Chapter 554: "Soul Studies"
The hardcore players of Dark Souls were terrifyingly dedicated, and soon, more and more speed-kill videos began to appear. Most of the authors of these speed-kill videos initially aimed to replicate Chen Mo’s feat of swiftly defeating the Nameless King. Although few succeeded, these short clips became textbooks for speed-kill enthusiasts.
Another intuitive experience for players was the game’s world lore and storyline. These players quickly explored every corner of Dark Souls, digging into the backstory of every NPC as much as possible. To everyone’s shock, the game featured multiple endings, and every NPC had their own unique background and conclusion!
What sparked the most lively discussion among players was the debate over the true ending among the game’s multiple conclusions.
Among the four endings, aside from the "Usurp the Fire" ending, the other three were all quite popular.
The first was the standard "Link the Fire" ending, where the player fulfills their destiny and extends the First Flame. This was the ending most players achieved in their first playthrough.
The second ending was jokingly called the "Elopement Ending" by some players. The player and the Fire Keeper discover the secrets hidden behind linking the fire, so they choose to extinguish the flame, plunging the world into darkness.
The final ending was the "Lord of Hollows" ending, discovered by the player who posted that popular forum thread earlier. After rescuing the pilgrim from Londor, he guides the player to draw out the dark power lurking within them. Eventually, the player collects eight Dark Sigils and devours the flame, becoming the Dark Lord of a new world.
Players argued fiercely on the forums over which was the true ending.
Supporters of the "Link the Fire" ending argued that linking the fire had been the world’s eternal wish from the very beginning. If the flame went out, the world would fall into eternal night, filled with wandering hollows—a world devoid of any light. How could that be the true ending? Clearly, the flame should be passed on.
Supporters of the "Lord of Hollows" ending countered that, based on various clues, linking the fire was likely a lie. The tragic experiences of the Lords of Cinder already proved this point. Moreover, the game was called Dark Souls, which hinted that darkness was the only true destination.
As for players who chose the "Elopement Ending," they said, "Who cares about linking the fire or not? I just want the Fire Keeper, little sister!"
To argue which ending was the best, players began scouring the game for every clue Chen Mo had left behind, including side-quest analysis, location investigations, item descriptions, and more.
Some even jokingly called this "Soul Studies"—a discipline dedicated to researching Dark Souls.
The world lore of Dark Souls was hidden within countless item descriptions, and it was extremely fragmented. Players needed a powerful imagination to piece it together into a relatively coherent story.
Furthermore, since there was no Dark Souls 1 in this parallel world, some questions were destined to remain unanswered for these players.
If the plots of Dark Souls 1 and Dark Souls 3 were combined, most players would conclude that the dark ending—the end of linking the fire—was the game’s true conclusion. But without the story of Dark Souls 1, players in this world were left puzzled.
Meanwhile, as players continued to dig deeper, both the backstories of supporting characters and the entire game world became richer. Only then did players realize that the content revealed after completing a full playthrough of Dark Souls was merely the tip of the iceberg!
Without a guide, most players were bound to miss a large number of side quests.
In Dark Souls, there were also many unsettling details that sent chills down players’ spines.
For example, what exactly was the protagonist’s identity? The opening cutscene described the protagonist as an "Unkindled," an undead who couldn’t become a Lord of Cinder. So what kind of existence was the protagonist before being resurrected?
Also, after defeating the Dancer, players could find an Untended Graves within Lothric Castle. This Untended Graves had the same layout as the Firelink Shrine, but it was a completely pitch-black world—a world where the fire had gone out.
From various clues, Dark Souls was a world where time and space were chaotic. Even finding other players required invasion or summoning signs.
So, what was the relationship between the Untended Graves and Champion Gundyr, and the player’s current Firelink Shrine?
Some discovered that after defeating Champion Gundyr in the Untended Graves, they obtained a broken Coiled Sword. Meanwhile, when the player first teleported from Firelink Shrine to Lothric Castle, the other half of the Coiled Sword was behind them.
At the same time, the game was called Dark Souls. So, what exactly did "Dark Soul" represent?
Some said it represented humanity, while others said it represented the power of the Abyss. But why would a game centered on linking the fire be named Dark Souls?
The Fire Keeper, Irina of Carim, the tsundere knight Eygon, the thief Greirat, Sirris of the Sunless Realms, Anri of Astora, Siegward of Catarina, Hawkwood the Deserter—these supporting characters in Dark Souls all had their own stories and endings, most of which were tragic.
No matter how hard players tried, they couldn’t arrange a better ending for them, because the game simply didn’t have any good endings.
Take Irina, for example. She was burdened with the mission of becoming a Fire Keeper. If she came into contact with the Dark Tomes, she would lose her sanity, be consumed by darkness, and ultimately die at the player’s hands.
But if she didn’t learn the Dark Tomes and actually became a Fire Keeper, she would turn into a mere machine for leveling up the player, waiting alone to die in a tower filled with the corpses of Fire Keepers.
And her guardian knight, Eygon, would commit suicide in the same dungeon where Irina was first found.
The more lore players unearthed in this game, the more they realized it was a game of despair—not just in its difficulty, but also in its story background!
This world was indeed even darker than Diablo, and the player couldn’t change a thing.
The unique combat system, level design, and story background made Dark Souls a game unlike any other.
At first, players labeled it with tags like "high difficulty" and "masochistic," but as their understanding of the game deepened, more and more players began to sing its praises!