Dark Souls 4 can never happen, FromSoftware said so years ago

The Dark Souls trilogy is one of the greatest gaming trilogies of all-time, and we don’t need to ruin it with an unnecessary fourth game.

Yet there are those out there who would love to see FromSoftware return to this series with another entry, seemingly unaware that it’d go against everything the games have stood for up to now, especially Dark Souls 3.

If you haven't experienced this trilogy yet, now’s a better time than any to do so.

As a huge Dark Souls fan, I thought I’d throw my hat into the ring with this one, and put into words how much we don’t need a fourth entry, especially when you look at what we could get instead.

Like I said before, sequels really aren’t Dark Souls’ style, and that may sound weird considering that there are three games, but that wasn’t supposed to be the case. Miyazaki intended Dark Souls to be a standalone adventure, much like Demon’s Souls that came before it. It dropped players in a cruel, unjust world that was essentially being kept on life support despite craving the sweet release of death. It was a beautiful story, and a great game, so it’s a shame that it was bogged down by incomplete areas due to time constraints during development.

Because of the success of Dark Souls, it was then decided a sequel should be made, but Miyazaki isn’t really a fan of sequels and didn’t have any interest in expanding the series further. Dark Souls 2 was passed to a different team and the results speak for themselves; it’s a completely different animal compared to what came before it. I’ve been known to be a Dark Souls 2 apologist but I won’t go too far into it, only that I respect that it tried to do something new as all sequels should really do.

Then came Dark Souls 3, which was needed as fan reception to Dark Souls 2 wasn’t great. It had its fans, sure, and critically it was the best received game in the trilogy, but many fans were unimpressed. Miyazaki came back to create the third game and it was essentially a Dark Souls Greatest Hits compilation, combining the best of the previous games and even taking players back to locations last seen in the original Dark Souls. It did really well, and is definitely the best of the three games although the first will always be my favourite.

What’s important about Dark Souls 3 though is its story. Dark Souls 3 is a story about the futility of holding on to the past. It’s the Star Wars: Episode 8 - The Last Jedi of Dark Souls, except it actually works as a story. By the end of the game, you’re back in the Kiln Of The First Flame, the final boss location in Dark Souls, but the Kiln is nowhere to be seen as the landscape is piled high with ash from all the previous sacrifices keeping the world alive. Time and space have been bent out of shape as reality tries to hold itself together, and the environmental storytelling is informing you that this world is likely beyond saving; it needs to cease. It’s, of course, up to you to decide if that happens or not, but it’s Miyazaki’s way of saying it’s journey’s end and to continue would be pointless.

Bandai Namco

It’s an impactful message and yet, somehow, a fourth game still lives rent-free in some player’s minds. Don’t get me wrong, if they dropped a fourth game next year, I’d play it, but it’d have to be so different to the previous titles for me to enjoy it. Dark Souls 2 felt like a standalone adventure, albeit with a few references here and there to remind you what world you’re in, so if a fourth game did something similar, it could feasibly work. The question I ask is why risk it? Elden Ring is essentially a fourth Dark Souls game and you can argue the same for just about any FromSoftware title, as they’re all the same game really just told in different ways and in different places.

Why ruin a perfectly good trilogy when you can just do something new instead? I’ve got the same argument for those who think we need an Elden Ring 2. While it’d be fascinating to see more of that world and what makes it tick, sometimes not knowing is just as good as knowing the full story. The only feasible sequel I can think of for Elden Ring is a prequel, set in the build-up to the shattering where we finally get to see Godwyn and what happened to him, unless Elden Ring: Nightreign does it first.

Back to Dark Souls though, I don’t think we need a fourth game. That said, we shouldn’t leave the series alone entirely. Personally, I’d love to see FromSoftware go back to the first game and remake it, not only giving it a coat of paint but also fixing and finishing some of those empty or broken areas. I’m sure that’s blasphemy to many people but you’d still be able to play the original game anyway, so what’s the harm in it? You could then do the same for Dark Souls 2, either remaking it entirely to make it more like the first and third game, or just make some adjustments to tweak its more annoying features and flavours.

Just don’t make any sequels… we really don’t need one and it’d only serve to ruin a wonderful thing. Keep it as a trilogy and don’t tarnish its reputation. It’s living on through spiritual successors like Elden Ring anyway.