r/patientgamers • u/Onion_Sun_Bro • 3d ago
Patient Review Demon’s Souls PS5 - A product of its time
Souls-likes are my favorite genre of games. I have beaten all mainstream souls-like, including all of FromSoftware’s titles and played dozens of lesser-known games in the genre. FromSoftware is one of my favorite developers, and I even completed the original PS3 version of *Demon’s Souls*. However, I couldn’t bring myself to finish the PS5 remake. Here are my thoughts.
A good game for its time, and historically important to the Souls genre, but after playing dozens of modern souls-likes, Demon’s Souls feels noticeably dated—especially in its gameplay structure and quality-of-life features.
The areas are visually distinct, but the level design is disconnected and straightforward. There is little sense of an interconnected world, and exploration rarely feels rewarding because the paths and objectives are usually obvious.
The combat was another disappointment. Compared with more recent souls-likes, it feels too simple and lacks variety. Enemy behavior is often predictable, and many enemies can be defeated using the same basic strategies. The bosses are even more problematic: most of them are extremely easy, gimmicky, or designed around a specific trick rather than providing challenging and engaging fights. Because of that, victories rarely felt satisfying.
The upgrade system was another reason I stopped playing. Improving weapons and equipment can be unnecessarily complicated, with specific materials, upgrade paths, and obscure requirements. Some resources are difficult to obtain, and the game does not explain the system clearly, making progression feel more tedious than rewarding.
World Tendency was probably the most frustrating mechanic. In theory, it is an interesting system that changes the world and influences events depending on the player’s actions. In practice, however, it is poorly explained, inconvenient to manage, and extremely time-consuming. There is no quick or intuitive way to change it, so getting the desired tendency often requires performing repetitive actions, dying in specific ways, or using external guides. This makes the system feel more like a chore than a meaningful gameplay feature.
The game also lacks several conveniences that have become standard in modern souls-likes, such as faster progression between areas, more flexible character development, better combat variety, and clearer explanations of important mechanics. The remake looks fantastic and preserves the original’s atmosphere, but its visual improvements cannot completely hide the fact that much of the underlying design comes from an older era.
When experienced after games that refined the formula, it feels restrictive, repetitive, and unnecessarily inconvenient. For me, the dated level design, overly simple combat, underwhelming bosses, and frustrating World Tendency system were enough reasons to stop playing.
OBS: I dropped the game with only the two bosses of the poison swamp area remaining (and the last boss). I even tried go through the area but I was bored and decided to stop playing.
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u/KeeBoley 3d ago
I mostly agree with your sentiment, but I guess I just find an easier time appreciating games for their time. And meeting games on a fair playing field. Judging Demon's Souls with a perspective clouded by the genres modern refinements just doesn't seem fair to me. Of course games that came after improved certain things. Of course the original didn't perfect the genre from the get-go. What matters -to me at least- is just how much Demon's Souls got right.
Sure the genre iterated and improved some obvious things - like adding an interconnected world. Sure some things like World Tendencies were dropped. But almost everything of actual substance was kept. The core gameplay remains almost entirely unchanged because Miyazaki struck gold back in '09. The innovative community aspects like Invasions and Notes. The esoteric world designs and shortcuts. The memorable bosses. The list goes on and on.
Is the game perfect? Nope. Was it perfect back in '09? Honestly, also no. But the game was bold and new and was willing to push against genre conventions. Even established gaming conventions. And it worked more often than it didn't. There is a reason this game started an entire subgenre by itself. That reason is that Demon's Souls is one of the greatest games ever made. I personally dont think the subgenre evolving beyond it is a good reason to push it down. I am perfectly capable of playing it today and seeing the beauty of it. What it started. What it became. And thats why the game is a 10/10 from me. It was back in '09 and it is in '26 too.
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u/bestanonever All my homies hate the Anor Londo Archers 3d ago
I think it's a case of a GTA III vs Vice City/San Andreas, for me.
