After the universal success of Elden Ring, developer FromSoftware has found a plethora of new fans. For some of these fans, the sprawling open-world RPG represented their first introduction to Hidetaka Miyazaki and his team’s world-building style. For those who have watched the Japanese developer’s star rise for over a decade, Elden Ring‘s subtle storytelling and cryptic cast of characters will have been the norm. FromSoftware has spent over a decade building fully fleshed out worlds, with dozens of hours of knowledge waiting to be discovered by gamers who wanted to find it, and this unique style of storytelling started with Demon Souls. Interesting, despite its age, Demon Souls still has some of the richest and most vivid lore.
At the release, Demon Souls wasn’t the instant hit that FromSoftware fans are used to. Recent games from the developer like Bloodborne, Sekiro: Shadows Die Twiceand Elden Ring have had an immediate impact from the moment they were launched, but this was not always the case. Demon SoulsThe PS3’s launch was understated, and the game didn’t do particularly well in the West at first. However, it quickly built a cult following, and the 2020 remake for PS5 shed new light on the game’s world, revealing its lore to a brand-new audience.
Demon’s Souls’ Lore Is Rich
Each dark souls game introduces (or visits) a large, complex world, and Demon Souls is no different. The origins of the complexity of this particular world can be traced back to an ancient time, where a mighty being known as the Ancient suddenly awoke and unleashed an army of demons. These demons wasted no time wreaking havoc, wiping out much of humanity in the process. To stop this and try to save humanity, a group of individuals known as the Monumentals used their knowledge of ancient magic, commonly referred to as Soul Arts, to bring the Ancient back into his sleep.
After this, the Monumentals all over the world built Archstones to divide the lands and create a means to travel great distances in just seconds. These Archstones each have a central hub connecting them, and they are all located in a mysterious realm known as the Nexus. The Nexus is an extremely important area in Demon Souls, because it is a hub for wandering souls in search of their bodies. A bridge between the living and the dead, it also houses the Ancient who sleeps deep below, offering endless prosperity to all who dedicate themselves to it.
One such person, King Allant XII, complied with the request of the Ancient and surrendered himself to the demon in hopes of enriching his Boletarian kingdom. However, instead of lavishly overloading Boletaria, The Old One was awakened and a thick fog spread over the land, causing the inhabitants to either flee or go completely insane.
The context behind Demon’s Souls’ Six Worlds
The player’s journey begins at the Boletarian Palace, which is housed in the Small King’s Archstone. This once majestic castle is now overrun with demons and soulless creatures, as well as two huge fire-breathing dragons. Deep within the castle walls is housed the demonic false king Allant who sits proudly on his throne. The palace was once home to some incredible heroes, none bigger than the trio of Metas, the Knight of the Lance, Long Bow Oolan, and Alfred, the Knight of the Tower. After the fog overcame the palace, these three warriors became demonic entities, guarding the path to the False King.
The Second Archstone, known as the Digger King’s Archstone, is home to the Stonefang Tunnel, an excavation site under the command of King Allant. Many miners, steadfast in their support of the king, remained in the tunnels as the fog settled, which then turned them into soulless creatures with no other purpose than to dig endlessly through the tunnels and caves. Below these caves there are two places of worship. A huge shrine dedicated to an ancient dragon worshiped as a god, and a temple used to worship a mighty fire demon, whose flames are believed to have been used by the very first blacksmith.
Archstone Three, the Archstone of the Tower Queen, houses the Tower of Latria, a shrine dedicated to the Ivory Queen, whose lands included the shrine itself, as well as a church and prison. After the fog settled, the queen’s husband went mad and banished the queen. He turned the Tower of Latria into a gruesome and twisted prison, using his demons to guard the cells and the prisoners inside. He both created a false idol of his wife to cruelly give hope to the desperate prisoners, and also gave birth to the mighty Man Eater demons, who guard his throne room with savage intent.
The Shadowmen Archstone, introduces players to the Shrine of Storms, a land of near-total isolation. The area is mainly used by pagans to mourn dead heroes and to worship the god of storms. The area is home to a huge collection of catacombs and the powerful fog could raise an army of soulless skeletons to roam the area. By exploring these catacombs, the player can find the burial place of an unnamed ancient hero who will try to destroy them. Soaring above an ancient cemetery on the island is the Storm King, the manifestation of his heathen worshippers, who has been given physical form by the deadly mist.
Often considered the most difficult in the game, Archstone Five of the Archstone of the Chieftain is home to the Valley of Defilement, a place that terrifies the hearts of heroes everywhere thanks to its unforgiving environment and confusing layout. The dregs of the Boletaria community call this place home, with only the most unholy of their citizens sent here. The highly respected Maiden Astraea came to this place hoping to free it from the icy grip of the fog, but in the end she pledged herself to a Demon’s Soul in a desperate attempt to get rescue for the people of this wretched place, which inevitably failed.
The sixth and final Archstone was once the gateway to the Northern Lands, home to the peaceful giants. However, the fog changed this and quickly drove the giants insane. Boletaria acted quickly to try to quell this danger, crushing the Archstone in an ill-fated attempt to contain the threat of the giants. For this reason, this country is not accessible to the player. Demon Souls was perhaps the first of his relatives, and the grandfather of the souls genre, but it’s clear to see that even at this stage in its journey, FromSoftware was able to create an incredibly imaginative world steeped in lore, and many of the developer’s later successes owed much to the 2009 PS3 title.
Demon Souls is now available on PS3, and the Demon’s Souls Remake is now available for PS5.
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