Demon's Souls - PS5

Today is the day for finishing the game it seems

Credits just rolled for me there. Thoroughly enjoyed revisiting it, albeit with a steady frame rate and fetching coat of paint. Ultimately it’s the same game I played 11 years ago, with just the occasional nip and/or tuck, but was fascinating and rewarding revisiting it after five other Soulsborne games. Has its many strengths (often inspired level design first and foremost) and occasional drawbacks (plenty of ideas that would be more fully realised earlier on).

Was taken aback in many ways by how easy it was. A few bits gave me some trouble - 4-2 in particular - but largely breezed through it considering I was relearning almost everything in terms of level layouts etc... I’m sure better rolling doesn’t hurt, nor does years of becoming fluent in the design and movement language of the Souls games. But 100% think this is the one newcomers to the series should start with - indeed, may have been blessed myself to have been somewhat prepared for Dark Souls when it launched back in the day thanks to the PS3 original. A new Souls game can still throw some sort of stumbling block in the way - here, I didn’t even once consider having to summon help. A comfortable, even relaxing jog to the finish line all-in-all.

As a remake, I’m going to have to somewhat cede authority to some of the more knowledgable critics / fans out there - I’ve heard criticisms of some of the visual and soundtrack changes which seem absolutely fair and well-reasoned. Certainly some of the areas now look rather remarkable here as well - world 3 in particular soars. But it’s been so long since I’ve played the original I can’t make meaningful comparisons myself. I will say Shadow of the Colossus felt like a slightly more ‘compromised’ retelling that lost some of the atmosphere, style and visual essence of the original game (even though it was theoretically very similar). This felt less jarring to me, perhaps because the original was so clearly a lower budget production and perhaps could have used a bit extra TLC in some regards. It got it here, even if a handful of the new creative choices raise an eyebrow.

All-in-all a fine game. A great launch game that bodes well for the other true next-gen games to come - a game this pretty at 60 FPS is a wonder to behold on a console. But beneath those Bluepoint flourishes this is pure 2009 baby, and time has been kind to the game that spawned an unlikely phenomenon.

I will say - I’d love to see Bluepoint tackle something that isn’t a remake or a remaster. They’re clearly talented people, would love to see them bring the crew on-board to experiment with something more original. Hell, would even take that sixth archstone