Demon's Souls in 4K and 30 fps on PC is wonderful and terrifying

The RPCS3 PS3 emulator serves a recurring nightmare.

Last year, Demon's Souls was considered "playable" on PC courtesy of the RPCS3 PS3 emulator. Now, From Software and Hidetaka Miyazaki's original nightmarescape looks great in 4K and 30 fps.

The "massive" performance boost comes as a result of Nekotekina's recent SPU recompiler improvements, so says the following video's description—which is showcased with an i7-6700k. "You might notice the occasional badly paced frame or so, but compared to the 20 fps mess for example Boletarian Palace was at before this is just amazing," reads the description. "And it's not like a real PS3 is any better in this regard."



To my shame, I've only ever dipped in and out of Demon's Souls despite being very fond of the action roleplayer series that's followed. And while it features high on my 'Old Games I Really Must Make Time For' list, I'm often terrified to take the plunge.

I mean, those ghastly Mind Flayers in the Tower of Latrina (as featured around the one minute mark above) look like a combination of Dark Souls 3's Irithyll Dungeon Jailers, Bloodborne's Chime Maidens and the first Dark Souls' bad ending Solaire. Sorry, but that's all kinds of nope.

I don't fancy the narrow, Blighttown-esque catwalks of the Valley of Defilement either, but I guess navigating them in 4K and a handsome framerate is promising. Perhaps this is enough to finally send me to the Boletarian Palace and beyond.

Last week, we covered the RPCS3 PS3 emulator's interpretations of God of War: Ascension and God of War 3. It seems its slant on The Last of Us is making headway, too. Here's that:



On the subject of emulation, the following from Wes is worth your time. The ethics of emulation: how creators, the community, and the law view console emulators.