A year and a half after Demonís Souls released in Japan,
a new game by From Software was revealed during Sony's press conference
at the 2010 Tokyo Game Show.
Simply titled Project Dark, the trailer was initially met with little fanfare,
but showed an armor-clad warrior battling several demons
demons and a group of adventurers gathered around a bonfire,
ending with a look at the hollowed warriorís face.
The initial Project Dark website pointed to Namco Bandai as the gameís publisher,
who had previously released Demonís Souls in Europe.
The platforms listed were PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.
In February 2011, Japanese magazine Famitsu
unveiled Project Darkís official title: Dark Souls,
along with itís director: Hidetaka Miyazaki.
THE DARK SOULS RETROSPECTIVE
PART II THE FIRST FLAME
Days later, Namco Bandai gathered press from around the world
to show their next lineup of titles, including a deeper look at Dark Souls
and access to developers with From Software.
In an interview with PlayStation Blog,
Miyazaki stated ìDark Souls is not a sequel to Demonís Souls by any means.
However, itís created by the same producers and director
so the ideologies, concepts, and themes have carried over and are similar.
Itís a totally new game with similar concepts."
Of course, a practical reason the game isnít a sequel to Demonís Souls
is the fact that Sony owns the Demonís Souls IP.
Working with Namco Bandai,
From Software distanced themselves from the earlier game,
bringing in new revenue opportunities from appearing on multiple platforms.
In a documentary trailer called Dark Souls: Behind the Game,
Namco Bandai Producer Kei Hirono stated
ìThere are three concepts or themes we put into the seamless world
for players as they discover the Dark Souls universe.
First is the high fantasy of Kings and Knights.
The environments are based on this theme.
Second is Death and Darkness. This is another important theme.
Last is Purgatory and Flames.
These are the three main themes that envelop the entire world
and lie beneath the creation stages in the game.î
Despite the notorious difficulty of Demonís Souls
there was no intention to make Dark Souls any easier to handle.
Miyazaki and his team actually wanted to sharpen the challenge
but not by simply increasing how much damage
any enemy could inflict upon the player.
Instead they wanted to create the freedom to strategize
and conquer obstacles creatively.
Moving away from the more stage-like structure found in Demonís Souls,
Miyazaki wanted areas in Dark Souls to be seamlessly connected,
letting players discover the extensive world freely
and providing ways to reach far off locations.
Dark Souls was released in the fall of 2011, coming first to Japan on September 22,
followed by North America and other territories in October.
Just a year after the initial tease,
players would come face to face with whatever nightmares
Miyazakiís team had dreamed up.
In the age of ancients, everlasting dragons ruled the land
which was covered by grey crags, arch trees, and fog.
Then there was fire.
From the dark, beings came forth
and found the Souls of Lords within the First Flame.
These souls were claimed by Nito, first of the dead;
the Witch of Izalith and her daughters of chaos;
Gwyn, the lord of sunlight and his knights;
and the furtive pygmy, who was so easily forgotten.
With the power of the Lord Souls, they challenged the dragons
and defeated them with the help of Seath the Scaleless,
a dragon who betrayed his own.
Then the dragons were no more.
Thus began the Age of Fire when the gods ruled.
Eventually the First Flame began to fade.
The gods attempted to recreate it but failed,
instead producing a wild flame that spewed demons.
Gwyn and his knights battled the demons but were unable to stop them.
With the light fading, Gwyn decided to sacrifice himself
to kindle the First Flame and extend the Age of Fire.
At some point, a curse began to spread, causing beings to become undead.
This curse was recognizable by the Dark Sign,
a black circle that binds to flesh.
The gods feared the Undead,
so they hunted and locked them away where they would rot forever.
The game begins with the playerís character imprisoned in the Undead Asylum,
soon freed by a lone knight who is later found dying.
In his last moments, the knight recounts the Legend of The Chosen Undead:
one from the Asylum must make pilgrimage to the land of ancient lords
and ring the Bell of Awakening to learn the fate of the Undead.
He asks you to carry out this task
and, before dying, hands over an Estus Flask,
the main source of healing in Dark Souls.
Unlike Demonís Souls, which lets you carry a high amount of healing grass,
you start with a limit of only 10 charges on your Estus Flask,
a design choice to keep players from stocking up on healing items.
This change also makes healing magic feel much more valuable
than in Demonís Souls.
Eventually you can unlock more charges for the flask,
and its effectiveness can be enhanced by obtaining Fire Keeper Souls,
a rare and often costly commodity.
After facing off against the Asylum Demon,
the player is carried to the land of ancient lords, Lordran.
Here bonfires are properly introduced. A bonfire serves many purposes.
Besides being the best way to refill your Estus Flask,
itís also where you can store equipment, attune magic, reverse hollowing,
and most importantly, level up your character.
Unlike Demonís Souls where you need to return to the Nexus
and speak to several characters, all of this is done quickly and efficiently at bonfires.
