DEMON'S SOULS (Zero Punctuation)

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This week, Zero Punctuation reviews Demon's Souls.
Fast-talking Ben "Yahtzee" Croshaw reviews a new game each week in this animated series that combines informed critique with cutting humor. Watch the next episode of Zero Punctuation a week early, only on The Escapist.
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[@heyman10987654321]

truly the greatest enemies to lovers arc ever told

[@KingKevin108]

Oh god the change in voice

[@deevee5327]

WAIT- No way it's the same person! ... Or is it..?

[@playmoshi124]

Anna Graem IT IS! DUN DUNN DUNNNNNNN!

[@playmoshi124]

***** Increased skill and confidence too.

[@MrCouchbleh]

yeah i don't get it. is this the same person? there's no way

[@Massivecarcrash]

He just talks louder here, in most other reviews he talks softer. He sounds the same on his Orange Box review as his newest ones and that one predates this one with two years.

[@DoratTheKiller]

As more time passes, this review just gets more funny

[@TheJeremyKentBGross]

Dude I was just going to write the same thing! Ten years later and having played it, this is way funnier than it was originally.

[@Kalebfenoir]

It's funny to come back and watch this, and then go watch the Dark Souls/Bloodborne series and them the Demons' Souls remake one to see how his views changed over time.

[@The0rangeCow]

looks like we'll finally get our re-review

[@andrea_7194]

when?

[@The0rangeCow]

@@andrea_7194 when the demons souls remake co ed out for ps5, I'd imagine

[@andrea_7194]

@@The0rangeCow I was thinking the same. I thought you had more precise info. I thank you nonetheless. I hope that the remake will make its way to Steam too at some point.

[@ArmoredarmadilloX]

Still sad it isn't coming to PC

[@r_r_rye2441]

@@ArmoredarmadilloX FightinCowboy did a playthrough of it via an emulator. So I suppose you could go that route.

[@vincent23432]

Its quite impressive how fully formed ZP was from the start. He had basically figured it out from the start and has barely had to tweak anything in 15 years-

[@9Skiddlerip9]

"...tells you you can have your health bar back once you've proved you don't need it." Poetry.

[@subatomicseal7789]

It kind of bugs me how Yahtzee calls Demon's Souls a "Hack N` Slash", when really it's more of a "Roll N` Stab"

[@Leviathon672015]

+SubatomicSeal I haven't done a dodge role in this game since I humiliated the Flamelurker. Meat Cleaver makes it really difficult and ultimately pointless since I can just tip-toe my way while God-smacking bitches who front.

[@subatomicseal7789]

Leviathon672015 I should probably mention that I haven't even played the game so I have no idea what you're on about

[@Leviathon672015]

+SubatomicSeal After beating one of the bosses, I got a really powerful, really heavy sword that I swing around like a giant salmon, killing most enemies in 1-3 hits. Because it's so heavy, I'm really slow, meaning that dodge rolling has become extremely impractical and I rarely do it anymore.

[@sonicfan2651]

+Leviathon672015 If you pump the shit out of your Endurance, you can get enough of a carry weight to not only hold all the items, but also to easily roll around at the speed of sound so long as you don't wear any of the heavier armors, as a matter of fact, I usually just run around naked. If you actually get hit repeatedly or put yourself into a situation where you can't avoid damage, you're fucked no matter what armor you wear

[@TheAwkwardGuy]

I kinda hate that about DS. I pretty much took my armor off in most of the games/wear a really light set of armor. You probably get to wear better armor later in the game, but by that time, you've finished the game.

[@EasilyBoredGamer]

Ironic that he made that wall comment cause that's exactly what he said he loves to do in Dark Souls

[@SuperArppis]

+The Easily Bored Gamer Anyone who is able to change their opinion is ok in my books.

[@EasilyBoredGamer]

not saying it's bad just a funny thing I noticed

[@SuperArppis]

The Easily Bored Gamer Oh, didn't mean to imply that either. Just saying that I think it's great. :)

[@jessemiles2426]

+The Easily Bored Gamer its almost as if the Dark Souls video came *after* this one and he was referencing/calling back to his earlier material....

[@EasilyBoredGamer]

I'm fairly certain he wasn't doing a call back considering the 5-6 year gap of these videos

[@vocalist92]

So who thinks Yahtzee should do a retrospect review on Demon's souls now that he's a fan of Dark souls?

[@jamesjaudon8026]

memememememememememememememememememememememememememememememememememememememememe

[@jamesjaudon8026]

+james jaudon and me

[@nomercy8989]

+Vocalist92 This wasnt Yahtzee reviewing in the first place...

[@Destaice]

+Vocalist92 It wont change much since Demon's Souls isn't very good. It's like the red headed step child.

[@Nast33]

+Destaice For me it's Bloodborne / DS1, Demon's Souls, DS2. And I'd put Demon's Souls very close to or at the level of DS1 and BB, if the weapon upgrade system wasn't such shit. 35627894 types of upgrade materials, some of which are so obtuse and unexplained as to how the modifiers work I had to check online. Alright, maybe not that bad but it was still much worse than the other games.

[@ramp8536]

Man, hearing him complain about stuff like the dodging and how the inventory doesn't pause, and hearing the brick wall comment as part of his complaints is incredibly hilarious in retrospect. Can't wait for the remake review!

[@kalil6]

for some reason the idea of someone dying in a souls games while trying to pause it, is so damm funny

[@BP-dn9nv]

Well, back in the day the fact you couldn't pause wasn't a well known fact.

[@JayronWhitehaus]

I love that by the time Yatzee reviews Bloodborne he's like, "I don't play From software games to stop banging my head on a wall for a while, I want to bang it again and again"

[@JXZX1]

In retrospect, this review is hilarious.

[@cybertramon0012]

It’s just so great to hear him complain that people trying to break down walls with their faces are completely insane in this video, and then watching every other Soulsborne review where he really enjoys breaking down walls with his face.

[@alexsc7187]

Yahtzee these days sounds very different. Why is Richard Ayoade doing KZbin videos

[@Mitchx42]

Yea I though the same thing, in this video it's sounds like a poor imitator. Why is that

[@alexsc7187]

***** not all his old videos sound like this

[@AlexanderHarris]

+Le Green Bean Actually, the video is from late 2009. In 2011 The Escapist started uploading all of Yahtzee's videos from their website to their youtube channel.

