to get enough to fast roll with the armor I want.

And the Gloom Armor seems to be my go-to mid to end game armor as well. Visual wise, it's the coolest looking that fits my "dark knight" character theme, especially for my Blueblood battlemage. And yeah, I have to swap the gloves, too. I like to use the Black Leather gloves with it.

For my Lara Croft inspired "ranger" character, I think I'm going to forego the Gloom Armor this time and stick with the Coat of Plate + Leather Gloves + Leather Boots. Think that fits my "ranger" theme better and the lighter armor gives me more mobility without having to raise End too much (yet).

In fact, I am quite enjoying playing this agile ranger build with my "no fancy weapons" rule. I'm approaching LV60 and mid-game with it, so I'm going to see how she continues to fare. Trying to see if I can beat the game at around LV75-80 this time around.

Yes, I wasn't very clear about my train of thought but I was talking about showing bosses in the trailer and Old King Allant is in the position of being the final real bossfight, while Dragon God can be done with pretty early.

I didn't mind the events around the Old One. As you say it really subverted the expectations and that was fine since there had already been tons of great gameplay so it didn't feel like I was robbed of something. It had really cool design and atmosphere and that's all that it certainly had to do.

As said I also aimed to not have to use the Ring of Giant Strength but I do think it's a good thing to have in the beginning of the game if you want to have heavy armor.

The Gloom Knight armor is a powerful one, and it's pretty cool, but my favorite look is the Fluted set (male version) as that looks the most realistic.

Good to hear that you're enjoying your ranger build and it's a sign of a good game that even less powerful things are perfectly viable as long as you have a bit of skill. Personaly I've still not decided on what to play next so I've had a small break from gaming.

 

[X Knight]

Yes, I wasn't very clear about my train of thought but I was talking about showing bosses in the trailer and Old King Allant is in the position of being the final real bossfight, while Dragon God can be done with pretty early.

I didn't mind the events around the Old One. As you say it really subverted the expectations and that was fine since there had already been tons of great gameplay so it didn't feel like I was robbed of something. It had really cool design and atmosphere and that's all that it certainly had to do.

As said I also aimed to not have to use the Ring of Giant Strength but I do think it's a good thing to have in the beginning of the game if you want to have heavy armor.

The Gloom Knight armor is a powerful one, and it's pretty cool, but my favorite look is the Fluted set (male version) as that looks the most realistic.

Good to hear that you're enjoying your ranger build and it's a sign of a good game that even less powerful things are perfectly viable as long as you have a bit of skill. Personaly I've still not decided on what to play next so I've had a small break from gaming.

Ah! Gotcha! Old King Allant definitely fits the final boss role.

And I think I would have been more disappointed with the ending and final confrontation with the Old One if the rest of the game had not been such a satisfying experience or if the game had been more story/character driven. The game is actually quite light on story and experience. So, it's more about the overall atmosphere and experience of overcoming the trials and challenges.

The Fluted Set is a nice piece. I do like the traditional knight look, too.

 

[X Knight]

Well, I made the hard decision to wipe out all of my character save files to start over with a clean slate. The serious design flaw/oversight of NOT giving you any option to delete individual character files was starting to take its toll.

I had amassed around 20-something different character files. And since I tended to reuse the same names for my characters, that meant multiple save files with the exact same name, often right next to each other. It was getting to the point where it was becoming too unruly and too hard to keep track of which character I wanted to keep and use.

Of course, all of this could have been avoided by simply letting us delete individual character files. Which seems like such a simple, basic, fundamental design principle. But alas......that is not the case.

Fortunately, through all that trial and experimentation, I narrowed it down to 3 builds I want to play as (Holy Knight, Blueblood Spellsword, Ranger-Soldier). And since I've been using that Mugen calculator, I have a clearer picture of my stat spreads instead of just guessing it on the go. Also, I know how to play the game better now, so all was not wasted.

This will give me the opportunity to focus on my Superman/Supergirl Holy Paladin Knight build which I have been wanting to do. So, with this fresh start, that will be the 1st build I will do.

 

[Mjolnir Reborn]

Well, I made the hard decision to wipe out all of my character save files to start over with a clean slate. The serious design flaw/oversight of NOT giving you any option to delete individual character files was starting to take its toll.

I had amassed around 20-something different character files. And since I tended to reuse the same names for my characters, that meant multiple save files with the exact same name, often right next to each other. It was getting to the point where it was becoming too unruly and too hard to keep track of which character I wanted to keep and use.

Of course, all of this could have been avoided by simply letting us delete individual character files. Which seems like such a simple, basic, fundamental design principle. But alas......that is not the case.

