And there is Y
put into the grave, and platinum achieved.
Short thoughts:
- Overall, an excellent game dragged down for me by design and balance issues.
- I still don't like the health system and feel something is just out of whack. The game flow stops and starts in an awkward way due to grinding supplies.
- I gave up on co-op entirely. First Souls-style game I've just played solo. I think the online system is good on paper, and very muddled in execution.
- From's lack of technical polish really hurts this game with stuttering framerate, slowdown in co-op, and a camera that cannot function with half the boss designs - they degenerate into a screen full of tentacles, physics hair, or giant limbs. Even when not locked on.
- Chalice dungeon potential is hurt by the poor co-op system.
- It feels like a shallow game compared to From's other games.
- I really wish attire sets had stat scaling properties to interact with different builds in a more interesting way. Or could be customized with gems.
- Chalice dungeons, again, good on paper, problematic in execution. Mostly they feel superfluous due to a lack of gear and meaningful things to loot besides rune and weapons variants.
- NG+ isn't as interesting with less build variety and nothing new to do such as create boss weapons that require more than one playthrough to craft.
Sounds like I'm very down on the game. But I wouldn't platinum a game I dislike. It does enjoy the Miyazaki touch in art direction, boss design (except for the camera), and map layout. For melee combat, it plays fantastically, and the trick weapon system is one of my favorite things in a long time. (This in fact, is what kept me playing in large part.) It's just that, in spite of its development cycle, it feels rushed to me. A solid foundation and to its credit, it doesn't fall apart in the back half like Dark Souls. But it suffers a bit from a death of a thousand cuts around the edges.
I've platted DS1 and 2. With Bloodborne in the bag, I think it's time for me to go back and give Demon's Souls the respect it deserves for the platinum.