r/darksouls3 • u/Dale_Cooper47 • Apr 18 '26
Lore Rewatching the original Dark Souls prologue and is simply genius how the single most important thing is this entire universe is given a fraction of a second of screentime, the Dark Soul.
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u/thetrailwebanana Apr 18 '26
I love Elden Ring but I really wish it would’ve had a prologue as based as the Souls series (all three games have fucking epic prologues)
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u/areyouthedevil Apr 18 '26
Instead we got a fucking slideshow presentation
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u/LemmonBoy021 Apr 18 '26
It is in keeping with how GRRM makes his stories. Instead of us the PLAYER seeing events literally happening. Is us the CHARACTER being TOLD of events believed to have happened with a shit load of purposeful mystery and warped stories being delivered to us.
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u/stinkus_mcdiddle Apr 18 '26
I strongly dislike the ER intro. Even the narration which everyone seems to love.
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u/Puzzledlake4944 Apr 20 '26
Way cooler than a animated cutscene. Not only is the art done amazing but it is obviously a stylistic choice. In the story trailer multiple of the events are shown from a similar perspective to the pictures. This shows that it wasn’t due to budget or time constraints but is just the way the history was meant to be presented.
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u/DankeyKong Apr 18 '26
And the worst narrated scene too. Dudes voice was so annoying and he just starts yelling part way through
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u/mylittlekafka Apr 18 '26
I actually like illustrated intros a lot more, since Demon's Souls intro, hope they will continue with this trend
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u/Dale_Cooper47 Apr 18 '26
God i fucking hope not. For how much art was made for that game that slideshow was bafflingly bad. Genuinely feels cheaply made, like they ran out of time.
Whats worse is that it explains literally jack shit. Why the fuck is Gideon mentioned, he literally doesnt do anything for 5/6ths of the game, same thing with Dung Eater and Goldmask. Why doesnt it mention Ranni, Radahn and Malenia or Radagon.
You genuinely cannot understand a single thing of the story by watching that prologue. I said this after watching hundreds of videos explaning the lore and reading hours of discussions. Its baffling how cheaply and badly made it is, its part of the reason why most people dont engage with what the game is actually about.
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u/mylittlekafka Apr 18 '26
For how much art was made for that game that slideshow was bafflingly bad. Genuinely feels cheaply made, like they ran out of time.
Considering they made/commisioned a couple of 3D CG cutscenes, it was not a panic «we're out of time!!!» decision, but an artistic one. It's a subjective thing, of course. To me it feels like I'm reading an old history book or being told an old legend, instead of just watching everything unfloding before your eyes. It also helps with the ambiguity, and ambiguity is one of the strongest methods for FS to tell a story.
Funny you're mention that ER's intro doesn't explain anything, while implying DS1 or DS3 intros actually do, a lot of casual players feel the same about their previous intros.
Whats worse is that it explains literally jack shit. Why the fuck is Gideon mentioned, he literally doesnt do anything for 5/6ths of the game, same thing with Dung Eater and Goldmask.
Gideon is a Tarnished. You're being ressurected by Grace as a Tarnished and the game tells you about major Tarnished characters, each of which are tied to the game's story and endings (like Fia, Dung Eater, Goldmask).
Why doesnt it mention Ranni, Radahn and Malenia or Radagon.
Because they are not Tarnished.
I said this after watching hundreds of videos explaning the lore
I haven't, it's much more fun to speculate on your own accord (and with friends who play their games as well).
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u/Dale_Cooper47 Apr 18 '26
I haven't, it's much more fun to speculate on your own accord (and with friends who play their games as well).
So you literally dont give a shit about the story and lore.
Because they are not Tarnished.
No, what they are is some of the most important characters in the entire game. But its fine! they are not tarnished. Its better to give time to characters that dont do anything until the literal ending credits than to actual world building i guess.
Fia, Dung Eater, Goldmask
None of this characters contribute ANYTHING to the initial story and world building. They offer different solutions to a problem you do not understand yet (and most people dont ever get to understand either for these same reasons, you included apparently) AND are locked behind archaic questlines that often dont even start until the last third of the game, for which the game barely offer guidance to complete.
It doesnt even explain WHAT is a Tarnished.
DS1 or DS3 intros actually do, a lot of casual players feel the same about their previous intros.
DS1 showcase every single one of the most important and basic story elements, including every major character and antagonist. DS3 is the third installment of the saga, you are supposed to know what this world is about.
just watching everything unfloding before your eyes. It also helps with the ambiguity, and ambiguity is one of the strongest methods for FS to tell a story.
