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Was Demon's Souls the GOAT back when it released in 2009?

brenobnfm

Member
With the release of the remake, Demon's Souls got back to the spotlight and i was just thinking about this, was Demon's Souls the best game of all time in 2009?

Well, first of all, Uncharted 2 swapped the GOTYs that year, but considering how niche and intimidating DeS was, i can see why it didn't get a lot of awards, hell, even Dark Souls and Bloodborne didn't. In hindsight though, i don't think Uncharted 2 hold a candle to Demon's Souls in quality or legacy (nor did i think in 2009).

Going by the game of the generation polls here on GAF, we got Super Metroid, Ocarina of Time and Resident Evil 4 as the best games of their generation, with the latter 2 winning with ease. Demon's Souls was 5th in the game of the 7th generation poll, losing to both Mario Galaxy, TLoU and Dark Souls. Only Super Mario Galaxy came before Demon's Souls and Dark Souls cannibalized lots of votes. Personally, i stopped caring about Mario since i was 10, and Mass Effect was the only worthy rival at that stage of the gen.

By that time, Ocarina of Time was already very outdated (as any 3d game from that gen) and i always considered Souls games the true evolution to the Metroid franchise, leaving Resident Evil 4 as the most fierce opponent for the throne. I'm a RE4 fan myself, but everyone who knows what's up knows that Ninja Gaiden Black is the real game of that gen and suffered from the same stigma of the Souls series, prohibitive difficulty.

Between DeS, Mass Effect and Ninja Gaiden Black, easily the 3 best games available until then, Demon's Souls being the combination of the rpg elements of Mass Effect and challenging combat from NGB, it's scientifically impossible to refute that, yes, Demon's Souls was the best game of all time in 2009.

TLDR: Lots of mental gymnastics to prove Demon's Souls was the best game of all time in 2009.


N53FGvI.jpg
 
D

Deleted member 17706

Unconfirmed Member
I thought it was fucking awesome right from the get go.

My post from back then as proof!

 

Codes 208

Member
No. It was super clunky, it was super difficult and it was still very niche and being an exclusive with very little fanfare made so it really didn’t popularize very well at first (outside of the devoted fanbase). It really wasn’t until dark souls that franchise exploded.

there’s a reason why people compare games to dark souls over demon souls.
 
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With the release of the remake, Demon's Souls got back to the spotlight and i was just thinking about this, was Demon's Souls the best game of all time in 2009?

Well, first of all, Uncharted 2 swapped the GOTYs that year, but considering how niche and intimidating DeS was, i can see why it didn't get a lot of awards, hell, even Dark Souls and Bloodborne didn't. In hindsight though, i don't think Uncharted 2 hold a candle to Demon's Souls in quality or legacy (nor did i think in 2009).

Going by the game of the generation polls here on GAF, we got Super Metroid, Ocarina of Time and Resident Evil 4 as the best games of their generation, with the latter 2 winning with ease. Demon's Souls was 5th in the game of the 7th generation poll, losing to both Mario Galaxy, TLoU and Dark Souls. Only Super Mario Galaxy came before Demon's Souls and Dark Souls cannibalized lots of votes. Personally, i stopped caring about Mario since i was 10, and Mass Effect was the only worthy rival at that stage of the gen.

By that time, Ocarina of Time was already very outdated (as any 3d game from that gen) and i always considered Souls games the true evolution to the Metroid franchise, leaving Resident Evil 4 as the most fierce opponent for the throne. I'm a RE4 fan myself, but everyone who knows what's up knows that Ninja Gaiden Black is the real game of that gen and suffered from the same stigma of the Souls series, prohibitive difficulty.

Between DeS, Mass Effect and Ninja Gaiden Black, easily the 3 best games available until then, Demon's Souls being the combination of the rpg elements of Mass Effect and challenging combat from NGB, it's scientifically impossible to refute that, yes, Demon's Souls was the best game of all time in 2009.

TLDR: Lots of mental gymnastics to prove Demon's Souls was the best game of all time in 2009.


N53FGvI.jpg

I consider Bloodborne GOTG and I often say it’s tied with DeS for me.

It’s fantastic. Better than DS1-3 IMO.
 
Mark from CGR sold me on the game with his praise, he was a reviewer I trusted since he never really gave scores, just spoke about the good or bad about games. It was pretty niche though and had some really tough competition that year, AC2, Uncharted 2, Arkham, MW2, Dragon Age Origins, to name a few. But, as time went on word of mouth really helped push its popularity.
 

JohnnyFootball

GerAlt-Right. Ciriously.
Uncharted 2 was that game. Other games in the running were Arkham Asylum, Infamous (maybe). Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2.

But it found an audience that lifted Dark Souls.
 

HarryKS

Member
No. It was super clunky, it was super difficult and it was still very niche and being an exclusive with very little fanfare made so it really didn’t popularize very well at first (outside of the devoted fanbase). It really wasn’t until dark souls that franchise exploded.

there’s a reason why people compare games to dark souls over demon souls.

