I have tried, so so hard, to love this one. I love every other FromSoft game. I love being challenged -- I think it's extremely rewarding. I love the utter, unabashed Japanese-ness of this game -- I truly do. It just, so unfortunately, ****. It ****. And that makes me sad. It is a game that robs you of options on how to play. There is also zero payoff to killing bosses -- there's more of a "good riddance" feeling, rather than a "good battle" feeling after killing a boss that you've been bashing your head against the wall trying to eliminate for days. I hate the control scheme as well. I hate how repetitive it is, and I hate that it actively tries to punish you for dying. The Souls formula (and yes, I am going to relate it to the other ones, because they introduce the same dying mechanic, so I am going to criticize how they erred on it in this one) is perverted greatly by actively punishing you by dying more and more. It was a bad mechanic in DS2, and it was a bad mechanic in Demon's Souls. I can say, for certain, that I am totally sad that I do not like this game, but I can also say, for certain, that I do not like this game.
Playing it in 2024, it is very stupid, very hard to navigate, and unbelievably boring, even in a dark room with headphones. It's a reminder of how easily impressed we were even just a few short years ago. If you're coming to it now, skip it. It has not aged well.
