Dark Souls III - Main Theme / Soul of Cinder | Reacting To Video Game Music!

[@San_The_Sly]

Soul of Cinder so soon after Gwyn is a good call. Well played requesters.

[@darkpyro786]

Not soon enough for him to catch the plin plin plon but still soon enough to remember the general feeling he got from the Gwyn reaction haha

[@FlickTakFlakAttack]

PLIN PLIN PLON

[@Squared_Phoenix]

PLIN PLIN PLON Translate to English: "FULL OF LEAD" Ok KZbin..

[@Ikronix007]

@@Squared_Phoenix For some reason its funnier when you try to sing it in rhythm.

[@TajinQ]

To me, it feels like Dark Souls franchise is about you going through a game where the story is already over, and you're exploring what remains after the dust has settled, trying to make sense of what happened. Everyone can have his own interpretation of what the story is.

[@SomethingScotty]

Yeah I'm the same. Dark Souls takes place in a world where the apocalypse already happened and your character is just trying to survive and make the best decisions they can while being played by higher powers.

[@Akrilloth]

Every fromsoft game outside some Armored Core games is really just you walking through the ruins of some once great civilization, you missed the party, yet you're the one forced to clean up the mess.

[@Gakusangi]

That's the very reason why I was hoping Elden Ring would be a little more ambitious and outside of their comfort zone, because that IS what Dark Souls is. You are in the aftermath of the main events, picking up the mess left over. I was hoping maybe we'd be in a work at its peak in Elden Ring, but alas, that wasn't what we got. Elden Ring is a very VERY good game, but I can't help but feel it was samey.

[@shellythebutler]

@@Gakusangi it is slightly different in the sense that there's a much more on going conflict and different parties going on in ER as you play, but there's still the obvious "these big things happened before you came here" which is fine imo. I'm still hardly halfway into ER myself so I can't say much more than that

[@lostvayne9146]

@@Gakusangi they are telling a myth. All fromsoftware games are ambitious.

[@TheMajesticMrL]

I always thought the idea of the Soul of Cinder was so cool, even as someone who hasn't ever played a Dark Souls game. An amalgamation of every individual across history that linked the fire, now standing at the end of it all to defend it, and as they begin to lose, the one who linked the fire for the very first time basically grasps the reins and rips it away from the rest to try to stop you himself. It's a love letter and callback, sure, but it's also so cool to see Gwyn emerge in spirit and basically say "if I will die, I will do so in battle one last time"

[@bakubread9308]

The lore is a little convoluted, but the Soul of Cinder is basically an amalgomation of every single person to have ever linked the first flame-- that is to say, every character who has ever beaten the first Dark Souls game, and he swaps between every major playstyle throughout the fight (Sword, Lance, Pyromancy, Miracles, and Sorcery). It just so happens that Gwyn was the first person to link the flame, which is why it transitions into his theme in Phase 2, where the boss simultaneously swaps to his weapon and his moveset from the first game.

[@teunvanderveen6477]

Doest he even have Dark Wood Grain Ring moves? Its a while since i fought him.

[@bakubread9308]

@@teunvanderveen6477 he does!

[@SomethingScotty]

Don't forget Dark Souls 2. While it's not Miyazaki made, it's still canon.

[@bakubread9308]

@@SomethingScotty it is, but it doesn't really tie into the Soul of Cinder, pretty much everything about the fight is referential to DS1

[@aokuroshiro9540]

You can look at it that way but lore wise a more accurate way to put it is that Soul of Cinder is an amalgamation of Gwyn, your DS1 player character, and countless unnamed undead that linked the fire after your character across thousands of years until DS3

[@VerinVerdandi]

Yuka Kitamura is amazing, she's worked on Bloodborne (Lady Maria of the Astral Clocktower) , Dark Souls 2 and 3, as well as Elden Ring (Regal Ancestor Spirit was one of hers) She always puts soooo much into her music.

[@jackalsniper4232]

Demon's Souls(2009) was considered a failure by Sony, but garnered a fanbase in the west. Dark Souls(2011) however, was critically acclaimed and put Fromsoftware on the map and cemented their reputation as "the people who make hard games"

[@SashaTheQwaser]

Even though, ironically, they'd already been making hard games for years.

[@brandon-butler]

@@SashaTheQwaserAnd ironically the games aren’t that hard. They’re just designed with the concept that it’s okay to die and try again.

[@abeidiot]

@@brandon-butler I think the idea is that 'hard mode' in games was pretty common. But the intended experience kept getting watered down in the search of 'broader audience' until dark souls popularized it being ok for action video games to require basic dexterity and for players to die and retry. The intended experience(or default difficulty) is what the devs spend the most time on and other difficulties aren't playtested much

[@komurmaldeb]

Man, without going into too many details right away, you were surprisingly on the money as far as your thoughts on the game's stories go. Themes of decay, cycles of time, and people being unwilling to let go even as there's nothing left to save are big elements of the games. As far as the story goes, it's... I guess you could say it's there for you to find. It's not like a JRPG where you're getting the whole plot thrown at you and fully explained, you have to be the one to pick up on the details and read the descriptions the game gives you to figure out what's happened for yourself. But the effect all that has is just such an immersive, and sometimes oppressive, setting that the music matches perfectly. As for the piano, that's 100% the same motif as Gwyn, Lord of Cinder. (spoilers for the fight below!) Okay, so. Soul of Cinder. They're the final fight, and indeed have two phases. For the first, they fight a lot like the player, actually. Usually bosses are these much larger enemies with huge strikes, while the player is faster, more nimble, and has an array of weapons and builds. Soul of Cinder is in the latter camp, and even switches between multiple builds common among the souls community in the previous games. So that's a fun nod to the players, and everyone who has been part of the repeating cycles of the games before now. However, once phase 2 starts, that's when the switch to piano and Gwyn's theme happens. And, well, you can probably guess which moveset the boss starts using in that second phase. Even after all these games, even with all the accumulated experiences of the players who came through and beat him, he still won't give up. It's a big moment for a lot of players who have gone through the Dark Souls series, getting that first phase down and then realizing what's happening in the second one. A lot of people also immediately die as they're caught off-guard by it, which is frankly just the Dark Souls special.

