‘Demon’s Souls’ is ideal PS5 launch game

The Valley of Defilement. The Tower of Latria. Every time I revisit a “Souls” game, trepidation bubbles in my gut before I realize I’m only worrying about “Demon’s Souls.” Every pang of fear I get when playing a “Souls” game stems from my first steps through this game in 2009.

Yes, “Dark Souls” is the game that popularized the Souls-like genre. But it was “Demon’s Souls,” with its level design and atmosphere, that embedded itself into my memory. The PlayStation 3 cult hit was nothing like I’d ever played before. Fellow games critic Brad Gallaway, who recommended it to me, then called it “the fruition of a dream three generations old.”

I was, and still am, inclined to agree. This PlayStation 5 remake is a blessing for those of us who traveled through Boletaria 11 years ago. And what nasty surprises await everyone who skipped ahead and cut their teeth on “Dark Souls” and its ilk. This is where the real “Souls” genre begins.

To reduce this launch title as a mere remake of a PlayStation 3 game is to sell short this astounding achievement by Bluepoint Games. This is easily the best-looking game on any console today. More importantly, it clarifies that virgin voyage into this genre in ways I never thought we’d experience.

In 2009, the ambition of the level design here was hampered by technology. Old school video game “fog” and darkness would obscure the darkest regions of the game, most notably the aforementioned Valley of Defilement, which set the bog standard for similar levels, like the infamous “Blighttown” of “Dark