Tag: Dark Souls

The all-time best FromSoftware games, including Dark Souls and Elden Ring

The best FromSoftware games of all time.

Today, we are going to be taking a look at my favorite game genre of all time! We are going to be focusing on the Souls-like games made by FromSoftware.

Below, you will see my top five games that have been made by FromSoftware. Keep in mind, that this is my list. Any of these games could be number one on another person’s list and I would be completely fine with that.

If you are wondering, no, I am not a Dark Souls 2 enjoyer. I would rather act as if that game never existed. These games have given me a roller coaster of emotions throughout my life and hold a special place in my heart.

We may be getting a Dark Souls anime on Netflix

It looks like the next video game adaptation might be a Dark Souls anime on Netflix, if a new leak is anything to go by

It looks like the next video game adaptation might be a Dark Souls anime on Netflix, if a new leak is anything to go by. The rumor about a possible FromSoftware anime comes from pop culture site GiantFreakingRobot, which has a fair record of accuracy when it comes to leaks and alleged insider information (thanks, Eurogamer).

The leak comes a few days after Netflix announced a spinoff Castlevania anime following Richter Belmont, following the conclusion of Alucard’s tale.

GiantFreakingRobot didn’t have any other information about what to expect from the anime, other than that it’s reportedly “based on” Dark Souls.

The first Dark Souls’ story almost needs a wiki to understand, but the gist of it is that in the ancient past, four lords inherited Flames that granted them power akin to that of deities. Fast forward a few hundred or thousand years – time is murky in Dark Souls – and the flames are dying, which means the world is dying too. Your job is to somehow restore something like order and life before the last embers flicker out.

Of all the recent video game adaptations, from Halo and The Last of Us to the upcoming Fallout and God of War, Dark Souls certainly has the most narrative potential. FromSoftware’s hit RPG series has a knack for hands-off storytelling that leaves much of the plot to the player’s imagination, even if they manage to piece all the clues together.

Written by Josh Broadwell on behalf of GLHF

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Dark Souls PC online functions are up again at last – for now

Nearly a year after FromSoftware and Bandai Namco disabled Dark Souls’ online features, the servers are back online and safe to use

Praise the sun, Dark Souls PC’s online functions are restored at last, the RPG game’s official Twitter account announced in a brief new post. Bandai Namco and FromSoftware disabled online functionality for all three Dark Souls games earlier in 2022, following an exploit that hackers could use to access a player’s computer. 

The exploit was shared across the three Dark Souls games, though FromSoftware has gradually been rolling out fixes since August – with one caveat. It doesn’t apply to the original Dark Souls PC port. Bandai and FromSoft permanently delisted Dark Souls: Prepare to Die in October after deciding they weren’t able to continue supporting the game.

So, if you want to carry on playing multiplayer in the original Dark Souls, you’ll have to swap to Dark Souls Remastered.

Dark Souls’ online functions work similarly to Elden Ring’s and let players either team up to tackle challenges together or face off in PvP battles, putting their builds and skills to the test against less predictable foes.

While online functions are officially restored, you may still run into a few issues as Bandai works out the bugs. Shortly after Dark Souls 3’s servers were back online, players reported they were unable to actually connect to the servers until Bandai took them offline again to perform more maintenance.

Written by Josh Broadwell on behalf of GLHF

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The first Dark Souls PC port has gone offline permanently

The Prepare To Die Edition of Dark Souls isn’t ever going back online, sadly.

It’s been a long, hard road getting the PC servers for Dark Souls up and running again. After a nasty security exploit took multiplayer features offline for the trilogy, developer FromSoftware has slowly restored online functionality for all three games. Unfortunately, the Dark Souls: Prepare to Die Edition will stay offline forever.

“We have determined that we will not be able to support online services for the PC version of Dark Souls: Prepare to Die Edition that was released in 2012 due to an aging system,” FromSoftware said on Tuesday via Twitter. “We apologize for the long wait and ask for your understanding in this matter.”

It’s a shame, honestly. Dark Souls: Prepare to Die Edition initially came to PC in 2012 after persistent fan campaigning — which is now arguably the most popular platform for FromSoftware’s action RPGs. Elden Ring‘s concurrent player numbers were astonishing.

