Demon’s Souls Is More Than Dark Souls’ Weird Brother
Demon’s Souls celebrated its 15-year anniversary on October 6, 2024. Below, we examine how the progenitor of the Soulslike genre forged an uncompromising path for others to follow.
Die-hard From Software fans who’ve dodge-rolled their way through the fiery crucibles of Elden Ring and the Dark Souls series certainly know a thing or two about the origins of the so-called souls-like genre. Defined by a number of discrete pillars–“bonfire”-style checkpoints that restore a set number of heals, stamina meters, and menacing bosses–this style of game has become increasingly popular in the past 10 years. Moreover, these design tropes have crystallized into hard-and-fast principles that notable games like Lies of P seem to embrace wholeheartedly.
However, if you look at the first entry in the Souls series, the wildly innovative Demon’s Souls, you’ll find a game that bucks many notions that these newer games take for granted. Instead, it employs many byzantine and downright hostile design ideas that not only chafe against traditional notions of “fun,” but the ideals of frictionless gameplay and player empowerment that have increasingly crept into the souls-like space in recent years. The sharp edges of Demon’s Souls (and, to a lesser extent, Dark Souls) are as much a part of the series’ success as its satisfying combat and intriguing lore, and it’ll be interesting to see if From Soft ever returns to that mindset in the coming years.