It's basically a 3D beat-em-up and it EXCELS at that. Even playing it now the melee combat is incredibly satisfying with hefty, fluid animations that always meld together well.

On top of that, the writing is amazing and the stereotypes are so comical. I'm constantly laughing out loud from the passive NPC dialogue as you walk around.

I also love Gary. He's basically just a kid who's off his ADHD medication and it makes for a fantastic villain for a game like this.

One of my favorite games ever.

I played it on PS4 but haven't played in a while so I'm not worried about how much new stuff there is, I'm just starting over and having so much fun again just like the first time. I really really love this game bro.

I will say that the new stuff has been a really fun bonus. I'm happy to finally get the previously PC exclusive half life stuff, and I wasn't expecting this but DEAR LORD the graphical enhancements are actually noticeable. The 4k and 60fps make the game look positively phenomenal, and the loading times have been shortened to the point where getting from the PS5 home screen to being loaded and in the game actually takes under 5 seconds.

This was my first time playing through Demon's Souls so personally I'm glad they kept all the "flaws"; that way I could play the real game just with new visuals.

I really love the look of the first Dark Souls and from what I've seen, the original Demon's Souls looks spectacular and very atmospheric in a different way from the remake. Therefore I wouldn't necessarily call the remake an improvement or anything like that, but I think it's funny playing a (sort of niche at the time) 2009 dark fantasy RPG but with insane, high-budget PS5 graphics. Also, the animations look amazing: when you 2-handed backstab the soldiers in Boletaria, they collapse but their shield cartoonishly flips up into the air and it makes me laugh every time.

By the way, the so-called jank that everybody harps on in their reviews? I fail to see it. The one thing I can see being a quality-of-life issue is the fact that the drop rate of the grass is really low. However I don't think that's a huge deal since the game clearly wants people to have to sacrifice some of their souls at the merchants to keep their healing supply up. It's just another level of difficulty and I didn't have too much of a problem with it.

What I DO have a problem with, though, is the character creator. One of the most massive appeals of the Souls games for me is being able to play as a hideously deformed cretin, and you cannot do that in this game. You can do funny skin colors, sure, but it doesn't give you the ability to really exaggerate facial features in a funny way, and that's just sad. I've seen some takes from insufferable nerds being like "Finally, we can create good looking characters! From Software could learn something from Bluepoint!" and I only have one thing to say to those dorks: suck a fart out of my ass. Nobody wants to play a game as a regular-looking dude when they could play as a disgusting sewer puke mutant instead. Demon's Souls remake loses ONE STAR from me for this unfortunate shortcoming.