Fromsoftware's Demon's Souls Remake can change drastically depending on a player's choices. The Tendency mechanic can impact the worlds of Boletaria.

Demon’s Souls, the remake of FromSoftware’s first entry in the Soulsborne series, reintroduces the Tendency mechanic. This mechanic works much like a karma system and will change Demon's Souls' worlds and players’ characters according to their actions. Tendency appears on a color scale from white to black, both for the player character and for the various worlds. White represents light, while black represents the encroaching darkness. Deeds considered good will push Tendency toward white, while evil deeds will push toward black.

There are two types of Tendency in Demon’s Souls: Character and World. Character Tendency will make the player stronger or weaker while in Body, Soul, or Phantom form. World Tendency will unlock certain events in the world. The nature of these events will depend on whether the Tendency meter is more white or black.

To shift Tendency toward black, players can harm friendly NPCs or invade other players. Dying while in Body form will also push the current World Tendency toward black. Pushing Tendency toward white can mostly be achieved by playing the game normally while avoiding harming NPCs. Tendency also moves toward white when players beat most bosses in Demon's Souls.

Effects of Tendency in Demon’s Souls

Character Tendency mostly affects the stats of the player character but does unlock two events. When a player character reaches Pure White Tendency, talking to the Monumental will net players the Ally’s Ring. This ring increases all damage done as a Blue Phantom by 20%.

Alternatively, if players kill Yurt the Silent Chief in the Tower of Latria and achieve Pure Black Tendency, they can meet a new NPC in the Nexus, Mephistopheles. Completing this NPC’s quest will net many rewards, the last of which will be the Foe’s Ring. This Demon's Souls ring will increase all damage done as a Black Phantom by 20%.

Characters will receive bonuses or penalties to their stats depending on their Tendency. Having a high White Tendency will give more attack power as a Phantom and in Soul form. Having a high Black Tendency will provide more attack power while in Black Phantom form but decrease max health while in Soul form.

Additionally, three Demon's Souls unique weapons will scale with Character Tendency: the Demonbrandt, the Soulbrandt, and the Northern Regalia. The Demonbrandt will scale positively with white Character Tendency and negatively with black Character Tendency. The Soulbrandt will do the opposite. The Northern Regalia will scale with either black or white Tendency and negatively with neutrality.

World Tendency will have the most impact on Demon's Souls since it can unlock new areas and NPCs in the world. However, it will also affect the player’s Phantom and Soul forms as well as the world’s enemies and NPCs. In general, having a pure white World Tendency will make the game easier, and the opposite will be true with pure black World Tendency. All World Tendency buffs and debuffs also stack with those applied by Character Tendency.

The blacker the World Tendency, the fewer hitpoints players will have in Soul form. Enemies and NPCs will also have more health and do more damage. However, players in Black Phantom form get a damage buff relative to how close they are to pure black. Black World Tendency also increases the number of souls gained and item discovery.

Having a whiter World Tendency will make players in Soul form and Phantom form stronger. Enemies and NPCs will also be squishier and do less damage. Just like black Tendency, the closer players are to pure white World Tendency, the stronger these effects will be.

All Tendency Events in Demon's Souls

Boletarian Palace

• At 75% White World Tendency, the red and blue dragons disappear from the first stage and the gate to the Execution Grounds near the start is unlocked.
• At 90% White World Tendency, Executioner Miralda appears at the top of the pit behind the gate in front of the Boletarian Palace.
• At 50% Black World Tendency, Black Phantom enemies appear.
• At 75% Black World Tendency, the gate to the Execution Grounds is unlocked and the Primeval Demon appears in the Inner Ward.
• At 90% Black World Tendency, Black Phantom Executioner Miranda appears. NPCs' Black Phantoms will mostly spawn at the same place as their associated NPC.

Stonefang Tunnel

• At 90% White World Tendency, Scirvir, the Wanderer appears near the Armor Spider Archstone, and the passage blocked by rubble in the Underground Temple is cleared.
• At 50% Black World Tendency, Black Phantom enemies appear.
• At 75% Black World Tendency, the Primeval Demon appears. Players can ride the elevator under the rock-throwing enemies in the Smithing Grounds all the way to the bottom to find it.
• At 90% Black World Tendency, Black Phantom Scirvir, the Wanderer appears.

Tower of Latria

• At 90% White World Tendency, the debris near Lord Rydell disappears, the gate to the second floor of Prison of Hope East can be opened, and a bridge appears in Upper Latria leading to the key to Lord Rydell’s cell.
• At 50% Black World Tendency, Black Phantom enemies appear.
• At 75% Black World Tendency, the Primeval Demon appears in Upper Latria.
• At 90% Black World Tendency, Black Phantom Lord Rydell appears. Also, Sodden Ring becomes obtainable behind a pillar near a Prisoner Horde in Upper Latria.

Shrine of Storms

• At 90% White World Tendency, Satsuki appears at the start of the level, and a corpse with the Magic Sword Makoto appears in the hole that the players are kicked into by Patches.
• At 50% Black World Tendency, Black Phantom enemies appear.
• At 75% Black World Tendency, the Primeval Demon appears at the end of the path behind the illusory wall in the Ritual Path.
• At 90% Black World Tendency, Black Phantom Satsuki appears.

Valley of Defilement

• At 90% White World Tendency, Selen Vinland appears in the Swamp of Sorrows, Garl Vinland appears as a Black Phantom after players defeat the last boss in the Rotting Haven, and a ladder appears in the Depraved Chasm leading to Istarelle (weapon).
• At 50% Black World Tendency, Black Phantom enemies appear.
• At 75% Black World Tendency, the Primeval Demon appears in the Depraved Chasm.
• At 90% Black World Tendency, Black Phantom Selen Vinland appears.

Players aiming to complete as many events as possible in one run should aim for white World Tendency first. This will unlock the world's NPCs and is advisable for new players of Soulslike games, as it will provide a less scary initial challenge. Near the endgame, players can kill those NPCs to revert World Tendency to neutral. After that, acquiring Body form and dying in a world will start bringing it towards black. This method is generally the best and easiest to acquire all items locked behind pure white and pure black Tendency.

Next: How to Beat Dragon God in Demon's Souls

Demon's Souls Remake is available on PlayStation 5.