From Software's PlayStation 3 role-playing game sloughs off many of the conventions one typically associates with Japanese RPGs, putting players into a world unlike any other. The real-time action RPG features a heavy focus on hand-to-hand combat, not calculated menu choices. There are no party members to recruit, no love interests to pursue. There are only demon's to slay and souls to collect and a goal—defeat the Old One and free Boletaria from its colorless curse.

Demon's Souls is full of complex challenges and complex concepts, a game with no traditional save point system, no pause option and no coddling of the player who may have become accustomed to simpler, more forgiving fare. it is a hellish place of suffering, where men are routinely crushed by the powerful demonspawn that inhabit it.

So, why, then is Demon's Souls so rewarding, so refreshing and so engrossing? Here's why.

Loved
A New Brand Of Survival Horror: Fear is a constant in Demon's Souls, at least during your first unfamiliar adventure in the kingdom of Boletaria, as death can come to the player at any moment. These frequent deaths—which will become more frequent to the player not mindful of the world around them—are by design. Demon's Souls is meant to be studied, to be carefully considered and for its world to be absorbed. Its inhabitants are meant to be feared, so that the player can learn how to dispatch of them properly. You may die in Demon's Souls dozens, in not a hundred times or more. But you'll become the better player for it, mindful of your fear.

A World In Need Of Mending: Beyond the need for self-preservation, Demon's Souls offers a heavy dose of gloom and doom through its well-realized, beautifully designed lands. From the prisons of the Tower Of Latria, closely guarded by Mind Flayers, to the depths of the Stonefang Tunnel, guarded by fire-spewing beasts, each of Demon's Souls five massive environments offers something new to be awed by, to be afraid of. And each of those five worlds come with their unique inhabitants, their own trappings, new rules for the player to observe and new denizens to dread. The one safe haven for the few unscathed humans, The Nexus, is a gorgeous elaborate structure. But it is soon dwarfed by the massive castles and major demons that the player will face.

Demon's Souls' world is both fantastic and realistic, never patronizing the player. For the most part, the player is free to visit any of its diverse lands in the order of their choosing, letting the player decide how to navigate the world. And thanks to Demon's Souls' fluctuating World and Character Tendency system, which changes Boleteria's populace and environments based on a number of factors, the game world offers plenty to do beyond the first play through. This is a world worth revisiting, death after death after death.

Major Demons: Depending on how you play Demon's Souls, whether your world ventures towards white or black, you'll face over a dozen impressive and diverse bosses. All of them are memorable in some way, from the quiet calm of facing the Old Hero, to the massive scale of tackling the Dragon God, to the shocking tension of facing the Penetrator or Flame Lurker. Or any of Demon's Souls spectacularly designed demons, for that matter. Some can simply be dispatched with hundreds of arrows from a hiding spot, but others will require ample dexterity, a calm demeanor and smart strategy. Some may invoke warm feelings of another PlayStation hallmark, Shadow of the Colossus, due to their impressive magnitude.

Simple Made Complex: Where other role-playing games throw complex upgrade paths and a flood of weapons, armor and items at the player to create the illusion of depth, Demon's Souls offers it genuinely. Strategic trade-offs must be made in your choices of what to equip, how to fight and where to engage your enemy in battle. Demon's Souls offers a simple base upon which to build its system—the ten starting character class templates—then lets the player decide how to progress from there. It's both freeing and rewarding.

Massively Multiplayer Loneliness: Demon's Souls features a rather unique online multiplayer component. Players will see, but not hear or touch, the echo of other Demon's Souls players, each fighting demons in their own instance of the world. Players can also read or leave messages for others, attempting to help strangers (and help themselves) during their adventure. Bloodstains left by fallen comrades in other instances can also be left behind, illustrating how other adventurers died, a warning to first-timers of what awaits them in the next step.

Demon's Souls does have a more traditional multiplayer component to it, letting players summon other warriors to their world as spirits, teaming up to tackle major demons. But other players can also invade your world in Black Phantom form, adding a player versus player gambling element to the experience. There is no voice chat, there is no lobby to join, which may seem like a drawback. But this implementation further entrenches the feeling in Demon's Souls players that the lonely existence of demon slaying is largely theirs alone to do.

The Soul Economy: Demon's Souls soul system adds a fascinating layer of strategy to the game. Souls, which you'll collect from fallen enemies and find scattered about Boletaria's land, serve as currency, experience and materials. You'll need them to upgrade your character and your weapons, resulting in an interesting trade-off. And should you die in one of Demon's Souls worlds, you'll lose your current soul stock—unless you find your own bloodstain—making the decision to soldier on or return to the Nexus for upgrades a constant struggle.

