Videogame Review: Demon’s Souls (2020)
Two and a half years after its release, the Playstation 5 is now in stock on Amazon ready for 2 day prime shipping. It is fortuitous timing since during its first year there was not much to play on PS5 with perhaps the exception of Cyberpunk 2077 (the PS4 version being so awful it was pulled from the online store). The console now has a few years of software updates and a very nice catalog of enhanced PS4 games to enjoy, Ghost of Tsushima and Spiderman among them. However it is launch title Demon’s Souls that still serves as the console’s flagship. Is it worth a buy? Most definitely but with some minor qualifications.
PS5 Demon’s Souls is the gaming equivalent of a gymnast nailing a flawless floor routine and then just barely losing her footing as she fails to stick the final landing. It’s a great game and almost exactly what you want from a remake: Superlatively updated graphics, great combat, tight controls, and a general faithfulness to the original. In particular I have to laud the amazing sound design. The scrape of every sword, the death grunts, the eerie silences — it just oozes atmosphere. The original Demon’s Souls is an underrated gem and I am delighted to see it done justice in this update. Unfortunately, developer Bluepoint missed the mark on two points.
Firstly, the music is not improved. Many of the redone songs are just not as good as the originals. Real shame since the original OST is quite good. The music isn’t bad — in fact some of the quieter themes are quite evocative. It’s still overall just an unfortunate downgrade. Secondly, the lame political tokenism — “body type” instead of “male” and “female,” and making the crestfallen soldier black. As a black man I dislike this sort of pandering. I understand newer games trying to get pats on the head from the game journalist crowd, but for remakes I dislike attempting to rewrite history in this way. Fortunately these are fairly minor issues.
The game still plays great and has one of my favorite stories of all the Souls franchise. Demon’s Souls offers the same punishing difficulty of Elden Ring in a stripped down package. It is not a long game but the great build variety, NG+ challenges, and PVP give it solid replayability. For me personally it isn’t quite enough to make me forget the original. Still if you are finally able to score a PS5, Demon’s Souls remake is a good time.
Grade: B+
