Demon's Souls notes #0: Introduction

So much has been written about Demon’s Souls, Dark Souls and its sequel (collectively now known as ‘the Souls series’) that it might seem fruitless to write anything further. Numerous videos, articles and reviews have almost unanimously celebrated the series, revealing and dissecting these games’ various systems, challenges, and stories. There are very few unknowns left to these once fundamentally enigmatic games; very little left to elaborate on and analyse about these games which hasn’t already been written countless times before; even fewer things to praise about a series of games which, it would seem (with the possible exception of Dark Souls 2: a far more divisive game for players), has already found its place in the pantheon of great videogames. 

And yet, well, I simply want to write something about the series – something which doesn’t just express my enjoyment of these games, which for most part have provided some of the most enjoyable, exhilarating, and thoughtful moments I’ve spent playing videogames. Nor do I want to write some grand piece explaining the complex themes which arise throughout the series. There are of course still things to say about this, but I feel like it requires a lot of old ground to be covered (ground which is now so compacted and unmalleable it feels like a chore to dig up – and, significantly, a chore I refuse to undertake in my time off).

So here’s what I’m going to do. It’s a personal thing perhaps; and if it’s of interest to anyone, it’s probably those who have already spent too much time reading about this one series of videogames. In particular I want to write something about having spent a lot of time with these games. There’s something really interesting about how a player’s experience of a game changes over time; especially when it’s over a long period of time. Therefore, I’m going to focus on aspects of the games which I have come to after playing them for a while.  

I’m structuring these written pieces around a notes form to emphasise the fact that I will not try purposefully to connect these observations. You may call it lazy, you may call it scraping the barrel, and you may even mention that it requires little in the way of intelligent composition – well, you may be right there, but I feel it conveys the situation we find ourselves in when talking about these games: we’re scouting new areas of interest. Plumbing the depths, so to speak.

And lastly, whether this continues to cover all three current games in the series I’m not sure (I do not have a current generation console nor do I currently have plans to buy one – first I need to get a new laptop, a new tent, new shirts for work, new trousers, new brake callipers for my bike...; and as such I also haven’t played Bloodbourne) – I’ll see what comes out of it. But in the mean time we will start with Demon’s Souls. Lastly, but importantly, I want these “notes” to still highlight interesting and what I believe to be significant, things so I might only do a couple per game – but in the end the number will be dictated by the content. So, well, let us once again slip through the fissure and see what we find.