History VideoGame / DarkSouls

* GameplayAndStorySegregation: One notable recurring example is the fact that many characters in the games are cursed with the Darksign like you are, making them undead, but you are the ''only'' one of them who will [[ResurrectiveImmortality respawn at a bonfire upon death]] instead of being KilledOffForReal.

** The Chaos Bugs in Lost Izalith really only exist for two reasons: to create a PlayerPunch regarding Solaire, and to be farmed for Sunlight Medals. They're also one of the few completely non-hostile mobs in the game (not counting [=NPC=]s) and only drop a mere 20 souls apiece; no point in bothering them unless you really need those Medals.

The games take place in a DarkFantasy world, where humans coexist with giants, dragons, gods, monsters, and "[[TheUndead Undead]]", humans marked with a [[MarkOfTheBeast cursed brand]] that grants them ResurrectiveImmortality, but slowly leeches their body and mind till they're a SoullessShell. In each game, you take the role of one of these Undead, who finds themselves swept up in a quest to rekindle the flame that keeps the world alight, and hold off the coming age of darkness... that is unless you choose to usher in that age yourself.

** Artorias the Abysswalker's animal was a wolf, he was one of Gywn's most powerful knights and he was an inspiration to his fellow knights and civilians. He was also accompanied by his wolf, Sif, and he would later inspire the Undead Legion of Farron, who fought as a wolf pack.
** Lord's Blade Ciaran's animal was a hornet, she was an assassin who worked for Gywn and would kill people under Gywn's orders. Ciaran's "hornet ring" also boosts the power of critical attacks.

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** The Farron Greatsword and Ringed Knight Paired Greatswords in '''III'' are greatswords that ''cannot'' be two-handed — pressing the button to do so [[DualWielding draws the offhand weapon instead]].

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[[caption-width-right:350:Prepare to Die]]

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See also ''VideoGame/DemonsSouls'' (a spiritual predecessor to the ''Souls'' trilogy), ''{{VideoGame/Bloodborne}}'' (a game with similar themes and gameplay but a very different setting), and ''VideoGame/SekiroShadowsDieTwice'' (a game with similar but altered gameplay and a Feudal Japan setting, but retains the style of the ''Souls'' games), all also by [=FROMSoftware=]. Together, the so called "Soulsborne" style of gameplay has [[SoulsLikeRPG inspired many imitations and seeped into the broader game design culture]].

** Smough himself gets in on this as well. Despite being fought as a DualBoss with Dragonslayer Ornstein and killed by the player character, his armor description in ''Dark Souls III'' states that he made TheLastStand in Anor Londo as it was conquered by Pontyff Sullyvan's forces, an event implied to have happened millenias after the events of the first game.

* CentralTheme: Fire, death, and what beauty means in the CrapsackWorld of ''Dark Souls'', according to Director Miyazaki.

* AbsurdlyHighLevelCap: Each time a stat is raised by one point, a level goes up. Since each stat caps at 99, the maximum level in these games is around the mid-700s to low 800s (depending on the specific game). Typically speaking, one can reliably defeat the FinalBoss at around level 100. Since actually reaching that level cap takes ''forever'', most players intentionally limit themselves, at least as far as [=PvP=] is concerned: Western players tend to stick around level 120 - 130, Japanese players somewhere in the 300s.

** The Dark Sign cursed Undead are stuck "in-between" life and death. Non-Hollow Undead still possess souls and are thus technically "alive", but they're quite literally incapable of dying and will get back up so long as the Undead in question still has HeroicWillpower to not go Hollow. Hollows, which act more like typical zombies, are also hit with this, as it's left ambiguous if Hollowed Undead recieve a FinalDeath once killed as Hollows, or if they too eventually get back up. Contrasted with the animated skeletons of the Catacombs, which are explicitly just bones given souls and animated by necromancers, the Undead cursed by the Dark Sign are a very explicit anomaly in the world, and a sign of things going very wrong.

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The games take place in a DarkFantasy world, where humans coexist with giants, dragons, gods, monsters, and "[[TheUndead Undead]]", humans marked with a [[MarkOfTheBeast cursed brand]] that grants them ResurrectiveImmortality, but slowly leeches their body and mind till they're a SoullessShell. In each game, you take the role of one of these Undead, who finds him- or herself swept up in a quest to rekindle the flame that keeps the world alight, and hold off the coming age of darkness... that is unless you choose to usher in that age yourself.

See also ''VideoGame/DemonsSouls'' (a spiritual predecessor to the ''Souls'' trilogy), ''{{VideoGame/Bloodborne}}'' (a game with similar themes and gameplay but a very different setting), and ''VideoGame/SekiroShadowsDieTwice'' (a game with similar but altered gameplay and a unique setting, but retains the style of the ''Souls'' games), all also by [=FROMSoftware=]. Together, the so called "Soulsborne" style of gameplay has [[SoulsLikeRPG inspired many imitations and seeped into the broader game design culture]].