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2007 Demon's Souls prototype shows first-person mode and different camera

Lance McDonald released an internal Demon's Souls showcase that includes a PowerPoint deck and a roughly two-minute gameplay trailer shown at Sony's Gameshare 4 in May 2007, nearly two years before the game's Japanese launch. The footage contains brief first-person sequences and a third-person camera locked behind the player, a clear departure from the final game's free-rotating, lock-on camera that defines Souls combat. The demo also presents an early tutorial area, the Vanguard Demon in a near-final arena, a Dragon God arena set in an open volcanic crater, and enemies absent from the retail release such as bipedal snake men.

• Materials: Presentation comprised of a PowerPoint deck and ~2-minute gameplay trailer shown internally at Sony's Gameshare 4 (May 2007).
• Camera differences: Demo includes short first-person sections and a third-person camera locked behind the player, unlike the final game's free-rotating, lock-on camera.
• Level and boss details: Demo uses an early tutorial area and features the Vanguard Demon in an arena that is practically unchanged, with a moveset that persisted into later FromSoftware titles.
• Other content differences: Dragon God's arena appears as an open volcanic crater in the demo, and the trailer shows enemies not present in the retail release, including bipedal snake men.