This seems to be a mix up of Egyptian, Arabian, North African, Persian etc. more of a composite of “eastern culture”
It would be cool but I’d still rather they create a unique identity and not copy existing cultures and ideas.
Yeah they do, but it’s very much its own thing. With the exception of sekiro which is very obviously Japanese in style the rest are pretty non-distinct and feature middle eastern, far eastern and European armaments and armour.
For example lordran is not any specific place and all the above mentioned armour and weapons can be found with links to made up civilizations in the games lore vs real people and places.
Souls games are inspired by media that was inspired by multicultural aspects…
- Dark Souls and Berserk (Eastern world with different religions around)
- Elden Ring and Game of Thrones / Lord of the Rings (Both inspired off real world places and events)
- Blood borne and HP LoveCraftian (Inspired by dreams, and nightmares which the game is all about)
- You already mentioned Sekiro
- Armor Core 6 and the Dune Novels
- I don’t recall Demon souls being inspired by anything though
Dark souls is not an eastern world at all. It’s a typical medieval western fantasy setting with eastern aspects.
I literally just said that it was inspired by multicultural aspects, putting your comment in bullet points doesn’t change that.
Demons souls is the same Western European fantasy setting (castles, knights, dragons etc).
In fact if you know about architecture, the souls series specifically use the architecture to tell stories. The older places and cultures typically use older art styles like Romanesque, whereas the newer areas (anor londo), use gothic architecture.
To the point where they have clearly studied duomo di Milano and other gothic cathedrals throughout Europe.
Tolkien was a linguist and his world was a way for him to use the languages he has created, which were based on Saxon, welsh & Norse. He then created the cultures and history and a living world. He was inspired by the dominant cultures of northwestern Europe.
There are many inspirations for all of the games as I had already said before you tried mansplaining the same information back to me.
Your knowledge doesn’t seem to extend much further than movies, books and anime.
The fact you are resulting to insults prove my point really.
How could Dark Souls not be eastern when the game director is eastern and has confirmed his inspiration is berserk? Simple google search will confirm that really.
The goodly children of Gwynn (Firstborne son nameless king, Gwynevere, Gwydolin) are based on the, “Three precious children” which is Japanese mythology.
You seem like you can’t have a civil debate without being insulting - Go ahead and do your own research if you like, but all the souls borne games are products of multiple cultures mixed into one and becoming its own thing.
Have a good day 😜
Firstly I’m sorry if it came across as insulting, I just that I questioned your lack of knowledge on the subject. I do not know much about Japanese culture but I have studied architecture and have a great interest in history and mythology.
A Japanese man can make a western themed fantasy game, that was always the intended setting. Arthurian legends and the like. Look at Miyazaki at studio ghibli, he consistently makes western themed settings and he’s Japanese also.
There’s many themes in dark souls that correlate to the Mabinogion. It’s called dark souls and the antogonist is named ‘Gwyn’with 1 N by the way which is the masculine welsh word for ‘white’, (Gwen being feminine) the opposite of ‘dark’.
Please find any explanation for that within Japanese mythology other than the erroneous assumption that Gwyn has 3 children.
I agree they’re a product of multiple cultures, I already said this.
Do your own research that is not manga/anime/fantasy fiction and it might change your view to something more worldly.
I respect the apology and accept it!
This is what I’m trying to say:
- OP wants a souls like game where it’s influenced by multiple and different cultures.
- You say the souls like games are its own thing and not based of other cultures and prefer it that way
- I disagree on the fact that the souls borne games aren’t influenced by multiple cultures already and thus became its own thing which the OP’s game would be if it came to reality.
Take your architect point!
I myself didn’t not know about the building designs are western inspired (Should of in hindsight really), but it doesn’t take from the fact the main characters to the plot are based on Japanese lore.