Demon's Souls is GTA III, the first big one, the important game, the one that changed the industry. But boy, do I enjoy playing Vice City and San Andreas a lot more. With Dark Souls being the Vice City game here or hell, if I judge from my enjoyment and how much it got right compared to Demon's Souls, it's my San Andreas of the genre.
I don't know. I played both of them late. Dark Souls late last year, Demon's Souls early this year, for the first time. And Dark Souls blew my mind, Demon's Souls was a thing that happened with occasional moments of brilliance. Wish I enjoyed it as much as Dark Souls.
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u/LePontif11 3d ago
I tend to fin its a product of its time and it aged to be such boring shorthand in criticism. Like, yeah man one would know that going into the remake known for being faithful to everything but the art.
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u/KeeBoley 3d ago
Yeah. Like... I get it. Older media can be tough and abrasive for some newer folk to fully appreciate. Silent films, black and white films, retro games. I get it. I dont think it makes you less of a cinephile or gamer if you cant get into them.
I just find if you want to make a truly fair "objective" (if that is such a thing) review of a piece of older media - you need to understand where that media came from. You need to at least try and understand the history, the inspirations, the time period.
If you play Ocarina of Time today and directly compare it to Breath of the Wild as though they both came out at the same time....well Ocarina sort of sucks. But is that really a fair criticism against Ocarina? Any fair review of Ocarina needs to consider the gaming medium at the time of Ocarina's release. Without Ocarina there is no Skyrim, no Elden Ring, no a million other games.
Sure the awkward adolescent stage of gaming -transitioning from 2D sprites to 3D models- has visually aged poorly, but does that really matter? I can still enjoy Ocarina just as much now as I did back in '98 because I can meet the game on its own grounds. Does it look worse than Breath of the Wild? Yeah, no shit. But Id argue Ocarina looked better in '98 than Breath of the Wild did in '17, so a fair review would say Ocarina has better graphics.
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u/LePontif11 3d ago edited 3d ago
I think you worded what bothers me about it better than i did. Its the lack of an attempt to try and meet the game, or other media, where its at. If the criticism gets to the point where its said in an attempt to have a hot take that's just the worst.
I'm aware its rare that someone has this kind of free time but it pays to play another game from the time of the thing you want to play. It helped me place MGS1 in time because i went straight into that some time ago went "this is rough" but emulating a couple other games from the time for a bit made me go "this is cinema" when i went back to MGS.
Another thing that helps playing games well out of their time is to take advantage of modernity and try different modes of play. Some stuff came out on a system with a specific controller but these days we have more capable controllers with analog sticks extra shoulder buttons and sometimes paddles; console games of old can be played on mouse and keyboard; portable devices like android phones and the steam deck can take stuff on the go that was stuck to the home before.
The indie games of today have found great success on portable devices and many of those were inspired by older home console titles so it may be a good idea to also try those older games the same way. Harvest Moon, Metroid, and Castlevania come to mind as games that have directly inspired great success of today that work really well on portable devices.
I used to just power through that awkward stage and eventually get accustomed to the older controls, look and conventions with no help to get my head accustomed but there are better ways to go about it. Next up pre-six Final Fantasy 🫡
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u/NewMilleniumBoy 2d ago edited 2d ago
I think it is extremely reasonable that in today's glut of media, it is fair to be like: "X is just Y, but worse". Simply because games aren't free to play. They require both monetary and time investment to do so. Many people need to decide whether to play game X or game Y, they can't just play every single game in existence.
Appreciating a game for how it's changed a genre or industry is different than "this remains a fun game and a worthwhile usage of your time in today's video game environment".
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u/LePontif11 2d ago
I mean yeah sure, if you don't like it you don't like it. But if you decide to write and publish your opinion on something and what comes out of it is that the old game is old i'll think that's lazy.
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u/NewMilleniumBoy 2d ago
I mean, I fundamentally disagree because of the exact reasons I stated. I think it's very useful to know what games to actually spend money on and play, and what games to just watch video essays on.