Don't think I've ever used this expression before on a forum because I find it stupid, but:

Lol.
 

teezzy

Banned
Never played it, but I remember seeing footage of Demons Souls and being like, "Oh it's a lot like Maximo on PS2!" I was very young but it's funny to look back on
 

brenobnfm

Member
No. It was super clunky, it was super difficult and it was still very niche and being an exclusive with very little fanfare made so it really didn’t popularize very well at first (outside of the devoted fanbase). It really wasn’t until dark souls that franchise exploded.

there’s a reason why people compare games to dark souls over demon souls.

The reason is: Dark Souls is better, was in more platforms and Demon's already did a lot of the groundwork for it to succeed. But Dark Souls wasn't around in 2009. Dark Souls still is in 2020 a strong GOAT contender btw.

Mark from CGR sold me on the game with his praise, he was a reviewer I trusted since he never really gave scores, just spoke about the good or bad about games. It was pretty niche though and had some really tough competition that year, AC2, Uncharted 2, Arkham, MW2, Dragon Age Origins, to name a few. But, as time went on word of mouth really helped push its popularity.

None of these games stands a chance, AC2 and MW2 are straight up garbage nowadays, U2 cover shooter bullshit gameplay is unbearable in 2020 and half of the game's appeal, the graphics, are dated now even in the remaster. Arkham and Dragon Age are alright.

Is this a joke thread?

Absolutely not.
 
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While Demon’s Souls was somewhat a niche game with very little hype or marketing, to my knowledge it started the entire “Souls gameplay” that inspired so many games even today. Despite it’s issues, it was still a really good and unique game at the time imo that was very challenging and atmospheric. Releasing it along side Uncharted 2 was silly though and I think that’s one of the big factors that took attention away from it.
 
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Tschumi

Member
I don't want to be a meanie but this is rank, distorted fan gushing. And that's okay... The game was flawed but lead to the revelation that was Dark Souls... But claiming that it, or Uncharted 2, or, you know, basically any game released in those years was better than any of a host of earlier, greater titles - from Half Life to Homeworld, from Ocarina of Time to World of Warcraft.. it's willful. It's a real stretch.
 
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O-N-E

Member
I don't want to be a meanie but this is rank, distorted fan gushing. And that's okay... The game was flawed but lead to the revelation that was Dark Souls... But claiming that it, or Uncharted 2, or, you know, basically any game released in those years was better than any of a host of earlier, greater titles - from Half Life to Homeworld, from Ocarina of Time to World of Warcraft.. it's willful. It's a real stretch.

200.gif
 

Yoboman

Member
It was a slow burn that took time for people to try it and understand it. It was so niche that it took almost a year and a half to get from Japan to PAL territories and many people resorted to buying an imported copy.

And even though people came to love it, it definitely had visual and technical issues

From memory I would say it had a real niche popularity up until the NA release but it still took a long time after that for it to really take off. And still, way less people played it than Dark Souls. I dont know what that Game of the Gen list looks like, but I'd bet Demons Souls was the worst seller.
 
There were video games that preceded Dark Souls with familiar mechanics, but they never caught on due to the market at the time.

Severance: Blade Of Darkness would be a prime example.

severance-blade-of-darkness-f602600c-cd36-42d1-8f89-88b860698a5-resize-750.jpeg
Nice pick. I still have my Severance install disc. :)

Edit: To answer the OP, I was a little late to the PS3 game, but I thought DeS was pretty fucking great when I got around to it in early 2011 or so. Have very fond memories of it even to this day.
 
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Aion002

Member
For me it was.

Bought on day one on Play-Asia, Got the Plat 3 times (HK, Europe and US versions), 1 legit and 2 glitching (Dropping items ftw).

Finished more than 3 times each version, helped so many people and hunted so many others online.

Every From Software game is a goty in the year that it was released (minus Ninja Blade that shit never happened).
 
I remember people were shitting on it and then it became a meme game where people were considering it like Ghosts and Goblins difficulty, so it was more about "dude this game is so hard but if you beat it you are an amazingly skilled gamer". I bought the game too after the western hype for it started, sold it the next day lol. Now im more familiar with souls games but back then, nobody knew about this shit plus graphically and color wise it looked like ass. A year before it we had MGS4, DS looked like complete garbage so no as far as I remember it was known for its insane difficulty but not for its quality. People like it now because of its foundation but id argue that 90% of people that do, they got into it after Dark Souls.
 
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brenobnfm

Member
I don't want to be a meanie but this is rank, distorted fan gushing. And that's okay... The game was flawed but lead to the revelation that was Dark Souls... But claiming that it, or Uncharted 2, or, you know, basically any game released in those years was better than any of a host of earlier, greater titles - from Half Life to Homeworld, from Ocarina of Time to World of Warcraft.. it's willful. It's a real stretch.

There's no stretch, new games are better than old games on average. Different genres and all, but Half life and Ocarina of Time are amateur hour compared to the likes of Witcher 3 and Bloodborne.
 
I bought the game too after the western hype for it started, sold it the next day lol. Now im more familiar with souls games but back then, nobody knew about this shit

Ha, similar experience for me too. Coworker forced me to borrow it from him, it totally kicked my ass to the point I barely got anywhere, and I gave it back to him a week later. I was impressed and intrigued, but also frustrated with it.