Theyíre spread throughout Lordran, acting as checkpoints
and providing a welcome rest from the gameís uncertain dangers
When killed, the player resurrects at the last bonfire visited.
However, most enemies also return,
except for bosses and other special encounters.
Like its predecessor, Dark Souls is unapologetic
about its challenging difficulty.
Enemies are brutal, punishing their victimsí mistakes,
and locations are often diabolical in their design.
No area makes this more apparent than Senís Fortress.
Itís a madhouse filled with a succession of nasty traps and troublesome enemies.
There are several long narrow bridges to cross while dodging swinging pendulums.
Pressurised plates trigger bolts to shoot from the walls,
and giant boulders crush all in their path.
Itís here that many have their first encounter with a mimic.
These monsters that disguise themselves as treasure chests are an RPG staple,
but their depiction in Dark Souls is especially gruesome,
and often devastating to unsuspecting players.
Bosses are even more challenging and mesmerizing
compared to their Demonís Souls kin.
Though there are some annoying examples like The Bed of Chaos,
the game is full of great and truly engaging encounters.
None is perhaps more challenging and memorable
than fighting the boss pair of Ornstein and Smough.
They arrive at a point when most bosses are manageable
with focus and a little patience.
In this instance, the player is forced
to face the hyper aggressive duo at the same time.
After one is defeated, the other absorbs their soul and grows even stronger.
Although itís a brutal fight, defeating Ornstein and Smough
provides a huge sense of accomplishment and feels like a proper rite of passage.
Much of Dark Souls is about the curse of the undead
and how the world copes with it.
Itís a tragic fate that From Software manages to craft directly into the gameplay.
Similar to Body and Soul forms in Demonís Souls,
there are two states for the player, Human and Undead.
Hollowed eyes and wrinkled flesh are just a few effects of being undead,
but itís not strictly limited to aesthetics.
When undead, you can team up with other players
by being summoned into their world to assist them,
or invade to harvest their souls and humanity.
To become human, you must use a humanity sprite to reverse the hollowing
and bring life back to your face.
While in human form, youíre able to summon other players into your world
to help you defeat bosses or take on other enemies.
However, other players and NPCs can also invade your world
to take souls or humanity for themselves.
Dark Souls shares much of Demonís Soulsí online DNA.
However, new to Dark Souls are the covenants.
After swearing an oath to a covenant, you carry out different tasks
to gain favor and earn rare rewards.
The Warrior of Sunlight covenant rewards you for teaming up with other players.
Meanwhile, the Forest Hunters defend the forest
from those who wish to defile their sacred grounds,
appearing in the games of any outsider who stumbles across their borders.
Unlike in Demonís Souls where you returned to the Nexus
to access disconnected levels,
Dark Souls opens up its environments in a singular world
that twists and turns upon itself in surprising ways.
Areas are connected through multiple paths and shortcuts.
Roughly half of the bosses are completely optional.
You can reach The Depths after facing the Capra Demon in the lower Undead Parish
or you can head to Darkroot Basin through a shortcut in a tower.
The more open nature also enhances the scope of the game.
While making your way through Lordran, you often see far off locations
like the high walls of Anor Londo.
They may seem like distant set dressing at first,
but when you eventually reach them,
it really feels like youíve covered substantial ground on your journey.
Eventually you unlock the ability to warp between most of the bonfires,
but this is after a good chunk of the world has been explored.
Dark Souls is certainly a very obtuse game
and it does a great job of not feeding the player too much information.
Though it can seem like it isnít explicit enough at times
it rewards those who are willing to go the extra mile,
and in some cases hides significant new areas.
The Painted World of Ariamis for example,
requires several steps and a specific item to reach,
bringing players to a snow-covered ruin filled with horrifying beings.
Likewise, Ash Lake lies deep underground, surrounded by gigantic arch trees.
Itís home to the Path of the Dragon covenant,
but the only way to get there is to strike a specific wall to reveal a hidden path.
Characters are equally difficult to discern.
While some are up front about their motives like Big Hat Logan,
many hide more sinister intentions.
This is most apparent with Knight Lautrec of Carim,
who is locked away in a cell in the Undead Parish.
If freed, he will thank you and promise a reward for later.
This may seem fine at the time, but Lautrecís true intention
is to kill the Fire Keeper at Firelink Shrine, Anastacia,
which renders one of the most convenient bonfires in the game useless.
Another character, Petrus, posing as a man of faith, is actually a heartless killer,
abandoning Reah of Thorolund
whom heís supposed to protect in the Tomb of Giants.
Since NPCs in most games are either benign or bestow rewards,
these characters subvert expectations,
taking advantage of the gullibility of good-natured adventurers.
Even familiar faces like Patches are still up to their old tricks.
After defeating Ornstein and Smough, the player receives the Lordvessel
from an illusion of Lord Gwynís daughter Gwynevere.
