Note: Spoilers ahead regarding some of the characters, locations, enemies, and events of Demon’s Souls.
Part 1 of this 2-part article can be found here.
When last we left our valiant hero Lord Thrusticus, he was being murdered on a regular basis in my Soul Level 1 playthrough of Demon’s Souls, and I was determined to continue forging ahead, thus prolonging his suffering. Poor bastard.
Anyway, with my Royalty-class character already focusing on magic, I figured I should take on the Tower of Latria next, as not only would that lead to me rescuing Sage Freke, who could teach me new spells, but this world’s first boss possessed a soul which Freke could transform into Soul Ray – not the title of a Ray Charles album, but rather a more powerful spell to replace the Soul Arrow I was currently using.
My trip into the Tower of Latria – one of my favourite environments in the entire Souls series – was a rewarding one, as in between backstabbing nightmarish Mind Flayers I picked up the Ring of Magical Sharpness, which increased my magic damage by twenty percent and which I would use frequently from that point onwards.
One occurrence which helped my magical capabilities – and which was a first for me even after several previous playthroughs of Demon’s Souls – involved an innovative and brilliant feature unique to the Tower of Latria: I was summoned to another player’s game to act as the black phantom boss they would face at the end of this world. I waited in the boss room until the host arrived and then we fought until I scraped out a win, killing them and returning to my own world with a reward in the form of the Monk’s Head Collar (or “Custard Tornado”), a piece of headgear that looks ridiculous but which increased my magic damage even further. And my Dark Souls Soul Level 1 playthrough had already taught me that looking like an idiot was sometimes the price to pay for increasing my odds of survival.
Given how much I would come to rely on magic in this playthrough, I was lucky to have had this opportunity fall into my lap. There was the small matter of the player I killed, of course, but the important thing was that I had been rewarded for being a selfish bastard. Good thing that never happens in real life, eh?
I rescued Sage Freke from his cell, killed my first AI black phantom and then took on the Tower of Latria’s first boss, Fool’s Idol. Rather than a Billy Idol tribute act, Fool’s Idol is actually a twisted imitation of Latria’s former queen, and one who relies on magic when fighting you. I killed the boss through use of my Flame Toss spell and then used her soul to create Soul Ray, which became my go-to spell from then on.
Taking a break from the Tower of Latria, I ventured into the Valley of Defilement, a place almost as poisonous and filth-encrusted as a first-year university student’s bedroom. My time in the first section of the valley was about as pleasant as I’d expected, involving several deaths to plague-carrying rats as well as enemies wielding daggers and burning sticks. But thanks to a combination of magic and a Short Bow, I eventually reached the valley’s first boss, Leechmonger. Outfitted with my Kris Blade, Ring of Magical Sharpness, Monk’s Head Collar and Soul Ray, I went Gandalf on the Leechmonger’s ass (I’m not sure if it actually has an ass, but you get my meaning), raining down magical death from above. Another boss done.
Moving worlds once again, I returned to Stonefang Tunnel and began traversing its second section, killing another two black phantoms and meeting Patches, a cheerful scoundrel who players of Dark Souls will also be familiar with. As tempting as it was to kill Patches immediately, he actually becomes a useful merchant when he relocates to the Nexus, so I let him live.
After clearing out this section of Stonefang Tunnel, it was time for the boss fight I’d been dreading more than any other: a battle with the relentless and bestial Flamelurker. My first attempt actually went better than I expected and I got him down to about a quarter of his health before he killed me. But a few more deaths at Flamelurker’s fiery claws and I decided to explore some other worlds for a while and get killed in those instead. You know, for a change.
In the vast poison swamp that is the Valley of Defilement’s second section, I died several times to the giant cleaver of a black phantom and once to a slightly less intimidating opponent: a mosquito. In my defence, it was a pretty big mosquito.
An odd and alarming glitch occurred soon afterwards when I passed a particular hole in a wall, one that usually contains a handful of enemies who ambush you as you pass by. This time, however, a seemingly endless stream of enemies was disgorged by the hole, with about five attacking me simultaneously while a new enemy spawned for every one I killed. Clearly the game was determined to kill me even if it meant cheating, so after dispatching a number of these enemies I chose to implement a strategic retreat rather than stay and be overwhelmed.
I fared a little better elsewhere, rescuing the sinister knight Yurt in the second section of the Tower of Latria and then killing the Adjudicator – the first Shrine of Storms boss – on my first attempt. Also, I swapped my wizard’s clothes for leather armour, leather gloves and fluted leggings in order to gain a little extra defence, for what it’s worth at Soul Level 1.
