Demon's Souls
Developer(s)Bluepoint Games[lower-alpha 1]
Publisher(s)Sony Interactive Entertainment
Director(s)Gavin Moore
Producer(s)Teruyuki Toriyama
Designer(s)Howard Tang
Programmer(s)Toshitake Tsuchikura
Artist(s)
  • Puh
  • Adam Rehmann
  • Mark Skelton
Composer(s)Shunsuke Kida
Platform(s)PlayStation 5
Release
  • AU/NA/NZ: November 12, 2020
  • WW: November 19, 2020
Genre(s)Action role-playing
Mode(s)Single-player, multiplayer

Demon's Souls is a 2020 action role-playing game developed by Bluepoint Games and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment for the PlayStation 5. The game was released as a launch title for the PlayStation 5 in November. It is a remake of Demon's Souls, originally developed by FromSoftware for the PlayStation 3 in 2009. Japan Studio assisted on its development, which makes Demon’s Souls its last game before its merger with Team Asobi. Demon's Souls received critical acclaim from critics, who praised its gameplay, visuals, technical aspects, and improvements over the original game. It sold over 1.4 million copies by September 2021.

Gameplay

The Vanguard Demon, one of the game's bosses

The game features new weapons, armor, rings and items called "Grains" which give players a temporary resistance to effects like poison, fire, and bleeding.[1] As with the original, players are limited in how much they can carry before their character becomes encumbered, although some aspects of this encumbrance system have been adjusted. For example, in the original game, healing grasses have no weight, so players could potentially carry hundreds of them; in the remake, these healing items now have a weight associated with them so that the amount players can carry is significantly lessened, and more potent grasses weigh more than less effective ones.[1] One new feature, called "Fractured World", is a mirror mode which reverses the layout of environments.[2] The game also includes a photo mode, whereupon using it the game will pause, something not possible in the original. Filters from the photo mode can also be used during gameplay, including a "classic mode" filter intended to evoke the look of the original PlayStation 3 game.[1] Although the Souls series is notorious for its difficulty, Bluepoint stated that the remake would not introduce different difficulty levels.[3] The character creation feature has also been updated, with more options for customization.[4]

Development

In 2016, Hidetaka Miyazaki, the director of the original Demon's Souls, acknowledged the demand for developing a remake but said that because the intellectual property (IP) belonged to Sony, the inception of such a project would depend on their desire to do so.[5][6] Bluepoint Games began development of a remake following completion of its 2018 remake of Shadow of the Colossus. Japan Studio, who assisted with the development of the original game, also assisted Bluepoint Games for the remake.[7] Japan Studio's Gavin Moore, best known for his work on Puppeteer, served as the creative director for the project.[8] A core goal was to remain true to the original while making adjustments in line with the more advanced hardware.[2] Using the original art assets, music and level design as a blueprint, the team wanted to "finetune" the experience so it would appeal to players accustomed to modern games.[9]

The score of the original game was recorded digitally and this presented difficulties in updating it for a modern remake. As such, the original score was redone in the style of Shunsuke Kida's original work, utilizing a full orchestra and choir.[1] The voice acting was redone, with many of the original cast returning to both re-record their old lines and voice new dialogue. The motion capture animations were also redone.[2] The game utilizes the haptic functionality of the DualSense controller giving the feeling of [metal striking metal] or to aid in the timing parries.[1] The game ships with two visual modes: "cinematic mode" running at a native 4K resolution, at 30 frames per second and "performance mode" with a dynamic 4K at 60 frames per second.[1] Despite earlier statements, Demon's Souls does not support ray tracing.[10] Though a recurring request was the realization of a supposed sixth zone represented by a broken teleport stone in the original, the team decided to leave the game's number of worlds as is.[11] At one point the team considered making an "Easy Mode" but ultimately decided it was not their place to add something that would fundamentally alter the game's balance.[12]

