Dark Soulsdeveloper FromSoftware’s most ambitious endeavor to date,Elden Ring, was released in late February 2022 to immediate critical acclaim. An early GOTY contender, it’s perhaps most notable for its expansive and highly detailed open world. It’s something that certainly wouldn’t have been feasible in gaming generations past, though that hasn’t stopped YouTuber Holoopee from reimaginingElden Ringas an original PlayStation title.
Uploaded on February 24, just one day ahead of the game’s launch, Holoopee’s video recreates key scenes from severalElden Ringtrailers with a significantly decreased polygon count and a dose of the odd distortion that was prevalent in the early years of 3D gaming. Including several scenes of grand vistas and barely-recognizable reworkings of some of thebosses seen in the trailers leading up toElden Ring’s release, it’s an amazingly well-done demake that’ll have nostalgic ‘90s gamers longing for a bygone gaming era.
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Elden Ring’s almost impossibly dense open-world certainly smacks of anachronism when seen through the filter of an old PlayStation game, but that may be part of the video’s charm. Sony’s first console certainly wasn’t capable of rendering such broad, detailed environments, but gamers were, at the time, still wowed by the system’s capabilities. There’s a certain romanticism in pairing the scope and scale of modern games with the nostalgic presentation of quarter-century-old hardware, and it’s this fascination that brought about creative efforts like Holoopee’s video and therecently-releasedBloodborne PSXdemake.
In fact, theBloodbornedemake is deserving of a special mention. Having released on January 31,Bloodborne PSXsurpassed 100,000 downloadsjust a single day after it debuted. That’s a tremendous accomplishment for any solo developer, and it bolsters the idea that interest in video game demakes are on the rise. A heavily-compressed version of Yharnam may not necessarily appeal to every soulsborne fan, but there’s something so undeniably charming in seeing a graphical marvel likeBloodbornereworked to seem as if it were a part of many a PlayStation gamer’s childhood.
Holoopee is no stranger to revisiting retro gaming content. Their most popular videos offer garish comedic looks at what games likeSuper Mario 64andLink: The Faces of Evilmight look like were they recreated with Nvidia’s RTX technology in mind. They’ve also posted PlayStation demakes of other games in the past, and their retro interpretation of 2021’sResident Evil: Villagepairs nicely with the newElden Ringvideo. Additionally, demake fanatics may want to check outResidentvania, which is a mashup betweenResident Evil Villageand the originalCastlevaniadeveloped by YouTube user Florin Oco.
98DEMAKE is another great YouTuber famous for posting animations that reimagine famous modern-day video games as janky original PlayStation titles. Unlike theElden RingPS1 trailer, 98DEMAKE’s worth is incredibly authentic, replicating everything from muddy texture work to small environments sectioned off by frequent loading screens. One of their most popular videos features a demake ofBioShockwhich almost feels akin to the seminal FPSHalf-Life. In a similar vein, YouTube user Rustic Games BR recently posted a snippet of gameplay from aDead SpacePS1 demake which borrows elements from the originalResident Eviland its sequels.
This is to say nothing of the slew of original games which deliberately evoke the PlayStation’s unique graphical style. From theNintendo Switch horror titleThe Tartarus Keythat appears to be a relic from 1996toMurder House, a 2020 title that currently boasts overwhelmingly positive review scores on Steam and goes so far as to replicate the flaws and oddities of a CRT TV, a nostalgia-led return to yesteryear seems to be a major part of the current gaming climate.
Elden Ringis available now for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
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