Squeezing in right at the end of the decade, Demon's Souls shook up not only the RPG scene, but the entire video game industry. It went against the flow of games towards mollycoddling the player and holding their hand, and proved that there was huge, untapped demand among gamers for challenging, gruelling gameplay. Demon's Souls made the story secondary to gameplay, throwing you into the moribund kingdom of Boletaria - which you could traverse and explore while barely gaining an understanding of why you were there in the first place. The story is more ore less optional, working to the medium's strengths by letting players engage in it as much or as little as they want to. Choose to follow it however, and you get to experience one of the more haunting, idiosyncratic video game plots around. The great strength of Demon's Souls was, of course its combat - a fair but unforgiving system in which panic would get you killed, patience and timing were key, and death has weighty consequences. Each combat encounter survived felt like an achievement, and each boss encounter a full-on adrenaline rush that would leave you exhausted but incredibly satisfied afterwards (feel free to equate this game's effect on you to that of sex - it's that good). Demon's Souls is an RPG in so far as character development and equipment management are key, but crucially it's a game that wasn't afraid to push players to the limit. Its bravery paid off, making Demon's Souls one of the most important games of the last decade. What's the greatest RPG of the 2000s? Let us know in the comments!
Gamer, Researcher of strange things.
I'm a writer-editor hybrid whose writings on video games, technology and movies can be found across the internet. I've even ventured into the realm of current affairs on occasion but, unable to face reality, have retreated into expatiating on things on screens instead.
