+Crazedviewer Yeah, pretty much. Thats one thing DaS1 did better over 2, the NPC's. Firstly they left Firelink, because they are a vendor for you second, their own goals come first, they have their own story and wont wait for you forever. This made them feel real, and made it apparent that the world isnt all about you, you may be the most important as you inevitably "beat the game" but you are not recognised as such, to them, you are just another of many. Secondly, the morbid depressive attitude made sense, I cant get why in Dark souls 2 people just move to Majula and sit around like everything is suns and roses. Crest fallen warrior is not happy, but thats a given. They feel less like people, and more like programming to serve you and have some function. Dark souls 2 did the whole patches and lautrec thing well though, instead of the same characters a 3rd time.
+mastercilander Benhart's the same way, only he's not an undead, just a living breathing human with a badass (if fake) sword who came to Drangleic to slaughter everything. He's the only NPC in DS2 that's like that, though. Everyone else either sits at Majula for eternity or goes hollow.
Someone who explains Dark Souls lore a lot. Definitely check him out when want to be informed about anything in Dark Souls, he has really good theories.
Dark Souls is a metaphor for life. The cycle of life and death. The struggle of being human, repeated generation after generation. Existential nihilism.
They have stepped up their game. :) Also their Prepare to Try ("can a noob beat Dark Souls before Dark Souls 3 comes out") series are worth watching if you're not already.
wait a [Blank] in 5 minutes video that's actually good? my mind is blown!? sure it misses out on a lot of the deeper lore that only hardcore fans even care about but overall this is a solid explanation.
Cool - and why does the cycle never stop? Because Souls games actually cover all game mechanics videogames have, respawning, replayability, NG+... within the lore. No other game does that, so Souls games are kind of a statement about the art of making videogames. Miyazaki is a genius imo.
My interpretation of the story, well, the ''big picture'' version, is that Dark Souls is about cycles, not only of life and death, and birth, and new kingdoms and eras and cultures replacing old ones, but it's also about the player being persistent enough to try, try, and try again until they succeed. So, it's also about the cycle of you being hit with a roadblock, and then persisting until you overcome it. This is essentially what life is, right? Life= one challenge after the other. You can either persist until you overcome these challenges (and when successful you get to move on to better things), or you can give up, and become a hollow XD. So yeah, that's my ''big picture'' version of what I think Dark Souls is all about. TL:DR - Dark Souls is a mirror to the cycle of life :)
Except in Dark Souls the fire is dying no matter how much you stoke the flames, and the longer it goes the deeper the rot it causes, and continuing the cycle is literally pulling reality, both space and time, into a singular point, and only through the blood of the old gods that came before fire, light, and dragons can the beginning truly begin.
***** That's one thing I never really understood, it's not forthcoming how the crowns are able to suppress the curse. Just saying "great king" isn't the most explanatory as the term could be used for anyone considering him/her/itself a king and voila suppressible powers. It'd be more comprehensible if the souls of children of the Dark were used in the crown(s), or affected by Dark. But there's no lore indicating this.
Dark Souls 1: A story about fighting the mad gods who vainly fought against entropy and lost. Dark Souls 2: A story about fighting petty married couples who squabble over the fate of the world. Dark Souls 3: A story about putting the leash back on spoiled noblemen who don't want to be sacrificial lambs. Dark Souls 4: A resource management game where you play a God, throwing people into a great fire for a laugh.
Timekeeper Demon's Souls: A story about putting a giant energy turbine back to sleep. Bloodborne: A story about saving the world's insomniacs by punching their dreams hard enough.
Thank you! It’s so easy to be all “everything in this world is miserable and the end is inevitable,” but I really interpreted it as “with every end comes a new beginning.” It’s seen in the first game with the Age of Dark!
Yes, way to go IGN! I've always enjoyed your 5 minute story videos and Dark Souls doesn't disappoint. Great to recap on the story again before starting DS3
Wow, much better than I thought it would be, after 1 year of being a fan and watching other explanations; this has made it clearer to me than any other video.... I'll chuck a like for you, IGN!
Actually the last moment of leaving the throne or going into it really matters, because in that cycle you are the one who re-kindles it, and if you leave it (that you can because you have collected the crowns of the kings of the dlcs, making you the most powerful entity or close to dks1 character or gwyn) the flame goes to its most weaked state, and so ages pass and (i think) this brings us to dks3, where lords of cinder raise from there tombs to protect the flame and also the unkindled ones wich (i think) are the scraps of the flame from all the times its re-kindled, similar to the dark soul splitted into thousands of pieces making humanity, needed for the undead. But yeah, amazing summary of Dark Souls story, it clarified some things to me, perfect before the release of the last piece of this awesome saga :D.
nope, im a player that usually farms a lot, tries to discover everything and tries builds weapons etc before ending the first playthrough so yeah, 50 hours and im in my way of PC and AL both at the same time (in case you dont want to be spoiled or havent completed it i put the locations in that way)
Would've liked you guys mentioning Aldia and the Chosen Undead escaping the cycle to find a permanent solution to the Undead Curse, but otherwise, brilliant video.
+Foxclass Major spoilers for the ending of dark souls 2. Aldia appears and speaks to you throughout the game and eventually, if you beat vendrick before killing nashandra, at the end Aldia gives you a choice between taking the throne or walking away. Essentially trying to find a way to break the cycle, choosing neither dark nor light, but trying to find a cure for the curse(which is not all that far fetched when you consider the crown dlc's). We don't know whether it worked or not though
+Marquis de Restam I mean, it's never established how well that whole thing worked out. But then again, the unkindled don't seem to hollow like normal undead, so maybe something panned out for them.
He started off about 90% correct but vague at the beginning (except about The Witch of Izalith having the "soul of life" which is not true) and then became very wrong 2 minutes in. When the fire started to fade, the humans with the weakest souls began to turn undead because their souls were fading and only fragments of the dark soul remained, severing their link to Nito's law of death and making them virtually immortal (though they will hollow if they are "slain" or lose their drive). Gwyn allowed (or forced) the undead to live in the underground city of New Londo where they flourished culturally for some time under the leadership of the Four Kings. However when the First Flame faded enough that the gods began to lose their power. The Witch of Izalith attempted to make a new first flame with fire sorceries but failed, becoming the Bed of Chaos, the source of all demons and corrupting fire sorcery in to pyromancy. The war with the Chaos Demons began, and eventually Gwyn went to the kiln of the first flame and used his own soul to link the flame, saving the remaining souls from fading and perpetuating the age of fire. Gwyn linking the first flame did not begin to the Undead Curse, it is merely a result of the first flame fading in each cycle and existed before Gwyn linked the fire.
