The disorientation you feel during the first few hours of Demon’s Souls is unprecedented. It’s not that you’ll be in any doubt about the mission: with a sword in one hand, a shield in the other, and a horde of approaching undead, the challenge is one of gaming’s most familiar. Few, however, will be prepared for the relentless setbacks heaped upon their miserable bones in facing it.

Here, a few metres of gained ground represent giddying triumph. For mollycoddled modern players, whose gaming muscles are atrophied from so many any-comer-mustsucceed titles, Demon’s Souls’ unforgiving mechanics border on abusive. But stick it out, and with acclimatisation comes the realisation that From Software is trying to change the nature of dungeon crawlers, and that its uncompromising vision is nothing short of revolutionary. Read more