I couldn't get HDR to work with my Elgato 4K60 S+, but I just received word from Elgato Technical Support:
Change the '4K Video Transfer Rate' from 'Auto' to '-2'
4K Video Transfer rate 0 and -2 means chroma subsampling 4:4:4 and 4:2:0, respectively. 4:4:4 means that color information is at the same resolution as the brightness information, 4:2:0 means that the color information is at half the resolution as the brightness information. So the image should look a little less sharp than before.
The Large Sword of Moonlight can be cut down and found surrounded by slugs in 5-2, 'Leechmonger Archstone'.
The Armor Spider is weak to Magic damage. Sticky White Stuff applies +110 Magic Damage to a weapon for 60 seconds.
A Regenerator's Ring can be found in Shrine of Storms 4-1, to the right of the first gate, on the other side of a small wall. It's possible to do a roll from the stairs to the wall in the tower above (take armor off).
Faith increases number of Miracle slots ([Faith:slots] [10:1] [16:2] [24:3] [40:4]), effectiveness of Miracles, and Magic Defense. Intelligence increases max MP.
Saint Urbain, who sells Miracles, is at 4-2, after The Adjudicator.
Magic spell efficiency depends on Magic stat, spell slots and MP depend on Intelligence.
Talisman of Beasts can cast both Miracles and magic spells. It is a quest reward from Mephistopheles for killing Ostrava. Mephistopheles can be found in the Nexus if the character has pure black tendency.
Freke's Apprentice will teach you magic spells once your Magic stat is 10.
Reason to upgrade shields: Guard Break Reduction reduces stamina lost when blocking, and higher levels allows blocking stronger attacks without breaking guard.
The way from the Stonefang Tunnels maze to the Flamelurker is in the lava pool, to the far right when coming out of one of the tunnels. Enter the far right tunnel and take the first right.
Enable weapon modifications: After killing the Flamelurker, bring the Searing Demon Soul with you and exhaust Ed the Blacksmith's dialogue in 2-1.
The Reaper in 4-2 is vulnerable to fire, and strong against magic.
World 2: I recommend using a blunt weapon or a spear.
World 4: The Thief Ring is useful throughout to avoid getting hit by the Storm Beasts. Early on, use blunt weapons (even your fists) and later on, use fire weapons on the Reapers.
World 5: Use fire weapons. A fireball type spell is also useful.
You can trade one Talisman of God (to the right of first fog door in 4-1) and one Gold Mask (from below the heart in 3-2) for Colorless Demon's Souls with Sparkly the Crow. Only one of each.
Maneater (3-2) and Dirty Colossus (5-2) are weak to fire. Old Hero (4-2) is weak to fire and poison.
Yuria, the Witch teaches spells. You can rescue her by:
Get Iron ring of keys and Official's Cap by killing the two Fat Officials in 1-4.
Go back to the prison before the Tower Knight fight and unlock the prison door.
Kill Fat Official to get Bloody Iron Key
At the start of 1-4, unlock gate behind dog carts
Go to tower and equip the *full Official's set* (Cap, Gloves, Clothes, Leggings)
Kill Fat Official
Unequip Official's set and talk to Yuria
When you're not locked on to an enemy, you can free aim ranged spells by facing your character forwards and pointing the center of the screen on your target.
How to invade another player:Use the Black Eye Stone in soul form.
How to play co-op: Use a Blue Eye Stone.
The 'shopping list trophies' King of Rings, Sage's Trophy, and Saint's Trophy must each be on a single character.
Log entries
2020-09-18
Console launches are weird. The launch game that I was the most excited about was a remake of a 2009 PS3 game that I completed 4 years ago. Anyway, underwhelming as the launch lineup is for this generation, I'm very excited about getting a new PlayStation in the house.
I just preordered a PS5 for 4200 DKK and Demon's Souls for 600 DKK. Very expensive remake. :)
2020-11-12
I redeemed a pre-order code I got in the mail for a Reaper Scythe. Probably some game-breaking item.
I'm considering going for the 'Large Sword of Moonlight', the iconic weapon, hidden in the Valley of Defilement, guarded by a bunch of horrible slugs. It scales with Faith, which suggest using the Priest or Temple Knight, both of which also have the Heal miracle.
Oh no, upgrading the Moonlight sword requires 5 x Colorless Demon's Soul, which I can't get without some black world tendency, I think. Although, maybe the sword is good enough that I don't need to upgrade it much.
