The Interconnected World of Dark Souls 1

     When you first start playing Dark Souls (1) one of the first areas that you're able to go to is Firelink Shrine. (pictured right) this area is a lot of peoples favorite 'hub' areas in the game. One of the reasons that Firelink Shrine is such an influential area is in Dark Souls 1 they intentionally limited the soundtrack, there isn't music playing in the background at all times so when it does it's a big deal. When you first enter Firelink Shrine you may not even notice the music but then you find shortcut after shortcut leading back to Firelink Shrine. The music plays once again and you're finally able to feel safe again because nothing can hurt you here. I suggest listening to the Firelink shrine music while reading the rest of this which can be heard in the video below: 

    As for the rest of Dark Souls (1) the game just flows together. Most games that I've played have been on a straightforward path. You do what you need to do in that area and move on to the next. Which is pretty much what you do in Dark Souls but it was still able to define itself as so different. 

If you've ever played Dark Souls (1) this map is an eye opening experience to look at (mostly after completing the game) because this is how the game is laid out. It's an interconnected world but not in the way that an open world game is because of the fact that all the areas are laid out on top of each other. You can find yourself in Firelink Shrine and take an elevator all the way down to the Undead Dark. 

    This aspect of interconnectedness isn't really found in any other dark souls games. Dark Souls 2 was directed by someone else and the shortcuts just really didn't mean as much because you have the ability to teleport between bonfires at any given time. Dark Souls 3 didn't have anything that made it feel really interconnected. 

    The only game that I've played that has a really interconnected world and satisfying shortcuts since the original Dark Souls game is Lords of The Fallen which is a game not made or published by FromSoftware but it takes a lot of inspiration for the first Dark Souls game in having interesting and unique shortcuts. Apparently, in early development, the plan was to have everything connect back to the main hub area so that it could be super interconnected. They still managed to make some really good shortcuts that reminded me of the feeling that I first got when I played Dark Souls (1) for the first time. 

Remember, don't go hollow!

- Autumn