I never played the original so there will be no comparisons from me in this review what I will tell you is that even having never played the original Demon's Souls still stands firmly on its own and managed to wow me quite a bit at times.
Let me start with the graphics because this game truly blew me away on that front, this is without a doubt the best looking and best sounding game I've ever played. The textures, the facial animations, the particle effects when casting magic, the sound design for every single sword swing, it's all just amazing and perfect in every way and brings the kingdom of Boletaria to life in ways never seen before. Truly a next gen experience in its purest form.
The story is set in the kingdom of Boletaria, a kingdom consumed by a dark being called The Old One, following its release through the use of forbidden Soul Arts. Players take on the role of a hero brought to Boletaria to kill its fallen king Allant and pacify The Old One. That's the gist of it anyways, but much like Dark Souls it goes much deeper than that and there's quite a bit of philosophy in the story as well if you choose to dive into that.
The characters are all colorful and memorable, much like all future Souls games there's a small cast of NPC characters that you can rescue in different parts of the world and they will help you in your mission by teaching you various spells. The NPCs have vibrant personalities and great (sometimes tragic backstories)
Gameplay wise it's very obvious the game was before Dark Souls because it's even more clunky and rough around the edges, as I said before I never played the original, but I read the developers wanted to make the game as authentic as possible, the attack and roll animations are super slow, there's an inventory weight mechanic, climbing ladders is also slow as hell etc this remake despite being a game from 2020, plays identically to the 2009 version, for better or worse. So if you're a Souls veteran the game will definitely feel outdated by the more polished sequels, it's still a lot of fun to play though and there's plenty of character build variety for good replay value.
The level design has so much variety and simply looks incredible, from the grimdark Boletarian palace, the LOTR like crypts in the Shrine of Storms to the Lovecraftian Tower of Latria, so much creativity oozes from every world. This game has no bonfires though and the only checkpoints are boss archstones so running those level gauntlets to get from boss to boss can be insanely brutal, but even though I died many times I never got tired of running through the same areas so much simply due to how breathtaking the environments are.
The boss and enemy design is disgusting and grotesque in the best way possible, but the actual boss fights are very hit or miss to me, some are really cool and challenging, but most are not that hard at least if you're a veteran of the franchise (I'm sure they were mindblowing back in the day though), they might still give you a lot of challenge if it is your first Souls game, but props to this game for having one of the coolest final bosses of the series though. Oh and the bosses have some great lore tied to them as always too.
Demon's Souls is a blast from the past and showcases just how much the Souls series has evolved over the years, even at its roughest form there's plenty of shades of From's future work all over it and due to its interesting world, colorful NPCs, tight combat, vicious bosses and masterfully designed levels, whether you're a newcomer or a veteran Demon's Souls is a journey worth taking and I highly recommend taking it.
Let me start with the graphics because this game truly blew me away on that front, this is without a doubt the best looking and best sounding game I've ever played. The textures, the facial animations, the particle effects when casting magic, the sound design for every single sword swing, it's all just amazing and perfect in every way and brings the kingdom of Boletaria to life in ways never seen before. Truly a next gen experience in its purest form.
The story is set in the kingdom of Boletaria, a kingdom consumed by a dark being called The Old One, following its release through the use of forbidden Soul Arts. Players take on the role of a hero brought to Boletaria to kill its fallen king Allant and pacify The Old One. That's the gist of it anyways, but much like Dark Souls it goes much deeper than that and there's quite a bit of philosophy in the story as well if you choose to dive into that.
The characters are all colorful and memorable, much like all future Souls games there's a small cast of NPC characters that you can rescue in different parts of the world and they will help you in your mission by teaching you various spells. The NPCs have vibrant personalities and great (sometimes tragic backstories)
Gameplay wise it's very obvious the game was before Dark Souls because it's even more clunky and rough around the edges, as I said before I never played the original, but I read the developers wanted to make the game as authentic as possible, the attack and roll animations are super slow, there's an inventory weight mechanic, climbing ladders is also slow as hell etc this remake despite being a game from 2020, plays identically to the 2009 version, for better or worse. So if you're a Souls veteran the game will definitely feel outdated by the more polished sequels, it's still a lot of fun to play though and there's plenty of character build variety for good replay value.
The level design has so much variety and simply looks incredible, from the grimdark Boletarian palace, the LOTR like crypts in the Shrine of Storms to the Lovecraftian Tower of Latria, so much creativity oozes from every world. This game has no bonfires though and the only checkpoints are boss archstones so running those level gauntlets to get from boss to boss can be insanely brutal, but even though I died many times I never got tired of running through the same areas so much simply due to how breathtaking the environments are.
The boss and enemy design is disgusting and grotesque in the best way possible, but the actual boss fights are very hit or miss to me, some are really cool and challenging, but most are not that hard at least if you're a veteran of the franchise (I'm sure they were mindblowing back in the day though), they might still give you a lot of challenge if it is your first Souls game, but props to this game for having one of the coolest final bosses of the series though. Oh and the bosses have some great lore tied to them as always too.
Demon's Souls is a blast from the past and showcases just how much the Souls series has evolved over the years, even at its roughest form there's plenty of shades of From's future work all over it and due to its interesting world, colorful NPCs, tight combat, vicious bosses and masterfully designed levels, whether you're a newcomer or a veteran Demon's Souls is a journey worth taking and I highly recommend taking it.