Demon's Souls review: the best reason to buy a PlayStation 5

To sell pallets of its PlayStation 5 fresh out of the oven, Sony is betting on a game... from 2009. A much less crazy strategy than it seems once you've tasted the impure fruit that is Demon's Souls.

Demon's Souls review: the best reason to buy a PlayStation 5 See PriceRead ConclusionDemon's Souls

A stunning graphic overhaul
Exemplary fluidity
Never more than 5 seconds to load
A great gateway to From Software games

A game that is always very obscure if you don't inquire
An AI that dates from 2009
Camera management on some bosses
... but we would have liked a new exclusive world

For those who haven't followed, a bit of context. Developed in 2009 by From Software, which has since established itself as a major studio in the industry thanks to Dark Souls, Bloodborne and Sekiro, Demon's Souls has often been presented as the draft of its prestigious curriculum. Yet it was he who, thanks to great critical success and esteem, laid the almost immutable foundations of the games listed above.

The "Souls-like" (or "Soulsborne") as they are called, however, arouse contrasting feelings. A fringe of players finds them too difficult, while the other precisely praises their voluntarily punitive design. We therefore understand that betting on a game of this kind to justify investing 400 or 500€ in a new console is a bit daring on the part of Sony.

But that was without counting on the boundless trust that the publisher seems to place in Bluepoint Games, the Texas studio already responsible for the flashy remake of Shadow of the Colossus. But with Demon's Souls, it's no longer restoration that Bluepoint devotes to, but goldsmithing.

Boletaria, a kingdom even more depressing than 2020

After King Allant XII misused magic a little to bring wealth and prosperity to his people, a thick fog gradually covered the world and caused the appearance of soul-eating demons. In good RPG that it is, Demon's Souls therefore makes you embody a hero who has come to free Boletaria from his affliction.

Do you find the scenario basic? It's quite normal. And most gamers won't look any further. One of the specificities of From Software's games comes indeed from this economy of words; the studio preferring to opt for environmental narration, or even descriptions of cryptic objects supposed to thicken the universe of the game.

But the bases are indeed the most classic. First stage ? Character creation. The opportunity to spend hours customizing your avatar, as Bluepoint Games has worked the editor to allow us all the madness.

You will also have to choose a class among the 10 available. Don't worry, however: this choice only determines your initial characteristics and your basic equipment. You are free to shape your character as you wish afterwards.

A technical note: Exclusive to the PlayStation 5, Demon's Souls obviously takes advantage of the hardware specifics of Sony's new console. First, the custom SSD allows you to load your game in record time. Very concretely, you will never wait more than 5 seconds. The developers have also admitted to having voluntarily chosen this duration in order to give a breath to the player who has just died, for example.

The game also offers two distinct display modes: "Performance", which offers for dynamic 4K resolution but keeps the 60 frames per second at all times, or "Cinematic" which locks the framerate at 30 frames per second by opting for native 4K. Quite frankly, it seems inconceivable to us to indulge in Demon's Souls in this last mode, as the comfort granted by the 60 frames per second can prove to be life-saving in certain situations where reflexes prevail. In addition, the visual assets of the "cinematic" mode are not really obvious - the game is sublime, period.

Note also that Demon's Souls does not use ray tracing, and opts for this good old rasterization which, no doubt, still has very good days ahead of it.

Overall, we are impressed with our discovery of Demon's Souls. The game is beautiful to die for, and runs like a charm without rumbling the console that hosts it. A technical showcase that suits the PlayStation 5 particularly well.

Acheter Demon's Souls

I came here to suffer, okay?

You are immediately immersed in the big bath. After a short tutorial teaching you how to fight (and protect yourself), you arrive in the Nexus: the central hub of Demon's Souls.

Unlike Darks Souls and its sequels, progression in Demon's Souls is far less linear. The player quickly accesses the five Archstones, each representing a part of the world to explore and to empty of its demons. A great idea, in that this organization allows the player to change areas if he encounters too much difficulty in progressing in the current one.

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You can move from one area to another without worries in case of difficulty

Each world itself breaks down into 3 or 4 sub-levels, access to which is guarded by a boss. The problem is that in case of death, you will have to retype all the way to the arena, and that the enemies shot so far will have reappeared. Another constraint: all the souls accumulated (which serve as currency of exchange but also experience points to spend to increase its statistics) are also waiting for you on your corpse. And if you die again before collecting them, they will be permanently lost.

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Dying twice in a row will cost you all your souls (and your nerves)

We immediately understand that, in Demon's Souls, it is better to play it safe than to rush into the heap. An approach you'll naturally take anyway, given how hard some enemies hit.

But one should not sue the supposed difficulty of the title. It is generally accepted that From Software games are not difficult, but demanding. Understand that they are available to players who agree to play by the rules; and a contrario refuse those who seek to impose their rhythm. Each adversary has its own combat grammar that you will need to analyze, understand, and divert to gain the upper hand. A point that goes for the most insignificant enemies, as for the bosses.

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Boss fights are great showmanship moments

Puzzles that hit hard

It must be admitted, however, that as a player who has completed most of the From Software productions, I did not expect this degree of permissiveness from the various bosses of Demon's Souls.

In reality, we quickly understand that we must consider them less as formidable adversaries than as puzzles to be solved. Puzzles that hit hard, of course. But we realize after several hours of play that once we have put our finger on a solution (there are always several), it does not take long to slay the most devious antagonists.

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Depending on what you've done with your character, some bosses will be nothing more than a formality (magic builds are always highly recommended for a first game). What is likely to cause you problems, in reality, is more the management of the camera which, sometimes, can make you fail stupidly because of a bad placement.

