After a 2018 remaster, could Dark Souls be entitled to a real remake? The result could definitely be stunning.
In the race for the most impressive and realistic graphics, Epic Games is in pole position with its Unreal Engine 5. The fifth version of the engine was first announced at Summer Game Fest 2020. In March 2023, version 5.2 was formalized at GDC, aiming to be even more impressive. Therefore, some gamers inevitably dream of seeing their favorite games shot on Unreal Engine 5. For example, what would be the outcome of the first Dark Souls?
Dark Souls on Unreal Engine 5: It’s stunning, but …
After the success of the series Armored Core and the very good Demon’s Souls, FromSoftware stood out. But it was in 2011, with Dark Soulsthat the studio has definitely received its letters of nobility. Challenging but rarely unfair, with an atmosphere to die for, great art direction and ingenious level design, the title has been acclaimed by critics and players alike. But it’s clear that it’s aged less well than its successors when you think of Dark Souls 3. This applies to the gameplay, which is very (too?) extensive, but also to the graphics. In 2018 Dark Souls Remastered landed to fix this problem and offer a related technique, with a title that can run at 60 fps. Unfortunately, the improvements made were ultimately so minor that PC mods of the original game might work just as well.
So wouldn’t a real remake be possible? As far as we know, no such project is planned. But it must be admitted that a Dark Souls running Unreal Engine 5 would make your mouth water. In fact, a netizen named SilasCG set out to recreate one of the most iconic locations in FromSoftware’s role-playing game, Anor Londo, using the Epic engine. By using “high quality lighting”, some new assets and other elements taken directly from the original game, he achieved his goal.
The video result is amazingly realistic, but will not convince everyone. With Anor Londo’s overhaul, the place has lost its very somber atmosphere worthy of the best dark fantasy works. A criticism that we often find in the comments accompanying the video, despite the fact that SilasCG’s work is technically brilliant.
On the way to more and more realism?
Sometimes when we see the power of Unreal Engine 5, it’s hard to imagine that our games will look like this. Still, there are countless concept videos introducing locations, or even demos of photorealistic games. For example, recently we were able to see an open-world Jurassic Park where we could put the jaw down on a T-Rex. But the result is even more impressive when we talk about games that are actually in development. The new Lords of the Fallen shows great promise in this regard.
But the biggest graphical hit of recent times is probably Unrecord. This FPS, with a view simulating an onboard camera, had revealed a crop so visually extraordinary that the developers were accused of lying about the product. They then had to prove that it was actually a game by showing a fully edited sequence on Unreal Engine 5. Great games are sure to await us in the years to come!
