Demon's Souls Servers Are Dying, Can't Find Their Bloodstain

If you wanted to experience the unique blend of horror, deception and brutality that is Demon's Souls' Multiplayer one last time before the servers were taken down, then those plans need to materialize before May 31st as Atlus are finally pulling the plug on the servers for the game.  It's been a long time coming, unfortunately and in all reality the game was on borrowed time already since the second extension last year.  Of course, this doesn't present a large problem for people looking to explore every facet of Demon's Souls in a single-player aspect; the game is fully functional as an offline title, given that the Online portion only added intrigue coupled with hints (helpful or non) as well as an extra layer of danger (the fear of being invaded), which is pretty reassuring to me.  While playing Demon's Souls obviously wasn't in my forecast between now and June (goddamnit, June), I suspect it might have just found a way to worm in as I would like to experience the multiplayer first-hand at least once.  See all the bloodstains and notes, witness the ghosts of the fallen and maybe even understand the several layers to invasion.

I've talked a big game with Demon's Souls, even going so far as to decide my character prior to opening it, and now that there's a timeline attached to the game, in a sense, I really do feel a sense of wanting to hit it.  Which is a bit bothersome as I still have Yakuza:  Dead Souls to beat (again, like Yakuza 4, I doubt I'll bother going for the Platinum, though it does seem much more attainable), as well as the weather possibly not cooperating with long-term PS3-play.  Still, I don't need to play it a lot, just enough to really experience it and, hopefully, enough to really talk about it as I would like to talk about this game that's kind of been on my radar for a year or better without being something I've jumped into.  Is it possible that I'm slightly intimidated by the game?  Most certainly; I think I am.  But I'm going to trust in the words of everyone else and go in thinking that the game is not 'bullshit hard' as some would call it.  'Punishing', 'really difficult', 'something to master' perhaps, which are all varying degrees of acceptable are what I've been lead to expect.

I really gotta hand it to Atlus on this one, though, since they really have been and continue to be really on-the-ball with this whole thing.  It's a little obvious that Demon's Souls was a bigger hit than they, or anyone for that matter, expected when they signed on to localize it, but they've handled the whole thing with ease. respect and class.  While I imagine the extensions for the servers were purely for fan support, as they were likely within periods where the game was still 'proving its worth' in regards to the servers as it were, two and a half years is still quite a while to have that level of commitment and I'm sure lesser companies would've axed the servers long before now regardless.  Not only that, but they've had events, fan polls, and all levels of interaction for the game and continue to do so with regards to the "Tendencies" of the world.  Even the finality of the servers going down is being handled with a lot of attention and care for the players, which is something everyone has come to expect.

In writing this (and discussing the online with someone during writing this, I really should stop doing that), I do think I've built up quite a bit of thirst for the online mode as I understand it.  It just seems so....unique, or at least it's something that I don't believe I've experienced personally.  Indeed, I haven't even experienced Demon's Souls personally, despite watching and reading about it quite intensely, especially now with the going offline.  Writing about it now feels a bit moot; I imagine some people reading this would just be saying "Just go friggin' play it already" at this point and, well, I might just do that.  As I said, I do want to finish Yakuza:  Dead Souls since it's probably around 1-2 hours left of gameplay max, and then following that I am....technically free on PS3 games that I 'have' to play.  I could go back to the grind of Dynasty Warriors 7:  Xtreme Legends to work towards that Platinum, or I could go back to Dynasty Warriors Gundam 3, finish up the friendships and the last online battles, or I could return to Just Cause 2, which I might not ever finish.  Or I could play any number of the other games that I own but have not started.  I don't think that there is anything 'pressing' between now and June (goddamnit, June), is my point, so I am 'free', so to speak.

Whenever I get to it, I'm sure that I'll be coming here with my results, of course.  That is what I do, after all, and I enjoy continuing to do so.  Talking about Demon's Souls will likely be particularly amusing for others since, well, I will probably be double-bad at it to start, at least to people who have played the game.  (I imagine the people who read this blog -have- played it already, at least.)  My intent is to fumble through the game as intended and while I've sought help before now, I really don't remember any of it, nor will I be looking for anymore from now.  I guess we'll just see how Mikhail Metzinger's journey unfolds during the course of my playing.