[@BattleKid619]

Alex Sc Different recording software, and possibly a different Mic. Many YT users I watch sound way different when they change their setup.

[@christophersmith8848]

Crispy Bacon There used to be a guy named Jim Sterling, but he left some months ago

[@Spartansoldier217]

Good thing he didn't make it to the Tower of Latria, he probably would have killed himself out of frustration at that point.

[@jdrok5026]

NukethewhalesMO tower of latria is the best area in souls

[@rdu239]

NukethewhalesMO Oh the dreaded 3-1! I hate those mind flyers!

[@successfulfailure7563]

Demons souls is the best of the series, in my opinion. Which game introduced difficulty as a pull for the players not for a marketing purpose? Demons souls. Which game dedicated a whole system of mechanics that can shake up a playthrough, making a fresh playthrough almost everytime? Demon's Souls Which game introduces an innovative online mechanic? Demon's Souls. I can go on and on about how much I love this and dark souls one. But I fucking hat ds2 and 3

[@bigbruno2232]

Yeah but this game doesn't have a mourning wolf so 8/10 compared to DS1 11/10.

[@fruitsalad5802]

@@successfulfailure7563 I'm not sure if I see how being the progenitor of those things (if you don't count their old series King's Field or whatever it's called) necessarily makes it the best

[@ldmt1995]

If he had only gut gud

[@kauzo2502]

+Roozbeh Kasila It's the same game as DaS tho. So guess what. [whispers] git gud casul

[@joqqeman]

+Kauzo Im almost done with ds1 (deal with it) and will start ds2 after. the game is average and has terrible flaws, frustration is not the main one but certainly i understand ppl who dont see the point in "git gud" because the reward is mediocre..

[@kauzo2502]

joqqeman Is one of the flaws "it's too hard" ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

[@joqqeman]

+Kauzo it's not too hard as such but for busy people there isn't enough payoff to justify time spent. it incorporates too many rpg nonsense things (arbitrary spikes in difficulty like the archers, need to grind).. also why is there single boss 3 times! it is bizarre how ppl think as highly of it as many do..

[@kauzo2502]

You never have to grind to beat the game(Unless you're running away from every fight which I'm assuming is why you're "grinding") The only "arbitrary difficulty" is learning boss attack patterns. So annoying and frustrating, I know. Also they're called the Four Kings. Were you expecting One King? The game is hard....for the first part of the game. Then you learn that if you don't rush in like a dumbass you'll get through the game just fine. It's not hard, you're just refusing to learn.

[@SkylordGuthix]

Try this: on the video, click the cog icon, select the "Speed" dropdown and choose 0.5. Then listen to Yahtzee's voice.

[@PandamonkBleu]

Drunk, slurred Yahtzee.

[@OrangeAveng3r]

Try it at 1.5 now and your head will explode

[@SkylordGuthix]

I can only just understand Yahtzee at that speed :D

[@EmperorZephyr]

Chris Schmidt Try it at 2. My cat turned into a veloceraptor and rode away on a unicycle.

[@l4dlover92]

best part is his "bread goes hard" bit he's wasted XD lmfao

[@lugialover09]

My appreciation for the game is that the difficulty isn't really based around issues with the game itself. The controls are pretty solid, and you don't generally fall victim to the the game's inadequacies. Any time you get hit or you die, it's all mostly due to the fact that you yourself messed up. You rolled when you shouldn't have, you didn't drop your shield to get back more stamina, you didn't save that healing item, etc. You really only ever have yourself to blame for your failures.

[@argentum746]

the thing is, that the game isnt really hard or challenging. Thats what people so often moan about that other games are missing, it has a steep learning curve. Someone who really spends time with the game knows the game better and so gets better in the game. When you play the first level the first time then you will need maybe even two hours to get to the first slimey boss. When you are a veteran you only need 15 minutes to go through the whole level, unlock all shortcuts, loot all the stuff and defeat the boss. When you know the Souls games, getting through them isnt really hard but getting a veteran in these games is a hard process. But its also a rewarding process isnt it? Because all the Souls Games deliver everything one might need from an RPG. It has literally infinite character progression, dangerous enemies with its theoretically infinite difficulty, alot of different weapons which all then can branch out in different ways, great worlds to explore filled with cool lore and background story that makes the worlds a mystery. Additionally it inovated on a classical multiplayer idea with providing different ways to do multiplayer either cooperative or pvp, or indirectly with the ghosts and messages. In the end you have a nice package with everything you could demand from an Action RPG and the vision every player likes, endless progression. Apparently Demons Soul knew that before all these Rogue-likes were a trend and did a similar concept because everyone likes the idea to get stronger and stronger without a hard limit.

[@lugialover09]

Philipp Ludwig And "shocker": it was an Atlus game. xD

[@argentum746]

actually not, Atlus just earned the right to release it at first in the US and then Europe. Before with its first release in the asian area (where i ordered it from) Atlus had nothing to do with the game or its creation. I ordered it from China if i remember correctly, the manual and cover was in chinese or japan but the actual game is in english so it doesnt matter. It took them about a year before they were releasing it in the US and after another half year in europe. So Atlus had nothing to do at all with the franchise except releasing it in our areas. So maybe im a collector owning a rare version of the game, a version that wasnt released by Atlus xD

[@user-eh3el2mk8c]

Nah, it's about 50% player error, 50% game inadequacies. The gameplay in this game is sadly inferior to almost every other game of this style. Clunky, slowly responsive controls, unrealistically limited movement and freedom, and artificial difficulty in virtually every area. When it's good, it's very good. But it's a tragically busted game underneath a mostly good idea.

[@user-eh3el2mk8c]

Philipp Ludwig The game isn't really that rewarding, nor does it come halfway close to offering everything one could want from an action RPG... Unless this was the only action RPG one has ever played and therefore has nothing to compare it to. It's an alright game, but it fails in so many basic areas that the enthusiasm for it is hard not to see as a joke.

[@Razzrazz90]

2009: Yahtzee hates Demon's Souls 2015: Yahtzee grows to be a fan of the Souls series as a whole Truly, as an art form in video gaming, as the most recent (and disappointing) big name games, the CODs and the Watch dogs and the like, are a convenience store 6-pack of beer, Dark Souls is a fine wine. It sweetens and can only truly be appreciated with age.

