Heirs of the Sun

For all intents and purposes, the Heirs of the Sun are just the Warriors of Sunlight rebranded. Aside from the similar name to the Warriors of the Sun, heirs receive the exact same medals for performing the exact same duties as their original Dark Souls (DS1) counterparts. These are then offered to an altar with […]

Shira

As a Spear of the Church of Filianore and the princess’ handmaid, Shira is obviously a knight of Anor Londo. Although not wearing their uniform, her formal wear nevertheless incorporates silver armor, much like Silver Knights — both even share a similarly old origin. Shira likewise wields a cross spear as well as the Lightning […]

Archdragon Peak

Preface I hold an unabashed love for Dark Souls III. (DS3) Whereas Dark Souls II (DS2) threw out its old setting in a vain attempt at a soft reboot, DS3 wholeheartedly embraces it, building upon the world and plot threads from the original Dark Souls (DS1) to weave something new. From a storytelling angle, a […]

The Old Ones

In conversing with Shalquoir, the cat will eventually make mention of the Old Ones. Her Japanese dialogue doesn’t use that exact term, her and Saulden both preferring to call them merely “the four”. (4つのもの) But Straid and item descriptions do speak of these “Old Ones”, (古きもの or 古き者) with Shanalotte employing something similar in meaning. […]

Alken & Venn

Preface When I first started working on this topic, I didn’t expect it to be as enamored with the subject as I ended up being. Alken and Venn are two kingdoms that have a very simple dynamic fleshed out to an absurd degree, comparable to probably only to Drangleic itself. While their duality mostly plays […]

Forossa

Deus Vult Forossa, original name Forozza, (フォローザ) was a remote country far to the east of Drangleic, mainly known for constantly warring with its neighbors to the point that — based on Vengarl’s dialogue — the nation seems to have been perpetually at war. And to their credit, Forossans were well equipped for the task, […]

The First Beginning

This post covers everything relevant to the opening hours of the original Dark Souls as far as the localization is concerned. It is based on a series of reddit posts from October 2018. Quotes include the official English script, my translation, and the official Japanese script in that order. In the Age of Ancients, the […]

Irithyll

Preface Irithyll is the lengthiest topic I have ever written an analysis for, which serves as a testament to its importance to the story and setting of Dark Souls III. (DS3) Expertly building upon the circumstances from Dark Souls (DS1) and Dark Souls II (DS2) to advance the overall narrative to its natural conclusion, the […]

The Third Beginning

The cinematic opens with a massive desert littered with half-buried ruins. The accompanying narration informs us that we are looking at Lothric, which the Japanese subtitles further clarify to be where the homelands of the Lords of Cinder “drift” to. Indeed, we can see pilgrims journeying at the foot of the castle city, and the […]

Cut Content

I don’t blame anyone for knee-jerk skepticism with regards to cut content. It is by its very nature unused, never to be seen by design, and the reasons are commonly because they are relics of the development process. As Game Director Hidetaka Miyazaki relates in the Dark Souls: Design Works interview, Andre was originally planned […]