4:06 I just tore up a dude with a crossbow and did some sort of finishing move on another guy. I've got a cut on my leg and it's glowing. I have a feeling that's going to be a problem for me.
4:07 - This guy has three glowing eyes and he scares me. He just killed me in one hit. I hope that was scripted and not because I suck. Now I'm in a bad place and some lady is chanting something over my dead body.
4:09 I'm dead and in the Nexus. There's an old blacksmith that sounds like Patrick Stewart here. That's comforting. I didn't buy anything from him and he told me I wasn't going to last long. Stop being mean to me, old man!
4:12 I touch the bloodstains on the ground. Ghosts appear and then walk away. I read the glowing messages, but they're not particularly helpful. There's one on the floor that says "left", but there's nothing to my left. That makes me sad.
4:!3 Woah, hit and run outside my house. Someone backed into a car and took off. I chased them down, told them they needed to let the owner know. They agreed, but when I turned to walk home, they drove away. I called the police, gave them a description, and then somehow ended up talking to the female officer about video games. "Too bad you can't find a story angle out of this," she said.
5:00 Well, that was exciting. Sometimes real life is more exciting than video games. Hopefully that's not the case with my life and Demon's Souls.
5:03 I walked down the stairs and was inundated by messages scrawled on the floor. There's stuff about weapons breaking, memorizing spells, and all sorts of possibly-important stuff. I'll never remember all of this. I'm officially intimidated.
5:05 I just learned how to leave a message. I went back and left one on the staircase that I just ran up. It was a waste of time to climb the whole thing, so I figured I'd let people know.
5:08 Maybe that message I left wasn't so helpful. I don't know where the heck to go. I'm just running around looking for somewhere to go.
5:16 Still running around. Just found a message that says "I'm lost." I hear ya buddy. There's a message nearby that's encouraging me to take a step off the ledge. I'm going to go ahead and file that under "last resort."
5:17 So, if you touch a bloodstain, you can see how that person died. I just touched the one by the "Don't stop!" message by the ledge and sure enough, it's a guy plunging to his death. Sucker!
5:21 I want to lie to you and tell you that I haven't been running around the Nexus for the last 20 minutes, but I'm not going to do that. I don't know what the hell to do here.
5:23 Fine, I'll jump off the ledge and kill myself.
5:24 Well that jump went about how I thought it would. Now I'm still dead. Hmmmm.
5:27 I walked over my bloodstain and got my soul back. Now I can finally go to another world. What the hell was that all about? That was frustrating.
5:28 A dragon just crashed into a castle. Silly dragon. Let's investigate this place, shall we?
5:30 I just jacked two hobo-demons. This game really needs a lock-on button.
5:33 I am very bad at blocking and parrying. I feel like this is going to be a problem in the future.
5:34 Aw crap, I'm dead again. I knew a lack of defensive ability would be a problem in the future. I didn't think that particular future was just 60 seconds away though. At least I don't have to start the level over. Oh wait…
5:35 And I'm dead again. Oh, look at the time. It seems my 90 minutes is up.
Well, that wasn't quite how I thought my first hour would be. I figured I'd die a few times, but I didn't think I'd be so confused. I promised Tom that I'd play through the first level before I gave up on the game, so I can't give up just yet. But it looks like I'll need your help if I'm to enjoy Demon's Souls. Share your advice on how to best appreciate the game -- I'll take all the advice I can get.
Aaron, there is a lock-on button. Click the stick! Click the stick!
whoa, time-stamped and everything! I like the way you nonchalantly slip in and out of talking about real life.
Demon's Souls seems way too intimidating for me.
And a riposte is a return thrust, or a counter, or (in discussion) a retort.
Great Stuff. Very reminiscent of a Bill Simmons' running diary. Keep these coming.
Cue Rob in 3, 2, 1....
