Demon’s Souls is one of the most exciting PS5 exclusives releasing this year, with Bluepoint Games fully remaking From Software’s 2009 masterpiece to take advantage of the new hardware. In a new 12-minute gameplay walkthrough, creative director Gavin Moore showed off offline gameplay, as well as the HUD that was disabled during previous gameplay demonstrations.
After showing off the robust new character creator, Moore shows off the Nexus area, a hub comparable to the Hunter’s Dream from Bloodborne or the Firelink Shrine in Dark Souls 3. From here, you can use the game’s five Archstones to travel to the game’s various regions–there isn’t a sixth one, as the unfinished content from the original game wasn’t completed for the remake.
The loading times for traveling to the first Archstone’s area–the Gates of Boletaria–are nearly non-existent. After a short cinematic featuring a dragon, the gameplay begins, and it’s nothing short of stunning.
Dodging and attacking are both silky-smooth, with the same rhythm of whittling down enemies’ health bars and looking for opportunities to deliver backstab attacks as in the original game. In fact, the game still uses the original PS3 version’s code for combat timing to ensure it feels perfect for veterans. If it isn’t broke, don’t fix it, after all.
You’ll notice the animations have a liittle more flair, however. You can more easily differentiate between different weapon types now, making them more interesting to use.
For higher frame rates, you can play the game in Performance Mode, which runs at 60 frames per second and uses a dynamic 4K resolution. In Cinematic Mode, the game runs in 30 frames per second but runs at a native 4K resolution.
Near the end of the gameplay walkthrough, we see a boss fight against the Dirty Colossus, which is a grotesque and toxic foe that will punish you if you get too close. Fire can help make things easier, and the entire creature is set ablaze when attacked with a flaming sword. In classic Souls demonstration fashion, it isn’t enough, and the player is killed.
Demon’s Souls releases exclusively for PS5 on November 12. Check out our full PS5 review to learn more about the system itself. Our Demon’s Souls preorder guide can also help you score the game on time.
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