Fans of FromSoftware's Dark Souls series know that Demon's Souls started the company's take on more challenging games. It's the hiccups of Demon's Souls 2009 release that helped spearhead the success of the Dark Souls franchise since its first game in 2011. Additionally, players can return to the game that started it all now that Bluepoint Games just released the Demon's Souls remake in 2020.
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The 2020 Demon's Souls remake boasted both familiar and new elements to the title. Fans of Dark Souls may find themselves using ever-reliable strategies to dominate this title. However, just which tactics from the Dark Souls games would benefit players in this Demon's Souls remake?
11 Pick Royalty For Starters, Knight For The Optimization
As with other Souls games, Demon's Souls doesn't have "strict" rules in terms of their "classes." Essentially, they simply represent a basic allocation of stats and items that players may want to start with. Ideally, players should get an optimized build if they begin with the Knight class. This class allows players to focus more on melee combat and rewards them for careful dodging and strategic attacks.
However, players who want to get a "feel" of the remake might want to opt for the Royalty class. Despite its fan title as "the easy" class, it does come with its perks. They begin with the Soul Arrow spell, a weak-but-effective long-range spell perfect for clearing early-game levels. Meanwhile, they also get the Fragrant Ring, a rare ring that gives players decent MP recovery. Essentially, the Royalty class enables players to become the equivalent of a trusty spellcaster.
10 Passive Movement Still Matters
Players should remember that even passive movement matters in their character's survival. For instance, the shields-up strategy in exploration still matters as getting into new areas may trigger traps and surprise attacks.
Meanwhile, players should also mind their Stamina bar. In combat, players should practice locking-on and strafing to maximize their backstab, as attacks chip away Stamina as well. Likewise, players should find room in their combos to keep their shield down to recover Stamina much faster.
In terms of dodging, players should roll towards attacks and not away from them. That way, players would likely get no damage and end up behind or beside an enemy, freshly open for a backstab.
9 Never Forget Stats
As an action RPG, Demon's Souls still has an active character progression system that strengthens characters as players progress through the game. Ideally, Dark Souls fans can't go wrong with decent Vitality (Health, Item Burden) and Endurance (Stamina, Resistances, Equipment Burden), as well as powering up Strength and Dexterity for their attacks.
However, fans should take note that stat progression won't be as impactful if they keep just one or two stats at around 40 points. If they're reaching this much with just one stat, they should improve on the others to keep progression balanced.
8 Main With The Right Weapon
Without trusty weapons, it's almost impossible to defeat any Souls game. However, fans who know exactly what weapon to use can easily turn the tide of battle to their favor. After all, weapons also scale with certain attributes. In essence, players should choose main weapons with an Attribute Bonus of S Rank that matches their primary attribute.
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In turn, players should try as much as possible to get weapons that also rely on their primary attributes in order to work. For instance, spellcaster-type characters should get Intelligence-heavy weapons. Meanwhile, those who want to go for melee should get Strength-heavy weapons. For instance, the Crescent Falchion (and its upgraded variants) are easily some of the best weapons for spellcasters with its A-Rank Magic Stat Bonus.
6 Minimal Damage Means Something's Up
Players of the Souls games know that they constantly need to "switch" their game to accommodate new enemy types. However, the best way to do this is to remain observant of enemy behavior, especially when they take or deal damage. For instance, players know it's time to observe an enemy's new tactics if their "usual" combo rotation doesn't work on a certain monster.
Afterward, players can experiment with what they see in the enemy. For instance, enemies with shields usually leave an opening for a good staggering kick, which in turn leaves them open for a critical. Likewise, enemies with big weapons often have a blindspot opposite their weapon side or behind them, leaving them open for a backstop. Lastly, players can constantly interrupt enemy spellcasters and archers by attacking them within melee.
5 Shield Up Or Use Both Hands
Unlike other fantasy action games, Demon's Souls wants players to make use of everything they have as of the moment. In turn, players who tend not to use their shields against opponents should avoid having a shield at all. After all, characters deal more damage when wielding two-handed weapons. In essence, characters only equip shields they want to use to take direct hits and lessen damage taken. If players won't use shields, they should opt for a two-hander and just dodge attacks instead.
In principle, this encourages players to fully maximize their time and space when in combat. Using shields to block defends the player but makes battles much longer. Comparably, the higher damage output of two-handers will enable more nimbler players to deal more damage, actively dodge attacks, and end battles much faster.
4 Watch The Weight
Encumbrance plays a huge role in a technical game like Demon's Souls, given its reliance on Stamina mechanics. In turn, both items and equipment have Item Burden and Equipment Burden that slow down the player depending on their total. Going past 50-percent Equipment Ecumberance will make characters perform slower rolls - increasing the chances of death.
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Thankfully, players can invest in Vitality and Endurance to increase their Item and Equipment Burden, respectively. Players should mix and match items to optimize their loadout.
3 Practical Grinding Counts
As a rule of thumb, players should pick the Providential Ring as a starting gift to increase their item drops. Likewise, players should avoid getting out of the tutorial level until they've picked up a few items.
In the tutorial zone, players should go down the spire past the Blue Knight to get the Cling Ring. Players should also go to the door next to the Blue Knight, roll to the scaffolding, and get the Thief Ring. These items help players get more HP in Soul form and hide better from enemies, respectively.
Outside the tutorial zone, players should start exploring the starting areas of each of the game's four regions. So far, it's recommended to grind for experience and items in the Shrine of Storms as skeletons here are much easier than other foes.
2 Enjoy Tinkering With World Tendency
World Tendency returns in the 2020 Demon's Souls remake. As such, getting from Neutral to White Tendency lets encounters become much easier. Meanwhile, getting from Neutral to Black Tendency makes encounters much harder. Interestingly, players might want to use this system to their advantage.
Essentially, defeating bosses will shift Tendency to White. This triggers the appearance of special NPCs that offer new items and quests. Meanwhile, killing these special NPCs and shifting the scales to Black Tendency will spawn more powerful foes that yield more powerful rewards. Again, killing these darker NPCs will shift things back to White Tendency. People should play with World Tendency to grind better.
1 Prepare To Die, But Die Sensibly
As Dark Souls players might expect, Demon's Souls remains just as punishingly-difficult as its 2009 iteration and the rest of the Dark Souls series. In turn, players should expect to die pretty often throughout the game. However, players who want to maximize their time playing should try to at least die "sensibly" - as in, make deaths meaningful for their experience.
This tip might sound philosophical, but it makes sense in the long run. Essentially, players should avoid trying the same strategy that resulted in their death in the first place. Even 2009 Demon's Souls vets should take this opportunity to acclimatize themselves with modernized controls. Players who know they might die during a boss battle should at least try multiple strategies to maximize their learning opportunities.