[@dkill34]

To think Yahtzee later went on to love Dark Souls and Dark Souls 2 when they have the same intention as Demon's Souls and made by the same company.

[@michaelkemel9711]

dkill34 Well he had time to properly prepare for Dark Souls and acquaint himself with its brutal combat.

[@SaintGat99]

dkill34 The difference between Dark Souls and Demon's Souls is that Dark Souls has a story that's worth pushing through for, AND is actually kind of forgiving. Being knocked down is one thing, but being and being stomped on repeatedly to avoid getting back up again is stupid.

[@BFedie518]

dkill34 He calls Dark Souls knocking over a brick wall with your head, while Demon's Souls is trying to knock over a cement wall with your head.

[@LeonGun8]

Brandon Fedie Technically he also said that DarkSoul'sjust won him over after getting his head smashed long enough.And I'msure he mentioned that perhaps he quit too early in Demon's Soulshinting that perhaps he might have enjoyed it too eventually.

[@NotAGoodUsername360]

dkill34 It's hard to appreciate Demon's Souls without Dark Souls as a precedent. That half health penalty was a HUGE turnoff, imagine if in Dark Souls EVERY time you died you got Curse status?! Nobody would set foot past the Undead Parish if they tried that shit.

[@garretthaslam3869]

Well this was very fun to revisit in hindsight

[@carloslonmoer6285]

How the turntables....

[@towerknight5012]

You know people that after DS & DSII he went back and played this right? and he like it?

[@omarct]

where did he say that?

[@michaelgoldstein2933]

omarct In his Dark Souls video

[@MagpieDynamics]

He said that he might come back and give it a second look, but he didn't say actually whether or not he played it again.

[@LeonGun8]

epicsauceness100 I believe he says he did went backand played it, at least he implied he finished it during his Bloodbourne review.

[@Er404ChannelNotFound]

He never said that, in his latest DS2 Let's Drown Out video (his let's play video series on his channel Yahtzee19) he answer that question when someone made it on reddit, wherein he says he couln't bother to take out his PS3 after having stored it in the depths of the earth to play Demon's Souls

[@shrewmastercomics]

Wonder what he will have to say about the ps5 remaster now that he's a souls fan. Would be an interesting comparison.

[@farzin4947]

This review is more Entertaining after watching the re-review one...

[@ledjon]

He needs to re-review now that he is a hard core souls fan.

[@asdf123diablo2]

+Jon Coulter Yes, bias really does wonders for the quality of a review /sarcasm

[@JustAndre92]

*+asdf123diablo2* Recognizing good games as being good automatically equals "biased?" Mkay.

[@ledjon]

I would argue this isn't even a review. He basically gave up quickly. Not that "given up" is an invalid option, but I do think it disqualifies your review as a real 'review'

[@thanhlam8763]

its painfully hard to start and some how later game like ds is easier because people cant play the damn game without just jump in and play with the sword like a dildo but have to invest some darn time and its sure hard.

[@ledjon]

+zZ challenger my main complaint is that the servers are turned off for this game now. That means you don't get any of the messages or coop from other people. That's a big part of the souls games. A real shame.

[@LambdaObjection]

"A dodge move that can't dodge shit" Getting a bit DarkSydePhil there Yahtzee

[@mooganify]

Nothing I could do

[@wisemage0]

The only feasible use for backstep is to use a running attack without actually having to run. It can't dodge shit.

[@Kravockian]

You either have to be a stonewall of will power or a masochist to beat a souls game, but it does help when you find a play style that works for you and the game.

[@aperturesciencegames]

my playstyle is overpower yourself until none of the enemies are a threat, then get to next area and get my ass kicked again

[@Krusolhah]

So i guess I'm a masochist...

[@ir0nsquire]

Guess I'm a stonewall of will power...

[@larppa666]

aperturesciencegames Slow 100% working way of good rpg:s this game reminds me of gothic 2 grind grind grind and success then repeat on next area :D.

[@ArooMeister]

You don't have to grind to progress you can actually make irt through the whole game on a very low level player. charecter level has little to do with you progression, if you can play well and at least upgrade your weapons youll never have to grind crap.

[@Emohawk707]

“Being Dead isn’t the handicap it used to be”- Dave Lister

[@5hane9ro]

It's funny how this review aged

[@MrPhilsterable]

Demon's Souls was very hard when I first played it. Now, as a Souls veteran, having beaten every game many times, it really is a cakewalk. It was kind of disappointing going back to find nothing as hard as I remembered.

[@lucasv5715]

MrPhilsterable Red eyes knight send his regards...

[@jdrok5026]

The game is harder then the rest of the souls games when it really gets going try playing to new game plus idk 6 with everything in pure black tendency and watch as your controller goes through a wall remember demons souls starts out hard as balls but it's very slow to build its true hard mode as if your online they normally are set to be easier areas play off line with black tendency

[@cash_burner]

Who's here waiting for the remake review?

[@TeaNoSugar87]

3:18 😬 2009 sure was a long time ago 😂

[@caelmcdonough6578]

Funny how he says that this game is like trying to brake down a concert wall with your head and it's his favorite thing to do now

[@sun332s7]

Casue dark souls improved greatly upon demons’s souls

[@pentexsucks43]

@@sun332s7 Demons Souls >DS1

[@estebxx2]

i really loved this game i found it more unforgiving than dark souls due to the fact that if you die you start all the way back from the begining of the level, unlike dark souls where you can use bonfires (basically checkpoints) that are fairly close to the boss fight, its also really not that hard, if you are a smart gamer that is able to NOT rush things out, and learn from the enviroment and your own mistakes you will have a great time playing this game. aslo those boss fights are so rewarding once you beat them.

[@augustofretes]

Demon's Souls is my favorite game for PS3, it's hard only if you rush as if it were call of duty.

[@The_Custos]

Yes, if you are not doing a Leeroy Jenkins, you will be okay (mostly). I liked that demon had more enemies attacking you at once, and some levels were longer.

[@flowerrs8741]

I had a familiar experience with Demon's Souls. Bought it, got super salty, returned it before the 7-day period ended. Then Dark Souls came out, and I got hooked to the entire series.

[@minespatch]

Hollow Knight basically trained me for hard times and got me into Blasphemous. So Dark Souls is a ton of fun, wanted to play Demons souls first but oh well.

