Highlights
- FromSoft should explore Egypt/Desert environments for their potential for looting and exploring multiple worlds.
- American Woodlands/Folklore offer unique lore influenced by other cultures and a chance to adapt ridiculous tall tales into a game.
- Cyberpunk/Futuristic City settings provide interesting narrative themes and cryptic NPCs, exploring the consequences of scientific advancement.
FromSoftware has a knack for taking environments and putting their own dank and dingy spin on them, while still having them come out looking enticing. With the release of Elden Ring and its expansive map, players now know that the developer can bring many styles of environments together cohesively.
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The downside to FromSoft being prolific in the Souls genre that they created is that it might be hard for them to decide where a new adventure should whisk fans away to next. Thankfully, the real world has a lot of scary and ancient places to take inspiration from.
1 Egypt/Desert
Loot & Explore Multiple Worlds
Why Should FromSoftware Explore This Environment?
- A society primed for looting.
- Interesting ideas around death can be explored.
The Egyptians, like many ancient cultures, were obsessed with death, which is a theme FromSoft knows well. Pharaohs are famous for being buried with tons of glorious treasures and personal effects for their spirits to take with them into the afterlife. The pyramids that pharaohs are buried in are also built with interconnected rooms and tunnels to make room for family members. Most pertinent to a Souls game, though, is that pyramids are meant to be links to the Egyptian afterlife, the Duat, which would be an entire other world to explore.
Other ancient structures made for cultural and religious purposes can be found in sandy places all over. For instance, Middle Eastern ruins that have been used as set pieces for games like Uncharted and Metal Gear Solid 5 could serve as great inspiration. While Demon’s Souls did have an area set in a desert tomb, it’s an easy idea worth being expanded on or adapted into its own concept in the future.
2 American Woodlands/Folklore
Unique Tall Tales
Why Should FromSoftware Explore This Environment?
- Lore that is influenced by other cultures.
- Some tweaking of American Myths would go a long way.
The United States is relatively new to the world stage. However, being the melting pot that it is means that other cultures have wiggled their way into its mythos. Plus, while there is nary a place in America that hasn’t been discovered, there are definitely places that only the most daring explorers revisit, like the depths of the American woodlands.
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Souls games are rich with beasts that resemble well-known creatures from all kinds of cultures, some of which reside in the darkest parts of the woods. But a game set in America could have a little fun with some of the most ridiculous tall tales there are. From Bigfoot to The Jersey Devil, to Mothman, a lot of wild stuff is said to be lurking in the trees, just waiting to be adapted into the next big game.
3 Cyberpunk/Futuristic City
Interesting Narrative Themes & NPCs
Why Should FromSoftware Explore This Environment?
- Presents dire themes that FromSoft can have fun with.
- A world that cryptic NPCs will fit into nicely.
It’s hard to imagine a Souls game with even a tinge of modernity since every game in the series they’ve released up until now has been set in the past. But the excellent Armored Core games show that FromSoft has some cool mechanical concepts up their sleeve, and games like The Surge prove that a futuristic Souls-like is a completely viable option. All that’s left is to add the bright neon lights of a dreary city.
The greed of man is a pretty prominent theme in FromSoft games as well, which would translate incredibly well to a setting like this. Games like this explore the classic question of whether scientific advancement is worth its effects on society. The studio's proficiency at creating grimy NPCs speaking in cryptic riddles will play well with this, maybe warning about modifications that the player is making to their body in an attempt to get stronger.
4 The Amazon/Jungle
Cool Enemy Variety & Lore Opportunities
Why Should FromSoftware Explore This Environment?
- Great opportunity for interesting enemy variety.
- Room to create some interesting lore.
There are parts of the Amazon that have yet to be explored. Part of the reason is that it’s just so big. Because of this, it’s hard to imagine just how many tantalizing secrets could be hiding within its tangled vines. New species of animals are discovered all the time, hiding in the world’s greenest corners. This makes the creation of fictional species based on existing ones that much easier.
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Old tribes are also alive and well in the world’s most remote jungles. Some are offshoots of well-studied cultures, and some are so remote that they developed their own practices. FromSoft games are filled to the brim with lore having to do with people leaving established societies to go it alone and create something new, proving the series already has some DNA from these pockets of civilization.
5 Space/Foreign Planets
Cosmic Beings & Cooperative Ideas
Why Should FromSoftware Explore This Environment?
- Little is known about deep space, leaving room for unique takes.
- Can create a game full of cosmic creature designs to fill the world.
Space is an infinite void with endless possibilities, making it the perfect setting for a Fromsoft game. On top of being able to create lore in whatever way the developers see fit, there are countless possibilities to add their spin on known phenomena that occur like black holes and supernovas. Also, with the studio's experience in creating fun, tanky metal objects to control in Armored Core, space exploration in a ship could be a logical next step.
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It’s also a belief that space is too big to not house any extraterrestrial beings. With the emphasis on the cosmic in games like Bloodborne and Elden Ring, it’s safe to assume that FromSoft has put some thought into what could be lurking out there. This idea could lead to some creepy creatures the player might be tasked to fight and could be a cool opportunity to pit the player against some truly unfathomable bosses, where help from a friend is just a teleport away.
