NoClip’s new documentary delves deep into Bluepoint Games’ process of remaking classic PlayStation games, specifically the recent Demon’s Souls remake released on PS5 in 2020. Noclip, the group behind many high-quality video game documentaries featuring everything from Half-Life to Final Fantasy XIV, spoke with various members of Bluepoint Games and Japan Studio for the documentary.
The hour-long documentary covers many aspects of the remake, from technical and gameplay changes to how Bluepoint Games’ approach to remaking classic games such as Demon’s Souls, Shadow of the Colossus, and the Uncharted series. “The way we like to structure [remakes] is to basically get the package that the original game developer delivered to, in the case of Demon’s Souls, for the PlayStation 3, and from there we’re able to extract all the data” says Peter Dalton, Technical Director at Bluepoint. If they can’t get the engine or rendering source code, Dalton says, Bluepoint will replace and upgrade them from the ground up.
After getting the game into a newly-built triple-A engine for the PS5, the studio can then work on improving the game’s models and art by extracting the assets directly from the original disk as well as using source data whenever available. According to President of Bluepoint Games Marco Thrush, Sony actually translated all of the original Japanese design documents from Demon’s Souls’ development. By doing so, Bluepoint ensures that they achieve complete parity with the original PS3 version.
Faithfulness to the original game isn’t the only important aspect, however. From the redesign of the original Boletaria Castle area, where the studio remodeled the castle’s architecture as well as smaller details like dragon imprints and Dragonfire effects, Bluepoint states that they also made various changes to improve upon the gameplay experience. Another example given was the bosses who, after the player defeats them, now briefly reveal the ghostly form of the demons’ past selves. Japan Studio’s Gavin Moore commented on the changes made, stating:
When you do a remake, it’s not what the player actually played. It’s how they remembered the game. And you’re always trying to build the game to their expectations. Their memories of the game are far better than the game ever was because it all becomes this amazing world inside your head. It’s like reading a book, basically.
There’s tons of more information for Demon’s Souls fans to parse through, of course, such as the design decisions behind the Flamelurker boss fight. You can check out the full video below:
Recent rumors say that Bluepoint Games has been acquired by Sony, thanks to a leak when Returnal developer Housemarque’s acquisition was announced. Sony has yet to officially confirm the acquisition however, and Bluepoint maintains that it is an independent studio at this time.
[Source: Gamingbolt]