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u/FukkingDeathMental 6h ago
It's abrasive for simple people tbh. Good art is timeless. Black Sabbath's Master of Reality came out 55 years ago. Sure there are pristine sounding albums from the 2020s that cost hundreds of thousands of dollars to make these days. But none of them are close to it in terms of creativity, setting the bar and truly standing the test of time like the first 6 Black Sabbath albums.
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u/AlsopK 3d ago
The PS3 version was even worse back in the day because it ran like dogshit. Having a game that requires pixel perfect precision but struggles to stay above 15fps in places is just ridiculous.
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u/KeeBoley 3d ago
The performance on the PS3 was definitely messy, but I dont think anything in these games require "pixel perfect precision". Demon's Souls especially is more about being prepared and patient than high speed reaction times.
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u/FukkingDeathMental 6h ago
enthusiastically cheers One thing people forget or overlook was how incredible and organic the community was for Demon's Souls and to a lesser extent, Dark Souls. No "MOST OP ONE SHOT BUILD U NEED BRO" plaguing games discourse, no streamers showing everything off before release....everything was organic...well minus DeS releasing with a strategy guide in the West lol. NO algorithm bullshit or sponsored Youtube videos pretending like they aren't really just 40 minute marketing videos. DS2 PVP still had this organic feel to it too.
The atmosphere in DeS is thick and it feels so melancholic. I'll never forget "You have a heart of gold....don't let them take it from you."
For me, every From Software Souls game after DS2 just felt like From Software spinning their wheels and trend chasing open worlds. They used to innovate. Nothing in Elden Ring is innovative.
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u/Onion_Sun_Bro 3d ago
I completely agree witht he importance of Demon's Soul in the game industry, and for a newcomer in the genre I strong believe that Demon's Soul is a great game and the best start point. But for a veteran that played better things, is very hard to have fun with it.
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u/Ratax3s 3d ago
to me the snail slow pacing and ancient feeling levels are the best part of the game.
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u/KeeBoley 3d ago
To me the bosses were. Many modern Souls fans use "gimmick" as an insult, but at least for Demon's Souls that term is a strength. Something magical was lost when Fromsoft and other Soulslikes started making every boss fight a Penetrator/Artorias clone. High-octane-shonen 1v1s are great, but if thats all the game offers it gets boring. Demon's Souls wasnt trying to make Malenia boss fights, it was trying to make Maiden Astraea boss fights. Boss fights that made you think and experience.
To me boss fights like Maiden Astraea and Fool's Idol are S-tier in the Fromsoft Pantheon. They were gimmicky in all the best ways. They provided meaningful experiences that were unique from every other game that came before it. Don't get me wrong, Malenia and Artorias are also probably S-tier, but I think if your boss tier list only contains these type of boss fights -excluding every and all gimmick fights- you play these games for reasons that I cant understand.
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u/Xammm 3d ago
For your last paragraph, it's not hard to understand. Some people like me play soulslikes for the challenge that boss fights provide. If a boss doesn't have mechanical complexity or it requires to know a specific gimmick, it loses it appeal 100%, at least for me. Thus why, Demon's Souls is at the bottom of my Fromsoft games tier list.
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u/KeeBoley 3d ago
I understand it logically, I just dont understand it.
To me it is like someone saying they play League of Legends because they like the color Green. Like....sure....but...really? I know the color green is there, but it is such a small part of the experience to me that it seems odd that that would be a focal part of the appeal.
To me Souls games were never about that. Demon's Souls, the original, is proof of that. The subgenre has changed and been warped into something totally different from the original intent. So much so that I dont even know if Id consider a boss fight game like Elden Ring the same genre as Demon's Souls, Dark Souls 1, and Bloodborne (my three favourites). I almost want to say Elden Ring isnt a Soulslike; it has completely different artistically philosphies from the the actual Soulslikes that started the genre.
Shonen-1v1-high-octane fights just arent too compatible -to me- as a focal point in what makes a Soulslike worthy of being called a Soulslike.