Deciding not to put it off any longer, I returned to Flamelurker and found myself dying several times, not only during the fight itself but also in my attempts to reach the boss room. But finally, on about my tenth confrontation with Flamelurker, I killed the fiery bugger. As this final fight drew to a close and victory was in sight, my heart was hammering, and then, when I delivered the killing blow, I felt that elation which will be familiar to many Souls players.
Giving the Flamelurker’s soul to the blacksmith Ed allowed me to begin upgrading my Kris Blade, further increasing my magic damage, although the particular souls needed to upgrade this weapon aren’t very easy to acquire. Staying in Stonefang Tunnel, I moved on to its final section, the battle with the Dragon God. His dragon-punching me to death in the post-tutorial bonus area had apparently given him a taste for it, as he proceeded to do the same thing several more times until I eventually defeated him. This was my first Archdemon kill, which meant that the next section of the Boletarian Palace was now open to me. Hooray, a new place in which to die!
But first it was back to the second section of the Tower of Latria and the pair of bosses that awaited me: the Maneaters. (Oh-oh here they come – watch out, boy, they’ll chew you up). This can be a very tough boss fight due to the fact that the beast you initially face is soon joined by a second one, so this wasn’t an encounter I was looking forward to. In the end, however, it wasn’t too bad, and I managed to kill the Maneaters on my fourth attempt by keeping away from the edges of the bridge on which the battle takes place, keeping my distance from the bosses themselves, and firing Soul Ray over and over.
With the Maneaters dead, it was time to face this world’s Archdemon, the Old Monk. Or rather, the black phantom summoned by the Old Monk. With each of us rocking a glorious Custard Tornado, the computer-controlled phantom and I fought until I killed him on my third attempt. I then used the soul I received to create the Insanity Catalyst, thinking that this would further help me as a magic-user. Only after I’d created the catalyst did it occur to me that I didn’t possess the necessary stats to use it properly. That’ll be a unique soul wasted, then. Brilliant.
After several more attempts, I finally conquered the poison swamp in the Valley of Defilement. As expected, the boss – the lumbering Dirty Colossus – was a piece of cake compared to the area leading to it, and I defeated it on my first attempt. Knowing I didn’t have to enter that damn swamp again might have made me weep with joy. But Lord Thrusticus does not weep. Lord Thrusticus kills.
Then it was on to one of the most memorable and thought-provoking boss encounters in the Souls series: the Valley of Defilement’s Archdemon, Maiden Astraea, and her loyal protector Garl Vinland. Ignoring Astraea’s pleas, I sniped her to death with my bow and then went to collect her soul only to get mashed by Garl Vinland’s giant hammer. When I returned, Garl was dead and gone, only his armour and shield left in his place, and I took them even though they were of no use to me in this playthrough. Because as I’ve always said: if you’re going to cause a man to die of grief then at least have the decency to loot his corpse afterwards.
Although I knew it was going to be tough, I steeled myself to complete the second section of the Shrine of Storms. But with its perilously narrow paths and incredibly dangerous enemies, I found myself dying over and over, something made even more frustrating by the fact that there are no unlockable shortcuts in this area. So when I did finally reach the boss, Old Hero, I desperately wanted to kill him on my first attempt. Thankfully, by taking a stealthy and patient approach to the fight – Old Hero is blind, which makes such an approach a very effective one – I managed to do just that.
The Archdemon of the Shrine of Storms, the impressive flying behemoth that is the Storm King, lay in wait next. By picking a safe spot in the boss area, one I could use as cover against the attacks of both the Storm King and its numerous minions, this was an easy fight.
With the four other worlds now conquered, it was time to return to the Boletarian Palace, specifically its third section, which I assumed wouldn’t be too much trouble. Turns out I was utterly wrong in that assumption: death by crossbowman pincer attack, death by red-eyed knight, death by burning boulder, death by Fat Official, death by axe-wielding soldier… you get the idea. I did take some grim satisfaction in killing the bumbling knight Ostrava and then taking from his corpse the key which allowed me to achieve another Demon’s Souls personal first: killing Old King Doran, the ancient and powerful king who resides in the mausoleum unlocked by Ostrava’s key.
