Like it or not, its time to admit Dark Souls is a horror game
I wager that when you think of FromSoftware, you probably don’t associate horror with the likes of Elden Ring or Dark Souls. That honor is typically bestowed upon Bloodborne or the low-poly haunts of King’s Feld. But Dark Souls is different; it still gets under my skin like no other experience in the genre that FromSoftware continues to innovate within. Underneath the thrills of intense battles and sense of adventure, there’s no denying it: Dark Souls is a horror game at its core.
Other games like Dark Souls would treat the game’s sense of scale another way, reveling in the grandiose nature of setting out to thwart forces of evil beyond our mortal coil. The Age of Fire isn’t for the faint-hearted, though. In FromSoftware’s world, gods like Gwyn – the God of Sunlight – sacrifice their lives for the promise of prolonged power, hollowing out any remnants of humanity just to feel something. It’s enough to set the daunting atmosphere of Dark Souls in its opening moments, but just to make things more gloomy, the concept of Hollowing rears its head.
Toward the end of the second Age of Fire, the remnants of society are afflicted with an undead curse, rendering their bodies with a symbol known as the Darksign. This curse resurrects the undead continuously, chipping away at your mind and body. For the player, it’s a blessing to be reinstated after death and earn the chance to become human once more. However, to become a grey, pruned ghoul-like figure of your former self? That’s a hex worthy of your worst nightmares.
All of that is just a precursor to what lies ahead, because the moment you appear in Lordran, it’s all downhill from here. Waking up in a cobweb-riddled asylum full of skulls, decaying skin, and rusty swords isn’t exactly a glowing start to the quest ahead. Worst yet, you’re weak and inexperienced, with meager means of defense at your disposal. When you finally escape from here, it doesn’t get much better.
Lordran’s central player hub, the Firelink Shrine, is in the middle of every possible terror you can imagine. Venture into the nearby graveyard and you’ll find The Catacombs, with sword-wielding skeletons ready to poke holes in you for eternity. Take a trip to the Undead Parish and you’ll find the debris and ashes of society, where echoes of once-full homes and royal quarters stand stained with blood and sorrow. Eventually, FromSoftware sends you to Blighttown, a decrepit hybrid of primitive settlements and toxic swamp-like areas.
It’s full of grotesque beings and unfortunate inhabitants, such as Quelaag and Quelana – the last daughters of the Witch of Izalith. After a failed attempt to recreate the First Flame, the Witch’s efforts transformed her daughters into monstrous entities. Quelana manages to escape this fate, taking up the mantle of The Fair Lady, empathizing with the diseased residents of Blighttown. In acts of care, she absorbs the sickness of those around her, leaving her in tremendous pain and blind in the process. It’s just one of many lore vignettes that possible allies and Dark Souls bosses let you uncover, with barely any of them inspiring a shred of hope.
Dark Souls is a miserable game. It’s oppressive, bleak, and designed to beat down your ego, confidence, and hope from the start. It’s more than just the ‘git-gud’ mentality that fuels Dark Souls memes to this day. FromSoftware wants you to feel all the scars, wounds, and bumps that the Age of Fire has brought to Lordran. This atmosphere wraps itself around you like a cold embrace, often reminding me of the same approach The Elden Scrolls: Morrowind executes to perfection.
Just like peering into the depths of the Sixth House, Dark Souls is unrelenting in how much pressure it applies to the player – and I don’t mean in difficulty. Even in moments of light, like meeting Solaire of Astora as he gazes upon the sky, those moments are fleeting. Despite his offer of an alliance, the fact remains: we’re all doomed. Of course, there are spots of beauty to discover.
The Darkroot Garden is lush with fauna and hues of green threatening to feel saturated, but their vibrancy is ultimately getting pushed back by the fog coating it. I still can’t bear to think about facing Sif. Seeing Anor Londo for the first time is an all-timer moment in gaming. The sheer majesty of its towering Gothic structures is hair-raising, striking a balance between awe and impending dread in one fell sweep. Meeting Gwynevere won’t make it any better, despite what messages from other players say as you kneel before her.
Dark Souls is masterful in how it relays all of these harrowing aspects. Less is more in these games, with a lot of the world left to interpretation, unless FromSoftware really wants you to feel sweat in fear. By the time you reach Gwyn, it’s evident that there’s no real happy ending in sight. As a cascade of bittersweet piano keys soothes your bones, the illusion of something close to salvation is nearby, but it isn’t tangible.
But that’s all it is. An illusion of something that doesn’t exist in this world. Gwyn is so scared of the dark that his own theme is played entirely on the natural notes of the piano, avoiding sharps and flats. For both of us, there’s no Hollywood treatment of walking away into the sunset. You’re truly, utterly hopeless. That’s what real horror is.
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