Thankfully, the Dark Souls: Remastered servers will go back online. There’s no firm restoration date yet, but FromSoftware claims it’ll let fans know once the necessary safeguards are in place. While this version of Dark Souls looks and performs better than the old Prepare to Die Edition, many people don’t like its aesthetic changes. Boss fog doors, for example, are bizarrely glossy.

If nothing else, as least both versions of Dark Souls 2 are going back online.

Written by Kyle Campbell on behalf of GLHF.

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Dark Souls 3’s PC servers are offline once again

After several months of downtime and a brief period of service restoration, Dark Souls 3 is having troubles on PC again.

Well, the Dark Souls 3 PC servers are offline. Yes, again — after everyone thought the downtime was over.

Tuesday, players all over the official Steam forums began reporting instances of connection issues with Dark Souls 3. More specifically, connecting to the game’s servers yielded nothing but errors, meaning nobody could partake in multiplayer escapades. Later on Wednesday, developer FromSoftware acknowledged the new service interruption.

“At this time, there is a confirmed issue with DARK SOULS III online play via the Steam platform,” FromSoftware said on Twitter. “We are investigating the source of the problem and will inform you as soon as more details become available.”

While technical hiccups aren’t uncommon in multiplayer titles, the PC servers for Dark Souls 3 went offline back in January, and didn’t come back until late August due to a security threat. So there’s plenty of (somewhat understandable) frustration from fans. Worse yet, the original Dark Souls and Dark Souls 2 servers still haven’t gone back online either. Luckily, PS4 and Xbox One players shouldn’t be running into any server woes.

FromSoftware didn’t specify if the current outage has anything to do with the previously mentioned security threats or otherwise, only that the studio is investigating the current problems.

Written by Kyle Campbell on behalf of GLHF.

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Dark Souls 3 PC servers are back online after 8 months of downtime

FromSoftware has apologized for how long Dark Souls 3 has been offline.

Back in January, FromSoftware took the PC multiplayer servers for Dark Souls, Dark Souls 2, and Dark Souls 3 offline due to an ugly security exploit. Now, eight months later, service is slowly being restored.

On Thursday, Bandai Namco announced that the PC servers for Dark Souls 3 are back online. Players can once again invade each other’s matches, read helpful messages, and watch bloodstain memories unceremoniously tumble off cliffs. All is right with the world once again.

Well, almost. Dark Souls and Dark Souls 2 are still offline on PC — FromSoftware is still getting those titles up to date. The studio gave no time frame for when online functionality might return, either. 

“We’re sorry to have kept you waiting for so long,” Yasuhiro Kitao, producer at FromSoftware, said on Twitter. “Please accept our humble appreciation for those still waiting as we work to restore servers for other games in the series.”

Nobody at Bandai Namco or FromSoftware explained why this restoration process is taking so long. However, it’s pretty evident that the earth-shattering success of Elden Ring played a part. Refocusing development efforts and all that, you know. It’s still regularly getting significant patches too. Plus, there’s the fact that FromSoftware’s next game is apparently almost done. Busy times, indeed.

Written by Kyle Campbell on behalf of GLHF.

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Dark Souls servers will go back online soon

Multiplayer services are returning for the trilogy.

After being offline for months, the Dark Souls servers on PC will be coming back soon.

Earlier this year, FromSoftware shut down multiplayer functionality for the Dark Souls trilogy on PC due to reports of a massive security threat. Months later, those issues might be a thing of the past.

“We are currently in the process of restoring the online servers for the Dark Souls series on PC,” FromSoftware said via PC Gamer. “We plan to restore online service for each game progressively, bringing back servers for Dark Souls 3 once we complete the necessary work to correct the problem.”

“We will provide additional updates as soon as the restoration schedule is finalized.” FromSoftware continues. “We want to thank all our players for your patience and understanding as we work to fix this issue.”

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Several weeks ago, publisher Bandai Namco insisted that server restoration was imminent. Low and behold, here we are. Maybe it took longer than any of us expected, but whatever! People will be back-stabbing Sen’s Fortress again in no time.

Given how critical multiplayer services are to Dark Souls, it’s pretty wild that the servers were offline for more than five months. Though FromSoftware probably had its hands full with Elden Ring‘s launch, which is somewhat understandable since it’s the brand-new title that’s selling as if there’s no tomorrow.