[@taaaroooo]

Dark Souls 3 is just something so special.

[@zanzibar4730]

Fighting the Soul of Cinder will forever stick with me as one of the most impactful moments in gaming, and I don't see it being beaten. To play this niche little action RPG in 2011 which suddenly rose to cult status, getting a second and a final third installment, having so many memories of exploring these horrible yet beautiful worlds and fighting brutally hard bosses, only for the final boss to be myself. That little chosen undead from all those years ago now trying to run me through along with the souls of not only Gwyn, but everyone else who'd ever completed Dark Souls 1 and 2, the soul of fire fighting for it's life to stop itself from going out, you just can't really put it into words. It's an experience only a video game could ever pull off and it'll stay with me forever.

[@VeylmanTheRock]

preach

[@gatr2897]

Hearing the plin plin plon in this feels like seeing an old friend. I'm not a Dark Souls expert but it's my understanding that 3 takes place and unbelievable, unknowable amount of time after Dark Souls 1. As others have said, the Soul of Cinder is an amalgamation of everyone to ever link the first flame, including Gwyn. Each cycle of the flame covers such an immense amount of time it's insane to think about how many must have done it in the time between, and yet in many ways the world feels much the same, despite having different faces. But the Soul of Cinder, collectively, is a witness to all of it. I love watching people play the game and hear that part for the first time. I've seen so many people react like "*gasp* buddy!", and then immediately go to start parrying which was the main trick to beating Gwyn in the first game lol. Gwyn has some iconic moves.

[@zleepyeyez]

I misread your last sentence as "Gwyn has some Sonic moves" and needless to say, had a weird picture in my head of Gwyn spinning.

[@gatr2897]

@@zleepyeyez that would be terrifying

[@basch71]

The sand like substance is specifically ash. Which thematically and realistically is the end of fire. Fire is meant to be a sort of source of life. Fire in the world without Gwyn diminished. Becoming Cinder, but at the tail end becomes ash. The main character of 1 is referred to as a hollow, or at least the possibility exists for them. And the main character of 3 is the ashen one.

[@shadowshoganyt3438]

Soul of cinder being the amalgamation of all the player characters throughout the series is a beautiful send off to the series , reflecting all of the efforts and struggles of fromsoft players throughout these years , as they say you can parry everything but not the feels

[@shadowforge25]

Just to speak to the story of fromsoft games for a bit. Pretty much every fromsoft game in the past 15ish years has had a major focus on. At least from a development standpoint, they pour just as much, if not MORE time an energy into the story and artistic presentation as they gameplay. Of all the games, Bloodborne and Elden ring have the strongest narratives. And to emphasize how strong it is for those who like it, many play souls games (myself included originally, with bloodborne) IN SPITE OF the difficulty, not because of it. Just to see what comes next. However, in pretty much all of them its made completely optional, and isnt told in a traditional sense. For that reason, many would say there isnt any "plot", just world building and lore. Personally, I would disagree with that for the most part. In all of these games, theres a story with plot, high and low points, and crazy twists. However, its all taken place BEFORE the game starts, and doesnt involve the player character. A good real world example is something like Norse Mythology. Theres many small stories of a bunch of characters, and if you put them all together it forms a semicohesive narrative ending in Ragnarok. Alot of the bosses in these games are akin to heros, demigods, and gods in some form of Mythology. This style of storytelling leaves alot up for interpretation, and like i said, its optional. Meaning, the player has to seek it out, rather than it be told in a cutscene. Its like playing a game where the story is only told in sidequests. So while there arent really any cutscenes, and the npcs are more strangers that monologue AT you, those who enjoy the style of story get no less of a fufilling experience as something like a final fantasy game or a nier game.

[@LuM4rex]

Elden Ring has such a strong story that the developer literally has to change item descriptions with the release of new patches for its DLC. For me, the story of the DS series was more meaningful and compelling.

[@TimothyGod]

​@@LuM4rexWait what? What was changed?

[@Xenochrist]

@@LuM4rex DS series changed item descriptions with updates too, though.

[@joshroussel7035]

Slave knight gael has a bit of a leitmotif from the main theme i believe in the last 3rd of the song. First song you hear in the end of the beautiful trilogy, and the final boss of the trilogy calls back to it

[@protossinator]

"It feels like we're going through a timeline... going through memories." Perfect timing for this comment. This musical shift happens as the final boss turns to their final phase, a phase in which Gwyn's theme comes back in as you heard, and a phase where SoC brings back a few of Gwyn's moves into his own moveset. While Gwyn himself is no longer around, this final phase embodies a final fight for this fire that he wished so hard to keep burning. And as per your comment about the franchise's emphasis on story, I'd put it this way: the games themselves are story light, but lore HEAVY. You can play through the entire franchise and not care/understand the story at all, and that's okay. The game doesn't tell you much outright. And what it does tell you boils down to kill some guys, touch some fire. At the same time though, it takes months of dedicated research and digging to start to piece together what it all means, as it's almost exclusively told through item descriptions. And because everything is told this way, few aspects of the lore are confirmed. Everything is theory and can be interpreted in many different ways. It's a fascinating world to dig into.

