Atooi's new PC remaster of Dementium II hits Steam this month

Atooi is bringing a new PC remaster of the Nintendo DS survival horror sequel Dementium II to Steam later this month. The studio opened the store page for the release, which adds 4K resolution support, revised controls, and visual filters designed to mimic the original dual-screen handheld presentation.

The Nintendo DS might be my favorite console. I just love all the unique games on it, and Dementium II is no exception. It's fantastic. Renegade Kid originally released the game in May 2010, pushing the hardware to its absolute limits with a fully 3D first-person shooter that actually felt terrifying. It fixed the biggest complaints from the first game by adding manual save points and letting protagonist William Redmoor hold a flashlight and a weapon at the same time. You spend the game escaping the Bright Dawn Treatment Center, fighting off grotesque monsters in a genuinely unsettling environment. The arsenal is surprisingly robust for a handheld game, giving you access to a sledgehammer, a revolver, a shotgun, and an assault rifle.

Fixing a bad PC legacy

This isn't the first time the game has appeared on PC. It's the first time, however, that it's been done right. Back in December 2013, publisher Digital Tribe Games released Dementium II HD on Steam. They built it without any involvement from the original creators. The result was a buggy, poorly optimized mess that completely missed the atmosphere of the DS original. Atooi is finally replacing that version.

Jools Watsham co-founded Renegade Kid and directed the original game. When that studio closed in 2016, he formed Atooi and eventually managed to reacquire the rights to the Dementium franchise. The studio already remastered the first game for modern platforms. Now they're giving the sequel the exact same treatment. It's a relief to see the actual creators handling their own preservation.

Built for modern screens

The new Steam release strips away the baggage of the 2013 port. Atooi built this version to scale up to modern displays while retaining the chunky, low-poly aesthetic that made the DS version work so well. You'll get full controller support, Steam Achievements, and Steam Deck verification right out of the gate. The Deck support makes perfect sense. A handheld horror game belongs on a handheld.

Atooi also had to adapt the original dual-screen interface for a single monitor. The DS version relied heavily on the bottom touch screen for inventory management and map navigation. This new PC version maps those functions to standard controller inputs and keyboard bindings, streamlining the experience for modern setups.

Playing a DS game on a 4K monitor always sounds like a terrible idea on paper. The original textures were meant to be viewed on a screen the size of a postage stamp, and blowing them up usually exposes every flaw. Atooi's retro filters usually bridge that gap well. Having a definitive, playable version of this game preserved on PC is a massive win for survival horror fans. The exact October release date is still pending.