Well everyone, we're smack dab in the middle of the game drought and we are literally dying over here at the O and E. Game news has slowed to a crawl and if it wasn't for super secret projects we've been working on we would have nothing to bring you. Errr, bring you in the future. But, until those things are done, we're making due with what we have available. Thus, I've gone shopping for old games, and if you've bothered to read the title of this article then you probably know what game I recently bought. Yep, it's that practice in sadism Demon's Souls.
You see, I was lured in by it's promise of great and difficult gameplay. I needed something to hold me over until the possibly fantastic Deus Ex. But apparently, no one told Atlus that there's a difference between challenging and flat-out unfair. This game is beyond a ball-buster and it all revolves around what happens when you die. And you will die. You will die a whole freaking lot.
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| Well shit |
So why is it so easy to die? Well, the combat is a tad stiff despite how many options you have. There's a button to dodge, one to block, one to parry, one to attack, one to heavy attack, ect ect. Then, of course, you can use magic and arrows depending on what class you choose and what you spec into in the future. All pretty standard RPG stuff. What isn't standard is how unforgiving everything is. You will get hit plenty and it will do lots of damage. And what happens in this game when you are dealt enough damage?
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| You basically become the undead. |
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In a manner of speaking that is. You see, when you die you basically become a spirit who can still hurt things and be hurt in return. Sounds kinda cool actually. Well, not if you take into the account that the price of being dead means you have less health. Yes, if you die, the game punishes you by making itself harder. You can resurrect yourself with certain stones that you can buy or find, or you can do it the hard way and defeat the next boss. Either way, it all sucks. Oh, and that's not the only punishment. Dying means all the souls you've collected that can be spent on items, upgrades, and leveling up are now lost... sort of. If you can find the blood spot that marks the place of your death, well hooray! You can get all of your stuff back! If you die before you do, though, another blood stain will appear, and aaaaall your original souls will be lost. That's the video game equivalent of giving you the finger.
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| Greetings, traveler! Remember rule number 1: Have fun! |
Anything else? Well in the training level you are also sent back the Nexus (main hub) when you die. That means when you enter the level again you are dropped off at the very beginning and all the enemies have respawned. AND THIS IS JUST THE TRAINING LEVEL. The saddest part is that the game is actually really cool and has some awesome set pieces. It's just too unforgiving for me to really get into. But some outlets gave it game of the year so what do I know? At least it's not Ghosts N' Goblins. Fuck that game.
2:36 PM
The Elitist
I know this is really specific, but I have reason. Recently, on account have an industrial strength case of video game boredom, I picked up a random JRPG style game called Blue Dragon. I have never played it before, I love JRPG's. The game was drawn by the dude who draws up Dragon Ball Z (Akira Toriyama), and the writer is Hironobu Sakaguchi, who created Final Fantasy. So I bought it.
Joking aside:
Back in December, we did a typical gaming site activity and wrote a series of game of the year articles for 2010. It was then that we allowed the now infamous Johnny Fanboy to give his opinion in the written form. It was poorly written form, but written form nonetheless. For those of you who need reference, here is a link. Well, it's been a while since we've heard from him and there is a very important reason for that. You see, the article was full of so much offensive content and bad diction, so many off-topic rants and insults, and so many unwarranted attacks, that Johnny actually became one with the internet. He shed his mortal coil and was elevated to the status of " The Great God of Internet Chaos." However, it was here that he was forced to do more observing than actual participation in said chaos, with his only real powers being those of slight, subtle manipulation of those who post comments anywhere on the web. Not having a penchant for the whole "being subtle" thing, Johnny fell from grace and returned to Earth right before Microsoft's E3 conference. Upon hearing the news of the new Halo releases, he was immediately reduced to a coma-like state. Having only regained consciousness this morning, Johnny has decided to return to preaching the word of Halo and why he thinks it's the best game series ever. Back in front of a keyboard due to our horrible luck, allow me to reintroduce, Johnny Fanboy.
Sup, bitches! I'm back from being a god and shit! You've never been a god have you!? I ruled you nerds and your internet lives! Anyway, I'm gunna tell you why the new halos are going to own your asses and I'm going to do it all in italics because that bitch Chris wouldn't tell me how to turn it off. Look how faggy these letters are now. Even faggier than normal letters! But who cares when there's halo to talk about!
