Epilogue’s Game of January: Demon’s Souls
Every month, Epilogue Gaming will be selecting a new game to analyze, anatomize and explore. These games are chosen by our golden tier Patreon members, who select the titles from a list of games with a reputation for innovating their respective genres. If you’d like to join in on the discussion, consider joining our Discord community. This group of players and critics are called the “Golden Gamers”.
For the first month of Golden Gamers, we will be playing Demon’s Souls (2009) for the Playstation 3. This is an influential title in multiple respects, most notably creating the groundwork for what some people call a new genre in ‘Souls’. It features exceptional level design and world building, as well as a unique combat system prioritizing a slow, methodical approach as opposed to more fast-paced action in a lot of other titles.
Throughout our play through of Demon’s Souls, we will look at each of these aspects and more within the game itself and how it influenced future games. Below are some notable discussion points:
- What is the impact of the level design on both future Souls games and other genres? Does it encourage exploration with enticing rewards and interesting shortcuts, or is there not much of a reason to go out of your way? In addition, how does the Nexus compare to Firelink Shrine and the Hunter’s Dream?
- In what way does the non-linearity of progression affect the level design and difficulty? This type of advancement is seen again in Dark Souls II – was it done better or worse there?
- How does the combat itself compare to future Dark Souls titles? In addition to fluidity in motions, there are also differences in how magic spells function – most similar to Dark Souls III, there is a magic meter. Was this a good decision?
- In comparison to other Dark Souls titles, there is no Estus Flask, instead opting for consumable healing items without a major limit. Does this impact the gameplay? And in what way does it change how the player tackles scenarios?
- How does the boss design compare to other games? Is there a notable trend in boss design and difficulty in each world? Are the fights enjoyable?
- Lore tends to be a softer point in Dark Souls games, requiring the player to go out of his or her way to discover it. Is it any more notable in Demon’s Souls? How does the lore influence the world design?
- Does the World Tendency feature enhance or take away from the experience? Or does it even matter?
These are a few aspects that are worth thinking about, to spark some discussion – there is no need to be limited by these points. Demon’s Souls is a significant title worth exploring and delving into every detail.
