Aaron, there is a lock-on button. Click the stick! Click the stick!

whoa, time-stamped and everything! I like the way you nonchalantly slip in and out of talking about real life.

Demon's Souls seems way too intimidating for me.

And a riposte is a return thrust, or a counter, or (in discussion) a retort.

Great Stuff. Very reminiscent of a Bill Simmons' running diary. Keep these coming.

Cue Rob in 3, 2, 1....

A little more to the point, R3 is the lock-on key. Once you're locked to an enemy, you can flick the right stick to switch your lock-on to other baddies in the vicinity. You should have seen a message on the ground during the tutorial about this.

Also, there was no need to eat pavement in order to visit the first archstone. Talking to the Crestfallen Warrior (the blue guy) would have revealed where to go. Despite what others say of Demon's Souls's lack of narrative, it's really important to talk to everyone. They'll give you lots of hints.

Want any tips for the beginning level?

Good to know there's a lock-on button! I thought I talked to the blue guy, but I guess I didn't. My way was creative, at least. The last act of a desperate man.

David: I'm a Simmons fan for sure. I love the running diaries he does.

@Jason - LOL

@Jason and Rob: You had to have planned that!

P.S. I like this format, Aaron. Keep 'em coming.

Brett: No, we didn't -- I just knew Rob would be chiming in at some point, as it is a Demon's Soul post. (Note: Bitmob, Demon's Souls post = Rob Savillo Summoning Spell). He IMed me laughing when he saw it. 

You're going about Demon's Souls the wrong way.

It's not about playing and winning and progressing through some linear bullshit gameplay.

The confusion and the sense of learning and satisfaction of finally succeeding on your own merits is what MAKES it so good.

Getting people here to tell you what to do and spoil all the little aspects will ruin the experience.

IMO you've got 2 options;

1. Continue playing the game without listening or reading anything else on it (probably too late)
2. Realize this isn't the game for you and go back to Uncharted or Halo or whatever game you think is fun

The Knight is a really poor choice for a beginner. I know, I did the same. I banged my head to the wall until I conquered level 1-1, but that took me several nights and dozens, dozens of deaths. Go back and re-start with a Royal, it is so much more easier you won't believe the difference.

The game is very much about the hesitation to continue. Sometimes you'll be better off erring on the side of caution. There are enemies in 1-1 which you don't have to take on yet and which will one-shot you, easily, if you insist going toe to toe.

Ahahaha, great story. I thought I was picking bad characters with the Royal class, but it's just the difficulty charm to the game.

This game frustrated me a bit too and since I was just borrowing a PS3 I didn't bother spending a lot of time on it. Dying a lot is one thing, but then even after retrieving your body you have only half health, and if you don't make it back to your body you lose all your souls which makes me angry :) I found a guy early on that killed me in one hit but I got him on the third try only to find I was going the wrong way. I didn't even notice I could go left. Later a dragon fried me and I failed to get back to my body because I got tangled up in a corner and the camera spun on me (yeah, I'm blaming the game and not my skill :). After losing all of the work I did for a couple hours I quit.

You mention your system start up experience and one thing that frustrates me with the PS3 are the updates seem slow. Between system updates, game installs and game updates I've waited as long as 40 minutes to get into a game. I only borrow a PS3 that isn't used a lot though so I always have system updates to do when I take it home.

The Knight class isn't so bad -- I started there, too, for nearly the same reasons. You'll just need to master melee combat a little faster than if you chose the Royal.

Smg is partially right -- a big part of the enjoyment for me was the sense of exploration that Demon's Souls encourages. But you're not in this alone -- no matter how much the game likes to remind you of that. You have white, blue, and black phantoms, as well as messages to help you out. Take advantage of them when you can.

One last bit of advice: Demon's Souls rewards caution and patience -- running in head first is going to get you killed. It's slower paced than most action-role-playing games, but it's that much more interesting as a result.

Aaron: This sounds less significantly less exciting than the Rugrats game.

Joonas: Are you the same Joonas from Froz mods and the Alan Wake forums?

My advice? Approach the game like a survival-horror adventure, rather than an RPG. If you go into the game thinking you will eventually be able to level up to the point of tanking enemies, you'll never get over "that hump." However, if you hunker down, play extremely cautiously and defensively -- as though your actual life was at stake -- you will find the ebb and flow of Demon's Souls.

Beyond all else, never let your guard down. Never...

So Aaron, how'd the next 90 minutes go?