Demon’s Souls was the first FromSoftware game helmed by creative director, Hidetaka Miyazaki. Up until his involvement in Demon’s Souls’ development, the game was internally considered a lost cause by FromSoftware, but Miyazaki’s control of the project breathed new life into the game and helped make it one of the most influential titles in history. Demon’s Souls had a relatively simplistic design on the surface, but the longer the game was out the more players learned about its mechanics and the more popular it became.
After the success of Demon’s Souls, FromSoftware went on to create multiple successors to the action RPG, most of which were just as successful as Demon’s Souls mainly because of their adaptation of the formula the first game developed. Each new game in the Soulsborne series either slightly tweaked the original formula to better improve gameplay, or completely changed certain elements but kept other stand-out features in order to create a unique game that still felt like a spiritual successor to the Demon’s Souls formula.
The Original Demon’s Souls Formula
Demon’s Souls' main gameplay loop is rather simple. Players must navigate different locations with extremely limited checkpoints, defeating the area’s enemies along the mostly linear path until reaching the area boss. Players were given different attributes that could be leveled up, with the main focus on health and stamina management. There are various weapons, armor sets, and spells that players can utilize whose usability is determined by the player's skill levels. On the surface, Demon’s Souls looked like any other dark-fantasy RPG, but it is the game’s intricacies that make it stand out.
The main draw to Demon’s Souls is its complicated combat system. The battles themselves are not necessarily all challenging, but it is minor combat details and unexpected events that create the challenge. The combat formula is all about patience and learning enemy move sets and knowing when to strike when to block, and when to dodge, all while keeping a close eye on the stamina meter and choosing when to use the limited amount of healing items. Aside from that, players must also be aware of different enemy types and groups of enemies that may interrupt the usual flow of combat. Bosses, in particular, make players think on their feet and change up usual combat strategies because every boss brings its own unique challenge to Demon’s Souls.
The Natural Progression of the Formula in Dark Souls
Though the first Dark Souls game is not a direct sequel to Demon’s Souls, its theme, setting, and especially its combat system make Dark Souls and its sequels the spiritual successors to Demon’s Souls. Dark Souls still ensured players would be challenged with each new enemy and boss and made health and stamina management necessities for success. Perhaps the biggest change from Demon’s Souls is the way health items are used. As opposed to different types of grass that players had to either find or purchase in Demon’s Souls, Dark Souls featured the Estus Flask, a health potion that was refilled upon resting at any checkpoint. The new healing item did away with the clutter of different amounts and types of grass and made healing more convenient.
The Dark Souls series also greatly expanded the map and level design compared to its predecessor. Demon’s Souls featured the Nexus, a central hub world, from which players could choose which area in the game they wanted to journey to, and even though no area was off limits, there were noticeably more difficult enemies in areas designed to be played later in the game. The Dark Souls games also feature a type of hub area, but the games follow a mostly linear path that soon begins to branch out and interconnect with other areas, including the hub, which makes the entire world feel connected and intricately designed.
Dark Souls 3 made perhaps the biggest jump from the core combat established in Demon’s Souls. Aside from further fine-tuning the parrying system and introducing Weapon Arts that gave weapons new varieties of attacks, the third Dark Souls title put more of an emphasis on magic and created the Ashen Estus Flask, which was used to restore the player’s magical power but required them to split flask use between health and magic restoration. Not only did this new flask create another layer for players to have to think about when going into combat, but it also encouraged the use of more spells. Previous entries in the series did feature magic, but spell use was very limited and ultimately became more of a niche combat choice.
How Bloodborne and Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice Expanded the Formula
Fromsoftware threw fans a curveball by releasing a new IP, Bloodborne, just one year after Dark Souls 2. And though this new game played similarly to previous entries in the Dark Souls series, it had some notable differences. The combat was still focused on health and stamina management but did away with using a shield, instead opting for more fast-paced combat focused on quick dodging and the use of a firearm to effectively parry enemy attacks. Bloodborne’s combat is much faster and more diverse than its predecessors, as it also introduced trick weapons, which were classic weapons that featured alternate forms or attacks that allowed players to change combat style mid-fight.
Bloodborne also revisited and slightly tweaked Demon’s Souls' use of limited health items by requiring players to find or purchase Blood Vials in order to heal in-game. Though the vials were still more practical than Demon’s Souls grass because there were not multiple types, and the vials did fit Bloodborne’s theme, it does seem like an odd choice for FromSoftware to stray far from the success of replenishable Estus Flasks.
Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice also greatly altered the combat system of previous FromSoftware games. Perhaps the biggest change was the replacement of the stamina meter with a posture system, as well as a focus on stealth takedowns. The combat is fast-paced and reliant on players learning enemy moves and taking advantage of openings, but the posture system demands that players time their blocks perfectly in order to exhaust their enemy and perform a fatal strike. Bosses, enemies, and even the player character, Wolf, are able to be posture broken, which makes it crucial for players to master the new style of combat. After they do master it, the combat is the most fluid of all the FromSoftware games.
The Future of FromSoftware’s Demon’s Souls Formula
The latest rendition of the Demon’s Souls formula is seen in Elden Ring. Though FromSoftware’s latest release is its own IP, it does draw heavily from the original Demon’s Souls and Dark Souls combat systems. Elden Ring is essentially an open-world Dark Souls game that continues to rely on standard health and stamina management but has greatly expanded upon the versatility in combat. The open world is expansive and full of a wide variety of different weapons and spells that the player can utilize.
Elden Ring’s biggest change to the classic formula is the addition of mounted combat and the utilization of Spirit Ashes and Ashes of War. Spirit Ashes allow players to summon unique allies to the battlefield, and the Ashes of War replace Dark Souls 3’s weapon arts, allowing each weapon to have a customizable skill that can change their effectiveness and move set. Elden Ring also expanded magic even further than Dark Souls 3 by featuring different types of magic all with their own unique spells that have become just as versatile as the different types of physical weapons.
Future FromSoftware games centered around the Demon’s Souls formula will likely continue to tweak elements of it, but should never stray too far from the roots. Though it is a rather simple base formula for combat, it has proven to be very effective. The only changes made have occurred to better fit a particular game’s style or to further expand upon ideas and concepts that were established in the original game. Demon’s Souls began with a basic concept that curated a challenging yet fair combat system, and the formula has only improved as the developer continues to create games with the same core mechanics.
Demon’s Souls Remake is currently available on PS5.