Game:

Demon's Souls (2009)

Duration: 10:57

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Welcome to Demon's Souls, where I'm running out of jokey titles.

No skills were used in the making of this series. =)

My opinion on the "worst level in the game" shifts around a lot in Demon's Souls, and particularly did while running through NG through NG+4 at Soul Level 1 to try to get ready for this video series. But I would say more often than not, I tend to feel the worst level is 5-1.

I was really shocked to get this level on my first attempt here. I think my paths are fairly reliable, but I would definitely not call them 100%, and even if you learn this route really well, I would not expect it to work more than maybe once in every five attempts. There are just so many places in this stage where so much can and typically does go wrong.

5-1 is somewhat unique in that its makeup changes as you play through the level on multiple attempts. Some traps only go off your first time through the stage, while certain "sleeping" enemies wake up after you come near them, and remain awake ever after. The route that I'm using here was developed on a "fully awakened" version of the level, so it should be possible to use this strategy even if you don't make it through on your first attempt.

1:10 5-1 begins. I'm going to basically be doing a speedrun to the Filthy Woman shopkeeper.

1:20 Once you start running to get past the first enemy here, it's important to not stop until you get around the second enemy. If you slow down to recover stamina, it will oddly influence his AI, and he usually nails me as I'm trying to run past him.

1:52 To use this shortcut, it's very important to fall, slowly, off of the left side of this platform.

1:55 As a rule of thumb, I try not to rely on the "roll upon landing" trick, because one could argue it's a skill. However, it's fairly important to land it at this particular spot in the game. If you stick the landing absolutely perfectly it is possible for the two ambushers here to miss you, but I've only had that happen twice, ever. Instead, since this is so far near the start of the level, my advice would just be "mash circle rapidly while falling". Sometimes you'll get it, sometimes you won't.

2:00 There's a dirty little trick getting to this bridge. If you step into the little triangle-shaped hole here, you just get stuck, and most likely killed. Make sure you go around to approach the bridge the long way.

2:48 An enemy has followed me into here. Normally the Thief Ring is supposed to protect me here, but this happens with some regularity. Fortunately waiting for Hyper Mode usually gives you enough time to be certain.

3:56 Walk VERY SLOWLY here to trigger the falling rocks trap ineffectually.

4:05 Just a reminder: to use the bow to aim Soul Remains, after you aim with the bow, press triangle and then square to throw a Soul Remains without moving.

4:56 Be careful entering the top of this area. The Black Phantom CAN reach you when you're on his right side here. You're safe once you get around to the other side of the room though.

5:41 This second guy on the bridge is somewhat tricky to kill. If I try to just get an angle on him and fire, there's a decent chance I'll pop the tick next to me, which will kill me. If I roll the tick out of the way while he's close, though, he'll come after me. You have to play it a little bit by ear, but in my case a Soul Remains works out, causing him to move back to his original position, which allows me to roll the tick out of my way.

6:37 Once you've killed the two little guys, don't let the big guy scare you. As long as you make this run right (go around his right side to the back wall, then veer left hard), he virtually never harasses you.

6:48 Leechmonger fight begins. This fight is all about taking the right position. From where I'm standing I can lock on to him, making it easy to target him with either Fire Spray or the Lava Bow. He only has one attack that can hit you, and it's extremely well-telegraphed. You just need to learn the difference in his healing animation (stretching his arms high) and his "preparing to throw leeches" animation (tucking his arms down and to the side). Other than that, super easy kill.

I switch my Miracle to Regeneration, grab my Blessed Mace +1, and after a couple of quick suicides we're ready for the swamp.

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