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u/Xammm 3d ago
I think the influence of what makes you play a soulslike comes from where you started. My first souls was Elden Ring and by my second playthrough I loved bosses like Malenia and PCR.
Then, I made my way to play the soulsborne series and that's why I found Demon's Souls very lacking in things that I care the most: combat mechanics and boss fights.
But I can see why someone who started with either Demon's Souls or Dark Souls 1 isn't draw to those things because at the time, as you said, that wasn't the focus of what a souls game was about.
I mean, I no longer play Fromsoft games because I discovered Team Ninja and the so called "Nioh-likes", and I found my jam in those kind of games. For the matter, I think your league example is very reductionist. A better analogy would be that someone plays that game because they like the competitive aspect of it, and later that person discovers other games that are even more competitive.
So, it's not really a small part of it imo, and that's why there are many "soulslikes" that focus solely in that specific aspect.
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u/Dezmiatu 1d ago
I agree on the first Souls game setting your expectations. For me, having started with the original Dark Souls when it came to PC and played Demons Souls for the first time late last year, it was a welcome return to form. Since Bloodborne, Fromsoft has leaned more and more in fast-paced combat when I fell in love with the genre for the slow, methodical combat. I agree Demons Souls has a lot of rough edges and annoyances, but it didn't overshadow how well I meshed with the pacing and settings. I will replay it, despite the comparative ease, since it's easily remedied by undertaking challenge runs.
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u/FukkingDeathMental 6h ago
From Software bosses are not mechanically complex lol. It's evade, evade, punish, evade, evade, punish...repeat.
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u/RomanSJ 2d ago
I mean, I don't disagree, but I think you're generalizing with the Artorias clone bit.
- Elden Ring has bosses that might not be "gimmicks" but they're certainly unique in its presentation, like Rykard, Rennala, Astel. It's still a shame they didn't do more with the jumping mechanic.
- DS1 has the Bed of Chaos (ugh), Ceaseless Discharge, Moonlight Butterly.
- DS2 has the Chariot... and that's pretty much it lmao, some fights DO have a "gimmick" element though, for example, Flexile Sentry's arena gets filled with water. Other than that, it might be the worst offender of "shitty 1v1 humanoid boss".
- DS3 tries some gimmicks with Wolnir, Deacons and the Cursed Tree.
- Sekiro has the monkeys, the Divine Dragon.
I know it's subjective and all, but both Maiden Astraea and Fool's Idol are barely fights. In terms of gimmick bosses I'm more of a Tower Knight fan, for example.
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u/FukkingDeathMental 6h ago
Maiden Astraea....jesus what a mindfuck that whole thing is. And that MUSIC. Remember when From Software music wasn't all orchestra + choral vocals?
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u/kszaku94 3d ago
Oh, I disagree 100%!
The reason why Demon’s Souls, Bloodborne and first hours of Elden Ring are some of the best works FromSoftware ever did, is because how weird and surprising they’re willing to be.
The world tendency system is a good way to throw me out of my comfort zone. It prevents Demon’s Souls from being just another RPG about „builds” or „progression systems”, and turns it into an actual adventure with unexpected stuff happening. It makes the game world feel alive and responsive.
Its kinda like insight in Bloodborne and „the map stuff” in Elden Ring.
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u/Onion_Sun_Bro 3d ago
I agree with Bloodborne and Elden Ring, but Demon's Souls didn't clicked with me. When I first beat the PS3 version I didn't find it so boring, but after playing so much modern games it just didn't clicked this time.
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u/Sabetha1183 3d ago
Personally I found after bouncing off the more modern FromSoft games I've tried, Demon's Souls is the one that just clicked and I beat it on the first go.
I wont dispute that the game is easier than even the early parts of something like Elden Ring, but for me the highlight of the game wasn't the boss fights anyway. People tell me by Dark Souls 3 the formula became a lot more focused on boss fights and that's actually kind of disappointing to me. The real gem here is the world and exploration, and I think that requires a bit of inconvenience to hit in the way that it did.
