The Dark Souls Pandemic

Over the course of the last year and a half I have noticed a renewed interest in the Dark Souls series. Perhaps partially fueled by the original remaster getting put out, but overall feels like something bigger is going on. I’ve seen people who rarely play games like this pick it up out of nowhere, on top of twitch streams for the various games going through the roof. Personally, I had never played the series prior to this year and only got into it by watching Merritt Souls (Fanbyte) when I was laid off from my job. Over the course of 6 months I watched her play through 1–3, becoming more enmeshed in the lore and world as I researched various occurrences that happened on stream. Leading me down hours of wiki rabbit holes. Once the final stream was done it all felt very bittersweet. There was a true community that formed around these with a lot of the same people tuning in and playing alongside when she needed to get through some of the more harrowing areas. Over the course of the series I had lost my long term job, partner, and things were honestly looking pretty bleak as far as building a future I wanted. These streams were a true joy to watch and participate in, becoming a much needed source of laughter and awe. Soon after the ending of this series, steam was having a sale on DS3 so I decided to buy and controller and jump in myself.

I felt like I could skip the first two as I had so much lore from those under my belt already and honestly felt like DS3 represented the penultimate experience of the series and lore. Combining the good and bad from both of its predecessors into a fusion that goes down smooth. Going deep into each game would make this impossibly long, so we’re sticking with 3. I was nervous starting as I know its reputation is one of the most brutal games around, but as I started exploring found myself easily getting into the hang of things. Perhaps this was on account of some fore knowledge, but I would credit having played Monster Hunter Rise quite a bit beforehand for really preparing me. Both have a steep and varied learning curves for different weapons/armor builds, as well as enemies/bosses that move in unique and interesting ways. As I played through the various twisted landscapes full of enemies warped by death and suffering I started to notice some themes. The first was the idea of eternal recurrence, how both yourself as the Ashen One and the rest of the world is stuck in this strange loop of constant death and rebirth. You are continuously being brought back to life to fix the suffering while the denizens mindlessly fight against you, unsure of their original purpose at this point. There was a sad irony to it all considering some enemies, insofar as the lore goes, actually would have been on the same side as me. Granted, I am one of those who believes linking the flame is bad and will always usher in the world of dark. We are told that hollowing and the Abyss is but one of the natural cycles of the world and is not necessarily something to fear. The fear of the new is a backdrop to maintaining status quo for another powers purpose. It all felt too familiar watching the news and seeing the infection rate/death toll climb as our leaders insisted it either wasn't happening or wasn't that bad. If we simply gave in to delusion then everything would be magically fixed.

The other theme I noticed is the idea of lack of control over events greater than oneself. Your character is brought back to life, along with others, to try and re-link this flame that you are given very sparse information on. As things progress you begin to flesh out the greater powers at work and realize it is all kind of a ploy by a power hungry god to maintain his grasp of relevance in an age that should have eclipsed him and made way for something else. As a player we are steered towards following the path by a lot of characters in Firelink Shrine, but the why’s and should’s of this are buried in lore from items across the various areas. It is ultimately up to each individual player to determine what to do with this information. Do you accept this world and opt to re-link the flame, ushering in another Age of Fire with the implication that the world will twist yet again to the current state you just played through? Or, do you reject this and move into an unknown Age of Dark, the natural progression of this cycle? If you play through the Ringed City DLC you get a better idea of this light vs dark dichotomy through expanded lore in relation to the Pygmy and Gwyn. That can be a lot to get into here so all I will say is that I feel like it further shows how much Gwyn kinda sucks in his relation to humanity and the cycles of this world. Favoring perpetuating his reign at the expense of reality itself.

So, how does this relate to resurgence of the popularity of the series during the pandemic? In regards first to eternal occurrence, there is the obvious in the form of a lot of us having to stay isolated to our respective living spaces. Each day a haze of anxiety and fear that seemed never ending and became maddening as time went on as it all blended and seeped into itself. Personally, I especially felt this as someone who lives alone and could only communicate via screen for so long. Like the NPC’s in the game emphasizing linking the flame, our government was constantly pushing us toward a premature reopening that they knew shouldn't have been rushed. Second, we also have two story lines that parallel each other in a lot of ways. An unknown disease ravages our world and has rippling effects across what is considered ‘normal,’ turning what a lot of us are familiar with into an unknown landscape that we must navigate as there is mass death, suffering, and corruption going on around us. In a lot of ways the pandemic unmasked many of the issues of our world to the masses in a similar way that the reality perpetuated by Gwyn was doomed to be replaced by the Abyss. For the first time I saw a more mainstream awareness here that a lot of world governments, especially the U.S., are maybe not what they really seem. That they don’t have our best interests at heart like most assume. Something that many of us have been trying to impress for years. Now, to be clear, I am not saying by any means was any part of the pandemic a ‘good’ thing, nor necessary. The metaphor with the game isn’t 100% perfect in that way, as a lot of the suffering our real world experienced was avoidable. My choice to not side with the re-linking was more rebellious and specific to the game lore. But I can see where it would entice players to come back to this game and re-link it to become the savior of this sick, fictional world. Very much in a similar vein to how I know many of us wish we could reset the tragedies of the past and return to some semblance of ‘normalcy.’ In this context I feel Gwyn more represents the false facade of American capitalism in its struggle to constantly assert itself as the good guy and rightful path. A thin veneer of light covering up the sinister truths buried below. Whereas the Furtive Pygmy/Dark Soul represents the unknown next phase once capitalism collapses and the sinister truths lurking underneath the facade world built upon the ashes of U.S. imperialism are brought to light. Something we were always going to have to reckon with but continually put off under different guises, making it grow. Warping the current political system to become something that actively works against our best interests and leads to mass death at home and abroad.

Now, I am sure there are many other reasons people got into this series more. It is a very beautifully rendered and immersive game, brimming with things to explore and intense challenges to overcome. You can also play the game multiplayer style, which adds to the much needed camaraderie many of us missed in quarantine. But, I do feel like the above isn’t far off from the truth either given how beaten down and educated our younger generations are in relation to the ills of this world. The prevalence of the series, specifically DS3, being picked up by all sorts of people was such a unique phenomenon. Similar, in my opinion, to the way people gravitated toward Animal Crossing New Horizon at the beginning of the pandemic. Perhaps another essay could be written about that evolution.