Looking back at Demon's Souls; is it better than Dark Souls?... yes

Digitally Downloaded writes: "If you haven’t picked up Demon’s Souls yet, you should take the opportunity now because it is a vastly superior game to Dark Souls. That’s not to suggest that Dark Souls is a poor game, of course, it’s just that Demon’s Souls has a greater purity of vision. In other words, Demon’s Souls is darker (ironic, given the names of both games), crueler, and ultimately more rewarding."

[cpayne93]

Demon's Souls is in my top 3 games of all time, I constantly switch between thinking that it, mario 64, and mgs 1 are my favorite games.

Dark Souls is great but Demon's Souls is a bit better in my opinion.

[Mister_G]

It's VERY close, but for me Dark Souls wins because it's weapon upgrade paths are not so impossible to complete.

[Daver]

I prefered Demons souls more too, not saying Dark souls was bad but the overall atmosphere was not quite there like in Demons souls.

[DivineAssault]

like the bells in the prison? The blind maiden in black too? Dark souls was just a bunch of random evil areas so ya, i like demons souls better.. It was shorter with less armor/weapons but it had more SOUL to it.. Those damn skeletons rolling at u was a 1st for me.. that game had my heart POUNDING when i got to bosses & i never felt that scared to battle in a game before

[JP1369]

I'm going to take absolutely no risk whatsover by agreeing with all of you. I played the shit out of Demon's Souls and loved every minute of it. Dark Souls, while good, never gave me the same feeling.

[Blastoise]

Honestly I can never make up my mind. They're both awesome for so many reasons. Sometimes I play Demon's souls, think of the first time I'd fight the tower knight with online Co-op & think "Yup, Demon's souls was better"...but then I'll fight Dragonslayer Orstein & Executioner Smough and I'll think "Nah, Dark Souls is where it's at".

I'd think of how awesome the Maiden Astraea theme is...but then I'll think of how epic the nameless song & Gywns theme are..

I've played Dark Souls a lot lot more than Demon's souls but at the end of the day I'd say they were both 10/10 experiences.

[darren_poolies]

Well said. Dark Souls is my favourite game of all time with Demon's Souls somewhere in my top 5. I cannot wait for Dark Souls II!!!!

[Irishguy95]

Agreed, whenever I speak of My favorite game this gen, I just write "Demons/Dark souls"

Sen castle and Tower of Latria stand out to me in both games

[Nevers]

^Blastoise

You just put it best how I feel. I don't really feel as though one was "better". Both games were masterpieces. They are MY FAVORITE games of this gen, for sure.

[SilentNegotiator]

While I love both, I COMPLETELY agree. The level design was better in Demon's Souls; it was less confusing, more focused, and gave the player more options of where to start. Plus it had stones at EVERY completed boss area so that you could go back with ease (and teleporting from stones is possible from the beginning, saving you tedious back-travel). The bosses weren't half lifted from its not-technically-a prequel. Demon's Souls had a more stable framerate.

[StockpileTom]

Naaaa the grinding is just reserved for 4-2 (reapers). It's rather quick if you use the evac miracle. Backtracking is pretty much required if you want to find some of the rare weapons of the game.

Also the original difficulty of Dark Souls was nowhere near as easy as it is now. They nerfed the shit out of the difficulty over time. (assuming you didn't use the overpowered Iron Flesh pyromancy that was also nerfed early on)

I do agree on the atmosphere though. I thought the world of Demon's Souls was better (minus the fact that it wasn't really seamless like Dark Souls). I also thought the characters of Demon's Souls were much more interesting than the ones in Dark Souls. (exception for Seigmeyer and Solaire lol)

[Summons75]

To me yes. The online is much better on Demon Souls, the nexus was better even though the open world of Dark Souls was refreshing and welcomed. The boss battles are also much better in Demon Souls because most if not all had a puzzle element to it which Dark Souls did not, Dark Souls was hit and dodge, it really dissapointed me because Demon souls had the Dragon God which you had to move slow, pin it down with giant arrows before you could kill it and also the Boss at Latvia tower where you needed to kill the man in the second level if you wanted to kill her with ease. There was nothing like that in Dark Soul.

Please don't get me wrong, I loved Dark Souls. I think they did a lot of improvements that Demon Souls had missing from it and an amazing rich world with just as much arguably more lore and content then Demon Souls. When it comes down to it though I believe Demon Souls was slightly better because of the unique boss fights. Dark Souls had unique bosses but they could have added puzzle elements or something to change each boss fight a little bit.

I can't wait for Dark Souls 2 and whatever is next for the Souls series.

[MariaHelFutura]

I think so. The armors and weapons are better in Dark Souls, but something just feels different about it. It looks and plays very similar but something about it is just different. Blightown should have been cut from the game altogether aswell. Also, some things in Dark Souls are just ridiculous, like the Capra Demon, adding the two dogs to that fight is just ridiculous considering the size of the room you are forced to fight in, it's not as hard as it is extremely annoying. Demon Souls is just much more smooth and engaging expierence imo. The second I finished Demon Souls I started playing it again, Dark Souls doesn't make me feel that way.