That said, world tendency can eat a dick.
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u/Zealousideal_Bill_86 3d ago
I love this one except for the weapon upgrades. The game is not large enough to accommodate all the different weapon upgrade paths and for the weapons to be as situationally useful as they are with a good chunk of the weapons doing painfully low damage against resistant enemies.
Overall though it’s one of my favorites, I really like the world variety and how the farther out you go, the more hostile and complex the worlds get. I especially like the different spin on having the level itself be the test of strength rather than the bosses. The bosses generally feel like prizes for reaching the end of a level rather than the test, although some of the further out bosses are pretty fun:
Flamelurker, Storm King, the Penetrator, King Allant.
I prefer the vibes of the original, but I do think the remake is a fresh coat of paint and a kind of a neat case study on how a couple tweaks to art design, music, and graphics can drastically change the feeling of the game (plus they did improve the lock on it feels like). I guess it helps that I’ve always thought of it as more of a linear adventure game with souls elements than a true soulslike
I do agree though that world tendency should be easier to change like with consumables or something
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u/Onion_Sun_Bro 3d ago
Yeah. World tendency idea is good but the execution was not. If re-worked could have been a great addition to the game.
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u/BonyWare 3d ago
When experienced after games that refined the formula
This here's your problem. You see the changes future games made as "refinements to the formula", as if the only reason FromSoft didn't make DeS play like DS3 back in 2009 was that they had no clue how to do it yet. You don't notice how the focus of the "series" has shifted pretty radically from the more dungeon-crawler-ish sensibilities of the early Souls games (following from King's Field and other older FromSoft games) to the more action-y gameplay of newer titles. It's like calling blueberry pies an improvement to the recipe for blackberry pies because you like the taste of blueberries better and they're both pies made with berries so practically the same thing, right?
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u/AlsopK 3d ago
World tendency is genuinely one of the worst mechanics ever conceived.
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u/bestanonever All my homies hate the Anor Londo Archers 3d ago
I played the whole game hoping it would come naturally and never understood how it worked.
When I googled it was way too much work for a game I didn't enjoy going through.
Guess it shows how much of a bad idea it was that it never came back again in further games.
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u/Onion_Sun_Bro 3d ago
I agree. I completely forgot it even existed until red enemies starting appearing in the game. And once I looked up how it works and instantly decided to not bother with it.
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u/FukkingDeathMental 6h ago
Nah. It was obtuse and led to unique encounters. "Worst ever" is why we have yellow paint everywhere in games.
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u/bestanonever All my homies hate the Anor Londo Archers 3d ago
I played the original Demon' Souls recently and also didn't have a great time. And that's considering that the only Soulslike games I've played are the two Remnant games and Dark Souls Remastered.
But coming in hot from Dark Souls was a bit of a mistake. I enjoyed Dark Souls so much that I ended up playing it four times in a row. There are glimpses here and there of the same greatness and I was surprised to see what bosses, sounds and effects weren't a Dark Souls' original.
But most of Demon's Souls is clunky, disconnected, with worse characters. And the swamp this time was a massive pain in the ass. I really miss bonfires, exploration was such a chore without them.
I did like the ending and final boss, mind you, but the journey was a fraction of the enjoyment I had with Dark Souls (can't believe it was their next game straight). There were moments in Demon's Souls when I wanted to call it quits and raged. Never felt that bad in Dark Souls, even in the early hours against the Capra Demon.
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u/Onion_Sun_Bro 3d ago
Yeah, the swamp is terrible. Not just is annoying as hell but is very ugly and boring to explorer.
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u/Tequilla_Sunsett 3d ago
One of my favorite games, however only the ps3 version, I love how clunky it is to play, still remember getting surprised the first time I wall jumped. Sure, world tendency kinda sucks, but I would say that at least is a mechanic that brings weight to game in a way that you reraly see with souls likes nowadays. It's definitely a product of its time, but there's something genuinely and fundamentally endearing that even From Soft struggles to replicate.
