Going back to it again - why does anybody like this game?
 
It feels so unforgiving and so repetitive. I can't even get anywhere without dying. Even blocking attacks seems to take down half your health bar. 
 
What's the point? Where's the fun? I felt the same way about Persona/Disgaea/a million other "cult classic" japanese games. They just seem to have no point and are just made hard to be hard?
 
I wish I could understand and not felt like I wasted $60, but right now this game ranks about as high as an impossible to play licensed NES game like Total Recall or some bullshit, because it makes just about as much sense and is just about as fun to play.

its about patience. Please tell me you got past 1-1

" Going back to it again - why does anybody like this game?  It feels so unforgiving and so repetitive. I can't even get anywhere without dying. Even blocking attacks seems to take down half your health bar.   What's the point? Where's the fun? I felt the same way about Persona/Disgaea/a million other "cult classic" japanese games. They just seem to have no point and are just made hard to be hard?  I wish I could understand and not felt like I wasted $60, but right now this game ranks about as high as an impossible to play licensed NES game like Total Recall or some bullshit, because it makes just about as much sense and is just about as fun to play. "

Watch some youtube breakthroughs, then you'll get it. 

Some people just like to get punished, which is extremely odd to me as well.

And the game hates you.... Literally 

I'm not trying to be antagonistic or troll, I'm trying to understand. I never could understand with persona, or any of those other games, but I tried..
 
I've gotten as far as that huge knight in 1-2 and that thing killed me and i stopped playing it for a few months because I had lost an hour or more of progress. It makes no sense.
 
I'm pretty sure I'm not just bad at games because I've done plenty of hardcore action games, even played Ninja Gaiden on Master Ninja. But that was fun. I don't think Demon's Souls is fun.

I'll trade you a game for it.

It goes back to the old feeling of believing you accomplished something when you beat a game. Nowadays, games are handed to you on a silver platter and are so easily beaten the topic of, "Oh, you beat that game? Cool. How did you get past..." are hardly ever heard of. I think going back to that style of community is very impressive in today's age and the things we can do with that (leaving notes for each other) is done pretty well.

welcome to the club, all drinks are free

" welcome to the club, all drinks are free "

See but i don't get any "fulfillment" from accomplishing something in a game.
 
I play games for fun, not to get a sense of having accomplished something. I couldn't even fool myself into thinking that if I wanted to. Games are ultimately a leisure activity. 
 
I mean, what do you really come away with after having been punished by Demon's Souls for 2 hours, losing all your progress, and then wanting to throw the game out the window because you realized what you did in the last 2 hours wasn't all that fun the 1st time and it's going to be even worse the 2nd?

What made you buy the game in the first place, I think everyone has mentioned how crazy difficult this game can be.

" See but i don't get any "fulfillment" from accomplishing something in a game.  I play games for fun, not to get a sense of having accomplished something. I couldn't even fool myself into thinking that if I wanted to. Games are ultimately a leisure activity.   I mean, what do you really come away with after having been punished by Demon's Souls for 2 hours, losing all your progress, and then wanting to throw the game out the window because you realized what you did in the last 2 hours wasn't all that fun the 1st time and it's going to be even worse the 2nd? "

" I'll trade you a game for it. "

" See but i don't get any "fulfillment" from accomplishing something in a game.  I play games for fun, not to get a sense of having accomplished something. I couldn't even fool myself into thinking that if I wanted to. Games are ultimately a leisure activity.   I mean, what do you really come away with after having been punished by Demon's Souls for 2 hours, losing all your progress, and then wanting to throw the game out the window because you realized what you did in the last 2 hours wasn't all that fun the 1st time and it's going to be even worse the 2nd? "

" @Whisperkill said:

" welcome to the club, all drinks are free "

I poisoned them....have fun "

The game isn't as hard as people make it out to be.

You just have to take things slow and methodically, and this is a very abnormal pace for people used to "on the edge of their seat" players.

sorry I don't think i'm just going to send a game out to someone. I'll probably have it on goozex or amazon.
 
From what I can tell there isn't really any story going on here either, the world is generic at best..
 
Feels like a progress quest. I think I'd have as much fun watching the game on youtube. Probably more fun.

Hardly the hardest game I've ever played.
 
I mean I actually beat it without much frustration or deaths.  
 
The most frustrating thing about the game I found so far, my character's hair clips over most helmets!
 
I mean where is the justice in that?!

" sorry I don't think i'm just going to send a game out to someone. I'll probably have it on goozex or amazon.  From what I can tell there isn't really any story going on here either, the world is generic at best..  Feels like a progress quest. I think I'd have as much fun watching the game on youtube. Probably more fun. "

" @SpudBug: Then do you not play any competitive multiplayer games either? Because basically, those are comprised off the same concept of achieving a victory competitively. "

" Watch some youtube breakthroughs, then you'll get it.  "

" @ninjakiller said:

" Watch some youtube breakthroughs, then you'll get it.  "

honestly though, should someone have to watch youtube to have a slight chance at a game? "

It reminds me of the late 80's-early 90's computer RPG's like might and magic. They were also very hard and unforgiving. 
 
Even when I have to redo a dungeon many times over it doesnt feel nearly as frustrating as other games because I feel like it was my fault as opposed to some cheap death. Be it bad timing or not being cautious enough. 
 
My game of the year along with SF4 and PlantsVSZombies.

This game would have gone from a one star to a 4 star if it had just included a "for babies" mode that had checkpoints and didn't kill you in two hits.

