The game is set in the Kingdom of Boletaria, once very rich and full of life. It was under the rule of King Allanti XII, and for all ages it was peaceful as the King used Souls in search of power & peace. However, things backfire. The Kingdom is enveloped by dark fog as the King unwillingly sets loose the vanguards of Demons lurking in the realm. Very quickly, almost the entire population is destroyed. At this point the introducing cinematic comes to an end and you create your own character. You get to choose from your name, gender, hair, body size and etc. Once everything is ready, you start off in the beginning stage of Nexus. Nexus is the only place where you are remotely safe. It’s your haven, where you interact with NPCs and collect your gear and equipment for the next mission. For example, the village Monster Hunter.

Once your on your way, you may select any of five locations to roam via portals you find in Nexus. You have:

Boletaria Palace: Once the home to the royal family, it is now a land of ruins that are haunted by the beauty it once possessed…. and now home to demons

Stonefang Tunnel: A mine that has been over-run by evil Goblins.

Tower of Latria: An abandoned prison tower that is resided over by Demonic guards.

Shrine of the Storms: A cliff temple that worships the gods, plagued by aerial Demons and a HUGE flying stingray

Valley of Defilement: A huge gorge filled with a lot of deadly things.

It has a dark and mystic atmosphere that is both immersing and frightening. Each level represents a different cliche level design, the palace, the mountains, the prison, the mines and so on. However I forgive that because each level is so brilliantly designed that you’ll occasionally force yourself to stop running for dear life to admire it.

Apart from enjoying the scenery you get a set-up on gameplay as well. Controls are basic and easy to grasp, both using a bow and a sword are equally easy and so your free to choose whichever style you want without having to worry to much about having to go through a drastic learning curve.

There are ten classes to choose from, from the generic Knight to the more complex Magician. Each class will have different starting stats and weapons preferences, they’ll all be listed when you select them. One thing you need to understand is that, no matter how much you don’t want to, you’re going to have to mix up your fighting style somewhere down the line.
You will quickly find that whatever style you rely on, it will never work against everything you meet. This adds a depth of tactical thought that you need to consider.

Demon’s Souls is a game of learning, usually by dying or by playing with others. Dying is a complex procedure, when you first die you only lose your physical body and take the form of a glowing souls with a greatly reduced health bar. That’s it, from there you must complete a task & defeat a boss in order to regain your body. It’s not too frustrating, but it’s an annoyance if you die twice and lose all the Souls you collected as you then have to fight through the level to the point of which you died to regain them. Trail and error method of constantly getting your ass whooped can be a bit frustrating, but thankfully there is a educational method of learning by playing online. Players can leave messages and tips throughout the game for you to read and learn from, although it is mostly in Japanese

Teaming up with your buddies, two I believe, by picking up a Soul Marker they leave on the floor. There are some conditions thought, first you MUST have your physical body intact and by summoning other players to help you. You open the doors for other players to attack you. The players who take your side become blue phantoms, and those against become black phantoms.

The game is a pleasantly dark world which is easy on the eyes and will not be a pain to watch. The motions and animations are top notch and there isn’t anything wrong with it, but it’s no Metal Gear Solid 4/Killzone 2. In short: it looks great but it’s not a ground breaking exertions on the developer’s account.

Overall 6/10