The Berserkers

Wearing a dark mask in the shape of a skull with long dreadlocks and equally ominous armor, the mysterious warriors bear a striking contrast to most knights. Even more curious is the question whether they are knights at all. They do belong to a foreign country, their armor’s description insinuating one of the varying that […]

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. […]

Undead Crypt

Family Evergrow As its name would suggest, the Undead Crypt is a massive mausoleum dedicated to those who have manifested the curse. Why does such a burial ground exist? Because you can never be quite sure when the Undead are finally just dead. Hollows buried in the overcrowded “dumping ground of the dead” (死者の捨て場) rise […]

The Deep

Preface Aldrich, and the Deep in general, is an aspect of Dark Souls that I can’t help but be morbidly fascinated with. From a thematic standpoint, they provide a perfect response to questions posed in its predecessors. From a story standpoint, they add another major faction foreshadowing the underlying problems that we will be expected […]

Carthus

Preface Although understandably overlooked by fans trying to jump from one Lord of Cinder to the next, the Catacombs of Carthus provides some of the most charming bits of worldbuilding in all of Dark Souls III, (DS3) combining various elements from past games into something truly novel for the series and fantasy games as a […]

Heide

Preface Heide embodies perhaps the most frustrating aspect of FromSoftware’s approach to Dark Souls II. We are provided very little to work with even compared to similarly ancient events in the original Dark Souls. (DS1) As a result, reconstructing the overall picture of these ancient civilizations relies more heavily on inference than ever before, though […]

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 […]

The Gutter

Preface The Gutter is perhaps the most visually appealing iteration of FromSoftware’s infamous trash levels, largely because it is divorced from the traditional swamp aesthetic. Despite inheriting almost all of the themes and motifs from past levels of its ilk, omitting their most recognizable aspect helps alleviate the repetition. That said, a more creative aesthetic […]