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Demon Souls Reviews | The Remake

Knitted Knight

Knitted Knight

Banned
OT.jpg


METACRITIC: 92
OPENCRITIC: 92

GAMEINFORMER: 93


Gamespot: 90
There's much to praise about the remake of Demon's Souls. It's a remarkable technical showpiece for the PlayStation 5; a gripping gameplay experience that oscillates between exhilarating, nerve-wracking, and downright heartbreaking; and a faithful recreation of the seminal title that birthed the Souls-like subgenre. But developer Bluepoint's greatest achievement is that it took something I'm intimately familiar with and made me feel like I was venturing into the unknown.
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Polygon: Recommended
Demon’s Souls has good bones. It was true in 2009, when developer FromSoftware released the mechanically groundbreaking role-playing game on PlayStation 3, and remains true for Bluepoint Games’ remake, released alongside Sony’s PlayStation 5 this week. Over those bones is a gorgeous remodeling. Every texture in Demon’s Souls has been painstakingly repainted, sometimes to the point of questionable reinterpretation. Every stilted animation appears to have been replaced by three or four new ones, all of them remixed with more lifelike flourishes. Many of the original game’s points of aggravation, like long load times and frequent backtracking, have been softened or nearly eliminated. But rarely does Bluepoint muck with the foundation of Demon’s Souls, because to do so would be sacrilege.
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TheGamer: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
The Best PlayStation Launch Game Ever!
The Old One has awoken from its long slumber, releasing a horde of hungry demons into Boletaria. By fang and claw, they snatch the souls from any human who crosses their path. Many of the people who remain see this scourge as divine retribution - a sacred test from God itself. Bluepoint Games must know how they feel. Charged with awakening their own Old One, the developers at the studio famous for rebuilding classic games such as Shadow of the Colossus have their biggest challenge yet - bringing the original game in a series that spawned an entire genre up to modern standards. Luckily for them, they absolutely nailed it. The secret? Faith.
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ScreenRant: 🌟🌟🌟🌟✨
Demon’s Souls PS5 returns to the difficult strategic combat of the original and maintains its resolve in forcing players to figure things out on their own. Graphically, the remake offers a stellar reimagining of the 2009 classic while delivering a bittersweet audio experience. As a launch title for the PlayStation 5, Demon’s Souls has something to offer both Soulsborne veterans who want to see an old favorite shine and newcomers looking for a gritty, sometimes disheartening experience that demands perseverance.
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ARS Technica: Must-BUY
Does the phrase "best graphics of the year" compel you to buy a video game? Sony likely hopes that bullet point, as applied to this week's Demon's Souls remaster, will put you over the edge to buy not only that new game, but also its required $499 PlayStation 5 console. And while I'm cautious to put graphics over gameplay, there's really no getting around it: Sony made the right bet with this masterpiece as a console-launch showcase.
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4PLAYERS.de: 90
Well folks, what can I say? This modern Demon's Souls has everything I loved back then - and a new presence beyond that! And it looks incredibly good on this merciless action RPG. The red dragon? Lick the fireproof shield, that is a tremendously formidable creature - that is, presence! Even without ray tracing, you get at least an idea of what is technically possible in this new generation. Although I've known the job for eleven years, I had goosebumps. Presence is the perceptibility of one's own character in its surroundings, the felt manifestation of an avatar through force, sound, scenery.
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Eurogamer.it: 90
It is particularly difficult to explain the dimension occupied by Demon's Souls for PS5, because it is an entity moved by four completely different souls. First of all, it represents the first exclusively next-gen video game, designed to show the muscles of the console but above all of the DualSense, which traces the hiss of every single bolt thrown and almost tries to warn us of the dangers through haptic feedback. At the same time, for fans, it represents the fulfillment of a forbidden dream, the remake that any gamer would like to receive in the orbit of his favorite title. Four instruments that play in unison in the Bluepoint Games symphony, a title that manages to be an amazing remake and the only next-gen killer application, but that first of all remains the progenitor of the Souls. A dark and merciless world that jealously guards all its immense beauty, proving that great video games do not know the passage of time. Demon's Souls is back, and it has done so in its best version: are you brave enough to face it?
