The stunning concept art of Dark Souls 3

EviLore

EviLore

Expansive Ellipses
Staff Member
You could fill a museum exclusively with Dark Souls 3 concept art.

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Source: Dark Souls 3 Design Works.


It's extraordinary how well the concept art translates to the game itself, too.
 
This is such a beautiful, horrific game. Thanks for posting.
 
Beautiful artwork and so faithfully brought to life in-game too. I particularly liked the one with Gale and the Painting Woman. It's sad that she waits for her Uncle Gale to return when we know he can't - so the image of them together makes me happy.
 
Managed to get the actual "Dark Souls 3 Design Works" book recently. There's absolutely not a single other artbook I've seen that can hold a candle to this one. Even the two Elden Ring tomes.

FROMSoftware was really doing some dark magic with DS3 art-wise.
 
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Gorgeous artwork, but yeah, the most impressive thing about it is how well it is translated into the actual game. That's super impressive.
 
People can whine about FROM games are not "high tech" enough but these visuals never going get old and they are one of the VERY few devs who bring actual concept art to life.
 
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Art style is what separates From Soft titles from others.

I keep repeating hard bosses in their games cause I wanna see next area.

In gameplay I think there are better devs out there.
 
i fucking love this franchise
 
Astral Dog said:
This was the Bloodborne sequel everybody was asking for but nobody noticed
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The concept art for Bloodborne translated much better into that game than the concept art of DS3 translated into this one.

Everything I see with how Dark Souls 3 is presented conceptually, even with audio description, doesn't match what I saw visually when playing the game. I don't quite know what went wrong with it's art direction and what went right with Bloodborne.

And to further add on to this point, I felt that Dark Souls 2 did a hell of a job trying to match every aesthetic and feeling it's concept art conveyed with each location, much moreso than DS3 ever did.

Even after saying all of this, DS3 is still an incredible game with very bleak themes and style. Strangely enough, artistically, it reminds me of something like Gears of War 1.
 
From really do have some of the best artists in the industry. Best evidence are their games: They are nothing special from a technical point of view. But their visual design is what elevates them into the top tier.

Now make a new King's Field, please.
 
Danjin44 said:
People can whine about FROM games are not "high tech" enough but these visuals never going get old and they are one of the VERY few devs who bring actual concept art to life.
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So true, they are remarkably good at capturing a painterly aesthetic.

The thing about FROM though is that after what 15-16 years iterating on the fundamentals established in Demons' Souls they really have their visual approach nailed down. Everything from the scale of objects within the frame, through their LoD management and how that works to situate the player convincingly within the world, to how they artfully use full screen post-fx to tone map and individualize different areas is close to perfected now.

People might quibble at the granularity of micro-detail and rendering particulars offered by their engine, but the balanced artfulness of their presentation is pretty much unmatched, and that's what makes their games work so well.
 
I wasn't sure they could bring me back to the series after the shit storm that was Dark Souls 2, but holy hell was I wrong. Dark Souls 3 is damn near a masterpiece in level design and art.
 
Honestly, back in the PS360 days, From Soft might have been the savior of videogames for me. (this and Ninja Gaiden Black and 2).
The Wii was so disapointing, most games were brown shooters and japanese games had fallen into the abyss, trying to appeal to a western audience. There still were a few outstanding games, but what a letdown, truly the most boring period of gaming for me.

If I hadn't see that video of a random japanese man playing Demon's Souls and using the Storm Ruler in that boss area... I could have overlooked the game.
I then proceeded to import the Asian version of the game, and also bought King's Field IV for PS2 while waiting for Demon's to arrive.
The rest is history.

I'm still thinking From can turn every genre they touch into gold, and even teach a lesson to other developers in that genre.

I'm looking at you, Metroid.
 
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The souls games look incredible, I really dig the art style and general aesthetic and would love to explore them but by fuck am I terrible at them and simply have no desire to git gud, they need an easy mode
 
RJMacready73 said:
The souls games look incredible, I really dig the art style and general aesthetic and would love to explore them but by fuck am I terrible at them and simply have no desire to git gud, they need an easy mode
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They wouldn't be souls games if they had an easy mode. I suck at them too, never beat any of them, barely getting by in Elden Ring, but it wouldn't be the same if there was an easy mode. Who was it who said a game made for everyone is a game made for no one.
 
Underrated IMO. Game is better than DaS and is on par with DeS and Bloodborne.

It was just so refined and some of the story elements in terms of settings, were incredible. Also, the Nameless King is one of the best bosses From have produced.
 