[@sharkexpert12]

the fun part of title screens in darksouls games is myazaki hates your ears and untill and directly after you press a button the volume will be maxed so the first few notes and the button push will be as loud as your system can deliver.

[@pommedeter7407]

This has never happened to me ever. Was this only the case in previous versions of the game perhaps?

[@tyrusdalet]

@@pommedeter7407no it’s still a thing. Until you move past the “press any button to continue” part, it doesn’t read your config files, and plays at default volume… which is max. When you’re used to turning the entire game to around 10-20% volume so it’s not deafening, you get sound blasted every time you boot the game

[@pommedeter7407]

@@tyrusdalet oh i think i understand. i never hear the difference because i always play the game with 100% sound, i adjust the sound of the whole PC at like 5% to compensate, but within the game i dont change the sound parameters. Could that be it?

[@tyrusdalet]

@@pommedeter7407 that would be the reason, yes

[@juanjusli9839]

@@sharkexpert12 LMFAO YEAH

[@_tking]

the main theme from Elden Ring is frequently referenced in other pieces throughout the game, particularly in one of the DLC bosses

[@herb2110]

spoiler for DS story: Without getting into too much detail, the world that DS1-3 take place in exist within an era called the "Age of Fire" which came about when something called the "First Flame" arose and granted the lord souls to Gwyn and the other lords, one of them being the dark soul, which was gifted to the ancestor of humanity. Gwyn, as the lord of sunlight, reigned at the top of this age, kind of like the Zeus or Odin of the Dark Souls universe. However, he soon realized that the dark soul of man was beginning to grow too powerful, and the first flame began to fade. So, to protect his reign, he linked the first flame to the dark soul through his own flesh, cursing humans into a decaying yet immortal form known as the undead but also sacrificing himself in the process. Humans, now cut off from their dark soul, were forced to gather the souls of other living beings to keep from going insane which incidentally made them great candidates to become the next lord of cinder and to offer their souls to the first flame to keep it going. By the time of Dark Souls III, the fire has been linked so many countless times, that world has begin to turn to ash from the unnaturally prolonged age of fire. However, due to the current candidates for becoming the new lords of cinder objecting the linking, the flame calls upon the burnt souls of past lords to provide ample kindling for the fire. But once even those lords absconded their duty, the flame called upon every past lord at once, including the player characters of the previous games, coalescing as the "Lord of Cinder" (I think the original Japanese name "Avatar of Kings" illustrates this a little further). Near the end of the fight, the Soul of Cinder channels Gwyn's soul, imitating his fighting style from his flaming great sword to his bolts of lightning as the music quotes his original theme from the first game. ps: It's been a while, so if any souls lore masters want make any corrections, please do

[@Clesstan]

It's true that souls games are challenging and focus heavily on gameplay. They have amazing soundtracks and visual designs. The worlds they create are lived in a masterfully designed.. The bosses are crazy and over the top, and the challenge is immense. This is all true.. however, what truly makes Fromsoft's games special is that they combine all these elements to create a unique experience, and it is all glued together through the genius of its storytelling. Every single element is used as a tool to tell a story. The level design and progressing through it gives you a piece of that story. Listening to a track gives you another piece. Reading item descriptions offers more concrete evidence. Facing the bosses and understanding them offers yet another perspective. It is a very well realized piece of media that, imo, revolutionized storytelling as we know it. The feeling of discovery and wonder these games offer is above all else. A truly well crafted experience for those who are willing to step into its vast embrace.

[@vincentpey3929]

The Soul of Cinder is basically the Avatar of the First Flame, the thing that decides how the world works in Dark Souls, it combines the charackteristics of everyone who linked it in the past, so as you fight it it cycles through some of the possible movesets a Charackter in Dark Souls 1 could have before finally turning into a sort of faxsimily of Gwyn, who was the first to bind the flame and become the Lord of Cinder. This is reflected in the music it starts of this cacophany of vocals and horns as if to shout out the many heroic Souls that where linked to the flame, before finally returning to its first sacrifice and bringing Geyn's theme and its quit dispair back to haunt us once more.

[@SophisticatedGoat222]

Your lore interpretations from hearing the music are actually pretty accurate. It conveys exactly what it's supposed to.

[@rder2793]

Man, been following you for quite some time and JUST yesterday I finished Dark souls 3 for the first time! Im gonna have a blast with this, these 2 might be my favorite themes from the game

[@cartwheel_kickflip]

HE DID THE THING! SOUL OF CINDER BABY! From what you said, I don't know if FromSoft games would be something you would enjoy at FIRST! The story is really played out in the enemies, items, world, and what you can piece together. Definitely more narrative in the 'world building' sense than anything. There are no 'right' answers to the story, it's all up to your interpretation from what you can infer really. When people tell you about the story, this is important to remember! I think you would enjoy it after a bit, you really are the inquisitive sort, even from how you pieced together the sand on the cover art! I never even noticed that, but yeah, you summarized it good. Time is slipping away. The boss is more of a memory than anything, and even takes the move-sets from the previous Dark Souls final bosses. Like a final culmination for it all. The use of that bell at the end of the piece, reminded me of that quote, "For whom the bells toll". That piano piece is a rendition of Gwyn's theme, and as they say, "History often repeats itself". Anyway, once again, love watching your reactions!