[@randomfox12245]

funny coming back and watching this again now that he's drank the Souls kool-aid and likes the games now.

[@KristianKumpula]

wht r u casul?

[@cd6469]

kristian your comment makes you ten out of ten "a sly dog"

[@JoshuaRAWRR]

NEW GAME+ BICTHES

[@WithinWinds]

Wot rings u got on bithc?

[@HardMGaming]

Knight Solaire. Havels ring! Ring of Favor and protection! STAMINA HEALTH ENDURANCE

[@RpiesSPIES]

HardModeGaming Screw that, DWGR + ring of steel! Plus no shield and short ranged weapons!!!

[@Arexion5293]

It's kinda amusing that a lot of his Dark Souls 1 review's points apply here. The game is good for the pretty much same reasons, even if it lacks the Metroidvania world design. And yet the levels are more explorable than in Dark Souls 1.

[@CustardBustard]

I loved the difficulty, it just shows how pathetically easy modern games are, there's no consequence for failure, you don't even need to be good at the games to beat them. Save anywhere, grind away until the challenge disappears, trigger a cutscene with button prompts, add a shitload of DLC and voila! My heart fucking pounded as a kid as I was neck and neck with a boss, back when my reflexes were as fast as a crickets back legs. Now I have to go through a tonne of forums and reviews just to find a game that offers any challenge at all. I play almost everything on hard mode just to feel like I'm actually getting my moneys worth. Thank god for demons souls.

[@Thenextworldwar]

Amazingly enough, it's not necessarily a good design setup to have a game that you have to be "hardcore" in order to beat.

[@Arexion5293]

Thenextworldwar And you don't have to be hardcore in order to beat it. People just tend to end up learning the game the hard way, while an easy mode does exist in the game, in the form of sorceries. But then doing that questions why you're playing the game in the first place, when it is designed to be about the gameplay. If you're just going to cheese through the meat of the game, then why not just ditch the meat and have something else that is pure cheese?

[@RFC3514]

The difficulty in Souls games comes mostly from the fact that your controls are unresponsive and your character gets stuck in animation clips for 5 seconds. I guess making players fight against the controls is easier than making them fight actually _intelligent_ AI. Besides, it's not even hard, because the enemies _also_ get stuck in long animation clips. Just play defensively for a while, mentally time their animations, and then you can attack them when they're stuck in a long one. There are plenty of blind "Let's Play" videos here on KZbin where complete noobs get through most boss fights on the first attempt just by following that simple "strategy". The games do have a pretty cool atmosphere (especially the first Dark Souls), and most of the bosses look nice, but the gameplay is really overrated, and the difficulty comes from the wrong place (sluggish controls, rather than smart enemies).

[@Arexion5293]

RFC3514 The controls aren't unresponsive. They're surprisingly precise and tight. The challenge comes from understanding how your animations function and how to make use of them. You cannot cancel animations. Input buffering combined with how the stamina functions, punishes button mashing and doing unneccessary moves. Of course enemies have long windup animations as well, because the game has to compensate for the player not being able to flip all over the place and attack lightning fast. The gameplay is very solid, since the controls are very accurate and well defined, along with the animations showing clearly where the start and the end of the animation is. Unless we're talking about Dark Souls 2, in which case there's slight input lag, no proper attack redirection, recoil functions in a nonsensical manner, the edges of animation cycles aren't clear enough, the overall attack recoil is ridiculous, and the 12 directional movement isn't helping either. Plus most of the bosses in 2 don't seem to have proper designs for them. Difficulty on the other hand is a different topic. I'd say the game isn't really hard, it just offers a different kind of challenge: It allows for less mistakes, punishes harshly and requires good average performance from the player, while games usually ask for good performance only before and after something that asks for much less to balance it out. You need to perform well constantly, instead of doing so every once in a while.

[@RFC3514]

Arexion5293 When pressing a button locks your character into a 5-second pre-recorded animation sequence that completely ignores subsequent input, the controls _are_ unresponsive. That's kind of the definition of "unresponsive" - they don't respond. DS feels like an EA sports game from 2000, when they had just started using motion capture, but hadn't learned to do animation blending or IK yet. I guess it appeals to people who like to "learn" fights (and rely on memory more than reflexes and spatial awareness), but personally I prefer more dynamic games, where animations are modified by controls in real time (ex., swing the sword and push the stick to the right, and your character modifies the swing to curve slightly right, instead of always doing _exactly_ the same movement, like a robot), and where enemies react to your moves, instead of getting stuck into the same long animation cycles again and again. Combat in DS _looks_ great (as did those EA sports games), but _feels_ almost turn-based. It only _seems_ difficult to people used to responsive fighting games; once you accept that your character is a robot and that you should just wait for the enemy to "take his turn" and then pick a counter, almost every fight becomes trivial. DS2 made combat slightly faster, which makes it appear more responsive, but it's really just an illusion. It's still the same rigid and primitive animation system. Plus it lacks the atmosphere of the first two games, and the bosses are kind of repetitive. If someone managed to recapture the atmosphere of the first two games with better AI and a dynamic and responsive combat system (think TERA, GW2, Batman, etc.), that's a game I'd definitely play. Sadly, From Software seems to be moving in the opposite direction.

[@Suryp]

I find it rather funny that he likes dark souls now... just saying.

[@listenherejack]

He did state in his DS review that he had a week to try to mentally break the wall down. It took me about a dozen concerted efforts to get to the point where I was enjoying myself. It's not something you can just sit down and play. As Yahtzee said, "...just because it gets good 20 hours in doesn't mean it IS good.". Something like XCOM has a difficulty curve (albeit an exponentially increasing one) but it does allow the first few mission for first time players to get a grip on the game. (I haven't played DS2 so I can't say anything about that)

[@EmperorZephyr]

trolltacular1 It may be because I grew up with games that slam you back to the beginning after every death, but I never found Demon Souls particularly hard for about 90% of it. The only areas that really slammed me into a wall were the entirety of the Latria section and the swamp from the Valley of Defilement. It was still hard, but I never felt like it cheated me out of a win.

[@listenherejack]

I never felt like Dark Souls was cheating me. It's just that I had no idea what was going on, and the game offers very little explanation. I blundered towards the catacombs first (I missed the stairs) and was undone by reanimating skeletons. I had to jump online to figure out how to kill them after 5 minutes of running/killing, and spent about half an hour learning about necromancers and divine weapons. I'm just saying, it probably wouldn't take much to tack on some extra length to the Asylum just to explain the game mechanics and such.

