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Dark Souls Remastered Review

  • Developer: QLOC, Virtuos

  • Original developer: FromSoftware

  • Publisher: Bandai Namco Entertainment

  • Original Publisher: FromSoftware, Bandai Namco Entertainment

  • Genres: Action, RPG, Fantasy, Adventure

  • Platforms: PS4, Xbox One, PC, Nintendo Switch

  • Release date: 

    • Original (PS3, Xbox 360): September 22nd, 2011

    • Prepare to Die Edition: August 2012

    • Remaster (PS4, Xbox One, PC): May 25th 2018

    • Remaster (Switch): Summer 2018

  • Playtime: 30 hours (completed the main game + dlc)

  • Reviewed on regular PS4

The game that started the acclaimed Souls series and the spiritual successor to Demon Souls has finally been brought over to current generation systems and it’s, by far, the best version of the game. With improved visuals and consistent 60 fps, the remastered makes even Blight Town look good (though everything is still trying to kill you there).

For starters, let me give a brief overview of what I think of Dark Souls, not as a remastered, but the game itself. Dark Souls is a unique kind of game: on one hand its combat is punishing but satisfying and on the other hand the world building and storytelling is one of the best I’ve seen in gaming. During combat (and even while exploring the world) you need to always be on your toes without ever letting your guard down otherwise the simplest of enemies can probably turn the tables on you. Though, on the flipside, once you’re able to conquer the hardest of enemies, namely bosses, the joy you feel is still like no other.

The other part I spoke of, the world building and the storytelling, are also one of the biggest factors for the success of Dark Souls. Dialogue is scarce so most of the information you can get about the world comes from item descriptions, enemy placement or simply from the world design. Speaking of the world design, the interconnectivity still plays a huge role in making the world feel immersive and puts a grin in my face when I open a door that leads to an area where I’ve been to three hours ago.

One last thing I want to mention while speaking of the game itself is the dlc. The game comes bundled with its dlc, Artorias of the Abyss, so you get the full experience out of the box. Fortunately, the content for this dlc is quite substantial: a couple of brand new areas to explore, new weapons, new armor, new NPCs, but most importantly, some of the best and hardest boss fights in the whole game (looking at you Manus). The areas themselves are just as good as the ones in the main game, filled with enemies ready to kill you and loot to be found, and some story points touched upon are important to understand certain parts of the main game and even how this game can relate to Dark Souls II story-wise.

Moving on to the second part of my review: the remastered itself. There weren’t that many changes introduced in the gameplay or enemy placement like in Dark Souls II: Scholar of the First Sin, this is pretty much a direct port of the original game. However, because this port has an hardware improvement to take advantage of, now the game supports a constant 60 fps from beginning to end (the only time I saw the framerate drop was, specifically, during the fight against Nito and Sif) and multiplayer now supports 6 players in contrast to 4 on the previous generation.

To wrap up the review, the best way I can come up to describe how good this game is this: Dark Souls Remastered is a 7-year old game which is pretty much exactly the same as it was on release except with a modernized coat of paint. Still, it is a game that makes me feel engrossed from the first moment I enter the world and when I am not playing the game and I keep thinking about it and how I want to play more. Even if you are put off by the combat, please give this game a try because if you get into you won’t want to stop playing it.

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