Players take control of the main character in a third-person view who, at the start of the game, can be customized in their gender, appearance, name and starting class.There are 10 starting classes ranging from knights and barbarians to thieves and mages, each with their own set of statistics, starting gear, weapons and type of magic used that emphasize certain approaches to combat depending on the player’s preference.
As players kill demons, they gain souls which are currency that can be used to buy, repair, and upgrade weapons as well as increase player statistics such as strength, luck, endurance, etc.Along with souls, players can retrieve items such as weaponry and ore for upgrading. When a player is first killed in combat during a level, they are sent to the beginning of the level with all non-boss enemies re-spawned, and the player returns in soul form with lower maximum health and the loss of all unused souls.If the player manages to retrieve their bloodstain at the point where they were last killed, they regain their lost souls, but if they are killed before then, the souls are lost permanently. Upon defeating a boss, the player can choose to re-spawn back at that location, marked in the form of an Archstone. When not engaged in levels, players reside in the Nexus, a realm of souls that acts as a hub where players can exchange souls, store items and travel between regions. After completing the initial portion of the first region, players can choose to progress through any other of the newly available regions.
Gameplay can change depending on both the World and Character tendency, which can be either white or black. Tendency depends on the actions of the player such as helping or killing NPCs. When white, enemies are easier, yet the soul and items rewards are fewer; when black, enemies are stronger and give greater rewards. Players can manipulate their tendency to suit their current needs. Character tendency affects the player throughout, while World Tendency only affects the region where an action was taken.
Further emphasizing the challenging nature of this game is the increased difficulty upon completion of the story. After finishing the game, the player may choose to continue playing from the beginning, except with a 40% increase in difficulty. Subsequent completions increase the difficulty further by 8%.