[@jdrok5026]

trolltacular1 but that's not how souls is its a game that tells you here you go figure it out demons souls didn't explain much besides a few bits of story and a lot of lore in its items but never explain how plague works or how world and soul tendency work very much it was also the most brutal of the games literally it'll kill your ass for the fun of it remember halves your hp gets harder after every human death a lot harder because more enemies and stronger enemies but it also improves drop rates more bosses you kill the easier the level becomes dark souls is very easy in the beginning demons souls literally starts off with the intent of no matter what your dying

[@stevenmanning341]

Dark Souls is a little more refined, estus is unlimited, and there are more rest points in the beginning. And you start with a full health bar even if the first boss kills you.

[@Arexion5293]

I have a feeling Yahtzee might return to this game at some point.. or maybe he'll just leave it as that small note in his Dark Souls review.

[@jdrok5026]

He needs to demons souls is the best in so many ways

[@Noidonteatbabiesstopasking]

You were right lol

[@kidneyredux4167]

anyone else here in anticipation of his review of the remake?

[@edge21str]

Yahzee should really try Demon's Souls again sometime. I recently got around to playing it and it's fairly easy if you played through Dark Souls. The Bosses are especially easy compared to the Bosses in the sequel.

[@EIHuevoCosmic]

True, I found the bosses in demon souls much easier, I have beat around half of the bosses by now and I was only able to identify 3 attack patterns from each boss. I beat most of them in my first try, not to mention that magic seems op in this game specially with the spell from the soul of the tower knight, that makes the game 3 times easier.

[@edge21str]

EIHuevoCosmic It won't get any harder, believe me. I didn't try magic at all and it was still too easy. Being able to stagger EVERY boss with 2-4 hits while two handing a curved sword makes boss fights way too easy.

[@buff00n3ry]

Still one of my favorite videos.

[@DrakeFellwing]

Need to see him come back to this one :P

[@ViktorKruger99]

Someone asked him about that on Yahtzee's podscast, but he said that he got rid of his PS3 and since PS4 doesn't have backwards compatibility, he can't.

[@demomanchaos]

Sens Fortress is almost perfectly done, minus the mimic. The first floor trap is right by the gate with the arrows coming from plain sight. Even if you die, you are right by a bonfire. The rocks always hit an enemy before you have a chance to get hit, and a loud noise makes you pause long enough to see the rocks have changed paths.

[@Thehypicriticalgamer]

This is the hardest game I've ever played and by far the most frustrating. I wouldn't even call it fun, it's just fucking punishing and depressing but I feel some need to complete it. Like that would give me some accomplishment in life.

[@PhantomCooper]

Sounds fun to me.

[@Winterminatior]

It isnt actually that hard you just need patience and try not to repeat the same mistakes over and over again :P

[@Thehypicriticalgamer]

Winterminatior I've got slightly better at it. I've completed world 4, and killed the tower knight and that big ass spider. It's annoying but so rewarding once you beat a boss

[@PointThree]

This is the hardest game you've ever played? Was your first console an Xbox 360?

[@Thehypicriticalgamer]

Point Three N64

[@TLB95Switchblade]

Velka and Gwyndolin seemingly hatch a plan of their own (possibly believing Gwyn's to fail). Velka is the Goddess of Sin and both she and Gwyndolin are linked to the Blade of the Darkmoon covenant. Basically (this is where the player and a little more speculation comes into it) it is believed that the crow that saves the player at the end of the tutorial is, in fact Velka or at least linked to Velka. The player, with aid from NPCs soon rings the two bells and awakens Frampt.

[@マリー-v4p]

Wow he sounds so much younger!

[@Kinoksis]

The reckoning is coming! Umbasa

[@soopahcaboose]

Maybe you should try Dark Souls, it's a little bit easier and usually doesn't screw you over and there's no heath penalty for being in hollow form.

[@XxwanagaxX]

Too bad the health penalty is coming back in dark souls 2

[@Gaze73]

***** Aw man, that sucks. It's either 1. Die in 1 hit 2. Waste a precious ring slot or 3. Risk getting invaded halfway through the level repeatedly. Also dying, especially falling down a pit with full hp is that much more frustrating, because the revive stones are pretty limited.

[@XxwanagaxX]

Gaze73 in fact, you will be invaded even if you aren't human

[@Gaze73]

***** Haha, that will be brutal, truly a griefer's paradise.

[@XxwanagaxX]

yeah... the only way to live is to unplug your internet hehe

[@YourManJazzie]

Love that jab at Sussex. I can barely walk 5 steps in a field without being looking like Arnold in Predator.

[@TLB95Switchblade]

In an attempt to combat the Abyss Artorias, one of Gwyn's four knights entered the Abyss through the power of Artorias' Covenant. However he soon became overwhelmed and spent the last of his (sane) life using his shield to protect Sif from the darkness. With the only one who could traverse the Abyss now gone Lord Gwyn gave the order to seal and flood New Londo, sealing away the Darkwraith. Following this Gwyn abandoned Anor Londo, leaving but a clutch of his Silver Knights and his son behind.

[@daa03]

First off great video. Second, why so much frustration in the the comments? Third. I like the game. Beaten it multiple times. But, Its Souls. The game isn't hard, its punishing/frustrating. The games teach you that these aren't your run and blow everything the fuck up/ death has no meaning/ typical everyday eventually overpowered hack n slash. The "casual" gamers tend to get upset and bash it due to being guided and the "difficulty" being brought down over time. Souls is brutal. There is no easy setting. Only pay attention, remember, take your time, or die again and again. This is a concept that doesn't exist in many games these days. Either the person generally doesnt enjoy the game or (assuming you actually got past the first boss and made some sense of a real attempt) their frustration got to them, plain and simple.

[@masterfreeman117]

I still do not understand why they refuse to implement difficulty settings. If they do not want people who play on easy to play online with others, then they could simply disable the online features when playing on easy. I was perfectly able to enjoy both Demon’s and Dark Souls in offline mode and after I abused a glitch to give me a few mores souls. There is in my opinion nothing wrong with giving people options when it comes to difficulty. Everyone should be able to enjoy a game the way they want to.

