3.5/5 ★ – MPT's review of Demon's Souls.

unable to fathom how people generally name 2 as the “black sheep” of the series when Demon’s Souls exists. doesn’t mean it’s a bad game whatsoever, in fact it’s a really good one. can’t speak on the original as of yet but this remaster for one looks and plays like an absolute dream. can imagine what Bluepoint have done here is so much more than night and day when compared to the original, and on top of the technical aspects i’m sure there’s big and small quality of life changes that make a better game overall. even cool extras i’m aware of like the Penetrator armour and Fractured Mode show how much thought and heart have gone into this game. unfortunately there’s straight bad core features of the game that a remaster can’t change. world tendency is straight cheeks, possibly the worst aspect of any of these game because of how big of an effect it has. in theory the risk/ reward idea of becoming human to gain full health but taunting the idea of dying and making the experience harder is a solid one but the results leave so much to be desired. the fact pure white world tendency can be permanently missable for a playthrough, and therefore certain items can be, on top of enemies permanently doing more damaging and powerful means you can really easily screw yourself. the “payoff” for black world tendency of being able to play as a human permanently is just cancelled out completely. there’s some terribly miserable black phantom encounters too. but the game has so much to love. it’s interesting mainly as a prototype of the Dark Souls formula, seeing what ideas were being thrown at the wall, what stuck and what didn’t, to shape the series we know today. truly feels like the birthplace of a groundbreaking idea, and even a company (love you Fromsoft). the challenging but rewarding gameplay, varied enemies and locations, drippy weapons and armour - it’s all here and mostly great. seriously some of the series’ most interesting areas are here (the Tower of Latria and Shrine of Storms are highlights) along with weapons and encounters that almost feel iconic (Dragon Bone Smasher, Old King Doran). some bosses are great in their own ways too, namely the Storm King, Flamelurker, False King Allant etc etc. but simultaneously there’s some of the absolute worst of all of these too. anything at all to do with the Valley of Defilement, the constant code red runbacks, the gimmick-heavy roster of bosses that range from harmless if uninteresting like Old Hero to scum of the earth (fuck you Leechmonger) make Demon’s Souls a chore to play at times. despite this you can’t help but respect how different and also how big of a risk this game was, and this remake allows you to experience that birth of a groundbreaking franchise. God knows it has its flaws and that they make it physically painful to play at times but the fact so much of the game is solid, and so much of it is interesting shit being thrown at the wall to see if it sticks, makes it so endearing. while not quite capturing the special feeling of the other modern Fromsoft titles for me, the Demon’s Souls remake is 100% required playing for fans of the series.