I\'ve always been interested in going back to give it a try, but I don\'t own the latest console generation and it\'ll be a hot minute until I probably do, so its status as an exclusive will probably keep me from doing so for a long, long time.
Demon\'s is such an interesting beast to me, because I\'d honestly recommend it more to From Soft veterans, while I\'d point first-timers looking to get into From games to one of their later entries. Which is a weird thing to say when this is the one that started it all, you\'d think it\'d be a good jumping-in point. But see, when you know Soulsborne and all its tropes and recurring bits, going back to see how they started is a joy. It\'s an experience 100% worth having, nicely polished in lovely presentation by Bluepoint. But it\'s honestly hard to recommend to new players because all the janky aspects make it feel unapproachable and frustrating (in ways it\'s not meant to).
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An Interesting First Try
Before we get into it, to clarify: I've only played the PS 5 remake by Bluepoint. I'm aware there are quite a few elements they changed from the PS 3 version, but having never tried that, I can't comment on the accuracy or how faithful it was to the original, so this is about the remake purely on its own merits.
For many years, I'd learned plenty of things about the Dark Souls trilogy and even experienced Bloodborne myself, but Demon's Souls was a mystery to me until I borrowed a copy of the remake from my friend. Having become quite familiar with From Soft's fondness for Mythology Gag and Recurring Element, what struck me most about the game was seeing the original versions of the characters and motifs that they've redone so many times since in increasingly unique and memorable ways - the white-haired king that led his kingdom to ruin, the mysterious stat waifu intricately connected to the state of the world, the knight protecting the maiden, and so on. In a manner similar to Phantom Blood, the simplicity of the tropes and their approach (with the occasional twist) actually made them quite refreshing and standout in a sea of stories that try to twist and overdo everything for the sake of novelty; I wouldn't say anyone other than the Maiden in Black, King Allant, and Astraea/Garl Vinland are particularly memorable (as a player who didn't grow up with the game, at least), but they at least felt distinct and real within the setting.
Going from all those later games with plenty of lore for the bosses and enemies hidden in item descriptions and random dialogue, it was admittedly a bit jarring how few bosses had any explanation to them, or more than a single line from the Archstone description (looking at you, Metal Spider). Again, this is the origin of many From Soft tropes that would get redone and expanded upon in future entries, so I'm not holding it against the game, but I do wish the remake had added a bit more here, though I know Bluepoint is all about going as 1:1 as possible.
I will say, the graphical fidelity of the remake is stunning, easily the best of all seven Soulsbourne titles - it may not have my favorite art direction of them all, but the five worlds are gorgeous to look at and incredibly varied in aesthetics. Personal favorite was World 4 with all the rain, especially in the final boss.
And lastly, the gameplay...well, it's different than I'm used to. A proper mana system instead of a set number of casts per spell, a wide variety (and limited amount) of healing items instead of a replenishing flask, everything adding weight to your inventory, and of course the strange World Tendency system ironically made for quite a learning curve coming from Bloodborne, though I ended up doing okay with a Crescent Falchion and some sort of shield with a few Soul Arrows. The moment-to-moment combat was largely fine, but this game definitely has the weakest boss design of any entry in terms of how many rely on cheap/poor mechanics (Dragon God, Metal Spider, the Maneaters) and others are just...kinda boring. The Storm King and False King Allant were spectacular, though.
Oh, and fuck the poison swamp.
Overall, I'd give Demon's Souls a 7/10 - flawed in many areas, but still providing a (for the time) very unique experience, and it's clear as day how and why From Soft took off like they did from this. I do wonder what a sequel would've looked like if Sony didn't blow up their contract...