When Sony launched the PS5, there weren't many games it came with despite the fact that the console had a pre-loaded game in the form of Astro's Playroom to get players acquainted with DualSense controllers and offer a fun next-gen experience. One of the launch titles available for the PS5 was the remake of a popular 2009 game for the PS3, Demon's Souls, originally developed by FromSoftware, whereas the PS5 iteration was made by Bluepoint Games. Both Demon's Souls and the PS5 came out exactly a year ago on November 12 and since then, the game has become already a classic among the next-gen console's fans.
Sony published a blog post for the first anniversary of the PS5, listing the ten most played games on the console, with Demon's Souls further cementing its status as an incredible launch title and coming in at the ninth place out of ten. The game is indeed incredible, and it takes advantage of the console's outstanding power and performance fully, from the exceptional graphics to the smooth transitions in between loading times and entering new areas. However successful, Demon's Souls could never be much more than a remake for a number of reasons, and it is unfortunately very likely to fall off the radar once titles like Elden Ring finally come out.
Demon's Souls Wasn't More Than a Great Remake, But That's Okay
The original Demon's Souls was the precursor to what became universally known as the Soulslike genre, meaning games similar to FromSoftware's adventure game where players can collect souls from their enemies and grow in power with them - or lose them on death. The very concept of Soulslikes is that the games should be quite brutal in every encounter, to the point that players either give up or eventually learn from their deaths to finally beat whatever the game is throwing at them. This was exceptionally well rendered in the PS5 version of Demon's Souls, and the game was very faithful to the original in many ways, albeit Bluepoint Games did take a few creative liberties here and there.
Still, the remake is a great way for old players to play through nostalgia-driven action and new players to experience the game that sprawled several other Soulslikes for the first time. The lore and storytelling of Demon's Souls are what inspired FromSoftware's Dark Souls series to tell a fragmented tale, and that aspect is still very present in the PS5 version of the RPG. However, Demon's Souls story was always rather self-contained despite there being different endings, and the problem with this is that it was never going to get any form of DLC or expansion.
It wouldn't have made sense for Demon's Souls to expand like that, and it could be what made FromSoftware want to create a series loosely based on the original game, with a new story that could go where the developer wanted. With the next-gen version being a remake, this also translated in Demon's Souls remaining what it was conceived to be and not getting any form of expansion.
This is in line with the game's narrative and that's fine, but a next-gen remake of Demon's Souls could also have been the perfect time to turn it into something more. Alas, this wasn't the case, but Demon's Souls on PS5 remains one of the best games the console has had for an entire year, and it will continue to be just that even when more Soulslikes are eventually released.
Demon's Souls is available now on PS5.