History VideoGame / DarkSoulsI

** And strangely enough (since this is the second overall ''Soulsborne'' title), there's no dedicated [[FanNickname stat waifu]] like the Maiden in Black to trade your Souls in for levels at the hub; instead, you can level up at any Bonfire in the world, which is certainly much more expedient, and the main Fire Keeper beneath Firelink Shrine serves only to reinforce your Estus Flask.

** The equipment system is just ''weird'' compared to later games. There are no less than 4 different blacksmiths, and weapons can only be infused with a different element by a specific one (if you can find the right Ember to give them). Ascending a basic weapon down an alternate path requires you to level it to +5 and then transform it at the appropriate blacksmith, which resets it to 0, requiring you to upgrade it back to +5 with unique Green Titanite Shards before using specific-coloured Chunks to push it to +9 and a coloured Slab to finish it at +10. If you don't then basic weapons can be upgraded as high as ''+15'' if you can find the Large Ember and Very Large Ember you need to give to Andre, with the normal path effectively being treated as another ascension path in its own right. Meanwhile, all non-basic weapons cap out at +5 and cannot be ascended at all. You can't upgrade sorcery catalysts or miracle talismans at all, although Pyromancy Flames can be upgraded at a pyromancy trainer for large amounts of souls with no material requirement. Making a boss soul weapon requires you to find a basic weapon of the same class as the boss weapon, upgrade it to +10 (unless it's a catalyst), and then combine it with the soul at one of the blacksmiths to create the boss weapon. Basic armour sets can be upgraded to +10 and some special armour sets can only be upgraded to +5 with Twinkling Titanite, but a few (including most of the superheavy sets) can't be upgraded at all. Starting from ''Dark Souls II'' the systems around upgrading equipment would be radically streamlined, and boss souls would simply be traded to a specific NPC for the appropiate weapon or spell.

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

** A particularly weird example is the Bounding Demons. Zombie dragons are unique minibosses, and one of the only two in the entire game (the one in the Painted World) will tear itself in half trying to get to you, leaving its lower half behind once dead. The Bounding Demons of Lost Izalith are reskinned, living versions of these lower halves, meaning you have to fight about thirty sentient and really aggressive ''zombie dragon asses''.