The advent of the PS5 is marked with a rather unapologetically harsh video game, namely the Demon’s Souls 2020 remake. Is that a bad thing? Of course not! Sometimes players have to learn that difficulty sliders are a privilege. Back in the day (around the 90s), death meant losing progress, further exacerbating the budding anger issues that you would eventually carry on in your late 20s.
Anyway, it’s all in good fun, and Demon’s Souls is yet again another opportunity for many gamers to mix pleasure and pain. While the Dark Souls trilogy was already the highest point of the cultural zeitgeist in gaming, Demon’s Souls was the template in which they owe much. Now, the real question is, how exactly does the remake (and for that matter, the original) compare to Dark Souls in terms of difficulty? Let’s find out.
10 More Brutal: Boss Novelty
When it comes to varied bosses, Demon’s Souls has it better than Dark Souls due to the fact that it was the first to introduce the mechanics that most other Souls games would eventually ape. Each boss is more different than the last.
For that matter, they also bring along with them some shocking mechanics that will surely catch the players off-guard. One of the most notable ones is the Dragon God that requires stealth or even the Old Hero who is blind but can one-hit the players.
9 Easier: Fewer Bosses
Despite the fresher and more novel bosses and their deadly gameplay gimmicks, there are only a few of them in Demon’s Souls. In fact, there are only 18 of them in the game, and around half of them are not that difficult.
By comparison, the Dark Souls game with the least number of bosses is the third one’s base game. There is the question of quality over quantity but nevertheless, the fewer number of bosses reduces the stress that players can experience, leading to less frustration.
8 More Brutal: Death Punishment
Losing your progress in the form of souls and getting robbed of humanity might sound worrying but those still pale in comparison to Demon’s Souls’ penalties. For one, it reduces the player health in half when they die, assuming they haven’t defeated a specific boss yet.
The only other Dark Souls game to do this was the second one and even that wasn’t a well-received change. On top of that, Demon’s Souls also ramps up the number of enemies in the area whenever players die using its World Tendency system. At least the Dark Souls games only took away material stuff.
7 Easier: Hub World
Demon’s Souls’ enemies might hit more and the players might be less tough, but at least the environment feels less hostile thanks to the Nexus or hub world that serves as the players’ detached safe haven from the rest of the five game worlds.
Dark Souls games do have this as well but they’re connected to the game world and some areas are closed off to the players. Demon’s Souls’ hub world gives more freedom in choosing which path to traverse first.
6 More Brutal: More Unique Final Boss
In conjunction with the unique bosses mention earlier, Demon’s Souls probably has the best final boss out of all the Souls games gameplay-wise. Old King Allant might look plain and vanilla compared to the hulking doom bringers of the Dark Souls trilogy, but he’s got more tricks up his sleeve.
Old King Allant serves as the culmination of all the boss mechanics in the game and he has a complete skill set for any occasion. The ace up his sleeve, however, is an attack that can de-level a player character’s stat, practically undoing a build they worked on for dozens of hours.
5 Easier: More Accessible Spellcasting
Magic and spellcasting in Dark Souls games have always been a bit more tedious than just going out and brandishing the biggest stick you can find. The spells have a limited number of uses on top of a limiting mana system.
Demon’s Souls doesn’t have the first drawback and mage players can easily spam their light shows with reckless abandon and even cheese particular encounters. This can even go as far as make magic become overpowered since most spells are also ranged.
4 More Brutal: Harsher Upgrade System
Since Demon’s Souls came out earlier than Dark Souls, it had a lot of unrefined gameplay elements that are more confusing. One prime example is the clunky weapon and equipment upgrade system that plays out more like a spreadsheet simulator.
Dark Souls was pretty lenient with the requirements for its upgrades but in Demon’s Souls, maxing out one weapon requires a lot more effort due to the bloated number of requisite materials and how many variations of them exist.
3 Easier: Poorer A.I.
The A.I. in the Dark Souls games are pretty straightforward and can be easily cheesed already, however, some of the enemies are still capable of surprises. Certain knights can parry and lowly mobs can also decide to feign.
Sadly, Demon’s Souls doesn’t share this same intricate A.I. pathing. Most enemies only know one thing: walk straight towards the players and attack. That’s why each fight that doesn’t take place in a boss arena is more predictable.
2 More Brutal: Lack Of Bonfires
One thing that will stand out in Demon’s Souls, especially when comparing it against Dark Souls is the lack of bonfires. Bonfires are the most comforting sanctuaries Souls players can have and are sometimes given as merciful handouts.
That’s why their absence in Demon’s Souls can be crippling. The closest thing to bonfires there are Archstone swords which only appear after defeating a boss. In that regard, Demon’s Souls is less compassionate towards its players.
1 Easier: Farmable Healing Items
Depending on how patient a player is in Dark Souls, the Estus Flask budgeting can be one of the hardest parts of the game. They usually only recharge upon reaching a bonfire. Demon’s Souls’ healing system can be more generous for those who love to grind.
It takes place in the form of healing grasses and players can stock up vast amounts of those. That means they can be more reckless depending on their supply, allowing for more mistakes per run.
NEXT: 10 Tips To Make An Overpowered Archer In Demon’s Souls PS5
