Be grateful American Demon's Souls fans, because if this were the early 90's a game like this would not see our shores.. not by a long shot. Trust me when I say the days of hoping that any of the highly anticipated JRPGs possibly coming to the U.S. only to usually be met with disappointment are still fresh in my mind.
Often deemed "too hard" or simply not viable options sales-wise.. many quality Japanese titles never made it to the states.. which was especially frustrating at that time due to Asia having such an overwhelming hold on the industry(basically, there weren't many American/European alternatives to makeup for the losses). The genre hit hardest was indeed (unfortunately for me) RPGs. Sadly, even if some of my anticipated titles made it across the ocean they were either too hard to find or basically too watered down to bother with.
That's why a game like Demon's Souls seeing a worldwide release is such a breathe of fresh air.. especially for gamers who want a "quality" challenge instead of the cheap hardcore difficulties that developers tack on to a cake walk of a game. I'm glad I can finally start playing some quality Japanese titles again.. especially a good atmospheric dark fantasy action RPG on my PS3. I've been basically playing nothing but American games for a little too long now, lol.
I suppose in my defense it isn't completely my fault.. my hand was often forced. The clout of the Japanese developer is not what it used to be.. nor is the quality of some of the games. I used to be a big fan of the "older" anime and Japanese games(obviously).. but more recent iterations have not exactly peaked my interest. Those two mediums have been clogged with redundant and convoluted rubbish over the last decade IMO.. they often betrayed there own original appeal for me by focusing on more flash than substance(the problem some western games tend to have). But I have been seeing an upswing as of late though.. which can be mainly attributed to some of these developers actually trying to be "original".
Anyways.. beyond the whole Japanese gaming talk.. Demon's Souls itself is good for the industry. This game values quality over mass appeal.. far too often gamers are served their gaming experiences on a silver platter filled with straight forward quests that are either too slow or too focused on mindless twitch gameplay with easy, trivial or repetitive achievements/trophies and a side of "been there, done that" multiplayer. Demon's Souls uses a satisfying approach to gaming fulfillment.. by offering rewarding gameplay that can range from "feeling" as hectic as a twitch shooter to as methodical as a good strategy game all the while having its gameplay mechanics keeping things balanced.
Rarely these days do we see games like Demon's Souls utilize the three qualities of a good gamer.. patience, a little skill, and strategy. You lack just "one" of those.. and the rest "will" fail you. No Rambos.. no cowards.. no half hearted strategists.. being one dimensional or lazy in the land of Boletaria will get your character nothing but a one way ticket to a round of demon gang rape. In a game like Demon's Souls.. the enemies are not the main threat.. its the lack of patience and awareness. This is also one of those rare games that actually live up to the saying of being a "love it or hate it" type of experience.. basically for some it will be a waste of $60 while being the best $60 others have plopped down for a game in a while.
The game is not perfect by any means.. it does have some rough patches. A steep learning curve, heavy punishment for dying(which sucks considering how often you will), questionable frame rate at times, and a bit more reliance on grinding than I would like are examples.. but the atmosphere and originality go a long way to make up for that. One of my personal favorites is indeed Demon's Souls take on multiplayer.. being able to leave and give tips and messages for other players to read, the ability to enlist the help of a couple other players for boss fights, and the ability to invade another player's game is just f*cken cool. Novel ideas that I not only hope will be more fleshed out in possible sequels.. but something the rest of the industry should take note of.
Bottomline, this is a game that proves gamers do not have to be coddled to have a rewarding gameplay experience.. it isnt chopped up into varying degrees of overly easy or overly cheap difficutties.. there is just one. One quality level of challenge that while not for the weak of heart.. is certainly not impossible for those with some patience and willingness to properly strategize. In the end.. a good opportunity for some modern gamers to have a chance to take off the training wheels.. get the FPS pacifier out of their mouths.. and prove their gaming merits.