Torchlight: Demon's Souls is dark and it is best played in the dark. And while it might seem odd to highlight the game's lighting, it's expertly crafted. Not so much from a technical sense, but that the player must be mindful of the glowing souls, the deadly exploding Will o' Wisps, the torches, the glowing eyes that populate every dark room. There's much the player can glean from Demon's Souls lights as they cut through the blackness.

After Careful Consideration: This is a hard game. Cruel, punishing, unforgiving, relentless, sadistic... whatever you want to call it, Demon's Souls is a challenge. But you'll learn. You'll adapt. And if you're careful, attentive to the events occurring around you, you'll be fine. That Demon's Souls demands this, making the game feel more like pure horror than the traditional fun one expects of a video game, eventually spellbinding the player, is what makes the game so enjoyable.

Hated
My First Few Hours: This may make me sound like a wimp—and ultimately a crazed Demon's Souls zealot—but you need to know. Demon's Souls was, for me, torture for the first few hours. I didn't "get it." I didn't play games this way. I've played difficult action games, like Ninja Gaiden, Devil May Cry and Otogi, and enjoyed them. But Demon's Souls is different, requiring a unique mindset—and, in my case, some help from the Demon's Souls community. Eventually, pain gave way to pleasure as I learned to appreciate the game's strict rule set, ultimately becoming absorbed by the game. You may hate Demon's Souls from start to finish for its difficulty. But I'd wager you'll come to appreciate it as I did.

Faces, Fonts & Frame Rates: There are a handful of presentation issues holding back Demon's Souls, none of them game breaking, but worth mentioning. Despite Demon's Souls' overall beauty, it has some of the ugliest character faces I've seen. Character creation is a turn off, because most options look as monstrous as the demons themselves. The game's interface also has a few quirks, with no easy way to compare items from vendors with current equipment and an icon system for attributes that has its own unnecessary, confusing language. Finally, there are a few moments where Demon's Souls can't keep up with what's happening on screen. Nothing that impairs gameplay, but not pretty.

When I talk about Demon's Souls with some of my fellow players, I feel that we're in danger of sounding like a part of some cult—or, possibly worse, a group of addicts—as if we've gotten over the hurdle of viewing From Software's brilliant, visionary creation just for its sheer difficulty. And it is difficult. But it is also laden with a smart combat system, in which equipment and weapons matter greatly, for so many reasons. But having pushed past the fog of Demon's Souls, which meant spending well over 50 hours with the game, I'm happy to see it for what it is—one of the best PlayStation 3 games of the year and perhaps one of the smartest console role-playing games ever.

To be clear, however, Demon's Souls is not some orgiastic, blissful experience. It is not the type of game one may want to wind down with, less than "fun" in a normal video game sense. But it is a wholly engrossing, enjoyably solitary experience, if you've got the patience and the bravery to look into the fog and face what's inside.

Demon's Souls was developed by From Software and published by Atlus for the PlayStation 3 on October 7. Retails for $59.99 USD. A copy of the game was given to us by the publisher for reviewing purposes. Played single-player game to completion, testing multiple classes, invading other's worlds and summoning them to my own.

Confused by our reviews? Read our review FAQ.

NOTE: Throughout the month of December, Kotaku will review some of the games that we missed earlier in the year. We're catching up.

Put your surprised faces on: it's Atlus. Yeah, not the most shocking announcement, we know, but still, one that's sure to please PS3-owning fans of the original Zelda no end.

Atlus say the game will be out in May 2010, and go for $40, but if you're keen (or worried the game won't enjoy the most widespread of releases), you can pre-order now from the usual suspects.

Says who? Says the official PlayStation Twitter account, writing today "No need to import - 3D Dot Game Heroes for PS3 is DEFINITELY coming to NA! Spread the word, more to come."

3D Dot Game Heroes is scheduled to hit Japan next week.

We'd consider our part—spreading the word—done. We would expect a similar courtesy, explaining just which publisher will be bringing the game to North American PS3s and when, to be performed with dizzying speed and zeal. Thank you in advance.

Graphics have been tweaked and there's a new character costume, too.

Tenchu Kurenai is out January 28 in Japan and priced at ¥3,990 (US$43).

『忍者活劇 天誅 紅 ポータブル』の発売日が決定 [ファミ通.com]

『3Dドットゲームヒーローズ』ロード画面のパロディネタと元ネタ比較画像 [チラシの裏でゲーム鈍報 via NeoGAF via GameSetWatch]

More Zelda Similarities, Spelunker In 3D Dot Game Heroes [GSW]

Whether the game plays as good as it retro-looks remains to be seen. And FromSoftware's plans for a release outside of Japan haven't yet been announced, but we're hoping to see the game at the upcoming Tokyo Game Show. 3D Dot Game Heroes hits Japan on November 5th, with the debut trailer now available for the ogling.

