Dark Souls: Archthrones wills be free to try in September

A Dark Souls prequel, Dark Souls: Archthrone, is in development, with a demo scheduled for release this September.

Dark Souls: Archthrone is a prequel mod to Dark Souls 3 that sees players tackle a whole new adventure, allowing them to visit areas from the lore that have never been explored before, meet new allies and of course, take part in some spectacular boss fights.

Five worlds will be accessible in the mod, all of which can be accessed from the hub-area, the Nexus of Embers, with one world being a reimagining of Lothric, a key area in Dark Souls 3.

A brief teaser for the mod was shared via Twitter, and has got fans very excited for what’s on the horizon.

Higher quality version: pic.twitter.com/5I7a9v42kg

— Dark Souls: Archthrones (@Archthrones) July 3, 2023

“So you’re telling me… The one area I wished to see expanded upon in Dark Souls, you made entirely..? As if my hype couldn’t get any crazier, please let me play this already man”

“This is actually insane. Can't wait to try this out”

“YOOOO carthus is one of the things I wished they did in dlc”

The development team plans to make the prequel an unforgettable Dark Souls experience, combining several gameplay elements that have become popular staples of the series. The team has promised new enemies, side quests, and plenty of secrets to uncover, provided players are brave enough to venture off to find them.

It’s also reported it’ll be borrowing some features from Demon Souls, such as soul form and world tendency which affects the overall difficulty of the game after dying too many times.

Overall it sounds like it’ll be a truly brutal, soul-crushing experience, which is exactly what the soulsborne games are all about. A free demo for the mod is scheduled to drop later this year in September, giving fans the chance to sample what’s to come before the full-game arrives.

Dark Souls 3 was actually the last game in the series, released in 2016. Since then, FromSoftware has ventured into new IPs like the monumentally successful Elden Ring, as well as entirely new games like Armoured Core VI. It’s unclear if they’ll be revisiting the Dark Souls series later down the line, but given the enormous fan base its garnered over the years, it’s likely we’ll get some form of continuation, whether it be Dark Souls 4 or a reboot.

Regardless, the soulsborne series lives on through Elden Ring, which will be receiving a major DLC expansion sometime next year.