Demon's Souls is an action RPG focusing on brutal hack-and-slash gameplay in a fantasy world and a high difficulty level with few introductions. It is a remake of the 2009 game of the same name. It stays faithful to the original vision, only adding smaller additions and changes to the gameplay, but visually redone entirely including new motion capture animations. The game can be run in a Cinematic mode with 30FPS and a native 4K resolution or a Performance mode with 60FPS and a dynamic 4K resolution.
Character customization has been expanded with more options. New elements include armor, rings and weapons. There are also new items called Grains providing temporary resistance against various ailments. The carry capacity and encumbrance system has been revised, for instance to reduce the amount of grasses the character can carry as healing items and more weight assigned to potent ones. The game can now be paused and a Photo mode is available. There is also a Fractured World option that reverses the environment layout. The original score was redone entirely now utilizing a choir and a full orchestra. The voice acting was redone as well. The DualSense's haptic features are used to provide aid in timing parries and the feeling of striking metal.
Online multiplayer is kept intact with cooperative play through the summoning of other players. Competitive gameplay is done through invasions using the Black Eye Stone item. Blood Messages can be left on the ground for other players through an asynchronous multiplayer feature. They can be used for misdirection, to points to secret items or to warn for ambushes. Blood Messages can be recommended by other players and the more recommendations a message receives, the longer in the remain in other players' worlds. A recommendation also heals the player's character who left it.