+qxxq x (error403) I just did a search of what you were saying as I was not aware. Did you at least look at his response? Before you treat something as truth you should at least see what the accused has to say and then judge.
David Dedeyan I agree I was originally stating that vaati was a good guy because wisecrack also came out with a dark souls video which vaati helped with. He's not the only guy I listen too and I try to do my own hunting but there is only so much you can do.
he mentioned that you can ascend the throne if you want but then there was the leave it alone option that you only get if you beat all the dlcs and talk to aldia so not really, he was constrained to the most important stuff
Mr. Midenight Killing Vendrick is enough to get the second ending in SotFS. But what I was more focused at is the fact that he talked about Manus but didn't talk about his other shards (Alsanna, Elana and Nadalia). Also, Aldia's nature might be important for Dark Souls 3 you know.
I think the most interesting theory is that the prize Vendrick brought back from the giants, was the lord vessel. You can see the fragments of the lord vessel in the house in Majula that is originally locked. Which explains why the curse was new to the people of Drangleic, because Vendrick brought that with him when he took the lord vessel with the great souls in it. :^)
What? No mention of Aldia? Or of the true Ending? The Crowns? Bearer of the Curse breaking the Curse of Life and Death? Those are some really major and undispensable information.
a MAJOR thing you missed which you should honestly take this video down and reupload it with this part tagged on is at the end of the Dark Souls 2 DLC u break yourself out of the cycle of light and dark. you become immune to the undead curse that u were afflicted with. this is all thanks to Aldia, one of vendricks top scientists, who formatted the plan of generating the power of several dying kings and their dying kingdoms energy into one crown that when worn negates the effects of the undead curse. THAT was the whole purpose of dark souls 2 from a lore standpoint
+thetiminator55 You don't become immune to the undead curse. It is you who missed a MAJOR thing, you just suspend the adverse effects of hollowing, you are still a cursed undead..
+KGhaleon You're in European Gothic London, and the religious beliefs and corruption of the church of England have demented society through fear and control. Then you pass out, and have dream(more of a coma) then this is where the game takes place and at the end you either get killed by ghernam and wake up form your dream(probably a coma) or stay in your dream(yup it's a coma) forever. done. blood borne.
+Ashton Map The only parts that are 'dreams' are the nightmares and the hunters dream, when you venture from the dream into yharnam you are actually inside yharnam. A group of scholars found a miracle cure all disease blood that you can use for transfusions. Some of these scholars broke off and founded a 'healing church' so really it was a church more focused on worship of the blood then any particular god (at least to the public). This blood had the nasty side effect of turning people into beasts. Hunters were employed by the church and hunters employed the populace to help them out. Old Yharnam was so corrupted the only solution was to just burn everything. The player character signs a contract to get a yharnam blood transfusion to cure whatever disease it is he/she had. This contract however bounds him to the hunters dream, when he dies the dream will just re-spawn him and he can venture forth once more from the dream to fight in the real world. However, the real world is a lot more complicated than a Van helsing gothic england and theirs actually ancient ones, some of which possess god-like power manipulating things behind the scenes and the hunters dream is just a front for one of the gods to use the player character to kill another god. After doing this the contract is fulfilled, the player killed a god for another god in exchange for his miracle cure and its time to no longer be bound to the dream. Or, he can defy being broken off from the dream (and in effect being broken off from immortality) and kill the caretaker of the dream. At this point the god reveals himself and unless the player has learned the eldritch truth of Yharnam through consuming umbilical cords of dead baby gods and gain the necessary insight about the ancient ones this god will take control of the player and make him the new caretaker of the dream. However, if the player has the insight to resist the will of the ancient one, he can kill and then replace the god ascending to godhood as a baby ancient one with his own dream to influence the world from.
+Constantine Rice nice explanation you should make a video where you go more in depth explaining berganwerth and the chalice dungeons along with the the 5 great one's you encounter I'm the game
This brought up a realization, hollowing is akin to wanting to die but not being able to. The fire brings the want to live and thus extends life. The question remains, should we stay immortal, or should we start the era of man in which each being will eventually die? Just a thought. Great video by IGN, so far their dark souls coverage has been excellent, they seem interested in trying to understand what this game is.
Read at your own risk. - dark souls 3 takes place after dark souls 2. - dark souls 3 is set around the players choice in 2 to take the throne. - The players choice in dark souls 2 cursed the undead curse.. But.. -The Game is set in Londor, once known as Lothric. - Dark souls 3 features an unkindled character rather then a cursed undead. - Pilgrims of Londor who worship the serpent karth can administer the dark sign at will. - The player must find and being the lords of cinder back to their thrones in order to re-light the dying flame.. But.. - The game features 3 endings which are harder to get. - the player will visit anor londo but time has passed majorly. - the player will fight the undead who killed the first lord of cinder in a final confrontation.
Actually, Anor Londo has long been gone, it hasn't remained. What really happened was that the transitory lands of the Lords of Cinder converged in Lothric, because after all, time is convoluted. I'm not sure about the Soul of Cinder being the chosen undead from Dark Souls 1 though. I have watched some streams of the fight but I haven't seen enough to tell what it is. I'd wager it was formed from the Ashes of the Lords of Cinder sitting on the Thrones.
