Demon's Souls Retrospective 

You have a Heart of Gold. Don't let them take it from you...

This game is the Souls game that deserves a remaster or remake. It has a very special place in my heart. I played it in a time before souls games weren’t as popular as they are now. So there wasn’t as much information online to depreciate my experience. I literally spent an entire month trying to kill the phalanx. I remember a cousin of mine calling me up seeing how far I was. I told him, and he laughed. He had told me he had killed a flaming spider, a dragon and a giant knight. This whole entire time I thought the phalanx was the final boss of the game. I came from playing a lot of dynasty warriors and call of duty. Needless to say, this changed my entire perspective on difficulty within games. This game deserves way more attention.

I like how in Demon's Souls the areas makes sense. You have the mines with complex mechanical structures, in Boletarian palace you have details such as living quarters for soldiers and siege equipment on the outer walls and so on. Not only that but after the first level you have five options to choose from how you want to progress in the game.

Reviews like this make stuff like ign and gamespot seem like a total waste of time. Subscribed

"You can't just spam the attack button or you won't have enough stamina for a roll...." I remember learning this after several deaths in Bloodborne. Those wandering townsfolk were serious business.

I had friendly red phantom help me get through a level as well on my first playthrough. The main difference is he stabbed me in the back right before I entered the boss room. Top ten anime betrayals.

The only Souls game that featured the "world tendancy" system. I'm surprised you didn't mention it. I was obsessed with opening up all those locked areas with special loot and npc's in them. Fantastic coverage. Subscribed.

Demon's Souls, the reason I bought a Ps3 and stepped from Xbox360 to PS3, what an amazing title this was (still is)

Your story of the friendly phantom reminded me of my personal friendly phantom in Demon's Souls. Second time I got invaded on my first playthrough was on 2-1 right at the beginning. The player was very clearly much more experienced than me, parrying and dodge rolling basically all of my attacks like it was nothing. He was knocking me down with the Stormruler too basically just toying with me. I was hoping I could catch him off guard while he was being cocky or something, but then he started dropping items for me. Like, several really good items. He gave me a Blessed Claymore +5, a Blessed Longsword +4, and a Winged Spear +6. He gave me a strong shield too though I don't remember exactly what it was. Afterwards he equipped some Dagger and began to actually start attacking me. I ended up winning by the skin of my teeth due to the massively superior equipment he gave me. After I had beaten him I sent him a message saying "Thanks for all that stuff. Guess you realized I'm new to this one?" to which he simply replied: "thx u for pl with me. u r a high skill player." Which made me laugh seeing as I had just been manhandled by this guy for 5-10 minutes, but the whole situation made me smile. I actually didn't die against Maneaters at all and I only died to Flamelurker once because I got knocked inside some of the debris and got glitched stuck in there. Crazy high level gear made my first playthrough pretty breezy all things considered. I still had to be careful because I could die quickly, but it was definitely a different experience from my first runs in other games in the franchise.

Great review, Demon's is still my favourite from the series.

20:00 its more a lore boss when they builded that santuary for the dragon god to keep gim at bay but builded that two harpons in case of things gone wrong

I adore Demon's Souls. It was the game that gave me the reason to buy a PS3.

The Souls games are a throwback. Games used to be HARD. You used to be punished for dying, often losing items or progress. Some games, you had a few lives and when they were gone, the game was over. You had to start at the beginning. I broke more than a few NES controllers as a child. That or they had a rattle due to broken pieces rolling around inside. There are times I enjoy a nice handholding story driven game. Then, there are times I want challenge.

Bloodborne is absolutely thrilling. I love the soulsborne games. Thanks for the video. Sad news about the closing of the Demon Souls servers - I can only hope a remaster comes out.

these are the most solid solid reviews I've seen on the series, is channels like this that a would like to see grow, that lots of people see the quality instead of just a 5 minute review from ign which barely talks about the important things of the game