The game uses voxel volume element to depict the game world in three dimensions. As game site Insert Credit points out, this isn't a console first: SEGA Saturn shooter Amok did this way back in 1996.

3D Dot Games Heroes is being published by From Software, best known for the Armored Core series. No word of a Western release.

3D Dot [Insert Credit]

The Chromehounds community, dozens strong, was informed of the news last week: Sega will be pulling the plug on January 6, 2010. According to Sega forum administrator, "all online components for Chromehounds will no longer be accessible and the game will only be available for play in Offline modes."

That means, if you still need some of Chromehounds' Xbox Live Achievements tied to the game's online component, you better get 'em now. Or at least before January.

The From Software mech game was released for the Xbox 360 in the summer of 2006. We don't know exactly what 3.5 years of online play translates to in chromed dog years.

Chromehounds Online Service Closure - January 6, 2010 [Sega - thanks, John!]

From Software is releasing a slew of PSP ports of PlayStation 2 game, and they are largely, you'll never guess, giant mecha Armored Core and stealth Tenchu games. SHOCKING!

The games are Armored Core 3 Portable (out July 30), Armored Core: Last Raven (out March 2010), Armored Core: Silent Line Portable (out November), Tenchu: Wrath of Heaven (out August) and Tenchu: Fatal Shadows (out January 2010).

There is one one curve ball — a genuine surprise, even. From Software is porting PS2 game Fu-un Shinsengumi to the PSP. Originally published by Konami, the game was developed by Genki and features artwork by Metal Gear Solid artist Yoji Shinkawa. Not sure how From Software came into possession of this title, though. From Software should have a countdown clock to that.

The site features two doors blocked by a velvet rope. There's a placard that reads "2009.5.22 OPEN". With the number of Armored Core and Tenchu games From Software churns out, there's a good possibility that the company is announcing, that's right, an Armored Core or a Tenchu game. Those guys might as well have a giant mecha dressed as a ninja holding that velvet rope.

So the site goes live next Friday — never mind that Famitsu scans leak days before that. But we'll play along and pretend to be surprised. At least From Software isn't spamming our Twitter feed with announcements of announcements.

Some Teaser Site [From Software]

As with most PSP ports, it will feature ad-hoc wireless play as well as customization options. Paint your mecha pink! You know you want to.

Thanks cacophanus for the tip!

If Ninja Blade looks familiar, that's because it is so unapologetically derivative, borrowing game design elements wholesale from Japanese action-adventure titles like Ninja Gaiden, Devil May Cry and Onimusha. Ogawa can pull off killer combos, upgrade his weapons with harvested orbs—here called Blood Crystals—and topple foes of any size and shape. Even crab shaped!

Like every other action game, Ninja Blade pits its hero against deadly, world-threatening demonic bad guys, from rank and file zombies... err... Carriers to gigantic, skyscraper hugging worms. Where Ninja Blade differs is in its heavy use of "Quick Time Events," the rapid reaction button presses that From Software hoped would make the game feel "cinematic," and its "Ninja Vision" gimmick, which slows down the action and lets Ogawa see what non-ninja can't.

Does Ninja Blade flatter the games it imitates? Or is From Software's borrowing just an insult?

Loved
Never, Ever A Dull Moment: Outside of some rather uninteresting cut scenes, the action in Ninja Blade never lets up. You're either fighting batches of low-level Carriers, engaged in a big boss battle, tapping out button presses, or manning a mounted machine gun. With very little in the way of exploration, players likely won't find the experience dull, as the game's pacing is carefully delivered. The ludicrous Quick Time Events ensure that anyone watching the game won't be bored either.

Hilarious In Its Absurdity: We hate to spoil, but the game's rampant ridiculousness is noteworthy. Not only will Ninja Blade star Ken Ogawa ride a motorcycle down the side of a regurgitated bus in the sky, he'll use that motorcycle's gas tank as an explosive to finish off the giant worm that had just vomited it forth. Ogawa can also stop a runaway jetliner by himself, braking it with nothing more than the strength of his sword and powerful ninja feet. Ninja Blade is full of riotous attempts at cool that result in "WTF?" laugh out loud moments.

Character Customization: Adding to the silliness of Ninja Blade are the game's unlockable outfits. If you're unsatisfied with standard ninja black, go fluorescent green, go leopard print, then edit your own color scheme. It makes the ride that much more insane.

Hated
Constant Quick Time Events: If you even remotely dislike reflexive button jamming, you're going to despise Ninja Blade. From Software piles on the QTEs, even though they really don't have much of an impact. You can simply replay them over and over again until you get them right. With the exception of the stylish combo kills one can pull off for extra Blood Crystals during regular combat, the overused QTEs quickly become annoying.

