The PS5 exclusive remake of Demon's Souls was released to critical and commercial acclaim, making it a must-have title on launch, but the development process appears to have been far from easy on developer Bluepoint Games. YouTube documentarian channel Noclip has announced its intention to look into the making of the Demon's Souls remake in its next video game documentary.
Noclip has previously worked on several thorough documentaries about the making of specific games, including a documentary on the development of Dishonored, so fans of Demon's Souls can rest assured that this isn't Noclip's first rodeo. Noclip is interviewing developers from Bluepoint Games and Japan Studio, and judging by the amount of information packed into the project's teaser trailer, they were happy to discuss the process of remaking Demon's Souls.
In a video titled "Remaking Demon's Souls - Noclip Teaser," Noclip touches on a variety of topics that will presumably be delved into deeper in the full documentary, including how Bluepoint Games decided to remake Demon's Souls, environmental storytelling, and how the title forced the development team to grow beyond their limits. And grow they most certainly did, as the PS5 version of Demon's Souls shows what Bluepoint Games could do with other beloved properties. The documentary Remaking Demon's Souls will be uploaded for free to Noclip's YouTube channel this July.
The trailer also shares a bit of Bluepoint Games' struggle to make sure the remake would live up to the original, which meant analyzing every step to make sure it wasn't harming a PlayStation classic. While there are a number of subtle differences between the PS3 and PS5 versions of Demon's Souls, the general consensus seems to be that the remake remains faithful. The most obvious change is probably the visual design alterations, as the remade Kingdom of Boletaria has a greater sense of scale and a lot of attention paid to microdetail. Also welcome are the remake's more consistent framerates and drastically shortened loading times that make dying a bit less painful.
Noclip selected some of the most chilling visuals Demon's Souls has to offer for this trailer. Although each image is completely still and the only camera movement is a steady slow zoom, the detail poured into castles, dungeons, cliffsides, and the many foes players can encounter in the game creates an atmosphere of equal parts wonder, tension, and unease. This is very fitting, as the Demon's Souls remake can be even more terrifying than the already harrowing original.
Demon's Souls is available now on PS5.