Demon's Souls

In Demon's Souls, a touch of smart quality of life changes and gorgeous visuals go a long way in modernizing this tough PS3 classic.

Bluepoint delivers a Demon's Souls remake that is as much its own as it is From Software's, and it shows off the power of the PS5 with it.

There's friction between the original and this lavish remake, but this is a scintillating launch title that shows off the PS5's strengths.

One of the nicest new additions to Demon's Souls is a photo mode. In addition to giving players the option to actually pause Demon's Souls - something you couldn't do in the original - it also takes some lovely screenshots. (See: every image in this review.)

At once both a fascinating history lesson for the now ubiquitous Souls-like genre and an enjoyable romp in its own right, this remake gives plenty of reasons to return to the Nexus

The game itself is an all-time classic. The settings FromSoftware created in 2009 have the complexity of real places, which is why the game played so vividly to fans of role-playing games. And now Bluepoint has given “Demon’s Souls” all the details and polish needed to fully realize this game’s idealized concept of “role playing immersion.” It was a game of boundless creativity, and to have it reimagined so vividly by Bluepoint Games is nothing short of a minor miracle.

The iconic Souslike gameplay as never felt - or looked - better in Bluepoint's stunning remake of the FromSoftware classic.

Though somewhat stylistically uneven, Demon’s Souls PS5 manages to capture the spirit of the original game. The experience is certainly not for everyone, but if you manage to get your head around its steep learning curve and obtuse mechanics, Demon’s Souls will give you a rewarding experience, seeped in an unrelenting and oppressive atmosphere that you will almost certainly never forget.

Bluepoint Games and From Software are among the best in the business, and we're fortunate to have their strengths coalesce for such a stellar remake. This console generation is less than a week old, but something tells me we're still going to be raving about Demon's Souls when it comes to a close.

Demon’s Souls on PlayStation 5 is very much the Demon’s Souls you remember from PlayStation 3. It doesn’t miss a beat, nailing the same melancholy atmosphere and compelling gameplay that would eventually spawn fellow instant-classics like Dark Souls, Bloodborne, and Sekiro. While there were bound to be a few aspects that could have been more faithful to the original, PlayStation 5’s Demon’s Souls remake stands out as an incredibly fun way to revisit the cursed land of Boletaria. It’s creepy. It’s gloomy. You’ll get invaded by laggy assholes near the end of a long level and have to do the whole thing over again. It feels like coming home.