Demon’s Souls is extremely punishing and it only gets worse if you don’t have a solid grasp of the controls. At least the game has a fairly straightforward control scheme. But if you’re lost, then you’ve made a very wise decision by checking out this Demon’s Souls controls guide.
Demon’s Souls Controls Guide
If you played the original Demon’s Souls on PS3, then this will look extremely familiar to you. The one exception being the touchpad since that didn’t exist on the DualShock 3. But everything else is exactly as you remember it from 2009.
Before getting into the full list, we’ll just go a little deeper on what the DualSense’s touchpad does in Demon’s Souls. There are no swipe controls in this game. Instead, you just press down on it to use it. From there you can bring up your tool belt.
You can access a whole host of different things from your tool belt once it’s open. There are open slots for items, the option to leave messages, and there’s even a photo mode. It won’t completely change the game, but it’s at least something different to try out if you played the original game.
Without further ado, here’s the full controls guide for Demon’s Souls:
| Button | Action |
| X | Interact |
| Triangle | Switch to two-handed, switch to one-handed |
| Circle | Sprint (hold+direction), Jump Back (tap), Dodge Roll (tap+direction) |
| Square | Use Item |
| D-Pad Left/Right | Cycle through items equipped to left/right hand |
| D-Pad Down | Cycle through equipped items |
| D-Pad Up | Cycle through equipped Magic |
| Left Stick | Controls character |
| Right Stick | Controls camera, changes lock-on target |
| R1 | Weak attack with weapon in right hand |
| R2 | Strong attack with weapon in right hand |
| L1 | Block with equipment in left hand |
| L2 | Parry or bash with equipment in left hand |
| R3 | Lock-On |
| Touchpad | Brings up the tool belt menu |
| Options | Brings up the Submenu |
| R1/L1 with Catalyst or Talisman equipped | Cast Magic from the hand equipped with a Catalyst or Talisman |
| R2/L2 with Catalyst or Talisman equipped | Weak attack with the hand holding a Catalyst or Talisman |
If you’re new to Demon’s Souls and the bottom of the chart gets a little confusing, just know that a Talisman is what it sounds like and a Catalyst is essentially a magic wand. You’re always going to be much better off using magic from the hand equipped with one of these weapons.
That’s all there is to cover for the Demon’s Souls controls guide. For more in-depth information on some of these controls, you can check out some of our guides like How To Block or How to get Heal Miracle.