2020-11-13
I have the game, but no hardware to play it on.
2020-11-20
Malu started a new test Magician, and played for a while, setting dudes on fire. This game looks amazing and runs amazingly well.
2020-11-23
I got my new TV! It's an LG OLED55CX6LA. It does 4K, 120 Hz (VRR 40-120), 30-bit color, HDR10, with HDMI 2.1. Demon's Souls looks ... amazing.
HDR doesn't seem to work with my Elgato 4K60 S+, I have contacted Elgato support for assistance.
I started my new Temple Knight character, and halberded my way through Boletaria, defeating The Phalanx. The game looks absolutely astounding on my new TV.
The 2nd video is done transcoding on YouTube. That's 3 days of transcoding time.
2020-12-06
Erik and I played over 5 hours. He beat the Armor Spider on the first try, and then we went into the ironically named Prison of Hope, and finally beating the Fool's Idol.
I ventured deeper into the Stonefang Tunnels, cooled down the lava, and gained access to the Armor Spider, which killed me. I need to be able to move faster to get away from the fire.
The Compound Long Bow is pretty good, I should get that in 4-1 and buy a bunch of arrow. Maybe use on the Adjudicator bird.
Shopping list:
Compound Long Bow from 4-1 and arrows
Flame Resistance Ring (for the Armor Spider) from the dragons in 1-1.
Level up Faith to 16 to get two spell slots and buy the Miracles Antidote (Cure Poison, 3000) and Evacuate (Homeward Bone, 20,000) from the Disciple of God
In a Christmas shopping mood, I went to Island's Edge (4-1) to get the Compound Long Bow from a skeletal archer, then back to the two dragons in Boletaria to get the Flame Resistance Ring. I noticed that the dragons didn't attack on the bridge anymore, probably due to some World Tendency stuff I don't understand. I then went to Stonefang Tunnels and killed the Armour Spider. I ended up using the Regenerator's Ring and the Cling Ring to have as much health as possible, along with a Winged Spear and Shield-based loadout with less armour to get below 50% Equip Burden, as moveability seems very important for the Armour Spider.
Emboldened by my Armour Spider victory I went to the Shrine of Storms and killed the Adjudicator. I can't get over how absolutely revolting this headless monstrocity is. It's one of the more grotesque enemies in video game history.
I thought that now was the time to go to the Valley of Defilement and get the Large Sword of Moonlight. I went through the Drepraved Chasm and beat the Leechmonger without too much trouble.
I connected a DualShock 4 to my Windows laptop via a USB cable, started 'PS Remote Play', connected to my PS5, and played a few minutes of Demon's Souls. The latency is great, but the default video quality is horrible. I wonder if it can be improved somehow?
Default video quality is 540p. The maximum is 1080p, I cranked it up. It looks way nicer now, and the latency still seems OK. I'm going to play some Demon's Souls in bed soon. :)
2020-12-15
After a bit of grinding 4-1, I could wield my Large Sword of Moonlight, and I went to the horrible Prison of Hope. Defeating the Mind Flayer prison guards was not too bad, and I managed to kill the horrible Prisoner Horde as well. The Fool's Idol was defeated on my second attempt, and emboldened by this victory, I went back to 4-1 and got revenge on the Vanguard.
Argh, I was lost in the Stonefang Tunnels. I ended up consulting the map at kouryakubo.com and found the Flamelurker and killed it.
I rescued Saint Urbain in 4-2 so I can get more Miracles, then I went to 3-2. This location descends into pure biohorror, not unlike the most nightmarish parts of Bloodborne, and my favourite location in the game. I cut down the giant heart before I stopped playing.
Maybe I should make a fire-based weapon for vulnerable enemies.
I could turn my bow into a Lava Bow by first upgrading to +7 and then using a Hard Demon Soul. Apart from crafting the Lava Bow, That Demon Soul is only useful for creating short range magic spells.
Maybe my Halberd could be turned into a Dragon Halberd by upgrading to +3 and then using Dragonstone.
The Old Hero (4-2) Demon Soul can be used to purchase the Second Chance miracle that gives you an 'extra life'. I should get that.
The Leechmonger's Writhing Demon Soul can be exchanged for the spell Poison Cloud or the Cure miracle. I feel like going for the Poison, it's so evil and fun. I can use it against the Old Hero, he's weak to poison.
