Artorias of the Abyss is a beautiful dive into lore only glided over in the main game and paints a fantastical portrait of what could’ve been (part of) a spectacular second half of the game had Fromsoft had enough time to fine-tune it.
The areas are not only some of the best in the entire game but some of the best in the entire series. The Royal Wood is a beautiful reinterpretation of Darkroot Forest, taking a daytime version to a new level with the lush pine green (almost blue) woods set under a gorgeous orange cloudy sky that almost looks painted. But as you progress through the woods, you start to notice the real threat that has been terrorizing this land, with black and blue streaks of The Abyss splattered across the landscape along dark chasms forming out of nowhere. The enemies here are nice, even though they can be a bit spammy and numerous. This land being called Oolacile goes with DkS’s common themes of names, places, and people being completely lost to history.
After this is the Oolacile Township, which, while still good, is probably the weakest of the areas, if we’re not counting the mini area of Oolacile Sanctuary, a nice stand-in for Firelink Shrine. The corruption of the Abyss is far more visible here, with entire fallen structures consumed in the black substance. It takes obvious inspiration from the Undead Burg but manages to improve some parts of it, but staying true to Dark Souls' trademark guardless edges oh so easy to fall to your death from. Enemies here in the form of corrupted citizens are a little less interesting and lacking in variety but serve well for progression through the area. Showing a town that has grown mad and twisted through its involvement in the Abyss, which characters have varying opinions on, some saying the town did this to itself but some other embellishing its tragedy.
In the final stretch is the Chasm of the Abyss, an area that attains its greatness not through its difficulty but through its atmosphere. Giant husks of humanity silently haunt the dark caves, only guarding its present secrets. We see a few of the crazed townsfolk down here as well, but when up at the surface they would cackle in their madness, they are much more solemn and silent here, as only to show their fear of what lies deeper in their new home. Chasm as a whole represents what Tomb of the Giants in the base game could’ve been, remaining constant the ultra-dark idea which is a good one but poorly done in TotG due to the number of aggressive enemies paired with the even lower visibility as well as culminating in a pretty bad boss. Not the same can be said about the Chasm.
As for the bosses, they feature some of the greatest the series has ever seen. Fortunately, the DLC starts out the gate with what’s the easy pick for both the weakest, least challenging, and least interesting boss, and although the Sanctuary Guardian is still good, the DLC saves all the amazing ones for later, and this being a low point for the DLC is indicative of its quality. The fight itself is a pretty standard-issue DkS beast battle backed up by some interesting lore, with the Guardian seeming to be a Mk I demon among the first to erupt from the Bed of Chaos. Sakuraba also handles the fight pretty risk-free with some music that’s surprisingly safe and throwaway for him.
This eventually gives way to what’s easily the DLC’s best battle, against the tainted and tragic Knight Artorias, only heard in legend in the base game. And while he is absolutely the peak of the DLC, it’s still a great sign of the quality of the rest to come. He is super erratic and unpredictable with a surprisingly vast moveset that keeps fights fresh and engaging, as well as fun to learn. His character is wonderfully embellished through the fight, battling with a broken arm and using the abyssal power which has corrupted him to his advantage, throwing dark discharge onto the player as well as routinely using his corruption to buff his attacks, making himself stronger to defeat you at the cost of sending himself further down his own pit of self-destruction. The fight is guided by a tragic theme from Sakuraba, drawn out by mournful violins and bells, still suggesting clear and present darkness underneath it all. All this put together easily cements him as my favorite boss in the whole game and my second favorite in the Souls series, only bested by The Ringed City’s final boss.
Coming to a close is the hectic and terrifying Manus, the BBEG of this story, and ending off the DLC in a hectic, terrifying manner. Bosses like Manus are the bread and butter of Soulsborne’s hall of fame, with a clear-cut way of learning the boss but still getting absolutely battered through the whole process. In one word, Manus is breathless. The dark void surrounding the arena, his unending attacks with very little room for recovery and/or healing, his horrifying appearance and shrieks, Sakuraba’s intense score, it all comes together to create an experience that is fast, nerve-wracking, and claustrophobic. Like Artorias, Manus is also characterized well through his fight and mechanics, showing what was once a human who has attained mastery of different taboo magics, but turned by the rabbit hole erupting from that same fervent passion. Although the lore for Manus is fairly barebones, it’s enough to supplement the fantastic fight.
