3. The Presentation
Demon's Souls is a dark game. It's dirty, it's miserable, it's stagnant, and it's foul... but it's awfully good looking. From the castle to the tower to the tunnel to the ruins to the swamp, Demon's Souls looks amazing. The characters are thick and chunky (not to mention realistically weighted), all of whom are imbued with hundreds of animations. These all change depending on what weapon you're using, whether you're swinging it in a single mitt or have been brave enough to holster your shield and whip it around your head with both hands, whether you're running or walking or jumping or falling... the list goes on and on. Combat is especially good to look at. The enemies in Demon's Souls range from your regular zombie grunts to some of the most elaborate host of unclean nightmares that you've ever witnessed - and that's not even counting the obscene scale of the bosses that frequently make an appearance to ruin your day. When fighting the enemies, every swipe at your shield reverberates through your avatar's arm, every swing of his sword takes time and, should you land it, hits home with a satisfying thunk of sawed meat or ripped armour or broken bone. The music in Demon's Souls is sparse and haunting and swelling and triumphant and lost and hopeless. It is everything the game is and does what all good scores should do - accentuates what's happening on screen without ever imposing or feeling repetitious. Sometimes it even fades to nothing, and when it does, and all is quiet as you look at the fallen enemy that has eventually done you the courtesy of dying, I challenge you not to smile. Finally, a quick nod to the real-time menu system. It's intuitive and it's fast, which is just as well, because with no pause button and a seemingly unending horde of bad guys who just want to open you up, it has to be. There's nothing quite like fleeing into the darkness from a Tower Guard who's trying to nab you with a Vader Death Grip as you try and navigate through your pack, sure that there's a wrap of health-giving Moon-Grass deep inside it that might just save your life.