EToaster

Well, based on evidence from both Demon's and Dark Souls, I feel safe in concluding that all spiders in the world (assuming they're the same) are 15 feet long and breathe fire. Allowing that, I'll let them have as many legs as they want.

Compared to SMB, it generally seems a lot easier to just complete a level, but that doesn't really get you anything. The real goal is to score an S/S rank on the level, cleaning up every bit of dirt and maintaining a perfect combo throughout (never be hit, never die, never stop cleaning for more than a couple seconds). Doing that will get you a key to unlock a more difficult level. Even beyond that, getting an S/S is really only a qualifier for the proper section of the leaderboards for each level. Watching how fast some of those top replays are is a good way to realize just how much skill and precision can go into this game's control scheme.

@nintendoeats said:

That worked really well. Now can we talk about the fact that this game looks like a blatant ripoff of super Meat Boy?

Because Super Meat Boy is the first and only precision platformer ever made. This game is actually quite fantastic.

Still curious about the game. I've liked poorly reviewed games with interesting concepts before. I'll probably try the demo when it comes out on PSN. (Is the demo out on PSN already?)

@slipperee69: You're not really supposed to find every single thing on your first playthrough, though. I missed an extra boss my first time through, and just thought it was really cool that I didn't even realize it was there when I found it in NG+.

Wielding 2 of the same weapon isn't very practical. Dual wielding can actually be a fun alternative to a shield, though not really as useful, but you need to use a slow main-hand weapon, and compensate for it with a fast offhand weapon to cover the weakness of it. Things like whips, rapiers, fist weapons, and knives can be good offhands to complement things like ultra greatswords and large clubs.

If you like the exploration and atmospheric elements of Demon's/Dark Souls, I recommend checking out From's older first person action rpg series, King's Field. King's Field and King's Field 2 on the PS1, as well as King's Field: The Ancient City on the PS2 are really great games to explore, but they are rather slow paced. The lack of any loading times after starting the game is quite impressive in the PS1 games, though.

@McShank: You should do some challenge runs then. Right now I'm going through on my NG++ character as Biorr from Demon's Souls--Crossbow in the left hand, Greatsword in the right, full Steel Armor (looks the most like Brushwood). It can make things a lot more challenging when you play with different strategies or debilitating restrictions. There's so much variety in equipment and abilities in this game that it's a shame to never use so much of it.

I had a Fire Claymore +10, the Greatshield of Artorias, and some upgraded Black Iron Armor. I just blocked all his stuff and then countered with the 1-handed strong attack of the Claymore which is a high damage stabbing attack with decent speed. It took 4 or 5 attempts, and I could have used Iron Skin or something to make the fight really easy, but I really didn't feel like cheesing the final boss like that.

Black Iron +5 is equivalent or better than Smough's armor for everything but Poise as well as being lighter, but you do need 40 pieces of twinkling titanite if you want to max it out.