return to where it all began in our Dark Souls Remastered hands-on impressions .
once upon a time, Pontiff Sulyvahn was Dark Souls III ’ s final knob, not the Soul of Cinder.
Dark Souls 3 primitively ended in the Untended Graves, but it was n’t the night-time version, there was 3rd adaptation. The end party boss you originally fought there was belated renamed to “ Pontiff Sullivahn ” and moved to a different map, but Sullivahn was absolutely the survive boss .
— Lance McDonald ( @ manfightdragon ) April 18, 2018
Players would fight him in the Untended Graves area, which in the eat up game was found behind a obscure wall after defeating Oceiros. Players who found it will know it as a cold and unnervingly iniquity position with a pitch black skybox, but according to McDonald ’ s findings, it wasn ’ thymine always indeed .
There were three states for the Untended Graves, with McDonald naming them as “ ‘ default ’, ‘ eroded ’, and ‘ last bos ’. ” He implies that the one we see in the game is “ the night-time version ”, then possibly one of these early states is the Cemetery of Ash – the game ’ sulfur starting area, which is a day, by rights literature replicate of Untended Graves. That placid leaves a third base state that was “ wholly cut ”, along with a organization that would change the time of day on the fly.
Each state of the map would besides have a wholly unlike bos, with file names referring to “ Champion Gundyr / OldOldHeroGunda ”, “ Evil Spirits / SnakeSoul ”, and “ Pontiff Sulyvahn / BlackOldKing ”. Sulyvahn was moved to a unlike map ( Irithyll of the Boreal Valley ), while Champion Gundyr remained as the bos of the iniquity map – and, in weaker kind, the day function. That leaves SnakeSoul, which McDonald says was wholly deleted, including its character file .
A lot of this tallies with a supposed leak that emerged closer to the game ’ mho release, of which McDonald says he “ can verify huge chunks ”. Between that and McDonald ’ s own jab, Dark Souls III could have been enormously structurally different – and personally, I think I prefer the alternate version .
indeed much of it makes so much sense, like transitioning directly to Irithyll after the Abyss Watchers, to the Catacombs after the Greatwood, or having Aldrich spill out of his grave in the Cathedral ( like he does in the trailer ). other changes are plainly appealing : having two paths into Irithyll hearkens spinal column to the elaborateness of the original game ’ s matchless world design. even having a massive skeleton – Wolnir – as drawing card of the Mound Makers fair feelsbetterthan Holy Knight Hodrick, and sol much of Dark Souls is about feel .
But the best morsel of the original floor is having Sulyvahn as the final examination bos. He ’ s the closest the base game has to a clear up villain : he betrays and overthrows the gods of Anor Londo, imprisoning Yorshka and feeding Gwyndolin to Saint Aldrich ( along with many thousands of unsuspecting undead and even orphaned children ). He sends his knights out on missions, giving them rings that, unbeknownst to them, will transform them into unthinking beasts. He ’ s an admirer of the Profaned Flame – which is antithetic to the First Flame – and an adherent of the Church of the Deep, which seeks to succeed the Age of Fire. It makes perfect common sense to confront him at the game ’ sulfur climax – quite than the halfway point when his crimes aren ’ thymine amply understand – and leave the anonymous, cloudy Soul of Cinder as a hidden boss .
Read more: The Great EarlyGame URF Tier List Guide
Of class, the gods of Anor Londo and the Age of Fire aren ’ metric ton uniquely good either, and therein lies the alone real argument I can see for diminishing Sulyvahn. What if the player chooses to identify with his cause ? Setting up the champion of the Deep as the final bos is arguably a statement in itself, and possibly director Hidetaka Miyazaki wanted to preserve a short of the games ’ celebrated ambiguity. But then, Dark Souls III is the end of the series – at least as we know it. possibly Miyazaki was considering this ending precisely because it does feel a fiddling more final examination .
anyhow, in my opinion, the Age of Fire is preferable to the doubt and corruption of the Dark and the Deep. then much of these games is subject to interpretation – which is why they ’ re thus compelling – but “ better the Devil you know ” is decidedly among the many messages they could be said to convey. Is it ironic if that message is clearer in thisotherversion of the game ? As it were, the Devil wedon ’ tknow ?
How very meta. How very Souls .
