Demon's Souls, Dark Souls, and the other "Soulslike" fantasy RPGs released by FromSoftware have always blended spectacular dark fantasy tropes with a strange amount of realism. The protagonists of these games are invariably magical undead heroes with the ability to resurrect from death itself, but they're also vulnerable underdogs who must fight smart against enemy hordes and frequently wield weapons based on actual gear from the Middle Ages. Newcomers to the Soulslike genre who've purchased the newly-released Demon's Souls remake for the PlayStation 5 can enrich their gaming experience by learning more about the more realistic weapons they can acquire during their playthrough – their origins in history, the role they played on the battlefield, and how their real characteristics were implemented into the game.
When the designers at Bluepoint Games set out to remake Demon's Souls for a new generation of consoles, their goal was to recreate the original genre-defining RPG blow for blow, albeit with massive graphical improvements, some quality-of-life gameplay tweaks, and a few new weapons and outfits available for those who pre-ordered or bought the Digital Deluxe version. As a result, many old quirks from the original game can still be found in the remake – clumsy enemy AI, an inventory weight limit, and a number of real medieval weapons and armor pieces scattered among ludicrously over-sized swords like the Dragon Bone Smasher or the Large Sword Of Moonlight.
Some of these weapons listed below can also be found in the games of the Dark Souls trilogy, the spiritual successor to Demon's Souls. Other weapons – the War Scythe and the Kilij in particular – are exclusive to Demon's Souls, obscure implements wielded by working-class conscripts, flamboyant mercenaries, and the Middle-Eastern/African cultures who competed with European aristocracies during the Middle Ages.
Demon's Souls' Estoc In The PS5 Remake
The Estoc is a thrusting sword designed to pierce the armor of knightly enemies in Demon's Souls, and can be found in the Tower of Latria region. Like other thrusting weapons such as spears, players can still attack with the Estoc without lowering their shield, making it a useful weapon for players who want to fight in the cautious style of a Greek Hoplite or Roman Legionnaire.
Historically, the Estoc was a weapon that emerged during the Late Medieval period, where advances in plate armor design had rendered knights almost immune to blows from slashing or chopping weapons. In response to this, sword-smiths developed Estocs and Tucks, longswords with no edges and tapering points which could deftly pierce the links of chain-mail or seek out gaps in a plate armor harness. Unlike in Demon's Souls, historic Estoc wielders generally didn't carry shields, either keeping both hands on the hilt or grasping the blunt blade shaft to thrust it like a spear.
Demon's Souls' Flamberge In The PS5 Remake
The Flamberge, a flashy-looking sword in Demon's Souls, can also be found in the Tower of Latria region near the Fool's Idol Archstone. Its blade, with a rippling edge that resembles flame, is said to be well-suited for "rending flesh" and forcing "large amounts of blood" from the body. Mechanically speaking, this translates to the Flamberge doing large amounts of "Bleed" damage, making it a useful heavy weapon for Dexterity builds.
Contrary to the descriptions given in Demon's Souls, the Dark Souls games, and the forum posts of amateur historians, the rippling curves of the Flamberge (also known as a flame-bladed sword or waved-bladed sword) don't seem to have boosted its ability to rend flesh. Nor did they make it easier for wielders to parry enemy blades. In fact, most modern military historians think that sword-smiths designed the rippling edges of the Flamberge purely for the "coolness factor." To support this theory, they point to the Landsknecht of the 16th century Holy Roman Empire, a band of crack mercenaries famed for wielding the Flamberge – and for their their pointy beards, feathered hats, poofy sleeves, and well-stuffed codpieces.
Demon's Souls' Shotel In The PS5 Remake
The Shotel of Demon's Souls can be found in the Valley of Defilement near the Leechmonger Archstone. It is a hook-like curved sword which lets players bypass the protection of enemy shields. It's a weapon that's appeared in both Demon's Souls and all three Dark Souls games, frequently being the chosen tool of sinister assassins like Yurt the Silent Chief or Lautrec of Carim.
The historical Shotel was the chosen weapon of mounted and un-mounted warriors from Abyssinia (modern-day Ethiopia). True to its Demon's Souls depiction, its inward-curved blade was used to thrust past the rim of enemy shield and strike vital points on the human body.
Demon's Souls' Kilij In The PS5 Remake
The Kilij, a curved sword with a heavy tip, can be found in the Shrine of Storms region of Demon's Souls, near the stomping grounds of the "Vanguard" Demon boss which so frequently smashes new Demon's Souls players to a pulp during the tutorial. It's described as a slashing weapon that inflicts the most damage on unarmored targets, along with a fair amount of "Bleed."
The real-world Kilij sword has traced an interesting path through history. It started out as the chosen weapon of horsemen on the Asiatic Steppes, then was adopted as a cavalry weapon by Persian, Arabic, and Turkish cavalrymen, influenced the design of the karabela sabers used by Polish nobles, and finally became the signature weapon of Hussars all across 19th century Europe. The cavalry role of the Kiliji and other saber weapons never came up in Demon's Souls; that being said, FromSoftware's upcoming Elden Ring RPG, set to have intricate horse-riding mechanics, may be the perfect virtual space for the Kilij to re-appear.
Demon's Souls' War Scythe In The PS5 Remake
Unlike the many other reaper-styled Scythes seen in FromSoftware's Soulslike RPGs, the War Scythe of the Demon's Souls Remake is a curved blade mounted straight, a pole-arm which can be found in the Valley of Defilement near the Leechmonger's Archstone. In popular Soulslike parlance, it's a "Quality Weapon," meaning that players must invest points into both the dexterity and strength attributes to unlock its full potential.
Contrary to their depiction in the Dark Souls trilogy, farming scythes, designed for the reaping of grain and the mowing of grass, aren't well suited for the business of war. Some believe the earliest war scythes were farm scythes modified so that their curved blades would run parallel to their wooden shafts, much like the blade of a pike or halberd. Even after War Scythes forged to be weapons of war grew commonplace, they still remained the iconic weapon of choice for peasant levies, militias, and rebel uprisings well into the 19th century.
Demon's Souls' War Pick In The PS5 Remake
The War Pick weapon of Demon's Souls can be found (yet again) in the Valley of Defilement, sold by the Filthy Woman vendor near the start of the region. As a spiked hammer weapon, the War Pick does extra damage against targets wearing heavy armor.
The real-world equivalent of this War Pick was called the "Horseman's Pick," an armor-piercing weapon first used by Middle Eastern cavalry, then adopted as one of the primary weapons of the fabled Winged Hussars, a band of armored riders who fought for the 16th to 17th century Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. As with the Kilij slashing sword, the cavalry origin of the Horseman's Pick is mostly overlooked in the Demon's Souls Remake, due to the game lacking any horses for knights to ride into battle.