So I wonder what game that the event organisers decided to que after the adorable cute and inoffensive Bugsnax trailer? It would have to be something of a similar vein right, otherwise that would make Bugsnax stick out like a sore thumb and threaten to overshadow some of the other game's of the event; I mean that's just logical decision making, isn't it? Or maybe they just threw up their hands and said "Screw it", instead preferring to stick the audience with a remake of a game that, in retrospect, can be seen as one of the most influential games to the entire modern action/adventure market. That's right, next up we're talking about the game from which Dark Souls was born, the game that everyone pretends to have played, the legendary; Demon's Souls. (Thought it was 'Demon Souls' all these years. Feel like an idiot now.)
Now before I get into this I should probably share with you all just how significant this is for me, if no one else. Dark Souls and From Software are quite literally some of my most beloved entities in the entire gaming industry for what they achieved in design and narrative storytelling; If Hideo Kojima and Metal Gear were the first to show me about the fluidity of storytelling, then these guys were the first to show me the possibilities of video-game-centric storytelling and what that can look like. Their example is the one I constantly look up to in the knowledge that I'll never match them but I'm still ever hopeful to. So to get a chance to play a remastered version of the game which set that studio on the path they are on is something that I'll not waste, unless it ends up as a Sony exclusive like the original game did because I don't have the spare income to deal with that crap. I'd love to see where it all started, and Demon's Souls is that genesis point.
For those that are unfamiliar, all that beautiful Gothic thematic world-building that Dark Souls is known for was born as a spiritual successor to 2009's 'Demon's Souls'. A game that was born out of confusion and an unclear vision which evolved into a title renowned for it's difficulty and unrelenting challenge. As this series later evolved into Dark Souls, that difficulty evolved into part of the identity of the world, with the concept of failing over and over again being one of the narrative themes and even seeding into the tagline for the entire game. This game in particular didn't really hit it off too well in Japan when it first came along, but over in the West folk seemed to enjoy it's European Medieval lore and monsters. To this day one of the chief cited inspirations for the franchise (although some might say it's more-so for Dark Souls) is the famously long-lived manga and Anime; Berserk. (A manga which started before I was born and will probably end after I die)
Now with Demon's Souls' returns comes a recall to a more unburnished period of the Souls mythos which isn't burdened by the aftermath of the First Sin, the fragmentation of Manus or the tardy Lords of Cinder; this is a complete stand alone in that regard. (Somewhat similar to Bloodborne.) Personally, as someone who never had the chance to play the original Dark Souls, I'm just as excited to see another story from the minds over at From Software as I am to see the old school, although I do say that in the knowledge that the 'From Software' brand of storytelling was only really mastered by Dark Souls 2. (Say what you will about that game but you can't deny it knew how to weave a narrative just beyond plain sight) Maybe I'll find it endearing to see the mistakes in that regard, or maybe I'll see absolutely no shortcomings and be once again humbled at how infuriatingly talented these storytellers are. Either way, I'm down.
As for the content of the trailer itself; I mean it's a Souls' trailer, what do you really expect? These are the sorts of narratives that deftly weave themselves around the medium they are served on, which is partially why a Netflix Dark Souls adaptation would be impossible/ terrible, so the team wouldn't waste their plot on anything as mundane as a trailer spot. And aside from that, how exactly would one go about making a story trailer for a souls game? Maybe for DS 1 you could do a quick run-though of the war with the dragons, but that neither conveys the plot of the game in question nor is really necessary given how the first cutscene of the actual game already covered that. I do not envy the marketing team that get given the task to make a cinematic From Software trailer; and we have extra evidence of how hard that is given the trailer for Elden Ring last year. ("Oh, Elden Ring!") What the hell was any of that about?
So instead of coherence we saw something that From Software can easily tease the disparate world of shadow and ruin which characterises Hidetaka Miyazaki's entire career. (Wait, I mean that in a polite way. Not trying to say anything about his success or talent.) In the footage we get an overview of the winged monsters and creatures that threaten the Slayer of Demons and I have to say, it's rather nostalgic to see the ways in which these designs sharpened for their later titles. We see zombies with glowing eyes that obviously became the undead soldiers, a mage wielding a scythe that calls to mind DS' necromancers and Nito and even a towering guard with a huge shield that reminds me of Havel or The Looking-Glass Knight. Whatsmore than that, every single design actually looks, and I mean this with as much respect I can muster, strangely pedestrian for a From Software game.
What I mean by that is that every single creature from this trailer doesn't really look a million miles away from the other games of the action-adventure Gothic genre. Zombies with glowing eyes, winged-drakes, even the big-bad, a huge draconic demon with 8 eyes, lacks the character of later From Software titles. It seems that this was a game designed when they'd just settled on the idea of the look being 'fantastical', before they nailed down to a specific period or source of inspiration. Dark Souls draws heavily from European medieval designs, for example; whilst Bloodborne has a Victorian-tinge to it's world. Sekiro is decidedly Japanese and Elden Ring makes me think of Scandinavian myth right now, though that may be my own tinted lenses skewering perspectives. None of this is said to disparage Demon's Souls, just an observation I made. And I expect to make many more once (if) I get my hands on the game.
The whole 'Remake-economy' is getting a little out-of-hand of late, and I wondering how long it'll be before promising new projects get canned in favour of remaking older ones. (And how often that's already happened.) Given the age and difficult-to-attain nature of Demon's Souls I'm not too perturbed by it's existence specifically, but I worry for the precedent it's perpetuating. Right now I'm about 90% sure that Square Enix have halted production on a new Dues Ex in order to remake the original, and that sucks. (Not the game, the concept.) But until the shark is full jumped I suppose I can celebrate the return of a classic and be happy. Even if that tinged with a hint of dread. (Huh, just like Miyazaki likes it.)
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