[@yphoenix5957]

To put it frankly (and messily) the World of Dark Souls is one of rot and decay, its a place were you can't even die normally, and the cycle of life is halted, driving everything to insanity, and thus Hollow. The continuation of the World of Dark Souls is through a ceremony called "Linking the Fire" to keep light in the world. Everytime its time for the Fire Linking, a great Champion of champions filled to bursting point with souls of his or her defeated, they heroicly sacrifices themselves as oil basically to keep the Fire going. Keep in mind nobody simply "dies" forever. The Soul of Cinder is an amalgamation of all the Champions of past who Linked the Fire. Dark Souls 3 is at the end of the timeline, we don't know how many Eons have passed since games 1 to 3. In 3, it's presumably canon the our MC, The Ashen One betrays everyone's honor and sacrifices to not Link the Fire, and let the World end. The Soul of Cinder; Everyone is fighting to save their world, and in the end, the soul of Gwyn takes the reigns one final time to fight.

[@thomaspereira1545]

That's ash in his hand, representing the passage of time and fire burning everything

[@dominicscotti8602]

Man I've been waiting for this one for a while now 🔥

[@Alan-nf5pu]

OOOOOOOH MY GAAAAAD I JUST COMMENTED ON YOUR TWITTER I WANTED THIS SONG AAAAAAA

[@XIIIthHour]

The Soul of Cinder, to my understanding at least, is an amalgamation of ALL the people who have Linked the Fire (Sacrificed their body to continue the Age of Fire), they use every style of combat that is available to the player, Melee, Ranged, Sorcery, Miracles. and then phase 2 starts... and their fighting style changes to that of the Person who FIRST linked the flames, Gwynn, Lord of Fire, and his theme starts with the piano. As a huge fan of the Dark Souls series, that moment hit so hard when it happened to me.

[@at_ur_service4311]

I shall thank all the absolute legends who requested this song so soon after he listened to Gwyn

[@9tailedKitsune]

I have heard that the title screen theme was originally intended to be the theme for Pontiff Sulyvahn who was planned to be the final boss, seeing as how he was the implied villain for much of the game's plot. This was prior to the creation of the idea of the Soul of Cinder and after deciding to go in that direction the themes were swapped around and the Soul of Cinder theme was composed.

[@hepwo91222]

basically my interpretation of Soul of Cinder is he is represents the player character from the first game. His moveset is like every general build you can make in the first phase, second phase he has the Gwyn moveset and Gwyn's motiff kicks in.

[@Neo-Midgar]

Dude your story guesses were pretty much 100% accurate.

[@EvilAFG]

As a fun fact on the Soul of Cinder boss theme, the first chord is the same as the firelink shrine from Dark Souls 1

[@ThanatosTheDH]

The PLIN PLIN PLON call back gets me every time.

[@Hankering5656]

The music is more calming once you've played the game before coming back to it you always have to let the intro play

[@Gamerthronick]

If I am hearing it right, the musical form of this Maintheme is a requiem. So a Song that would normaly play at a funeral. A pretty fitting first track to hear in a game like that!

[@kiddfaz]

The main series is actually Armored Core, that's the one that made FromSoft famous. Such a legendary series too, with some of the best soundtracks ever. Especially the third and fourth generation games

[@painfall]

Soul Of Cinder is the Combination of all those who Linked the Fire, including us, and the boss mostly reflects us, with the Second phase reflecting... a familiar King.

[@yuomovaeh3028]

Nice to see more Dark Souls stuff! You were surprisingly correct with your guesses about the story.

[@ViridianMaridian]

Dark Souls' story is its most overlooked aspect. That's not to say it's ignored by the community, far from it. It's just rarely cited as the main appeal. The truth is that the reason we all love Dark Souls so much IS because of its story. Or rather, the theme that story conveys. The lore is explained subtly with small bits of dialogue, environmental clues and item descriptions to flesh it out. This lore, in tandem with its gameplay experience and atmosphere, combine to create a more thematically rich story than just a conventional "go beat up the evil king" plot. The way you, as the player, feel while playing Dark Souls is central to that theme. It's how the theme is communicated: through gameplay. That's part of what made Dark Souls stand out all those years ago. Not only is it an incredibly rich world and story with deeply satisfying and fun gameplay, everything ties together perfectly to convey a central theme that could only be expressed through the interactive medium. That's why it's such a memorable game. Overcoming those gargantuan challenges doesn't just feel good because it's fun, but because the sense of achievement you feel ties into the wider narrative context. I won't spoil that theme here, but I'll just say that when I met the hidden NPC Kaathe my eyes were opened to how brilliant and beautiful the world-building was crafted to have real and impactful meaning. The first Dark Souls is a masterpiece in every way... that also happens to be available on Nintendo Switch ;)

[@hachikuji_mayoi]

Imo the two best tracks in the series, soul of cinder can still make me cry

[@onewingedgamer96]

DS3 was my first Souls game and I still love it to this day!

[@InfernoKing48]

The story of these games is largelly emegent, irs crafted through your experiences. The lore on the otherhand is extremely intricate, there is always an immense bounty of meaning for that emergent story found by understanding the lore. Its something very unique to fromsoft's unique approach to storytelling. Like none of these games are directly tied for the most part, its more about shared themes and concepts.

[@cerealexperimentsgrain]

two bangers. and i'm so glad you heard gwyn, lord of cinder first

[@Yushaa-r1l]

The souls like story is kinda like how real life narratives are when you just go with life, like you can live your life being oblivious to what's happening on the grand scale around you similarly you can play souls like games for just the challenge but if you decide on caring what the game has to offer it'll most definitely engross you

[@_------------_]

Soul of cinder is the Final Boss, he is the souls of everyone who linked the fire their goal is to keep that age going and protect it at all costs. He has many weapons that he can switch to in the first phase he is your character from darksouls 1 and the second phase he is gwyn.

