Atlus Responds To Demon's Souls' Halloween Surprise

Earlier today, we brought you news of Demon's Souls' Halloween surprise. Now we've talked to Atlus directly, and have specifics pertaining to what will be going on in the game. Aram Jabbari, Atlus' manager of PR and sales, took time out of his busy schedule (sleeping at his desk, sleeping on the toilet, sleeping as he eats) to answer our hard-hitting questions. Here's what he had to say, and as an added bonus, here's a picture of him wearing sunglasses.

How will Demon's Souls be harder?
For one, the attack power of enemies is greatly increased. Normally, the shift towards black tendency is a gradual one, with enemies gaining strength at intervals. At Pure Black, they’re at their strongest.

Black Phantom players, the people who opt to invade the games of others, receive a boost to their attack power as well. Players can also look forward to encountering nameless Black Phantoms, who are much more powerful than their regular brethren and able to give even seasoned players significant grief.

On top of all this, the player’s HP, when in soul form is actually slightly diminished (it is already penalized since the player is in Soul Form). Adding insult to injury, one could say.

Now, this might all sound like terrible news for anyone who is already finding Demon’s Souls to be a challenge at neutral world tendency, but it actually offers gamers a number of great rewards as well.

Players can expect to receive many more souls for slaying enemies, and the item drop rate is increased, making Pure Black the ideal time for looting runs.

Many characters and areas are inaccessible or hidden unless the player has shifted the world to one side of the tendency spectrum, something that isn’t always a piece of cake. An example is the gate in Boletaria Castle (1-1) that is down the stairs immediately to the left of the initial starting point. Those who play Demon’s Souls online during Halloween should consider making their way over there when their tendency hits Pure Black…

Why would you do this to players?
Have you actually TASTED gamer tears?  Delicious!

Jest aside, we’re doing this because Demon’s Souls is intended to be a dynamic, ongoing experience, one that gets better and better as the community grows and shares more of their adventures with one another. What better way to reinforce that than to help many of those players open up new areas and encounter new challenges? So many games lose their relevance as time passes.  Such is not the case with Demon’s Souls.

Also, we love each and every one of the people who bought and support the game, and we feel this is a nice way of showing our thanks.

But seriously, there’s nothing sweeter than gamer tears. Mmm…

Are you the person who places "treasure ahead" notices next to death traps?
No, that would be absolutely despicable! Who would leave "There's treasure ahead" in front of a death trap? Thank goodness the game's messaging system allows those kinds of notes to disappear faster than the useful ones, since the more recommended ones linger longer than misleading stuff like that. Oh, the guy that leaves "good guy" in front of enemies that can one-hit kill you? That's me.

Atlus: Why a U and not an A?
That would be so conformist and mainstream. Can’t you tell we’re different, that we’re outside the box?  *tosses jet black hair out of face*