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Dark souls lore
and more

These games by FromSoftware rank notoriously high on
difficulty, often crushing players with an atmosphere as
oppressive as its bosses. Yet, for every death, there’s always
a reason to keep trying again, no matter how futile it may
seem. “Wait, there’s a story to all this?” Yeah, there is, and
it’s a rich, complex one that’s hidden beneath layers of sub-
text and literal text. So for some, beating these games is as
much about narrative as it is about gameplay.

Game lore

The whole story begins with the Age of Ancients-
Ages before you escape the Undead Asylum, there was
nothing but fog. No one lived, no one died. Only dragons
existed, eternally watching over everything. This era was
called the Age of the Ancients. Underground, a magical

fire, called the First Flame, suddenly sparked, attracting
many humanoid creatures. This legendary Flame creat-
ed the dichotomies between light and dark, and life and
death. Essentially, it put time in motion. Three creatures
went into the Flame and claimed a Lord Soul. Gwyn took
the Lord Soul of Light, while the Witch of Izalith took the
Soul of Life. Nito claimed the Soul of Death. This granted
them great power, turning them into living gods.

write about your own Meanwhile, the Furtive Pygmy found the Dark Soul, which
walk-though and provided Hollows with a precious thing called Humanity.
strategy’s notes Thus, humans were born unto this world, but their power
paled in comparison to the three Lords.

With this newfound power, the three Lords waged war
against the dragons above ground so they could claim the
surface. Unfortunately, these dragons were unable to be
killed by normal means. One dragon, Seath the Scaleless,
betrayed his kind because, as you’d guess from his name,
he was born without scales. He reveals to the Lords that
dragons are immortal as long as they have their stone
scales. However, the destructive power of lightning could
strip them of their defenses. So Gwyn harnessed some
lightning bolts, opening the path for the other two Lords
to secure victory.

Nito released the plague of death upon the vulnerable drag-
ons. Meanwhile, the Witch of Izalith burned their homes,
so they would have nowhere to run. This series of events
wiped out almost all the dragons in the world, leaving only
weaker imitators, like drakes and wyverns. The only true
dragon remaining was Seath. Thus, the Lords moved to the
surface, claiming it for themselves.

Our story takes place in the Age of Fire - mid-battle. It feels about as good as performing an active
Dark Souls reload in Gears of War, which is saying something.
Fumihiko Yasuda, the director of the samurai game Nioh,
With the Lords in control of the world, the the Age of Fire has been learning a little bushido lately. To bring the way
begins. Consider it a golden era, where everything flour- of the warrior to life, he and his fellow developers at Team
ished. Gwyn build Anor Londo, his capital, atop a moun- Ninja focused on how to translate a historic samurai leg-
tain so it could be closer to the sun. Nito took over the end into videogame mechanics; blending the combat and
underground catacombs, spreading the concept of death gameplay of the Ninja Gaiden series with the modern sen-
from below, while the Witch of Izalith studied fire. This led sibilities of Dark Souls and Bloodborne. As derivative as
to the Pyromancy abilities we see in the Dark Souls games. this all sounds, somehow Nioh still shines, tinkering mas-
Additionally, Seath sat comfortably in this new kingdom. terfully with its inspirations. It may owe credit to games
For his services to the Lords, Gwyn bestowed upon him like Dark Souls, but Nioh is its own beast entirely.
the status of royalty. Seath was also provided a lab for him
to conduct experiments on creatures, all in an effort to un-
derstand immortality. These often inhumane experiments
angered some people in Anor Londo.

Havel the Rock, a loyal knight under Gwyn’s reign, took
umbrage against Seath’s experiments. He started gather-
ing a group to take Seath down, but Gwyn disapproved.
The ruler eventually locked his friend away, dooming him
to turn Hollow and go mad. Unfortunately, those experi-
ments caused Seath to go crazy as well, although he even-
tually unlocks the secret to immortality — sort of.

