Dark Souls has captivated millions of fans throughout an entire trilogy. FromSoftware has stated their time with Dark Souls has came and went but that hasn’t stopped fans from yearning for a new entry in the series.
Those playing the first game for the first time might feel overwhelmed (perhaps understandably focused on overcoming difficult enemies) and thus find themselves missing the details of the world around them. But the fact is that FromSoftware is brilliant at environmental storytelling and allowing the narrative to come to the player naturally if they happen to be curious and inquisitive enough to put the puzzle pieces together.
10 Hawkeye Gough’s Giant Friend
It’d be difficult to believe that two living beings of the same species or race know one another simply because they share a race or species. With Hawkeye Gough, it’s neat to know that the great knight is good friends with the blacksmith players meet in Anor Londo. The Giant Blacksmith happens to have the Hawk Ring next to him, an item of Gough’s, and Hawkeye even goes as far as to comment on their friendship if one pursues his dialogue far enough. This makes the fate of the Giant Blacksmith that much more depressing in Dark Souls III.
9 Moonlight Butterfly Is An Experiment By Seath
The Moonlight Butterfly is one of the first instances where players understand that Dark Souls has both traditional and non-traditional boss fights that can catch them off-guard. Later in the game, as the player is in pursuit of Seath the Scaleless they’ll notice that Moonlight Butterflies are simply passive NPCs in the Crystal Cave. They’re more abundant here because they’re the product of Seath’s cruel experiments, which often left living creatures in a state of misery as they were formed into hideous beasts.
8 Gravelord Nito’s Extra Coffin
To fight and defeat Gravelord Nito players must awaken him from his endless slumber. At this point, he’s essentially dead, but due to him being the embodiment of the sheer concept of death and disease he’s able to persist beyond death.
He awakens from a rather large coffin that he’s been encased in for quite some time. The real mystery is the smaller coffin next to his and why it was there. Fans have been trying to figure out who it belongs to and if Nito himself had any deeper knowledge of the coffin resting so close to his.
7 Sif Is Wielding Artorias’ Sword
Before readers attack this entry saying it’s fairly obvious Sif is holding Artorias’ sword, it needs to be understood that sentiments like that come from a position of contextual understanding. When things click into place and players draw those connections, it’s these moments that make Dark Souls special. The moment players understand that Sif is using his master’s sword, a master who sacrificed himself to save the glorious beast, that’s when the tears start to fall and people understand what a special connection the two had.
6 Crossbreed Priscilla’s Nature
Those who happen to watch playthroughs of Dark Souls often find entertainment in the interactions between first-time players and Crossbreed Priscilla. Aggressive or agitated players likely strike her out of fear, and patient players simply talk with her before taking her suggestion to depart. It’s a rare case that a player talks to her and also engages in a fight. This creates an interesting dichotomy in that most players immediately see her as a boss or operate on the assumption that she’s a peaceful NPC, while perhaps never knowing she can be either depending on the interaction.
5 Gwynevere’s An Illusion
Even if a player accidentally or purposely kills Gwynevere, it’s not made apparent that she was an illusion of Gwyndolin. Knowing that information changes a lot in terms of what’s perceived to be happening.
It’s never made clear if Ornstein and Smough know they’re guarding Gwyndolin, or if they thought Gwynevere was real. This illusion, like many other characters the player encounters, is trying to manipulate their decision-making to drive their ambitions, and in this case, Gwyndolin used an illusion of his sister.
4 Four Kings Are Not In The Intro
For a game that’s mostly explained narratively through environmental story-telling and item descriptions, Dark Souls opens with a pretty stellar cinematic that gives a brief overview of the world. Out of all of the beings who either hold a Lord Soul or were given a shard of a Lord Soul, the Four Kings are the only ones not present in that opening cinematic. This is something that wouldn’t be evident to someone playing for the first time and is a neat detail to look back on and wonder over.
3 Manus’ Resting Place
Manus is a rather difficult boss that often needs a player’s full attention to overcome. Once he’s defeated, a bit of exploring will uncover the shallow grave he rose out of. This is the same grave where he was disturbed by the citizens of Oolacile, who were fooled by a serpent to wake him. This serpent is believed to be Kaathe, which wouldn’t be surprising since that same serpent was willing to manipulate the player into doing its bidding. Manus simply wanted to be left undisturbed, and Kaathe ruined it.
2 Smough Kills Ornstein
It’s never really clear what type of relationship Ornstein and Smough have, despite guarding Lord Gwyn’s daughter together. Ornstein was a decorated knight and Smough was a sinful executioner who aspired to become a knight one day. If the player defeats Ornstein first they can witness the knight twitch his hand moments before Smough smashes him with a hammer. This is followed by Smough laughing which could imply he knew Ornstein wasn’t dead but decided to finish the job himself.
1 Artorias Lacks Humanity
Outside of being arguable the most popular and beloved character in the Dark Souls franchise, Artorias has had a rough existence. Not only did he sacrifice his chances of survival against the Abyss to save his wolf companion, but he ultimately succumbs to the darkness. This is rather evident when the player defeats him in the game’s DLC as he happens to be the only boss that doesn’t drop any humanity. Whether this was an oversight or implication, one interesting take is that the Abyss that overtook him drained him of all the humanity he had left.
NEXT: Dark Souls: 10 Bosses In The Series That Are Surprisingly Easy