[@daa03]

The God Emperor I would agree, if it wasn't for the fact Souls isn't hard, just brutal. The need for a difficulty setting is fairly redundant. "Lets just put it on easy", is, in most cases, giving up. You turn off the actual enjoyment of what make Souls, well, Souls. Its the brutal part about it that makes the game. The feeling of overcoming an obstacle once thought impossible. Adding a difficulty setting would just turn it into Skyrim, you'd just walk around bullying everything from the start. Its about pushing through and testing your determination, not, ramp up the difficulty where everything can kill you in one shot, or, I cant hang so baby me (Not trying to insult, just seems the way difficulty works in games now). Not every game is intended to cater to everyone, hence the reason for categories. Not every game has a difficulty setting. I tend to play most games on the harder difficulty levels now anyway, primarily because it brings out more enjoyment to know I actually accomplished something, instead of lowering the A.I. to almost nonfunctional and a shy breeze could cause them to violently combust.

[@FurthestBen]

The God Emperor Basically from software says, if you can't take the game just don't play it as far as i can tell. Asking them to put in a easy mode is like asking a random girl to be your girlfriend, its not going to happen.

[@masterfreeman117]

The Ugly Not everyone enjoys games for the same reasons. If a game frustrates me because I died 25 times at the same boss and then I finally beat him, it does not give me a sense of accomplishment. All I did was waste my time and getting frustrated; after all beating a video game has no value in real life so why should I get a real sense of accomplishment for it? I turn up the difficulty in games to make them more entertaining and not to gain bragging rights. When I played the Souls games, I enjoyed the combat, the art design and the atmosphere. Dying over and other because of some rats or a boss is not my idea of fun. I do not expect to beat a boss the first or even the fifth time but after a while it just gets boring. For me, the games became really fun after I abused a glitch to get more souls and made steady progress most of the time and it was much more fun than when I played the games without the glitch. Just because a game includes a difficulty setting, that does not mean the players have to use it. Players like you, who feel like they accomplished something when they beat a hard video game, would in no way be affected by the added options, since you can simply ignore them. Of course that problem also exists the other way around with games being too easy and you having no way of making them more difficult, without simply, not using most of the tools given to you. The Assassin’s Creed games or the Fable games have that problem for example. For me it is not about accomplishment, but entertainment and having the option to make the game harder for the sake of making it more entertaining should, in my personal opinion always be an option. The same goes for making the game less difficult. I still see no reason not to include a difficulty setting in the souls games. They do not have to be made extremely easy, but just give the players the option to make them less punishing.

[@daa03]

The God Emperor Dying on a boss is supposed to be frustrating, but in Souls you don't die because they are hard (exceptions for a few bosses who are just broken *cough* bedofchaos *cough*), but because you were not paying attention and taking your time. Once again, difficulty in souls is redundant. Difficulty settings tend to only change the number of enemies, the damage output and damage obtained. The enemies have simple patterns, don't take much damage already, and are fairly easy to beat. Turning the difficulty down in Souls, would just make it take longer for you to die, if at all at this point. The bosses would be a joke, and it would turn into a hack and slash- dungeon crawler, and a terrible one at that. Games like AC, Fable, etc, are easy because you're supposed to be "Legendary", but that doesn't make it a bad game. The goal of those games are to run around and do whatever the hell you want, that's the whole point. I actually enjoy AC (Not AC3, meh), for that reason. Changing the difficulty wouldn't change the gameplay so much, because the enemies would just do more damage, and be bigger mobs. You would still be able to assassinate them and counter-kill/insta-kill, so what would be the point? Not too sure why you needed to glitch Souls, but sure, why not, not much more need to be said there. I feel accomplishment when there is something to... well... accomplish. A goal to achieve, something to overcome. Blowing up people in games are fun and satisfactory, but not accomplishing. What does beating a game, like the Souls series if they had an easy mode, where nothing puts up a fight accomplish? Nothing. It would be like watching a lore video or a walkthrough, you got to the ending, because you didn't actually do anything. As for games I feel accomplishment from- Castlevania Series, Megaman, Monster Hunter, Souls Series, Devil May Cry, Streets of Rage/Final Fight, Silent Hill and a few more I cant think of off the top of my head. Some of these games have difficulty settings, not that I have to play them on hard to feel accomplished, but because there is something to accomplish. Beating Dantes's twin Vergil. Beating that ninja boss on Streets of Rage 2, without losing a life. Your first "big" kill in MH. Finishing Silent Hill 2, Megaman (any reason actually) or Castlevania COTM.

[@seanmacinnis7115]

This game breaks you down into nothing and then rebuilds you as a true soldier

[@brokedownsystem]

Getting past that dragon is key...I was so overjoyed to find out I could shoot it out of the sky with my little peashooter bow.

[@Gamerz4evr]

Just one thing about yahtzee's dodging complaint, there is also a roll when you tilt the control stick and press circle, the hop back is possible to be followed up by a quick attack that will hit your enemy while they are recovering from attacking.

[@jonathonhull9930]

You should play this again now you've played the Dark souls' games!! I preferred Demon's Souls to Dark Souls 1 and 2

[@FavianTubeX]

This review is evidence why I can't trust Yahtzee

[@MagpieDynamics]

Not quite. He enjoyed Dark Souls, and said he might give this a second chance, so there's that.

[@Greener221]

epicsauceness100 Exactly. You can't trust Yahtzee.

[@MagpieDynamics]

***** I don't see how what I said proves that.

[@Greener221]

epicsauceness100 The man has stated that he feels no joy in beating Demon Souls here. In his Top 2011 video, he stated that he couldn't care less about Dark Souls because he hadn't played it.

[@MagpieDynamics]

***** But he has played Dark Souls, and he really liked it. Have you not watched his review of it?

[@CornishCreamtea07]

I hope he does Dark Souls II.

[@TLB95Switchblade]

Before all this began Gwyn divided his Lord Soul into shards and gave them to the Four Kings and Seath as rewards for either their role in the war against the dragons or because of their leadership skills. Gwyn, with a clutch of his four knights headed to the Kiln of the First Flame where the Souls were born and used what was left of his life to keep the flame lit, however this left a shell of the Lord he was before: a Lord of Cinder.

[@funboyT12]

Yahtzee, I'm with you. I remember one time on the first castle where I though I was so clever to go the way no one else seemed to be going and found myself leisurely fighting through the normal mobs down a large hallway. But as soon as I left the hallway and peaked into the open air at the end I was immediately met with the sight of a dragon burning my pupils as I fired by pea shooter bow and arrow. And just before I died I noticed a message on the ground that said "Watch out for..."

