Dark Souls Original VS Remastered
Earlier this year Dark Souls Remastered launched for PC, Xbox One and PS4. With it, I think it’s fair to say that the reaction overall was a bit mixed. While the game declared itself as remastered, many people felt that the changes made were even barely notable or completely pointless. As a massive fan of the series, I must confess that the only aspect I massively approved of was them finally fixing Blighttown.
Following a very detailed bit of work by YouTuber ‘Crowbcat’ though, we have what is perhaps the most detailed like for like comparison video released to date.
Who Wins?
Comparing the two, you can clearly see the differences that exist. It is, actually, a lot easier to see these when they are side by side. Overall though, the overwhelming opinion I take away is that in the grand scheme of things, I struggle to see what significant matters they changed. Worse, aside from the aforementioned Blighttown, I can’t see much improved either!
Sure the visuals are a bit crisper and the fire/water/sludge effects are a lot stronger, but overall is there really that much difference? More accurately, is the difference that much better? I’m not so sure.
Mod Pack Already Out
Since the release of Dark Souls Remastered, a mod pack has already been made available to improve the visuals even further. This does, however, raise an interesting question. Was this really a remaster or was it just a cynical ‘final patch’ version of the original game?
Even as a massive fan of the series (over 1000 hours clocked in the franchise) I must admit that while I enjoyed the remaster, I wasn’t dazzled by it. In fact, using the above video as a comparison, I’m not sure if (at least in terms of visuals) which I preferred. As above though, at least Blighttown kinda works these days.
Whatever you think, kudos to ‘Crowbcat’ for what was clearly a lot of work.
What do you think? Which version did you prefer? The remaster or the original? – Let us know in the comments!
Mr Mike Sir
My understanding is that the developers even stated that there would not be any massive graphical or even audio changes made for the remaster. The biggest item, which you didn’t directly mention, is that it now runs at 60 FPS.
Whilst we could get around this using a mod before, it caused other problems as well (like screwing up your jumping ability)
They also updated the controls so that you can now jump much more easily.
Personally i have found the newer version easier to play and get into than the original, because I am used to the higher fps in games.
Vipers Rant over 🙂
while you are mostly correct, it is still technically a remaster. All the remaster has done is fix problems from the original release. So i guess it depends on your definition. To me DS-R is just a final patch of the original.