The PS5 is finally here and one of its best and most anticipated launch titles is the Demon's Souls remake. The original Demon's Souls released on the PlayStation 3, which garnered tons of praise and eventually led to the creation of the Dark Souls trilogy as well as Bloodborne.
One of Demon's Souls most curious puzzles is the appearance of a mysterious locked door in World 1-3, Tower Knight Archstone. The door was hidden away by a fake wall, though eventually the Demon's Souls community was able to work together to discover its existence.
Speedrunner and Twitch streamer, Distortion2, figured out that players could unlock the mysterious door with a Rusted Key that could only be obtained after giving Sparkly the Crow 26 Ceramic Coins. However, finding the Ceramic Coins themselves is an ordeal in and of itself as they are incredibly well hidden across the entire game and only 11 have been found so far, forcing players to do multiple New Game+ runs in order to obtain enough for Sparkly the Crow to reward players with the Rusty Key. To make matters worse, finding the keys is entirely dependent on the players current World Tendency, which makes for some incredibly particular planning involved in order to discover the various Ceramic Coins hidden throughout Demon's Souls.
There are two types of World Tendency, White and Black, and both are required to find the Ceramic Coins. Players can check their current World Tendency from the Tendency tab and this World Tendency guide will explain further how it works. The Ceramic Coins are hidden within breakable objects with a specified World Tendency needed in order for them to spawn. The coins are hidden as follows:
Pure White World Tendency:
- 1-1 (Bolatarian Palace) After Ostrava is rescued, destroy the furniture in the room where the two soldiers break the doors to attack.
- 1-3 (Tower Knight Archstone) Near the start of the level, find a small ladder after the boulder on the stairs to find a locked door. Break the nearby box for the coin.
- 1-3 (Tower Knight Archstone) In the courtyard that overlooks the boss fog gat, the upper walkway holds a box in a corner with the coin.
- 2-2 (Armor Spider Archstone) Break the debris at the bottom of the lava pit.
- 3-1 (Tower of Latria) The coin is hidden in a spiked chair in one of the cells.
- 4-1 (Shrine of Storms) Break the boxes in Graverobber Blige's cell
Pure Black World Tendency:
- 1-2 (Phalanx Archstone) Near the boss fog gate, the stairs lead to an upper floor where a table holds the coin.
- 2-1 (Stonefang Tunnel) Go down the slope in the section with the lava lizard, break the table by the winch.
- 3-1 (Tower of Latria) Using the side path to avoid the statue's arrows, head to the staircase that leads to the courtyard near the Fool Idol's boos. A box at a dead-end contains the coin.
- 4-2 (Adjudicator Archstone) After being kicked in the pit, break the boxes near the extremities.
- 5-2 (Leechmonger Archstone) Break the boxes near the fog gate in the town before the Dirty Colossus fight.
As of now, only 11 coins have been found, and it is very likely there are more hidden throughout Demon's Souls. It should be noted that picking up a dropped coin in an invaded world will lead to the Ceramic Coin break, so there are no duplication tricks so far. Once all 26 coins have been found, players can receive the Rusted Key from Sparkly and open the door to obtain the Penetrator Armor set, from one of Demon's Souls iconic bosses.
Demon's Souls is filled with a plethora of hidden items, which makes the experience all the more rewarding once players have finally tracked them down. Thankfully, the community is full of helpful guides to assist those who feel lost.
Demon's Souls is available now on PS5.