- Londor is New Londo. It's not the setting of the game. It's the land of Hollows, where servants of Kaathe reside. - The choice made in Dark Souls 2 is largely irrelevant to the events of Dark Souls 3. The events of Dark Souls 2 could, hypothetically, not have happened and the events of Dark Souls 3 would still, hypothetically, occur. - While it may feature an unkindled character, players may acquire the undead curse and become hollow.
such a good video IGN wow, btw what was that hymn at the end? i forgot where in dark souls 1 thats actually played. i forgot all about that song until this video!
how is this in any way like Zelda, it fails to have any of the mechanics this game has. Combat is not the same, no level up system, different weapons, a non linear world, no puzzles, really isn't the same. just because it has a mediaeval atmosphere does not make it comparable
So, dark souls is essentially an action version of the cycle of life, whereby fire one could say represents birth, and darkness, death? just my interpretation
Gwyn rekindling the First Flame is not the likely cause of the Undead Curse, though I can see the interpretation from the Dark Sign (a ring of fire). The Undead Curse is more likely Humanity's true form as the Dark Race, the Dark Souls unshackled by Gwyn's Age of Fire. The 'humans' seen in the cinematic opening resemble hollows, gaunt and feeble. The Undead's state of undeath makes sense as being part of the Age of Ancients, where nothing lives or dies, everything simply is. It is truly hard to say what the Dark really is other than "humanity." The Dark can mean so many things to other beings and inter mingles well with Life and Death, only opposing Light. Therefore Dark can be both hope and fear, power and fragility, serene and disturbing. Much like humanity. But then comes the question of what would happen to the Darksign once the Flame is truly snuffed? If it disappears would all possessors of Dark Souls go Hollow? Slaying one another for souls to maintain sanity? This behaviour is reminiscent... of the Old One. "On the first day man was granted a soul And with it, clarity On the second day upon Earth was planted an irrevocable poison A soul-devouring demon" In Demon's Souls a colourless fog sweeps the land. Inside demons rampage, harvesting the souls of men, and soulless men go mad, attacking the living, seeking more souls. The demons gather souls to feed to the Old One, the first demon, but they can also incorporate the souls into their own, gaining power. The player is killed by a demon but has their soul bound to the Nexus by the Black Maiden, an old demon in charge of keeping the Old One sealed in slumber. When the player kills a living creature, its souls are absorbed. Just like a demon. The end to Demon's Souls is also cyclical, with the choice to reseal or release the Old One. Never killing it, eventually the Old One's seal will be weakened by foolish humans and another hero will rise to strengthen it. Conversely releasing the Old One allows the world to end as it is engulfed by the colourless fog. But who's to say the humans do not reseal the Old One or the world's destruction is simply resetting the timeline, for all events to replay exactly the same? This last case is what is important. The Monumentals, the beings which hold the fabric of reality together, have died one by one since the Old One's seal was weakened. The colourless fog from the Old One not only brings demons, it also unmakes the world. With the Old One released, the world is unmade as the colourless fog engulfs the world. And a new world is made. A world of gray crags, archtrees and everlasting dragons. And the hollowed remnants of humanity.
+Foxclass Gwyn's top researcher who was trying to figure out a way to prevent hollowing. After a lot of screw ups he realised the great stone arch trees from the age of dragons are eternal so he managed to half turn himself into a tree. This meant he'd never go hollow and would live eternal. But now he was stuck in a tree unable to move outside teleporting or do anything other than talk. If you played Dark Souls 2 Scholar of the first sin you would have met him.
There's one detail that's wrong, if you don't link the first flame the fire won't start immediately. It's safe to say that the world will go from the age of dark back to the age of ancients. And then fire will erupt again.
Good video. Dark Souls has always struck me as a series without much of story and more of a focus on gameplay, but after watching this, I'm pretty impressed with how much is actually in these games.
+RamblingWreck21 While you don't get much direction or story throughout Dark Souls, there is plenty of lore in it. It's pretty neat reading all the descriptions of items to learn about the games past.
I'll be honest, when a dark souls story video from IGN popped into my feed I kinda rolled my eyes like "yeah alright let's see this train wreck". But honestly I was pleasantly surprised by the accuracy and delivery of this video. Well done.
+Cero Ashura For Gwynn it made sense though. Even the music was not even dramatic but rather sad. Gwynn, once the Lord of Fire, became the Lord of Cinder by sacrificing himself to keep the Flame alive, a weak, mere shadow of his former self.
+TearsofMandos It made sense for Nashandra too. She was a mere fragment of Manus, and the smallest one at that. She was an excellent manipulator, but she had almost no strength of her own. She lusted for power that she didn't have, which is why her defining trait is "want."
Very good summary! Haven't played DS1 or DS2 again for a long time, and while I understood all the lore about both games perfectly at the time, by now I had forgotten so much... Not really that interested in replaying them too much either (burned out on them) so this was pretty helpful.
I think hollow is the normal form of live before the first flame. The soul of pigmi has been split and becomes humanity. When the flames fade the humanity fade as well and the humans become hollow again.
Even after soo long, dark souls made a special place in my heart. Was the first game to actually be fun and very challenging at the same time. Thinking back, it made me a masochistic, dying hundreds if not thousand of times and still begging for more and more. Sure, dark souls is old and outdated as of now it's practically dead. Like demon souls. Even thought demon souls was released again on ps5 gave me a glimmer of hope that maybe a similar dark souls game ot even a new dark souls game coming in the future of ps5 or much further ps6. There are no words to fully Express my love for dark souls and what experience it gave me. All I can say is, rest in peace you masterpiece of a game. You will be dearly missed.
Now time for Dark Souls 3. Never played the first two of the series but literally seconds away from my first, DS3. At least I semi understand the series so far. Thanks IGN!
This is one of the clearest Dark Souls story explanations I've seen over youtube.
you must not know ENB! if you need anything Dark Souls, Iron Marcus is the man you need to talk too.
+Stevababy well yes of course I know him! I wanted to say one of the clearest and better resumed versions.
+Nagrandt Gameranx made a better one, IMO!
+Nagrandt if you've played the game with enough interest you shouldn't need any.
+BLOWWWWWWWME Who says I need any?
i've been killed to many times to care about the lore
just being alive is a bliss in this game
+zamid tegar Hmm, maybe that's the message the game wants to convey.
You have basically been stripped of half of the fun
+MasterBagger Excellent ... an essential comment/wisdom.
Just like in real life
Sorry to know you've gone hollow...
Nihilism: The Game
Seriously, the npc characters that populate these series have some of the most depressing quest-lines ever.