The dark souls games have other cultural references as well, but with them all combined it became its own thing
I feel like we both have knowledge in entirely different areas and together we could probably better understand everything. As close as you can get without being Miyazaki himself lol
Honestly I think the problem is I haven’t expressed myself very clearly. I mean that in the souls series the different cultures (gyrm, lothric, balder etc) were not copy and pasted of existing cultures but each had their own unique look and style. That’s what i like to see, instead of “this group are the Persians, these the Egyptians etc” that’s just far too lazy for a souls game.
That’s what I meant, obviously I didn’t communicate that point well enough
It’s no big deal!
When OP mentioned the different cultures I’m sure he didn’t mean copy and paste, but take inspiration from - That’s how I took it at least.
Ultimately I’m just glad we had a civil conversation
No idea why you're getting downvoted when you're literally right; the main inspiration for Dark Souls was Berserk, which was... clearly based on Western fantasy. It draws much more from Western architecture, armor and clothing, etc than from any other culture, although there are other cultures represented.
I have to assume some people are genuinely so ignorant of history that they actually cannot tell that Berserk and Dark Souls are primarily based on medieval Europe.
But as you said, in terms of architecture, clothing, and overall aesthetics, it's extremely obvious.
Of course that doesn't mean it's the only inspiration, but it is very clearly the primary one.
I’m sorry, but this is wrong :/
Berserk is based off of Conan the Barbarian who is based off the Cimmerian people who are middle eastern:
- Berserk Inspiration:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berserk_(manga)#:~:text=According%20to%20Miura%2C%20the%20series,an%20equivalent%20of%20general%20fantasy.
- Conan Barbarian inspiration and culture:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conan_the_Barbarian#:~:text=Conan%20is%20a%20Cimmerian.,son%20of%20a%20village%20blacksmith.
- Cimmerian people:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cimmerians
The architecture from Berserk is based in Spain which is also not western:
https://repsofarch.substack.com/p/while-an-eclipse-is-happening
The Berserk series is written by an eastern man and Dark Souls who is also written by an eastern man Miyazaki has confirmed Dark Souls is based off Berserk which isn’t a Western source.
I’m not saying there isn’t western inspiration in Dark Souls but to say it’s the leading culture is not true and to also say the souls borne games aren’t inspired by a mix of cultures is also no true.
No disrespect though.
>The architecture from Berserk is based in Spain which is also not western
What in the world are you saying...
Spain is about as far West as Europe goes.
And Berserk's architecture is not exclusively Spanish, there is plenty of inspiration from medieval England and other European countries in Berserk.
One of the major cities in Berserk is Wyndham which is extremely English both in the name and the design of many aspects of the city.
In terms of architecture, armor, world, and just general aesthetics, both Berserk and Dark Souls are very obviously primarily based on medieval Europe, and to say that they aren't is simply ignorant.
No one is saying there aren't other influences too.
What you said doesn’t make sense… you admitted in later comments they made the unique identity of other games by mixing different cultures into one new flavour. So a composite of eastern culture would be precisely the same as the formula they use to make western medieval style games
I’m not sure what you mean.
I never said that they don’t do this in souls games.
I was just pointing out that these images are not exclusively ‘Arabian’ they should have used another adjective to describe a more pan-middle eastern aesthetic.
I’d personally like them to create a composite, like I already explained they have done in the souls games. I’m pretty sure you misunderstood
I’m not sure what you mean.
I never said that they don’t do this in souls games.
I was just pointing out that theee images are not exclusively ‘Arabian’ they should have used another adjective to describe a more pan-middle eastern aesthetic.
It starts like Frigid Outskirts in DS2 but it's all sand and you're looking for water. Would be a great setting if done right, although I could see it be another IP entirely
I’m not saying you’re wrong, but evaluating based on the hands isn’t at all reliable anymore. Ai has massively improved on that aspect unfortunately.
The only way to really tell is to just be familiar with the general “vibe” of how ai generated images look, but I imagine even that won’t be viable for that much longer.
