Well, I just spent about six hours playing Demon's Souls and I'm kind of lost. While I'm all for open world games Demon's Souls really doesn't give you much direction at all. It just kind of opens up a bunch of territory and leaves it up to you to decide where you should be going. While I suppose this fits into the mind set of the game I'm finding it kind of off putting. Half the time I was playing I felt as though I didn't really know if I should be there or not. In addition the rather sparse story leaves me wondering why I'm even in some of these places and killing the things I'm killing.
 
This isn't meant to bash the game. I think it's wonderful for what it is and I'm going to keep at it. It's just that...well it all seems kind of aimless at the moment.

That's a big reason why people like it I think, that's a big reason why I liked it.  It's part of the fun, 'should I go in that room?'  'if I go in there and I shouldn't I might die'.  It's those critical choices and the sense of exploration that's all too rare in modern games with waypoints and markers.
 
Of course you can always look up a FAQ if you really don't know where you should be heading.  It's not fun to spend hours wandering around in circles either.

Yeah, I spent a good hour or more getting the rhythm of things down so I could get into the Tower Knight's courtyard. Once there I got destroyed in seconds since I had no idea what to do and had to go back and do it all again. Rather off putting when you don't even know if that's the boss you should be going up against yet.

Yeah, I spent a good hour or more getting the rhythm of things down so I could get into the Tower Knight's courtyard. Once there I got destroyed in seconds since I had no idea what to do and had to go back and do it all again. Rather off putting when you don't even know if that's the boss you should be going up against yet.

You can go up against any boss you please, however i did it pretty much in order from 1-1, 1-2 to 2-1 etc (you can't go on with Boltaria until you clear one final boss). 4-1 is a great area for grinding. 
 
Tower Knight was fun when I did it, you just gotta learn how to roll to avoid stuff, use a lot of healing stuff when necessary.
 
Game is all about exploring and experimentation.

Well, the Tower Knight is proving to be kicking my butt. I can take out all his crossbowmen but I can't seem to get behind him. He just shield bashes me into the ground. And this is the few times I've actually been able to get to him.

THAT'S THE POINT

" Well, the Tower Knight is proving to be kicking my butt. I can take out all his crossbowmen but I can't seem to get behind him. He just shield bashes me into the ground. And this is the few times I've actually been able to get to him. "

I thought the Tower Knight was a really fun boss. The archers made it a bitch, but dispatching them made the fight a whole lot of fun. He was also easy to  cheese if you stood up top where his ranged attack couldn't hit you and you just use heavy arrows. But the real fun is getting behind him and exploiting the weakspot. 
 
But yeah once the other worlds opened up  I had no idea where I was supposed to go. After nearly getting wiped out by the enemies in 2-1 (I didn't have a pierce weapon. This has been remedied), I went to 3-1 and got really creeped out. But I think the freedom is one of the strengths.

Ahh, I just took down the Tower Knight. It's moments like that that make this game worthwhile. The feeling of accomplishment.

" Ahh, I just took down the Tower Knight. It's moments like that that make this game worthwhile. The feeling of accomplishment. "

Congrats on takin him down. Feels good doesnt it? Man, all this talk about this game now that it's out in NA is makin me wanna play this again.

I took down the Tower Knight with a group in order to get my body back.  Good times. :)

I did it solo. Which was...annoying to say the least. While finally getting him was rewarding as all get out I don't know if it quite outweighs the hours and hours and frustration and repetition before. We'll see how the next area goes now that I've upgraded considerably from the deluge of souls from him.

Yeah, the first time I fought the Flamelurker, I died. Second time, I summoned another player. Whoever I summoned had some kind of weapon that pretty much destroyed that thing. I was going to try to kill it with a bow and regular arrows.

I'm having a fun time with the Armored Spider at the moment. I have barely used ranged weapons up until now but it looks like this is the place to learn. Things are starting to feel a big grindey to me. I've found myself having to go back and clear out previous areas to build up enough souls to upgrade my equipment and level up.

Its not an open world game...I dont really see how anyone gets lost. In the levels themselves there are a lot of secrets, hidden passages, stuff like that. You can definitely venture off the main path, but they generally lead you exactly where you need to be within that level. I dont really understand how people are getting lost in it.

I'm not talking about getting lost within the levels themselves. As you stated they are for the most part pretty straightforward. I'm more talking about being lost in the sense that you are given very little direction as to what world you should be in and such.

I guess I understand what you mean in that sense. Pretty sure the standard progression though is after world 1-2, the next 1 or 2 steps up that same set up steps on that side being teh next, the place with the weird miner dudes. It seems so to me at least, Its up to the player though, once they leave several places open, its pretty much your decision. Obviously,  you would want to be a bit more powerful for some of them..and that will be pretty obvious right off the bat if its the case.

" Things are starting to feel a big grindey to me. I've found myself having to go back and clear out previous areas to build up enough souls to upgrade my equipment and level up. "

Well, I just took down the Armored Spider. Wasn't too hard once you got the swing of things.

****SPOILERS****
 
 
 
Ok, so I'm in world 3-2. Coming across Yurt in a cage I remember that he's bad news and I should off him. Plus he has some sweet armor. So, as soon as I let him out of his cell I backstab him to get the drop...only to have him fall off the pillar we were standing on. Now I can't find his body which means no sweet armor for me. So, a word of warning to you all. If you're going to kill Yurt, and you should since he'll kill NPCs in the Nexus, then either be very careful or off him in the Nexus. Argh.