Demon's Souls is a must-have title for owners of the PlayStation 5 (PS5). Now I'm not just saying this because Demon's Souls is one of the few native PS5 games available now. The fact is, Bluepoint Games, the ones behind the brilliant Shadow of the Colossus remake, has done it again.
Quick notes
- PS Plus subscription required for online multiplayer
- Choose between native 4K at 30fps and dynamic 4K at 60fps
- Quality of life and graphical improvements
First released for the PlayStation 3 console in 2009, Demon's Souls was a cult classic that eventually led to the “Soulsborne” genre (Dark Souls franchise, Bloodborne and Sekirio: Shadows Die Twice). These games were notorious for their fair but grueling gameplay. Dying in the game was so commonplace it even became a meme. Personally, I failed to complete the original PS3 version back in the days, till my PS3 gave up the ghost.
But Demon's Souls primed me for later Soulsborne games, most of which I have since completed. The new Demon's Souls remake, was my chance for a rematch. And this time, in glorious native 4K (either at 30fps) or a smooth 60fps (1,440p upscaled). Bluepoint has also introduced much-needed tweaks that improved the experience, such as the ability to send items straight to storage from the player inventory and omnidirectional rolling. There's even an elaborate easter egg that took the Demon's Souls community a while to figure out.
Demon's Souls also took advantage of the improved haptics on the PS5's DualSense controller. I never got tired of the intense and super-satisfying vibration and audio effects when executing backstabs and parries. And game load times are so much shorter with the PS5's super-fast SSD. While Demon's Souls remains as moody and atmospheric as ever, I was just a tad disappointed by the difficulty of the boss fights. Perhaps I have gotten gud, but the boss fights are definitely easier and not as memorable as later Soulsborne games.
Compared to later Soulsborne games, Demon's Souls is relatively short. It should take around 20 to 30 hours to finish the game, assuming you have one of the many YouTube walkthroughs to guide you through sticky patches. Grab Demon's Souls for S$97.90 at Shopee and Lazada.
Note: Review copy provided by Sony PlayStation Asia.
Any purchase you make through our links may generate a commission. It supports our work, but does not dictate our editorial reviews. See our FAQ here.