Release

The game was announced at the PlayStation 5 reveal event on June 11, 2020.[13] Demon's Souls released as a launch title for the PlayStation 5 in North America, Australia and New Zealand on November 12, 2020, and worldwide on November 19.[14] Sony Interactive Entertainment published the remake worldwide, a change from the original game, which it had opted to only publish in Japan.[15] A limited collector's edition was also released featuring a soundtrack album and other additional materials alongside a copy of the game.[9]

Reception

Demon's Souls received "universal acclaim" from critics, according to review aggregator Metacritic.[16]

IGN stated, "Demon's Souls is breathtakingly gorgeous and plays significantly better than it did on the PS3, not only thanks to the graphical power of the PlayStation 5, but because of smart quality-of-life changes and light touches that modernize some frustrating aspects of the original, without ever sacrificing the relentless challenge, puzzle-infused boss battles, and style that made it such a landmark game in the first place."[21] While GameSpot wrote, "Quirks aside, Bluepoint's remake is an unmitigated success. It is a technical tour de force and a true showpiece for the PS5 and the power of Sony's next-generation console. But, more importantly, it's also a creative marvel coming from a studio that is clearly showing the world it has its own voice."[20]

Demon's Souls' inspiration on the later Dark Souls series was noted by Game Informer, "Demon's Souls is the predecessor to a slew of FromSoftware titles, and players can see tons of inspirations for environments and encounters that would reappear later in the Dark Souls series. Having not played the original in ages, this remake was like walking through a fascinating interactive museum in some respects, witnessing the precursors to Blighttown, the Pursuer, and many other series staples."[19]

Sales

During its first week of release, Demon's Souls debuted at the sixth position in the all-format charts in the UK,[25] the fifth position in the Switzerland all-format charts,[26] and the eleventh position in the Japan individual-format charts. 18,607 physical copies were sold that week in Japan.[27] By March 26, 2023, 300,682 copies of the game had been sold in Japan.[28] As of September 2021, the game had sold over 1.4 million copies.[29]