In this universe, a little village called Oolacile sits atowp
the Abyss. This Abyss can be described as the darkness
found within all mankind, and it could threaten to snuff
out the First Flame if left unchecked. There’s also Kaathe,

Nioh the primordial serpent who often exhibits his desire to see
the Age of Fire end. He convinces the people of Oolacile
Before Shinobi Souls was made cool by Sekiro: Shadows to go into the Abyss and dig up the grave of Manus, the
Die Twice, we had Nioh, its punishing precursor. This is primordial man. The creature goes wild when he’s awak-
another souls-like that adapts a lot of lessons from Mi- ened, causing his Humanity to spiral out of control. This
yazaki’s work but puts enough meaningful spin on them to event exacerbates the growth of the Abyss.
keep you interested. Developed by Koei Tecmo, the game is In order to stop the Abyss, Gwyn sends his trusted knight
set in the Warring States period where you play as an Irish Artorias to Oolacile. With his wolf pup Sif, Artorias con-
samurai known as William who rocks up in Japan ready to fronts Manus but loses. It’s at this point that Manus looks
take down some phantoms. The variety of authentic Jap- for his treasured pendant across time and space, finding it
anese weapons is delightful, as well as its nods to histor- in the future. He pulls the pendant to him, along with the
ical events if you’re Sengoku savvy. It also has a cool sys- Chosen Undead (that’s your character in Dark Souls). The
tem with Ki Pulse where you can replenish your stamina Chosen Undead puts an end to Manus, saving the world
from the Abyss while protecting Sif.

The first flame dwindles, setting up Demon’s Souls
the beginning of the story
Demon’s Souls is an action role-playing game developed
Gwyn enjoys his prosperity for some time, but all good by FromSoftware. Demon’s Souls is set in Boletaria, a king-
things must come to an end. The First Flame begins to dom consumed by a dark being called the Old One, follow-
fade. The Lords panic over this startling development, ing its release through the use of forbidden Soul Arts. Play-
as the Flame has been the source of their power since ers take on the role of a hero brought to Boletaria to kill its
the Age of Fire began. The Witch of Izalith tries to rec- fallen king Allant and pacify the Old One. Gameplay has
reate the Flame based on all her studies. Ultimately, she players navigating five different worlds from a hub called
fails, and this corrupted fire consumes her soul, turning the Nexus, with a heavy emphasis on challenging combat
her into the Bed of Chaos. This event creates the Flame and mechanics surrounding player death and respawning.
of Chaos, which spawns the multitude of demons that Online multiplayer allows both player cooperation and
plague the land. world invasions featuring player versus player combat.

As a last-ditch effort, Gwyn sacrifices himself to the The game’s early development was troubled due to a lack
Flame, using his soul to rekindle the fire. This works, of coherent vision. Despite such issues, FromSoftware
extending the life of the Flame as long as he sits within it. staff member Hidetaka Miyazaki was able to take over
He becomes the first Lord of Cinder, a creature who has the project and helped to turn the title into what it even-
enough power to sacrifice itself to rekindle the Flame. tually became. The game’s difficulty was intended to both
evoke classic video games and provide a sense of challenge
Becoming a Lord of Cinder is only a temporary solution, and accomplishment for players. This aspect proved de-
delaying the inevitable darkness. Additionally, by rekin- manding for Miyazaki, partly because of his fear that Sony
dling the Flame, he has cursed humanity with immortal- would ask the team to lower the difficulty in order to make
ity. Undead humans always come back, but the more they the game more accessible. The multiplayer elements were
die, the more they become Hollow. inspired by events in Miyazaki’s life.