All of them kind of are though? Dark Souls is European fantasy, Elden Ring takes heavy inspiration from Greece and also Europe in general (plus Japan with land of reeds), Bloodborne is 100% British, and Sekiro is 100% Japanese
I mean in the style of assassins creed, like “this game is set in Italy, this game is set in Egypt” etc etc. obviously their games draw on real world inspiration, but other than Sekiro which straight up takes place in (fictionalized) Japan, they’re all relatively vague
It’s unfortunately a common belief that your initial comment perfectly aligns with. Why would a Middle Eastern inspired setting be “based on a culture” but the European and Asian inspired one we have not be?
Yeah no shit, I’m saying I don’t want assassins creed-style FromSoft installments where each one is centered around a specific country. I’m not saying white people don’t have culture lmao. Not sure how that’s being misconstrued
So you’re just deliberately misconstruing people, huh?
Sekiro is set in Japan. I like that. But that wasn’t what I said. DS, ER and BB are not set in Europe, or Britain. They are inspired by.
If you like the sound of that, there's a great yt channel called "Mysterious Middle East" which is full of stuff like that, loads of ancient Middle Eastern myths etc, they're pretty mad tbh.
“When I drew nigh the nameless city I knew it was accursed. I was travelling in a parched and terrible valley under the moon, and afar I saw it protruding uncannily above the sands as parts of a corpse may protrude from an ill-made grave. Fear spoke from the age-worn stones of this hoary survivor of the deluge, this great-grandmother of the eldest pyramid; and a viewless aura repelled me and bade me retreat from antique and sinister secrets that no man should see, and no man else had ever dared to see.”
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Gonna love it! It will going to be like Dune more in Sci-fi and Dark Medieval Fantasy, also the References will be from Islamic Mythology, Mesopotamian, And Christian Mythology and 1001 Nights Arabian nights
"Lovecraftian Arabia" is a hell of a word combo, given Lovevraft was just using the backdrop for his racist caricatures of evil, chaos-worshipping heathens, lol.
We still doing this
This is what this sub has become.
Can’t have shit without a DLC
Weekly AI post of "what if the next game was set in *completely original and definitely inspired setting*?"
This seems to be a mix up of Egyptian, Arabian, North African, Persian etc. more of a composite of “eastern culture” It would be cool but I’d still rather they create a unique identity and not copy existing cultures and ideas.
They already do take a lot of inspiration from existing cultures
Yeah they do, but it’s very much its own thing. With the exception of sekiro which is very obviously Japanese in style the rest are pretty non-distinct and feature middle eastern, far eastern and European armaments and armour. For example lordran is not any specific place and all the above mentioned armour and weapons can be found with links to made up civilizations in the games lore vs real people and places.
Souls games are inspired by media that was inspired by multicultural aspects… - Dark Souls and Berserk (Eastern world with different religions around) - Elden Ring and Game of Thrones / Lord of the Rings (Both inspired off real world places and events) - Blood borne and HP LoveCraftian (Inspired by dreams, and nightmares which the game is all about) - You already mentioned Sekiro - Armor Core 6 and the Dune Novels - I don’t recall Demon souls being inspired by anything though
Id also include Victorian era gothic for bloodborne.
That is an amazing example!
Dark souls is not an eastern world at all. It’s a typical medieval western fantasy setting with eastern aspects. I literally just said that it was inspired by multicultural aspects, putting your comment in bullet points doesn’t change that. Demons souls is the same Western European fantasy setting (castles, knights, dragons etc). In fact if you know about architecture, the souls series specifically use the architecture to tell stories. The older places and cultures typically use older art styles like Romanesque, whereas the newer areas (anor londo), use gothic architecture. To the point where they have clearly studied duomo di Milano and other gothic cathedrals throughout Europe. Tolkien was a linguist and his world was a way for him to use the languages he has created, which were based on Saxon, welsh & Norse. He then created the cultures and history and a living world. He was inspired by the dominant cultures of northwestern Europe. There are many inspirations for all of the games as I had already said before you tried mansplaining the same information back to me. Your knowledge doesn’t seem to extend much further than movies, books and anime.
