Apologies for the lack of updates for the last week or so. I’ve been off to the hospital a million times and have had a birthday – and one of my birthday presents was a game. Can you guess which one?

Yes, I’ve finally got my own copy of Demon’s Souls. I’ve missed it since returning my borrowed copy, but now I’ve got my own Black Phantom UK edition. It’s a lovely package, with an art book, CD and strategy guide.

As this is the UK version, though, and I was previously playing the Asian version, the game didn’t pick up my old save file. That turned out to be a good thing, given that I couldn’t remember any of the controls or how to play.

Still, it all came back fairly quickly and it only two me two hours to clear the tutorial and dispatch the first boss. Haven’t played much since then, but I’ve poked away at level 2-1 enough to get to the horrible bastard spider boss. Whereupon I used all my healing items and then died. It’ll be back to 1-1 to pick up some supplies, then. Sigh.

I’m glad my memory wasn’t lying to me about the game, though – it’s just as utterly, relentlessly, punishingly great as I’d remembered.