Fallout 3 is an interesting game to contrast with Demon's Souls. They're both RPGs, but their approach to leveling comes across differently to me. I feel like I'm truly getting better at playing Demon's Souls as I progress, like my stats are rising with my performance. In Fallout 3 my stat increases are more of a measure of how much time I've spent playing the game and how many quests I've completed. That may sound like an indictment of Fallout 3, but it's not: if you're playing to experience an unfolding story in a more leisurely manner, Fallout 3 is your game. I'm not always in the mood to perform on the level that Demon's Souls requires.

I am however a little concerned over the looming threat of needing to grind (something I hate to do), and am wondering how necessary it is if you just want to complete the game. It's true that I have replayed the first level several times already, but that was to find new areas and practice different tactics. I don't consider that grinding because I actually enjoyed it. Hopefully I can do all my "grinding" under the guise of trying out new weapons and honing my combat skills.

I just started playing the game and pretty much had the same reaction - I love Demon's Souls but my fiancé got bored even though she was reading a book while I was playing (ha!). That might sound strange but contrast it to a game like Fallout 3 where she can enjoy the music and we could talk about the quests I was on, even if she doesn't care one bit about mutant mole rats.

I think there are interesting things to write about regarding the game, but there's no hot-topic flashiness in there: no debate over moral choices that don't actually exist, no experimental control theme that falls on its face, no exhibition of sexuality that gets overblown media coverage, etc. The game is mostly just a combination of elements you've seen before that somehow come together to form an exciting and irresistible experience (for the player).

Regarding what is worth writing about, I think the perceptions over its difficulty are interesting. Because I'd heard it was so hard, I actually found the game to be easier than I expected. I think the difficulty is more a result of our atrophied gaming skills combined with an atypical need for being cautious.

I'm glad they attempted to explain the fall survivability, but I never really bought that the leg gear would actually work. I'm pretty sure your body would have still gotten pretty torn up from the trauma on the rest of your limbs. Maybe boots that could decelerate your speed when sensing the oncoming rush of the foor would have worked, but at this point we're kind of discussing window dressing that doesn't really alter the game play.

Maybe I shouldn't have brought up the falling bit in the first place, because the important thing to take from it is that Valve was aware of an inconsistency and did try to address it, so I respect and appreciate that effort.

I think a good measure of whether you're straying from your narrative too much is if players (or play testers, hopefully, before the game is released) are aware of the inconsistencies or instead are so invested in the experience that they don't even notice. So I agree, the success of the narrative can't be judged on some linear scale where, say, having 2 inconsistencies is okay, 3 is worrisome, 4 is bad, etc.

I do think it's worth noting that I see a lot of industry (reviewers and journalists actually more so than game developers themselves) push for the broader mainstream to respect the games medium as a valid form of artistic expression. I honestly believe that the further you stray from the truth of your premise and setting, the harder it will be to earn that appreciation. We can argue whether that appreciation is necessary or desirable, but you won't get it if you ask for narrative allowances. Every time I try to convince someone how mature or artistic a game is, my efforts are undermined by gaming conventions that are just too much for the average person to swallow. You might enjoy a book or film in which the main character gets shot several times and not only survives, but heals his wounds by drinking a glass of water, but you aren't going to respect it as a classic work. I feel like we who love games have been asking non-gamers to do just that and it's never going to happen.

Along these lines, I often find myself wishing games would have a "practice room" that you could enter at any time, so you could relearn the button layouts interactively in a safe environment. It would be easier and more effective than reviewing a diagram of the button configuration, and would allow the player to be free of concerns over wasting ammunition/inventory items or taking damage. It would also be a great way to learn exactly what newly acquired items/powers do without committing to expending them in the actual game environment.