Demon’s Souls is still on a lot of people’s minds after the remake by Bluepoint Games launched alongside the PlayStation 5. The narrative and world is purposefully enigmatic, with much of the lore and story hidden in item descriptions and shown rather than explained through exposition.
As a result, a lot of things about the game simply do not make sense. More specifically, the game world leaves plenty of players scratching their heads. Boletaria is simultaneously a beautifully realized setting and a series of what appears to be nonsense. As always, none of these observations do anything to detract from Demon’s Souls excellent quality.
10 The Dragons
In gameplay, dragons generally only attack if you cross a certain part of the level. They appear only in the first Archstone, breathing fire on a path you usually have to traverse. Why do they wait and only attack certain parts of the map? If we were dragons, we’d be going wild all over the place. Some people just don’t appreciate the ability to breathe fire. This works to the player’s advantage, since it would make the game harder than it is already.
9 Phalanx
The first boss, Phalanx, who players must beat in order to unlock the rest of the game’s areas, is named after a wartime maneuver where soldiers group up and hide behind their shields, effectively making one giant shield. The boss is protected by numerous Hoplites.
They start out surrounding Phalanx, but then slowly break off, leaving the boss vulnerable. Why do they do this? The player would have a harder time and would most likely lose if Phalanx just kept the defensive creatures close.
8 The Traps
As with every souls like, Boletaria is filled with traps. While this make sense, their locations do not always add up. They are often in the path where people would normally walk. Do they set up these traps and then send out a memo to everyone patrolling the area? Even so, one moment of carelessness and the soldiers and demons of Boletaria are in for one nasty workplace accident.
7 Treasures And Items
Considering it is an action-RPG, it makes sense for the world to be populated by items. However, this does not stop us from wondering why items are where they are. The context sometimes makes sense because they are on top of bodies. However, why don’t the soldiers pick up these corpses and take the goods for themselves? Are they supposed to serve as some sort of warning?
6 Wait, Did People Live Here?
No doubt the world changed somewhat as the old one awakened and caused all sorts of havoc. Even with this in mind, it is still difficult to believe these were places people lived. The first and fourth Archstones in particular seem like they were once meant for soldiers and royalty, but it does not look like a comfortable place to live. To be fair, the gothic medieval aesthetic draws influence from a historical period where living was always hard and uncomfortable for everyone.
5 Crystal Lizards
Crystal Lizards are scattered throughout the environment and flee at the first sight of your approach. Why do they only run when you appear? Shouldn’t they be scared of everybody and every monster in the world. One would think, but they have no problem hanging around the enemies and other NPCs. Perhaps they understand that only the protagonist is after the valuable resources they horde.
4 How Do The Prisoners In Boletaria Survive
The third Archstone’s first area takes place inside a prison. Several NPCs are locked behind these bars and you can save them if you want. How did these poor souls survive locked up before you freed them?
Maybe they would have been safe from monsters, but how did they eat and drink? Maybe they captured some rats and devoured them raw, but what about water? Did somebody come around and make sure they had what they needed to live?
3 What Do Merchants Do With Souls?
Souls do not only strengthen stats, but they are also used to buy supplies, forcing you to choose between leveling up and stocking up on goods. What exactly do the merchants do with the souls you give them? While we’re at it, how do these people stock up on their own goods? Do they make them or do they have suppliers with whom they work? They help you out in a bind with their wares, so we won’t question it too much.
2 How Did Some Of The Merchants Get Where They Are?
This is not a problem with all of the NPCs, but with others it is a serious mystery how they got where they are. There is an old lady in 5-1 who desperately pleads with you to buy supplies. How did she reach this place without so much as taking a scratch? She seems frail, so it is difficult to believe she fought her way through the enemies to set up her shop.
1 The Monsters Are Just Waiting
This is one of the main things that remind you it was made in 2009. nine times out of ten, most of the enemies are just sitting in place waiting for you to come in close enough. Shouldn’t they be hard at work doing some other task in Boletaria before you approach them? Even though most enemies are hideous beasts, they still have to have some other purpose. It would make the world feel more alive.