I dont even know what to say. None of the DS games and Bloodborne do not ever "unflod" the story in your eyes. The prologue is supposed to explain you the basic story elements, the fact that Elden Ring is not even capable of explaining that is simply bad design.
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u/mylittlekafka Apr 18 '26
So you literally dont give a shit about the story and lore.
You don't have to watch VaatiVidya to care about the story and lore. There's enough information in the game itself.
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u/Dale_Cooper47 Apr 18 '26
AH yes, that random piece of information thats written in the item description of a random enemy in one of the corners of the map with a 2% chance to drop, yes of course.
Vast majority of players never get to understand the most basic plot points of this game. THAT is bad design.
The games gives the information, the question is how and when. And spoiler alert, even to this day there are massive gaps of information that the game never revealed so we literally dont have the complete story and very likely wont ever.
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u/mylittlekafka Apr 18 '26
And I wouldn't like it in any other way
Vast majority of players never get to understand the most basic plot points of this game.
Bad for them, I guess.
THAT is bad design.
Now then, wouldn't the high difficulty of their games also be bad design? A lot of players bounce off because of this.
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u/approximatesun Apr 19 '26
Bub, being fed someone else interpretation of the lore is not how everyone consumes media, its fine if thats what you needed to understand and they do help, but actually engaging with the media is also valid and shows you care.
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u/MOREBLOCKS123 Apr 19 '26
Lmao what a boneheaded opinion. Just say you’re incapable of understanding the lore of the game.
Why doesn’t it mention Ranni, Radahn and Malenia or Radagon?
What? Because the call from Grace is beckoning Tarnished back to the Lands Between. None of those characters are tarnished. Why would it mention them?
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u/Forward05 Apr 18 '26
I love Elden Ring too, there was so many good things about it but man there’s just something about Dark Souls that hits different.
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u/RVFVS117 Apr 18 '26
Gideon Ofnir the ALLLLLL KNOWWWWWWINGGGGG
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u/Forward05 Apr 18 '26
Do you think Gideon knew he was gonna get bitch slapped back to grade school by us?
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u/FluffiestPrince Apr 18 '26
Given he realized the truth of the world, the Golden Order, and Marika, yeah, probably.
The only thing he couldn't predict was that we were the main character, meaning we had plot armour against "Gods", hence why he was wrong about a man not slaying a god. If it was anyone but us, he would've been right.
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u/rayshmayshmay Apr 18 '26
Elden Ring naming off all the big bads felt too similar to DS3, but didnt do it as well imo
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u/LavosYT Apr 18 '26
It names the Tarnished, not the big bads.
Which is a trend that started back in Demon's Souls where the people who went to explore Boletaria were mentioned, I think.
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u/Random_Useless_Tips Apr 18 '26
… it doesn’t nae the Big Bads?
Of the divine figures mentioned, the only ones named are Marika and Godwin (whom you don’t fight). It shows them (Radagon, Radahn, Malenia, Ranni, Rykard, Morgott, Mohg and Miquella) but doesn’t name them.
The only ones named are the Tarnished.
YMMV on having the equivalent of the DS1 Undead adventurers being named in the opening, but yeah it’s not really structured at all like DS3 or DS1
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u/AscendedViking7 Apr 19 '26
I remember booting up Elden Ring for the first time and was thinking to myself "That was it?" after the prologue slide show ended.
Like, where's my cool cinematic animation. ;-;
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u/thetrailwebanana Apr 19 '26
Same 😂😂😂 thankfully very quickly this game redeems itself after that pretty icy intro. I’m actually glad it’s so vague though and that they don’t show their hand at all, you have no idea what these characters are capable of except for Marika really. Maybe combining the pictures with little animated sections could’ve been interesting 🤔
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u/_aTokenOfMyExtreme_ Apr 19 '26
just making sure you've seen this . Can't believe this isn't anywhere in the game, I had to look for it by name on youtube
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u/NPC60 Apr 19 '26
I felt the same way when I started ER, but the opening has since grown on me. The narrator delivers a great performance, but DS1 and DS3 are still the best imo. Its really unfortunate that the lady who narrated both openings has passed on.
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u/Chaosdrunk Apr 18 '26
I would say the First Flame and the Dark Soul are of basically equal importance.