She instructs the Chosen Undead to succeed her father
and inherit the fire of the world.
In order to accomplish this task, the player must gather four powerful souls
in order to reach the Kiln of the First Flame.
These great souls are held by powerful beings throughout Lordran.
One belongs to the Bed of Chaos, deep below the earth
in the ruined and ancient city of Lost Izalith.
Seath the Scaleless holds another, in the Dukeís Archives,
an enormous library filled with many terrifying experiments,
crystal caves, and ancient secrets.
One lies with Gravelord Nito in the Tomb of the Giants,
filled with massive skeletons and dark arts.
And the final soul is held by the Four Kings in the haunted New Londo Ruins,
flooded in order to seal them
and their Dark Wraiths away from the rest of the world.
After defeating all the lords and collecting their souls,
the Chosen Undead opens the Kiln to the First Flame.
Here, the player faces off
against the gameís final challenge, Lord Gwyn.
After the battle, the player is given a choice:
link the flame and continue the age of fire as instructed by the gods
or let the flame fade, ushering in an age of darkness and becoming the Dark Lord.
Dark Souls sold 1.19 million units
in the United States and Europe by March 2012,
and by 2015, it had sold more than 5 million units worldwide.
It received high praise from players and critics alike, winning several awards.
Michael McWhertor of Kotaku stated
ìDark Souls is likely to be the most difficult and demanding game
youíll play this year, but itís also one of the best.î
The ambiguity and challenge of the game
also sparked one of the most passionate game communities
thanks to the help of Youtubers like Epic Name Bro, VaatiVidya
and several others.
After the game was released,
players rallied support in hopes of a PC version,
many communicating in the form of an online petition
that gained over 93,000 signatures.
Namco Bandai administrator, Tony Shoupinou responded
saying that a PC version of Dark Souls was possible,
and on April 7th, 2012 it was confirmed via PC Action magazine.
On August 24th of that year,
Dark Souls: Prepare to Die Edition was released for the PC,
including brand new content.
It eventually came to PS3 and Xbox 360 in October,
in regions outside of North America.
Console players could purchase the new content
as a separate download titled Artorias of the Abyss.
Unfortunately the PC version was poorly optimized.
In a 2012 interview with Eurogamer, Producer Daisuke Uchiyama stated
ìTo be completely honest, weíre having a tough time doing it
due to our lack of experience and knowledge in terms of porting to PC.
First we thought it would be a breeze, but itís turned out not to be the case.î
He also talked about the performance of the port saying
ìIn terms of the PC version, the quick answer is no,
[we wonít be fixing the frame rate problems].
Because we wanted to get the PC version out as soon as possible,
itís more strictly a port from the console version.
We havenít been able to step up into doing any specific optimisation for PC.î
This upset fans but, thankfully, the mod community stepped in
and solved many of the portís issues.
Artorias of the Abyss, the new content released alongside the PC version,
takes players back in time to the ancient land of Oolacile.
Like much of Dark Souls, some information is given to set the scene,
but a great deal of the story is left intentionally obscure.
Tempted by a dark serpent,
the citizens of Oolacile upturned the grave of primeval man and drove it mad.
This being is also known as Manus, father of the Abyss.
In his rage, Manus caused the Abyss to spread throughout Oolacile,
taking over the city and threatening all of the land.
Knight Artorias, one of Gwynís four knights, and his wolf companion Sif
came to stop the spread of the Abyss.
Despite their efforts, they failed and Artorias succumbed to the dark.
Artorias of the Abyss is an excellent companion piece to the original game.
It tells an emotional and meaningful story filled with themes
like desire, fear, and tragedy.
It expands upon the mythos of the world
while remaining intimate and self-contained in its execution.
The locations visited give an odd sense of tranquility
and treachery that have lasting effects on the player.
Characters like Hawkeye Gough and Marvelous Chester
challenge the philosophy and merit of the player
with their enthralling dialogue and mysterious motives.
Along with several new hideouts and chilling enemies,
it features some of the most memorable boss encounters in the entire series.
Dark Souls changed video games.
It took what made Demonís Souls so successful
and expanded upon its foundation in a way
that had a deeper impact across the industry.
At a time when many developers were looking for new ways
to provide assistance for players to complete games more easily,
Dark Souls put up barriers and punished players
until they figured out how to pass them.
Itís a threatening world full of secrets to discover,
and it constantly keeps you on guard,
while still allowing you to forge your own path and overcome its obstacles.
Thanks to its multiplatform release and a far stronger marketing push,
millions of new people were able to experience
this trend in action-role-playing design,
and Miyazakiís philosophy of challenging, yet rewarding gameplay.
With its considerable success,
it became clear that Dark Souls would be more than a singular project.
From Software and Bandai Namco would soon team up once again.
Only this time, Miyazaki would not be at the helm.
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