Chapter 188: Death Mode! (Requesting Subscriptions, Monthly Pass)

Chapter 188: Death Mode! (Requesting Subscriptions, Monthly Pass)

While Dark Souls: Age of the First Flame was achieving global sales success, the number of players clearing the game continued to rise.

Compared to the previous installment, this game's map design was undoubtedly more malicious.

But there was no denying that once guides became available, rookies actually had a much better experience than in the previous game.

Take the first boss players faced—the Asylum Demon.

In the previous game, Gundyr the Ash had virtually no cheese strategies.

Even if players chose ranged attackers like the Pyromancer or Mage who could create distance, they still had to be cautious.

After all, Gundyr the Ash possessed the ability to rapidly close the gap.

And the Black Firebomb—each player’s starting burial gift—could only deplete Gundyr’s health to his second phase, not instantly kill him.

But Dark Souls: Age of the First Flame was different.

A single Plunging Attack at the start could halve the Asylum Demon’s health.

If players also had the Black Firebomb, a few extra swings would end the fight.

Moreover, unlike the previous game where increasing Estus Flask count was extremely difficult and required grinding for Estus Flask Shards, in Dark Souls: Age of the First Flame, players could kindle humanity at bonfires to increase their Estus Flask count from the initial 5 to 10.

Though each bonfire was independent, humanity wasn’t too hard to grind.

After defeating the Three-Sticker Family in the Catacombs and learning the Fire-kindling technique, players could even increase their flask count to 20, significantly improving the player experience.

Combined with veteran players’ guides on obtaining powerful weapons like the Gravelord Sword and Guandao early on, players could access these high-damage weapons from the start.

While it was still easy to die to monsters and bosses if careless, compared to the old days of taking two hits to die while needing twenty hits to kill a monster, wielding these weapons in the first playthrough was pure delight.

For players who had suffered miserably due to the game’s malicious map design, these changes clearly brought them great satisfaction.

After all, this was Dark Souls!

Now they could actually experience killing a boss in just ten swings—what a sensation!

It was precisely because of these guides and the availability of very powerful weapons early on that many players who hadn’t persevered in the original Dark Souls now found the strength to endure even the more malicious setting of this prequel.

In a residential complex in the Imperial Capital, Song Ren, Zhang Yi, and Wang Han were having a gathering, joined by Wang Yifan and Joey, who had recently returned from a business trip and were recovering from injuries.

"See this? To get the Gravelord Sword, roll down here and run straight in. Be careful with the Wedge Demon—it requires two rolls. Grab the item and hide inside a coffin. You’ll need a bit of luck to avoid being spotted. Enter, sign a covenant with the Gravelord to obtain the Gravelord Sword, then use a Bone Shard to return to Firelink Shrine. OK, now things get simple."

Seated, Song Ren demonstrated the early-game guide to Wang Yifan and Joey.

Though nearly two weeks had passed since the game’s launch, the two had been too busy to keep up.

Watching Song Ren’s operations, they couldn’t help but praise: "Brother Song, you’re amazing!"

"Yeah, your positioning is so smooth!"

Zhang Yi grumbled inwardly: "Oh, come on. He’s practiced this on countless new save files. The First Playthrough Maniac never does second or third playthroughs—how could he not be familiar?"

"I call it accumulating strength for a burst. Besides, the map and bosses don’t change in second or third playthroughs. Once I’ve mastered everything, high New Game+ will be easy," Song Ren lightly coughed twice, defending his actions.

"Plus, my first playthrough is so much fun—sometimes I play agility, sometimes strength, sometimes even dabble with the Mage."

Repeatedly challenging the first playthrough, first securing the Gravelord Sword, then launching into a Musou performance—that was his style.

And with so many playstyles available, the game wasn’t limited to just one approach.

He had tried the second playthrough briefly. Though weapon reinforcement made fighting monsters easier, enemy damage spiked dramatically.

Especially the Mad Dog creature—two of them attacking at once nearly killed him.

Simply put, the second playthrough gave him that familiar feeling again, that authentic 'Souls-like flavor'.

"Hey! The game just updated!? And it’s a big one!" After finishing the Gravelord Sword demonstration, Song Ren was about to exit the game and launch Fall Guys—an excellent party game—for everyone to enjoy, when he suddenly noticed something unexpected.

Dark Souls: Age of the First Flame had actually updated, and the patch was massive.

If this were a purely online game, such a large update wouldn’t surprise him much.

But Dark Souls: Age of the First Flame was a single-player game!

Why had it suddenly updated, and so significantly?

"What’s going on? An update?" Hearing Song Ren, Zhang Yi and Wang Han were taken aback and walked over to look at his computer screen.

Curious, Song Ren opened the update version announcement in the Dark Souls: Age of the First Flame store interface on Nebula Games.

'New Gameplay Mode "Death Mode" for Dark Souls and Dark Souls: Age of the First Flame has newly launched, offering Undead everywhere a brand-new challenge.'

'The long-lost sword dance and heart-pounding sensation will return in Death Mode.'

'Have you regretted never crossing swords with legendary figures like the full-power Sun King Gwyn, Artorias, or the Witch?'

'Have you wondered what combat power Giant Yhorm would possess if he hadn’t gone mad?'

'The全新 Death Mode will fulfill every kindler’s regrets. Details of this update are as follows...'

After reading the entire update list, Song Ren, Zhang Yi, and the others roughly understood what Death Mode was.

This new Death Mode was essentially a unique gameplay mode, similar to the previous game’s random mode, added for players to experience.

What was surprising, however, was that the original Dark Souls also received this mode, while the new game simultaneously launched a more entertainment-oriented random mode.

Death Mode, on the other hand, was a gameplay style resembling an arena.

It allowed players to freely challenge specific bosses from Dark Souls.

Upon defeating these bosses, players would receive special item rewards.

Additionally, a dedicated leaderboard would record players’ ranking achievements.

Players could choose solo or multiplayer team-up, supporting up to three players per team.

According to the description, the bosses in this mode would utilize Nebula Games’ latest Game AI Performance Technology.

Their health and Poise stats would also be enhanced.

In team mode, monster health would scale proportionally with player count.

However, unlike the random mode, which required creating an entirely new save file, Death Mode required players to use their existing save.

Of course, Death Mode required always online connectivity, and weapons and stats would undergo some stat adjustments.

Compared to higher-level characters with heavily reinforced weapons, characters who had just cleared their first playthrough wouldn’t be at too much of a disadvantage.

In short, skill mattered more than just raw stats.

Moreover, unlike the random mode’s focus on pure entertainment, Death Mode introduced a ranking system, making it far more appealing to many players.

The first kill list and fastest completion records for each boss, along with corresponding IDs, would be displayed in a corner of Firelink Shrine for all future players to see.

The entrance to Death Mode was located right there as well.

(End of Chapter)<>