[@ElDrHouse2010]

Now watch his Dark Souls critique. He just needed to endure the punishment this game gives early on. Late game is so much easier but I agree for the blind new player this games are extremely hard. This games depend a lot on shared knowledge, then they really shine a lot.

[@TyrBarghest]

Check out AptOcelot;s channel. AptOcelot is currently going through Dark Souls and the support for such a game is always welcome.

[@BifronsCandle]

For me, the Souls series accomplishes "Difficulty" well. Not the artificial difficulty where the RNG simply hates you or the archaic direction of "where to go next" of some classic RPGs that can easily be solved with a walkthrough. It rewards your willpower to get up and try a different things.

[@drew081886]

Yahtzee uses the very same "smashing a brick wall with your head" analogy in a positive way when talking about Dark Souls. It's funny how he grew to enjoy the punishment.

[@TLB95Switchblade]

Frampt tells the player that he must retrieve the Lord Vessel and so, after traversing Sen's Fortress, seemingly as one final test, the player arrives in Anor Londo. The player fights their way through to Smough and Ornstein (the latter being another one of Gwyn's fateful knights. So, after defeating Smough and Ornstein you are greeted by Gwynevere. Gwynevere gives you the Lord Vessels and tells you to link the fire as Gwyn did.

[@talonpop]

NOTE: AT THE BEGINING OF HIS DARK SOULS 2 VIDEO HE SAYS HE NEEDS TO GO BACK AND PLAY THIS. Demon's Souls is a great game that still holds up today. he got his ass kicked put the game down and avoided Dark Souls when it came out. now he's beat Dark Souls, Dark Souls 2, and maybe Bloodborne and uploads videos on his KZbin channel of him playing Dark Souls 2.

[@thatdapperfellow]

+Talon Marshall That is almost the opposite of what he said.

[@sonicfan2651]

+Talon Marshall Demon's souls is a very archaic game which doesn't hold a candle mechanically to the later installments in the series. I love the game to death, but it is incredibly flawed in some spots that I can totally understand people not liking it.

[@LoveXKnife]

confirmed for casual

[@Lagacy2]

confirmed for weeaboo.

[@TLB95Switchblade]

It also helps that the internet is at your fingertips if your ever not 100% sure, and the whole having time to think without someone going "NO LISTEN TO ME!" or calling you a "smelly bird face" is a big plus.

[@misanthr0pe]

They really need a rotating roster of zero punctuation videos. I don't have time to watch all of them in a row every time I get a link to one.

[@mafiacat88]

I agree with this. Not sure why I just typed it out. Oh wait. It was to let complete strangers know my current passing feeling. OH FUCK ME THE INTERNET GOT ME HEEEELP.

[@mafiacat88]

Clay Claydy FUCK YOU, YOUR OPINION ANGERS ME BECAUSE IT IS DIFFERENT. ALSO IT SEEMS MY CAPS LOCK IS STUCK. Oh no, it's getting stronger.

[@AaronAnkka]

the souls games are the best and i cant wait for the dark souls 2 collectors edition to come

[@imasiontist653]

4:00 wait that same bridge is on dark souls...

[@thecorniestlemur7969]

2:20 Okay, Yahtzee, where the hell did you get the idea that the ghosts of other players distract enemies?

[@dloomis]

All Dark Souls has ever done is create a community of assholes that accuses everyone that hates it as being bad at video games. I hate to point that out, but it's true.

[@damienj.6584]

Asshole is a bit harsh, elitist would be more in-line with the general attitude. Not that the general claim of people being bad at video games isn't warranted the majority of the time... The majority of the negative comments (complaints) I've read about Demon's/Dark Souls are about the game being too hard or them complaining that [insert popular feature (i.e- true pause) here] isn't included in the game.

[@JoshuaRAWRR]

That's because during the release of the game, many players were playing it with no success, rather than attempting to adapt to the situation at hand, they just insulted the game and claimed it was too difficulty and a lot of the content needed nerfing, when it was simply that they had been spoonfed "skill" by every other game feeding them achievements for actually accomplishing no amazing feat, call of duty for example, kill someone 5 feet away with a head shot and you get spammed for 5 minutes with "awards" that give exp. Dark souls is comparable to the old SNES castlevania games, hard as fuck at first, but once you've played it for a bit, you can breeze through it. So yes, i agree, most people who say dark souls is bad, most likely terrible at video games and just used to having their hand held, never have i seen someone state that they hate the game other than the difficulty.

[@TyrBarghest]

Sophistícated Díglett I first brought Dark Soul some months ago and I was one of those people who said the game was bad due to the lack of information given to you by the game. I think you're wrong for saying that people who can't play Dark Souls aren't true gamers when Dark Souls is just a game that drags you to the cliffs of madness, throws you in, that laughs at you while you fall.

[@damienj.6584]

Tyr Barghest He didn't say anything about whether or not people who can't play DkS are true gamers. He just pointed out that they're most likely pretty bad.

[@ArooMeister]

I dont think the people who hate this are bad at games, i just think they are use to all of the games that cater to their every need. you don't have to be good at games to play this game but you do actually have to try and pay attention to you surroundings which no one does anymore in games.

[@JiggyPepper8D]

might as well rename this video "madcuzbad"

[@PKPJayhawk04]

Your comment might have held a little more water 3 years ago when this review was posted...

[@MakiMaki.]

and yet it is valid^^

[@JiggyPepper8D]

just because its on an old video doesn't mean its not accurate

[@MadMax052]

There wasn't anything else to criticize :p

[@bchwil]

might as well rename souls fans as "cunts"

[@TLB95Switchblade]

The player can either sacrifice themselves and link the fire as done by Gwyn, and obviously that did nothing as the world was still in a state of irreparable chaos and the flames were once again burning out. OR the player can listen to Kaathe and walk away from the cindering fire and usher in an Age of Dark: a world of demons, darkwraiths, undead and possibly dragons. It is also worth mentioning that, if you become the Dark Lord then both Kaathe and Frampt are there to swear allegiance to you.

[@PROTOBLUES90]

Mhmm… he definitely improved and got a WAY better vocabulary

[@shizuwolf]

3:16 still puts me in stitches

[@andrewlesniak8018]

How an opinion does change.

