Dark Souls is one of the finest games I've ever had the opportunity to play, and essentially
restored a lot of my high hopes for the direction of modern gaming.
It's one of the few popular games in recent memory that really placed a core emphasis
on exploration, experimentation, and raw technical skill in its game system.
No hand-holding here.
I've spent over five hundred hours acquainting and re-acquanting myself with the landscape
and inhabitants of Lordran, with over half of gameplay time taking place after achieving
100% in-game completion.
Needless to say, I love Dark Souls and its unique mythos and lore.
One of the great aspects of the game's design is that the story is very non-linear, and
it's up to the players to put the pieces of a larger picture together for themselves.
The less observant gamer could play through the entire game without actually knowing what's
happening or what is at stake.
Popular YouTubers like Epicnamebro and Vaatividya have created some fantastic videos discussing
and illustrating the various lore and theories surrounding the game.
But hardcore fans will always crave more, especially from the official source.
Despite its popularity, there hasn't been much out there to satiate the demands of the
fanbase for a deeper look and understanding into the world of Dark Souls.
The collector's edition came with a small art book that houses some great pictures of
NPCs and enemies, even some that wouldn't appear until the Artorias of the Abyss DLC,
but it was just a small sample of the world of Lordran, more of an appetizer than anything
else.
The official strategy guide contains a plethora of essential information on the game, but
it's information in regards to the game system.
Any talk of the story is kept to a bare minimum, and the book is pretty much devoid of any
real artwork, save for in-game character models and maps.
As if it were some gift from the old Gods, the Dark Souls Design Works art book was released
in Japan in 2012, and finally, in January of 2014, we have the publication of the English
version, brought to us by Udon Entertainment.
The hard-bound, 125-page book is wrapped in a sleek dust jacket that is ultra-reflective
on the front design, and in the back with a stylish silhouette of the Greatsword of
Artorias.
The rest of the dust jacket has an interesting, rough texture that feels nice to the touch.
Removing the dust jacket reveals the actual book cover itself, which is done in a style
more in line with that associated with Dark Souls.
The contents of the book are divided up into three chapters, as well as various sub-chapters
to break things down into a more coherent order.
The first chapter is labeled concept art, but it's a bit of a misnomer.
In this section, you'll find a lot of the iconic Dark Souls imagery found in promotional
material, as well as artwork of the key figures and locales scattered throughout the game.
Chapter 2 is labeled "Design Materials," and makes up a large majority of the book.
These are mostly just images, but once in a while there are annotations that describe
things, such as the function of a certain item, or giving more in-depth details of a
character.
The first part shows a lot of the places you visit in Lordran, with conceptual artwork,
closer looks at some of the architectural design, as well as some things that never
made the final cut.
The NPC Materials section gives us a better look at the memorable characters of Dark Souls,
including fan favorites Solaire, Siegmeyer, and Black Iron Tarkus.
You even get to see what Oswald is supposed to look like under his mask, and some of the
discarded designs for the famous hat that is part of Big Hat Logan's namesake.
There is no lack of boss and enemy artwork, as a majority of this section is comprised
of them.
Many of these pictures are just single images of an enemy, but there are also quite a bit
of designs which show multiple angles of the enemies.
Additionally some alternate ideas for the character designs are shown, which is really
cool.
I would have loved to have seen unused designs or concepts for some of the more memorable
characters, like Gravelord Nito or the Ceaseless Discharge, but that's just a minor grievance.
The equipment and weapons of Dark Souls also get a fairly large spotlight in the Design
Materials section.
The starting armor sets of each character class are showcased quite well here, with
even the deprived class getting an elaborate look on the proper application of its loincloth.
Unfortunately, not all of the weapons make an appearance, but most of the unique and
more interesting designs are accounted for.
Seeing a lot of the shield design ideas is one of the highlights of this section, in
my opinion.
Finally, there is a brief four-page section dedicated to designs that never made it to
the finished game, and some of these are quite developed and fascinating.
The Artorias design, as any fan knows well, was eventually used quite prominently in the
previously mentioned DLC.
The last chapter is a ten-page long interview where several designers talk about how the
locations, characters, and equipment came to be, as well as other topics, such as some
of the problems that sprung up along development.
I won't spoil anything here, but the whole interview is interesting and gives the reader
a peak into the creative process of one of the most original and celebrated games of
all time.
While the Dark Souls Design Works is an awesome part of any fans' collection, it's not exactly
a perfect package.
There really isn't much in the book that expands on the Dark Souls world, which is fine considering
it's marketed as an art book.
The interview is great, but a tad bit on the short side and there aren't any really big
revelations contained within it, especially to a hardcore fan who follows the lore closely.
And while there's a sizable amount of images, illustrations, and concept art in the book,
artwork from the Artorias of the Abyss DLC is completely omitted, which is strange, considering
that a few pieces were included in the Collector's Edition art book, even before it the expansion
was available.
There are also some pictures found in the Collector's edition art book that depict characters
from the normal game that are absent from Design Works, such as the great wolf Sif.
All in all, I am very happy to include this book in my collection and I highly recommend
it for any serious fan of the game, or anyone who loves dark fantasy art.
It has a cover price of $39.99 U.S., but can be found cheaper at online retailers like
Amazon.
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the video, now go out there and play some Dark Souls--or
Dark Souls II--and pick up this book!