Demon's Souls

[Adrenaline]

At this point you couldn't get a PS5 if you wanted to.

 

[pudik]

The music is certainly more bombastic.

The drums sound really muted. Maybe it's just my headphones+youtube quality+the sound effects going off, but it sounds like it's just the bass drums from the original mixed way low on the armor spider and it kinda ruins it for me. The original had a sort of rhythmic war drum or a bell-less gamelan feel, nearly. The flamelurker one is just so overwrought for me. I don't really love the original version of the theme anyway, but the choir and bombast from the strings vs the dour and subdued original rubs me wrong. the games work best when it's not trying to portray itself as this big heroic struggle.

I know it's falling into the old "the previous game still exists" argument, but for one I can't play it without buying a ps3 and also the online aspect is hard to work around. But even beyond that it feels like people complain about the dark souls sequels for the moments where they feel they have to be "bigger" and "more epic" than ds1, and yet it feels like what everyone wants and expects from remakes and sequels. Plus the furthering of the idea that midi is a cheap substitute for "real sounds" as if there is no value to the synthetic sound or there is no way to actually use the synthetic sound to its own qualities.

 

[upupdowndown]

At this point you couldn't get a PS5 if you wanted to.

*looks at NowInStock.Net and cries* can confirm

 

[conchobhar]

I'm really glad that, for all the fan pining, they aren't restoring the Sixth Archstone. It's so much more evocative as something broken and off-limits than it ever could be as a playable world.

 

[Alixsar]

At this point you couldn't get a PS5 if you wanted to.

I mean, yes, I am aware. It's just the general 2020 thing where even though it's weeks away it feels like months and that feels crazy? Like it's out in a few WEEKS and we're getting trailer TWO. I feel like the Bloodborne build and Dark Souls II and III build ups were much larger affairs, but then again those were new whereas this is a remake so maybe that's why this one get less of a build up? Or it's 2020 so that's why? Or it was exactly the same and I just can't tell the difference because this year is insane? I dunno, but it just FEELS w e i r ddddd

Edit: I didn't even see the link to the video earlier. It certainly LOOKS nice, but I haven't changed my opinion on some of the animations looking funky and weird. It's also weird to me that all the trailers shown so far have ostensibly been gameplay only, but there's been no UI? Eh, nbd

 

[Gaer]

I think it looks fun. I would like to play it. But lol no way we’re getting a ps5 at launch at this rate.

 

[Paul le Fou]

I'm really glad that, for all the fan pining, they aren't restoring the Sixth Archstone. It's so much more evocative as something broken and off-limits than it ever could be as a playable world.

I haven't played DeS, but if the sixth broken archstone wasn't put there on purpose to be evocative environmental design, it served as inspiration for that style of evocative environmental design becoming very much a purposeful choice in later games in the series. I.e. at least in retrospect, of course there's a broken sixth archstone, the series does stuff like that all the time.

 

[Regulus]

It was perhaps left there for that purpose, but the level it was supposed to take you to was in production and was ultimately cut for time.

 

[conchobhar]

I haven't played DeS, but if the sixth broken archstone wasn't put there on purpose to be evocative environmental design, it served as inspiration for that style of evocative environmental design becoming very much a purposeful choice in later games in the series. I.e. at least in retrospect, of course there's a broken sixth archstone, the series does stuff like that all the time.

Like Regulus said, we know that a sixth area was planned but ultimately cut— there's concept art, and even unused assets in the game. That's given the broken— Sixth— Archstone a mythic quality among fans, and it's been a constant subject of discussion and speculation. When people talked of a hypothetical Demon's Souls remaster, including the Sixth Archstone as a new world always came up as a desired feature. So for Bluepoint to not include it is, while not exactly surprising (they specialize in remasters, not brand new stuff), actually a bit of a bold decision.

 

[Ludendorkk]

The soundtrack...

I really kinda hate how this is a launch title, because it means anytime you want to critique Bluepoint's interpretation you get told to shut up by people who are only interested in the game as a tech demo for the power of the PS5.

And as for the Sixth Archstone, sometimes the best artistic choices are the ones you didn't intend or are forced to make (hello, fan of Grasshopper games here)

 

[keurig]

Not a huge fan of the OST, but everything else is looking pretty good. Also pretty happy to hear that apparently you can swap over to the original camera.

My overall stance on the remake right now is that while this looks great, I don't think it's enough to make me buy a PS5 + a copy of Demon's Souls for almost $800 CAD. Kinda wish this was crossgen like the other big titles Sony are releasing around the PS5 launch.

 

[liquid]

Our approach to this is we try and keep the core of the game untouched. With Demon’s Souls, that’s the gameplay, the logic, and the AI, and then everything else is stripped away.

https://soundcloud.com/playstation%2Fdemons-souls-original-soundtrack-flamelurker

There is something uniquely bothersome to me about people recommending a game by saying “It’s like Dark Souls”. I look at whatever game it is and I get this feeling of “… is THIS what Dark Souls is to you?”

It’d be like someone saying “Hey, try this stealth game, it’s like Metal Gear”. I will be the first to defend Kojima games for their gameplay, but is gameplay what makes a Metal Gear game? Or is it multiple puzzle pieces interlocking together in a perfectly strange way? I feel this way about Dark Souls. Do I enjoy Souls combat? Yes. Do I crave it, in any way, without everything else that comes from a From Software game? Not really. I crave the entire “flavor profile” of their games.

Anyway, that's probably enough negativity from me. Hopefully other people enjoy this.

 

[4-So]

I've never played Demon's Souls, never seen it (much less heard it), and this new music seems pretty amazing as far as I can tell. I'll be picking this up at launch on the strength of Dark Souls and the reputation the PS3 game has, but as far as I'm concerned, this remake is Demon's Souls (since I have no connection whatsoever to the original) and I'm quite looking forward to it.