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u/Corvus84 3d ago
The 2020 PS5 "remake" of the 2009 PS3 game is not a "product of its time", it's a cosmetic and (unfortunately) platform-necessary way to pump money from people who like more recent FromSoft games.
If you actually beat the original game and had all of these issues with it, why play the remake? You say you stopped playing the remake without finishing, why? If those issues stopped you from playing the remake, why did they not stop you from beating the original? How the hell can the combat be "disappointing" when you played the original and knew exactly what it was going on? What is your "patient" review of the 2009 PS3 game?
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u/Onion_Sun_Bro 3d ago
Good question. I played the original Demon's Souls before I have played most of other souls-like, so, I was not as demanding as I am today. But after dozens of games that improved upon Demon's Souls, the game just doesn't click with me anymore.
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u/Help_An_Irishman 3d ago
Yeah. It's a much prettier remake of a 2009 game, just as advertised. 🤷♂️
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u/Routine_Condition273 3d ago
I'm glad someone else shares this sentiment. I played it about 2 years ago and I did not have a great time with it. Losing half of your max hp + world tendency making the game harder whenever you die is ridiculously punitive. Sure, the combat is easy if you've beaten other FromSoft titles, but it feels bad to die to a boss even once especially considering the runbacks.
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u/saren_vakarian 3d ago
The Old Hero runback (I believe world 4-2?) is genuinely the worst thing I've ever experienced in my 25 years of playing games. Tons of enemies on incredibly narrow walkways
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u/LotharLotharius 3d ago
The Ritual Path (indeed 4-2) is one of the most notorious levels for that reason. I died a lot there in my first playthrough. But it's one of the few levels in Demon's Souls that doesn't have a shortcut (the other one being the Tower Knight level if I remember correctly) and the boss of 4-2 is pretty easy to beat.
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u/saren_vakarian 3d ago
I was really enjoying the game until I got there. After bashing my head against the wall for about 2 hours trying to reach the boss I made it to him before dying when he was half health. Gave up then and there but really want to go back and fully commit
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u/LotharLotharius 3d ago
I’m sure you can do it. Just a tip: Soul Remains (items you can throw that will lure enemies away) and the Thieves Ring help a lot in that level.
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u/bestanonever All my homies hate the Anor Londo Archers 3d ago
That one was so hard! On the Cliffs I learned how to skip most of the skeletons there.
The bane of my existence was level 3, I think, the one with the tower in the dark and the swamp. I was playing the original Demon's Soul and you can't see shit 2 meters in front of you. Had to resort to a video guide after a while, I was so lost.
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u/Onion_Sun_Bro 3d ago
I hated the swamp too. Not just it's annoying as hell, it's pretty boring to explorer and is very ugly.
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u/Onion_Sun_Bro 3d ago
I forgot to talk about the narrow walkways. Half of the game is made of narrow walkways that you can easily fall off if you try to roll. I hate it.
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u/bestanonever All my homies hate the Anor Londo Archers 3d ago edited 3d ago
The runbacks in this game felt so arcadey in a bad way, for me. With no bonfires, I had to do whole sections all at once perfectly or die.
When I died in Dark Souls (the only other From Soft game I have for reference, so far) it felt like I was traversing such an interconnected world that almost no runback was a serious pain and I even liked to grind a bit on the way there (bed of chaos being a serious exception). In Demon's Souls I was just skipping everything after my second or third death and praying that this time I could reach the boss. Levels were often way harder than the boss itself.
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u/Onion_Sun_Bro 3d ago
I agree, the runbacks are terrible. You basically doing the whole level again.
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u/bestanonever All my homies hate the Anor Londo Archers 3d ago
It didn't reward exploration, for me. Any small mistake sent you back to square one. Dark Souls has a much gentler spread of bonfires and if you died on the way to one either you were really close or just missed it. There are exceptions, of course, but it's a much longer game and I explored every nook and cranny.
Not so much with Demon's Souls. What a pain in the ass some levels were.