[Summons75]

I agree, some of the things they added for difficulty were more annoying than not. Like the Capra Demon fight you mentioned but also having Poison stackable with Toxic (basically poison 2.0) they should have taken poison out or have toxic take priority over poison.

[StockpileTom]

You telling me poison and plague doesn't stack in Demon's Souls? My cousin had a character dedicated to PvP that would cause his target to have poison, plague, and bleed (which was damage over time instead of a hemorrhage like in Dark Souls). With all 3 DoTs his opponent's health dropped FAST. He was also very aggressive with his Moon Uchigatana +5 preventing heals.

If bleed in Dark Souls was like Demon's Souls then Bloodred Moss Clump wouldn't be so useless.

I think plague in Demon's Souls cuts your healing in half while also inhibiting your stamina regeneration.

[lovegames718]

Man i love both these games equally, but of course Demon Souls is like your first love haha

All fanboy bs aside im glad xbox players got to exp. Souls.

[darren_poolies]

I prefer Dark Souls, it is my favourite games of all time. But I can see why people like Demon's Souls more.

[DragonKnight]

I agree that Demon's Souls is better, but Dark Souls is no slouch.

World: For me, it's clearly Demon's Souls that has the better world. I think that the hub experience of the Nexus and transporting to different areas made you appreciate how different each area was more as well as made them more memorable than the seamless world of Dark Souls. The exception being Anor Londo which still isn't better than the entirety of Boletarian Palace in my opinion. The ambience was also superior in Demon's Souls. I mean, the Tower of Latria alone is just such an experience.

Enemies/Bosses: I have to give this one to Dark Souls. I found the bosses in Demon's Souls far too easy. Even if you forced yourself to do some kind of challenge against them, the bosses were too easy to beat. But in Dark Souls they upped the aggression (especially in the DLC) so that the enemies are constantly on you with few exceptions. There's also more enemy variety, though I feel that the enemies in Dark Souls aren't so much hard as they are numerous.

Combat: Demon's Souls takes this one for a lot of reasons. While Dark Souls has greater weapon variety, Demon's Souls has better stat scaling, smoother combat, and the MP system which I found to be better than the outdated numbered spells system that dates all the way back to games like Final Fantasy 1 and 2. Dark Souls however takes the edge in status ailments, especially with bleed.

PvP/Co-op: Demon's Souls hands down. Dedicated servers trumps P2P. I've also found there's far less trolling/griefing, glitching, and backstab fishing in Demon's Souls. It's also a lot easier to play with friends thanks to the superior netcode, and far easier to set up tournaments as well. The formula for PvP/Co-op is also a lot simpler than in Dark Souls. Also a lot less lag, but it's not perfect.

Overall I just think that Demon's Souls is a superior experience. It's a lot smoother, has a lot more ambience, and funnily enough the characters have a lot more personality since more of them actually speak than in Dark Souls. Both games, however, are a very refreshing experience in a generation riddled with casual games and shooters. We need more of these, and hopefully the experience will be kept intact in Dark Souls 2, though with what Shibuya has said there is definite cause to worry.

[Swiggins]

I think we can both agree, that both Demons Souls and Dark Souls are some of the best games this gen, and maybe even of all time.

My hats off to you From Software, now get back to Dark Souls 2!

[Nevers]

"... maybe even of all time."

"Legend... wait for it... dary"

Agreed.

[MysticStrummer]

I go back and forth about this topic. Depending on when I'm asked ( by the voices in my head ), I could put either one above the other. It's too close for my indecisive brain to call. Bottom line is, they are my 1st and 2nd favorite games of the generation and possibly all time.

[oakshin]

demon souls was better

better world

better story

better bosses

better level design dark souls had this spot u could power lvl by making monsters suicide off ledges

yea demon souls all the way

[Giru017]

Yes as well from me. Demon's is crueler, darker and better. The "play with half of your life (or 75% but lose a ring slot) mechanic is downright grueling for a came as hard as it is, specially early on. Oh, you want full life? Prepare to be invaded.

And this made Demon's oh-so-much better. Other players weren't "fun duels" for the majority of your playthrough, they were horrible demons coming for you, tougher than any boss. But the reward was of-so-tasty.

[Sketchy_Galore]

Two things make Dark far better than Demons for me. The first is the open world with bonfires system. It makes for a constant feeling of progression. Getting from one bonfire to another almost feels like a kind of sports game rather than the constant restarting of the same level in Demons souls. The second is the more dazzling fantasy art style compared to the constant grim grey dungeons of Demons souls. I see why they went so dark and miserable for the first game but boy could it be depressing.

[A LIVING LEGEND]

Demons Souls is what I consider a masterpiece,Dark Souls not so much but a decent follow up nonetheless.
I can't really fault anyone for preferring one over the other,I simply found Demons to be a superlative experience in nearly every way.
Highly recommend both.Do it for the glory,do it for the pain. :)