When I did finally reach the next Boletarian Palace boss, Penetrator, what might have been an epic contest between him and Lord Thrusticus for the title of “Thrustmaster General” turned out to be an extremely easy fight due to the assistance I received from the knight Biorr, who I’d rescued from imprisonment beforehand. Biorr can withstand a lot of punishment, so he acted as a useful distraction while I blasted Penetrator from a distance with Soul Ray.
I then moved on to the final section of the Boletarian Palace and the penultimate area of the game, which tasks you with entering the heart of King Allant’s castle and ascending to the throne room to confront the king. Of course, standing in my way were enemies such as black phantoms, red-eyed knights, Fat Officials, and a fire-breathing dragon.
The black phantoms weren’t too much trouble as I could fight them one at a time and thankfully they don’t respawn. The same goes for the dragon, which I also killed (after it did the same to me several times), and this was my final Demon’s Souls personal first in this playthrough. I encountered and killed the black phantom version of Ostrava, and was reminded of just how bleak the ending to his story is (if you don’t kill him early like I did). One of the reasons why Demon’s Souls is possibly my favourite Souls game is its generally bleak atmosphere, which I don’t think was quite matched by Dark Souls or Dark Souls II.
I found my love for Demon’s Souls tested, however, by what awaited me in the throne room: a fight with the demonic impostor Old King Allant. At Soul Level 1, and even with all of my magic-enhancing equipment, I found this to be one of the most difficult fights of my playthrough, the frustration caused by my defeats being made so much worse by the amount of time it took just to return to the boss battle after each death. Even with some of the enemies not respawning, just reaching the throne room required a hazardous and lengthy trek every single time.
The boss battle was hard but obviously not impossible. However, the difficulty, when combined with the time it took to reach Old King Allant and the fact that by this point I’d spent thirty hours on this playthrough and wanted to finish it so I could actually write this article, led to me resorting to an extremely cheap method of beating him: entering the boss room and killing him from a distance with poisoned arrows, a method by which you can kill him without him even attacking you. It was an anticlimactic way to overcome the final proper boss fight of the game, and I’m confident that if I’d had the time and patience to fight Old King Allant time and time again then eventually I could have beaten him legitimately. But… well… fuck it, I didn’t. And remember: before you judge a man, walk a mile in his shoes. (That way, when you do judge him, he’s a mile away and you’ve got his shoes).
With Old King Allant dead, it was time for me to enter the final area of the game, although my playthrough was essentially complete at this point, as this area, although important to the story and very cool in terms of atmosphere and aesthetics, is mostly for the sake of the narrative as it contains no regular enemies and just one very weak boss who barely puts up a fight.
Soon the final boss was dead and the game presented me with the choice that determines which of the two endings you will receive along with which of the two unique items you will be granted for your New Game Plus playthrough. I chose the ostensibly “good” ending, although of course the story of Demon’s Souls isn’t as simple as good and evil or right and wrong, it’s much more subtle and subjective than that.
And that was it. My Soul Level 1 playthrough of Demon’s Souls was done. On the whole, I enjoyed it. Like my Dark Souls Soul Level 1 run before it, it was a fun and interesting challenge with only a few particularly frustrating points, and again like Dark Souls, this is a testament to the finely balanced design and difficulty of Demon’s Souls. Although I was slightly disappointed with myself about resorting to cheap tactics to kill Old King Allant, I’d felt the same about giving up on killing optional bosses Manus and Kalameet during my Dark Souls Soul Level 1 playthrough – it was a shame, but I’d already spent a lot of time on the playthrough and needed to finish it.
As for how Dark Souls and Demon’s Souls compare in terms of a Soul Level 1 playthrough, both were tough but I found that the greater challenge in the former was usually the bosses while the greater challenge in the latter was usually the levels themselves. This was my personal experience anyway, no doubt some will disagree. Either way, I’d definitely recommend a Soul Level 1 playthrough of each game to any Souls fan yet to tackle the challenge.
In recent years it’s been rare for me to play through a game more than once, even if the game in question is great, simply due to the fact that there are so many other great games I want to play. Demon’s Souls and Dark Souls are exceptions, however, as I’ve played through each game several times – these two games are simply incredible, hence why I keep coming back to them.
But for now I’ll just crack open a beer and let Lord Thrusticus relax in the Nexus next to my old pal and that comfortingly regular fixture of the Souls series, the Crestfallen Warrior. As the man says: “No matter. Have a seat; we can sit here forever!”
Eternity spent in the brilliance of Demon’s Souls? Sounds like a plan, C.W. Sounds like a plan.
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This article was originally published on www.eightandahalfbit.com in October 2014.
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