Demon’s Souls: The Ultimate Multiplayer Experience

A lengthy editorial over on Destructoid attempts to explain why Demon’s Souls’ unique multiplayer component places it firmly above any other game in recent memory.

Demon’s Souls has plenty of monstrous baddies to conquer, but the true villain of the piece is the game itself. Demon’s Souls is your enemy. It wants to be played on its own terms, and its terms are favorable to itself and nobody else. However, you do have things that the game does not — moral support, community spirit and the knowledge that there are hundreds of people out there, just like you, struggling against the same great opponent. This isn’t just a game, it’s a full out assault, and you are one of many proud soldiers.

From Software added several wonderful in-game features to remind the player that they are not the only one suffering. When playing online, you will see ghostly spirits running around, attacking invisible foes, and doing things that you have either done, or are yet to do. These are other players, warring against their own version of Demon’s Souls in real-time. As you struggle against a particularly nasty boss, you will see these spirits, reflections of other players, who are fighting that very same boss at the very same time as you. Your sympathies are with them and the sympathies of other players are with you.

The ghostly apparitions of other players could be taken as a metaphor if you want to get pretentious. It’s a message from the game that others are with you “in spirit,” that every hardship you face is being faced by countless peers right at that moment. Many is the time I have passed a ghost, and watched it go about its business for as long as it remains in my world, pondering what adventures it’s faced and where it’s headed next. The specters of other gamers serve as an inspiration, encouraging you by letting you know that there’s a world full of Demon’s Souls players out there, all striving to the same ends as you.