As the inciting incident for the Soulsborne franchise, Demon’s Souls’ original PS3 release allowed the game to form a cult following based on its old school approach to difficulty. While about as hard as the average Dark Souls game, Demon’s Souls was never unfair, just obscure – a notion BluePoint Games have translated over to the PS5 remake.

Demon’s Souls’ challenge comes not from artificial difficulty, but by hiding mechanical nuances in plain sight –  a now staple of FromSoftware’s design. It’s the onus of the player to experiment with and analyze the world around them. Underneath Demon’s Souls’ harsh exterior is a surprisingly forgiving game that gives players more than enough tools to succeed.

10 Defeat Vanguard During The Tutorial

Just like in Dark Souls, it’s possible to kill the tutorial boss early in order for some extra bonuses. In the case of Vanguard, however, it’s fairly easy to die quickly. Vanguard itself is far from a hard enemy in the game proper, but the tutorial puts players against them in a tight arena where dodging at the wrong time can lead to a swift death.

By defeating Vanguard early, players will head into the Nexus with a Grey Demon’s Soul, 4 Full Moon Grass, 3 Renowned Soldier’s Souls, 3 Shards of Hardstone, and 3 Shards of Sharpstone. As players still need to die to reach the Nexus, the Dragon God will make an early appearance and punch the Slayer of Demons into oblivion for killing Vanguard.

9 Manipulate World Tendency

World Tendency governs Demon’s Souls in virtually every sense. The game is intimately linked to the idea if White and Black World Tendency, with the player’s actions affecting Tendency in any given world. Where Pure White Tendency is tied to many of the game’s side quests, Pure Black Tendency makes enemies harder while increasing the drop rate of rare items.

Manipulating World Tendency is key to making the most out of Demon’s Souls. As dying in body form pushes players to Black World Tendency (easy enough to manipulate,) it’s advised to do everything related to Pure White before moving on to Pure Black. Pure White can be permanently locked out if there are no bosses left alive, but players will always will always hit PWWT by the second boss so long as they don’t die in body form outside the Nexus.

8 Scrape Away Armor

The Scraping Spear doesn’t seem like all that useful a weapon in the surface level, boss weapon tied to Phalanx’s Lead Demon Souls, but it’s actually one of the most viable weapons in PvP. What the Scraping Spear lacks in stats and practicability, it makes up for with its ability to scrape away armor durability with each hit.

The Scraping Spear wil chip off roughly 10kg of durability with every single strike. Taking into consideration the natural wear & tear played will rack up during natural gameplay, and the Scraping Spear can outright ruin a build – worse if players end up dying and don’t have the Souls needed to repair their equipment.

7 Drain Other Players’ Levels

King Allant’s Soulsucker is one of the most dangerous spells in the game, a physical attack which locks the player in place and drains them of one stat off their highest level. Since Allant is often fought as Demon’s Souls’ final boss, Soulsucker can naturally throw a wrench into the finale.

By sparing the Maiden in Black at the end of the story, players will begin New Game + with the Maiden in Black’s Demon Souls on hand. After rescuing Yuria in 1-2 again, the Soul can be traded in for Soulsucker – which the player can then use on others in PvP.

6 Ruin Someone’s Day In 3-3

The Old Monk might very well be the most creative boss fight in Demon’s Souls. On an offline playthrough, the Archdemon will simply be an NPC phantom who the Old Monk summons to fight on his behalf. Online, players will actually fight anyone else who’s currently lingering in 3-2 and 3-3, turning what should be an Archdemon battle into a one on one duel.

The polite thing to do would be to let the opponent when playing as the Old Monk’s Champion, but don’t do that: that defeats the entire purpose of the Archdemon. Fight to the death in the name of the Old Monk and force fellow Slayers of Demons to earn victory.

5 Grind Like Mad In 4-2

Grinding is never really necessary in any of the Souls games, but Demon’s Souls plays its RPG flaring a bit more straight in this regard. Between drop rates for Grass, rare items, and an imbalance of high value Souls in a first playthrough, it’s not uncommon to hit credits in the 80s – albeit not for lack of trying.

Anyone looking to grind as many Souls as they can on a first cycle should head to 4-2. Here, Reapers will spawn Shadowlurkers which will drop Souls when their summoner is killed. With a Reaper stationed at the start of the Archstone, players can rack up 4k+ Souls in seconds by either sniping the Reaper from afar or jumping off the bridge to kill them down below.

4 Slay The Dragons

The Red and Blue Dragons position themselves as environmental hazards more than bosses. Both initially appear in 1-1, their presence a sign to players of the dangers ahead. The Red Dragon proves a constant thorn throughout 1-2, burning the bridges ahead, while 1-4 features a persistent Blue Dragon who won’t back down until players are burnt to a crisp. Thankfully, it’s actually possible to kill both Dragons in their respective levels by finding a safe vantage point (the watchtower in 1-2, between the staircase and Allant’s Palace in 1-4,) in order to take them down with arrows or ranged magic.

3 Make Astraea Kill Herself

Archdemons tend to be hyped up all world, setting up a unique battle at the end of the Archstone. Maiden Astraea is depicted rather negatively by NPCs in the Valley of Defilement before appearing as a simple cleric. Of course, Astraea is not what she seems and immediately sends her sworn knight, Garl Vinland, to strike the player down.

There are two options that can be taken while fighting Astraea: killing her in the traditional manner as expected, or slaying Garl Vinland first. By killing Astraea’s knight before confronting her, she’ll simply give up and commit suicide on the spot when confronted by the player.

2 Kill The Maiden In Black

Like Dark Souls, Demon’s Souls directs players exactly where to go while also allowing them to stray off the beaten path. Narratively, everything the Slayer of Demons does is dictated by the Maiden in Black and the Monumental. In many respects, players are just as much their prisoner as the Nexus. Just as importantly, temptation is a theme that courses throughout the entire game, especially in regards to powerful Souls.

The strongest being in the game, players have a brief window of opportunity to kill the Maiden in Black at the very end of the story. Striking her down leads into a new ending where the Slayer of Demon’s forgoes his mission at the last possible step, actively preventing the Old One from falling back into its slumber.

1 Unlock The Mysterious Door

BluePoint Games was fairly reserved in remaking Demon’s Souls, the PS5 release more or less identical to the PS3 original. That said, there was one major addition that got fans’ attention; the mysterious door in 1-3. Where players thought the contents inside would hint to BluePoint’s next remake, what was actually waiting inside was the Penetrator’s Armor set.

Unlocking the door requires trading in 26 Ceramic Coins (found in Fractured Mode) to Sparkly the Crow. She’ll give players a Rusty Key, letting them into 1-3’s mysterious door and solving a genuine next-gen mystery.

NEXT: 10 Things Everyone Completely Missed In Demon’s Souls PS5