Our journey has been off to a strong start, easily scaling the castle walls of the Boletarian Palace to unlock the main gate. Once inside, we defeated the Phalanx, starting our adventure off in truth.
Now, we find ourselves in the Stonefang Tunnel, on our way to fight another powerful demon. Beyond, who knows what untold horrors await us as we claim Demon’s Souls.
Thumbnail by Sam Callahan.
It occurs to me that I never explained why we needed to kill that NPC on the right side of the cathedral’s walls, with the sigil in front of him. Had we defeated the Fool’s Idol before dispatching him, we would not have slain the demon. Instead, it would have been resurrected, forcing us to fight the Fool’s Idol again at a later date. Killing him prevents the Idol from returning to life, allowing us to truly eliminate it.
One of the things that From Software does better than almost any other development studio is subtle worldbuilding that encourages players to explore, discover, and learn about the setting at their own pace. Even in these early days, before Dark Souls put them on the map, you can see their deft hand at work.
Rather than leave a note that explains the lore, what we get are fragments in the names and descriptions of the items that we pick up and enemies we fight. There is significant meaning behind the first boss in the Tower of Latria being referred to as the “Fool’s Idol” instead of something like the “Queen of Latria”. The name tells us a lot about the boss and its position in the world and its story. Further compounding this is the addition of the old man resurrecting the Idol, in order to keep it alive as an object of worship. Taken together, in context, implies that there is something far more sinister behind the scenes than we might otherwise suspect at first glance.
What separates this from something like Dark Souls is the time period that we inhabit. In Dark Souls, Lord Gwyn and his allies had already seized fire from the dragons, starting their crusade against the dark. The events that define the player’s quest had already transpired long before we reach Lordran. Here, the apocalypse that set the wheel of fate in motion is still in progress. Many of the people involved are profound figures, but not the stuff of myth and legend that someone like Dragonslayer Ornstein is in Dark Souls. They are the people we meet, work with, and occasionally oppose.
Hopefully, we’ll get to see more of that as the run continues.
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