Demon's Souls
A 2009 action RPG that defined the Soulslike genre.
Demon's Souls is a 2009 action role-playing game developed by FromSoftware and published by Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation 3. It is set in the kingdom of Boletaria, consumed by a dark being called the Old One, and follows a hero brought to kill its fallen king Allant and pacify the Old One. The game is noted for its challenging combat, mechanics surrounding player death and respawning, and its role in defining the Soulslike genre.
- Developer
- FromSoftware
- Publisher
- Sony Computer Entertainment (Japan); Atlus (North America); Namco Bandai Partners (PAL)
- Platform
- PlayStation 3
- Release
- Japan: February 2009; North America: October 2009; PAL: June 2010
- Genre
- Action role-playing
- Director
- Hidetaka Miyazaki
Lore & Background
Demon's Souls was developed by FromSoftware, with collaboration from Sony's Japan Studio. Early development was troubled due to a lack of coherent vision, but designer Hidetaka Miyazaki took over the project and helped shape the final game. The game's difficulty was intended to evoke classic video games and provide a sense of challenge and accomplishment, a decision that caused Miyazaki concern that Sony would ask for a lower difficulty to improve accessibility. Announced in 2008, early reactions to the demo were negative, and Sony passed on publishing the game outside Japan due to its high difficulty. Initial sales in Japan were slow, but the game achieved commercial and critical success in the West through positive word of mouth, exceeding sales expectations.
Reader's Guide
Demon's Souls introduced many core elements that would define the Soulslike genre, including a hub world (the Nexus), five worlds each ending in a boss encounter, a stamina-based combat system, and the use of Souls as both experience points and currency. Its asynchronous multiplayer features—ghost apparitions, bloodstains showing other players' deaths, and pre-written messages—became genre staples. The game's World and Character Tendency systems influenced difficulty and rewards based on player behavior. Demon's Souls has since been cited as one of the greatest games of all time. Its success led to the spiritual successor series Dark Souls, and FromSoftware's relationship with Sony later produced Bloodborne and Déraciné. A remake of the same name was released in 2020 for the PlayStation 5.
Did You Know?
- Demon's Souls is referred to as a spiritual successor to FromSoftware's King's Field series.
- The game was released in Japan in February 2009, in North America by Atlus in October 2009, and in PAL territories by Namco Bandai Partners in June 2010.
- Early reactions to the Demon's Souls demo were seen as negative, and Sony passed on publishing the game outside Japan due to its high difficulty.
- If the player kills the Maiden in Black, the Slayer of Demons becomes a new demon in service to the Old One.
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