I stayed clear of this game since it was released in the NA, because I am
far from an RPG fan. I was always sort of interested in it because of the raping difficulty and intrigued that people seemed to love it.
Then the 2010 summer gaming drought hit after RDR was released. I 100%'d that by late June and was itching for something new; I finally cracked and picked up DS in July.
Holy. effing. Shit.
Made my character (Wanderer). Died about 30 times on 1-1 before I defeated the first Blue Knight. :lol
It took me verrrrrry long to figure out the leveling up stats thing(what each stat did), the weapon creation/upgrading system and tendencies system. I am only about level 65 and have completed all but 1-4 and everything after 5-1.
The Wiki has been a godsend and helped me like you wouldn't believe.
http://demonssouls.wikidot.com/
In all, this game rocks my socks and I can't wait to finish it so I can start a NG+ with my heavier weapons (when hopefully leveling up my needed stats is cheaper than 34k souls :lol)