To Venter: How is Demon Souls?

The game is difficult, for sure. You can't even begin leveling up your character until you complete the first area, which is actually quite difficult and has a few places where you're not even (really) expected to go until much later in the game. Naturally, these are not labeled... so your exploration is trial-and-error stuff at first.

Once you finish the first stage, which could be after you've died 20 or 30 times, then you can level up your character and start tackling other stages in the order you like, more or less. At least, from what I can tell. I've only just beat the first area and begun really exploring the game properly, so it's hard to say anything more than what I've just said.

So far, it reminds me a lot of a hardcore Zelda game, or even a bit of Castlevania: Lament of Innocence... with the difficulty cranked way the heck up there. It's not impossible or anything, but you really have to put some effort into it or the thing will chew you up and spit you out. So far, it's pretty enjoyable in spite of that--and occasionally because of it--so I'm thinking that the rest should also be pretty cool.

This is really early on, of course, but right now the number that seems right for it in my mind is somewhere around 8 or 9. It's definitely good stuff and... I think I'll go play it some more!

(Actually, I kind of have to. I'm writing a guide for it and I expect to be doing almost nothing but playing the game for the next two weeks or so, maybe more depending on how things go. If you see a post from me containing nothing but "*sob*", you'll know what I'm referring to...)

nice. i may consider getting the deluxe edition. the music seems to stand out from the videos i've seen. the atmosphere is a bit creepy but it's done well. epic boss fights and a game that is challenging. i am definitely interested.