 

[ASandoval]

12 minutes of gameplay footage with commentary, probably our best look at the game so far. Includes the character creator as well as the HUD and in-game camera.

It... looks like Demon's Souls! I'm still pretty hyped.

 

[Peklo]

The character creator is what I'm by far looking the most forward to.

It's not by any margin the only criticism for the aesthetic I have, but the biggest overarching difference from the original on the visual side that'll probably not go down so well with me is just how much more illuminated the game is, particularly in the interior spaces that very specifically defined themselves through a pitch-dark void. It's seen in the smaller moments like the interiors of Boletarian Palace 1-1 and level-wide lighting approaches, like the Tower of Latria most prominently, but really it's an universal shift. I can't help but assume the change came about, consciously or not, by the game's nature as a showpiece for an entire generation of video game technology; all those visuals have to be shown off rather than, uh, not. Darkness was a bigger and more consistent part of Demon's' level design and atmospherics than any subsequent game in the series, so it'll definitely have an impact on how it all comes off in this remake.

 

[Regulus]

I feel like there are a lot of talented artists at Bluepoint, but the actual art direction is... weak?

The new character creator does look very nice, though.

 

[ASandoval]

I feel like there are a lot of talented artists at Bluepoint, but the actual art direction is... weak?

That's a typical criticism of Bluepoint. Overall I think this is much better and more accurate than Shadow of the Colossus on PS4 was but I still have some quibbles, including what Peklo said about the lighting, but it's not different enough for me to be hyped to play Demon's Souls with a budget.

 

[YangusKhan]

I'm hoping the lightning differences will be incorporated in those various "filters" they talked about it in an earlier interview. That won't necessarily be part of the "classic" filter, but it would be the only place to make that kind of change.

 

[estragon]

Bright Souls

 

[Peklo]

I guess one other thing that's pretty inescapable by its very nature is the design of the HUD, which prioritizes "clean", stark geometry (or absence of) over embellished design elements, which is not the aesthetic I'd want to pursue; it calls to mind other big money properties like Assassin's Creed or what-have-you that emphasize their own design sense of clarity-over-all through these kinds of diamond-shaped icons and the like. The game world has become excessively ornate, while the interface has been diminished of its paging-through-a-tome/character sheet flavour, not that the primary menus have been shown off yet. But I don't expect interface design like the weird sguiggly symbols communicating (or failing to) weapon damage types to survive the new direction, when in all senses they want people to understand the game's crypticism on a more immediate basis this time around.

 

[4-So]

To me, the PS5 version looks better across the board but, again, I have no attachment to the original. I second Peklo's comments about the UI, though. Not a big deal to me but I do prefer the PS3 version's design elements there.

 

[Regulus]

I mean, it's not that the game isn't pretty. But a lot of the new art direction changes the context of the world. It's arguable whether or not it's an improvement, but you're not going to get much of that context if you're not familiar with the original.


I notice the soul pit above Miralda's area looks like a caved in part of the structure now rather than a purposefully installed hole. I just wonder what the thought process was behind some of these decisions.

 

[conchobhar]

Overall I think this is much better and more accurate than Shadow of the Colossus on PS4 …

I wouldn't say so. Shadow of the Colossus had the same sort of overhauled art direction, but the underlying designs were very faithful to the original— the biggest change was that Wander's face became more rounded and masculine looking, which pales in comparison to the number of boss re-designs and new architecture styles, et al, seen in Demon's Souls.

 

[Issun]

It sucks the videos can't convey how an area feels, because I really want to know how well they nail Latria.

 

[MetManMas]

It's nice that Demon's Souls is receiving any sort of rerelease at all but I really wish that somebody would go to the effort of making the original PS3 game available to play elsewhere. Remakes are fun (even if they lose some of the magic) but the original games should really be made available on other platforms too. You know how much I would love to have the original PSone Resident Evil games on Switch or PS4/5?

I mean, I had my fun with the Shadow of the Colossus remake even if it lost some of the mystique in the graphics boost, but it should be a companion to the PS2 original, not a replacement for it. Shame that PS3 remaster messed up the grab timer with the framerate boost.

 

[Ludendorkk]

Yeah, taken in isolation, the game looks phenomenal. But the original game is very special to me and some of its holistic beauty is lost a bit when the main aim becomes showing off the Power of Next Gen.

 

[Ludendorkk]

And wow they fucking do not get the Dirty Colossus fight! Like yeah the original theme was goofy as hell, but it's a literal poo golem, it's supposed to be comic! Fromsoft games do have a sense of humor, they don't have to be po-faced and EPIC at all times! Ahh!

Anyways credit where credit is due, Bluepoint's character creator blows Fromsoft's out of the water, especially with PoC characters , for whom giving them anything resembling a natural skin tone is often an exercise in frustration

 

[pudik]

I think visually im actually mostly satisfied. The embellishments are mostly unnecessary but i dont think its enough to really sell it off for me. I really dont like how they are dealing with contrast and how orange the light is. Veering into michael bay, but i guess thats what the filters are for. Now just add in the option for the original aoundtrack

 

[keurig]

considering the original camera was practically a secret until last week, I'm partly expecting to just discover that the OG soundtrack exists when reviews drop.

this weird dripfeeding of demon's souls is really odd to me, but then again that's just Sony's marketing this time around.

 

[Ludendorkk]

Honestly it feels a bit like they're trying to hide the weirdness of the game a bit so not to scare off non-Souls fans who need something to play on launch week.

If there *is* an "original soundtrack" option that would be huge for me