You know when you go through an absolute gaming drought? So you pay one or two visits to your nearest game selling establishment throughout the week. Wondering if you'll find a hidden gem amongst the rubble of awfulness that gets produced today. When's that new innovative Call of Brilliance out anyway?
That's what happened when I found Dark Souls. At this point I had no idea of it's critical acclaim (I don't spend that much time on the internet for those reasons) and gave it a spin in my Xbox, continuing my quest of praying to the Aztec god Tlaloc for a glorious downpour that would quench that drought. I traded it in the next day....no sorry I sold it on Ebay. Have to be austere in this economic climate.
The thing was, I was too used to be a death-defying juggernaut in everything I play for this. Where was my initial feeling of 'I'm the underdog now, but I’ll work my way through this weary world and become ruler of the realms and all things, and when this happens all will bow, oh and peasant I enjoy plums... and truffles'. It plainly was not in plain sight, as much as anyone could question on what sort of game you start off already dead, You're in an asylum, with no memory of what vile crime you committed to be there after school closing hours on that fateful day (but that was just cause to you wasn't it?) there are also no truffles in sight.
My brother purchased this anomaly a few months later and persuasively told me to reconsider. I got my hands on a Prepare to Die Edition and gave it it's dues, one thing that instantly caught my attention was the music on the character selection/creation screen. It reminded me of old PC and 3DO (Those who can remember that) games I used to play like Escape from Monster Manor, because of it's old and haunting dark setting effect that falls upon one's ears.
Well, I say play these nostalgic personal treasures, I was very young and gleaming with innocence, sat on the sofa next to my brother who was venturing in this god forsaken 32-bit. Refusing to touch the control pad for fear of real death if that paper-ghost got closer to the screen. I received a similar notion from Dark Souls, watching my battered knight run as fast as he could in trifling armour from 12-foot bull men with mallets, military trained-skeletons and another player throwing electric decapitations at me.
For me Dark Souls touches on a more traditionalist way of RPG game design, you'll trawl through some hellish expanses, see some things that change who you are, and pick up some gruesomely awe-inspiring gear. You don't have to spend all your time comparing what is the best (Unless that's your sort of thing) and just subconsciously enjoy the violating waiting for you around every corner (Freud was right all along.) with a small cough massive serving of whiskey.
Bonfires are for fairies and treasonous usurpers of the throne.
Bandai Namco has released its latest financial report, revealing that the Dark Souls series has reached around 40 million units combined.
Former SIE president Yoshida explained that Sony wanted to work on the sequel to Demon’s Souls with FromSoftware, but the developer turned it down and instead decided to work with Bandai Namco on what would become Dark Souls.
Not sure what Sony was thinking. Wrong people testing the game. It was my favourite game from the PS3 days. Had to import it from Canada because it wasn't available in Europe at the time. Then I bought it again when a local version was available. It was fun to play online and get two separate platinum.
I understand, sony acting so cocky when it came out. But they quickly realized what they were missing on. I remember an interview of Yoshida saying clearly he hated the game.
"But they quickly realized what they were missing on."
So they've been sleeping on Bloodborne too
Sony didn't realize what they had with Demons Souls. It happens. Marvel approached Xbox to make Spider-Man before they went to Sony and Phil Spencer said "thanks but no thanks". You win some, you lose some. Personally I wasn't THAT bowled over by Demons Souls either when it launched on PS3. I thought it was slow and clunky. The remake on PS5, however, is fantastic! So I get why Sony was lukewarm on the franchise. I dont know if anybody could've foreseen what From Software would eventually become.
To be fair, not even From Software knew the huge success it would become. Their revenue target was tiny, as already confirmed by Miyazaki.
Exactly, these nipple head 'journalists' trying to spin this into a story to wield against Sony are ignoring the fact that hindsight is 20/20.
As you correctly point out, Demons Souls was incredibly niche at the time so it's not a surprise that Sony were cautious about investing huge amounts into advertising and support etc.
You can't just find the RIGHT people. This kind of thing didn't exist yet. FROMSOFTWARE started something huge and you could never see it unless you happen to get someone who not only gets a gut instinct but also the will and authority to act on it. You can't look back from 2025, you have to see it in a 2009 landscape. And Demon's Souls didn't even hit big, it wasn't until Dark Souls that it all started hitting, shortly after it's release in 2011.
Hey sometimes you just can’t see the potential.
It’s like the Chicago Bears moving up in the draft to take Trubisky over Pat Mahomes.
Replies(2)I bought the Japanese version of Demons Souls before US release. Me and my friend heard about it from an online friend in Japan. It took a while for it to become popular in the US. It was a new IP with nothing like it at the time and it wasn’t easy to play obviously. Eventually word of mouth spread about it and sales picked up after launch. I don’t think anyone could have seen how big it would be at the time. It was considered very niche and hardcore games were minimal.
I do wonder if we'll ever see Demon's Souls 2. Sony clearly wanted it. FromSoftware's subsequent releases penetrated the mainstream in ways the developer likely never imagined. Any stigma or negative perception around the original game's release has long passed. Bluepoint's remake sold very well on PS5. I think the time has come to visit the IP that started it all.
With Sony now firmly in bed with Kadokawa now. I think a Demon's Souls 2 and/or Bloodborne 2 is fairly likely.
They also seem to not want to get on Fromsoft's bad side or undercut them in any way. I think it's completely up to FS. (which is kinda funny cause FS themselves makes weird moves with their games whenever it's not Miyazaki helming the project. ie DS2 and Nightreign)
With Elden Ring's DLC Shadow of the Erdtree coming this month, JDR takes a look back at the greatest Soulsborne bosses. To start with, those of Dark Souls.
"Redundant Unique Weaponry"
Say that to my face in Anor Londo and not in Undead Burg and see what happens.
Joking aside (not really), great review.
What does "redundant unique weaponry" refer to? I would say that the normal weapons have redundancies more than the unique weapons.
A 1.0 for fun? I take it that's a joke right? Or perhaps the type of fun is lost due to the crap that are called games of this gen?
0 for online? Really? It has the most unique online experience of the entire gen?
I mean, yeah it's your opinion and you clearly admitted that it wasn't really your kind of game the first time, which shows more honesty than all professional reviewers combined, but as you can plainly see I disagree with those 3 assessments. It's probably because I'm a huge fan and started with the much more difficult Demon's Souls on the PS3. Great review though. You should submit it to sites like IGN and show them how real reviews are done.
demons and dark souls are two of my top 10 games of all time!!!
if you can, grab the pc prepare to die edition, 8 new areas/bosses, WAY better graphics, no framerate problems, but still all of the great awesomeness of the original and tons of new content, amazon has it for $15 all the time if you watch for deals
Why is a swift ending bad? IT ALLOWS US TO DO IT ALL. OVER. AGAIN.