[@maran947]

Basically the good part is the story is as much of a part of the journey as you want it to, the world building is super deep and you can learn about everything if you want...or you can run and kill everything you seem

[@Gengargamer1881]

Coming from someone who also thought fromsoft games were "just hard and that's the only appeal". I started with DS1 and fell in love with its story and lore. The fromsoft catalogue is now one of my favorite game series of all time due to the story and lore. I feel like it's something not hugely spoken of. I highly recommend them!

[@joshritz7067]

The beauty of Dark Souls is that what you took from it is considered both spot on while also completely off the mark.

[@JessesAuditorium]

That's somehow reassuring.

[@matiaspereyra9392]

As you said the story is "optional"... to engage with as a player, as in there's no cutscene that delivers the story to you (*) why NPCs do what they do who they are, the lore is pretty much coating everything it's just that you're not required to know any of it to get to the end credits Many people say "oh the story is over" and that's kinda mostly true but your character doesn't just go around killing bosses because, but your story does revolve around events that you weren't even there for and what you do or don't do about it and your interaction with people pretty much on the same position (

[@davesthrowawayacc1162]

Imagine being the networkd tester for Dark Souls 3 in 2016, booting up the game, and as soon as the Bandai Namco white screen goes away, the main theme just opens and blows your ears out

[@AlexanderMartinez-kd7cz]

can confirm, basically every souls veteran coomed when soul of cinder became gwinn's theme to end the whole franhise. everyone knew that was the end before the devs said anything. also fun fact, elden ring's (the sucessor to dark souls) main theme starts with the last plin plon to dark souls' plin plin plon. if you know you know.

[@degapalgamer3772]

This was my first Souls game, very fun, challenging, and rewarding as I'm sure many have parroted when it comes to these games. There is lore sprinkled around the world in item descriptions hidden questlines and visual details, it's a show not tell situation. The connection is easily correlated at 16:57 you are right, it is a motif 😉. SPOILERS: Soul of Cinder is the game's final boss fight and the character you see on the front cover. This is an equally rewarding and tragic fight, rewarding in the fact that this is the penultimate fight in your quest to rekindle the flame and sad in the fact that you have to lay past souls to rest forever.

[@superspenco]

You can very easily go through a Souls game understanding only the broad strokes of what's going on and just killing big things as they show up. BUT you can also piece together from what little NPC's tell you, item descriptions, level design, enemy placement, etc., the story and lore of the games. Figuring out the details of the story is usually a collaborative effort within the community for years after the games come out. A whole genre of youtube creator has sprouted up around piecing together the lore and presenting it in a more traditional, easy to consume format with Vaatividya as the most prominent example.

[@landis9767]

as a huge final fantasy fan, ds3 probably has my favorite story in videogames. its world is so immersive and the narrative asks some really powerful moral, political and existential questions and leaves you thinking deeply. the thing is it's not really handed to you in cutscenes (for the most part), you gotta really pay attention and do some detective work to even understand what's going on. so i guess it's kinda technically optional, but it is a major focus of the game. i started from ds3 and then went back to ds1, and i still fell in love with 3 even if i wasn't understanding the story, mainly just for the amazing atmosphere. but doing the opposite and playing the games in order probably makes a lot of things clearer from the get go

[@beastinator456]

The final boss in this game is the amalgamation of every player that linked the fire of the first flame from all 3 darksouls games, and those who linked the fire throughout history between them. Gwyns soul, being the first is the strongest and shows the most in the boss fight

[@antemajetic2394]

Soul of Cinder basically tells the story of the whole of Dark Souls. The song starts strong and powerful, that is basically Gwyn finding the First Flame and starting the Age of Fire. Everything was great during the Age of Fire, everyone was powerful and prosperous. Then, as fire usually does (13:09), it started to fade and everyone started to scramble to keep it going and the only solution was for Gwyn to use his god soul as kindling and extend the Age of Fire. At 13:27 both the Fire and the music roar back to life and the new male voice heard is basically Gwyn, who has become one with the Fire. But even Gwyn's soul, the most powerful of all, pales in comparison to the First Flame when it was originally found, so this new Age of Fire doesn't last very long and quickly fire fades again. In DS1 we collect many powerful souls to give to the flame as kindling to prolong the Age of Fire. The moment the piano shows up is the player linking the flame at the end of DS1 and you can hear that the music tries to come back, but our contribution is tiny compared to when Gwyn gave his own soul. And so the fire quickly fades again. This starts a cycle of people linking the flame over and over and over again, for untold ages. You can hear that the music tries to come back many times here, and it can't, but people keep linking the flame anyway, desperately holding on to embers. By the time DS3 starts the fire is almost out and there is nothing out there that can keep the flame going. The melody of the piano and the violin in the back half of the song represents the futility of linking the flame. Soul of Cinder is the final boss of the game and it as an amalgamation of everyone that linked the flame in the past, but when you start phase two of the boss fight, Gwyn himself wakes up inside the Soul of Cinder and you fight him again. That's the moment the piano shows up in gameplay.

[@naborezei7527]

FromSoft's previous titles were financial successes by their own estimations. An example is Sekiro, sold around 3M units which they stated was beyond their expectations. The success of Elden Ring is what shot them into the spotlight, which has sold around 25M units as of today and is far beyond anybody's expectations in every way imaginable.