Notes

  1. ↑ Assistance provided by Japan Studio. Original game developed by FromSoftware.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 McWhertor, Michael (October 29, 2020). "Demon's Souls on PS5: Here's what's changing". Polygon. Archived from the original on October 31, 2020. Retrieved November 1, 2020.
  2. 1 2 3 Hussain, Tamoor (2020-10-29). "Demon's Souls PS5: Fractured Mode, Respec, World Tendency Details". GameSpot. Archived from the original on 2020-10-29. Retrieved 2020-10-29.
  3. ↑ "The Demon's Souls remake won't be introducing new difficulty levels". Eurogamer. 29 October 2020. Archived from the original on 31 October 2020. Retrieved 30 October 2020.
  4. ↑ "Demon's Souls remake fixes game's notoriously ugly character creator". Polygon. 5 November 2020. Archived from the original on 5 November 2020. Retrieved 5 November 2020.
  5. ↑ Makuch, Eddie. "Dark Souls 3 Director Talks Franchise Legacy, Possibly Demon's Souls Remaster, More". GameSpot. Archived from the original on July 11, 2016. Retrieved July 10, 2016.
  6. ↑ Wales, Matt (22 January 2019). "Miyazaki shares his thoughts on much-requested Demon's Souls remaster". Eurogamer. Archived from the original on February 7, 2019. Retrieved February 5, 2019.
  7. ↑ Hulst, Herman (11 June 2020). "PlayStation Studios: First look at 9 new PS5 games". PlayStation.com. Sony Interactive Entertainment. Archived from the original on 13 July 2020. Retrieved 31 October 2020. Demon's Souls from Japan Studio and Bluepoint Games
  8. ↑ "Geek Exclusive Interview: Preparing To Die Again In The PS5 Demon's Souls Remake With Japan Studio's Gavin Moore". 29 October 2020. Archived from the original on 1 November 2020. Retrieved 15 November 2020.
  9. 1 2 Moore, Gavin (2020-09-16). "Demon's Souls – PS5 gameplay first look". PlayStation Blog. Archived from the original on 2020-10-02. Retrieved 2020-10-29.
  10. ↑ "Confirman que Demon's Souls no tendrá raytracing en PlayStation 5". 30 October 2020. Archived from the original on 1 November 2020. Retrieved 2 November 2020.
  11. ↑ "Why Demon's Souls Remake is Already Disappointing Some Fans". 29 October 2020. Archived from the original on 1 November 2020. Retrieved 5 November 2020.
  12. ↑ Tailby, Stephen (19 November 2020). "Demon's Souls PS5 Easy Mode Was Considered by Bluepoint, But Felt It 'Wasn't Our Place'". Push Square. Archived from the original on 19 November 2020. Retrieved 19 November 2020.
  13. ↑ "Demon's Souls Is Being Remade On PS5". 11 June 2020. Archived from the original on 4 October 2020. Retrieved 30 October 2020.
  14. ↑ "PlayStation 5 launches in November, starting at $399 for PS5 Digital Edition and $499 for PS5 with Ultra HD Blu-Ray Disc Drive". PlayStation.Blog. 2020-09-16. Archived from the original on 2021-11-26. Retrieved 2020-09-16.
  15. ↑ McWhertor, Michael (June 11, 2020). "Demon's Souls remake coming to PS5". Polygon. Archived from the original on October 29, 2020. Retrieved October 30, 2020.
  16. 1 2 "Demon's Souls for PlayStation 5 Reviews". Metacritic. Archived from the original on 22 November 2020. Retrieved 20 November 2020.
  17. ↑ Devore, Jordan. "Review: Demon's Souls (PS5)". Destructoid. Archived from the original on August 3, 2021. Retrieved June 3, 2021.
  18. ↑ Patterson, Mollie (November 25, 2020). "Demon's Souls review". Electronic Gaming Monthly. Retrieved June 3, 2021.
  19. 1 2 Tack, Daniel (November 12, 2020). "Demon's Souls Review – Hello Dark Souls, My Old Friend". Game Informer. Retrieved November 14, 2020.
  20. 1 2 Hussain, Tamoor (November 13, 2020). "Demon's Souls Review: Shield Up". GameSpot. Archived from the original on November 14, 2020. Retrieved November 14, 2020.
  21. 1 2 "Demon's Souls Review". 16 November 2020. Archived from the original on 17 November 2020. Retrieved 17 November 2020.
  22. ↑ L'avis de Indee (November 16, 2020). "Test Demon's Souls Remake : Une refonte somptueuse aux allures de vrai jeu next-gen". Jeuxvideo.com. Archived from the original on June 3, 2021. Retrieved June 3, 2021.
  23. ↑ Learned, John (November 17, 2020). "Demon's Souls Remake Review: The World Mended". USgamer. Archived from the original on May 15, 2021. Retrieved June 3, 2021.
  24. ↑ Ahmed, Sayem (November 23, 2020). "Demon's Souls PS5 review: stylistically uneven, but nevertheless an unforgettable experience". VG247. Archived from the original on June 3, 2021. Retrieved June 3, 2021.
  25. ↑ Dring, Christopher (November 15, 2020). "Assassin's Creed Valhalla beats Call of Duty in race for No.1 / UK Boxed Charts". Gameindustry.biz. Archived from the original on February 3, 2021. Retrieved April 6, 2021.
  26. ↑ "PLATTFORMÜBERGREIFEND". GameChartz.ch. Archived from the original on April 13, 2021. Retrieved April 12, 2021.
  27. ↑ Romano, Sal (November 19, 2020). "Famitsu Sales: 11/9/20 – 11/15/20". Gematsu. Archived from the original on October 9, 2021. Retrieved November 19, 2020.
  28. ↑ "23年度はPS5の売上がゲーム市場活性化のカギ、Switchの旧作ソフトが売れ続ける理由は? "2023年春季ゲーム産業セミナー"リポート" [23年度はPS5の売上がゲーム市場活性化のカギ、Switchの旧作ソフトが売れ続ける理由は? “2023年春季ゲーム産業セミナー”リポート] (in Japanese). 31 May 2023. Archived from the original on 3 June 2023. Retrieved 3 June 2023.
  29. ↑ "Sony Interactive Entertainment to Acquire Bluepoint Games" (Press release). 30 September 2021. Retrieved 30 September 2021.
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