elden ring is a beautiful game that takes advantage of modern hardware. But what if that weren’t the case and designers were bound by the limitations of 1995 technology? This is the intriguing question behind the concept of a “demake,” where a developer recreates a title as if it were made for an older platform.
Hoolopee, a 3D VFX video makercreated such a tribute to elden ring. This is a trailer for a version of the game that will never be, with the caption “it comes on 8 discs and hits up to 5 fps”. It shows a series of wide views elden ring
Hoolopee has created other demake slices such as: a creepy little clip from a PlayStation 1 version of Resident Evil Village. Other developers have made similar demake projects that are playable like Lilith Walther’s Bloodborne PSX
It’s fascinating to see how artists pay tribute to brand new titles by imagining them through the visuals of the past. The current generation of technology allows for so much more freedom, and developers are creating larger and more detailed worlds than ever before. But there’s something comforting about seeing the simple graphics of an earlier time when our imaginations still had to do a little more. I appreciate the technical challenge of trying to mimic the heaviness, scenery, and storyline of elden ring or bloodborne – these are very big games that have a fleet of talented people working on – while intentionally limiting your efforts to a certain technical level.
Demakes also have something honest and nostalgic about them. Bloodborne PSX is designed so that the frame rate drops when the player uses the flamethrower – just like it did on a PlayStation. While the player can turn that off, it’s still a nice nod to a simpler time. As diverse as the worlds of FromSoftware are, fans still find different ways to comment and get to the heart of what they enjoy.
