What happens when you get punished for playing a punishing game early? You get invaded by high-level, max-ability tank-like Black Phantoms.

That's the word from a Japanese gaming blog. Dark Souls arrives on store shelves tomorrow in the far east (and October 4th in the States), but some gamers found themselves playing the game early. Developers From Software have decided to cruelly reprimand those players by invading their games with max-level Black Phantoms.

Demon's Souls and Dark Souls share the unique ability for players to be "invaded" by other players. The developers are using this aspect of the game to deter early players from progressing too far. One such phantom had its stats captured, documenting the level 145, 1900 HP, level-99-ability monster. One Dark Souls reviewer has played the game for almost 60 hours and is only level 43, with 1001 HP and abilities ranging from 8 to 30. Check out the screenshot below for those of you who remain incredulous:

[Source]