Demon's Souls (PS5) Review

FromSoftware's infamously challenging Souls series has remained in the cultural zeitgeist for over a decade, with so many games seeking to ape the Souls formula that "Souls-like" has become a subgenre of its own. Of course, the series started in 2009 with the often overlooked Demon's Souls which was completely exclusive to the PlayStation 3; that is until it was remade by Bluepoint for the PlayStation 5.

Bluepoint have been remastering games since the PlayStation 3 era, making the Classics HD compilations that featured series such as God of War and Metal Gear Solid. The team then had their first foray into fully remaking a game with Shadow of the Colossus on the PlayStation 4, and have continued on with that with a full and faithful remake of Demon's Souls to coincide with the release of the PlayStation 5. So as a release title, is it worth buying a PS5 for?

Graphically, the game is stunning, making use of brand new hardware to look as gorgeous as possible at all times. While playing I found myself constantly stopping and taking in the scenery, with almost all the areas in the game being worthy of a screenshot even without using the incredible photo mode. Fantastic lighting, vistas and particle effects all work in tandem to create one of the most visually apealling game for the next generation.

But, of course, graphics aren't everything, and fortunately Demon's Souls is no slouch in the gameplay department. Being an exact replication of the original game, a lot of it holds up with all the tropes and features that have become intensely tied to Souls games. Unlike future games in the series, the 5 levels are mae seperate from each other, however each level is designed for exploration and discovery as they feature all manner of branching paths that all feed back into each other, making each world a joy to poke around in. What helps with exploring the levels is the distinct theme each one has, from the huge royal castle of Boletaria to the swampy depths of the Valley of Defilement, each world in Demon's Souls feels unique as you investigate every nook and cranny.

The enemies are also varied, with each world having their own unique variants of weak and strong enemies that litter your path, with the stronger enemies functioning completely different from each other to give each world unique challenges as you traverse them. Some enemies act as blocks, tough to kill and move requiring you to find a way around, other enemies can deal massive damage and require care to dispatch them before moving on; each level provides fresh scenarios to knock down reckless players and reward the cautious and observant.

Bosses, on the other hand, are more of a mixed bag in terms of how effective they are. For the most part, the bosses offer enjoyable challenges at the end of a long haul, as checkpoints (or "archstones") are only given after defeating a boss, so losing to one puts you right back at the last. Usually along the way you'll find a shortcut or learn the quickest route to a boss so this isn't so much of a problem, but there are a couple with a particularly brutal path in that end up being frustrating affairs if you aren't careful enough. My favourite bosses tended to be one-on-one battles with similarly equipped enemies, for example Boletaria's Penetrator or the Flamelurker in Stonefang as they felt like tense duels that urged boldness but punish those who get too brash.

The same level of enjoyment cannot be said for some of the more gimmick-based bosses, however, which can be either dull or annoying in comparison. The Dragon God at the end of Stonefang, for example, is less a battle and more a case of picking the right time to move where messing it up gets you killed almost immediately, leading to a potentially massive spectacle becoming tedious if you have trouble reading where the boss is looking at any given time. The Old Monk in Latria is also temprimental, as it is designed as a PvP boss where you get invaded by another player, however if you're offline or the game just doesn't find you someone to fight against, you are pitted against a shockingly easy NPC with not much special about them.

Healing items in the game are also not ideal, with the different grades of moongrass requiring you to farm enemies to get more. While not particularly difficult, the process of killing the same enemies repeatedly to farm up a decent amount of moongrass can get very tedious, especially when you have to replenish supplies after a particularly dire run of a boss and really just want to go for the boss again instead of gathering healing items. The more experienced of the series would callously suggest that you simply play better, but for first time players going into every scenario prepared is ideal so as not to waste your time or any other, potentially more precious resources.

Ultimately, these are just a couple of stumbling blocks in an otherwise fantastic game as the core gameplay loop of exploring each zone and finding the best route to go down keeps you invested from start to finish, with memorable boss fights and challenges that stay fresh and exciting right through to the climax. Bluepoint's remake is a faithful recreation that gives the original classic a fresh coat of paint, making this a game that can and should be enjoyed by longtime fans and newcomers to the series alike.