I finally succeed to get a PS5 last week and I have started the remake.
I first experienced Demon's Souls after I was done with Dark Souls (my best of all time game) in 2013. It was OK but felt like a beta version of Dark Souls.
Then last year, I wanted to redo it before I could experience the remake. I appreciated it much more than the first time. Love the ambiance and atmosphere. It has some problems, notably some unfair moments which are absent in other Souls but overall a pretty good game with an unique feeling.
So I was super excited to finally play it. But my first session was more disappointment than excitement. After 30/40 min spend on the obscure and non intuitive (as in any Soulsborne) character creator (but still I have the feeling I was more limited than in others Souls), I hop into the game. It is for sure really pretty (I am not someone who is interested in graphics in general) but something felt off. You see, I am one of those fanboy who was praying for no change in the gameplay... but controller in hands, I realized that it might not be the best idea.... Graphics are off the roof but everything else was feeling dated (especially the new facial animation for NPC) which left me with a really weird feeling.
Then I played a lot with the "graphical option" (different filter and performance/cinematic mode) which something I hate a reason of why I stay away from PC gaming. I was a bit overwhelmed and conflicted if I should use filter or not to see the vision the devs choose for the visuals ambiance... I finally set up on the Classic filter (not a fan of the filter less option) with film grain.
Then there was some small stuff that annoyed me a bit like how the "dynamic" HUD works (I wish it was easier to see it outside of combat. Like it's impossible to make the HP/MP bar reappears except by healing/restoring HP/MP. Same for the item/spell/weapons slots, it only appears when switching of the items/spells/weapons even in combat... It annoying to know which items or spell you're gonna use) and how the game doesn't show that you don't have the correct stat to wield a weapon when checking a merchant inventory...
So yes ! My first session was a lot of disappointment.
Then came the second session, where I just played the game. It was much better. It still feels like playing the original one with pretty graphics but it's good. I find again the unfairness which the successor get rids off but it's faithful to the original Demon's Souls.
So now I will enjoy my magician playthrough. I usually don't use sorcery in Souls because it feels bland and uninteresting but I wanted to experienced the sweet particle effect for this time. And I actually really like the new animation for spells, it feels much more dynamic and powerful (the old one was just basically "stretch your arm and a energy arrow go out").
I did the first Boleteria level and Valley of defilement. I am now in the first level of Tower of Latria (curious to see if the atmosphere is as good as in the original and I want to free Freke for my build ^^)