And of course, it wouldn’t be the inception of DkS DLC without a tough-as-nails optional boss. Finding an interesting prelude to the fight in an interaction with Hawkeye Gough aiding you with taking on the Black Dragon Kalameet leads to the coolest cutscene in the entire game. Does your favorite game have a cutscene where a retired war vet giant (who is also blind) shoots a dragon out of the air? Didn’t think so. This gives way to the real fight, going up against the now sorta-flightless Kalameet, who is an absolute powerhouse of attacks and health. While his moveset isn’t as vast as Artorias and his presence as bone-chilling as Manus, the size of the dragon and arena gives a lot of openness to the fight, with some absolutely unforgiving additions to his moveset. However, I found that the fight can be made somewhat trivial in difficulty by not locking onto the dragon. This doesn’t detract entirely from the boss though, as it still packs a great fight set in a stretch of land that would one day become the Darkroot Basin that this DLC is entered via, as well as containing another great score by Sakuraba.
The cast of characters in the DLC is also great. Even though there is this vibe of “let’s just show you the other three of Gwyn’s four knights since you already saw Ornstein in the main game”, it’s still awesome to encounter the others in Gough and Ciaran, both propelled in reverence for their fallen friend Artorias. Other colorful characters such as the warm and supportive Elizabeth, the elusive and cunning Chester, and the stoic Dusk.
While the story of simply saving a princess may seem pretty barebones and simple for Dark Souls, it’s the implications that really draw it into greatness. What’s an incredible part is how you are effectively seeing that Artorias’s great task of traversing the abyss to save Oolacile was mostly a myth, as he failed to do this task himself, and it was you, the Chosen Undead, in some need-not-analyze-cuz-I’m-not-YMS time travel loop continuum, who actually brought forth this task. Artorias certainly went to the Abyss, but the results of his outing were far more tragic and disappointing than a proposed heroic legacy of his would suggest, so we see how history can be twisted through the telling of one person. And as much as your work being accredited to someone else may sting, it’s understandable as your being here doesn’t make much sense.
AotA overall sets a crazy high standard for Dark Souls DLC to come, which I’ll be reviewing in whole as I replay the trilogy for the first time in years.
The areas are not only some of the best in the entire game but some of the best in the entire series. The Royal Wood is a beautiful reinterpretation of Darkroot Forest, taking a daytime version to a new level with the lush pine green (almost blue) woods set under a gorgeous orange cloudy sky that almost looks painted. But as you progress through the woods, you start to notice the real threat that has been terrorizing this land, with black and blue streaks of The Abyss splattered across the landscape along dark chasms forming out of nowhere. The enemies here are nice, even though they can be a bit spammy and numerous. This land being called Oolacile goes with DkS’s common themes of names, places, and people being completely lost to history.
After this is the Oolacile Township, which, while still good, is probably the weakest of the areas, if we’re not counting the mini area of Oolacile Sanctuary, a nice stand-in for Firelink Shrine. The corruption of the Abyss is far more visible here, with entire fallen structures consumed in the black substance. It takes obvious inspiration from the Undead Burg but manages to improve some parts of it, but staying true to Dark Souls' trademark guardless edges oh so easy to fall to your death from. Enemies here in the form of corrupted citizens are a little less interesting and lacking in variety but serve well for progression through the area. Showing a town that has grown mad and twisted through its involvement in the Abyss, which characters have varying opinions on, some saying the town did this to itself but some other embellishing its tragedy.
In the final stretch is the Chasm of the Abyss, an area that attains its greatness not through its difficulty but through its atmosphere. Giant husks of humanity silently haunt the dark caves, only guarding its present secrets. We see a few of the crazed townsfolk down here as well, but when up at the surface they would cackle in their madness, they are much more solemn and silent here, as only to show their fear of what lies deeper in their new home. Chasm as a whole represents what Tomb of the Giants in the base game could’ve been, remaining constant the ultra-dark idea which is a good one but poorly done in TotG due to the number of aggressive enemies paired with the even lower visibility as well as culminating in a pretty bad boss. Not the same can be said about the Chasm.
