Dark Souls II VGA Announcement Trailer: Prepare to Die (Even More)…

Posted on December 10, 2012 by geelw

Here’s that lovely VGA trailer for Dark Souls II – I love that like with the Demon’s Souls and Dark Souls openings, you really don’t find out anything about the story at all, but you DO get an eyeful of some of the horrific creatures that will kill you a few too many times during your adventures. It’s funny that some gamers still haven’t realized that FromSoftware didn’t just pop out of nowhere with Demon’s Souls and then Dark Souls. In fact, the Japanese developer has been making some of the most interesting games on consoles since 1994 starting with the deep, gloomy (and often frightening) King’s Field series. Their mech-focused Armored Core franchise allowed players to create and share some amazing custom mechs for years after PC mech games died off and other titles in the Shadow Tower, Echo Night and Tenchu series. A ton of other games ranging from the family-friendly puzzler The Adventures of Cookie and Cream to the intensely frightening (yet languidly paced) Kuon plus assorted licensed games done for the Japanese market and you’ve got a developer with a pretty solid pedigree.

Hmmm… I say These guys and gals need a retrospective or a documentary made or something in print just so people can see bits of everything they’ve done and respect their work even more. DSII is another day one buy for me and it should be for you as well.

Demon’s Souls Reaches Greatest Hit Status

Posted on September 15, 2010 by geelw

Yeah, yeah, Halo Reach is out (my review goes up this weekend), but in slightly cooler news, Atlus has announced that Demon's Souls is the latest member of Sony's PlayStation 3 Greatest Hits lineup. From Software's challenging dark fantasy RPG (and winner of numerous accolades) is headed to retail in a new packaging, which means first and second run copies will disappear from some retailers that make room for new stock. As a longtime Atlus supporter since 1992, yup, they're getting even more of my money…

Demon’s Souls is HERE (And So Is The Wiki!)

Posted on October 6, 2009 by geelw

Yeah, some of you have it, all of you will die multiple times playing it and more than a few of you will want to jump up and down on your PS3 until it’s a flat black file folder with sparks coming out of it.

Before you reach that point (it’s an expensive file folder, folks), head on over to the new Demon’s Souls Wiki and get some assistance for those problem areas (which will be pretty much the entire game for those trying to play this like it’s Diablo 2 or some other simple chase ‘n chop game with a basic multiplayer and PvP mode… which it isn’t at all)

As the Wiki is *NEW*, a LOT of stuff needs filling in, so if you’re getting really great at surviving what’s being thrown at you in the game and can string a sentence together, SUBMIT to the Wiki! Just remember to use that spellchecker, folks. Poor grammar is a worse death than the False King Allant can ever give you…

P.S. The servers are officially UP – enjoy the game!!!

WARNING: Playing Demon’s Souls TOO Early Will Blows UP Teh Internets! WARNING!!!

Posted on October 2, 2009 by geelw

Oh Noes!!!! Actually, dear readers (and this IS the truth this time), Atlus is letting you know that the Demon’s Souls US servers won’t be active until the game’s 10/6/09 release date.

Now, SOME of you LUCKY pre-order-ers out there may receive your standard or collector’s edition before this date and should you try to jump online, you’ll simply get, according to the press release Atlus sent out this evening,

“…an immediate PSN error and have to start playing offline.”

Ulp (that big-ass font IS scary, huh?). Cue Demon’s Soul’s doomy-sounding atonal main theme played loudly enough to creep the cat right under the sofa. Poor Kitty…

In other words, be good and listen to the soundtrack (which is an awesome aural experience), read the hint book if you must and ogle the lovely art book as you sit in front of your lonely PS3. Of course, you can always just play the offline game for a bit until that clock strikes “Server’s UP!”

Anyway, be patient and really, really, really enjoy the game, as it’s spec-tac-u-lar, period.

Review: Demon’s Souls

Posted on September 13, 2009 by geelw

Platform: PlayStation 3

Developer: From Software

Publisher: Atlus

# of Players 1 (Online: 1 – 3)

Rating: M (Mature)

Official Site

Score: A+

Console (and to some extent, PC) role-playing fans have been subject to some pretty darn disappointing games this generation thanks to a few too many developers and publishers playing it safe by merely rehashing familiar anime-style adventures, cooking up oddball battle systems that just don’t gel completely or copying top-rated western-style games with a few new ideas here and there. Sure, graphics have improved tenfold this cycle and there have been more than a few memorable games released during this period. However, other than stunning visuals and larger game worlds, not too many of these titles have done all that much to raise any new bars for the genre. Continue reading →

Demon’s Souls Arrives, Goes Ahead And Makes My Day…

Posted on September 10, 2009 by geelw

THANK YOU ATLUS! Early impressions: Well, I lasted a whole five or so hours before my avatar finally died, falling (well, rolling) off a ledge trying to get the heck away from something BIG and quite nasty chasing my character. This game is brilliant, beautiful and BRUTAL, all at the same time with a side of fries. Scary as hell in spots, too. As a longtime King’s Field fan, I knew it was going to be great, but From Software has really knocked it out of the park. Hardcore? Oh hellllllllllll yeah. This game will kick your butt all over the living room and into the kitchen, whereupon it shall cook and eat your corpse.

Twice.

Back with a full review in a bit… Did I mention it’s also scarier than a big box of dead, flaming monkeys?

Dealing Death Due to Double D’s of Doom and Destruction!

Posted on September 5, 2009 by geelw

In English: a reviews update: Darkest of Days showed up yesterday (it’s really good so far) and Demon’s Souls is on the way as well (I’ve pored over the manual and a few other pieces of cool stuff from Atlus and I know I’ll be VERY busy for a while with this one). Got a few DS, Wii and PS2 entries to add next week and in the coming weeks as well…

I’ll be back later with a few impressions… that is all!

Gallery: New Demon’s Souls Screenshots

Posted on August 29, 2009 by geelw

Can you feel it? That deathly chill that raises gooseflesh on the back of your neck? It’s alllllmost here and it’s coming for YOU. Yup, Demon’s Souls, From Software’s upcoming PlayStation 3 exclusive Action/RPG is headed your way from Atlus.

Eight tantalizing new screenshots are calling out to you from below the jump like a siren warbling on the rocks… enjoy. You did remember to preorder the game, right?

Continue reading →

Gallery: Demon’s Souls

Posted on July 24, 2009 by geelw

Hands-down, one of my favorite game developers ever is From Software. I’ve been a huge fan of their games for close to 15 years thanks to many unforgettable hours playing their King’s Field series. While the US only saw four of the seven total games released to date, the combination of Western RPG aesthetics, challenging gameplay and interestingly doomed characters (the series has a rather NPC high mortality rate) made for memorable times indeed.

Between the mighty Armored Core franchise, Chromehounds, the two stellar Xbox Otogi games and one-shot brilliance of Kuon, there’s a lot to love about From’s games. That love also extends to From oddities such as Evergrace/Forever Kingdom, The Adventures of Cookie and Cream, Lost Kingdoms, Enchanted Arms, coolimports such asSpriggan: Lunar Verse, Frame Gride and Metal Wolf Chaos. Not to mention the underrated Echo Night games, Eternal Ring, Shadow Tower and Shadow Tower Abyss (one of those great import-only titles that would have been an excellent addition to the US PlayStation 2 library). Of course, not every developer can have a perfect track record. Between you and me, well… we’ll kind of forget about a couple of those later Tenchu games. OK? Continue reading →