Dark Souls is the better game and the better starting point. Demon's Souls is the prototype — its level structure is a hub and five worlds rather than one connected map, and the world tendency system is opaque even by this series' standards. The remake is gorgeous, but play it second.
The same designer and the same core loop: die, learn, place a message, try again. Both treat the world as a puzzle box rather than a corridor.
Lordran is one continuous, interlocking map, and the moment a shortcut folds it back on itself is still the best design moment in the genre. The remaster is on everything.
More like this: games like Dark Souls.
The PS5 remake is one of the best-looking games ever made and the hub structure means you can bounce between worlds when one wall is too high. The systems are rougher, and it expects more of you without saying so.
Dark Souls is the better game and the better starting point. Demon's Souls is the prototype — its level structure is a hub and five worlds rather than one connected map, and the world tendency system is opaque even by this series' standards. The remake is gorgeous, but play it second.
Better is the wrong question for these two — they are close enough that the answer depends on what you want from the next twenty hours. Pick Dark Souls if you want the definitive version of this idea. Pick Demon's Souls if you want the origin, or the visuals.
No. There are no scores anywhere on this page. This is a written opinion about what each game is for, so you can judge whether it matches what you are after.