" @SpudBug said:

" Going back to it again - why does anybody like this game?  It feels so unforgiving and so repetitive. I can't even get anywhere without dying. Even blocking attacks seems to take down half your health bar.   What's the point? Where's the fun? I felt the same way about Persona/Disgaea/a million other "cult classic" japanese games. They just seem to have no point and are just made hard to be hard?  I wish I could understand and not felt like I wasted $60, but right now this game ranks about as high as an impossible to play licensed NES game like Total Recall or some bullshit, because it makes just about as much sense and is just about as fun to play. "

Well then, to be honest, you suck at games. "

Well, this game is all about learning the rules and to follow them closely. The combat offers a huge variety of strategy, and every single enemy has one or more weaknesses, which you need to learn and adapt to. If you don`t you will die over and over. And you will hate the game. And you will think it`s unfair.

The blue eyed Knights for example, seem impossible the first time you encounter them, right? But when you realize that if you put away your shield, and equip a huge sword with both hands, you`ll break their guard and kill them in 2 or 3 hits. Another example is the 1-2 boss that you mentioned. He`s going to kill you in 1 hit no matter what. So leave the armor and go commando, which makes you run faster.

It`s the incredible sense of accomplishment from mastering all these different strategies that makes this game so rewarding. It definitely takes some time to “get it”, but when you finally do you`ll hopefully thank yourself for investing those hours that it took to get there, cause you`ll find an incredibly deep game with lots of things going on.

Don't like it?...I'll take it!

If you're losing, you need to change your strategy. For instance, you said that you're still losing health even when you block attacks... I'll assume you're lightly armored and using a crummy shield, because the good ones have 100% damagecut stat so you don't take damage when you block. I would advise first of all being more evasive, master using the roll move because you get invincibility frames when you use it. Make sure you're getting fast rolls, if they are slow you're wearing too much armor for your endurance stat to handle.
 
You should also get a nice shield, you can get a kickass Purple Flame Shield in 1-1 (along with a ring that lets you equip more armor and still move fast). If you watch this video it shows where it is about a minute in. If you missed the Cling Ring in 1-1 you need it bad, the game is almost impossible without it. This site has tons of info that should help. Good luck.

It's really not that weird to hate this game. As a matter of fact, you're probably more normal if you hate it.

It's really just about patience.   
 
The skill can be acquired there is no cheap difficulty in DS.

The combat and weapons system is extremely balanced. You just have to pay attention to the different types of attacks and situations plus always keep and eye on the END bar.
 
You will find that you hardly die anymore after the first few levels.
 
Then, you will die a LOT again when you start over in NG+. And be reminded of the impatient gaming tourist you gravitate to when DS isn't kicking your bee-hind.

" See but i don't get any "fulfillment" from accomplishing something in a game.  I play games for fun, not to get a sense of having accomplished something. I couldn't even fool myself into thinking that if I wanted to. Games are ultimately a leisure activity.   I mean, what do you really come away with after having been punished by Demon's Souls for 2 hours, losing all your progress, and then wanting to throw the game out the window because you realized what you did in the last 2 hours wasn't all that fun the 1st time and it's going to be even worse the 2nd? "

" It's really not that weird to hate this game. As a matter of fact, you're probably more normal if you hate it. "

Well, I'll hang onto it. Maybe it'll click with me someday. Better than giving it to gamestop for $20 or shipping it to someone for $40.

" This game would have gone from a one star to a 4 star if it had just included a "for babies" mode that had checkpoints and didn't kill you in two hits. "

I love this game.  Playing it right now, actually.

"@SpudBug After beating the game my stance hasn't changed much. I just lent it to a friend with the warning that if you don't really love it after about 3 bosses, just let it go.   But I think it is wise just to hold on to it and see if you mood changes and you decide to tackle it. Aside from that if you were interested in selling it then wait because the value of it will go up soon enough. Atlus generally makes sure of that. "

The brutal difficulty of this game is what I love about it. If you die it's your own fault, not the game's, everything in that game can be killed wearing no armor if you play it right.

"@evreche said:

"@SpudBug After beating the game my stance hasn't changed much. I just lent it to a friend with the warning that if you don't really love it after about 3 bosses, just let it go.   But I think it is wise just to hold on to it and see if you mood changes and you decide to tackle it. Aside from that if you were interested in selling it then wait because the value of it will go up soon enough. Atlus generally makes sure of that. "

lol after 3 bosses???? I think that the tutorial stage is the make or break decision for most players. "

" @SpudBug After beating the game my stance hasn't changed much. I just lent it to a friend with the warning that if you don't really love it after about 3 bosses, just let it go.   But I think it is wise just to hold on to it and see if you mood changes and you decide to tackle it. Aside from that if you were interested in selling it then wait because the value of it will go up soon enough. Atlus generally makes sure of that. "

" @evreche said:

" @SpudBug After beating the game my stance hasn't changed much. I just lent it to a friend with the warning that if you don't really love it after about 3 bosses, just let it go.   But I think it is wise just to hold on to it and see if you mood changes and you decide to tackle it. Aside from that if you were interested in selling it then wait because the value of it will go up soon enough. Atlus generally makes sure of that. "

lol right..   Atlus makes it seem like their games are rare, but they make more than enough for everyone who wants them.  I was in a gamestop and a local store today that both had 5-10 copies of this game used on the shelf. It's not as rare as you think. "

I think it's pretty good. I don't own it but have played quite a bit at my friends house. It probably just takes getting used to, and maybe if you play it more you may learn to love it.

I just plain didn't like it. Had nothing to do with the difficulty (well, very little), but the game just wasn't interesting to me whatsoever.