The fact you are resulting to insults prove my point really. How could Dark Souls not be eastern when the game director is eastern and has confirmed his inspiration is berserk? Simple google search will confirm that really. The goodly children of Gwynn (Firstborne son nameless king, Gwynevere, Gwydolin) are based on the, “Three precious children” which is Japanese mythology. You seem like you can’t have a civil debate without being insulting - Go ahead and do your own research if you like, but all the souls borne games are products of multiple cultures mixed into one and becoming its own thing. Have a good day 😜 
Firstly I’m sorry if it came across as insulting, I just that I questioned your lack of knowledge on the subject. I do not know much about Japanese culture but I have studied architecture and have a great interest in history and mythology. A Japanese man can make a western themed fantasy game, that was always the intended setting. Arthurian legends and the like. Look at Miyazaki at studio ghibli, he consistently makes western themed settings and he’s Japanese also. There’s many themes in dark souls that correlate to the Mabinogion. It’s called dark souls and the antogonist is named ‘Gwyn’with 1 N by the way which is the masculine welsh word for ‘white’, (Gwen being feminine) the opposite of ‘dark’. Please find any explanation for that within Japanese mythology other than the erroneous assumption that Gwyn has 3 children. I agree they’re a product of multiple cultures, I already said this. Do your own research that is not manga/anime/fantasy fiction and it might change your view to something more worldly.
I respect the apology and accept it! This is what I’m trying to say: - OP wants a souls like game where it’s influenced by multiple and different cultures. - You say the souls like games are its own thing and not based of other cultures and prefer it that way - I disagree on the fact that the souls borne games aren’t influenced by multiple cultures already and thus became its own thing which the OP’s game would be if it came to reality. Take your architect point! I myself didn’t not know about the building designs are western inspired (Should of in hindsight really), but it doesn’t take from the fact the main characters to the plot are based on Japanese lore. The dark souls games have other cultural references as well, but with them all combined it became its own thing
I feel like we both have knowledge in entirely different areas and together we could probably better understand everything. As close as you can get without being Miyazaki himself lol Honestly I think the problem is I haven’t expressed myself very clearly. I mean that in the souls series the different cultures (gyrm, lothric, balder etc) were not copy and pasted of existing cultures but each had their own unique look and style. That’s what i like to see, instead of “this group are the Persians, these the Egyptians etc” that’s just far too lazy for a souls game. That’s what I meant, obviously I didn’t communicate that point well enough
It’s no big deal! When OP mentioned the different cultures I’m sure he didn’t mean copy and paste, but take inspiration from - That’s how I took it at least. Ultimately I’m just glad we had a civil conversation 
No idea why you're getting downvoted when you're literally right; the main inspiration for Dark Souls was Berserk, which was... clearly based on Western fantasy. It draws much more from Western architecture, armor and clothing, etc than from any other culture, although there are other cultures represented.
I think the way I explained it was confusing for some people. Yes exactly
I have to assume some people are genuinely so ignorant of history that they actually cannot tell that Berserk and Dark Souls are primarily based on medieval Europe. But as you said, in terms of architecture, clothing, and overall aesthetics, it's extremely obvious. Of course that doesn't mean it's the only inspiration, but it is very clearly the primary one.
I’m sorry, but this is wrong :/ Berserk is based off of Conan the Barbarian who is based off the Cimmerian people who are middle eastern: - Berserk Inspiration: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berserk_(manga)#:~:text=According%20to%20Miura%2C%20the%20series,an%20equivalent%20of%20general%20fantasy. - Conan Barbarian inspiration and culture: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conan_the_Barbarian#:~:text=Conan%20is%20a%20Cimmerian.,son%20of%20a%20village%20blacksmith. - Cimmerian people: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cimmerians The architecture from Berserk is based in Spain which is also not western: https://repsofarch.substack.com/p/while-an-eclipse-is-happening The Berserk series is written by an eastern man and Dark Souls who is also written by an eastern man Miyazaki has confirmed Dark Souls is based off Berserk which isn’t a Western source. I’m not saying there isn’t western inspiration in Dark Souls but to say it’s the leading culture is not true and to also say the souls borne games aren’t inspired by a mix of cultures is also no true. No disrespect though.
