The combat still feels deliberate, as it was in the original, but Bluepoint has vastly improved the feedback you get, which makes connecting a sword with the armor of an enemy knight, or the flesh of a wandering warrior, incredibly impactful. The booming sound that arises when you perfectly time a swing of your shield to parry an incoming attack, and the subsequent thrust of the sword delivered with such ferocity that the enemy is lifted into the air and slammed into the ground made me wince the first time I did it. To top it off, the DualSense's subtle vibrations during all of this made each subsequent parry and riposte attack as satisfying.
There's much more to say about Demon's Souls for PS5, but that can wait for the full review. I am eager to get back to playing it, and that should say a lot. Early signs are good for the game. At this point, we've come to expect Bluepoint to put out top-notch remakes, but this is a game that feels like the studio is flexing its own creative muscles too, and as I venture deeper into Boletaria I'm excited to see what else it has in store.