[@DWFTW]

You mentioned it in the Gwyn Lord of Cinder video as well as here after the main theme, so I just want to say. To think Souls games are all about difficult bosses is definitely missing a lot. In fact a ton of people actually aren't that fond of the boss fights, but love the games for the exploration, setting and general gameplay loop. A lot of people do focus very largely on the boss fights too, but there are a few avenues of large fans of the series. As for Soul of Cinder, beyond the obvious reference to Gwyn's theme in phase 2, the tone to me gave a sense of...closure. Like it's closing the book on the series. They did release DLCs afterwards, but the Soul of Cinder still feels like the conclusion. It's partly because it has Gwyn's theme of course, I'd played 1 and 2 on release, so 3 on release when I got there it played a part in that perspective. Of course having to redo the fight because he combo'd me into a big explosion I wasn't expecting and having to fight desperately for the win does change it a bit, but it still gives the feeling like it's time to put an end to it all. I wrote this before you were finished, so you actually touched on it yourself saying it felt like it was closing on Gwyn's saga. Which I guess is one way to see it. Arguably the cause of the entire series comes from Gwyn's choice to link the fire.

[@LivingShdw]

From my recollection, the Dark Souls series started getting popular about a year or two after the initial release, but it didn't take off hugely until after Dark Souls 2's release. Demon's Souls, the original concept, was pretty niche until the it got a PSN release. I might be incorrect, this is trying to remember years ago and trying to vaguely gauge how popular the series was.

[@antonsidorov7531]

A lot of comments here about what the Soul of Cinder represents, but I thought I'd provide a little bit more of overall context for the series "story". The thing about Dark Souls is that in its universe, the world exists in cycles. Every cycle begins with somebody linking the First Flame - a thing that represents the world's vital energy. As the First Flame burns, in time, across thousands of years, it gradually grows weaker. As it happens, the world around starts to break down. Its rules get faulty. Time and space gets distorted, people stop dying and spend their immortality rotting away going insane. And so on. All of it leading to the end of the cycle and the potential end of the world as we know it (or as people living in the world of Dark Soulls know it). And then, when the First Flame fades away almost completely, somebody appears to sacrifice their powerful soul as kindling to link it again, beginning the cycle anew and postopning the end of the world as we know it for another couple of thousands years. Every game in the series takes place at the end of one of such cycles. And the player's character is the one who is going to link the Flame at the end of the game, renewing the cycle again. The first Dark Souls takes place at the end of the very first cycle which was kickstarted by Gwyn, the first ever person to link the First Flame. Dark Souls II takes place at the end of n-th cycle (it is never stated how many cycles were there before or after the one in DSII), and Dark Souls III takes place (potentially, since there are multiple endings) at the end of the very last cycle. But in DSIII, the world is in a much worse state than in previous games, hinting at the fact that you can only prolong the inevitable end of the world so much, and these cycle renewals are not going to be possible much longer. And this, in turn, kinda hints at the overall theme of the series which I could crudely summarise as "Trying to artificially prolong something that is destined to end is bad". At least, that is the most common interpretation in the community, as far as I know. So you could say that at the very basic thematic level the series is a cautionary tale on immortality and fear of change. This also might be why most bosses you encounter in the series are legendary heroes and gods "past their prime". They are there to show you the consequences of trying to postpone death. It underlines the theme, showing that the alternative to dying is the never-ending suffering of decline. You either die a hero or live long enough to become a villain, right? Considering this, it would be very funny if FromSoft returned to the series and tried to squeeze any more games out of it. I hope they won't because it would be self-sabotaging what they were trying to say. Some people think that the fact DSII and DSIII exist is already stretching it. But I digress. The Soul of Cinder is a kind of guardian of the First Flame who exists to test the player (or any other person who wants to link the first flame) of being worthy/capable. As only a very powerful soul can serve as kindling for the flame. And as others have already said, it is an amalgamation of every person who ever linked the first flame in the previous cycles, including Gwyn, the player from DSI, DSII and all the other people who did this in cycles which happened in between DSI and DSIII and were not shown in any game. The boss movesets consist of the same animations the player character had in DSI and it later switches to the same moveset/animations Gwyn used as you fought them at the end of DSI.

[@matheus-ne6zo]

literally the first video in my youtube recommended pool lesgo

[@painfall]

The Main theme to me feels like what the Journey across the dying world of Darksouls would be like in music form, the uncomfortability, the triumphs, and the tragic state of the world. The song is a call for help, to either stop this cycle or to continue it.

[@willtejeda1897]

Gwyn's leitmotif kicking in on phase 2 Soul of Cinders just hit different

[@milesprower6110]

there's actually a similar series that came out on ps1 by the same Fromsoftware before being popular (starting with Armored Core before Souls pretty sure), called King's Field which got 4 titles in total (the very first one was skipped for international releases so you can find the original first one by searching it as King's Field 1 JP) it's really like what the Souls are but in a more limited and early concept and hardware. (Feeling more like Demon Souls & Dark Souls 2 because of the slow gameplay and certain stuff)

[@kylebrown7968]

That piano line is the same motif as from Gwyn, Lord of Cinder

[@Gakusangi]

Demon's Souls set the groundwork for Dark Souls to succeed, by not only offering a challenging game, but one that was very unique in many of its mechanics and how it unfolded the story as background lore you discover rather than a lot of exposition to give you much more than a main motivation. Streamers often pick it up because of fan interest, most expect it to be a trolling, difficult game. None of them see it that way after playing it for themselves, because that's just not what it it actually is. It's an experience and you feel that when the ending credits finally roll. Soul of Cinder is everyone that's ever linked the fire, so it starts by assaulting you with a random cycle of different, player-like builds and abilities as it tries to fight you down. It all culminates into the original boss theme from the first game, as you steadily realize, you're fighting the soul of the original boss, the first lord of cinders. It's a fantastic callback to Dark Souls 1. The reoccurring theme of the player character is that YOU are not important. You're in the aftermath of a great world that has collapsed. You are small and the legends and gods that are ahead of you are storied and powerful. You aren't of consequence, UNTIL you've overcome these challenges and proven that you're actually significant in what follows, but you'll never feel truly powerful compared to what you're up against, which is what makes every victory that much more triumphant.