I should go back to the Prison of Hope and get Sage Freke so I can get advanced spells.
OK, the plan is:
Go through Prison of Hope and free Sage Freke and whoever else is there
Exchange the Writhing Demon Soul for the Poison Cloud spell
Make Dragon Halberd
Make Lava Bow using Hard Demon Soul
Go to 4-2 with fire weapons and kill the Old Hero
Exchange his soul for Second Chance from Saint Urbain.
Anders visited, and I showed him the PS5 and my new LG CX TV for the first time. He created a new Priest character, and battled his way through the introduction. We had a lot of fun with the character creator.
2020-12-28
My first full day at home after Christmas vacation, I was very excited to play Demon's Souls again. I ventured through the Ritual Path, killed the Reapers, put on my Thief's Ring and very carefully beat the blind Old Hero.
I went back to Latria, and defeated the Maneaters with my Dragon Halberd. Emboldened, I went and killed the Dragon God. It is kind of a puzzle boss, but I don't know how to avoid its horrible fire attacks. I basically just tanked them with my high level character.
The Swamp of Sorrow is horrible, but having a high level character helps a lot. I finally unlocked the shortcut and beat the Dirty Colossus boss on my first try.
After testing my skills in the King's Tower, I went to kill the Old Monk, the final Latria boss. I'm playing offline, so just fought against an AI character. After beating him, I went for the Storm King, which required some quick dodging skills, and finally Maiden Astrea's valiant knight, which wasn't bad, but I then got stuck in the horrible plagued blood pool with the horrible blood babies. I almost lost all my souls there.
Completed the game.
With Malu helping a lot with heal timing, I managed to beat King Allant, the final challenge of Demon's Souls. I went to the final area, and left the Maiden with the Old One.
I'm starting a new character, Necromancor, who I want to be a disgusting, backstabbing sorcerer who uses poison, plague, and other unsavoury tactics as much as possible. I started with a Royal to get decent magic from the beginning. I have defeated the Phalanx, and managed to get the Kris Blade (more magic / more magic damage) and defeat the Armor Spider.
Mercury Secret Dagger +3 (Poison) - Secret Dagger +3 (Prison of Hope), Mercurystone 7 shards, 1 chunk, found in Latria)
Baby's Nail (Plague) (Found in Fool's Idol arena)
Poison Cloud (Writhing DS from Leechmonger)
Death Cloud (Plague) (Pureblood DS from Maiden Astrea)
Kunai (sold by Graverobber Blige)
Insanity Catalyst (more Magic DMG, less MP) (Catalyst, Golden DS from Old Monk)
I killed the Vanguard, traded my Talisman of God for a Colorless Soul, shot the Adjudicator in the ... bird ... from above, went to the Prison of Hope and killed the Fool's Idol. My Black Mage is gathering power.
I killed the Flamelurker and created a Mercury Secret Dagger+2 for stabbing and poisoning dudes. I then went back to Boletaria and killed the Red Dragon from a guard tower. After that, I quickly dispatched the Tower Knight and travelled to Depraved Chasm and killed the Leechmonger and turned its soul into my favourite spell, Poison Cloud. Going back to 1-1, I realized I had pure white world tendency, and entered the area on the left of the starting archstone for the first time. Very exciting!
The Black Mage made his way through Upper Latria and rescued Yurt. I think I'm supposed to wait for him killing a couple of people in the Nexus and then kill him. I cleaned out the lower area, which felt good. This is the first time I haven't been terrified in this place. The heart is down, and I got the Gold Mask which I traded with Sparkly for a Colorless Demon's Soul.
The Dirty Colossus succumbed to fire magic and Maiden Astraea was assassinated from a distance. For the Dragon God, I learned how to move quickly in the gap between big columns when he looks away from that gap. The columns that block the passage could be destroyed with magic projectiles, which, to my surprise, can be free-aimed when not locked on.
Valley of Defilement somehow had pure White World Tendency. This enabled me to find the Istarelle Spear in 5-1. I died a couple of times on my way to finding Selen Vinland in 5-2, which turned the World Tendency darker. Too bad.
The Tower of Latria had Pure Black World Tendency, so I went to the blood swamp in 3-2, and found the Sodden Ring (move freely in water) and my first Primeval Demon! It was horribly grotesque, but didn't appear to fight back. Now I have a Kris Blade +4.