Difficult to blame Bluepoint, which replicates the game from From Software here identically. Arenas are unchanged. In their beauty (sublimated), as in their faults (the narrowness of some). It must also be said that the artificial intelligence of the enemies has not evolved either since 2009. Thus persist some quirks in terms of pathfinding, or in the detection cone. Nothing dramatic, we assure you.

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But since it can happen that an enemy too powerful blocks our way, Demon's Souls also embeds a whole multiplayer part which, when it was released in 2008, was simply new. First there is the whole asynchronous component: all players can leave inscriptions on the ground warning you of the presence of treasure here, where an enemy is hidden behind boxes. Of course, one can voluntarily seek to deceive the other players, and it is also what makes the beauty of this system from which a certain Death Stranding was still inspired recently.

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Players can leave marks on the ground to give (valuable) advice.

Magnanimous players can also offer their help to overcome a boss or an area that you do not yet master. Conversely, others (less magnanimous ones) may under certain conditions invite themselves into your game and seek to kill you. As if you didn't already have enough to do with demons!

Less difficult than unaffordable

Let's be clear: everyone is able to overcome Demon's Souls. Its difficulty, or rather its requirement, will test your nerves, but will do so for a good reason. Quickly, we will admit that if we die repeatedly, it is by overconfidence, or even by stupid greed. You thought you had time to land four sword strikes on this boss before he replied? Too bad, he triggers his riposte right after the third attack and kills you in one shot.

Demon's Souls is not a game in which one can venture headlong, as a dilettante. And this requirement is perhaps even more illustrated in the general game design of the game, not only in the fights.

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If Demon's Souls doesn't do much to contextualize its universe, it does even less to teach you how to use certain objects, how to learn new spells, how to use the forge and where to find the components necessary to improve your his equipment.

Various NPCs can join the Nexus if you free them in the worlds you visit. But how do you know in advance that if you get a certain knight out of his cage, he'll take the opportunity to assassinate all the other Nexus NPCs one by one in your absence? How is the average player supposed to know that in order not to negatively influence the trend of the world and make the game even more difficult, he must play in soul form and therefore say goodbye to 50% of his life bar ?

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The trend of what? Nothing is explained to us either on this point; you will have no choice but to go to your favorite wikis or to the channel of specialized youtubers to tame this totally abstruse and new concept in Demon's Souls. To sum it up roughly, you have to see the trend of the world as a gauge oscillating from pure white to pure black. Depending on the actions you take within an Archstone, the scales will tip more one way or the other, and specific events will trigger.

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The concept of trending worlds is still not very clear

For example, certain shortcuts or even areas will only be accessible if the pure white trend is achieved in the world you are visiting. Ditto in the other direction, although in this case you will also be dealing with even more formidable enemies than if the tendency is neutral or white. Added to this is a tendency specific to your character which, decorrelated from that of the world, has its own point system and causes its own events. In short: a real gibberish that Bluepoint could (should?) have clarified so as not to lose new players along the way.

A faithful remake, with some new features

But this new Demon's Souls is not just a scale replica of From Software's great work. If the creation of the Japanese studio is absolutely intact (I insist), Bluepoint Games has allowed itself some adjustments intended to improve the ergonomics of a game that is a bit archaic.

Perhaps the best example is better character inventory management. You can now send your surplus from an Archstone to reserve (a chest that keeps your items safe). No need to return to the Nexus to unload your inventory. The weight of healing herbs (cumulative in very large numbers, unlike Estus vials from Dark Souls) has also been rebalanced so as not to make the game too easy (lol).

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We also note the arrival of some new items and new sets of equipment, one of which was loudly demanded by the Demon's Souls community since the release of the original game. We also salute the wink of Bluepoint Games, which has created an enigma worthy of the perseverance of the most ardent fans (if you're interested and you're not afraid of spoilers, be interested to the "secret door" of world 1-3).

For an even greater challenge, this version also offers a mirror mode which, as its name suggests, will upset your bearings by inverting absolutely the entire level design of the game. We can see from here the number of players who will be caught setback by an enemy they thought was on the right rather than the left.

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Guides built into the PS5 menu are very handy

A word also on the "guide" functionality of the PlayStation 5. Subscribers to the PlayStation Plus service can access, via the PS button on their controller, a game guide which contains some tips about the part of Demon's Souls that you are exploring. You can also use it to automatically teleport to a level or to the Nexus (losing your souls, of course). If specialized youtubers still have a bright future ahead of them, these few little tips may be enough to unlock a lost player, or at least get them back on track. In short, a great idea for user experience.

The game's soundtrack has also been completely re-orchestrated to stick to the new aesthetic style of this version. Finally, how not to mention the photo mode which, very often, will make you interrupt a fight to immortalize a spell that puts your eyes on it or a devastating dragon attack?

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Demon's Souls: the opinion of Clubic

By far the most enchanting title in the PlayStation 5 release line-up, the Demon's Souls remake is above all a terrific advocate for next-gen in general. By displaying not only stunning graphics and flawless fluidity, the game also has the luxury of an almost total absence of loading times.

A rediscovered immediacy that does a lot of good for a game as demanding as Demon's Souls. Because if it is adorned with new finery, the adventure imagined by From Software and retyped by Bluepoint Games is still as indecipherable by the layman.

Luckily, we live in the age of the Internet. And the beginner player will have no less than 12 years of guides, walkthroughs and other tips to get started. Demon's Souls is still a hell of a bet for Sony. To highlight such a harsh title to accompany the launch of its console is reckless. But isn't recklessness precisely what the Soulsborne formula tries to instill in the player? Come on, we can say. The bet is successful — and hands down.

Demon's Souls

Making a game like Demon's Souls the spearhead of the PlayStation 5 may seem reckless on Sony's part. But it is clear that Bluepoint Games manages to sublimate in the most beautiful way the original creation of From Software.