Rolling through breakable environmental objects is one of the Souls community’s favourite pastimes. But in the new Demon’s Souls remake for PlayStation 5, this might actually be the secret to deciphering some of the game’s lingering mysteries.
Late last night, Demon’s Souls discussion exploded with the discovery of a brand-new item, a Ceramic Coin that heals a small amount of HP and can only be found in the remake’s Fractured Mode. Many had assumed Fractured Mode was just a way to spice up the game by mirroring the world, so this was a huge discovery, and online sleuths eventually deduced that Ceramic Coins would only appear in breakable objects like boxes and pots when the World Tendency (a game mechanic that changes aspects of a level depending on your actions) is at one of its two polar extremes. And always in the same locations.
DOOR UPDATE: In Bluepoint’s SOTC Remake, you needed 79 coins to open the secret door. Demon’s Souls added a rare “Gold Coin” drop to the Officials..and someone just discovered a “Ceramic Coin” that seems to only appear in Fractured Mode?!? https://t.co/BirKfqkLCw FIND MORE COINS
— Vaati (@VaatiVidya) November 19, 2020
As noted by Souls speedrunner Distortion2 in the first of several updates on the matter, the most popular theory is that these Ceramic Coins are somehow related to the hidden door discovered in the Demon’s Souls remake last week. Bluepoint Games previously filled its Shadows of the Colossus remake with coins that unlocked a new sword, so many players are convinced that finding all the Ceramic Coins is the first step toward accessing whatever mystery item is behind the new, locked door.
The coins and door also appear to share similar spiral patterns, indicating that there might be some connection. But simply using the coins in front of the door has yet to yield any results.
Demon’s Souls detectives have so far found at least 10 of these Ceramic Coins littered across the game world, although it’s still unknown how many exist or what needs to be done with them.
Investigation has revealed that the coins stack and carry over between playthroughs, perhaps as a failsafe in the event a player accidentally uses them. Trying to duplicate Ceramic Coins in multiplayer by dropping them for another player and disconnecting transforms them into Broken Coins, which at this point seem useless. And giving the Ceramic Coins to Sparkly the Crow, an NPC that trades items with the player, results in her simply returning it, but with an affirmative message that seems to indicate she might accept them if some other requirement is met.
Finding that the mirrored worlds contain strange new coins is the biggest discovery in the Demon’s Souls remake so far. Social media is inundated with conversation about the Ceramic Coins, and tens of thousands of viewers are currently watching high-profile Souls streamers like Elajjaz, Distortion2, and LobosJr scour the game’s world, rolling through every breakable object in their path, in an attempt to find them all. Whether or not the Ceramic Coins are related to the new hidden door remains to be seen, but for the time being, players are more than willing to contribute to Boletaria’s clutter if it means getting to the tantalising item (or items) they’ve glimpsed on the other side.
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