Demon's Souls was the first of FromSoftware's modern, notoriously difficult games, and despite a remake, it still feels as though it hasn't gotten quite the attention it deserves. The PlayStation 3 exclusive gave rise to a new sub-genre of action-RPGs, and Demon's Souls introduced FromSoftware's signature obtuse, atmospheric storytelling to the world. Demon's Souls may historically be seen as an important milestone in the video game canon, but has had two releases now, and it still feels as though the game hasn't reached an exceptionally wide audience.
When Demon's Souls first released in 2009, not only was it exclusive to the PlayStation 3, it was also only available in Japan. It would take six more months for the game to release in the west, and even then, its difficulty seemed to precede it. The unrelenting gameplay of Demon's Souls made it quite niche, at least compared to Modern Warfare 2, Assassin's Creed 2, Batman: Arkham Asylum, and Uncharted 2 - some of the other games on offer in 2009.
Despite its rather unceremonious welcome, the Demon's Souls legacy continued to grow with the subsequent releases of the Dark Souls trilogy, Bloodborne, and Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice. There was clearly a market for such games, and FromSoftware now has a dedicated fanbase, which rejoiced when the 2020 remake of Demon's Souls was announced as a PlayStation 5 launch title. Unfortunately, Demon's Souls still feels rather niche, with the PS5 version unable to reach audiences because of the ongoing chip shortage affecting PS5s, Xboxes, and seemingly every facet of the tech industry.
According to an interview with developers conducted by Edge in 2013 (and preserved by the Internet Archive) Demon's Souls was considered a success after it surpassed 100,000 sales. Aside from the figures, the developers seemed to view the gradual understanding and acceptance of Demon's Souls as a success in its own right. They mentioned how many of the game's mechanics didn't make sense to players at the time, and because there were no other games quite like it, there were no reference points. The only way to understand Demon's Souls was to experience it, but the game was so unwelcoming that it was hard to get people invested.
Alternatively, the 2020 remake appears to have had more immediate commercial success. While the PlayStation Blog revealed that Demon's Souls only reached fifth place on a chart of the PlayStation Store's top PS5 downloads of 2020 in the US, Canada, and Europe, it was Japan's most downloaded game of the year. Whereas the original had to spread around the globe by word of mouth, the remake's reputation made it an instant hit in its home country. The feeling of Demon's Souls failing to become widely popular a second time may be because its niche gameplay is now also outdated, having evolved and been perfected by the Dark Souls games that followed it.
In addition to the difficulty, Demon's Souls was somewhat clunky in 2009. Everything has a new coat of paint in the remake, but the underlying gameplay is still the same. Even just two years allowed FromSoftware to create a much more comfortable game to play with Dark Souls. The PlayStation 5 version of Demon's Souls looks phenomenal, but it's still essentially a game from 2009. Combine that with the shortage of PS5s, and many may be opting to play a more modern, readily available FromSoftware game instead.
Sources: Edge (via Internet Archive), PlayStation Blog
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