As for the bosses, they feature some of the greatest the series has ever seen. Fortunately, the DLC starts out the gate with what’s the easy pick for both the weakest, least challenging, and least interesting boss, and although the Sanctuary Guardian is still good, the DLC saves all the amazing ones for later, and this being a low point for the DLC is indicative of its quality. The fight itself is a pretty standard-issue DkS beast battle backed up by some interesting lore, with the Guardian seeming to be a Mk I demon among the first to erupt from the Bed of Chaos. Sakuraba also handles the fight pretty risk-free with some music that’s surprisingly safe and throwaway for him.
This eventually gives way to what’s easily the DLC’s best battle, against the tainted and tragic Knight Artorias, only heard in legend in the base game. And while he is absolutely the peak of the DLC, it’s still a great sign of the quality of the rest to come. He is super erratic and unpredictable with a surprisingly vast moveset that keeps fights fresh and engaging, as well as fun to learn. His character is wonderfully embellished through the fight, battling with a broken arm and using the abyssal power which has corrupted him to his advantage, throwing dark discharge onto the player as well as routinely using his corruption to buff his attacks, making himself stronger to defeat you at the cost of sending himself further down his own pit of self-destruction. The fight is guided by a tragic theme from Sakuraba, drawn out by mournful violins and bells, still suggesting clear and present darkness underneath it all. All this put together easily cements him as my favorite boss in the whole game and my second favorite in the Souls series, only bested by The Ringed City’s final boss.
Coming to a close is the hectic and terrifying Manus, the BBEG of this story, and ending off the DLC in a hectic, terrifying manner. Bosses like Manus are the bread and butter of Soulsborne’s hall of fame, with a clear-cut way of learning the boss but still getting absolutely battered through the whole process. In one word, Manus is breathless. The dark void surrounding the arena, his unending attacks with very little room for recovery and/or healing, his horrifying appearance and shrieks, Sakuraba’s intense score, it all comes together to create an experience that is fast, nerve-wracking, and claustrophobic. Like Artorias, Manus is also characterized well through his fight and mechanics, showing what was once a human who has attained mastery of different taboo magics, but turned by the rabbit hole erupting from that same fervent passion. Although the lore for Manus is fairly barebones, it’s enough to supplement the fantastic fight.
And of course, it wouldn’t be the inception of DkS DLC without a tough-as-nails optional boss. Finding an interesting prelude to the fight in an interaction with Hawkeye Gough aiding you with taking on the Black Dragon Kalameet leads to the coolest cutscene in the entire game. Does your favorite game have a cutscene where a retired war vet giant (who is also blind) shoots a dragon out of the air? Didn’t think so. This gives way to the real fight, going up against the now sorta-flightless Kalameet, who is an absolute powerhouse of attacks and health. While his moveset isn’t as vast as Artorias and his presence as bone-chilling as Manus, the size of the dragon and arena gives a lot of openness to the fight, with some absolutely unforgiving additions to his moveset. However, I found that the fight can be made somewhat trivial in difficulty by not locking onto the dragon. This doesn’t detract entirely from the boss though, as it still packs a great fight set in a stretch of land that would one day become the Darkroot Basin that this DLC is entered via, as well as containing another great score by Sakuraba.
The cast of characters in the DLC is also great. Even though there is this vibe of “let’s just show you the other three of Gwyn’s four knights since you already saw Ornstein in the main game”, it’s still awesome to encounter the others in Gough and Ciaran, both propelled in reverence for their fallen friend Artorias. Other colorful characters such as the warm and supportive Elizabeth, the elusive and cunning Chester, and the stoic Dusk.
While the story of simply saving a princess may seem pretty barebones and simple for Dark Souls, it’s the implications that really draw it into greatness. What’s an incredible part is how you are effectively seeing that Artorias’s great task of traversing the abyss to save Oolacile was mostly a myth, as he failed to do this task himself, and it was you, the Chosen Undead, in some need-not-analyze-cuz-I’m-not-YMS time travel loop continuum, who actually brought forth this task. Artorias certainly went to the Abyss, but the results of his outing were far more tragic and disappointing than a proposed heroic legacy of his would suggest, so we see how history can be twisted through the telling of one person. And as much as your work being accredited to someone else may sting, it’s understandable as your being here doesn’t make much sense.
AotA overall sets a crazy high standard for Dark Souls DLC to come, which I’ll be reviewing in whole as I replay the trilogy for the first time in years.