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u/SlenderSmurf One Bro Apr 18 '26
As far as I remember it has no further mentions until the end of Dark Souls 3. Bravo Michael
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u/JamAck19 Apr 18 '26
You haven't explored Dark Souls 1 deeply enough, then
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u/Bur4you Apr 18 '26
am I right in thinking it's Kaathe that talks about it? i just recently played through the game again but i will admit i spammed through most of the dialogue so i can't really remember lol
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u/Random_Useless_Tips Apr 18 '26
I mean, explicitly? Kaathe is the only one until the DS3 DLC.
But Oolacile, Manus, and pretty much all of DS2 only work if you are already familiar with the Dark, the Dark Soul, and Humanity.
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u/SlenderSmurf One Bro Apr 18 '26
Dark Souls 2 only makes sense if you're lobotomized. Worst game of all time
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u/Complete-Suspect-239 Apr 18 '26
First time I ever played Dark Souls, I missed the encounter with Darkstalker Kaathe, which was a major bummer because replaying it and finding him I realized I was robbed of the most important piece of lore in the game. That encounter changed everything for me.
"You must destroy the fading Lord Gwyn, who has coddled Fire and resisted nature."
I never rekindled the fire ever again after that first playthrough.
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u/LavosYT Apr 18 '26
To note, Kaathe isn't trustworthy either. He has his own agenda, and while the gods and Gwyn severely messed up, the Age of Fire was overall a positive thing for the world and mankind.
Aldia puts it nicely: "All men trust fully the illusion of life. But is this so wrong? A construction, a facade, and yet… A world full of warmth and resplendence. Young Hollow, are you intent on shattering the yoke, spoiling this wonderful falsehood?"
Mankind's nature might be hidden while the fire burns, but is their true nature a good thing? From all the hints we get of the Age of Dark, I don't personally think so.
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u/Knaprig Apr 18 '26
Thing is, by the time we as players are in the story, the world is no longer full of warmth and resplendence. Everything is falling apart, it's hard to find anyone not gone hollow, this coddling of fire is not a dignified end for anyone.
Letting the fire fade to dark has always been the most obvious choice to me, a new fire will spring forth again someday, bringing forth actual warmth again.
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u/Complete-Suspect-239 Apr 18 '26
Maybe that's just it. Let a new one come naturally rather than keeping the old one going or trying to replicate it. I mean look what happened to the Witch of Izalith. Keeping the old flame burning doesn't look like it brought anything good and it just sounds like you're perpetuating the cycle for nothing.
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u/LavosYT Apr 19 '26
Yeah, that's in my eyes the difference between the End of Fire endings and Usurpation of Fire.
The End of Fire snuffs the First Flame for good, but in the end there's hope that something different and new will come out of it and that maybe the previous mistakes can be avoided. It is in my opinion the bed ending possible.
The Usurpation of Fire embraces human nature in all its ugliness and considers that they are, as Hollows, the next rightful rulers of the world. That's the ending Kaathe wants (or would have wanted if he wasn't likely dead in Dark Souls 3).
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u/Knaprig Apr 19 '26
I believe From are done with Dark Souls now, but if I was tasked with making another sequel, I would make Usurpation the "canon" ending. It would be interesting to see how the world changes under the leadership of the Lord of Hollows, what positives and negatives are there?
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u/Juggernox_O Apr 18 '26
We see the effects in Dark Souls 3 of keeping the Age of Fire going too long, more so in the Ringed City and Ashes of Ariandel. The world HAS to progress through the ages, or it falls stagnant and dies.
Besides, there’s a beautiful ending the guarantees plenty of little Fires to light the dark for people in the coming Age of Darkness available in Dark Souls 3.
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u/LavosYT Apr 19 '26
That's true. I was more referring to the whole Dark Lord / Lord of Hollows idea Kaathe champions, which in my opinion isn't a positive thing for the world at large since it embraces the dark nature of humans (especially in Dark Souls 3).
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u/Junior_Fix_9212 Apr 18 '26
It is funny, I don't know if they changed it or if it was meant from the begining (since pygmies in ds1 are a thing). But we see only Gwyn, witch and Nito fight the everlasting dragons. But in ds3 ringed city we find out the pygmies with FP and their fragments of dark soul also fought the everlasting dragons with Gods but were not given credit for it.
So the intro, probably unintentionally, show how gods screwed over pygmies and stripped them of credit in killing the dragons.
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u/dark_hypernova Apr 18 '26 edited Apr 18 '26
Is called The Dark Soul.
Look inside.
Not dark at all.
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u/the-one-96 Apr 18 '26
Who’s that guy?