“On the first day, man was granted a soul and, with it, clarity. On the second day, an irrevocable poison was launched on the earth; a devouring demon of souls ”. The soul is the heart, the key element, the concept behind Demon's Souls Remake. Whether we refer to it in a practical sense, that soul necessary for our alter ego to maintain our judgment, or that we name it in a figurative sense, that is, the one that allowed the brand to become the progenitor of a real videogame genre, having a soul is what has allowed Demon's Souls to be loved today by so many different players. There are those who want to test themselves, facing what is considered the most difficult chapter of the saga; who fell in love with hers lore, an elusive term that exists today even where there is no trace of it. Yet when the From Software title made its first stirrings, its nature was not understood.
All the universe that gravitates around the creature of Hidetaka Miyazaki it only develops when the star of Dark Souls, the second incarnation of that soul. Yes, if we think about it, back in 2009, when little or nothing was known about Demon's Souls, very few would have launched into the shops to grab a copy, as is happening today for its remake, or as it will happen when Miyazaki and From Software will finally decide to give us some more news on the mysterious Elden Ring; indeed, quite the opposite. At the dawn of its release, it was immediately branded by critics and players (many of whom probably love it today) as too difficult, impossible to carry out, an unhealthy and sadistic idea that no one should ever have come up with. He also fell into the trap Shuhei Yoshida di Sony, which in an interview for Game Informer defined the title "an unbelievably bad game".
A 1: 1 reincarnated soul
Losing all progress with each death? Don't have any tutorials showing us the right path to follow? Impossible enemies and gameplay mechanics left to the teachings of the player's post-death experiences? Heresy. Yet, today, these are precisely the key elements that all of us soul-eaters love. But at the time, who is it that really bet on Demon's Souls? Here with us, very few. if today many yearn for the reincarnation of this soul up Playstation 5 it's precisely because they didn't play it during its first appearance, only to be ferried by streamers, with Sabaku no Maiku in the head, in that world cloaked in a wonderful and terrible aura, finding oneself catapulted to the purchase of its natural evolution, that Dark Souls that has sweetened many aspects to make it more attractive to the Western world.
But are we really ready today to love something that we would never have loved in the past? Let's think about it. Every aspect of the gameplay and the title has been improved, polished, adjusted by its successors to meet the needs of the modern gamer. Estus flasks have replaced healing herbs. The bonfires, absent in Demon's Souls, have become the beating heart and iconographic symbol of Dark Souls. The online component of the first title, the cryptic ones World Tendency, have been removed to make room for the more immediate mechanics of invasion and joyful cooperation. Dying in a Souls nowadays makes you lose "only" a few souls, changing very little of the structure of the game world. The differences certainly do not end here, but everything, so to speak, is less punitive today.
Now, the extraordinary guys of Bluepoint games, splendid remake packagers who have risen to the fore with that jewel that is Shadow of the Colossus su PlayStation 4, they promised us a 1: 1 remake. Same difficulty as in the past, same World Tendency, same absence of Estus flasks and bonfires, no more spells and pyromancy counted but a nice blue bar for mana to replace them. Same reduced longevity of the title, consisting of only five worlds, connected yes, but not explorable in a global way and perfectly held together by that example of level design mastery that are the shortcuts, although we expect to find the archstone of the world of magically restored giants (a nice DLC?). A title that will be decidedly less long-lived than the experiences we are used to today.
Ready to (re) die?
Are we really ready to set foot in Boletaria for the first time? Anyone who has already been there knows exactly what to expect. Those who cross the gray fog for the first time already ready for a victory brought from home, however, may find themselves bewildered, disappointed by an exotic (or esoteric) love that he had put on a pedestal, from which he may have to get him down: behind a winking makeup and a nice dress may be hiding a temper that we can't handle. Bluepoint Games, we can sleep peacefully, we will churn out a game with controfiocchi. He will make his soul his own and make it more beautiful and dark than ever, giving us that 4K at 60 FPS we have coveted so much (Blighttown I don't fear you anymore), or so we hope.
Still, who knows if the modern player, accustomed to the speed of Bloodborne, to the verticality of Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, or the now-proven mechanics of Dark Souls, are really ready to survive Boletaria. I played and finished Demon's Souls years ago, but only after getting to know Dark Souls. IS I've always wondered who was the first to go beyond his implausible difficulty, the first to steal his soul, the first to throw the heart over the obstacle. Who knows if I too, if I had played it without first being informed, I would have been able to face it and understand it. Perhaps, quite simply, none of us were really ready at the time. There remains a hope, that the new generations of gamers can today approach Demon's Souls Remake without barriers, managing to maintain the clarity that was granted to men on the first day. They will find that the genre they love today was born in a terribly wonderful place called Boletaria. I will wait for them there, on this second day, to face a soul-eating demon together.