Fortunately, through all that trial and experimentation, I narrowed it down to 3 builds I want to play as (Holy Knight, Blueblood Spellsword, Ranger-Soldier). And since I've been using that Mugen calculator, I have a clearer picture of my stat spreads instead of just guessing it on the go. Also, I know how to play the game better now, so all was not wasted.

This will give me the opportunity to focus on my Superman/Supergirl Holy Paladin Knight build which I have been wanting to do. So, with this fresh start, that will be the 1st build I will do.

That sucks that it got that cluttered for you. I agree that it's definitely something that should have been added for the Remake since, unlike the 60 fps change I want for Bloodborne, it should be a trivial change from a programming perspective.

I hope you have a lot of fun with your three new playthroughs though!

 

[X Knight]

That sucks that it got that cluttered for you. I agree that it's definitely something that should have been added for the Remake since, unlike the 60 fps change I want for Bloodborne, it should be a trivial change from a programming perspective.

I hope you have a lot of fun with your three new playthroughs though!

Yeah, the lack of deletion is definitely a weird oversight. I wonder if it has anything to do with the way the PS5 stores saves. Hopefully not, as that would not bode well for future games. That would be a serious problem going forward.

But sometimes it's good to start with a clean slate. At least now I can tell which character is which and which ones I'm actually using............haha.

 

[Iceman]

I really love when games push things forward on the tech front and I also love fantasy as a genre. The Souls gameplay is the only thing holding me back but I might settle for more watching my mate play than playing too much myself on this.

 

[XtremelyBaneful]

the only way I could get through this game is if I shareplay with someone who knows what they're doing

 

[X Knight]

Well, I managed to beat the game for a 2nd time!

I essentially replicated the Blueblood Sword Battlemage build that I used to beat the game the 1st time around. Since I had to delete all of my prior character saves, that meant I had no real "record" of beating the game the 1st time. So, I wanted to beat the game with basically the same build just to have that "on the record" so to speak. And I improved this 2nd time around, completing the game at level 80 instead level 100.

And with that, I think it is finally time to put this game back on the shelf. I have been playing Demon's Souls almost exclusively since I got the PS5 back in November. And after beating the game for a 2nd time, the overall shortness and linearity of the game has started to become apparent.

As I've said before, that's both a good and a bad thing. It's good because it made it easier for me to stick with the challenge and beat the game. But, it also means that the replayability of the game is less. There aren't really that many variations in the choices and paths you can take.

Also, there really isn't that much variety in terms of weapons, armor, and spells. Not like the other Souls games which came after. That's why, even though my initial intent was do multiple playthroughs with different builds (Faith Tank, Dex Ranger, Battlemage, etc.), I found that I basically ended up playing the characters largely the same. Which is why I ultimately decided to just stick with the Battlemage build.

So, for now, I am ready to finally move on to other games, like Persona 5 Royal, which I have put off completing. I'll still revisit Demon's Souls and play through NG+ and beyond with this character to get the remaining trophies. But I think it's time to finally move on.....haha.

 

[X Knight]

I can't believe I actually accomplished this! But I just platinumed Demon's Souls, earning my 1st ever platinum in my Playstation gaming history!!

It took me 4 game cycles with the same character (completing NG+++) but I somehow managed to do it! I never would have expected my 1st platinum would be with Demon's Souls and yet somehow this has become one of my favorite games. So, for this game and experience alone, getting a PS5 at launch was worth it.

Now, I can finally eject Demon's Souls and retire it to my game shelf. And just in time, too, with Ratchet, Guilty Gear, and FFVII Intergrade all releasing this week. I may revisit Demon's Souls from time to time to try out other character builds, now that I no longer have to worry about earning trophies. But, I think it is long past overdue to move on to other games.

I'm not sure if I will have the time, patience, or motivation to platinum another game. But, at least I can now proudly say I've platinumed a Playstation game!!

 

[Mjolnir Reborn]

I can't believe I actually accomplished this! But I just platinumed Demon's Souls, earning my 1st ever platinum in my Playstation gaming history!!

It took me 4 game cycles with the same character (completing NG+++) but I somehow managed to do it! I never would have expected my 1st platinum would be with Demon's Souls and yet somehow this has become one of my favorite games. So, for this game and experience alone, getting a PS5 at launch was worth it.

Now, I can finally eject Demon's Souls and retire it to my game shelf. And just in time, too, with Ratchet, Guilty Gear, and FFVII Intergrade all releasing this week. I may revisit Demon's Souls from time to time to try out other character builds, now that I no longer have to worry about earning trophies. But, I think it is long past overdue to move on to other games.

I'm not sure if I will have the time, patience, or motivation to platinum another game. But, at least I can now proudly say I've platinumed a Playstation game!!

Congrats! It's definitely a game worthy of going for platinum in.