Demon's Souls and iteration

After having experienced all of the modern FromSoftware Soulslikes, I finally got around to playing the original Demon’s Souls for the first time. Going back to the first game in this From Software lineage made me realize just how much of the Dark Souls, Bloodborne and also Elden Ring DNA was already there in this game. The team iterated on many of those ideas throughout the years in small and big ways. One example of this is the use of the Stormruler. The Stormruler is a gimmick weapon that allows the player in one specific boss fight to shoot a storm beam. A variation of this re-occurs from time to time in their games but the origin of it was in Demon’s Souls. Of course there are other traditions like the moonlight sword as well. I could talk about the clear counterparts that many Demon’s Souls levels have in Dark Souls and how their level design evolved.

It’s interesting to see those ideas become more refined throughout these iterations. I wouldn’t say better per-se, but at least more accessible. All of these games have their unique charm that make them a joy to return to. The open level selection of Demon’s Souls is one of its biggest strengths and is more impressive after having played its successors.