+Crazedviewer Yeah, pretty much. Thats one thing DaS1 did better over 2, the NPC's.
Firstly they left Firelink, because they are a vendor for you second, their own goals come first, they have their own story and wont wait for you forever. This made them feel real, and made it apparent that the world isnt all about you, you may be the most important as you inevitably "beat the game" but you are not recognised as such, to them, you are just another of many.
Secondly, the morbid depressive attitude made sense, I cant get why in Dark souls 2 people just move to Majula and sit around like everything is suns and roses. Crest fallen warrior is not happy, but thats a given. They feel less like people, and more like programming to serve you and have some function.
Dark souls 2 did the whole patches and lautrec thing well though, instead of the same characters a 3rd time.
+mastercilander Benhart's the same way, only he's not an undead, just a living breathing human with a badass (if fake) sword who came to Drangleic to slaughter everything. He's the only NPC in DS2 that's like that, though. Everyone else either sits at Majula for eternity or goes hollow.
How is it nihilism?
The entire point of the game is that you're still alive because you never give up.
*Lazy writing the game.
Crazedviewer It hurt me so much to kill Solaire ));
Dark Souls: It probably doesn't matter edition
+Solid Snake lmfao
would buy. but it probably doesn't matter..
Really kept me waiting
Kept you waiting, huh?
It matters a great deal. The lore is an integral part of the whole DS experience.
Huh a good video
*sees credits*
Special thanks to
Vaatividya
Oh...
+azure flame Thank you IGN for thanking that beautiful bastard you really didn't have to. You've shown reverence.
HA, THIS COMMENT LOL
azure flame who is vaatividya?
Someone who explains Dark Souls lore a lot. Definitely check him out when want to be informed about anything in Dark Souls, he has really good theories.
"beautiful bastard"
you realize literally all of his videos are regurgitated almost word for word from fan theories on 4chans video game board, right
Dark Souls is a metaphor for life. The cycle of life and death. The struggle of being human, repeated generation after generation. Existential nihilism.
+Gʀᴀʏ Fᴏx Deep, bro.
nah, it's a simulator for abusing puppies
+Gʀᴀʏ Fᴏx dark souls is about diving in vaginas
It's about entropy and the heat death of the universe.
+Gʀᴀʏ Fᴏx What life are you talking about bro in this game you only keep dying and dying lmao
That was surprisingly well done...
+Hula House - What did you expect? VaatiVidya helped them :)
+IchBinEin He did?
+Yoki Blackhall Check the credits
+IchBinEin Well that explains it
+whit3emperor you don't break the curse, you just prevent yourself from going hollow... that's about it
IGN
MAKING
A
GOOD
VIDEO??
lol
They have stepped up their game. :)
Also their Prepare to Try ("can a noob beat Dark Souls before Dark Souls 3 comes out") series are worth watching if you're not already.
+DubsKlub only because vaati helped
HL4 confirmed
Honestly almost all of IGNs Dark Souls videos are good. Whoever has been covering the dark souls content deserves a raise lol
wait a [Blank] in 5 minutes video that's actually good? my mind is blown!? sure it misses out on a lot of the deeper lore that only hardcore fans even care about but overall this is a solid explanation.
Script was by Vatican Vidia
A lot of them have been really good
Cool - and why does the cycle never stop? Because Souls games actually cover all game mechanics videogames have, respawning, replayability, NG+... within the lore. No other game does that, so Souls games are kind of a statement about the art of making videogames. Miyazaki is a genius imo.
+alexander maier It is stopping in Dark Souls 3 because the DLC to Dark Souls 2 changes everything
Bioshock Infinite
+Darker xz more like Bioshit Infantile
Nicoyutub Infantile?
+alexander maier Thumb up for your good comment
0:47 "a race of *beans* came into contact with the fire..."
MMmmm... fire roasted beans.
a human bean
My interpretation of the story, well, the ''big picture'' version, is that Dark Souls is about cycles, not only of life and death, and birth, and new kingdoms and eras and cultures replacing old ones, but it's also about the player being persistent enough to try, try, and try again until they succeed. So, it's also about the cycle of you being hit with a roadblock, and then persisting until you overcome it. This is essentially what life is, right? Life= one challenge after the other. You can either persist until you overcome these challenges (and when successful you get to move on to better things), or you can give up, and become a hollow XD.
So yeah, that's my ''big picture'' version of what I think Dark Souls is all about. TL:DR - Dark Souls is a mirror to the cycle of life :)
Except in Dark Souls you get infinite amounts of tries.
Except in Dark Souls the fire is dying no matter how much you stoke the flames, and the longer it goes the deeper the rot it causes, and continuing the cycle is literally pulling reality, both space and time, into a singular point, and only through the blood of the old gods that came before fire, light, and dragons can the beginning truly begin.
Dark souls could be a manifestation of the phrase "History repeats itself".
Or an example of existential nihilism lol. Nothing matters
+Ohem1 Dark Souls 3 should be a manifestation of that phrase.
+Ohem1 The thing is Dark Souls 2 dlc has something that has never happened before, a cure for the undead curse is found.
***** That's one thing I never really understood, it's not forthcoming how the crowns are able to suppress the curse. Just saying "great king" isn't the most explanatory as the term could be used for anyone considering him/her/itself a king and voila suppressible powers.
It'd be more comprehensible if the souls of children of the Dark were used in the crown(s), or affected by Dark. But there's no lore indicating this.
***** You have it backwards, kindling the fire is halting the curse, not a solution and the crown is a solution but only for one person.
Dark Souls 1: A story about fighting the mad gods who vainly fought against entropy and lost.
Dark Souls 2: A story about fighting petty married couples who squabble over the fate of the world.
Dark Souls 3: A story about putting the leash back on spoiled noblemen who don't want to be sacrificial lambs.
Dark Souls 4: A resource management game where you play a God, throwing people into a great fire for a laugh.
Tat 4th one doesn't sound all that bad tbh
yay DS4 basically youre kaathe
What's Demon's Souls and Bloodborne then?
Timekeeper
Demon's Souls: A story about putting a giant energy turbine back to sleep.
Bloodborne: A story about saving the world's insomniacs by punching their dreams hard enough.
