LO: Dark Souls

I find the video games in the Dark Souls franchise to be artistically inspiring. I particularly admire the third installment of the franchise, Dark Souls III. This role playing game creates a dark, foreboding atmosphere with inspiration from classical art. The architecture is based on medieval European designs and the characters are inspired from classic sci-fi literature such as H.P. Lovecraft and Braum Stoker. The world design is immersive with a non-linear progression path. In this way, each person creates their own unique experience.

The game was developed by Bandai Namco Entertainment, Inc. and FromSoftware, Inc. under the direction of Hidetaka Miyazaki, Isamu Okanu, and Yui Tanimura. Based on the release date of Dark Souls II, Dark Souls III took about two years to develop. FromSoftware has its own proprietary game engine, known to the gaming community by the unofficial name Dantelion. This engine is written in C++ and is likely an extension of the game engines developed for Dark Souls I and II. The game engine is reusable and extendable and is likely the backbone for the developer’s most recent release, Elden Ring.

The Official Launch Trailer for the game can be viewed at https://youtu.be/igzqz0d4VFE.

*Works Cited
Aikat, Kajol. “Code up: 5 Best Programming Languages for Building Games in 2021.” TechGig, TechGig, 26 Nov. 2021, https://content.techgig.com/technology-unplugged/5-best-programming -languages-for-programmers-in-2021/articleshow/87934631.cms.

“Dark Souls III.” IMDb, IMDb.com, 12 Apr. 2016, https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4795016/.

“FromSoftware, Dark Souls III.” Products | FromSoftware, Inc., https://www.fromsoftware.jp/ww/detail.html?csm=097.

“Souls Modding.” FromSoftware Game Engines – Souls Modding, http://soulsmodding.wikidot.com/topic:engines.