[@amafuterasu672]

Yuka Kitamura also did RATIO ULTIMA track for Arknights, I really suggest giving it a listen!

[@blightybog7207]

might be the first non-boss theme from the game (and one of fromsofts very few in their fantasy games), both Firelink shrine themes. from DS1 and 3

[@ajackson]

So Demon’s Souls was the first game. It was published by Sony exclusively for PS3. Afterwards FromSoft wanted to make a spiritual sequel for all platforms but due to copyright, weren’t allowed to call it Demons Souls 2. So the new game was called Dark Souls. Then Dark Souls 2 came out followed by Bloodborne. Then DS3 was released. Dark Souls and Demon’s Souls share the most in common in terms of gameplay, but their setting/lore/everything else is entirely new. The main themes are different for each game. There isn’t a central ‘Dark Souls’ theme like Zelda for example. DS3 is in fact the first game to have a main title theme, the other’s were silent during the main menu screen. Music is central to the games though, but really reserved for the bosses. One last note, it is said that the main menu theme for DS3 is the music the boss hears when you walk into the arena!

[@CarlosAlola]

Dark souls 2 had a main theme though

[@avraelasgard]

This main theme is only for DS3, the other 2 games have their completley own tracks. However, the motif of this main theme appears much later, in fact in the track of the last boss of the last DLC, which is from order of release the very last song we will ever hear of the entire Dark Souls series. So the first song we hear in DS3 has ties to the last song we hear, which i highly recommend listening to too, its THE best song in all of Dark Souls for me. (SPOILER! Its called "Slave Knight Gael") Also, the second phase from soul of cinder isnt close to the song from Gwyn, lord of cinder. Its the EXACT same melody, just with added violins and stuff, compared to the original solo piano. Its a direct callback, the soul of cinder is in fact a boss, like gwyn, the last (pre DLC) boss of its game. The soul of cinder is an amalgamation of all people who have linked the fire (dont worry about what that means yet, just a big event in the dark souls universe), and thus got burned to ash by it, sacrificing themselves to keep alive this flame, thats symbolic of all light in that world. So this boss in DS 3 is basically every player who has played DS 1 and linked the fire in it. The armor you see on both these pictures are official, and are the soul of cinder, and the armor itself is also an amalgam of many diffrent armor styles players might have worn before, as they burned to ash. However, the first one to ever link the fire, was Gwyn. He didnt die directly, but got killed by us as the player, and in DS 3 now, the soul of cinder which we fight, first uses a lot of diffrent types of attacks, just as players who played DS 1 had very diffrent attacks to choose from. In phase 2 it then basically went "Fuck this" and adapted the fighting style of Gwyn directly, because again, Gwyn was directly part of the amalgam that is the soul of cinder, the first part. Thats why in its phase 2, the theme of Gwyn plays, because we fight Gwyn once again.

[@tehsensei]

"You can parry Gwyn, but you can't parry the feels..." that's what describes this song the best, same as Gwyn's original theme from DS1. It's beautifully dark in every way. The Dark Souls series is absolute peak dark fantasy in the gaming world. Also you asked if this game was always successful. It was enough for them to make sequels, but not nearly as popular as it is now with the release of Elden Ring and its DLC. Even you heard about it because of its notorious difficulty. It's not that it's punishingly difficult, though it can be, it's more of it's kind of obscure with its mechanics. But the whole jist of the gameplay is dying and learning through trial and error. If you're willing to see failure for what it is, which is a learning experience, then you're going to finally "get it". I actually ragequit the first time I played it because I didn't understand Dark Souls. I was playing it like other games. Once I figured it out though it became one of my favorite franchises of all time. But yeah, Elden Ring is what made the series really popular, as it became more accessible to new players with a new NPC summon system. For context, DS3 sold 10 million copies in 4 years and Elden Ring sold 20 million in one. Pretty stark difference there. So if you're ever interested in the Souls series, Elden Ring could be a good place to start.

[@mateus_snw]

I feel like Jesse is almost at the point where he's gonna play the franchise, DS Music have the greatest presentation of a character that you can have on modern games, even if you don't know nothing about the lore you still able to feel everything about that character!

Oh in the picture the knight is actually holding a soul.

[@cerealexperimentsgrain]

also the reason why we got dark souls instead of demon's souls 2 is most likely because sony just didn't want a demon's souls 2, and they held the rights to the IP. like i mentioned in a previous comment, demon's souls barely sold well enough to warrant a western release. so dark souls 1 basically is "demon's souls 2" but with a new world, lore, characters, etc. that being said, i'm not entirely convinced that demon's souls 2 would've happened anyway, as miyazaki infamously really doesn't like making sequels. he's said before that he prefers to start with a fresh canvas, which is a big part of why he wasn't there much for ds2 (besides also being busy with bloodborne), and is also why basically the entire theme and story of ds3 is about stagnation and repeating cycles, almost as a meta-commentary as to how he felt the series had grown stale.