I just want From to eventually give us a ankle-high boss so WE have to adapt to strategies we use
I love the over all theme of
All beginnings have an end
All endings have a beginning
Thank you! It’s so easy to be all “everything in this world is miserable and the end is inevitable,” but I really interpreted it as “with every end comes a new beginning.” It’s seen in the first game with the Age of Dark!
If IGN could keep up the good video content, I'd be pleased.
heh
@@auroraflos2498 whoopsie
@@NoWhereToRun22 this didn’t age well
@@shagetbusy oopsie poopsie
@@NoWhereToRun22 at all
But in the end it doesn´t realy matter
+I3lueD Keep that in mind..... ( someone continúe the song ola)
+SubAtomic Gill la la la, [screaming]
+I3lueD Keep that in mind I designed this rhyme to explain in due time
+Alex Fremder CRAAAWLING IIIIN MAI SKIIIIIIIIIIIII... oh wait
+Vizualz All I know... Time is a valuable thing, watch it fly by as the pendulum swings...
Seathe: "...Lightning!"
+Andreas Pelekas yes
Oh no lightning! Our one weakness!
+Jonathan Orozco 1.05 patch save us!
He had no scales... No wonder he was so salty
Really well done. Good summary in a short amount of time :-)
Yes, way to go IGN! I've always enjoyed your 5 minute story videos and Dark Souls doesn't disappoint. Great to recap on the story again before starting DS3
My favorite game of all time
Otaku 😡
+Muhamed 1412 SHIROYASHA
+Muhamed 1412 mine too
I haven't even played it and I'm addicted to it
+Johnell Brown have you played any other souls games ?
Wow.
A GOOD video from IGN?
One that isn't complete garbage?
One that isn't filled with false information or general stupidity?
I'm SHOCKED!
+Smitty Werbenjagermanjensen Vaatividya is the answer m8
+jose espinoza he steals videos haha he's been called pout because of it before too but yeah he makes good videos just not his own content sometimes
+Smitty Werbenjagermanjensen they've done these kinds of videos before.
jose espinoza VaatiVidya is a tool.
This comment ages well
Haha this was so good!!
Hey dan
Yeah
that filthy havel mage killed our favorite sun bro
Wow, much better than I thought it would be, after 1 year of being a fan and watching other explanations; this has made it clearer to me than any other video.... I'll chuck a like for you, IGN!
Actually the last moment of leaving the throne or going into it really matters, because in that cycle you are the one who re-kindles it, and if you leave it (that you can because you have collected the crowns of the kings of the dlcs, making you the most powerful entity or close to dks1 character or gwyn) the flame goes to its most weaked state, and so ages pass and (i think) this brings us to dks3, where lords of cinder raise from there tombs to protect the flame and also the unkindled ones wich (i think) are the scraps of the flame from all the times its re-kindled, similar to the dark soul splitted into thousands of pieces making humanity, needed for the undead.
But yeah, amazing summary of Dark Souls story, it clarified some things to me, perfect before the release of the last piece of this awesome saga :D.
you should check out vaatividya he's amazing when it comes to dark souls, assuming you don't know who he is
+morgan maguire hahaha yeah im subscribed to him
+4vis4 oh okay hahaha, have you completed dark souls 3 yet?
nope, im a player that usually farms a lot, tries to discover everything and tries builds weapons etc before ending the first playthrough so yeah, 50 hours and im in my way of PC and AL both at the same time (in case you dont want to be spoiled or havent completed it i put the locations in that way)
+4vis4 I just completed it about an hour ago lol, the nostalgia in AL was too much hahaha
Would've liked you guys mentioning Aldia and the Chosen Undead escaping the cycle to find a permanent solution to the Undead Curse, but otherwise, brilliant video.
+Marquis de Restam Explain
+Foxclass Major spoilers for the ending of dark souls 2. Aldia appears and speaks to you throughout the game and eventually, if you beat vendrick before killing nashandra, at the end Aldia gives you a choice between taking the throne or walking away. Essentially trying to find a way to break the cycle, choosing neither dark nor light, but trying to find a cure for the curse(which is not all that far fetched when you consider the crown dlc's). We don't know whether it worked or not though
+Marquis de Restam I mean, it's never established how well that whole thing worked out. But then again, the unkindled don't seem to hollow like normal undead, so maybe something panned out for them.
the opening music chills me so much. it blends so well with the video and the speaker
Probly one of IGN's best videos
Demon's Souls - Boletaria
Dark Souls - Lordran
Dark Souls II - Drangleic
Bloodborne - Yharnam
Dark Souls III - Lothric
I loved Lothric
Wow ign really nice recap of dark souls in just 5 minutes, hope you make more of these with little histories, like artorias and such.
+David Vaquerizo YOU MAD??
+J. Rambo No... what i'm saying is that i actually liked it..
+J. Rambo I don't believe he was being sarcastic...
David Vaquerizo
EXCELLENT! Have a cold beer, chap
Nick_Nier47
HI!
Dark souls in 1 sentence: "Prepare to die, a lot."
+White Shadows dark souls lore in a sentence: '"prepare to cry, a lot."
Vaati videos in a nutshell
John Peacekeeper lel
White Shadows 0 deaths!!!!!
prepare to git gud,skrub
My interpretation of the story:
You play a dude and slaughter everything you see
Because an old man was afraid of the dark...
And here I was expecting a 5 minute death montage to funny music. This works better. Welcome to Dark Souls newbies.
He started off about 90% correct but vague at the beginning (except about The Witch of Izalith having the "soul of life" which is not true) and then became very wrong 2 minutes in. When the fire started to fade, the humans with the weakest souls began to turn undead because their souls were fading and only fragments of the dark soul remained, severing their link to Nito's law of death and making them virtually immortal (though they will hollow if they are "slain" or lose their drive). Gwyn allowed (or forced) the undead to live in the underground city of New Londo where they flourished culturally for some time under the leadership of the Four Kings. However when the First Flame faded enough that the gods began to lose their power. The Witch of Izalith attempted to make a new first flame with fire sorceries but failed, becoming the Bed of Chaos, the source of all demons and corrupting fire sorcery in to pyromancy. The war with the Chaos Demons began, and eventually Gwyn went to the kiln of the first flame and used his own soul to link the flame, saving the remaining souls from fading and perpetuating the age of fire. Gwyn linking the first flame did not begin to the Undead Curse, it is merely a result of the first flame fading in each cycle and existed before Gwyn linked the fire.