The difficulty of the Souls games is dramatically over exaggerated imo. It's hard because it's new and forces you to play differently than other games or game genre's. I'd compare it to playing your first twin stick shooter. I hated Battlefront II for the first two weeks because I wasn't good enough to play it. The Souls games are the same way. I've been playing the series for years now and part of the beauty of it is how it's truly a skill based game. Once you're good, the game is a breeze. If you play cautiously after learning the mechanics, it is not a trial and error game. Dark Souls has become my favorite game of all time, but this was not always so. I walked away from the game after getting frustrated early on, but got hooked after coming back later. Playing a Souls game is an an investment that gives back more and more the more you learn and the better you get :) I would argue that those who don't enjoy the Souls games either aren't dexterous/skilled enough gamers to enjoy them or that they simply don't understand the games. Overcoming those problems takes time to learn and is an investment. To me, Souls was the game that brought me back to feeling a sense of discovery. Invasions are awesome. As bad as they may be early on, someday youll be on the other end of the equation ;) Plus, the intense feeling of playing against the game and a real player is unlike anything I've ever played. I love these games.

Extremely well constructed review, earned a sub. Awesome work

I actually just dove into the souls series myself with the first Dark Souls. I've been just, glutting myself with Dark Souls content and I have to say you did an excellent job on this, my friend. Earned a sub and a like from me. Good work.

Glad you discovered and enjoyed them that much. It's always so nice to listen to somebody talking Souls this way. :)

You remind me of Matthewmatosis, in other words, you make pretty amazing work. I just found your channel and I really enjoyed this review. You just got another subscriber, I am looking forward to your future work.

man i love this series of videos, i love all your content of the soulsborne saga

Shard of arch stone brings one back to the nexus, it's a stone of the ephemeral eyes that revives one from soul form

One of the best descriptions of a Masterpiece of a game, good job sir 😉

I am legit scared of this game. Should I play it

Really good review of this incredible game. You got yourself a new subscriber!

It's started with elden ring for me , got 30 mins in and knew I had to go back and play the other fromsoft games . I got gud and it has been the most rewarding games I've ever played . Thank you for this video . Got my sub for sure .

Nice review, I really enjoyed it. I'm going to go watch your DS reviews now!

Just finished the game on PS5. My first full-Souls experience (played some Dark Souls with a friend last Summer) and I'm absolutely obsessed with the series now. Oddly, I found the Maneater's easy; killed them on my first go. I found all of the bosses quite easy bar the Flamelurker and Armoured Spider. I think the Armoured Spider was my biggest struggle...

Banger as always KingK.

Been waitin for this

Can't wait for your dark souls and bloodborne reviews!

One of the best reviews I've watched. Not just on Demon's Souls. Instant sub and mad respect. You really deserve more subscribers.

Your Souls retrospectives are severely underrated. Your take is unique and well articulated. I'm still waiting on your take on Sekiro(: thanks for all the superb quality content, KingK

How can every single game in a series be masterpieces and worth playing each to this day, it’s fucking masterful

>The only place you'll find an in-depth analysis of death, death... and more death. Matthewmatosis?

Good video. I’ve been greatly enjoying your channel this week. Subscribed.

This video convinced me I needed to play this game. I somehow missed out on it back in the PS3 heyday and only years later played 10 or so hours of the original DS. Then Bloodborne on PS4, which I loved (but did not beat, need to go back to that one...). Anyways, few weeks in of playing, and I absolutely love DeS, quirks and all. Plus online functionality has been restored via a custom server (see the subreddit) - what a community!

Fantastic video, really enjoyed this. Cheers mate.

I like your content man. I literally watched the whole duration of the vid and never was a moment where I got bored or something. Looking forward to your other "Retrospective" vids, an acquired taste indeed. I'm also excited for Demon's Souls Remake on PS5. What are your thoughts about it? edit#2: You got yerself a sub. That friendly invader story of yours was pretty interesting. Those kind of stuff are what makes Souls games online functionality great.

Nice vid i miss demon souls...i remember i got it when it first came out...it was so lowkey....now everybody loves it

Great review man!

great vid! higher quality than expected!

