Genre: Survival Horror RPG
Developer: From Software
Publisher: Atlus

There is a stigma that often surrounds polygonal graphics that says most 3d games tend to look the same-- that you can't express as much character with textures as you can with hand-drawn sprites. While there is truth to that view, titles like Demon's Souls prove that this perception is not universal; the atmosphere created by the game's art is so overwhelmingly bleak and despairing that the aesthetic is as distinctive and effective as any other game one could find.

This title is part of the relatively new breed of video game that largely eschews a soundtrack altogether, and instead creates its sense of style through ambient noises and other sound effects. Demon's Souls is a masterpiece example of this kind of aural presentation, and when composer Shinsuke Kida's occasional melodies do play, they are more effective for having had the time to breath.

In a day when traditional level design is largely a dead art, here comes Demon's Souls, with its water-tight stage designs, where the sophisticated levels cleverly wrap around on themselves, and where every nook and cranny, enemy, and prop placement is absolutely deliberate and calculated. In complete contrast to most other contemporary RPGs, the game's combat makes every last encounter feel significant, and the stamina-oriented mechanics feel somewhat revolutionary.

Demon's Souls takes the slow, plodding, "scripted dangers around every corner" pacing of Resident Evil 4, combines it with the nuanced, farming-focused stage designs of Monster Hunter, and sets the whole thing in a midevil universe similar to the Xbox action title "Enclave". And like the instant classic title "Morrowind", Demon's Souls is gleefully "broken" to such an extent that it lets players ludonarratively accomplish goals in any way they see fit. The formula feels so refreshing because Demon's Souls is, essentially, one of the rare genre-forging moments that gamers everywhere desire so strongly.