Demon's Souls is an action role-playing game released in 2020. It was created by Japan Studio and Bluepoint Games and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment for the PlayStation 5. It came out as one of the first games for the PlayStation 5 in November 2020. This version is a remake of the original game, which was first made by FromSoftware for the PlayStation 3 in 2009. Japan Studio's Internal Development Department was in charge of making the remake. This was Japan Studio's last game before they joined Team Asobi. It was also Bluepoint Games' final project before the company closed in 2026. Critics gave the game high praise, especially for its gameplay, graphics, technical features, and changes from the original version. As of 2022, the game has sold 1,857,000 copies.

Gameplay

The game includes new weapons, armor, rings, and items called "Grains" that provide players with temporary protection against effects such as poison, fire, and bleeding. Like the original version, players have limits on how much they can carry before their character becomes burdened. However, some rules about carrying capacity have been changed. For example, in the original game, all types of moon grass had the same weight of 0.1 item burden. In the remake, the weight depends on the grass's strength, ranging from 0.1 for crescent moon grass to 6.0 for dark moon grass. Players can now send items to Stockpile Thomas instead of dropping them, which prevents items from being lost forever. A new feature called "Fractured World" acts as a mirror mode, flipping the layout of environments. The game also includes a photo mode that pauses the game, which was not possible in the original. Filters from the photo mode can be used during gameplay, including a "classic mode" filter designed to resemble the appearance of the original PlayStation 3 game. Although the Souls series is known for being challenging, Bluepoint confirmed that the remake will not add new difficulty levels. The character creation system has also been updated, offering more choices for customization.

Development

In 2016, Hidetaka Miyazaki, the director of the original Demon's Souls, said there was interest in making a remake. However, since the intellectual property (IP) belonged to Sony, the project would depend on Sony's decision. Japan Studio and Bluepoint Games started working on the remake after completing their 2018 remake of Shadow of the Colossus. Japan Studio helped develop the original game. Gavin Moore from Japan Studio, known for his work on Puppeteer, led the remake project. The team aimed to stay true to the original game while updating it for newer technology. They used the original art, music, and level designs as a guide to improve the experience for modern players.

The original game's music was recorded digitally, which made it difficult to update for the remake. To solve this, the team recreated the score in the style of Shunsuke Kida's original work, using a full orchestra and choir. Voice acting was also redone, with many of the original cast returning to re-record their lines and add new dialogue. Motion capture animations were updated as well. The game uses the DualSense controller's haptic features to create sensations, such as the feeling of metal striking metal or to help with actions like timing parries.

The game offers two visual modes: "cinematic mode," which runs at 4K resolution with 30 frames per second, and "performance mode," which adjusts to 4K resolution at 60 frames per second. Despite earlier suggestions, the game does not support ray tracing. Although some players wanted to include a sixth zone shown by a broken teleport stone in the original game, the team decided to keep the number of worlds unchanged. At one point, the team considered adding an "Easy Mode," but they ultimately chose not to, as it could change the game's balance.

Release

The game was introduced during the PlayStation 5 reveal event on June 11, 2020. It was one of the first games available when the PlayStation 5 launched in North America, Australia, and New Zealand on November 12, 2020, and globally on November 19. Sony Interactive Entertainment released the remake in all countries, unlike the original game, which was only published in Japan. A special collector's edition was also made available, including a soundtrack album and other items along with a copy of the game.

Reception

Demon's Souls received "universal acclaim" from critics, as reported by Metacritic, a website that collects and summarizes game reviews.

IGN wrote, "Demon's Souls is visually stunning and plays much better than it did on the PS3. This improvement is due to the powerful graphics of the PlayStation 5, as well as changes that make the game easier to play while keeping its challenging gameplay, creative puzzles, and unique style." GameSpot added, "Despite some small issues, Bluepoint's remake is a major success. It shows the technical abilities of the PlayStation 5 and proves that the studio behind it has a strong creative vision."

Game Informer noted that Demon's Souls influenced later games, including the Dark Souls series. It said, "Demon's Souls came before many FromSoftware games, and players can see how it inspired the environments and challenges in the Dark Souls series. For those who haven’t played the original in a long time, the remake feels like exploring a museum, showing the early versions of areas like Blighttown and characters like the Pursuer."

In its first week of release, Demon's Souls ranked sixth in the UK charts, fifth in Switzerland, and eleventh in Japan. In Japan alone, 18,607 physical copies were sold during that week. By March 26, 2023, 300,682 copies had been sold in Japan. By December, the game had sold more than 1.8 million copies worldwide.