I picked up Dark Souls a couple years later and it finally clicked. I ended up beating it and all From's games since through Sekiro.

Time for a triumphant return :messenger_beaming:
 
Ha, similar experience for me too. Coworker forced me to borrow it from him, it totally kicked my ass to the point I barely got anywhere, and I gave it back to him a week later. I was impressed and intrigued, but also frustrated with it.

I picked up Dark Souls a couple years later and it finally clicked. I ended up beating it and all From's games since through Sekiro.

Time for a triumphant return :messenger_beaming:

Yeah I actually really want to give FROM games a chance but whenever I tried (bloodborne, dark souls remastered and even Nioh) I donno im almost afraid that it will never "click" for me.
 

Kagoshima_Luke

Gold Member
It had a cult following. I bought it on world of mouth and loved it. I wrote a games of the generation article back in the day and ranked it as a runner up to my top 5 (one of which was Dark Souls).
 

brenobnfm

Member
It was a slow burn that took time for people to try it and understand it. It was so niche that it took almost a year and a half to get from Japan to PAL territories and many people resorted to buying an imported copy.

And even though people came to love it, it definitely had visual and technical issues

From memory I would say it had a real niche popularity up until the NA release but it still took a long time after that for it to really take off. And still, way less people played it than Dark Souls. I dont know what that Game of the Gen list looks like, but I'd bet Demons Souls was the worst seller.

Interesting point, didn't even think about it.

The list btw
 
Yeah I actually really want to give FROM games a chance but whenever I tried (bloodborne, dark souls remastered and even Nioh) I donno im almost afraid that it will never "click" for me.

In pretty much all their games, once you get over the early-game difficulty hump it's much smoother sailing and they really shine. I remember how impossible the beginning of Dark Souls felt, but my progress was steady afterwards.

If you see it cheap, might be worth giving DS3 a try. I think it's the most accessible, but with the traditional sword and shield mechanics.
 
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gioGAF

Member
I think saying greatest of all time for anything is a bit broad and arbitrary (plus extremely subjective). Demon's Souls is my single most played game of that generation and the only reason I still have a PS3.

The sequels are an evolution/variation of this landmark original. One of the most impactful games in recent memory, spawning its own sub-genre.

Ninja Gaiden Black was also amazing and it is sad that we are not enjoying that series anymore :-(
 
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Golgo 13

The Man With The Golden Dong
No, it wasn't the GOAT when it came out, but it was surprisingly niche and great. One of my favorites at the time but I wouldn't have put it into "one of the best of all time" like I would something like Bloodborne.

I think a lot of it has to do with what order you played the games in; Demon Souls was my first Souls game so there was something incredibly special about it at the time, most peoples' first Souls games was Dark Souls, so that one sticks in their minds.
 

ethomaz

Banned
It got great score reviews including some GOTY awards (it beat Uncharted 2).

The issue was that the shipment was very low and no new shipment was made for years.

GameStop sold used copies at $90.
 
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SEGA_2012

Member
Mark from CGR sold me on the game with his praise, he was a reviewer I trusted since he never really gave scores, just spoke about the good or bad about games. It was pretty niche though and had some really tough competition that year, AC2, Uncharted 2, Arkham, MW2, Dragon Age Origins, to name a few. But, as time went on word of mouth really helped push its popularity.

I love his review. He said "This is the game everyone will be talking about it" :messenger_smiling_with_eyes:

To people interested about it, this is the video ComputerBlue is mentioning :

 

MetalRain

Member
It was great, but I wasn't great at it so I ended up grinding early levels a lot.

I didn't quite like how much emphasis game put on bossfights, I would just liked to have this very grounded sword and shield action rpg.
 

Boss Man

Member
First (and only) game I've ever imported. The hype was real on GAF after a bunch of glowing impressions started coming in from users on the forum, but that was really the only place it was getting love. I remember being super happy to see it get a release in the US. I bought a second copy (already had the Asian version) just to support the game.

Clout chasing:

 
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Ten_Fold

Member
No, people thought the game was wack, at least when I was in high school. I thought the game was amazing because it was difficult.
 

Rickyiez

Member
I bet 95% of them failed to get pass the double Maneater back then, hard for it to be a GOAT game when no one could finish it :messenger_tears_of_joy:
 

Heimdall_Xtreme

Jim Ryan Fanclub's #1 Member
Upon it's release it was niche as FUCK and not that many people played it but the ones who did really did shill and support it to the end. The game that put Miyazaki on the map that was also the downfall for gaming journalists to be trusted.

This!!!
Thanks to Demon Souls, we saw that players really have the best decision and that video game journalists are not like before or are even mediocre today.
 

Hugare

Member
It was great, arguibly GOTY

But GOAT at the time? Fucking lol

Much better and infinitely more polished games were launched before DS, even for that generation up to that point.

Mario Galaxy is a 2007 game, you know?

Not saying that Demons Souls was anything short of great. But it had a lot of potential that would only be fullfiled by FROM in the sequels.
 
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