Review: Demon’s Souls Remake revitalizes a cult-classic

FromSoftware has without a doubt created a subgenre of video games back in 2009, without even realizing it at first. After all, it’s possible that Demon’s Souls was originally going to be one and done, and that was it for the extremely niche dark fantasy name. Of course, as we all know now, that wasn’t the case and the spiritual successor, Dark Souls, was a smash success, even though it might have not initially had the mass appeal it has now.

From has continued to make games within the subgenre they created, each time iterating a little bit on core designs and mechanics, but always presenting players with incredible challenges that would require them to overcome fantastical odds. As time moved on, players have grown fonder of each and every title, but Demon’s Souls was still quite obscure and niche.

Whether it’s partially because all the other games made their way to the PS4/Xbox One, or the modernization and streamline of the mechanics in subsequent games proved more inviting, Demon’s Souls was stuck in the past. At least until Bluepoint was tasked with bringing the game back to life, completely remade with gorgeous new visuals, but retaining the same challenge found in the original 2009 game.

Bluepoint, who is known for working on many remasters and remakes, including Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection but most notably the Shadow of the Colossus remake, took on a truly herculean task with Demon’s Souls, because it’s not only meant to revitalize and bring back a beloved yet niche 2009 game, it is also meant to serve as a launch showcase for the PlayStation 5, and I can confirm that they have absolutely nailed it in every regard.

If you’ve previously played Demon’s Souls on the PS3, then content wise the game from start to finish is exactly as you remembered it, though that in no way is a bad thing. In fact, given that Bluepoint was able to retain everything as fans remember is excellent, as it will undoubtedly revitalize speed runs for the game. But those who have never touched the original will still get to experience what all the commotion was, though with some truly great quality of life updates.

Demon’s Souls was built on player choice, giving players the freedom to explore any of the five worlds at will (after beating the game’s first boss in the Boletarian Palace) and that sense of freedom remains here. While there is certainly a natural sense of progression, there’s nothing stopping veteran players from jumping into the Shrine of Storms early to pick up some super useful items or simply farm souls faster than they would in the game’s first area.

It’s also a game that’s made for those who like to experiment and tinker with builds and optimal routes. I can certainly attest that two separate runs with different characters can wildly differ based on the weapon you’re wielding or the world’s you choose to explore first, and that’s undoubtedly part of the game’s charm.

But given that most of the game’s mechanics stayed the same, that also means the upgrade system for each weapon remains just as complicated as it was in the original. Dark Souls and subsequent games have resolved this by simplifying and consolidating upgrade materials into fewer different kinds of materials. Demon’s Souls however has different materials for every kind of weapon enhancement (poison, quality, crushing, etc) and each of those materials have multiple rarities, with more required as you reach a weapon’s max upgrade level.

The game’s World Tendency system remains unchanged as well, and even though I have played the original and have now played through the Remake one and a half times, I still somewhat don’t understand how it works. In its most basic explanation, the more good deeds you do, such as helping NPCs or killing Demons, you shift each world to a White World Tendency, and doing evil things such as killing said NPCs will shift it to Black. While it sounds simple on paper, the execution of it is just as convoluted as it always was, and I’m usually left wondering why one of my worlds just turned into Black Tendency, without me really doing anything (seemingly) to do as such.

But this is a Remake boasting numerous enhancements, so let’s talk about some of the bigger changes Bluepoint is bringing to the table.

The biggest and most obvious change is the improved visuals thanks to the power of the new PlayStation 5, which even gives players the choice of playing in full 4K at 30 frames per second, or at variable 4K at 60 frames per second, the latter which was my preferred method of playing. Every area, whether it’s the somber Nexus, or the ruins of the Boletarian Palace, or the rain soaked Shrine of Storms, is brought to life in a way that just wasn’t possible on the PlayStation 3, and serves as the best showcase of next-gen graphics out of any of the system’s other launch games.

The game’s soundtrack and voiceovers were also completely re-recorded, with the latter being done by the same voice actors from the original game. The soundtrack is now much more bombastic than it was on the PS3, and feels much more cinematic. This will undoubtedly strike a different chord with different players, as some will definitely prefer the more subdued soundtrack in the original, but I absolutely adored how much this new score complemented the gorgeous visuals.

The DualSense also gets a nice spotlight here, showcasing some truly great rumble mechanics that mimic the action you’re doing, such as the clank of the rickety elevator you’re riding. These different haptic rumbles combined with their associated sound effects from the controller definitely help with immersion. The game doesn’t really utilize the adaptive triggers but I think its focus on haptic feedback more than makes up for it.

Other smaller yet still meaningful changes include the ability to roll omnidirectionally, which sounds silly when saying it, but given that the original allowed you to only roll in four basic directions, this is a godsend for more accurate combat tactics when going up against tricky enemies. The game’s encumbrance system remains, for better or worse, but thankfully players can now directly send items from their character to their storage box without having to return to the Nexus to unload equipment they aren’t using. The speed of the PS5’s SSD makes respawning after death extremely quick, and now players can also teleport to different Archstones (worlds) without returning to the Nexus, which also take just a few seconds to hop between.

One of the best things to happen alongside the Demon’s Souls Remake and it being a launch title for a new console is its undoubtable resurgence of popularity, which means the online servers are going to be ripe with awesome asynchronous multiplayer, such as seeing other player’s ghosts in your world, seeing their demise when you touch a bloodstain, or even checking out the many helpful (and unhelpful) messages players leave on the ground. Of course this feature would continue with Dark Souls, but its Demon’s Souls that started it all.

Multiplayer also works great for the most part. I’ve been invaded multiple times throughout my adventure, with many of the players ending up feeling the sharp pointy end of my Winged Spear (humble brag). It’s co-op that really made this a standout experience for my friends who were new to the subgenre and needed help getting their bearings.

Like in other Souls games, you and a buddy can set the same password in order to see each other’s Summon signs and bring them into your world or vice versa. While I strived to finish the game on my own, I was very happy to offer my buddy Lance a hand at the entire first and second world, and while some may scoff and say that ruins the experience, we had an absolute blast. We did have one instance where we got disconnected, and another time where the summonings kept failing, but for the most part, it was a pretty seamless experience.

The way it works is that you can summon a player to help you run through a section to the next boss. As soon as the boss is defeated, the summoned player leaves again. The summoned player also can’t pick up any items, incentivizing them to run through sections in their own world to get new, useful and sometimes powerful items.

As far as the game’s difficulty goes, that’s going to be entirely subjective, based on whether this is your first “Souls” game, or whether you’re just conditioned to play hard games. I personally found Demon’s Souls to be on the easier side, especially when put up against its contemporaries. It’s also a much shorter game as well, especially once you get into the game’s groove. However, it is still certainly considered to be challenging, and if this is your first Souls experience, then you’ll no doubt be faced with many difficult challenges.

The Verdict

I can’t praise Bluepoint enough with just how much care and attention went into not only bringing this world back to life, but bringing it back in such an authentic way compared to its original. But even though Bluepoint will be getting most of the praise here for their exceptional work, I think it’s also important to recognize FromSoftware’s original design, and just how well that design held up over the years. Souls fans with a PS5 certainly won’t need to be persuaded to hop in, but I’d easily recommend Demon’s Souls for the uninitiated to check out where the this third-person subgenre was conceived. The difficulty can be daunting, but it can also be overcome with enough patience and determination.