In a world of games devoid of challenge, Demon’s Souls stood alone. It was an anomaly, or so it seemed at the time. Where other games offered tutorials, explanations, sidekicks, and do-overs, Demon’s Souls offered only death. It was the antithesis of what every video game studio knew about game development in a post-Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion world: players don’t like to be challenged, they don’t like to be tested, they don’t like to have their progress reset, they don’t like not knowing exactly where to go next. And they especially don’t like dying.