One of the games that was announced at the recent PlayStation 5 reveal event was none other than a remake of a game that fans have been asking about for years: the very first game in the Soulsborne franchise, Demon's Souls.
Fans have been asking for something like this for years and with this announcement, the Souls fanbase is undoubtedly excited but there hasn't but beyond the announcement trailer, not much else was given. While some things have been confirmed during Sony's big event, other details remain wrapped in secrecy. Here are five things fans are sure of about the highly anticipated Demons' Souls remake, and five questions that have yet to be answered.
10 WE KNOW: It's A PS5 Exclusive
The confirmation of a next-gen Demon's Souls remake was announced at the PS5 reveal event, and most fans figured that this game would be an exclusive on top of being a launch title for the new console. Fans' speculations were later confirmed to be correct, as Sony did in fact say that the game would be exclusive to the PS5.
The news came after months of speculation about whether or not the remasters of both Demon's Souls and Bloodborne were going to be launch titles for the new console or if the studios had something else in mind.
9 WE DON'T KNOW: Timed Exclusivity
While it probably won't come as a surprise to most fans that the game will be an exclusive title for the PS5 there are definitely going to be some disappointed players on other platforms who won't be able to get their hands on the remake when it is released.
This isn't surprising, as the original Demon's Souls game (as well as it's spiritual successor Bloodborne) was also an inclusive for the PS3. But with how popular the Dark Souls franchise has become on the other platforms, this remake may be a timed exclusive.
8 WE KNOW: Bluepoint Games Will Be Making The Game
The developer taking on the job of remaking Demon's Souls is not the game's original developer, FromSoftware, instead the game will be developed by Bluepoint Games. Bluepoint was founded in 2008 in Austin, Texas and has developed ten games.
The studio focuses on remakes and remasters of older titles, which makes them a good fit for the job in the place of FromSoftware. Some notable remakes by the developer are the 2018 Shadow Of The Colossus remake and PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale
7 WE DON'T KNOW: Combat Changes
Since this is a new developer taking the reigns of the title, fans have been speculating what, if any, changes are going to be made to the gameplay of the original Demon's Souls.
It's safe to say that any gameplay issues and glitches will probably be dealt with for the remake and there will also likely be some integration with the PS5's controllers and their touch screen functionality. Fans speculate that it’ll be harder but in a fair way that doesn’t rely on janky mechanics like Demon's Souls originally did.
6 WE KNOW: Graphical Upgrades
Since the original Demon's Souls came out in 2009 during the early years of the PS3's lifespan, it's safe to say that at this point, that the graphics of the game are pretty outdated especially by PS5 standards. Even for the time, Demon's Souls was not complemented much for its presentation or graphics but it seems that Bluepoint are really trying to change that for the remake.
The provided screenshots and images of the remake that have been released show much-improved graphics with a lot more attention to detail.
5 WE DON'T KNOW: Difficulty Changes
Fans have also speculated about the game's difficulty, a notorious and essential part of the Soulsborne series, now that FromSoftware is not developing the remake. Fans are curious and worried that due to the change in developer, Demon's Soul's original difficulty will not be maintained, at least in the same way.
Part of the difficulty in the Soulsborne series is the somewhat stiff controls and long animations, which may be removed to modernize the game.
4 WE KNOW: It Was Built From The Ground Up
It was also confirmed during its announcement that this would be a remake of Demon's Souls and not just a remaster, meaning that the game has been rebuilt from the ground up. This means that we can expect a lot more than just the same game that came out in 2009, but just pretty and nicer to look at.
Additionally, this means that the developers can freely make any changes that they want to with the remake, as they are only building on the original game as a base. It's highly possible that there will be some big changes made to the environments and even the story.
3 WE DON'T KNOW: The Presence Of Bonfires
Despite Demon's Souls being the start of what would become the Soulsborne franchise, it is safe to say that it is probably the least popular and acclaimed game in the series. After all, it's the Dark Souls series that made the franchise as a whole, the gameplay style and FromSoftware itself famous.
This means that the game might take some influence from the Dark Souls games during development and might change the Archstone for the more recognizable Bonfires.
2 WE KNOW: The CPU's Prioritization Can Be Modified
One interesting thing that has been confirmed for the remake of Demon's Souls is that the player will be able to pick what their console prioritizes in terms of its CPU power. This means that the player can decide whether to prioritize the game's frame rate or its graphics.
This has been something that PC players have been able to do for decades at this point and it seems that a system like this might become standard, at least for the PS5, as it tries to compete with PCs.
1 WE DON'T KNOW: The Release Date
The one thing that no one knows about the upcoming remake is its release date. As of this writing, there's been no hint or even a tentative date for the game's debut.
It is likely that this game will be a launch title that will come bundled with the PS5, as it was announced at the console's recent reveal event. This means that the game is also likely either near the end of its development, or will be by next year, as the PS5 is set to release within the first half of 2021.