Demon's Souls Remake: Release Date, Story, Preorders, And Everything Else We Know

Since its release back in 2009, Demon's Souls has had a major impact on the gaming industry. Though it's overshadowed by its successor, Dark Souls, and the enormous influence that game and its sequels have had on developers all over the world, much of what made Dark Souls so interesting was first explored and made possible by Demon's Souls. In November, players who missed out on Demon's Souls when it came out on the PlayStation 3 will have a new chance to take a crack at it, with a full remake of the game among the launch titles for Sony's next-generation console.

That means that the new Demon's Souls is fast approaching, so it's time to run down everything we've learned about one of the PlayStation 5's biggest launch titles. Here's what you need to know about the return of the seminal entry in the Soulsborne genre.

Demon's Souls Remake Release Date, Platforms

Demon's Souls is launching alongside the PlayStation 5, which means it'll release on November 12, when the console does. Right now, that's the only platform to expect Demon's Souls on--although there was a brief moment when it looked like we might get Demon's Souls on PC as well. The trailer revealed during a recent PS5 game showcase listed the game for both PS5 and PC, but Sony corrected the record. That might mean a PC version is in the offing sometime in the future, but on November 12, you'll need a PS5 to play the remake.

What Exactly Is Demon's Souls?

Even if you're familiar with Dark Souls and the games that came after it, you might have missed the bus on Demon's Souls and find yourself wondering what it's all about--and why you should care.

Demon's Souls is the prototypical Souls game, so it carries a bunch of the hallmarks of the formula that has come to define From Software's titles in the years since. You play a lone warrior venturing into a dark fantasy land dominated by monsters and demons, where your goal is to slay enemies to gain the souls they carry. Those souls can be spent on leveling your character up by adjusting your stats, which can alter the game by allowing you to use different weapons, speeding up your actions, or giving you access to magic. If you die, however, you lose what souls you've earned but haven't spent, so planning and strategizing, playing carefully, and managing risk are all key to the experience.

Most of how you play the game is dictated by a stamina meter that determines how much you can run, swing your sword, or block incoming blows. In combat, Demon's Souls is largely about managing your stamina meter and timing, making sure to block certain attacks, dodge others, and strike when you have an opening--without overcommitting and leaving yourself open. Like the other Souls games, part of the fun of Demon's Souls is its difficulty--it's a world where enemies can lay you out with just one or two hits, demanding that you be attentive and careful if you want to succeed.

Gallery

Demon's Souls takes place in the cursed land of Boletaria, where the king has made use of an ancient power called the Soul Arts, and in doing so, awakened a demon from the dawn of time called the Old One. As a result, the demon has blanketed Boletaria in a dense fog that unleashed all sorts of monsters. Those monsters want human souls, and they've hunted the people of Boletaria, ripping their souls free to feed on them--and leaving the soulless to fall to madness and attack any who've survived.

Your job as a lone warrior venturing into Boletaria is to free it from the curse of the Old One once and for all, but it isn't going to be easy. As with Dark Souls, you should be prepared to die.

Like most of the other Souls games, Demon's Souls also features a multiplayer component. It allows you to either summon other players to help you fight through the monsters and bosses you face, or invade the worlds of other players to add to their woes (and they can invade yours, too). Though you'll need a PlayStation Plus subscription to access Demon's Souls' multiplayer, you will still be able to see the notes other players leave to either warn you of or trick you about incoming threats.

It's A Remake From Bluepoint Games

Like Dark Souls, Demon's Souls was originally developed by From Software, which has gone on to create a bunch of titles using pieces of the formula, including Bloodborne and Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice. The remake is retaining all the design of the original, with updated visuals and audio.

However, the developer behind the remake is Bluepoint Games, which was responsible for the gorgeous PS4 remake of Team ICO's Shadow of the Colossus, a game originally released on PlayStation 2. That remake maintained everything from the original, with updated graphics and additional touches like a photo mode. It's likely we can expect the same treatment here: the classic Demon's Souls gameplay but with a much more impressive, modern presentation.