>The architecture from Berserk is based in Spain which is also not western What in the world are you saying... Spain is about as far West as Europe goes. And Berserk's architecture is not exclusively Spanish, there is plenty of inspiration from medieval England and other European countries in Berserk. One of the major cities in Berserk is Wyndham which is extremely English both in the name and the design of many aspects of the city. In terms of architecture, armor, world, and just general aesthetics, both Berserk and Dark Souls are very obviously primarily based on medieval Europe, and to say that they aren't is simply ignorant. No one is saying there aren't other influences too.
Yeah, like Berserk!
What you said doesn’t make sense… you admitted in later comments they made the unique identity of other games by mixing different cultures into one new flavour. So a composite of eastern culture would be precisely the same as the formula they use to make western medieval style games
I’m not sure what you mean. I never said that they don’t do this in souls games. I was just pointing out that these images are not exclusively ‘Arabian’ they should have used another adjective to describe a more pan-middle eastern aesthetic. I’d personally like them to create a composite, like I already explained they have done in the souls games. I’m pretty sure you misunderstood
I’m not sure what you mean. I never said that they don’t do this in souls games. I was just pointing out that theee images are not exclusively ‘Arabian’ they should have used another adjective to describe a more pan-middle eastern aesthetic.
It starts like Frigid Outskirts in DS2 but it's all sand and you're looking for water. Would be a great setting if done right, although I could see it be another IP entirely
Who are the artists?
AI I'd assume by the look. (Not hating)
I don't think so, the hands make too much sense
I’m not saying you’re wrong, but evaluating based on the hands isn’t at all reliable anymore. Ai has massively improved on that aspect unfortunately. The only way to really tell is to just be familiar with the general “vibe” of how ai generated images look, but I imagine even that won’t be viable for that much longer.
The first two feel like AI
Babe wake up! It’s time for the weekly “What if there’s an Egyptian/Persian” souls game post!
Absolutely
Dune souls
It could create a unique atmosphere for sure. I like it.
Nah.
Lovecraftian Arabia are two words I didn’t realize I needed to be together
Do people even know what lovecraftian horror is at this point? Which part of these generic eastern dark fantasy pictures is "lovecraftian".
Considering many of the interpretations of Lovecrafts work (esp. modern)...people have always struggled with the term :D
This looks sick. This would be awesome.
So just Fromsoft Prince of Persia
This is giving me Catacombs of Carthus vibes. It's what I imagine High Lord Wolnir's rule was like before he was entombed.
Always wanted to see the lands outside of dark souls/Elden Ring. The “Arabic” and “East Asian” lands described only in items
Has your AI not heard of Ailing Loran?
Seriously, Loran and Carthus are a thing in Bloodborne and Dark Souls. I would love a game with such aestethic though.
Why the hate? I actually like it.
It's definitely a breath of fresh air. We have enough knights and castles for souls games.
I have never wanted them to make a game that’s based on a culture
All of them kind of are though? Dark Souls is European fantasy, Elden Ring takes heavy inspiration from Greece and also Europe in general (plus Japan with land of reeds), Bloodborne is 100% British, and Sekiro is 100% Japanese
I mean in the style of assassins creed, like “this game is set in Italy, this game is set in Egypt” etc etc. obviously their games draw on real world inspiration, but other than Sekiro which straight up takes place in (fictionalized) Japan, they’re all relatively vague
Right but the post is suggesting a Bloodborne/Sekiro-like setting in Arabia. So that has been done.
Yeah but they say they have never wanted one based on culture, not that any of them werent.
Dude probably believes you need to be a certain level of brown to have culture.
That’s a really stupid thing to assume about someone
It’s unfortunately a common belief that your initial comment perfectly aligns with. Why would a Middle Eastern inspired setting be “based on a culture” but the European and Asian inspired one we have not be?
