FromSoftware’s fan community is nothing if not busy, whether it be working through the mysteries of Souls-like games, finding new paths through them, or making art and other works inspired by FromSoftware’s games. Dark Souls, Bloodborne, and Sekiro have reached hundreds of thousands of people, and given the strong response to its beta, it’s not hard to imagine that Elden Ring will be strengthened by this community as well. Fans are ready to receive a new game, and they will get to dissecting, modifying, and talking about Elden Ring as soon as it comes out in February 2022.
In the meantime there are new ways to experience the Dark Souls games already. Plenty of mods exist for the trilogy, and more have been made for Sekiro and the console-exclusive Bloodborne as well. It seems it’s become a trend to make transformative experiences out of these titles, such as one mod that turns Dark Souls 3 into a Dynasty Warriors game. Another line of mods can randomize the enemies, items, NPCs, fog walls, and dialogue of a given title. However, it appears nothing will be quite as transformative as Dark Souls: Nightfall.
What is Dark Souls: Nightfall?
Dark Souls: Nightfall is a mod that intends to serve as a direct sequel to Dark Souls 1. It starts immediately after the Dark Lord ending of DS1 and tasks players with averting the oncoming Age of Dark. Players control another Hollow from the Undead Asylum who finds a katana and joins with Gwyn’s shade after his death. Along the way, they will encounter new voiced NPCs, enemies, bosses, items, areas, and mechanics. Nightfall is due out on January 21, 2022, and promises to be a new Souls game all its own.
Nightfall’s new mechanics give it an identity separate from Dark Souls. Gwyn’s shade acts as a sort of stance that players can turn on and off. While on, players will be able to perform a fully invincible teleport dash, but can no longer heal. More benefits may appear during the full game. Probably the most notable new mechanic is the time loop system inspired by Majora’s Mask. Messages counting down will appear on-screen, and presumably reaching the end will result in either the Age of Dark falling or the total collapse of reality. The player holds an item to return to the beginning of the loop, but this comes with sacrificing some power and progress. The system looks to bring a whole new dynamic to Dark Souls, and should lead to plenty of fascinating quest design.
The History of Dark Souls: Nightfall
The mod is a large collaborative project spearheaded by acclaimed modder Scott Mooney, also known as Grimrukh. He has created Roguelike and Superhot mods for Dark Souls 1, as well as a modding tool called "Soulstruct." However, the mod he’s best known for is 2019's Daughters of Ash, a fresh take on Dark Souls 1 that incorporates cut content, new bosses, remixed areas and progression, and new game-spanning quests. Dark Souls’ famous item descriptions were also rewritten to make room for new story details. The intent behind DoA was “novelty,” and while the mod’s difficulty is high, it certainly delivers.
Nightfall is a whole other beast, spurred on by the positive reception of Daughters of Ash. While the original mod was mostly a solo project, Nightfall is a massive collaborative effort that seeks to bring modders and content creators together to make a real video game using the Dark Souls engine. The main team includes AinTunez, Meowmaritus, Dane Brennand, Horkrux, Zullie the Witch, Stayd, Itzli, Dropoff, Mayhem, and Souv, with others helping on occasion. The credits list extends even beyond that, with Yu-Gi-Oh! The Abridged Series’ own LittleKuriboh appearing as an NPC in a gameplay preview. Dark Souls: Nightfall is likely the most ambitious mod conceived for Dark Souls yet, and it will hopefully live up to that potential when it comes out on Elden Ring’s former release date.
Dark Souls: Nightfall will release for PC on January 21, 2022. Dark Souls Remastered is available now on PC, PS4, Switch, and Xbox One.