That first blue eye knight on the battlements. I spent a week trying to kill it, being killed time and again, moving up through the first area just to get a chance at him. Nothing in any of the souls games has ever been as difficult as that first blue eyes knight. Nothing has been as rewarding as beating it that first time. It's probably one of my favourite enemies in the entire franchise because to beat it I had to learn how to play a souls game. This video nails why it was so difficult and why it was so rewarding

Nice one. Played Demon's Souls yesterday for the first time in a few years. It was time. So much fun. I'm not an expert with it like I am with Dark Souls 1, which I've totally worn out, so it still had that nice mix of mystery, atmosphere, frustration and joy. I did find it a lot easier than I remembered, probably because of the increased difficulty of subsequent From games, but that didn't affect the fun at all. It's one I'll likely keep coming back to as time goes by. In my top 3 all-time faves, for sure.

New to the channel. Awesome video! Absolutely love this game and now I definitely wanna start another play though! Definitely subscribing. Cheers

Nice review, man! Keep them coming :) Subbed

That was great! Though the amount of missed crystal lizards in this video was just too high. :)

Great video. And I agree this game while in a line of great games really spark the magic. It is still my favorite. Also I'm sad it never got a remake/remaster or DLC.

i love demons souls. thanks for this retrospective ;)

And to see on the other channel like ParagonDS talking about the souls series dying off. It wont happen. More new players will encounter the magic of the souls series, effectively replacing the already jaded ones. The fix is in, the cycle repeats.

Terrific review, you sir have a new subscriber.

Demons Souls was my first souls game, and, though cliche, I really believe it changed my entire view on gaming, and to this day is still my favorite PS3 game of all time, easily. I played a temple knight and actually used most of my starting gear from beginning to end of the game. I just never wanted to get rid of my mirdan armor or mirdan hammer - which I upgraded to a blessed hammer, with a dark silver shield. My build was most likely sub-optimal but I made it all the way through the game and even beat a few invader phantoms. Also I'm surprised you didn't touch on the tendency system. Both you and each level have sort of an alignment system where doing certain things (such as dying while human) shift things black and killing bossed shift things white. New paths, new treasure, and new monsters will spawn into a world depending on the tendencies, and your tendency gives you certain stat changes.

Demon souls also has a great new game plus. Adds new guys into the game in places keeping you guessing. Demon souls also has a dark world and a light world. ding a lot turns your world dark changing spawns and wining a lot makes it light changing spawns. Some friendly NPC are also locked behind this. Played the game a long time to find w/e i found at new game + like 25

After finally playing the Soulsborne games, and falling in love with them, I played this for the first time a couple of months ago via emulation. I kept hearing about how hard the Maneater bosses were, but I killed them on my first try, and easily. I struggled more with the Gargoyles in DS1, but I'm sure they prepped me for this. Flamelurker didn't bother me, same for King Allant. I struggled with the rolling Skeletons more than any boss, that's my fav level. I hope in the remaster/remake, they make the broken headstone a new level.

I started with dark souls and then went on to dark souls 3 and I am now playing scholar of the first sin(fighting the smelter demon at the iron keep while watching this video). Meaning I just got into the series very recently, and man am I hooked haha I definitely want to beat demon souls eventually. Hopefully from soft will make a remaster sometime soon. Great review btw

Wow, It surprises me everytime how amazing this game looks graphically. It also looks super fluid and sharp considering how old the game is. I badly want to play Demon Souls but sadly cannot access it. I really hope they do a remaster so I can finally play it and on my Ps4.

Easily has become my favorite franchise. I need to play through demon souls to complete my journey. These games have helped me cope with many issues. Can't wait to see what From Software has up their sleeves now that they are done with the series.

I know this is an old topic but here I am again listening to the playlist. I've started Bloodborne and initially, I didn't see the appeal. Probably has something to do with I started The Witcher 3 and AC Origins at the same time. But once I figured a few things out, I'm liking Bloodborne more. I'm one of the few who dislike the term Souls-Like. I view Ninja Gaiden as the original difficult game. Probably because I like Ninja's better than Monster Hunter's. Like stated, my new interest in Bloodborne has brought me back to this playlist and now when I hear certain things about Bloodborne, I can relate. On one hand I'm enjoying Bloodborne, but on the other hand I'm thinking I should play them in order starting with Demon's Soul. My son loves the series and has beaten all the game's including Sekiro, multiple times. Keep up all the awesome work that you do. It's very well appreciated. 👊🏾

