![]() The Demon’s Souls remake isn’t without its own issues. The sleek design of Demon’s Souls makes it a much better entry point for beginners who want to appreciate FromSoftware’s design without delving into an encyclopedia-sized guide. While I loved how sprawling and open Elden Ring was, I found myself missing out on entire components of the game due to convoluted quests and a glut of confusing items. Nuances like that made it easier to engage with all of Demon’s Souls‘ systems, with very little leaving me totally stumped (though world tendency is still a total mystery to me). I previously posited that Elden Ring could have taken a The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild approach to item degradation, and I feel more confident in that idea after playing Demon’s Soul. That led me to equipping Kilij, the curved blade that would allow me to melt down bosses like Leechmonger in 30 seconds flat. Weapons and armor wear out over time, so I felt a little more pressure to switch up my weapons. Demon’s Souls has a cruel, but effective way of keeping players from getting too comfortable: gear degradation. Once I had begun upgrading it with precious materials, it felt like a waste to swap it out. In the latter, I ended up hanging on to my starting lance for half the game. In general, I was more open to experimentation in Demon’s Souls than I was in Elden Ring. I was able to settle on a build much earlier as I could better feel how each stat would shape my playthrough. I became much more willing to farm for experience or resources because I knew exactly how it would pay off. I always felt a difference when I made a single vitality stat increase or weapon upgrade. That made grinding feel like a chore I didn’t want to engage with, as the reward often felt too small.ĭemon’s Souls doesn’t have that problem. I’d only notice a sizable sense of growth if I went up five levels at once. If you raise a stat by one level, you won’t feel much of a difference. For instance, progress is incredibly slow in Elden Ring. It’s Demon’s Souls’ more subtle details that have finally allowed me to put my finger on aspects of Elden Ring that irk me. Demon’s Souls has more manageable wind-ups across the board, letting players take their swings faster. It feels like recent FromSoftware games have become perhaps too self-aware of their reputation these days, upping the ante each time with more difficulty and danger. I couldn’t stand Elden Ring’s Rennala fight, which featured a long walk to her boss chamber and a time-consuming first phase, just to get to the actual challenging back half of the fight. My final playtime wasn’t padded out by hours spent bashing my head against a wall. That’s the main difference that’s made the Demon’s Souls remake my favorite FromSoftware experience to date. Demon’s Souls isn’t really interested in making players struggle over and over just to get to the point where they can even begin learning. Something like a surprise boulder drop only tends to happen once or is easily avoided once you know it’s coming. The more straightforward areas aren’t as reliant on “gotcha!” traps that are a fun shock once and an annoyance every time after. That same philosophy applies to the levels leading up to bosses too. Demon’s Souls gets to the execution phase of fights quicker by presenting clear patterns that can be learned in one go. I’d spend battles standing around for a minute waiting for an attack string to tie up just so I could get one jab in. ![]() Bosses would routinely take me dozens of attempts as I struggled to learn complex attack animations that seemed to never end. Due to clear encounter designs like that, I was able to beat half of the game’s bosses on my first try, sight unseen. I was able to immediately comprehend that the Old Hero is completely blind and will only target me once I make a scene. Each boss is built around a clearly defined central idea that’s easy to pick up on the first attempt. However, the remake is a more legible experience that’s easier to take in at a glance. I hesitate to call Demon’s Souls easy, because even the easiest Souls game is still harder than most titles. Instead, I completed the entire game in 17 hours with barely any struggle beyond the second boss. When I started my playthrough, I figured I’d poke at it until I got frustrated and quit, just as I did with Bloodborne. The action-RPG features five more linear zones to explore and can be completed in under 20 hours. Legible designĬoming off of the 100-plus hour Elden Ring, Demon’s Souls is much easier to swallow by comparison. While I love the latter, Demon’s Souls makes me yearn for a more compact, less esoteric FromSoftware experience. After a four-day binge, I wound up loving Demon’s Souls - so much that it made me more unexpectedly critical of Elden Ring.
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