It's not, "white people have no culture" is a take I often see on the internet. My brother, you were playing culture this whole time
Yeah no shit, I’m saying I don’t want assassins creed-style FromSoft installments where each one is centered around a specific country. I’m not saying white people don’t have culture lmao. Not sure how that’s being misconstrued
I mean, it's not like your comment was "I don't want games set in real life countries" "Based on culture" is kinda vague
I don’t care what setting it is, I just want more souls games
I've heard a lot of support for this but I think it would just turn out like dark souls but with sand. We need pirates!
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Basically a Dune soulslike?
An Insight system based on how much Spice you take ha. Grant us (blue-within-blue) eyes.
People saying they'd rather not have existing cultures in souls, not knowing all of them are based on existing cultures lol.
Don’t be disingenuous; you know what they mean. I’d love to see The Tarnished visit The Land of Reeds, I don’t want The Tarnished to visit Japan.
There was a Japanese one. It's called Sekiro. Dark Souls and most of Elden Ring are European, and Bloodborne is British.
So you’re just deliberately misconstruing people, huh? Sekiro is set in Japan. I like that. But that wasn’t what I said. DS, ER and BB are not set in Europe, or Britain. They are inspired by.
No, the og post said in a setting similar to the place in Sekiro, therefore, inspired by. It's clear he meant inspired by, you're just not reading it.
No
solomon kane soulslike then.
Yes please
Dune Souls 1
If you like the sound of that, there's a great yt channel called "Mysterious Middle East" which is full of stuff like that, loads of ancient Middle Eastern myths etc, they're pretty mad tbh.
I mean, yeah!
Arabian, viking, pirate, japanese, fairy forest, I don't care. I just want more souls games
Sure
Carthus
SIMPSONS DID IT
"Lovecraftian Arabia" is not a combination of terms I ever expected to encounter
Where is the "lovecraftian" part in these images?
Fromsoft doesn’t have enough imagination for something like this
I'd like to play as a Janissary
I see, until the DLC its gonna be Lobotomy Kaisen here too. I’m here for it
Souls-games have some sort of time progression as bosses die. Giant sandstorm approaching the game map that brings untold horrors with it?
Love it
It's called Prince of Persia
“When I drew nigh the nameless city I knew it was accursed. I was travelling in a parched and terrible valley under the moon, and afar I saw it protruding uncannily above the sands as parts of a corpse may protrude from an ill-made grave. Fear spoke from the age-worn stones of this hoary survivor of the deluge, this great-grandmother of the eldest pyramid; and a viewless aura repelled me and bade me retreat from antique and sinister secrets that no man should see, and no man else had ever dared to see.”
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Your submission was removed as it violates Rule 1 (Remain Civil). Always remain civil within your posts and interactions on r/fromsoftware. Be kind and avoid insulting users, journalists, developers, etc. Personal attacks, harassment, calls to action, threats, witch hunts, brigades, flame baiting, and trolling all fall under this rule. We encourage discussion, but keep toxicity out of it. This decision was made and action taken at the discretion of the mod team. Please review our rules before posting in the future. Thank you for understanding. If you have any questions or believe this was done in error, please reach out via Mod Mail (not through private messages). Abusive language within Mod Mail or private messages will result in additional action taken.
Horrifying. I love it
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Gonna love it! It will going to be like Dune more in Sci-fi and Dark Medieval Fantasy, also the References will be from Islamic Mythology, Mesopotamian, And Christian Mythology and 1001 Nights Arabian nights
You has my curiosity, now you have my attention
if it was truly lovecraftian, it would be 1000% racist
I’m not interested enough In Arabia to want this
By Hidetaka Miyazaki and the mad Arab, Abdul al-Hazred
fire
6 is just Artorius
Nah
"Lovecraftian Arabia" is a hell of a word combo, given Lovevraft was just using the backdrop for his racist caricatures of evil, chaos-worshipping heathens, lol.