Demon's Souls PS5 Has New Weapon Animations, But They Don't Change The Game

Demon's Souls fans picked up on newer animations that were unveiled during a recent PlayStation 5 gameplay trailer. Now, Sony has confirmed that the remake will, in fact, feature update weapon animations, though they won't change the feel or flow of gameplay.

Creative director at SIE Worldwide Studios' External Development Gavin Moore said Demon's Souls' various weapon types will now have "unique animations." In an interview with GameSpot, Moore explained that while the core gameplay for a weapon doesn't change, the power of PlayStation 5 allows the team to add "extra details and flourishes" to animations. This should help differentiate the weapons so a polearm and spear don't feel identical to one other.

"But what we did do beyond [haptics] was we thought, 'Well, we've got all of these weapons, right? And we've got all of this memory suddenly, and all of this power.' So we added all these unique animations to weapon types," Moore said. "So now, when you pick up your spear, or you pick up your polearm, or your rapier, or your katana, they're all different attacks. But again, the cadence is all the same as the original. So the gameplay doesn't change, the speed of the attack is the same. You're visually just adding extra details and flourishes to really bring that world alive."

In a September gameplay trailer, the riposte animation was updated with a body slam of sorts. Moore touched on the DualSense's haptics in relation to Demon's Souls newer weapon animations, saying that the length of them hasn't changed but that the team spent months in the motion capture studio to ensure that these flourishes were "pinpoint and accurate."

"It's not designed specifically to show off the haptics," Moore said. "I mean, that length of animation hasn't changed. But we knew that when we were going to leverage the power of the PlayStation 5 and the amount of detail we could add to the game, that we would have to go back and recapture all the player animations again, right? But that's incredibly difficult if you think about it because you can't change the cadence, you can't change the timing it takes to walk, or to run, and each of those attacks has to be perfect. So we spent a long time, well, months in the motion capture studio, to make sure that it was pinpoint and accurate."

Moore also discussed the updated visual filters in the game, a new way to respec your created character, and confirmation that a sixth Archstone and new world does not exist.

Demon's Souls hits PlayStation 5 on November 12 as a launch title. Head over to our Demon's Souls preorder guide to learn more about what comes with buying early. And check out our PlayStation 5 preorder guide to find out which stores will be restocked and when.