Chapter 132: A Game Filled with Despair (Subscription Request)

Chapter 132: A Game Filled with Despair (Subscription Request)

For many games, after completing the first playthrough, players generally have a complete understanding of the story.

The second playthrough is mostly about exploring different routines or completing content missed during the initial main quest.

But Dark Souls is different. After finishing the first playthrough, players may not have even discovered a significant portion of the base game's content.

For example, players experiencing Dark Souls for the first time, without consulting a guide, are unlikely to know that besides summoning NPCs or other players through the White summon sign, or calling for backup to fight BOSSes, there are also specific NPCs that can be summoned before certain BOSS rooms.

Before the Ice Dog at Lothric, if players previously defeated Uchigatana Guy in Firelink Shrine, they can bring his Spirit to fight the Ice Dog—and thus learn his real name: Expert.

Or before the left staircase beyond the Winged Knight’s door, players can see the summoning sign left by Lion Knight Albert. Of course, this is only visible when in the Embered State.

Many players arrive at this point having already lost their Embered State from repeated beatings by mobs.

Moreover, in the world of Dark Souls, just like in other ARPGs, there are side quests.

Yet these side quests require players to discover and trigger them themselves.

The more players learn about these NPCs’ side stories, the more they realize this is a game filled with despair.

Its worldview, story, and difficulty—all are steeped in it.

The first place players begin their adventure is beneath the High Wall of Lothric, where a thief named Greirat, wearing a hood, is imprisoned.

After rescuing him, he appears in a corner of Firelink Shrine and gives the player an item, directing them to seek out a woman named Loretta in the Undead Settlement.

She might be his lover, a relative—but clearly, she is his emotional anchor.

In gratitude, Patches will later sneak out to steal useful items and sell them to the player at a low price, far more practical than the old lady standing before the Blacksmith.

However, when players reach the Undead Settlement and accidentally knock down a corpse hanging in the air, they pick up a glowing遗物 and realize this corpse is precisely the person Patches was searching for.

Returning with the遗物 to tell Patches.

‘Ah… I see… that woman… is dead.’

‘Thank you. To be honest, I already had a feeling about this. Well… I feel much lighter now. Here, take this ring… as a token of gratitude.’

His calm tone reveals utter despair.

After this, Patches continues helping the player by stealing items.

Each time, he returns with practical tools.

The first time, he cleverly sneaks back unharmed.

The second time, when heading to Irithyll of the Boreal Valley, if prerequisites are met, Patches survives and tells the player an ‘Onion Knight’ saved him.

But the third time, when Patches suggests raiding the royal capital, players—tempted by previous success—agree. This time, however, Patches never returns.

‘Hey… listen, I want to steal more things. There might be something you need in Lothric Capital.’

‘I know… that city seems extremely dangerous. But I still want to go…’

‘After all, I don’t want to die just being a lowly rat scurrying through the streets.’

On the rooftops of the Grand Archives, near the Corvian, players find Patches’ Ashes. Recalling his words before departure, a complex mix of emotions wells up inside.

Clearly, after learning of Loretta’s death, Patches—wanting both to repay the Ashen One and harboring a death wish—threw himself repeatedly into peril.

………………

Then there’s the Onion Knight, the first truly living NPC most players fight alongside, not just a summoned spirit.

The first time players meet the Onion Knight, he seems a bit silly, even endearingly foolish.

Yet they also sense his optimistic nature and chivalry.

Seeing the Ashen One battling the Fire Demon, he rushes in without hesitation to help. After the fight, they drink together and praise the sun.

Along the journey, the Onion Knight and the player meet several times, until in Irithyll, he reveals a mission—one that aligns with the Ashen One’s goal.

He must personally escort his old friend, Yhorm the Giant—one of the Lords of Cinder and ruler of the Profaned Capital—to death.

Because it’s a promise he made, the highest vow of a knight’s honor and friendship.

When the bell tolls to awaken the Lords of Cinder, Yhorm rises from slumber to find his kingdom in ruins, his people turned into mountains of corpses and seas of blood.

In his heart, guilt mingles with seething hatred toward the act of linking the fire. His hope has not materialized—it has twisted into a monstrous flame devouring everything. His soul warps under this power, and the corruption of the Profaned Flame utterly breaks his mind.

Yhorm discards the shield that accompanied him for years, grips his Great Machete, and stands guard at the deepest part of the Profaned Capital, attacking every intruder with obsessive madness.

And the Onion Knight, Siegward of Catarina.

He must now fulfill his solemn promise—kill his dearest friend.

The Storm Ruler, one of only two Great Swords capable of slaying giants.

One lies beside Yhorm’s throne in the Profaned Capital. The other was entrusted to his most trusted friend.

‘Yhorm, my old friend!’

‘Siegward of Catarina has come to fulfill his promise!’

‘May the Lords of Cinder and the sun endure!’