My Kris Blade +4 and Ring of Magical Sharpness made the Maneaters 1 and 2-hit kills with my Firestorm spell. The Old Monk was cut to pieces with my Crescent Falchion +4. The Old Hero took 2 Firestorms, Penetrator took only 1. I also slowly Soul Ray'ed the Blue Dragon to death. Now only King Allant remains.
Seekest Soul Power: Kill Maiden after final boss fight
Legacy of the Kings: Get Soulbrandt from final boss fight and go to Blacksmith Ed
Other trophies that may be obtainable in this playthrough:
Worthy of the Sword requires White WT in world 4, which Necromancor has now. I should go to the pit where Patches kicked me down, get the weapon *without* equipping it and transport to 4-1. Give the weapon to Satsuki.
Time for Rolling: Roll through arrows in 3-1
King of Rings shopping list:
Ally's Ring: (Talk to Monumental with Pure White CT before final boss)
Dull Rat's Ring: (Rescue Lord Rydell in 3-1, requires Pure White WT)
Foe's Ring: (Mephistopheles reward for killing Yuria)
Ring of Devout Prayer: (Trade Vinland Crest with Selen Vinland or trade Large Sword of Moonlight with Sparkly)
Ring of Longevity: (Trade Pure Bladestone with Sparkly)
Ring of Uneven Scales: (Trade Gold Coin with Sparkly)
Sage's Trophy shopping list:
Fireball (Dragon God)
Homing Soul Arrow (Old Monk)
Ignite (Armor Spider)
Relief (Maiden Astraea)
Soulsucker (Maiden in Black)
Soul Thirst (Old Monk)
Saint's Trophy shopping list:
Anti-Magic Field (Storm King)
Banish (Old Monk)
Hidden Soul (3000 souls)
Recovery (3 x Colorless DS)
Resurrection (Colorless DS)
Online trophy:
Unwelcome Guest: Vanquish a player as an invader
2021-01-14
Got the Worthy of the Sword trophy.
- Satsuki was waiting for me at the start of 4-1. I went to 4-2 and went to the pit where Patches kicked me, grabbed the sword and teleported back to 4-1 and delivered the sword. Satsuki 'thanked' me by attacking me. He died.
I did the rounds on 4-1, killing the samurai skeleton guy over and over again wearing the Providential Ring. He finally dropped the Pure Bladestone, which I traded to Sparkly the Crow for the Ring of Longevity.
Got the Unwelcome Guest trophy.
- I did my first invasion and murdered a poor player in 1-4 using my awesome Firestorm spell.
Got the Return to Form trophy.
- I put a summon sign outside the Maneater boss and was summoned into a game. I quickly murdered the bosses, helping the player out.
I started my end-game killing spree. First I killed Yurt in 3-2, then I went to 2-1 and killed the poor Filthy Man. My Character Tendency was now pure black, and Mephistopheles showed up in the Nexus. I killed Saint Urbain, Sage Freke, Patches (finally!), and finally, Yuria, which was my last chance of attuning a different Spell loadout. I went to the Rotting Haven and got the Large Sword of Moonlight, which I traded with Sparkly for a Ring of Devout Prayer.
2021-01-16
I still want to try to get the Gold Coin to trade for the Ring of Uneven Scales and the Time for Rolling trophy in 3-1.
2021-01-17
I *finally* got the Golden Coin after farming the Fat Official in 2-2 for hours. So annoying. I traded it for the Ring of Uneven Scales, a very boring ring.
Completed the game with Royal.
I went to the False King and fried him with a single Firestorm. Soon after, I finished the game, poisoning and stabbing the Maiden in Black for good measure (Necromancor is so evil).
In the continuing adventures of Kang Golos, Erik battled his way through the horrors of Latria, to the Maneaters. After a couple of failed attempts, we went elsewhere and finished worlds 2 and 4.
World 4 ended up in Pure White WT, so we went and got Makoto for Satsuki.
2021-03-31
Erik killed the Vanguard and crafted the Dozer Axe, which deals 450 damage without any modifiers. That was enough to chop the Maneaters down. We had been playing offline so far, but I got us online for the Old Monk fight. Erik was pretty nervous about the fight, but then proceeded to kill the poor guy in a couple of hits.
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