Dark Souls Series: FromSoftware's Trilogy That Created Soulslikes
The Dark Souls series: its origins, bonfire and soul-recovery gameplay, why it's a classic, its impact on the Soulslike genre, and how to play today.
Dark Souls is a dark fantasy action role-playing game series developed by Japanese studio FromSoftware and published by Bandai Namco. After the first game came out in 2011, it continued with Dark Souls II in 2014 and Dark Souls III in 2016, for three games in total. The first word that comes to mind for the series is "hard," but the reason so many people remember these games lies less in the difficulty itself than in how they handle failure.
In this post, we look at the context Dark Souls was born from, how its gameplay — defined by bonfires and soul recovery — works, and why the first game still regularly appears on lists of the greatest games of all time. We also cover its influence, which even gave rise to the genre name "Soulslike," and how to start the series today.
At a Glance
| Item | Details |
|---|---|
| Release | Dark Souls September 2011 (Japan, PS3), Dark Souls II March 2014, Dark Souls III 2016 |
| Developer | FromSoftware (published overseas by Bandai Namco) |
| Platforms | Original: PS3, Xbox 360, Windows / Remastered: PS4, Xbox One, Windows, Nintendo Switch / III: PS4, Xbox One, Windows |
| Genre | Dark fantasy action role-playing |
Origins
The roots of Dark Souls lie in Demon's Souls, which FromSoftware released for PlayStation 3 in 2009. FromSoftware wanted to make a sequel to Demon's Souls, but Sony owned the intellectual property, making it difficult to continue on other platforms. So the same director and team built a new game on similar concepts, and that game was Dark Souls. Before release, director Hidetaka Miyazaki explained that it wasn't a sequel to Demon's Souls but a new game made by the same people.
Miyazaki said that while he aimed to carry on the challenge of Demon's Souls, his goal wasn't simply to make it harder. The aim was to let players freely try out various strategies and feel rewarded when they overcame obstacles. The bonfire, called a "beacon" before release, was also conceived at this time; the director described it as a place for recovery and respawning, and a rare spot to feel warmth in a dark world.
The art was created by having the director give designers short "image words," letting them draw freely, then selecting and refining the results. The world was built around big themes such as Anor Londo, the city of gods and knights; Izalith of chaos; Nito of death; and the ancient dragons, and some locations referenced real buildings such as Milan Cathedral and Mont-Saint-Michel. The director also said he was influenced by the manga Berserk.
The first game launched on PS3 in Japan in September 2011, and the following month on PS3 and Xbox 360 in North America and Europe. After fans continued petitioning for a PC version, the Prepare to Die Edition, with additional areas and bosses, was released for Windows in August 2012.
How It Plays
The Dark Souls series consists of third-person action RPGs. Players create a character by choosing one of the starting classes, such as Knight, Barbarian, Thief, or Sorcerer, then explore an interconnected world while fighting enemies with weapons and magic. Lordran, the setting of the first game, was designed as a single world with many areas linked by shortcuts, and it's famous for moments where, after wandering for a long time, you open a single door and find yourself back at a place you passed at the very start.
Souls and Bloodstains
Defeating enemies earns you "souls." Souls are both experience and currency, used for leveling up and buying items alike. When the player dies, they drop all their souls on the spot and restart at the last bonfire they rested at. If you make it back to the bloodstain where you died, you can recover all your souls, but if you die again on the way, those souls are gone forever.
Bonfires
Bonfires are checkpoints. Resting at a bonfire refills your health and your Estus Flasks, the healing items, and you can also level up and upgrade equipment there. In exchange, most enemies other than bosses come back to life. The more often you return to safety, the more often you have to fight through the same path again, so you have to decide for yourself how far to push and when to turn back.
Loosely Connected Online Play
It's a single-player game, but traces of other players are left everywhere. You can leave messages on the ground using preset phrases to warn of traps or point the way, and touching someone else's bloodstain briefly replays how that player died. You can summon other players to take down bosses together, or conversely invade other people's worlds to fight them. Covenants, a kind of faction system, change the goals of this cooperation and competition.
Why It's a Classic
The first Dark Souls frequently appears on lists of the greatest games of all time. Critics praised its deep combat, intricately interwoven level design, and storytelling through item descriptions. Opinions were divided on its high difficulty, however, and the original Windows version received poor reviews due to technical problems.
The key reason it's called a classic is a design that turns death from a punishment into a learning process. Returning to a bonfire and dying to return there have essentially the same result; the only difference is that you've left your souls on the path. And since you can get those souls back by going there again, you lose nothing as long as you learn from your mistakes. Meanwhile, as you pass through the same path again and defeat more enemies, both the character and the player grow stronger together. Many outlets singled out bloodstains and bonfires as the core of the series, and some said the bonfire redefined the save point.
Its storytelling is also special. Dark Souls doesn't lay out its plot at length in cutscenes. Players have to gather fragments — the look of the environment, item descriptions, short conversations with characters — and piece things together themselves. All three games end with a choice of whether to rekindle the "First Flame" or let it fade, and themes of fire and extinction, corruption and rebirth recur throughout.
Series and Influence
The Three Games
Dark Souls II came out on PS3 and Xbox 360 in March 2014, and on Windows the following month. It's set in the kingdom of Drangleic and is the only game in the series not directed by Miyazaki himself. He served as supervisor, while Tomohiro Shibuya and Yui Tanimura directed. In 2015, Scholar of the First Sin, including all additional content, was released and expanded to PS4 and Xbox One.
Dark Souls III was released in 2016 on PS4, Xbox One, and Windows, with Miyazaki returning as director. Influenced by Bloodborne, its combat was faster, and critics called it a fitting conclusion to the series. It won Game of the Year at the 2016 Golden Joystick Awards, and the DLC "Ashes of Ariandel" and "The Ringed City" followed in 2016 and 2017. Shipments exceeded 3 million by May 2016, and sales passed 10 million in May 2020.
Results in Numbers
As of 2025, the series as a whole is reported to have shipped more than 39 million copies worldwide. The first game had sold 2.37 million copies worldwide by April 2013.
The Birth of the Soulslike
As more games adopted the common elements of Dark Souls, the subgenre name "Soulslike" emerged. FromSoftware's own Bloodborne, Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, and Elden Ring carry on similar concepts and are often discussed together. It has also been mentioned as an influence on some PlayStation Network features and on the TV series Stranger Things.
How to Play Today
If you're just starting, Dark Souls: Remastered, released in 2018, is the easiest entry point. It came out on PS4, Xbox One, and Windows on May 25, 2018, and on Nintendo Switch on October 19 of the same year, and includes both the main game and the "Artorias of the Abyss" DLC. It supports improved resolution, dedicated servers, and online play for up to six players, and the Switch version runs at 30 frames per second.
After that, playing Dark Souls II: Scholar of the First Sin and Dark Souls III: The Fire Fades Edition lets you experience all three games including their additional content. Note that online features for the Windows versions were suspended in January 2022 due to a security issue, and online multiplayer for the original Windows Prepare to Die Edition was never restored. Online features for the Remastered Windows version were restored in November 2022.
If we had to pick just one tip, it's not to be afraid of dying. Enemy placement and attack patterns are the same every time, so if you think about what you learned each time you die, the same section becomes noticeably easier. When you're stuck, you can also check other players' messages and bloodstains, or summon another player to get through it together.