After a fierce battle, the body of Yhorm the Giant falls. Exhausted, the Onion Knight sits down right there, as if returning to the moment he first fought alongside the Ashen One against the Fire Demon.

‘Sorry again… always needing you to save me.’

‘But thank you. Thanks to you, I was able to keep my promise.’

‘Alright, let’s share one last drink.’

The Onion Knight offers the Ashen One another cup of his homemade wine. They drink together.

‘May your courage, your mission, and my old friend Yhorm endure with the sun!’

‘Well, I’ll take a little nap. After all, that’s what you do after a celebration banquet!’

‘My friend… may you safely complete your mission.’

Two individuals met on their journeys for different reasons. The Onion Knight’s mission is complete.

The Ashen One must continue onward.

The Onion Knight sits there, head bowed.

But this time, unlike before, there’s no sound of snoring.

Only after the player walks far away does a dull thud—of something collapsing—echo into their ears.

Every player understands: they will never see the Onion Knight again on their journey.

………………

The game is filled with countless characters deeply impressed upon players’ memories.

The Crestfallen Warrior in Firelink Shrine, endlessly spreading negative thoughts, once a member of the Farron Undead Legion. Yet after witnessing the player complete challenges he deemed impossible, he finally overcomes his despair and decides to inherit the Undead Legion’s will.

He abandons his swordsmanship and seeks the power of dragons. After conquering Archdragon Peak, he obtains half of the Twinkling Dragon Stone’s fate, and ultimately meets his end at Farron Keep—the very place where he and his comrades once fought.

Wielding his Great Sword once more, the Crestfallen Warrior, carrying the Estus Flasks of his entire fallen team, engages the Ashen One in a battle for the Dragonstone. The victor gains the Archdragon’s power; the loser falls into eternal slumber.

Then there’s the Saintess, destined to become a Fire Keeper. If she comes into contact with the Dark Scripture, she loses her sanity and is consumed by darkness.

Yet if she never learns the Dark Scripture and truly becomes a Fire Keeper, she merely becomes a machine who only knows how to level up the player, waiting alone to die in a tower littered with the corpses of Fire Keepers.

And Knight Eygon, who guards her, will believe his purpose is fulfilled. He first draws a White summon sign at the Dragon Slayer Armour’s arena to repay the Ashen One, then returns to the dungeon where the Saintess was first imprisoned and takes his own life.

Champion Gundyr, the nameless King, the Twin Princes… whether BOSSes or NPCs, each carries their own tragic backstory.

And all these stories are steeped in despair.

No matter what choices are made, the outcome is always tragedy.

Just as the game’s title suggests—Dark Souls—the deeper players delve, the darker this world appears.

Originally, most players believed continuing to link the fire was the orthodox ending.

After all, Chen Xu’s official Weibo account before the game’s launch, as well as the promotional trailer, both indicated the theme was linking the fire.

But as players gradually uncovered more content, they discovered three additional endings beyond linking the fire.

The first is the End of Fire ending—extinguishing the fire and plunging the world into darkness.

The second is the Usurpation of Fire ending—during the process of extinguishing the fire, attacking the Fire Keeper and seizing the dying embers.

The third is the Lord of Hollows ending—after rescuing the Pilgrims of Londor, they awaken the hidden darkness within the player. Those who walk this path eventually gather eight Dark Sigils and, in the ending, devour the flames to become the Lord of Hollows.

Whether linking the fire is truly the right choice has become a major topic of debate among players.

Each of the four endings has its own supporters.

Players favoring the Link the Fire ending argue that linking the fire means passing on the fire of hope. When the flames die, the world falls into darkness, filled with hollows—how could such a despairing world be correct?

Others, supporting the End of Fire ending, claim linking the fire is a conspiracy. As the Fire Keeper young ladies say, eventually, new flames will arise even in darkness. Plus, in this ending, you get to live peacefully with the Fire Keeper. Let the world be dark—so be it!

Some even believe the Lord of Hollows ending is the true conclusion.

Even the Usurpation of Fire ending has many supporters who argue it’s the real ending.

The reason is simple.

This ending speaks of the Ash’s craving for embers—mirroring the game’s beginning, creating a perfect narrative circle.

And let’s not forget—this ending even has narration voice acting!

Regardless, Dark Souls’ story is fragmented and open-ended.

Thus, a thousand players see a thousand Hamlets. Every player holds their own interpretation of what’s correct.

More and more players who’ve cleared the game now act like archaeologists, meticulously studying Dark Souls’ content.

They hope to unearth more credible evidence to prove their own theories.

Although Chen Xu hasn’t released Dark Souls 1, the existing content is already enough for players to piece together the epic narrative behind it.

The deeper they dig, the more players sigh with emotion.

At first, ‘suffering’ was the label for Dark Souls. But as players uncover more of the game’s story and intricate details,

it becomes clear that terms like ‘suffering,’ ‘hardcore,’ and ‘high difficulty’ fail to fully capture what Dark Souls truly is.

There’s something far more captivating beneath the surface.

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