Wanted to say the same thing about the Flame Lurker and Gargoyles at the end of Latria. Demon's Souls was a game I purchased when it originally came out because I was a fan of King's Field on the PS1 and wanted a next gen game by 'from software'. The game kicked my ass the first time and I couldn't get past the 3rd or 4th boss so I ended up trading it in because I needed money back in 2011. Dark Souls came out and I gave Dark Souls a shot. Fell in love with it and continued through the 2nd and 3rd games (still haven't beaten 3rd yet, tho). Decided to repurchase Demon's Souls last year and was able to play through it with more confidence having played DS games now. Both the Flame Lurker and Gargoyles were the two major walls I hit in the game. Once the 2nd Gargoyle comes in, it adds a whole layer of Randomness that can make or break the pace of the fight. One one side of the spectrum, you have each of them doing contradictory moves that you cannot attack or even advance due to the range of the vibration attack for example...then you have them flying around sometimes randomly for periods of time. It gets frustrating because there are large portions of the encounter that you just have to wait or be patient and not try to attack. I died a few dozen times and was really drained from it, but persevered and did it without trying any other bosses until I beat it (I was a decent level). It took a good hour or so to beat the two gargoyles, but I did it. Same with the Flame Lurker. Both of them can EASILY kill you no matter what level you are realistically if you aren't careful. Those two bosses seem like they have the smallest window of opportunity to attack without leaving yourself open. Plus the thin ledge/lava traps don't help either! Great game, none the less. Really appreciated it after playing through the DS games before finally beating it. Thinking about playing through New Game Plus soon.

Another great review from KingK. Thoroughly enjoyed this one, just like the other ones. Although I'd like to add one thing that I've never heard a reviewer say about this game and why it has such an amazing atmosphere, even miles better than that of Dark Souls and I'd have to pin it down to the sound design. It has the best one I've ever witnessed in a game and after 15+ playthroughs of both Demon's and Dark Souls, this is one of the biggest reasons why Demon's Souls still stand tall as my favorite game in the series, and my personal favorite game of all time. P.s: You should try the Maneaters and the Flamelurker in New Game+.

Just discovered this channel. Instantly subscribed. Btw, you use "Ephemeral Eye Stones" (or "Stones Of Ephemeral Eyes", as they're falsely called in-game) for reviving. Shards of Archstone are used to travel back to the Nexus without losing your souls (basically Homeward Bones or Bold Hunter's Marks).

I'm amazed and delighted by how many people talk about the Soulsborne games as having re-ignited their passion (for gaming or indeed for life in general). Playing Dark Souls 1 blind (and in Japanese!) for the first time back in 2011 was a defining moment in my life as a gamer that will stay with me forever :)

souls games are so different from everything else, i love the ambiguity of how to progress and you have to figure things out. i love the atmosphere, the game-play and the lore. I am so happy they are remastering this, its the only Souls game that i haven't played all the way through with several different builds. dark souls, scholar of sins, and dark souls 3 i have at least 4 or 5 completely different builds which totally change the elements of game play in turn brings up new challenges on how to progress. amazing games. i still go back and fire them up once in a while for an entire playthough with a new build. or just log in to see how amazing some of my builds are lol. they keep me coming back for more after all these years.

I absolutely LOVED Demon's Souls. It was a game that came out completely under the radar. I heard about it on message boards while scouring /v/ of 4chan years back (lol) and kept seeing these posts about this game where you play as a knight and get utterly wrecked but it never had a name. FINALLY one post, weeks later, hosted the name. By that point, watching all the short videos and seeing images, I was hooked on this weird spectre I had found. Demon's Souls.... I ran to the store IMMEDIATELY and picked up a copy. My new few weeks were nothing but this game, as I was utterly addicted to it. I got my friends into it, we all shared stories about where and how we got rekt.... It was an experience that left me with great love for this game. I learned a lesson that the internet often finds games that turn into cult classics and that's the best way to find them. Undertale was another, I had never heard a thing about the game, but the internet was buzzing about it suddenly and I remembered Demon's Souls so I grabbed it. While a very different kind of game, I understand the buzz and I love Undertale as well. My only wish is that I could return to the game with fresh eyes. The unfortunate thing about media is you can never return to something and feel the "newness" that comes with it. But that's okay. It's still an amazing game, and I love hearing stories of people who have finally found it and are going through their maiden voyage. Tell me more, that I may recount the days hahaha

