How do people write these things during the school year? I haven't done my laundry in like, a week and a half. It's not okay.

I'm not too surprised, to be honest. I have the time management skills of a Carrot. I'm not sure why I capitalized, "Carrot."

Anyway, I did it! I beat Dark Souls (the third game specifically). Special thanks to Chris Love The Insane for helping me beat the bloody thing. I could not have done it alone. Or maybe I could have but it would have taken much much longer.

If you haven't played the Souls series then...I'm actually not sure what to tell you. If you haven't played it then you clearly don't hate yourself. If you have, then I commend you and your *DETERMINATION. The point is this is a spoiler warning.

The Dark Souls narrative is extremely unique. You, as a player, journey through a society struggling to stand up on its one remaining leg, and kill off the important historical figures that helped make that society, seemingly for no reason at all. Remember when I talked about Evidence Based Narration? This is like that but on steroids. Dark Souls possess extraordinary narrative detail. Entire legends are told with little or no dialog. The simple placement of an item tells of the motivation of a character's planned betrayal of his master. Each seemingly unimportant character or mindless boss has their own motivation and backstory that you have to figure out through really subtle clues in the narrative. Or not. The amount of research required to piece together the full narrative of Dark Souls could recover the lost knowledge of The Library of Alexandria.

I want to talk about one piece of EBN in the final boss of Dark Souls III - The Soul of Cinder.

So, if you don't know much about Dark Souls lore, the dealio is that the life force of the world - the first flame, needs a sacrifice from a powerful being to stay lit, and then things - like life and civilization - can happen. Also, before I continue, if you're unfamiliar with Dark Souls, and you get confused by any of this, that's good. It would be strange if you didn't. Throughout time, different beings sacrifice themselves to keep the fire lit. These beings are often known as The Chosen Undead.

The Chosen Undead has unlimited *DETERMINATION and, despite how many times he/she might fall, he/she will continue again and again and again and again because he/she cannot die. The Chosen Undead is a struggler. He/she has no inherent power, no overarching strength. The Chosen Undead faces death and defeat more than most fictional characters in history (probably). Every piece of power they obtain is earned. Every skill he/she acquires came from experience.

All of this struggling and effort eventually gives way to the promise that the fire will be lit, and the cycle of light and dark continues (or not depending on how you play the game). When one gives his/her soul to the first flame, they combine into the one Soul of Cinder. This means that players from the previous Souls games are a part of this final boss. In a way, Dark Souls III players are fighting their character from the first and second Dark Souls games. The Evidence-based Narration becomes evident when you notice the SoC's attack patterns. The attacks are, in no way, overly fancy or all that powerful. Please don't misunderstand me. The Soul of Cinder is extremely powerful and all their attacks are on fire (literally). It's so cool! However, my point is that the SoC doesn't do anything that Lady Maria or Gehrman The First Hunter (from bloodborne) or Vergil (from Devil May Cry 3) might do. Those three characters do things that you might suspect a god is capable of.

The Soul of Cinder, and their attacks (my name is Legion for we are many) do not reflect the capabilities of what a god-like character, like Ornstein The Dragon Slayer, might be capable of doing (please keep in mind I'm talking about the aesthetics of each character's abilities and not necessarily their difficulty level). Yes, the Soul of Cinder does look powerful, given how he's on fire the whole time and is clearly skilled with several different weapons and styles, but there's a hint of a struggle in their movements. They never attack with style. Everything is earnest and done with efficiency. They do not do many things that inspire Awe like Ornstein might as he floats upwards in his shining golden armor before descending to deliver a fatal blow. The Soul of Cinder looks more like a burning passion (get it?) that aims to succeed regardless of any and all odds. The Soul of Cinder is designed to reflect the struggles of the very souls that make up this character - the souls that fought, struggled, and eventually slew the God-like creatures that stood before them.

I was particularly taken aback when I saw the Lord of Cider's kneeling animation. It so well reflects the characteristics and attitude of the generics Dark Souls protagonist: You're hurt. You're going to lose. But you have to keep going. Everything is against you, but you must not stop, and you're not really sure why. You cannot give up because you do not know how. The whole world is against you, but it wouldn't be fair otherwise. So get up. Keep fighting.

When you fight the Soul of Cinder, you are fighting a collection of immense power, but most of all, you're fighting the unbreakable will of many warriors.

My name is Syto.

I talk about writing.