OmegaSupreme said:
I really wish they'd make a berserk game
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This is the best you can get:

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Guts Berserk Anime Build (Strength/Vigor) - Elden Ring - EIP Gaming

Elden Ring allows players to create any character they can dream up. From weapons, armor, and the character's appearance, it's easy to make just about any fictional hero or villain. With so much variety and gameplay options, players can even roleplay as their favorite anime main character...
eip.gg eip.gg

RJMacready73 said:
The souls games look incredible, I really dig the art style and general aesthetic and would love to explore them but by fuck am I terrible at them and simply have no desire to git gud, they need an easy mode
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Irobot82 said:
They wouldn't be souls games if they had an easy mode. I suck at them too, never beat any of them, barely getting by in Elden Ring, but it wouldn't be the same if there was an easy mode. Who was it who said a game made for everyone is a game made for no one.
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Buy on PC, mod the difficulty.
 
skneogaf said:
Thank you fromsoftware

Is what I want on my gravestone
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Mine will simply say, YOU DIED
Edit: Beat me to it. Lol

Seriously though... What I would give to watch a tutorial, or time lapse on how they drew these; how they layer, what brushes and techniques. It's pretty phenomenal.
 
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March Climber said:
The concept art for Bloodborne translated much better into that game than the concept art of DS3 translated into this one.

Everything I see with how Dark Souls 3 is presented conceptually, even with audio description, doesn't match what I saw visually when playing the game. I don't quite know what went wrong with it's art direction and what went right with Bloodborne.

And to further add on to this point, I felt that Dark Souls 2 did a hell of a job trying to match every aesthetic and feeling it's concept art conveyed with each location, much moreso than DS3 ever did.

Even after saying all of this, DS3 is still an incredible game with very bleak themes and style. Strangely enough, artistically, it reminds me of something like Gears of War 1.
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Nothing went wrong, they are going for slightly different styles thats all, you can still see the Bloodborne influence on Dark Souls 3 combat and Art

DS3 is a gorgeous looking game
 
Astral Dog said:
Nothing went wrong, they are going for slightly different styles thats all, you can still see the Bloodborne influence on Dark Souls 3 combat and Art

DS3 is a gorgeous looking game
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I agree that it looks amazing, it just doesn't look like it's concept art nor does it convey what that concept art is conveying. In comparison Elden Ring, Bloodborne, and DS2 does to the point where two out of three of them are almost 1:1 with their concept art not only in presentation but in feeling.

That's why I wonder where they went wrong with DS3's in-game art direction.

As a post disclaimer, me saying 'where did they go wrong' doesn't mean 'this looks bad'.
 
Buy the Design Works!

All the Fromsoftware artbooks are incredible. The Sekiro [often overlooked] and Bloodborne artworks are amazing, too.

Only flaws are a lot of drawings are on a spread so you miss out on the center of the image, and the items have no descriptions next to them. Especially in the Bloodborne artworks that would elevate the book significantly, considering how much lore is told through item descriptions.
 
March Climber said:
I agree that it looks amazing, it just doesn't look like it's concept art nor does it convey what that concept art is conveying. In comparison Elden Ring, Bloodborne, and DS2 does to the point where two out of three of them are almost 1:1 with their concept art not only in presentation but in feeling.

That's why I wonder where they went wrong with DS3's in-game art direction.

As a post disclaimer, me saying 'where did they go wrong' doesn't mean 'this looks bad'.
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EviLore said:
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I think it's the color grading. There's a general grayness to it that mutes the amazing art that should be on display. Obviously with the bleak nature of the game it makes sense, which is why I understand why they did what they did. It just lacks that pop to it like DS 2 and Elden Ring.
 
March Climber said:
I think it's the color grading. There's a general grayness to it that mutes the amazing art that should be on display. Obviously with the bleak nature of the game it makes sense, which is why I understand why they did what they did. It just lacks that pop to it like DS 2 and Elden Ring.
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They are going different style, in fact what I like about FROM games is how each game has its own distinct aesthetics.

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I love Dark Souls III. The OST alone is excellent. Soul of Cinder is still one of my favorite looking boss fights.

I have purchased Dark Souls III five times now over the years. Purchased Japanese PSN and Xbox back when it came out and then proceeded to buy the PC and US PSN version. As well as the Trilogy collection. One thing I'll always remember is finishing it before it came out due to the region setting on the Xbox.
 
ive got to own the Design Works of this. Just an fyi they have the future press bloodborne re-release guide marked down to $35 for preorder on Amazon atm.
 
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This is why i like DS3 more than Bloodborne visually. While the later is better if you only count a few scenes, most of the game has the same "gothic London" look while DS3 has many more areas with completely different visual styles and themes.
 
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