I'm excited for the Demon Souls remake kingK I have a feeling you're going to be bombarded with more views for this video because this game is going to get remake which means people will want to watch it and probably going to have to make a new review for it

Nice job, I wish you would have covered the World and character tendency mecanics though. Most players coming from Dark Souls don't know about it. One of the best mechanics in gaming and it can actually be use to max out the difficulty even further !!! At one point on the PSN, every time you traveled to and from the Nexus, both tendecies were automatically restored to neutral and it totally destroyed that aspect of the game. Then Dark Souls was released and it kind of got forgotten over the years because it wasn't carried into the futur of the soulsborn franchises. I was lucky enough to initially experience Demon's offline, buying a copy the day it released in North America. The feeling I got from ''finishing'' it weeks later was amazing. I sat back in my chair, my ego swollen to Adjucicator size and opened my little Deluxe Edition Booklet to learn what little I missed, like the wise man I thought I was. I red it almost cover to cover. I couldn't believe how much I missed, I grabed the controller back up to explore further and I discover the NG+ difficulty upgrade when I got destroyed by a dregglings gang bang right at the start of Boletaria Castle ...My ego totaly deflated, I realised that my Demon's Souls journey was just begining and I ended up playing thousands of hours. I remember starting a new playthrough during a Pure Dark Halloween special ...even though I knew everything about the game I still got destroyed XD. Since Dark Souls, you cannot get the level of well balanced challenge like Demon's is offering to its most seasoned players. Through a risk/reward system like the hyper mode, pushing to those insane difficulty was possible, playable and rewarding enough to be fun for every build imaginable. The shear amount of souls a player would get if he could stay alive until after a PDT areas final bosses was worth the effort. The challenge of having to do the entire area without traveling back to Nexus, because if you do go back even once after you kill either a boss, a black phantom or a primeval demon, tendency will adjust and you probably won't be able to get your Complete Pure Dark area run. I never got close to that feeling in Dark Souls and I feel sad for people that are Soulsborn fan who won't ever know it even exists because it will never come back ... :'( .

Watched so much about this game but never ever got to play it fully, with the new remaster coming out later on im excited to try it

dude fucking top notch narration voice and retrospective love letters to these classics

I enjoy this kind of content

I had pretty much the same experience you did with a friendly invader in the mines that helped me through the area instead of fighting. It was a pretty cool experience.

I hate when people miss the best parts of the souls/borne series and only talk about how difficult it is, or how much you died and so on... These people really are missing the other 80% of the game

This video got me interested in finally starting Demon's Souls nearly 3 years ago. Also how refreshing is it that more people saw this than the Dark Souls video? I'm not sayng this because I want one to succeed and the other to fail, but how much credit does Demon's Souls get nowadays where Dark Souls is wrongfully praised as "innovative"?

I love your voice and commentary!

14:33 It’s easy to dodge the Bell Maiden. You need to get him to follow you all the way down the stairs. Then just run or roll around him and sprint back up the stairs

this is great. subbed.

For me it's Demon's Souls, Bloodborne, DS3, DS1, DS2 order. Demons Souls left me with the best impression and the world, music and overall aesthetic was very impactful for me. When DS1 came out I wasn't feeling the artistic direction at all, so I think I didn't get quite as connected. I like how in Demons Souls there's gimmicks to bosses, without the bosses becoming gimmicky, but now every boss in the series is the same linear test of strength.

i just love this video... i share your passion

I'm glad you mentioned that invaders can be helpful. I think I had forgotten that even though I have helped players as an invader.

Demon's Souls is of the three best gaming experiences I've ever had. The other two were Phantasy Star in 1989, and Resident Evil 4 in 2006. Incidentally, I recall beating the Maneater bosses on my first try and didn't think much of them. Later on I found out they were a barrier for many other players, who needed sometimes dozens of tries to beat them. Strange.

