FromSoftware made many changes to its plans before the game was released on PS3 and later became a PlayStation 5 exclusive remake, one of the console’s launch titles.

Demon’s Souls is undoubtedly one of the most important games of the past two decades. It played a pioneering role in shaping FromSoftware’s classic Souls-like gameplay, which led to award-winning titles such as Elden Ring and popular hits such as Bloodborne. However, Bloodborne will not be getting a PlayStation 5 or PC port, and we do not consider a PlayStation 6-exclusive remake to be a likely possibility. Therefore, emulation remains the only option, thanks to the rapidly evolving ShadPS4. A recently surfaced Demon’s Souls prototype build, however, shows that the game could have been quite different had it retained elements from earlier versions. Who knows how that might have changed the gaming industry?

Footage recently surfaced from a Japan Studio presentation showing an early version in which the studio experimented with a first-person perspective before settling on the familiar third-person action-RPG format. In other words, FromSoftware originally followed the style of its earlier series, King’s Field, which also used a first-person perspective. According to Lance McDonald, the early version included a first-person camera option that made combat very different from that in today’s Souls-like games. Furthermore, the prototype helps us understand FromSoftware’s philosophy on online game design. The development teams considered online gameplay too time-consuming, yet described exclusively offline games as limiting.

This is how FromSoftware developed the hybrid game systems that still define the online elements of the Souls-like genre today. The footage also features enemies that were ultimately not used, such as the Snake Knight. Overall, it accurately illustrates the evolution of the genre from its earliest stages. FromSoftware has, of course, thoroughly refined this over the past two decades: Demon’s Souls, the Dark Souls trilogy, Bloodborne, Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice and Elden Ring…

Source: Tech4Gamers