I bought a PlayStation 3 several weeks ago. The reason for this is almost completely unknown to me. From the perspective of a hardcore gamer, games have become increasingly accessible and easier. While this is not a bad thing, the challenging yet rewarding gameplay has gone south. The emphasis of gaming has changed. Games have become increasingly more beautiful. I can still recall the Easter that I received Final Fantasy VIII. I loved the way it looked. Nothing looked like it at the time. Thankfully, the gameplay and story (especially the story) perfectly complemented it. But I digress. From where I stand, it has been a long winter. And Atlus is the spring wind to save us all with the PS3’s Demon’s Souls.

The story behind Demon’s Souls is rather simple: The king of Boletaria discovered a source of power known as “souls.” Digging deep into the earth, this odd resource brought the kingdom great prosperity. Here’s the problem: The people become greedy. They dug deeper and deeper, unearthing more and more souls until they awoke an ancient and potent demon known as “The Old One.” This sealed demon released a colorless fog that cloaked the kingdom and the surrounding territories. Everyone who enters it is never seen again. Who will save the people? Who will save the land from utter destruction?

This is where your avatar steps in. There are eight different class builds from which to choose. Each build is a variation of melee and ranged attacks. Knights, barbarians, clerics and wanderers are all experts in melee. Magicians, royals, thieves and hunters are experts in ranged combat. Oh, and did I mention the overwhelming facial character creation aspect? No? Any aspect of the face is yours for the taking. You can create your hero to look as handsome, beautiful, ugly, feminine or masculine as you like. Unlike other games, you’ll have to work rather hard to create a truly “outlandish” person as Demon’s Souls will balance out other aspects of the face. It’s a bit easier to do so with the eyes. Other than that, good luck creating an ugly living character.

Actually, scratch that. Your avatar will be dead. Not just dead, but a wandering spirit who will destroy all malevolent beings in its way. The only way to regain physical form is to destroy high-ranking demons. This is no easy feat. First you have to traverse through the dark and unforgiving environments. You will die as you work your way there. Every little encounter could, potentially, be your last. And then you have to regain any souls you have collected. If you die on the way back, you’ve lost those souls and have to regain what you have currently collected. This is not one of those games in which you mash the same button every second. Doing so will cause your avatar to die. Unlike other games, if your sword/dagger/spear/hammer runs into the wall, you will not be able to attack. This is also a benefit as the same is true for your opponent. Fires can create explosions caused by certain barrels and are damaging nonetheless. Fall too far, and it can kill your avatar. If your armor is too heavy, your avatar will fail to roll properly, making dodging difficult. And sure, you can take that heavy shield and sword, but your avatar may not be able to properly handle it. This leaves you more open than any other average attack.

Thus, you have to be more aware of your character’s equipment than in any other game. Knowing how to properly use your equipment is half the battle. The other half has to do with understanding your opponents and environments. Your opponents will be in the same spot each and every time, waiting for you to arrive. The same ambush that mortally wounded your character the first will still be there when you return, waiting to see if you correct your mistake. If you can make it to the end, there are fearsome demons that will try to take your soul for their own. There is a heavily armored knight 20 times the size of your character, guarded by corrupted archers on the side. There is a giant spider that spits fireballs, and even more fearsome is a demon made completely of fire. There has been more than one time that I have screamed out “Sweet mother McCarther! I’m going to die!” (Actually, I was a bit ... more ... coarse.)

But don’t think that you cannot “correct” some of the problems you have with each build. Every skill and weapon is open to every character. You just need the proper stats. What you do is take the souls of the demons you have destroyed and take them to the Black Maiden. For a fee, she’ll improve your stats. The fee increases as you become more powerful. Need to improve attack and carry heavier equipment? Improve your strength. You can increase your faith to use miracles for healing purposes. Or pump intelligence to increase your magic point reserves AND be able to cast offensive spells. Dexterity helps negate falls and increase strength. Magic increases spell potency. Endurance allows your avatar to carry heavier equipment while rolling well — along with increases various resistances. Vitality increases health and inventory (did I mention that if you can only carry so much weight?), and luck increases the rate of item drops and plague resistance. Plus, you can take those souls with the proper stones and power up your weapons and shields. Or you can take them and trade them for spells. The same is true for the demon generals: Their souls can improve weapons or be traded in for spells you would not normally get anywhere else.

Demon’s Souls is absolutely amazing to look at. Scenic hills can be seen in the distance when you are high up. Demons move absolutely perfectly and emphasize different things. Some are corrupted humans. Others are pure evil. Some will arouse pity as you slay them, while others will open your eyes in terror. What really impressed me were the environments. Never before have I seen places with such a sense of historicity. Blocks of stone are all over the ground, torches gently light the way and stained glass windows are in a church with ruined pews. By far, the most disturbing area is the Latria Tower, where the people are locked in jails and iron maidens. There is one problem: Sometimes the game will slow down. Usually this occurs when furniture and barrels are broken. I’ve never encountered this problem when that steady framerate counts.

Sound wise, Demon’s Souls is excellent. The music is moody but somehow soothing when you’re in the Nexus (it’s home base and allows you to connect to other areas). Furthermore, whenever your character is in his/her body, the seal part of the Nexus has a creepy magical sound. Swords and rapiers swish around when in use. Hammering can be heard when near a smithy. Monsters have their own death cries. Plus, Demon’s Souls isn’t even afraid to turn off the music and let the area take care of the background. That’s actually a bit more disturbing because groans, footsteps and other sounds can be heard in the distance.

Demon’s Souls also has multiplayer functionality. Actually, it’s more of a “there’s other people there, but don’t worry about interaction” vibe. Whenever you’re connected to the Internet, you’ll see bloodstains, messages and white phantoms wandering around the world. The bloodstains give you a “premonition” of how that character died. So this can give you a clue of what dangers to expect. You can also leave messages behind to help other people. Or drive them nuts. But only by doing the former can you get some help; recommending messages is a quick way (though potentially a time-consuming method) of regaining health. You’re wasting your own time if you mislead people. Finally, the white phantoms are afterimages of other players in their own world. While I know this in the back of my head, I cannot help but feel like “that these people went before me. I truly am alone.” But in a way, you are not. You can invade another person’s world to regain physical form by taking the person’s life OR help them conquer the area’s head demon. There’s no talking involved, though you can gesture by holding down the X button and choosing the proper behavior. If you choose to ignore it, you will miss out a bit. However, Demon’s Souls still perfectly stands on its own armored legs. It’s still complete.

In conclusion, if you own a PS3, you owe it to yourself to pick up Demon’s Souls. Yes, it is as brutal people say it is. Yes, it is incredible to look at. And yet, this is a hardcore gamer’s dream. The more you play, the more it sucks you into its world. The more you get sucked in, the greater it rewards you. This isn’t something to plow through in 20 hours. I’ve played that long and have only conquered five bosses. This will easily last twice as long, if not longer due to all the various ways to play. Atlus has raised the bar so high on what is considered to be an “excellent” action/adventure/RPG that everything else is, on some level, going to be compared to it. Pick it up and clean up the ink on your calendar. You’ll need the free time. And now, the Old One’s soul is mine! MWAHAHAHAHA!