Believe it or not, we’ve finally reached the events that you
actually play through in Dark Souls (aside from that little
detour with Manus). The Chosen Undead awakens, and

coming back for more. they’re meant to fulfill the prophecy of rekindling the
Flame. They strive to gather enough power to sacrifice
The Ashen’s rebirth has restored light to the ash covered themselves and become a Lord of Cinder, at least accord-
plains and the dark world you’ve always known. You must ing to prophecy. To do so, they have to reach the Kiln of
protect the Ashen at all costs, if there is any hope for the the First Flame. To open that pathway, the Chosen Un-
new light to survive. There are those who prefer the dark- dead needs to collect the Lordvessel and the fragments of
ness and will try to stop you on your quest. You’ll need Gwyn’s soul (in other words, specific bosses). They sac-
to be fast on your feet, quick to learn and willing to work rifice these fragments to the Lordvessel, which provides
with others if you hope to survive against the many threats access to the Kiln.
you’ll encounter on your journey. At its core, Ashen is
about relationships. You will meet people out in the world, Within this Kiln, they find the cindered husk of Gwyn.
perhaps a tinker or huntress, a fortune-hunter or weaver of It attacks, acting as the final boss in Dark Souls. After
shadows. Each character has unique knowledge and craft- defeating it, you’re given a choice. You can rekindle the
ing abilities that will bolster your chances of survival and Flame, as the prophecy intended, or you can let it die. If
victory. In the end you must build a new life in these twi- you choose the latter, the Chosen Undead become a Dark
light plains and fight together instead of stumbling alone Lord, and a whole host of primordial serpents — includ-
in the dark. ing Kaathe — worship them for ushering in the Age of
Dark.

Vendrick and Drangleic rekindle the
story some time later - Dark Souls 2

Whatever ending you choose in Dark Souls doesn’t mat-
ter in the grand scheme of things. The franchise is all
about cycles, after all. Ultimately, someone else always
comes in to rekindle the Flame.

An undisclosed amount of time has passed since the
Chosen Undead’s time. Many kingdoms have risen and

fallen, and the Flame has been rekindled an unknown ons, the ancient creatures unaffected by time before the
number of times. Dark Souls 2 puts its focus on the king- Age of Fire. He goes as far as to create a hybrid being, but
dom of Drangleic. King Vendrick founds Drangleic after nonetheless, Aldia finds no surefire way of escaping fate.
overthrowing the previous kingdom that stood in its No matter how hard he tries to stop the undead curse, he
place. From across the sea, a traveler named Nashandra fails, ultimately turning into a horrifying monster.
joins Drangleic, warning Vendrick of an incoming inva-
sion. She claimed the giants were coming to attack their Similer Games
kingdom. Hoping to gain the upper hand, Vendrick leads
his army to the giants first, attacking them and stealing a Other Games that take the word challenge and beat you
powerful artifact from them. This artifact helps him build down, games that make your blood pressure skyrocket,
magical golems, which in turn contributed to the con- but once beaten gives off the feeling of ecstasy and joy
struction of Drangleic. these other Other titles that took inspiration form Dark
Souls are, Ashen, Nioh, Deamon souls, Sekiro: Shadows
The undead curse Die Twice, and much more.

Drangleic prospers for some time under Vendrick’s rule. Ashen
He marries Nashandra, who becomes the queen of the
realm. Unfortunately, the curse of the undead has re- Annapurna and A44’s Ashen is arthouse Dark Souls, an
turned to the world. Many people have become afflicted inspired spin on the style with eclectic art direction. Its
with this curse, which eventually leads to them becoming passive, Journey-esque co-op systems and evocative com-
Hollow. At first, he quarantines these people, treating bat make for a delightfully difficult game that still feels like
them as nothing more than an infection. But after some a breather from the oppression of what we know as Souls.
time passes, the king realizes that there’s more to it than Sure, it’s a little too derivative at times, but if it was going
that. Vendrick and his brother Aldia deduce that this to imitate any game closely, you can’t really go wrong with
undead curse historically appeared when the Flame was Dark Souls baked-to-perfection systems. This choice is for
rekindled. They suspect that somehow, the two are relat- player’s who are looking for something as close to the orig-
ed. inal as possible or those who perhaps want to experience a
hard-fought hero’s journey over the course of around 15 to
Aldia, who studied life and death itself, tried to find a way 20 hours, not 40 or 50. Enemy combat A.I is consistently
to live outside the cycle. He resorted to recreating drag- clever, as are the character designs and biodiversity of the
ominous open world. The expanding settlement is also a
clever spin on the firelink formula that should keep you