Surprisingly well done, never expected anyone to be able to extract the core plot and put it in an understandable 5 min presentation.
That was a pretty good summary, well done IGN
"Peace grants men the illusion of life."
By Aldia, Scholar of the First Sin
That was actually pretty good. Have a like.
Man Vaati is such a great guy helping others with their lore videos.
+Shaun Mohamed vaati is a copy pasta sellout. do a search before u praise someone
+qxxq x (error403) I just did a search of what you were saying as I was not aware. Did you at least look at his response? Before you treat something as truth you should at least see what the accused has to say and then judge.
David Dedeyan I agree I was originally stating that vaati was a good guy because wisecrack also came out with a dark souls video which vaati helped with. He's not the only guy I listen too and I try to do my own hunting but there is only so much you can do.
Daniel Goulart vaati was accused of plagiarism if you google it you should find a reddit post that sums it up.
this was awesome great VO Brandon
That's urprisingly good. I gotta mention though that you forgot Dark Souls 2's DLCs and the Scholar of the First Sin, Aldia
he mentioned that you can ascend the throne if you want but then there was the leave it alone option that you only get if you beat all the dlcs and talk to aldia so not really, he was constrained to the most important stuff
Mr. Midenight Killing Vendrick is enough to get the second ending in SotFS. But what I was more focused at is the fact that he talked about Manus but didn't talk about his other shards (Alsanna, Elana and Nadalia). Also, Aldia's nature might be important for Dark Souls 3 you know.
I love how this video completely neglected to mention the witch of izalith creating the chaos flame.
or nito and his rite of kindling
+Rosalia Rossellini okay put such stuff in and make a 5 mins video out of it!....GO
they couldve made it 6 mins, who said it HAD to be 5
Nito Raki i never said they HAD to i said they could have im not commanding like you were, if anyone is bitching about stuff they shouldnt its you
Dark Souls in 2 words: YOU DIED!
+LeMoN .. DeMoN?! Dark souls 2 Lore : yes it really is a cycle ^^
+LeMoN .. DeMoN?! If you're bad
3 words: Veni, vidi, vici.
I love Dark Souls lore so much. I love how it isn't just handed to you, but you get sweet sweet little morsels in everything that is in the game.
Awsome video some real passion and effort was clearly put into this! This should be the level of quality you guys strive for!
I thought i was going to see a death montage.
Oh that music gets me every time. 5:17
this is the song that never ends.
:)
+Arthur Canet Some people started sinning it and didn't know what is was....
:)
this is the song that never ends....
It goes on an on my friends...
That was a really good video! Hopefully see more of this kind of quality!
That was very well done! Thanks!
I think the most interesting theory is that the prize Vendrick brought back from the giants, was the lord vessel. You can see the fragments of the lord vessel in the house in Majula that is originally locked. Which explains why the curse was new to the people of Drangleic, because Vendrick brought that with him when he took the lord vessel with the great souls in it. :^)
Just finished dark souls 2, bring it on
Dante?
But waaait. there is more.
But hey! THAT'S JUST A THEORY
A GAME THEO--
+Nora Not, this one is a fact... :|
*gets shot*
Hihihi. Nice to meet you here too.
+Nora ROFL. I stay doing that.
What? No mention of Aldia? Or of the true Ending? The Crowns? Bearer of the Curse breaking the Curse of Life and Death? Those are some really major and undispensable information.
Nice video, guys! :D
watching both games' stories back to back... yeah, you can really tell how much effort and thoughts went into one of those.
+Konporer W. your non-understanding of good story telling disturbs me
My vision has be obstructed by constant deaths, I can't see any lore.
+Umer Hamid You need to see PlagueofGripes dark souls in summary vid then!
Love it. Concise informational video.
You dare stand where vatii stood
a MAJOR thing you missed which you should honestly take this video down and reupload it with this part tagged on is at the end of the Dark Souls 2 DLC u break yourself out of the cycle of light and dark. you become immune to the undead curse that u were afflicted with. this is all thanks to Aldia, one of vendricks top scientists, who formatted the plan of generating the power of several dying kings and their dying kingdoms energy into one crown that when worn negates the effects of the undead curse. THAT was the whole purpose of dark souls 2 from a lore standpoint
+thetiminator55 You don't become immune to the undead curse. It is you who missed a MAJOR thing, you just suspend the adverse effects of hollowing, you are still a cursed undead..
+UchihaDualStorm That just means you can die and come back with no negative effects.
Grissom Bro do you even Vaati?
We need Bloodborne in 5 minutes next.
+KGhaleon You're in European Gothic London, and the religious beliefs and corruption of the church of England have demented society through fear and control. Then you pass out, and have dream(more of a coma) then this is where the game takes place and at the end you either get killed by ghernam and wake up form your dream(probably a coma) or stay in your dream(yup it's a coma) forever. done. blood borne.
+Ashton Map The only parts that are 'dreams' are the nightmares and the hunters dream, when you venture from the dream into yharnam you are actually inside yharnam.
A group of scholars found a miracle cure all disease blood that you can use for transfusions. Some of these scholars broke off and founded a 'healing church' so really it was a church more focused on worship of the blood then any particular god (at least to the public).
This blood had the nasty side effect of turning people into beasts. Hunters were employed by the church and hunters employed the populace to help them out. Old Yharnam was so corrupted the only solution was to just burn everything.
The player character signs a contract to get a yharnam blood transfusion to cure whatever disease it is he/she had. This contract however bounds him to the hunters dream, when he dies the dream will just re-spawn him and he can venture forth once more from the dream to fight in the real world.
However, the real world is a lot more complicated than a Van helsing gothic england and theirs actually ancient ones, some of which possess god-like power manipulating things behind the scenes and the hunters dream is just a front for one of the gods to use the player character to kill another god.
After doing this the contract is fulfilled, the player killed a god for another god in exchange for his miracle cure and its time to no longer be bound to the dream.