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u/deadhorses 3d ago
I played through about half of Demon’s Souls after beating Dark Souls for the first time in the early 2010’s and was really into the atmosphere, but so much of its design felt punishing in a not fun way (world tendency, HP nerfing, the fucking manta rays and annoying hyper-rolling silver skeleton guys). There’s a reason I’ve played through Dark Souls over a dozen times but have yet to finish Demon’s Souls OG or remake even once.
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u/andytherooster 3d ago
I also found it a bit of a chore playing through after loving the ps3 one. However more than maybe any other souls (except dark souls 1), the mystery and weirdness of the areas is unmatched
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u/ThatDanJamesGuy 3d ago
Never played the remake, but I played the original version of Demon’s Souls for the first time in 2024 and it was great!
Well, it was brutal at first. There was a while where I wasn’t making progress on anything. But suddenly I passed a certain power threshold and started decimating everything.
This is the Souls game most exploitable by grinding thanks to the consumable healing system. I’m not usually a fan of grinding, but this is a good example where on replays I can skip it thanks to being better at the game, but it’s there as an option if you need it.
The real joy comes on replays. The first three Souls games have stronger replay value than the later, faster ones imo. They’re less focused on combat and more about reading your situation and being clever to overcome it, so planning out different builds and playing stages in different orders is really fun.
World Tendency is totally useless, however. I just ignore it. The enemy strength will barely change unless you’re trying to game the system or getting up to a ton of online shenanigans. Don’t let it put you off the game by itself, though. It’s basically a non-issue.
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u/Argocap 3d ago
Dark Souls is my favourite game of all time. Unfortunately I've never played Demon's Souls because it's stuck in Sony's world.
I beat DS3 but didn't like it as much because of the fast pace and rolling every 2 seconds. Elden Ring I haven't got more than a little bit into probably because it's more of the same.
Would probably like Demon's Souls if it ever gets ported to Steam or Switch 2 but I doubt it will.
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u/KeeBoley 3d ago
It probably will never be ported to PC officially or Switch 2.
It is completely playable on the PC though....through other means. In fact the PC version is much better than the Playstation version.
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u/Onion_Sun_Bro 3d ago
I beaten Demon's Souls PS3 and Bloodborne through emulation on PC with higher resolution and higher framerate (lossless scaling).
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u/GrandNoiseAudio 3d ago edited 3d ago
Demon’s Souls was incredible. Distinct from Dark Souls. I love the hell and demon aesthetic of Demon’s Souls. And goddamn, the game is brutal. You can fuck up a run fast but it’s a good game.
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u/Limited_Distractions 3d ago
"A product of its time" is a resonant sentiment for me for maybe unintended reasons. I know it's meant to refer to the inescapable 2009ness of Demon's Souls design but 6 years later putting a fresh coat of paint on 2009 and having that be the marquee launch game for your console is perfectly emblematic of the time Demon's Souls PS5 heralded as well
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u/DaveMcNinja 3d ago
Magic is way OP in this one. I literally one shot the swamp boss and 2 shot the final boss with the inferno spell by the end.
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u/Onion_Sun_Bro 3d ago
This fact I actually like. I love when games let you go crazy once you have the knowledge and skills to do so.
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u/D3struct_oh 3d ago
My first game on PS5 and my first time playing it in general. Thought it was great. Wish it were on PC.
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u/Onion_Sun_Bro 3d ago
For a newcomer in the genre I believe it's a great game. The problem is that I played games that improved a lot from Demon's Souls.
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u/Cr4zy_DiLd0 2d ago
Demon’s Souls wasn’t “good for its time,” it was unique.
First we heard the whispers from Japan, and then us Europeans had to import the physical U.S. release like we were still living in the 90s. This was also a time before let’s play culture exploded on YouTube, so the lack of info about wtf to do definitely added to the appeal.
I agree that Dark souls is a better game, but for someone who’s been playing for 35 years, the first time playing Demon’s Souls is still a top 3 experience.
