Demon's Souls - Preview, what will be the differences between the remake and the original?

After so many rumors and requests from fans, Demon's Souls Remake has finally become a reality, making its appearance last June 11 at the first event entirely dedicated to PlayStation 5, during which a video with a great emotional impact was shown. The remake, made by the expert hands of Bluepoint games (authors of various remasters and remakes at Sony, including the recent Shadow of the Colossus), will debut the next November 19 2020 exclusively on PlayStation 5, 11 years after the release of the original PS3 title, developed by FromSoftware and directed by Hidetaka Miyazaki. Let's find out together, analyzing in detail the various trailers shown so far, what could be the main "news" and the common points present in the remake made by the Texan development team.

New life for the dark Boletaria of Demon's Souls

As fans of the famous will know Dark fantasy RPG of the Japanese software house, during the last one PlayStation 5 Showcase A full-bodied clip was shown, which allowed us to take a closer look not only at the disturbing places and deadly enemies lurking in that of Boletaria, but also to the gameplay of Demon's Souls Remake. At first glance, what immediately catches the eye is the extreme care with which the guys of Bluepoint Games have created the game world, vivo and full of elements on the screen. The significant graphic improvements introduced by the US software house can be better appreciated thanks to a recent video published by YouTuber Phobia, which compares the original version of the game released on PlayStation 3 with the one that will debut next November on the next-generation Sony console. The video in question, which you can conveniently find below, is not limited to comparing the same game sequence, but to highlight how the work done by the guys at Bluepoint Games goes far beyond the simple concept of "remake".

Although the user tried to compare the two versions "on par," upscaling the resolution of FromSoftware's original title to 4K at 60 frames per second, the new project from the Austin-based development team presents a visual style of its own, bordering on photorealism, with much faster loading times (taking full advantage of Sony's new custom SSD), the reintroduction of vaulting (already present in the original Demon's Souls but never reintroduced in subsequent titles of the Japanese software house) and a greater fluidity and "lightness" in the movements. As long-time fans know, FromSoftware's title that debuted on PlayStation 3 back in 2009 was slow and quite heavy in the protagonist's movements, style and game mechanics that are nowadays impossible.

Bluepoint games tried to recreate Demon's Souls in such a way that longtime fans could return to the Boletaria they loved so much on PS3, retouching the original material (graphics, sounds, music and atmospheres) to expand, rework it and make it more "palatable" for the new user, all without distorting the original vision of the work. However, the changes made from the development team seem to focus on wanting emphasize the experience of the original title, making the game world "full of life", thanks to a luxuriant vegetation and the presence of larger and more detailed environments, a greater fluidity in the movements of the protagonist and the NPCs, one more varied color palette (compared to the gray-green shades predominant in the original version) and atruly amazing lighting and particle effects, thanks to the introduction of the ray-tracing.

Analyzing and comparing some images taken from the remake, with those coming from the original title, we can see how the polygonal models are equipped with greater detail (as can be seen from the comparison between the Tower Knight and Vanguard demon for PS3, compared to the next-gen counterpart). The amazing graphic enhancements aim not only to enhance the original idea of ​​Hidetaka Miyazaki and FromSoftware, but to further characterize the enemies and the "vast" game locations, which at first glance seem to want to abandon limited environments in favor of greater exploratory freedom.

Go beyond the simple concept of "remake"

Clearly, the differences with the original FromSoftware title released on PS3 are not limited only to the graphics sector. We can see how Demon's Souls Remake for PS5, in addition to a completely revised level design, includes the motion blur, new sound effects e more elaborate animations and "realistic". Although Bluepoint Games wanted to preserve the "original" soul of the Japanese software house, rebuilding the work from scratch and re-proposing the characters, encounters and battles on PlayStation 5 with the utmost fidelity possible, so as to make the story even richer and gloomy, there will be news. According to what emerged from the official page of Demon's Souls Remake, the game will offer an exclusive weapon (the "Reaper's Scythe“) As a bonus obtainable by pre-ordering the title, demonstrating the willingness on the part of the development team not to be against adding completely new content. Will it be the only novelty or has the Texan development team decided to be less "conservative" than previous remasters?

Furthermore, we already know that the new Bluepoint Games remake will support the new features of PS5 and DualSense (3D audio e haptic feedback), two different graphics modes (one in favor of the frame rate, the other of the resolution) and which will occupy 5 GB on the PlayStation 66 SSD (compared to the previous minimum 54 MB required during installation on the PlayStation 3 HDD ). Finally, just like FromSoftware's original title, Demon's Souls Remake will also feature an online multiplayer component, up to a maximum of 6 players. Waiting to find out more details on the next remake made by Bluepoint Games, and on how the development team has perfected the gaming experience (which in these first bars turns out to be a faithful reinterpretation of FromSoftware's beloved dark fantasy RPG), there we remember that Demon's Souls Remake will be one of the PlayStation 5 launch titles (along with Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales, Destruction All Stars, Sackboy A Big Adventure, Astro's Playroom and Godfall), with an upcoming release November 19 2020.