Dark Souls Remastered Nintendo Switch Hands-On: Praise the Sun Anywhere

Dark Souls didn’t just serve as an immense challenge for players when it released years ago – it became an experience. Death wasn’t so much the end of the game as much the beginning, as you learned from your mistakes, overcame your obstacles, and moved on to the next challenge, in the hopes of seeing the adventure through to the end.

A new generation of players will be able to re-discover the game next month when Dark Souls Remastered arrives for various platforms, including, for the first time ever, the Nintendo Switch. Some folks might be scoffing at the idea of a game so dark and decadent as Dark Souls working on a Nintendo platform. But don’t brush it off so easily – this could easily be the most beneficial version out of all the ones that will become available.

We recently went hands-on with the game during a visit with Nintendo at PAX East 2018, and while the company had several mature-rated highlights within its booth (including Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus and Travis Strikes Again: No More Heroes), Dark Souls Remastered stands out in its own regard. Bandai Namco and its developers have done a remarkable job porting the game to the system, as it looks great both on the big-screen and in handheld mode.

There will need to be some slight adjustments made if you’re playing on the go, but once you get over that initial hump, you’ll have your sword drawn and be ready for all kinds of fights.

Getting a Handle On Things

The demo we played covered the first level you come across in the game, the Undead Asylum, and it continues to serve as a great starting point on your journey. Granted, you’ll still face some big monsters here and there, but the level gives you the chance to become acquainted with the controls and, if you’re playing in a portable way, the pint-sized screen, as you lay into a number of skeletons with your blade and find precious campfires to save your game.

The frame rate is surprisingly smooth on the portable screen, but, as you might expect, the game looks even better on the big-screen. Either way you go, however, you’ll find the game’s dark, moody tone to be perfectly captured. The monsters are quite a sight as well, from the smaller skeletons that will chip away at your health, to the larger behemoths that guarantee you’ll be squashed within one to two blows.

As far as setbacks go, the portable screen does it make it a little difficult to read some text, although that may only be the case for those that need to do some squinting. Otherwise, the animation is detailed, the environmental design continues to be stunning, and the 720p resolution is definitely satisfying. Again, though, it’s your call how you want to play it.

The controls for Dark Souls Remastered are the same as the previous versions of the game, so veterans should have no trouble jumping in and beginning their journey. That said, you may have to do some slight adjusting with the Switch version, since the A and B buttons are flipped around. It took me only about a second to get used to it, though, and most players will be in the same boat.

Prepare For Many Glorious Deaths

We didn’t really see anything else that stood out about the game, but keep in mind that it is an enhanced port, so it’s not supposed to be something like, say, Shadow of the Colossus was on PlayStation 4. That said, it’s very atmospheric in its near-finished build, with strong audio (particularly if you have headphones), great visuals and excellent gameplay.

Again, we only played through the first level, so we have yet to see how the rest of the journey holds up – and, more importantly, how that cool “Praise the sun!”-based Amiibo really unlocks stuff for us. That said, Dark Souls Remastered has a lot of potential going for it, and could easily be a big summer hit for the Switch.

We’ll see how it fares – thousands of deaths be damned – when the game arrives on May 25 for Nintendo Switch, as well as Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and PC.