drawing pixels

So, Demon's Souls. Demon's Souls. Demon's Souls. Coming out of nowhere to grace gamers' best of year lists despite being released in the US only a couple of months ago and still with no sign of a European release.

You are dumped in the fallen Kingdom of Boletaria, a once powerful city driven to ruin by a power-mad King. Tasked with the retrieval of the Kingdom from the rule of some almighty demons, you set out into hell. It is made clear you are only the next in a long-line of would-be saviours. Previous combatants lay all around the Nexus, dead or dying.

The sense of desperation is palpable.

The atmosphere is relentless, cloying. The first castle feels how you would imagine a medieval castle to feel. It's weighty and imposing. Exactly as it would be. It is a curious feeling in a videogame; realising the environments are not built around you. That the castle is designed to keep you out, to disorient you. It is a functional building. The hallways are labyrinthine, barely the width of a human; they are built for defense, not attack. This makes advancing an effort. You have to think about combat, lure enemies into the relative open to create whatever advantage you can, however small. Becoming surrounded is incredibly dangerous. You will die often. But that is okay. The game expects it, is designed around it, even. One of the central mechanics of the game is the difference between being a 'body' and being a 'soul'. Once you die in a level you return as a 'soul'. As a soul you have slightly less health but your attack power is increased. The currency of the game is souls, received after every kill. Souls can be traded for new weapons and equipment or used to level-up personal attributes. As such, they are important to progress. The counter is right there on the screen. The number growing and growing as you advance deeper.

Therein lies the dread.

Each time you die you leave a bloodstain in the level, marking the spot where you were slain. And with it, every soul you have collected so far. To retrieve the souls, you must return to the same spot and touch your bloodstain. Dying again before reaching the spot means the souls are gone for good. The game becomes about hedging your bets, gambling upon how far you can make it into a stage before losing your nerve and returning to cash in your collected souls, knowing that the next time you will be stronger, better prepared, a little braver even.

Shadows dancing in torchlight, hay scattered about the floor. Hidden alleys simply obscured by the angle of a wall. It is an incredible analogue to the real-world. You can almost touch it, smell it, feel it.