Or, he can defy being broken off from the dream (and in effect being broken off from immortality) and kill the caretaker of the dream. At this point the god reveals himself and unless the player has learned the eldritch truth of Yharnam through consuming umbilical cords of dead baby gods and gain the necessary insight about the ancient ones this god will take control of the player and make him the new caretaker of the dream.
However, if the player has the insight to resist the will of the ancient one, he can kill and then replace the god ascending to godhood as a baby ancient one with his own dream to influence the world from.
+Constantine Rice nice explanation you should make a video where you go more in depth explaining berganwerth and the chalice dungeons along with the the 5 great one's you encounter I'm the game
This brought up a realization, hollowing is akin to wanting to die but not being able to. The fire brings the want to live and thus extends life. The question remains, should we stay immortal, or should we start the era of man in which each being will eventually die?
Just a thought.
Great video by IGN, so far their dark souls coverage has been excellent, they seem interested in trying to understand what this game is.
Wow finally a great game coming
Read at your own risk.
- dark souls 3 takes place after dark souls 2.
- dark souls 3 is set around the players choice in 2 to take the throne.
- The players choice in dark souls 2 cursed the undead curse.. But..
-The Game is set in Londor, once known as Lothric.
- Dark souls 3 features an unkindled character rather then a cursed undead.
- Pilgrims of Londor who worship the serpent karth can administer the dark sign at will.
- The player must find and being the lords of cinder back to their thrones in order to re-light the dying flame.. But..
- The game features 3 endings which are harder to get.
- the player will visit anor londo but time has passed majorly.
- the player will fight the undead who killed the first lord of cinder in a final confrontation.
Actually, Anor Londo has long been gone, it hasn't remained. What really happened was that the transitory lands of the Lords of Cinder converged in Lothric, because after all, time is convoluted.
I'm not sure about the Soul of Cinder being the chosen undead from Dark Souls 1 though. I have watched some streams of the fight but I haven't seen enough to tell what it is. I'd wager it was formed from the Ashes of the Lords of Cinder sitting on the Thrones.
- Londor is New Londo. It's not the setting of the game. It's the land of Hollows, where servants of Kaathe reside.
- The choice made in Dark Souls 2 is largely irrelevant to the events of Dark Souls 3. The events of Dark Souls 2 could, hypothetically, not have happened and the events of Dark Souls 3 would still, hypothetically, occur.
- While it may feature an unkindled character, players may acquire the undead curse and become hollow.
For the Dark Souls 3 I'm gonna take a notebook and write my interpretation of the story.
+Prøphet That's a great idea
Can't you just prophesy it?
Prøphet good idea
such a good video IGN wow, btw what was that hymn at the end? i forgot where in dark souls 1 thats actually played. i forgot all about that song until this video!
+Leponce37 wait thats dark souls 2 i believe, in the area where u find king vendricks armor isnt it!?
I love dark souls because its Like TLOZ but way darker and marketed to adults/teens
+Ninjalyfee Exactly!! Nintendo is too kiddy now!!
how is this in any way like Zelda, it fails to have any of the mechanics this game has. Combat is not the same, no level up system, different weapons, a non linear world, no puzzles, really isn't the same. just because it has a mediaeval atmosphere does not make it comparable
hikingbird42
ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZELDA
want from software to remake the original zelda with souls games
+Ninjalyfee I think its more of a Castlevania/Metroid game than Zelda.
Wow you actually did a pretty good job here IGN! Well done!
What a beautiful series.
best vid in ages. vaatis channel is awesome
The Souls series has one of the best soundtracks
Really good stuff dude!👍
Well done, IGN.
“All beginnings have an end, and all ends have a new beginning.” For some reason that is terrifying. To always be stuck in a loop.
Thats why the darksign is a circle
thats the mark of the beast,
So, dark souls is essentially an action version of the cycle of life, whereby fire one could say represents birth, and darkness, death? just my interpretation
+Azza yup
In one way, you could say that the developers believe humans are evil incarnate.
NetherPrime which is surprisingly accurate as an observation!
Not even close, surprisingly. At least in regards to Dark (which is different from Abyss)
That music....at the end, gave me conniptions.
so it's essentially a story of nihilism?
+SkizzlePiano basically
***** haven't had enough time to finished dark souls 3 yet, so i don't really know much on the lore
nihilism is just an abstract station and once you pass through it you would reveal the secret of willpower so DS series is all about self discovery.
Or Anti-nihilism. Nothing matters but that doesn't mean you won't live and die and live again and power on through regardless.
It's a story about tragedy, but it's very poetic
Hope you gentleman continue this series. Would love to hear your thoughts on other aspects of the series, like Vendricks broth Aldia.
Gwyn rekindling the First Flame is not the likely cause of the Undead Curse, though I can see the interpretation from the Dark Sign (a ring of fire). The Undead Curse is more likely Humanity's true form as the Dark Race, the Dark Souls unshackled by Gwyn's Age of Fire. The 'humans' seen in the cinematic opening resemble hollows, gaunt and feeble. The Undead's state of undeath makes sense as being part of the Age of Ancients, where nothing lives or dies, everything simply is.
It is truly hard to say what the Dark really is other than "humanity." The Dark can mean so many things to other beings and inter mingles well with Life and Death, only opposing Light. Therefore Dark can be both hope and fear, power and fragility, serene and disturbing. Much like humanity.
But then comes the question of what would happen to the Darksign once the Flame is truly snuffed? If it disappears would all possessors of Dark Souls go Hollow? Slaying one another for souls to maintain sanity? This behaviour is reminiscent...
of the Old One.
"On the first day
man was granted a soul
And with it, clarity
On the second day
upon Earth was planted
an irrevocable poison
A soul-devouring demon"
In Demon's Souls a colourless fog sweeps the land. Inside demons rampage, harvesting the souls of men, and soulless men go mad, attacking the living, seeking more souls. The demons gather souls to feed to the Old One, the first demon, but they can also incorporate the souls into their own, gaining power. The player is killed by a demon but has their soul bound to the Nexus by the Black Maiden, an old demon in charge of keeping the Old One sealed in slumber. When the player kills a living creature, its souls are absorbed. Just like a demon.