Written by Kyle Campbell on behalf of GLHF.

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Dark Souls PC servers will be back ‘soon’ says Bandai Namco

FromSoftware is still working on restoring online services for the classic action RPG trilogy.

The PC servers for Dark Souls have been offline for more than 100 days. No, really — Bandai Namco pulled the plug back in January due to a nasty security exploit. Many fans wondered if online service would ever come back, and there may finally be an answer.

Over on Reddit, user Relevant-Heart-1751 contacted Bandai Namco support about when the servers for Dark Souls: Remastered, Dark Souls 2, and Dark Souls 3 on PC might go back online (thanks, PC Gamer). The response from a company spokesperson will likely make any chosen undead beam with delight.

“I’m happy to confirm that the developers are actively working on resolving the issue in question and re-launching the Dark Souls servers for PC as soon as possible,” Bandai Namco’s response reads. “For the moment, we do not have an estimate of when this is expected to happen.”

You can read the complete statement below.

bandai namco confirmed the servers will be back from darksouls3

While there’s no definitive date still, at least we know Bandai Namco isn’t letting Dark Souls wither and die. 

Well over three months is an astonishing amount of time for any online-centric game to stay offline, especially anything as popular as Dark Souls. In fairness, FromSoftware was busy with a teeny-tiny game called Elden Ring, which already had several massive patches that fixed (some of) its technical shortcomings.

Written by Kyle Campbell on behalf of GLHF.

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Artist reimagines Elden Ring characters as stylish trendsetters

Ranni nails the nerdy librarian look.

If there’s one thing Elden Ring is missing, it’s college hipsters sporting flashy threads. Thankfully, one fan artist isn’t leaving this injustice to everyone’s imagination.

An artist that goes by Jiro on social media has come up with some wild illustrations that reimagine several Elden Ring characters as if they were living in the present day (Thanks, GamesRadar). Not only that, they clearly have several Björk albums on vinyl and love A24 films. Seriously, make it through Ranni’s quest and try telling me she wouldn’t love The Northman. You can’t.

Melina and Rya would have similar tastes. At least, that’s what the vibes these drawings give off.

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All kidding aside, these are some brilliant mock-ups by Jiro. They’re a fan of Dark Souls, Demon’s Souls, and Bloodborne as well, taking key characters from those games and coming up with similar new-age designs.

The Emerald Herald would totally be a skater girl, as she regularly says “see ya later, boy” whenever you leave Mjula (in my head).

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The Doll from Bloodborne is probably my favorite of these. She looks glammed up for a night out at some fancy martini bar.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CcB1FFwq6QB/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

Elden Ring’s community is regularly creating wonderful stuff like this. Be it absurd playstyles or old-school Game Boy demakes. FromSoftware’s latest is a tough nut to crack, but once you do, there are oodles of inspiring sights in the Lands Between.

Written by Kyle Campbell on behalf of GLHF.

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Fan finishes Dark Souls 3 without walking at all

A journey of a thousand miles doesn’t require a single step.

No, that headline isn’t ribbing anyone for no-lifing games, as someone actually beat Dark Souls 3 without taking a single step.

Last week, YouTuber Ymfah took it upon themselves to finish Dark Souls 3 without walking (Thanks, GamesRadar). Not only that, they did it while making every boss look like a chump. As if all of us needed another reminder of how good some folks are at FromSoftware’s infamously challenging games.

Ymfah did this by choosing the Thief class, as it starts with a bandit knife. That specific weapon’s unique skill moves your character forward slightly, and Ymfah used this ability to get through all of Dark Souls 3. 

Check out the entire run for yourself below. Try not to eat anything while watching, though — it’s a laugh riot.

The speedrunning community regularly makes mincemeat out of FromSoftware’s titles. On Tuesday, someone finished Elden Ring in less than seven minutes. Another fan beat the infamously brutal boss Margit with a controller made of bananas. By the time this post is up, I expect someone will finish Dark Souls 2 using a trumpet.

So if you ever feel like you aren’t very good at Soulslike games, remember this: none of us are skilled compared to these folks. Let’s not even get started on Sekiro speedruns; that’s just depressing.

Written by Kyle Campbell on behalf of GLHF.

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