Demon's Souls

- Take your time. Its a very methodical game. Its a hard game.

- Don't try to play straight melee.

- For a first time player, ranged attacks are the way to go. Enemies gang up on you and weapons clash off walls so pure melee characters have a rough time starting out. I suggest the mage or royal.

- The answer to "I wonder what happens if I jump down here" is always "you will die".

- Just hold down the shield block button all the time.

- If you're ever having problems, summon some blue phantoms. Chances are they will tear shit up for you as you casually walk through the level. Just about every boss in my first playthrough was demolished by two naked dudes with meat cleavers while I safely watched from a distance. (Note that you need to be in body form to do this, so beat a boss or use a stone of ephemeral eyes.)