03-21-2013, 10:07 PM
So I am a HUGE fan of Dark Souls as well as Demons' Souls, and I would love to make a contribution to the site based on it. However, I am not sure if this is the kind of thing that would be appropriate for a Trivia post. It's incredibly long and it has no real source due to it just being observation by a diehard fan (although some portions will require proper sources, which I will note if I can't find the source proper tonight). I'm willing to clean this up later on, tonight I'm just really compiling the notes before I forget and getting whatever critique I can. Anything I'm really questioning about whether or not to mention it I'll highlight in another color and make a note why I feel like its questionable and see what others think:
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As a spiritual to Demons' Souls, Dark Souls features a large number of characters, monsters, locations and equipment that pay homage to its equally difficult predecessor:
-Both games feature a character called the Crestfallen Warrior shortly after their introductory stages. In Demons' Souls, the warrior is a spirit who eventually fades away completely, while in Dark Souls the warrior starts out human, but eventually succumbs to his anguish and becomes a Hollow.
-Dark Souls' Solaire of Astora somewhat parallels Demons' Souls' Ostrava of Boletaria. Both are speculated to be the sons of the games' antagonist kings (the latter actually outright telling the player he is the son of Allant), and both have the potential to have their storylines end rather tragically.
-Knight Lautrec of Carim heavily resembles Yurt, the Silent Chief from Demons' Souls, both in fighting style and character. Both fight using Shotels and daggers for parrying, both are cryptic and curt with the player, both are completely armored with their faces covered, and both murder other NPCs in the game's progression.
-Bighat Logan and Sage Freke both have apprentices who zealously overpraise their masters' accomplishments.
-Siegmeyer of Catarina's jovial personality and his need to take naps immediately after certain battles resembles Biorr of the Twin Fangs.
-Oswald of Carim bears resemblance to Mephistopheles from Demons' Souls. Both wear masks and both fight using rapiers and parrying daggers.
-Both games have timid crow characters who trade items with the player.
-Patches the Hyena appears in both games, up to dirty tricks both times around.
-(Requires source, will add later) Though not an officially appearing homage, the character Shiva of the East has unused dialogue for a supposed quest string that would make him comparable to the character Satsuki from Demons' Souls. If the event HAD been used, both characters would send the player for a particular life-draining katana and proceed to attempt killing them over it.
-The introductory stages of both games feature an obese demon wielding a large weapon as the first boss of the game. However, unlike Demons' Souls Vanguard, the Asylum Demon of Dark Souls must be defeated in order to progress further into the game.
-The Belfry Gargoyles mimics the concept of the Maneaters. Both are a pair of gargoyle twins, the second of which emerging shortly after the first to surprise the player. Both sets have deadly attacks with their tails, and both sets can have their tails severed.
-The Iron Golem seems to pay homage to the Tower Knight from Demons' Souls. Aside from the two being giant armored knights, they have few other similarities.
-Pinwheel pays homage to the Fool's Idol. Both are magic-wielding enemies with the ability to make copies of themselves that can all attack the player.
-Both games feature red, fire-breathing dragons guarding long castle bridges.
-The Ceaseless Discharge bears a resemblance to a gigantic Flamelurker from Demons' Souls.
-The Bed of Chaos, like the Dragon God of Demons' Souls, cannot actually be damaged directly at first. Both bosses require the player to activate two event points on opposing sides of the boss that then make the boss beatable. Perhaps by coincidence, both are bosses of areas heavily associated with fire.
-The location Blighttown is incredibly similar to the Land of Defilement. Both contain poisonous swamps and grotesque enemies, the landscape littered with toppling wood structures and precarious catwalks.
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The main issue I have with these is the fact that a lot of them are almost like taking two Mario games and posting the fact that Goombas appeared in both games as trivia. However, I don't know whether some would be worthwhile considering Dark Souls is not a direct sequel, per se. In addition if any of these were accepted, I might have to gather up visual references, which I currently do not have prepared.
---------------------------
As a spiritual to Demons' Souls, Dark Souls features a large number of characters, monsters, locations and equipment that pay homage to its equally difficult predecessor:
-Both games feature a character called the Crestfallen Warrior shortly after their introductory stages. In Demons' Souls, the warrior is a spirit who eventually fades away completely, while in Dark Souls the warrior starts out human, but eventually succumbs to his anguish and becomes a Hollow.
-Dark Souls' Solaire of Astora somewhat parallels Demons' Souls' Ostrava of Boletaria. Both are speculated to be the sons of the games' antagonist kings (the latter actually outright telling the player he is the son of Allant), and both have the potential to have their storylines end rather tragically.
-Knight Lautrec of Carim heavily resembles Yurt, the Silent Chief from Demons' Souls, both in fighting style and character. Both fight using Shotels and daggers for parrying, both are cryptic and curt with the player, both are completely armored with their faces covered, and both murder other NPCs in the game's progression.
-Bighat Logan and Sage Freke both have apprentices who zealously overpraise their masters' accomplishments.
-Siegmeyer of Catarina's jovial personality and his need to take naps immediately after certain battles resembles Biorr of the Twin Fangs.
-Oswald of Carim bears resemblance to Mephistopheles from Demons' Souls. Both wear masks and both fight using rapiers and parrying daggers.
-Both games have timid crow characters who trade items with the player.
-Patches the Hyena appears in both games, up to dirty tricks both times around.
-(Requires source, will add later) Though not an officially appearing homage, the character Shiva of the East has unused dialogue for a supposed quest string that would make him comparable to the character Satsuki from Demons' Souls. If the event HAD been used, both characters would send the player for a particular life-draining katana and proceed to attempt killing them over it.
-The introductory stages of both games feature an obese demon wielding a large weapon as the first boss of the game. However, unlike Demons' Souls Vanguard, the Asylum Demon of Dark Souls must be defeated in order to progress further into the game.
-The Belfry Gargoyles mimics the concept of the Maneaters. Both are a pair of gargoyle twins, the second of which emerging shortly after the first to surprise the player. Both sets have deadly attacks with their tails, and both sets can have their tails severed.
-The Iron Golem seems to pay homage to the Tower Knight from Demons' Souls. Aside from the two being giant armored knights, they have few other similarities.
![[+]](images/collapse_collapsed.png "[+]")
Spoiler-Pinwheel pays homage to the Fool's Idol. Both are magic-wielding enemies with the ability to make copies of themselves that can all attack the player.
-Both games feature red, fire-breathing dragons guarding long castle bridges.
-The Ceaseless Discharge bears a resemblance to a gigantic Flamelurker from Demons' Souls.
-The Bed of Chaos, like the Dragon God of Demons' Souls, cannot actually be damaged directly at first. Both bosses require the player to activate two event points on opposing sides of the boss that then make the boss beatable. Perhaps by coincidence, both are bosses of areas heavily associated with fire.
-The location Blighttown is incredibly similar to the Land of Defilement. Both contain poisonous swamps and grotesque enemies, the landscape littered with toppling wood structures and precarious catwalks.
------------------------------------
The main issue I have with these is the fact that a lot of them are almost like taking two Mario games and posting the fact that Goombas appeared in both games as trivia. However, I don't know whether some would be worthwhile considering Dark Souls is not a direct sequel, per se. In addition if any of these were accepted, I might have to gather up visual references, which I currently do not have prepared.