The Original Was Phenomenal

Demon's Souls might be the lesser-known Souls title, but among those who have played it, it's extremely well-regarded. GameSpot gave the original Demon's Souls a 9 when we reviewed it, and named it 2009's Game of the Year. As GameSpot reviewer Kevin VanOrd put it 11 years ago: "Perhaps the game's greatest triumph, however, is that it takes qualities normally associated with frustration and discomfort--constant trial and error, slow progression, harsh enemies--and makes them virtues. It may have an unusual and unforgiving set of rules, but it stays true to them and, in the process, draws you in like few RPGs can. Demon's Souls is a stark and sulky beauty and is one of the finest games of 2009."

So if you're wondering why you should care about the remake of Demon's Souls in 2020, its past performance, coupled with the huge impact of the Souls titles on the gaming landscape in the years since, are pretty good reasons.

Reveal Trailer

Our first look at the remade Demon's Souls came with the PS5 announcement event. You can check out the trailer below.

Gameplay Trailer

Later, when Sony showed off a bunch of upcoming PS5 games during its showcase event, we got a closer look at Demon's Souls.

What Does The Remake Entail?

On its official webpage for the game, Sony has run down what you can expect from the improvements to Demon's Souls when you fire it up on your next-gen console. It'll sport two graphical modes: the high-resolution 4K mode, and a high-frame rate mode. We're not exactly sure what frame rate to expect in either mode just yet, however.

The PS5 sports a few technological advancements over the PS4 and PS3 that are getting worked into Demon's Souls as well. If you've got headphones that support it, you can take advantage of the consoles Tempest 3D AudioTech, which should make Demon's Souls sound even more immersive. Another big push for the console is the haptic feedback baked into the new DualSense controller, although we don't know exactly how that'll amplify Demon's Souls just yet.

Demon's Souls Remake Versions And Price

There are two versions of Demon's Souls that will be available on release day. The first is the usual standard edition, which gets you only the base game for $70. There's also a second version, called the Demon's Souls Digital Deluxe edition, which comes with some additional in-game items. That version will run you $90.

The items in the Demon's Souls Digital Deluxe edition seem likely to make it a bit easier to survive the game's opening hours. You'll get some armor, weapons, and items to use, as well as the Demon's Souls original soundtrack. Here's the full list of in-game items:

• Red-Eye Knight Amor
• Boletarian Royalty Armor
• Ritual Blade
• Hoplite Shield
• Ring of Longevity
• Preservation Grains
• Phosphorescent Grains
• Bearbug Grains
• A Legendary Hero Soul
• A Renowned Warrior Soul
• A Storied Warrior Soul
• A Large Hardstone Shard
• A Moonlightstone Shard

The $70 price tag for the standard version of Demon's Souls is a notable change from the usual price for AAA games. For more than a decade, games have been coming in at $60, but most of the games coming to PS5 will cost $10 more. That seems to be an increasing trend among all next-gen games, in fact. For more details, see our Demon's Souls preorder guide.

Standard edition

$70

See at Amazon

Digital Deluxe edition

$90

See at PlayStation

Compared To The PS3 Version

The upgrade of Demon's Souls from the PS3 is pretty substantial, as one might guess, but it's tough to really picture until you see the two games stacked against one another. To make it very clear, GameSpot created a video that shows the two side by side. Check it out below.

There Might Be Something Called "Fractured Mode"

We don't know much about new features Demon's Souls might include, but we do know there might be some new things added to the remake not present in the original. Like the mentioned-but-deleted PC version, an early description of the Demon's Souls remake mentioned something called "Fractured Mode," but there were no clues as to what that actually was. Subsequent descriptions of the game, including the official PlayStation store preorder page, don't mention Fractured Mode, so who knows what it is--or whether it'll actually be part of the Demon's Souls remake.

That said, there's some speculation about what Fractured Mode may be if it does appear in the remake. Mods for the original Demon's Souls randomize the placement of enemies, items, weapons, and more, in order to create a fresh experience--and including something similar in the remake would make sense to make the game appealing to hardcore veterans. But there's still no real information to go on about Fractured Mode, and it's very possible it was never a feature in the game at all. We'll have to wait until November 12 to find out.

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