The original Souls, revisited.

Every once in a while, a title is released that goes against the trend to lay down a new path for others to follow.

One such title was FromSoft’s “Demon’s Souls”, which was released in 2009.

In the years leading up to 2009, development studios were tripping over themselves to make their Triple-A games as accessible and as easy as possible. In fact, just a year before, the newest entry to the long running “Prince of Persia” series, which was known for its challenging platforming and combat, was designed in such a way that the player couldn’t even fail if they tried to. It was a trend that made sense given that we have long since moved away from the days of coin eating arcade machines, but to those like myself who were always looking for a satisfying challenge to overcome, it was a disheartening situation and I wondered if this was just how things were going to be from then on.

Luckily, with the release and subsequent breakout success of what is known as the “Souls” games, things have changed for the better.

When I think back on the time I spent with Demon’s Souls back then, I remember not only those great moments like swinging the Storm Ruler for the first time but also the exhilaration I felt. It was truly an unforgettable game, and suffice to say when I heard that the masters of remakes, Bluepoint Games, were helming a full remake to the title that started it all, I couldn’t have been more excited.

Hello, I remember you being less intimidating.

MSRP: $69.99
Platform: PS5
Length: 15 – 20~ hours, much more for completionists

Luckily, given the success and popularity of Souls games, I don’t have to do much explaining in terms of how it plays or how challenging it is, but for those who are completely new, I’ll keep it quick and simple.

Demon’s Souls is a third-person action-rpg where attacks and evasive maneuvers are governed by a stamina bar. Dying carries the penalty of losing the currency that the player was holding, which is required to level up and buy items, and dying again before retrieving what was lost means losing it completely.

It’s a brutal but satisfying experience filled to the brim with many oddities that players have to learn for themselves, and at the end when it’s all said and done, it offers a tremendous sense of satisfaction to those willing to battle their way through the hardship.

With that out of the way, I’m both happy and slightly disappointed to report that in more ways than not, this is very close to the game that was released on the PS3 all those years ago.

The first and of course most obvious difference is the visual upgrade, and what an improvement it is as not only are the visuals themselves vastly improved, the performance change from a title that could barely hold 30 FPS standing still with no enemies on screen to a silky smooth, locked 60 FPS experience is absolutely night and day.

The visual fidelity presented here was so impressive that I often found myself just standing around in awe of the environmental detail, and I can confidently say that this is the game I have used the newly added photo mode more times than any other.

Despite its poor performance, the original had a great sense of atmosphere, and thanks to the new visuals and stellar sound design, it remains intact here as well, oftentimes surpassing the original in certain areas.

Gorgeous!

As for the gameplay, I was now able to roll in 8 directions instead of 4, and noted that healing items now have different caps as to how many could be held at once, but I would say the most impactful change was the camera, which did a much better job of keeping the action in focus and not getting caught up in the environment and obstructing my view.

Also, while Demon’s Souls takes advantage of the haptic feedback on the Dualsense controllers, I didn’t feel it really changed the overall experience all that much. Although, it did somehow make those moments where my weapon would bounce off the wall before hitting an enemy feel even more embarrassing somehow, so there’s that.

The true game changer is the improved, nearly non-existent loading time. While I appreciated the various loading screen illustrations in the original release, when I was dead and loading back in to the area or if I’m moving back to the Nexus during some intense soul farming session, the load times really did get in the way and broke up the pacing of the game quite a bit, which is no longer an issue.

Pressing the button to warp to a new area and picking up a drink to take a sip, I was often loaded in before my lips touched the cup, and it’s truly a thing of joy knowing that when I’m playing a game, I will be spending my time playing instead of waiting.

The new orchestrated songs are high quality and generally very well done, but I would have loved the option to switch on the original soundtrack for nostalgia stake.

Where there is a bridge, there is a dragon. Where there is a dragon, there is fire. Where there is fire, you’re gonna burn, baby.

When thinking of all the tweaks and additions, they all benefit the overall experience so it’s a bit disappointing that outside the major changes mentioned before, the rest of the content within the game remains the same.

The time it takes to swing certain weapons, the less than intelligent AI and of course, the broken archstone still remains inaccessible. While they added the ability to change the look of my character and reset NPC state in case I pressed the wrong button and pissed an important NPC off, there was no way to reset my stats so I could try a new build. In fact, I ended up rushing to complete the game for the review, and in the process ended up in New Game+ with way too low of a level, getting one-shot by almost everything, and I wish I could’ve held off on going into NG+ after defeating the final boss.

The world tendency system still remains obtuse and the run back to certain bosses, even with shortcuts, can take way too long. While it’s true that there is some charm to how set in its own ways Demon’s Souls is,I feel I have been spoiled by the latter Souls games and their various quality of life improvements.

Nope.

Coming hot off the heels after Shadow of the Colossus and now with Demon’s Souls, Bluepoint Games have cemented their name as the best in the business when it comes to remaking beloved classics. Not only have they managed to capture and retain all the elements that made the original so great, they have brought it to the modern age as the absolute showcase title for a new generation of consoles.

Fun Tidbit – It was fun watching everyone gather together and solve the mystery behind the hidden door. Too bad it was solved a bit too quickly this time around.

Review copy of game provided by publisher.