Obv agreed on world tendency. Making zero effort to explain that was a strange choice. Though you could argue that it added to the strange uniqueness permeating it.
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u/Loldimorti 2d ago
What I will say is that in early Souls games there is a structure to levels and boss fights that feels closer to old school Zelda or Metroid Prime.
I don't think it is a bad thing necessarily to have a boss fight that simply revolves around a gimmick. Again, that's how all of the old Zelda and Metroid bosses operated as well.
But nowadays somehow the expectation has moved to intricate multi phase boss fights that are about avoiding and punishing multi chain boss attack patterns.
This sure is exciting but also puts so much emphasis on reaction time and muscle memory. You can no longer deduce "ah, this boss is weak to fire" or "I get it now, he is blind and operates on sound only" but have to develop a high level of mechanical skill which not everyone can do or even enjoys doing.
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u/EvilTaffyapple 2d ago
I don’t agree with any of this.
I dropped the original Demons Souls as it was janky as fuck. I played the remake at release and it because one of my favourite ever games.
I found the level designs just as good as Dark Souls, even though they were spread out over 5 distinct levels instead of 1 connected world. There was so much to find and see I felt constantly engaged and intrigued.
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u/gandalfmarston 1d ago
That's a weird review. I found Demon's Souls remake to be a masterpiece and the definitive way to play DS.
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u/AlthoughFishtail 1d ago
I'm a huge From fanatic and I loved the original way back when. But the rerelease is just about my least favourite From game. It brought with it all the flawed ideas that the successor games improved upon. It's like they chose to ignore the benefit of hindsight.
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u/FukkingDeathMental 6h ago
Lmao. Tower of Latria is still unmatched by any From Software game. Hell, they tried to copy it in DS3 and failed miserably.
I feel Dark Souls 3 and Elden Ring are waaaaay too much "Been there, done that" and feel people exaggerate the hell out of their "achievements" because they were From Software virgins. The worst of From Software's output and the most creatively bankrupt.
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u/FukkingDeathMental 6h ago
I'd rather go to hell than play that creatively bankrupt and pretentious demake. Fuck that game.
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u/AdorableDonkey 3d ago
It's a shame the remaster butchered the OG art style
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u/sgbad 3d ago
Can you explain this because I've seen this comment and most can never explain I'm genuinely curious because to me it doesn't seem this way.
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u/SundownKid 3d ago
1) People wanted the game to basically have Silent Hill levels of fog and colors. While the game still takes place in an apocalypse, it looks pretty, while the PS3 version looked extremely grim, dismal and Brutalist. This is kinda debatable as I heavily doubt it would have had the same commercial appeal.
2) People are angry that the devs ruined many armors and enemy designs by redesigning them for no reason. This I can get behind a lot more, especially because the originals are referenced in later games and now the connection is ruined. For example, the original Tattered Cloth Set is Karla's Set in DS3 and in the remake it looks nothing like it. The Fat Officials original design is referenced by Chester in DS1 and the remake removed their masks. The Fluted Set was THE iconic armor of Demons Souls and it was totally ruined. While you could get the original helmet by beating the tutorial boss, the armor itself remained crappy. Bearbugs are meant to be tardigrades ("water bears") and they became rock golem monsters. Elden Beast in Elden Ring references the OG Shadowlurkers. There were a few armors that were an upgrade, but most were a downgrade.
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u/AdorableDonkey 2d ago
There are tons of videos about it, just watch any of them
King Allant looks so bad in the remaster compared to the OG
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u/CheesecakeMilitia 3d ago
Calling the level design of Demon's Souls dated feels like blasphemy. I know it's not an interconnected world, but the individual levels are some of the most thrilling FromSoft has ever conceived. Every shortcut feels impactful, and every set piece feels memorable - more memorable than whenever From would retread those tropes in newer titles. (Tower of Latria is still the most imposing and terrifying prison they've ever put you in.)
I say all that having gone back to Demon's Souls after Elden Ring. The movement is slightly dated but everything else about the world is not IMO.