I do not envy Bluepoint and SCE Japan for trying to remake Demon's Souls. I don't think there is a perfect way to do so, honestly. DeS 09 is a very weird looking game. There's a weird sheen to the whole thing, the lighting is kinda bad, it literally flips assets from Enchanted arms and fucking Ninja Blade - the whole thing is honestly kind of a mess.

And honestly, I think Bluepoint/SCE Japan has mostly got it right here. DeS '20 definetly has some missteps in the remake, but I think they've mostly done a fine job of this remake.

And I will say there are definetly missteps here. Much attention has been given to changes in some character/enemy designs. Whilst I think some of these are pretty bad (Adjudicator and the Fat officials are the most obvious), I can at least see where most of them come from and honestly, the majority of characters remain fundementally intact.

And the strength of Demon's Souls aesthetic was never in it's character designs or assets. It was in it's atmosphere, sound and level design. And fortunately, the Remake retains that. The only area that I'd say feels worse than the original is probably boletarian palace, which is a bit too clean for my liking and doesn't really feel like a fallen castle town for the most part.

But Latria, Shrine of Storms, Valley of Defilement and even Stonefang come out of it feeling not really significantly different - and SoS and VoD both benefit from improved fidelity in particular. And running at 60fps is a godsend.

Also, the 3D audio is exceptional. I think it's honestly the biggest improvement in the entire game and I would implore anyone playing DeS '20 to wear headphones. Its an excellent extension of the sound design of the original game, particularly in Latria.

Of course, on the audio side, I have to say the soundtrack is a big step down. I know Kida gave it a pass and seems to have worked on it in some capacity, but there's a couple of moments where the new tracks just do not work, particularly Fool's Idol, one of my favourite original tracks. The arrangements are pretty alright on their own for the most part but a couple of tracks don't vibe with their original bosses very well. If the original soundtrack was an option this remake would definetly be closer to 5 stars than 4 for me, and I hope it happens - Bluepoint/Japan Studio have already listened to some feedback regarding the remake so I wouldn't count it completely out.

A few quick points before I finish

- The new animations are fantastic. I think the originals in this style would have looked a bit goofy.
- Whatever font they're using for the big screen messages has the worst U i have ever seen. actually the worst part of the remake.
- The quality of life additions are great, particularly those involving item burden.
- There's a weird dissonance with the game having a skin of a 2020 game but still playing like the budget 2009 jank. I have no idea how to feel about it.
- I could probably have a day-long conversation about them not doing anything with the broken archstone. I'm incredibly torn and I can see why they didn't add too much new stuff.

But yeah, I could go on about the minutae of this remake for ages. It's not perfect, theres definetly mistakes here - but what I think really matters I think Bluepoint and Japan Studio have gotten right. I think the results are far better than that of the Shadow of the Colossus remake, for instance - and I adore both original games.

I think if you put a gun to my head and said I had to pick between a 4k 60fps version of the original game and this, I'd probably say this (though yes, I would like both). I would not say the same for SOTC. So, yeah, as muddled as my feelings are on DeS 20 - I think its a fine job in the end.

Reviewed on Nov 25, 2020


1 Comment


3 years ago

Couldn't agree more about the soundtrack. In the original, Fool's Idol really stood out to me and fit the boss fight perfectly. The music in the remake sounds generic, but fortunately doesn't detract much from the whole experience. I made a bare-bones cover of Fool's Idol, mostly because the dissonant notes drove me crazy and I had to figure them out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PImiDOXTZVE