It was nice to see that review. I'm a huge fan of Demon's Souls myself and would have appreciated a bit more content regarding the world tendencies inside the game. One more unique feature that makes Demon's Souls stand out compared to other Soulgames. The gaming experience between white and black tendency was tremendous. This enriched the game variety deeply. Players could influence invasions and different NPC's showed up (which since today I never all meet - still missing Mephistopheles). Anyway if you plan to release an extended cut of this review please share your thoughts about Demon's Souls world tendency as well (:

I came up with essentially the same idea as your "first game syndrome", only I called it "sequel syndrome" - The reluctance, or even inability, of a player (myself) to return to or try previous games in a series after having played the sequels. So funny how we saw the same concept from different perspectives!

Dark souls was a different experience for me, when I beat that boss or area I was struggling with instead of a feeling if accomplishment, I just had a feeling of mild relief , and then back to struggling, that feeling of accomplishment never really hit me until a few days after I finished it, and it still remains one of my favourite games

I’m playing the series backwards and I’m finally at ds1. I’m waiting to play demon souls for my first time ever on the remastered ps5. Truly a beautiful experience

You totally can run past the guy before the Maneater fight. I've done it.

Excellent video! Liked and subbed! ;)

There's a sweet spot in flame lurker's boss arena that you can stand in and he can't hit you with anything. As for the maneater duo, you can use the large flaming bowl on the ground to keep in between you and him so you can attack him with good timing/arrows. Hope this helped

great narrative!

Dark Souls 1 & 3 to this day are the only Games that i can play over and over and over again cause there are over 50 weapons to Toy with and soo many possible builds. And i just love the Worlds design and the Boss Fights and the music. And the unique Fact that You need to meet certain Stats in order to use the weapons I LOVE THAT and the fact that the Story is hidden in the Items & weapons description.

Few errors here and there, like stating that you have your pick of levels to choose once you beat the Tower Knight instead of Phalanx, or calling Mind Flayers "Bell Maidens". But really just small errors like that. Other than that, awesome review! Until _Bloodborne_ was released, _Demon's Souls_ was my favorite game out of the entire series, and it still holds a special place in my heart. You did a damn great job encapsulating the marvel of design of this game, and as the oldest game in the series it often goes completely overlooked these days.

this was EXACTLY my experience! I was iffy about buying bloodborne but was drawn to it because of a lack any challenge from every other game. it had a reputation of being hard but fun, since then, ive played every souls/borne game and,it has raised the bar of my gaming tastes. I compare everything to them. it literally redeifined gaming for me, n to this day I have been struggling to find something simular to fill that void.

The first time I played Demon's Souls I thought the game was broken and unfair, but I was just ignorant and used to games where the level design and what the enemy was doing was obvious. I didn't play the game for 6 months afterwards, until a friend told me how great it was. I found it very hard at first, but it became much easier when I realised the mechanics, then it became very fun and I felt accomplished when I made progress. It was the first game in a long time that made me feel that way.

So glad I got to experience this game when the servers were still up. Good memories.

Do you plan on covering the remake? Love your content man

Started with Bloodborne then went to Dark souls 3 now back to Bloodborne. Im itching to buy a PS3 just to play Demon Souls and Dark souls 1. I couldnt agree more on 'souls never gets old' Cant wait to see what From puts out next!

Great video you have a very nice channel

one my favorite games is KIngs Field V. would i enjoy Demons Souls/Dark Souls? and/or which one would i enjoy more? thanks for any advice...

So, the last real level, when you are running across the bridge. A player invaded my game and I had alot of souls so I hauled butt and reached the elevator and closed the gate right as soon as he caught up to me. He was outside of the gate swinging away, but was behind it. My heart was bumping so much.

LOL that story with the invader reminds me of the time I did that for someone in the Shrine of Storms. Pretty much played out exactly how you described your experience.

Wonderful breakdown, wish I could have experienced this in it's prime. Unfortunately, by the time I was able to afford a PS3, the game had already had it's servers taken down.

I will say to demons souls credit. The bosses where it is just a difficult combat challenge generally have the shortest walks to them once the level has fully opened out. The flamelurker is one of the shortest walks in the game. The maneaters are literally a straight line. The only long walk up for a combat challenge is the tower knight. And even then, its one of the easier combat challenges in the game. The only difficult combat with a difficult walk up is false king allant. And it makes sense considering he's effectively the final boss.