Horror Games Special Feature – Demon’s Souls
With Halloween just around the corner, we felt it was time to delve into some of the horror classics of gaming!
In the nights leading up to All Hallows Eve, we’re going to do a short feature of some of the more notable horror games that have been released. This isn’t a list of the best or even our favourites.
Just some Horror games which have stood out to us, for one reason or another.
Some might take issue with the idea of Demons’ Souls being classed as a horror game.
But that in itself is what makes this game so interesting: it makes you think about what a horror game actually is.
Released at a time when the difficulty in games was about on par with making a ham sandwich, Demons’ Souls made players realise how badly they wanted a challenge.
No, wait. Scratch that. It made them realise how badly they wanted a fair challenge.
There are countless games with weird difficulty spikes caused by unreliable AI or glitch-y tech. Assassin’s Creed is a good example of this.
But Demons’ Souls, as has been explained by so many fans, is a learning experience. One in which dying is integral to the road to success, and having a demon mash your face in with a hammer is the handrail to achievement.
How do we actually define a horror game? In its simplest form, it’s a game that scares us, right? A game that puts us on edge.
If that’s the case, Metal Gear Solid was a horror game for me, thanks to the Hallway of Corpses left in the wake of Grey Fox, and Otacon’s panicked voice when he realises the stealth camo soldiers are hiding in the lift with Snake (I was impressionable).
The term is loose, and while Demons’ Souls isn’t necessarily marketed as a horror game, there’s a pretty solid argument to be made for it actually being one.
The most interesting thing about Demon’s Souls is that the ‘horror’ comes more from the gameplay, rather than the unsettling imagery or strong atmosphere, as in other games. It has those too, but that’s not where the Fear stems from.
When you have no healing items left, you’re trekking back to regain the massive stash of souls you lost the last time you died (which you can’t regain if you die again) and you suddenly find yourself in a dark corridor with a few skeletal guards coming your way… you FEEL the fear! Your heart races at the thought of how many hours you will have lost if you can’t defend yourself. And you can’t even pause your game to steel yourself!
It’s not a traditional horror experience, but I’d argue that Demons’ Souls (and by extension, Dark Souls and Bloodborne)* is a sort of alt-horror. The monsters might not linger with you in the dark of night, but the game will probably wind you up a lot tighter, and give you far more relief, than Resident Evil could ever hope to.
Best Moment
For many, the best moment in Demons’ Souls comes when they defeat their first really tough demon. Which, for me and surely many others, would be the Armor Spider Demon.
Where is the franchise now?
Strictly speaking, Demons’ Souls doesn’t have a sequel. However, Dark Souls is very often considered a spiritual successor (the hint is in the title), while this year’s Bloodborne shares much of its DNA (such as the difficulty level, level designs and the ability to make players swear very loudly)
Dark Souls III is due to be released early in 2016 and, considering the popularity of the brand, doesn’t seem likely to stop there.
Maybe an actual sequel to Demon’s Souls could be on the cards?
‘fraid not. Atlus have said it is very unlikely they will return for a direct sequel.
Written by Stephen Hill
*Anyone who feels that either Dark Souls or Bloodborne would have been a more suitable game to examine in this article, I would argue that
A) Demons’ Souls explored this alt-horror first and is more notable for that and
B) I haven’t completed either of those games yet so couldn’t say how tough/scary they actually are!
……even though it’s pretty much a given that they’re really, really tough/scary.
