Dark Souls Remastered Review (Playstation 4)

Have you played the new Dark Souls? Yes, there’s a new one. No, it’s not Dark Souls IV. Since the series had reached its ending (or at least a long hiatus – we all know From Software boss Hidetaka Miyazaki can’t really be trusted), Bandai Namco had only one way left to come up with a new entry: a remaster of the first one. Let’s see if that was a good idea.

I still remember the shy, hopeful Reddit threads about a Dark Souls remaster. Nearly everyone wanted it, most upvoted “for visibility”, some even came up with ideas to improve on the original game beyond the usual and, frankly, expected graphics upgrade that comes with a remaster.

Truth be told, Dark Souls launched in 2011 (2012 on PC), which means fans had quite a few years to dig deep in the game’s files. And it was not in vain, as quite a ton of cut content was unearthed: unused dialogue, NPCs, items, rings, weapons, spells and even prototype bosses.

Suffice to say, the fanbase (me included) secretly hoped all this would be finished and included somehow in the remaster. Alas, that would have required Bamco to get From Software working on it, which did not happen because they were busy working on new games (such as Sekiro, as revealed at E3 2018).

So what did we get, instead?

Graphics upgrade: no surprise here, although results are far from impressive in terms of looks. It’s just a little better compared to the PS3 version and nowhere near what a non-Remastered, modded Dark Souls could look like back in 2012 on the PC. Performance-wise, however, it deserves nothing but praise: straight locked 60 FPS (yes, even in Blighttown, which was notorious for bringing down the previous generation of consoles to their knees).

Multiplayer improvements: The peer-to-peer system used for all multiplayer aspects was one of the issues that plagued multiplayer in the original game. Now, with dedicated servers being used for matchmaking, summoning and invasions are much faster. The player limit has been increased from 4 to 6 and you can even use a password to connect with friends (guest character levels are adjusted down if they’re more powerful than the host). Lastly, patrons of the dueling arena will now be able to enjoy 3 versus 3 and 6 versus 6 fights. Lastly (for real this time), several smaller changes intended to balance both co-op and invasions.

Quality of life bits: Using more than just one consumable (applies to soul items as well as covenant items) – this might seem like a small issue, but popping 20 “Soul of a Nameless Soldier” in a row is extremely time consuming as well as unsatisfactory. Switching covenants at bonfires is another time-saver, as you previously had to go to the covenant “leader” NPC to do this (I expect this to be a reason for complaints from some players, but I welcome it). Support for several new languages has been added to the game UI.

What we didn’t get

No new content: unless you consider exactly one new bonfire as “new content”, there is zero amount of new stuff in this edition of the game, meaning no new items, new drops or enemy placement.  In short, anyone hoping for a DS2: SOTFS-like treatment will be sorely disappointed.

Multiplayer bugfixes: the newly added dedicated servers are only used for matchmaking, which the old bugs (think impossible backstabs, Scorpion style “get over here” moves, phantom range on some weapons) are still there. Cheaters & hackers are also making a comeback, complete with softbanning players abilities, but thankfully console players are safe from this one (at least for now).

Glitches/exploits: in Siegmeyer of Catarina’s words, “still here, still here”. Item duplication switches? Check. WoG cleric spell range bug? Check. Endless backstabs? Check. And so on…

No UI improvements: after playing the two sequels, returning to the old menus of the original game creates a sort of slight, but constant annoyance. Also, the “teleport” menu still lists only some of the bonfires.

Not a real graphics upgrade: aside from the very welcome and nicely implemented framerate update, there are no real improvements here. Textures appear to be the same resolution, maybe a bit less compressed. The engine itself is largely unchanged save for a few minor lighting enhancements.

But…

Enough nitpicking. Everything else, the things that made Dark Souls so great that it ruined gaming for me for years, are still there.

Getting that first jump-attack right on the Asylum Demon feels just as satisfactory as before. Just like the Capra demon fight is as cramped and infuriating as ever (but so, so liberating once you take him and his ass**** dogs down).

Escaping the Asylum on crow back, finding him in Firelink Shrine and going for a ride to visit the Asylum again? Priceless. Trusty Patches? Just as treacherous and cleric-hating as I remembered. NPC stories and questlines are still heartwarming and heartbreaking alike. Painted World of Ariamis just as snowy and amazing.

And yes, time is still convoluted.

My point is, nostalgia might be playing a main role here, but this IS Dark Souls and I love it.

The Good

The Bad

Conclusion