[@bradleyplace1256]

"Being dead isn't the handy cap it used to be" ~ Lister

[@VultureXV]

Zero Punctuation needs to git gud.

[@adamcrow6742]

draconic33 And you need to learn to spell!

[@FoleyX90]

Adam Crow Git Gud is a term used by hardcore Souls players.

[@adamcrow6742]

Thank you for the clarification.

[@n0odles86]

Fukn casul

[@erickchristensen746]

I can't get into a game that requires an insane amount of hours for practice just to be able to "enjoy" the game. At that point I no longer enjoy it after having wasted so much time on it. I have the patience, just not the tolerance. It's a game targeted to a specific crowd of gamers, so they can go about and enjoy the series as they wish. Though i'd love to see those types of gamers stop spouting this "git gud" crap at players who like me can't get into the game, or have too much trouble with the game even though they really do enjoy the game despite their constant failures. I'd say "grow up" but most of these players seem to be the newest generation of arrogant and immature 12 to 16 years olds that started off with ps3 and xbox360 rather than the classics of old.

[@datcrazynerf1770]

Sound like u need 2 got btr

[@Roronoa2zoro]

Erick Christensen If you go to another forum than youtube you probably won't be subject to so many trolls. There are plenty of people in the Souls community who aren't complete fuckwits who'd be happy to run you through a couple checkpoints to make it easier and quicker to get into the swing of things. Things like; get a shield, start as a knight, make sure to watch your stamina bar, mess around with your equipment enough to get the quick dodge roll instead of the useless fat roll. After that getting good is actually a major part of it; learning how to time your dodges and attacks, the range of your weapon and the range of your enemies; these are all things nobody can teach you and you'll really just have to learn those by playing the game and getting a feel for them. Although if you haven't considered it i'd say to pick up Dark Souls before Demon's Souls as it is considerably easier to get into.

[@jasongoldhammer3640]

Erick Christensen hi DSP.

[@JacobByus]

2:17 Actually, there is online multiplayer, you just have to be "Alive" and in an area where the boss is still alive to access it. You also have to be within a certain level range in order for it to work (A level 5 can't interact with a level 80 for example).

[@tuseroni6085]

now the remake is out, this could be a good time for a rereviw

[@georgiosgousetis3507]

Aw demon souls,probably on my top 5 of the past generation,sucked hours upon hours of my life,by either searching the wiki,trying to collect all the badass weapons requiring more than two playthroughs(most of them were useless anyway)and try to communicate with my psn friends through bloody waves and pointing.Umbasa

[@DiomedesStrosMkai]

'Things'? You can kill basic hollows in one hit at level one. A lot of enemies, further, can be killed in one hit if you get a back stab or parry.

[@Ryanmiller70]

I like how 4:17 to 4:29 perfectly describes why he loves the series now since he still uses this same analogy when talking about the Souls series.

[@5ick5imon]

You complained about games like GTA 4 holding your hand too much, but it sounds like you actually wanted this game to hold your hand as well. Just because the game tells you wich button to use for dodging an attack, doesn't mean that everytime an enemy attacks you just press the button and your save. That would be called hand holding. You have to figure out every enemys attack pattern before you can defeat them. In your case when the enemy has a long range thrusting attack you jump to the left or right to dodge, if you take a step back he is still going to get you. Getting better at this game takes patience and effort two attributes that most gamers nowadays are lacking, and it seems like you do as well. Oh and by the way, after you beat the first boss don't proceed in that area, once you beat him all the other areas of the game open up, and can be accessed via Nexus. And the first levels of those are much easier than the second level of the first area (The one with the dragon).

[@spinnenente]

a high difficulty and high accessibility are not mutually exclusive

[@5ick5imon]

spinnenente True. But while this game does have a steeper learning curve then most games, it is in no way inaccessible. It is simply not for people who play video games solely for entertainment purposes. It does depress me a little bit to think about how so many gamers are never going to experience the satisfaction that comes from making progress in this game, just because they are so used to games playing themselfes for them, like this reviewer seems to be. I am not saying that games need to be difficult to be fun, but they do need to be in order to offer a satisfying experience in my opinion.

[@WinterF3l]

5ick5imon You should watch his review of Dark Souls..

[@ForgedinPrint]

From what I've seen (and I used the dark souls lore to get some ideas for subtle story-telling) this is a punishing game. It doesn't teach you the mechanics until you die to learn them. A game that is difficult is ninja gaiden. It teaches you the mechanics and sets it up to where you actually know what you're doing before the boss fights where you apply them are at. (I really didn't play the 3rd one of that series but I seriously played the crap out of the 2nd one, and played the harder difficulties as well.) There's nothing wrong with dark souls, and being that punishing does add to the hopelessness of the world, but do keep in mind that it doesn't mean a game is "hard" if you have to die to learn where the enemies are at and use that information to live. That's just sheer punishment. These games take a minecraft approach of tutorials, in that there really isn't one, and that works to warn the player that it isn't going to be an easy game. The bosses in this game are hard, don't get me wrong on that, but it's more unfair than hard (again, for a game trying to set up a grim reality it works perfectly.)

[@MrPhange]

All you need to know about his manliness is what his voice sounds like before beating demons Souls and after

[@relateuk2003]

So young, so innocent, so pure

[@edwardoliveira1748]

HE WAS SO YOUNG!!!

[@gankhef5564]

Ha, I suppose it is a good sign how jarring it is in 2021 to hear the word f***** just dropped in casual conversation. I remember doing the same without a second thought in ancient times when this video was made. At least we've made progress on something in the last decade.

[@3782luke]

that's not progress it's censorship you Fig

[@DevilHunterJames]

Demon's Souls and Dark Souls are amazing period. Unless you're DSP which in that case you should never play games again -_O

[@LordTurnip_]

5 years later and we're still shitting on dsp

[@evanknutson3044]

From what i gather, Demon's/Dark souls is about paying attention to your surroundings and looking around for ways to beat a section. you cannot just run in hoping to by Dovahkiin, you have to be slow and look for another way around before going through a giant door.

[@postblitz]

Shows even yahtzee isn't immune to the blindness of journalists petulance, imposing his own standards on the game throughout this review.

[@ninjacellprime]

Oooooof, hard F word. 10 years ago was wild, lol