The end to Demon's Souls is also cyclical, with the choice to reseal or release the Old One. Never killing it, eventually the Old One's seal will be weakened by foolish humans and another hero will rise to strengthen it. Conversely releasing the Old One allows the world to end as it is engulfed by the colourless fog. But who's to say the humans do not reseal the Old One or the world's destruction is simply resetting the timeline, for all events to replay exactly the same? This last case is what is important. The Monumentals, the beings which hold the fabric of reality together, have died one by one since the Old One's seal was weakened. The colourless fog from the Old One not only brings demons, it also unmakes the world. With the Old One released, the world is unmade as the colourless fog engulfs the world. And a new world is made.
A world of gray crags, archtrees and everlasting dragons. And the hollowed remnants of humanity.
+Zephyrum Alsend (Protector) ....damn son. That's some weapons grade headcanon. I like it.
This is likely the best comment I have ever read.
Pretty nice video IGN :D this time u did good job
You forgot to mention Aldia. Aldia seems to have escaped the cycle
+VC12x Him and the player both. Very huge oversight.
+VC12x Who?
+Foxclass Gwyn's top researcher who was trying to figure out a way to prevent hollowing. After a lot of screw ups he realised the great stone arch trees from the age of dragons are eternal so he managed to half turn himself into a tree. This meant he'd never go hollow and would live eternal. But now he was stuck in a tree unable to move outside teleporting or do anything other than talk.
If you played Dark Souls 2 Scholar of the first sin you would have met him.
hurrdurrmurrgurr m8 Gwyn was from the first game...You're thinking of Vendrick
SNOW SOS True.
There's one detail that's wrong, if you don't link the first flame the fire won't start immediately. It's safe to say that the world will go from the age of dark back to the age of ancients. And then fire will erupt again.
Someone missed the whole "becoming a dragon" thin in DS3
Nimar What's that gotta do with anything? You can become a dragon in Ds1 too.
@@chrisj403 i didnt mean you, ya twat
Agreed chris
Good video. Dark Souls has always struck me as a series without much of story and more of a focus on gameplay, but after watching this, I'm pretty impressed with how much is actually in these games.
Most of the story comes from item description and npc dialogue
+RamblingWreck21 While you don't get much direction or story throughout Dark Souls, there is plenty of lore in it. It's pretty neat reading all the descriptions of items to learn about the games past.
Spent literal days reading up on dark souls lore and this actually does a great job of summing it up
That was actually really good! Enjoy my thumbing :D
They enjoyed MY thumbing. wonk ;)
I'll be honest, when a dark souls story video from IGN popped into my feed I kinda rolled my eyes like "yeah alright let's see this train wreck". But honestly I was pleasantly surprised by the accuracy and delivery of this video. Well done.
Nashandra was honestly the most dissapointingly easy boss
+Draik The Scholar of the First Sin wasn't really harder. Gwynn was also a joke for anyone who was able to parry decently.
+Cero Ashura For Gwynn it made sense though. Even the music was not even dramatic but rather sad. Gwynn, once the Lord of Fire, became the Lord of Cinder by sacrificing himself to keep the Flame alive, a weak, mere shadow of his former self.
+TearsofMandos It made sense for Nashandra too. She was a mere fragment of Manus, and the smallest one at that. She was an excellent manipulator, but she had almost no strength of her own. She lusted for power that she didn't have, which is why her defining trait is "want."
+Draik i played as a hexer first time :D i waned to eat my head when i finally reached nashandra
Demons souls boss is basically a dead slug
Very good summary! Haven't played DS1 or DS2 again for a long time, and
while I understood all the lore about both games perfectly at the time,
by now I had forgotten so much... Not really that interested in replaying
them too much either (burned out on them) so this was pretty helpful.
Well, if this video taught me anything its: Life is pointless.
if your comment taught me anything its: you get emo over a videogame
But in the end it doesn´t really matter
Daniel Araya seriously 😒
Justin Nave yikes
@Justin Nave not everyone is christian
Awesome vid IGN !!
If you want REAL dark souls lore you have to go to Vaatividya
But hey you guys did a good little summary too
+Piita kun Vaatividya helped them make the video.
If you stay till the credits they thank him.
+Piita kun ENB better bro
Vaati is ENB for casuals
+ArmaDominus I didn't stay for credits that's my fault thanks for pointing that out
+Piita kun ENB did it before vaati and better and without the pretentious whispering and the whole selling out thing.
wow that actually helped me understand DS way better thanks IGN
It killed him, and now it's going to kill me!....OH MY GOOOOOOOD!!
I think hollow is the normal form of live before the first flame. The soul of pigmi has been split and becomes humanity. When the flames fade the humanity fade as well and the humans become hollow again.
There's also the theory that being hollow is the natural state for humans. Meaning the human form was always meant to be temporary.
That makes sense
Even after soo long, dark souls made a special place in my heart. Was the first game to actually be fun and very challenging at the same time. Thinking back, it made me a masochistic, dying hundreds if not thousand of times and still begging for more and more. Sure, dark souls is old and outdated as of now it's practically dead. Like demon souls.
Even thought demon souls was released again on ps5 gave me a glimmer of hope that maybe a similar dark souls game ot even a new dark souls game coming in the future of ps5 or much further ps6.
There are no words to fully Express my love for dark souls and what experience it gave me. All I can say is, rest in peace you masterpiece of a game. You will be dearly missed.
I now feel like I needed this. Im for some reason gonna enjoy Dark Souls even more now, thanks!
+Gabriel Gluch Buy DS3 pal
yeeee, but there's 7 days until release though :/
Now time for Dark Souls 3. Never played the first two of the series but literally seconds away from my first, DS3. At least I semi understand the series so far. Thanks IGN!
Demon souls started it all!
+FateStayNightKun But it does not tie in with the lore that this video was about.
+FateStayNightKun Demons' Souls' story wasn't about a fire that is going to fade.
*kings field
+FateStayNightKun Maybe as a game series, but lore wise the two series are entirely separate.
+FateStayNightKun demon souls was merely an essay for the masterpiece to come.
You forgot how the demons got there. They tried recreating the flame and it spawned a bunch of demons instead.