Ugly Aesthetics: While technically capable in the graphics department, Ninja Blade's art direction is horribly dated and unattractive. Everything's black, shiny, and lifeless, with sickly green lighting that feels like an imitation of the imitation of The Matrix. Enemy designs, while occasionally interesting, generally boil down to giant crustaceans and mutated insects. Ogawa himself looks dopey, exactly "how silly Ryu Hayabusa would look without the mouth piece of his ninja outfit" to quote Mike Fahey.

Clunky Controls and Camera: Ninja Blade doesn't control nearly as well as the games it steals from, with a combat system that's just capable enough to get the job done. Ogawa bounces back and forth between enemies with little ninja grace, sliding toward his foes in a way that evokes flashbacks to Too Human and hacking away mindlessly. Camera issues can make wall running far less fun than it should be, resulting in unnecessary deaths and a general feeling that ninja aren't actually that cool. That camera can also make combat, especially when sprinting down the side of a skyscraper, annoyingly chaotic. Good thing button mashing works so well.

Technical Problems: When the action gets heavy, Ninja Blade can suffer from some serious frame rate issues. Unfortunately, this is exactly when we need the game to behave at its technical best.

My ten hours with Ninja Blade reminded me often of another game I'd recently played, 50 Cent: Blood on the Sand. Both are just-capable-enough action games that liberally swipe from titles of higher quality and better value. Both saturate the player in ludicrous conversations and far fetched situations. Both should only be played by gamers who have absorbed every ounce of gameplay from their forebears, because what's been done in Ninja Blade has been done better by games released in previous generations.

Players will likely forget about Ken Ogawa and the events of Ninja Blade quickly, as the game doesn't offer particularly memorable mechanics—that "Ninja Vision" gimmick actually becomes a hindrance when used to exhaustion—nor does it introduce us to a likable hero. It does offer some spectacular motorcycle stunts though, making it worth watching when someone else is driving.

Ninja Blade was developed by From Software and published by Microsoft Corp. for the Xbox 360, released on April 7th. Retails for $59.99 USD. Completed main campaign, spent way too much time customizing outfits.

Confused by our reviews? Read our review FAQ.

It's an expanded version of the demo we played at Tokyo Game Show this past October. While the trial version has certainly been improved upon and extended on both ends, the gameplay remains largely the same.

If you're a fan of ninja, particularly the motorcycle-riding, quick time event-reacting kind, go grab Ninja Blade.

That has got to be the strongest business man ever, punching that ninja so hard that his ninja powers are erupting from his stomach in a burst of light. Probably not what's really happening in the screenshot, but sometimes it's more fun to make up your own story, rather than wait for an official explanation on why the helicopter in the shot below is covered in giant snails. Your imagination is your ticket to a world of wonder such as the world has never seen, or something.

Ninja Blade is coming to the Xbox 360 in early April.

Because decent JRPGs are few and far between on Sony's latest console, fans of the genre may want to look at importing the Asian edition (not the Japanese one, the Hong Kong/Taiwan one) of the game, which features full English language support. And yes, that includes the voice acting.

Sure, the game doesn't look great (least to me), but then, with bigger-selling (Tales of Vesperia) and better-looking (Star Ocean 4) games somehow turning up exclusively on the 360, beggars can't afford to be choosers.

Demon's Souls Learns English For Asia [Siliconera]

According to these photos, the game has sold out at both Yodobashi Cameras in Shinjuku, Bic Camera in Shinjuku, a Sofmap (dunno where!) and a TSUTAYA (ditto!).

The game went on sale February 5th, and some retailers don't think they'll be getting in another shipment until today or tomorrow. The brisk sales might be the result of low initial shipments not anticipating this type of demand.

Click through the gallery below for the sold out signs. Be aware that Japanese retailers keep empty plastic cases on store shelves with the actual stock behind the counter.

超マゾゲーと評判のPS3「デモンズソウル」が都内で品切れ続出！ [はちま起稿]

Upon first glancing at the video I was hard pressed to notice much of a difference between this and Ninja Gaiden, but extended viewing reveals the game's more colorful side. By colorful I am of course referring to the four colors of Xbox 360 controller buttons, which appear on the screen with disturbing regularity during the 9 minute demo, indicating possibly too-frequent Quicktime events. They're lovely when used sparingly, but too many and you might as well be playing Dragon's Lair for Dummies.

Then the gigantic spider arrived, I peed myself, and ran away. Check out the full video below while I go clean up.

Ninja Blade Demo: Playthrough & Analysis [Inside Digital Foundry]