Summary

  • Demon's Souls for PS5 is praised for being one of the best-looking games available, even in 2024.
  • The game's impressive graphics are partly possible due to being exclusively made for PS5, with no need for optimization for weaker platforms.
  • Launch titles for past console generations often did not fully utilize graphical capabilities, unlike Demon's Souls for PS5.

PlayStation 5 gamers are praising the 2020 launch title Demon's Souls as still being one of the best-looking games available on the console. Sony's PlayStation 5 came out swinging in 2020, with the console's biggest launch title undoubtedly being Bluepoint Games' remake of FromSoftware's classic action-RPG Demon's Souls.

The original Demon's Souls kickstarted the Soulslike phenomenon and is quite easily one of the most important games of all time. Bluepoint Games was trusted with remaking Demon's Souls for PS5, with the studio delivering a game with breathtaking visuals that took full advantage of the PS5's hardware. Fast-forward to 2024, and Demon's Souls is still quite easily one of the best-looking games available on PS5.

Best Early Game Weapons In Demon's Souls Remake
Demon's Souls Remake: The Best Weapons To Use Early On

The Demon's Souls remake is just as tough as the original, and then some. These weapons are most useful early on in the game.

This was pointed out by Reddit user MrGamePadMan on the PlayStation subreddit. The user asked why Demon's Souls had such impressive graphics despite releasing in 2020, while many newer games fail to match its image quality and performance. Other Reddit users chimed in and pointed out a big advantage that Demon's Souls has over other games: it was made exclusively for PS5. The developers did not have to worry about optimizing the game for other, potentially weaker, platforms.

Demon's Souls Graphics Are Still Impressive 4 Years Later

Since Demon's Souls launched in 2020, there haven't been all that many pure PS5 exclusives. In fact, some major Sony games have been released as cross-gen titles, with Horizon Forbidden West and God of War Ragnarok both cross-gen games that were also released for PS4. It's been just this last year or so that we've seen Sony release more first-party games exclusively for PS5, with 2023's Spider-Man 2 being one of the most notable examples.

One of the reasons why it's still so puzzling to many gamers why Demon's Souls remains one of the best-looking PS5 games is that launch titles for past console generations were typically only the tip of the iceberg when it came to graphics. Console generations would start with games that, while still representing graphical leaps from their predecessors, were a far cry from taking full advantage of their console's graphical capabilities. Games would look better later in the generation, whereas that hasn't necessarily happened with the PS5.

In the meantime, those that fondly remember playing the Demon's Souls remake at the PS5's launch may be wondering what developer Bluepoint Games is working on next. While the studio has not formally revealed its next project at the time of this writing, it has been confirmed that Bluepoint is working on an original game for Sony - its first title that's not a remake or remaster since 2006's Blast Factor on PS3.

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Demon's Souls (2020) Tag Page Cover Art
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Top Critic Avg: 92 /100 Critics Rec: 99%
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Released
November 12, 2020
ESRB
M for Mature: Blood and Gore, Violence
Developer(s)
Bluepoint Games
Publisher(s)
Sony
Engine
Proprietary Engine
Multiplayer
Online Multiplayer
Franchise
Dark Souls
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WHERE TO PLAY

SUBSCRIPTION
DIGITAL
PHYSICAL
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Entirely rebuilt from the ground up, this remake invites you to experience the unsettling story and ruthless combat of Demon’s Souls.
From PlayStation Studios and Bluepoint Games comes a remake of the PlayStation classic, Demon’s Souls. Entirely rebuilt from the ground up and masterfully enhanced, this remake introduces the horrors of a fog-laden, dark fantasy land to a whole new generation of gamers. Those who’ve faced its trials and tribulations before, can once again challenge the darkness in stunning visual quality with incredible performance.

In his quest for power, the 12th King of Boletaria, King Allant channeled the ancient Soul Arts, awakening a demon from the dawn of time itself, The Old One. With the summoning of The Old One, a colorless fog swept across the land, unleashing nightmarish creatures that hungered for human souls. Those whose souls were stripped from them, lost their minds – left only with the desire to attack the sane that remained.

Now, Boletaria is cut off from the outside world, and the knights who dare penetrate the deep fog to free the land from its plight, are never seen again. As a lone warrior who has braved the baneful fog, you must face the hardest of challenges to earn the title “Slayer of Demons” and send The Old One back to its slumber.

Number of Players
1-6
Platform(s)
PlayStation 5
Genre(s)
RPG
How Long To Beat
23 Hours
PS Plus Availability
Extra & Premium
OpenCritic Rating
Mighty