Back in April 2012, North American publisher of Demon’s Souls, Atlus, announced that the game’s servers would go offline on May 31 of that year. Passionate fans of the game rebuked this plan and Atlus made an update announcement that, due to fan response, the game would remain online for the foreseeable future.
At long last, nearly six quiet years later, that foreseeable future comes to an end. News broke on November 27 last year that the Demon’s Souls servers would shut down for good on February 28, 2018. So here we are, in the very last days and hours of the “true” Demon’s Souls. I put true in quotations because, while the game is still a masterpiece with the online components stripped away, no one would deny that a big part of the sensation was the online features. Invasions, phantom summons, other players’ bloodstains and messages will no longer be a part of the game. I’m not clear on World Tendency, though I assume it will still function, only controlled completely locally without influence from the worlds of other players.
It’s fair to say Demon’s Souls is revered around these parts. It remains one of my favourite games and, while I’ll certainly go back to it here and there, it truly won’t be the same. It is great that we got an extra six years out of the online servers. Every time I’ve gone back to Demon’s Souls, whether on a whim or based on some events I knew were occurring, the world has always been filled with people. Even after the release of Dark Souls, Dark Souls II, Bloodborne and Dark Souls III; there were still people playing Demon’s Souls. The Nexus was always filled with phantoms. It felt bustling in a strange way. That will all be gone in a few days.
Whether you’d be returning to it for one last farewell, never finished it, or never even got around to it, I urge anyone with a PS3 still hooked up to revisit Boletaria one last time. And if your PS3 isn’t hooked up, bring it out for a day or two. Even if you simply run through world 1-1 one last time, you know you want to see that intro again.
On the first day…
Take a step forward, at xtal@tap-repeatedly.com.
…Man was given a soul, and with it – clarity…
This is a sad moment even though, as you say, the game itself isn’t going anywhere. I never had much luck getting summons and invasions to work in Demon’s Souls, but the sense of community-in-loneliness was so much a part of the game that it will seem like a different experience without it. Bloodstains and nearby ghosts were enough to remind you that others were playing.
I was thinking about the upcoming Demon’s Soulsian twilight just before I saw you’d posted on the subject, xtal. It’s the end of an era. I may just spin it up and spend the last few hours playing — and I suspect I won’t be alone in doing so.
Also: I trashed this comment because it’s spam, but I had to share it because it’s so awesome:
“Me too-JSM is definitely more subdued as a character, compared to all the flamboyant demons, but there is great chemistry btwn LSG and OYS that makes their love in the show believable. Still hoping for a happy ending for the OTP!”
Like this bot, I also had no patience for the flamboyant demons. Give me a nice down to earth demon, one that takes its demoning seriously. It’s a career, not a job!
I think we can safely out this “flamboyant demon,” because it’s Flamelurker of course. I went into Flamelurker’s house the day after the server shutoff to have a dance with the old chum. Wrecked his fucking shop, as they say. The key to Flamelurker is to accept your fear, and just go toe to toe with the bastard.
If you thought the Halberd was fun in Dark Souls, it’s even better in Demon’s Souls.
It’s definitely the end of something special. Although I never made much use of the online coop/pvp in Demon’s Souls, all the rest of the online elements will be truly missed. I honestly can’t remember if I fought the Old Monk as a player summon or not. I do vaguely recall getting trashed once or twice though.
When I rank Souls games in my head, I never include Demon’s Souls. It stands apart. I think it is flawed in many ways, and I also think that Dark Souls improved on it in every way that I care most about. However, there are things that From did in Demon’s Souls that they never repeated. And the mood that it conveys is distinct from all the other games.