A little more to the point, R3 is the lock-on key. Once you're locked to an enemy, you can flick the right stick to switch your lock-on to other baddies in the vicinity. You should have seen a message on the ground during the tutorial about this.
Also, there was no need to eat pavement in order to visit the first archstone. Talking to the Crestfallen Warrior (the blue guy) would have revealed where to go. Despite what others say of Demon's Souls's lack of narrative, it's really important to talk to everyone. They'll give you lots of hints.
Want any tips for the beginning level?
Good to know there's a lock-on button! I thought I talked to the blue guy, but I guess I didn't. My way was creative, at least. The last act of a desperate man.
David: I'm a Simmons fan for sure. I love the running diaries he does.
@Jason - LOL
@Jason and Rob: You had to have planned that!
P.S. I like this format, Aaron. Keep 'em coming.
Brett: No, we didn't -- I just knew Rob would be chiming in at some point, as it is a Demon's Soul post. (Note: Bitmob, Demon's Souls post = Rob Savillo Summoning Spell). He IMed me laughing when he saw it.
You're going about Demon's Souls the wrong way.
It's not about playing and winning and progressing through some linear bullshit gameplay.
The confusion and the sense of learning and satisfaction of finally succeeding on your own merits is what MAKES it so good.
Getting people here to tell you what to do and spoil all the little aspects will ruin the experience.
IMO you've got 2 options;
1. Continue playing the game without listening or reading anything else on it (probably too late)
2. Realize this isn't the game for you and go back to Uncharted or Halo or whatever game you think is fun
The Knight is a really poor choice for a beginner. I know, I did the same. I banged my head to the wall until I conquered level 1-1, but that took me several nights and dozens, dozens of deaths. Go back and re-start with a Royal, it is so much more easier you won't believe the difference.
The game is very much about the hesitation to continue. Sometimes you'll be better off erring on the side of caution. There are enemies in 1-1 which you don't have to take on yet and which will one-shot you, easily, if you insist going toe to toe.
Ahahaha, great story. I thought I was picking bad characters with the Royal class, but it's just the difficulty charm to the game.
This game frustrated me a bit too and since I was just borrowing a PS3 I didn't bother spending a lot of time on it. Dying a lot is one thing, but then even after retrieving your body you have only half health, and if you don't make it back to your body you lose all your souls which makes me angry :) I found a guy early on that killed me in one hit but I got him on the third try only to find I was going the wrong way. I didn't even notice I could go left. Later a dragon fried me and I failed to get back to my body because I got tangled up in a corner and the camera spun on me (yeah, I'm blaming the game and not my skill :). After losing all of the work I did for a couple hours I quit.
You mention your system start up experience and one thing that frustrates me with the PS3 are the updates seem slow. Between system updates, game installs and game updates I've waited as long as 40 minutes to get into a game. I only borrow a PS3 that isn't used a lot though so I always have system updates to do when I take it home.
The Knight class isn't so bad -- I started there, too, for nearly the same reasons. You'll just need to master melee combat a little faster than if you chose the Royal.
Smg is partially right -- a big part of the enjoyment for me was the sense of exploration that Demon's Souls encourages. But you're not in this alone -- no matter how much the game likes to remind you of that. You have white, blue, and black phantoms, as well as messages to help you out. Take advantage of them when you can.
One last bit of advice: Demon's Souls rewards caution and patience -- running in head first is going to get you killed. It's slower paced than most action-role-playing games, but it's that much more interesting as a result.
Aaron: This sounds less significantly less exciting than the Rugrats game.
Joonas: Are you the same Joonas from Froz mods and the Alan Wake forums?
My advice? Approach the game like a survival-horror adventure, rather than an RPG. If you go into the game thinking you will eventually be able to level up to the point of tanking enemies, you'll never get over "that hump." However, if you hunker down, play extremely cautiously and defensively -- as though your actual life was at stake -- you will find the ebb and flow of Demon's Souls.
Beyond all else, never let your guard down. Never...