Demon's Souls: Overstated Difficulty Hides Solid Game Design

Rather than post a formal review of Demon's Souls, the guys at Bitmob have decided to pen an article that simply sheds more light on the gameplay mechanics in Atlus' difficult but "misunderstood" PS3 RPG.
Speaking more specifically, stamina is probably the one gameplay mechanic that grounds Demon's Souls in a very unique way. The concept of stamina is nothing new; however, when coupled with the game's combat and control style, stamina is definitely a very -- if not the most -- important factor of gameplay.

When your character attacks, rolls, or blocks, he uses stamina. There are no endless combos. If you aren't mindful of your stamina bar at all times during an encounter, you could very easily leave yourself open to a fatal attack.

The amount of weight your character carries is also a major part of how he performs. Although this, too, isn't something we haven't seen before, equipment burden is a gameplay device you don't usually experience in real-time.