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VICE: no score review
What I think is clear in the hours I've played, however, is Demon's Souls has an opportunity to be appreciated by a huge number of people who never had a chance to play it, who either have no way to play the PlayStation 3 version because they do not have access to the hardware, or do not want to play it because the servers were turned off. Both are fair points. A lot of people hopped on the FromSoftware bandwagon after Demon's Souls had already left the station. This is an opportunity for an underrated masterpiece to take its rightful place.
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fr.Millenium: 90
Demon's Souls was expected for this launch of the PlayStation 5 and it is clear that it does not disappoint us at all and that it is already establishing itself as a major title in the PlayStation catalog. This next-gen version certainly takes all the basics of its version released 10 years earlier by having redone only the graphics and optimization of the title without adding new content, but it remains a great slap in the face. We quickly forget the somewhat rigid mechanics of the genre and we let ourselves be carried away very quickly by this adventure in hell which paradoxically goes through with a lot of pleasure. The Bluepoint teams have simply revived a masterpiece that did not have the success it deserved a decade earlier.
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Push-Square: 100
Changes have been made to the visuals, vocal performances, cutscenes, animations, and user interface – but this is still very much the same Demon’s Souls. You’ll create a character, pick a class, play through a series of stages, and die a bunch. Enemies behave exactly as they used to, useful items still sit in precisely the same locations, and the game’s slightly convoluted Tendency systems remain untouched. There’s no radical reinvention here, and this game is all the better for it.
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Eurogamer: Recommended
How do you make peace between a game whose legend was forged through its downbeat double-A mysteries, through its obliqueness - and bleakness - and this, a thumping great triple-A powerhouse of a thing? I'm not sure you can, not that it should impact your enjoyment of it at all. This is a full-blooded roar of a remake, and if some of that original enigma's been lost it's been replaced with a spectacle befitting of a big ticket console launch. Demon's Souls was the ultimate cult game, a thing of strange beauty and outrageous challenge. With this remake, in all its splendour and explosiveness, it's proven to be just as adept as an amped-up, jaw-dropping blockbuster.
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Press-Start AU: 90
Demon's Souls is without a doubt one of the strongest PS5 launch titles, providing one of the most challenging, yet rewarding experiences. Bluepoint's treatment, although controversial, is immaculate and represents the best way to experience the classic that started it all.
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PlayStation Universe: 100
An absolute blueprint on how to remake a beloved title and meaningfully improve upon on it in ways that new cutting edge technologies make possible, Demon's Souls on PlayStation 5 is more than just the best launch game for any system in recent memory. Its re-emergence and digestible approach to its seemingly daunting challenge now opens the door once more to an all-new generation of PlayStation gamers to a kickstart a second coming for Souls subgenre. Demon's Souls is nothing less than a breathless triumph in every way.
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MetroUK: 90
A fantastic remake of one of the most influential games of recent history, with stunning visuals and improved technical features that make it easier and less frustrating to play for everyone. Pros: A perfect combination of presentation and gameplay that results in one of the most daunting and atmospheric video games ever made. Superb graphics and great online features. Cons: World tendency still feels like something that could have been cut and no-one would’ve complained. Very expensive.
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GamingBolt: 90


