I remember importing the Korean version back in the day to see what all the fuss was about. Due to the foreign text, I couldn't get into it, so I flogged it and bought the US version on its release and the difference was night and day. What a game! Up to that point, videogame difficulty had become so diluted that Demons Souls seemed almost unfair. It wasn't, but the punishing difficultly, particularly in the early stages put a lot of people off and the whinging on various forums was comical. Once you'd levelled up, however, it became much easier.
One thing I loved about it was, you couldn't button mash. It wasn't a mindless combo game, so you had to learn or you'd die - endlessly - and make the game even harder...!! And the bosses..!! Jeez, the first time I attempted some of those I was like - WTF, and the cherry on the cake; if you were online, players could invade your game at will and kill you, or take a bosses place as an opponent (the Old Monk) - that was genius.
I had so many highs with this game that it will forever be my favourite Souls game. Downing some of those bosses, particularly, the later bosses created moments of absolute euphoria. Yes, Dark souls expanded on the concept and did pretty much everything better, but we were all prepared for it because they couldn't shock us twice. Demons being the first was a nightmare out of nowhere.
It is by far, the best risk vs reward game I have ever played and I'll definitely be buying the updated version.