The hack and slash genre has never really appealed to me, usually combined with some RPG levelling up I barely give it a glance but I saw Demon Souls on the shelf and couldn't help but a take a look.

At first glance it looks like your run of the mill hack and slash action adventure game but that is where the similarity ends.

As expected, the game's intro tutorial shows you the controls and general ropes; how to walk, run, roll, attack and use magic. Kill a few enemies and you feel quite good. 10 minutes later (still in the tutorial I might add) and you face a boss monster who will (unless you can master the game within this 10 minute period) kill you in one hit.

This is the biggest draw of the game, the difficulty. Most average gamers will hate the punishing difficulty, but for me, this challenge posed the biggest draw for me to carry on.

Demon Souls uses a soul system, souls obtained from eliminated creatures as the contraband for increasing your stats. This is simple enough and sounds very menial, in fact there is a degree of level grinding to bulk you character. The twist is that if you die, you drop all your souls. That's right, all of them.

There is no bank system, so if you farm 20,000 souls and die, you drop them. They can be retrieved by returning to the sop you died and picking them up, but die again and you can wave goodbye to your hard work. This harsh penalisation for death and the enemies ability to kill you in 2 or 3 hits means you really play a clever game, blocking, parrying and using magic as the situation requires. No charging into 3 enemies with swords swinging, that just doesn't work. This makes the entire game intensely rewarding, even if you just kill a few mid-range monsters. The sense of satisfaction is great knowing how easy it is to die, but also knowing how good you made that look!

If you die, you are returned to a central area where you can get items or return to the fight. Once in the game you can't lose as such, you just keep retrying until you complete an area and kill the boss. Even past this, you can go back and farm souls to help buff your character.

The controls are simple and rewarding. The satisfaction of a parried attack followed by your swift and deadly counter will raise a smile every time. The magic is easy to use and the two hander wielding mixes things up.
The story is not overwhelming but keeps the game rolling, the gameplay really does make up for this.

The levelling up is simple and works. You can see the advantages of upping your magic stats or increasing your strength.

The levels are well designed and atmospheric, though a little linear at times, but this has to be expected for this genre.

Overall, the game is fantastic, and for the more determined gamer, offers a real challenge or both patience and ability, don't miss it. For the more casual gamer, still a great buy but be prepared for a little rage quitting!