It’s here! Demon’s Souls Remake for the PlayStation 5 is here, and I love it.
Though for many, this will be the first time that you’ve entered the Kingdom of Boletaria and might become lost for one reason or another. I’ve created several pointers to get you started on your new journey, and I’ll be writing more guides to help you ll progress throughout the game.
Umbasa!
Understanding the importance of Souls
Souls are the game’s form of currency. You’ll use this for purchasing items, as well as upgrading your character. They’ll drop off defeated enemies or can be found on the ground. The more you collect, the more stuff you can do with them. However, be sure to manage them! Spend them whenever you can; don’t hoard them!
Lastly, and this is important, you must understand that you’ll drop your collected souls if you die. Meaning the souls that show up on your soul counter. If you do drop them, you’ll have one chance to retrieve them. If you die before you do collect them, they’re gone forever.
Death doesn’t mean the end.
Let’s get this out of the way, and you’ll die more than a few times in Demon’s Souls. You might get stabbed to death, fall off a cliff, get burned to ash, etc… Death happens. The sooner you understand that the better your experience will be.
Die, repeat, die, get better, and profit. Go on, you can do it!
Classes are meant to evolve.
In Demon’s Souls, you’ll be able to pick from several classes at the start. Each with its own strengths, and it’s up to you to decide which you’ll want to start with. However, as you play, you’ll be able to change how your character plays. So while the initial character you pick might be a Temple Knight or Royalty (Magic), eventually, you’ll add magic to them, or maybe you’ll make them more of a tank class. Whatever you do, keep in mind that you can do what you want- as long as you have the souls to do it.
If you’re new to Demon’s Souls; Welcome. For you, I’d recommend one of the two following starting classes; Royalty or the Temple Knight. As the Royalty class, you’ll have access to many spells you can cast from a distance. While the Temple Knight is great for those, who prefer a more physical approach, with the bonus of being able to cast miracles to buff and heal them.
Pay attention to the World Tendency
Demon’s Souls has a mechanic, that changes up how the game is played. This is called World Tendency and it can make the game much harder or even trigger in-game events. This mechanic is available in both online and offline modes. In online modes, all players playing the game can influence the tendency, while playing offline you determine this by your actions.
The World Tendency has several tiers; Neutral/Grey, White, Pure White, Black, and Pure Black. When you first start out, the tendency is neutral. The white tendency will result in weaker enemies, fewer in-game encounters with black phantoms, but also fewer item drops and souls to be collected. Black tendency makes the game harder, black phantoms appear, but also more rewarding.
To access White and Pure White Tendency, you’ll need to partake in online events such as helping others defeat bosses or black phantoms and you must make sure you never die. As impossible as it sounds. This tendency will affect how much HP you have in Soul Form, and Pure White will provide you with stronger attacks
For a Black and Pure Black Tendency, you’ll achieve this by killing off NPCs, invading other players, killing Old King Doran, and repeatedly dying while you have a physical body, not the soul version, in the game. You’ll gain a physical body by defeating bosses or using the Stone of Ephemeral Eyes. This tendency will affect how much HP you have in Soul Form as well.
Watch your burden limits.
Demon’s Souls has two mechanics that you’ll want to keep an eye on; Item and Equipment Burden. Let’s talk about Item Burden first.
You’re only able to carry a number of items before the weight starts to affect you, and it can drastically change how your character reacts. If your item burden is too high, you’ll become overburdened, and you won’t be able to pick up new items you come across. but you will be able to send them to Stockpile Thomas – a new feature to Demon’s Souls Remake. Keep an eye out for the Ring of Herculean Strength, an item that increases your carry burden or start to improve your Vitality, which will increase your burden limits.
Then there’s equipment burden, which affects your character’s movement. There are several levels of this; under 50%, which allows your character to move normally. Over 50%, but under 100%, which will start to affect your running speed, and your character will start to “Fat Roll,” which is a term for a slower roll/dodge recovery. Then there’s 100%, the point where your character can no longer run, and dodging is nearly impossible. This can mean certain death. To raise the equipment burden, level up your endurance and/or equip the Ring of Great Strength.
There’s no right way, but some ways are easier.
One of my favorite things about Demon’s Souls is that it isn’t linear. You can choose any level you want as soon as you start. This doesn’t mean that you should. And in some cases, you won’t be able to as you’ll need to progress through other levels first to unlock accessibly. As such, I recommend the following progression. This has always worked for me, dating back to the original Demon’s Souls game on the PS3. You don’t have to follow it, just think of it as me trying to point you in the right direction.
- Boletarian Palace (1-1)
- Phalanx Archstone (1-2)
- Stonefang Tunnel (2-1)
- Tower of Latria (3-1)
- Shrine of Storms (4-1)
- Valley of Defilement (5-1)
- Armor Spider Archstone (2-2)
- Flamelurker Archstone (2-3)
- Fool’s Idol Archstone (3-2)
- Adjudicator Archstone (4-2)
- Tower Knight Archstone (1-3)
- Leechmonger Archstone (5-2)
- Maneater Archstone (3-3)
- Old Hero Archstone (4-3)
- Dirty Colossus Archstone (5-3)
- Penetrator Archstone (1-4)
Be sure to check out our other guides for Demon’s Souls Remake here.