Gameranx: Buy


Easy Allies: 90







​
 
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Rolla

Rolla

Banned
Game Informer (9.25/10)



The combat still feels deliberate, as it was in the original, but Bluepoint has vastly improved the feedback you get, which makes connecting a sword with the armor of an enemy knight, or the flesh of a wandering warrior, incredibly impactful. The booming sound that arises when you perfectly time a swing of your shield to parry an incoming attack, and the subsequent thrust of the sword delivered with such ferocity that the enemy is lifted into the air and slammed into the ground made me wince the first time I did it. To top it off, the DualSense's subtle vibrations during all of this made each subsequent parry and riposte attack as satisfying.

There's much more to say about Demon's Souls for PS5, but that can wait for the full review. I am eager to get back to playing it, and that should say a lot. Early signs are good for the game. At this point, we've come to expect Bluepoint to put out top-notch remakes, but this is a game that feels like the studio is flexing its own creative muscles too, and as I venture deeper into Boletaria I'm excited to see what else it has in store.

The Dualsense is clearly enhancing his experience and making the gameplay more immersive. Will that added immersion become a factor in overall review scores and the review process??!!
 
AV

AV

We ain't outta here in ten minutes, we won't need no rocket to fly through space
JimiNutz said:
I have a feeling that this could end up being one of the greatest console launch games of all time.
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Easily. It's a fairly low bar, but still.
 
Coulomb_Barrier

Coulomb_Barrier

Member
Rolla said:
Game Informer (9.25/10)



The combat still feels deliberate, as it was in the original, but Bluepoint has vastly improved the feedback you get, which makes connecting a sword with the armor of an enemy knight, or the flesh of a wandering warrior, incredibly impactful. The booming sound that arises when you perfectly time a swing of your shield to parry an incoming attack, and the subsequent thrust of the sword delivered with such ferocity that the enemy is lifted into the air and slammed into the ground made me wince the first time I did it. To top it off, the DualSense's subtle vibrations during all of this made each subsequent parry and riposte attack as satisfying.

There's much more to say about Demon's Souls for PS5, but that can wait for the full review. I am eager to get back to playing it, and that should say a lot. Early signs are good for the game. At this point, we've come to expect Bluepoint to put out top-notch remakes, but this is a game that feels like the studio is flexing its own creative muscles too, and as I venture deeper into Boletaria I'm excited to see what else it has in store.

The Dualsense is clearly enhancing his experience and making the gameplay more immersive. Will that added immersion become a factor in overall review scores and the review process??!!
Click to expand...

Yep I read the Metro review yesterday, and aside from 'staggering' visuals, they lauded the DS and how much it greatly enhances the experience in conjunction with PS5's Tempest Audio.
 
Rolla

Rolla

Banned
Coulomb_Barrier said:
Yep I read the Metro review yesterday, and aside from 'staggering' visuals, they lauded the DS and how much it greatly enhances the experience in conjunction with PS5's Tempest Audio.
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I think the significance of this is being missed or lost in the launch hype. If reviewers are grading the entire experience which includes the Dualsense...

You could argue that Playstation has launched the PS5 with what is essentially, a cheat code for reviews.
 
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HTK

HTK

Banned
I skipped out on the first one back on the PS3 but for me, this is a day 1 purchase soon as I get my console in a few days.
 
AgentP

AgentP

Thinks mods influence posters politics. Promoted to QAnon Editor.
This game looks and plays so good. I got to 1-3 last night. Sounds is awesome too.
 
GenericUser

GenericUser

Member
Seen some stuff on twitch. Awesome remake, almost up there with the resident evil remake. Awesome sounds design, awesome graphics, stellar animations. A worthy start of this awesome console generation.
 
sobaka770

sobaka770

Banned
I may not get my PS5 till December but since I'm one of those fools who only got into Souls right before BB this makes me so jealous of US people and people who will get it on launch day.
It's the Original Souls, where the trend started and it looks just stupid good.
 
Armorous

Armorous

Member
Can't wait to play Demon's Souls again. I bought a PS3 for blu-ray at launch, Demon's Souls and Last of Us were the only games I played on it.
 
FunkMiller

FunkMiller

Member
CalypsoDouglas said:
Even being a remake/remaster... the fact that it's Demon's Souls guarantees this.
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All the idiots who kept screaming about this just being a remake of an old game completely failed to grasp that it’s a remake of a brilliantly designed game, from one of the most popular game series in history, that most of the fans of that series haven’t played yet.

It’s a fucking masterstroke of a launch title. Guaranteed high scores and sales.
 
Astral Dog

Astral Dog

Member
Bububut the Art style! the monsters now look super deformed freaking cute as if they came straight out of a filthy comic book the Maiden now looks like she got breast implants to appear in America's Next Top Model! Bluepoint took a big dump on FROM software super classic vision they CAN'T GET AWAY WITH THIS! :messenger_loudly_crying:😭😭
 
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