[@Arri9707]

Gwyn's theme kicking in gets me every single damn time

[@ShineRey]

Can't believe FromSoftware let that composer leave (Yuka Kitamura)... Dark Souls 3 tracks were almost all made by her, and i keep listening to those pieces once in a while.

[@LadyMoonboy]

The character on screen is actually the Soul of Cinder, the final boss of Dark Souls 3. He was on the cover art of the game and everyone (like you) thought it was the player character but it was actually the final boss and nobody knew about it. Only Fromsoftware can put the final boss on their cover art and on all of the promotional material. Fun fact: Early in the game's development another boss from the game called Pontiff Sulyvahn was suppossed to be the final boss and the main menu theme you heard was his theme. But they later changed it so he is more of a mid-game boss and his music became the main theme for the game and the Soul of Cinder became the final boss with a theme similar to Gwyn, Lord of Cinder from the first game. If you haven't heard the current ost for Pontiff Sulyvahn I recommend it. It slaps.

[@ellisg5623]

The main theme loops on the title screen. It isn’t found in other dark souls games, as it was originally written for the final boss before they changed their plans for the structure of the game

[@lordartorias96]

The dark souls series was supposed to only have one game as well, Miyazaki didn't want to make more, so fromsoft made Dark souls 2 without him, which is very obvious as it doesn't have the Miyazaki magic in it, so he made a third game to complete the franchise. Requesters did a good job requesting these as the soundtracks are amazing. Your thought process during the reactions are just as amazing too, the fact you were pretty much on the money is what suprises me everytime. Love the content man!

[@Necro-xy5ej]

Dark Souls has 3 games because the creator wasn't the fromsoft president at the time, so the Company kinda forced them to make DS2 without him and DS3 with him, he isn't a fan of making sequels It's interesting because that could've inspired the setting of DS3: a world where the current age has been going way beyond it's end point, leading to even more suffering and the world itself becoming distorted, kinda like the creator going "if this keeps going the séries is gonna become distorted, let It end"

[@agssilv5919]

the dark souls saga came out at a point in which games in general were becoming mainstream , becouse of that most games of that time were super super easy tp appeal to as many people as possible. demon souls and dark souls were outcasts they didnt hold your hand and that made them known as the hadrcore game , the ultra hard game (people who were fans already at the time didnt agree they thought of the game more as a experience)

[@vlander1992able]

Darksouls doesn't give you a story, you piece it together, while you wander the hallowed halls of history, picking up arms, talismans of those that have since lost their mind, body, or spirit. To glimpse for a moment at the last fading memory of who their owner once was, and the remnants of the realm they inhabited, like an archaeologist, might piece together a narrative of a person or a nation based on the remains and surviving tokens of their lost golden age.

[@solomon9655]

If you're willing to take your time and read, Fromsoft games have very good "stories" in my opinion. Though I'd say it's more like collecting vignettes and short stories that paint a larger picture, giving you more context for the worlds you're exploring. Fromsoft excels at world-building. The front facing stories are usually very simple and easy to digest, but there's a lot more happening beneath the surface that the writers deliberately obfuscate. It's not for everybody, but I think it achieves a very compelling dream-like feeling with occasional moments of lucidity.

[@Pascll]

the vocals for this game are not in any language, it's gibberish. the lyrics basically boil down to "saaaaaaaaa hooooooooo siiiiiiiiiiii haaaaaaaaaaa". there are some who claim it's latin, but they're basically just tricking themselves into hearing things that aren't there. as far as I'm aware, bloodborne is the only fromsoftware title where music is in an actual language, that being latin. elden ring does have one track in latin, but I doubt anyone's gonna request that one as it's not a boss theme.

[@xdYama]

Radagon’s theme is in latin, but it just repeats a few words, and the latin in both elden ring and bloodborne is grammatically and fundamentally incorrect

[@rd8260]

Bloodborne ( whole game ) and final battle in elden ring is in latin , while this is an rochestral words made artifically according to latin words

[@JetBalrog]

I was struck with a thought on the Main Theme- it sounds grand and dramatic and *sinister* but also the melodic line almost makes it sound like a funeral march at times? And considering the setting is about a world slowly dying that refuses to accept reality for what it is and keeps perpetuating a rotting system that's causing the entire world to collapse in on itself, a grand funeral march is honestly the best kind of theme for that world. Edit: On the three Dark Souls games question: the developers prefer to only do a single entry in their more recent games. You'll have spiritual successors and the like, but I think after spending so long with King's Field (four games in that series!) and Armored Core (six mainline and SEVERAL side games, the last of which being a return to form recently!) From Software wanted to do more self-contained things. Then their publisher demanded a sequel to Dark Souls after it blew up in popularity. I believe Miyazaki (the director of just about every classic game the company has made) came back to Dark Souls 2 late in development to help with a troubled cycle and helped clean things up and it shows as a very similar yet highly different game under the hood. It was made while the main team was creating Bloodborne, by the way. Dark Souls 3 was an attempt to recapture what people loved from the first Dark Souls with the lessons learned from the development of Bloodborne with a definitive "this is THE END of this set of games, but the setting will live on in us, those who experienced it" kind of finale, especially with the extra chapters released after the fact. It was never meant to be a trilogy, but each entry is wonderful in its own way. Elden Ring is probably the most like Dark Souls 3 in many ways but with a whole new world to play with and a different focus moment to moment. More about exploring a grand, large world, feeling like an archeologist unearthing ancient secrets and using them to answer questions currently, while Dark Souls 3 is the player in a world actively dying off and desperate for a savior- so much so that they turned to those who failed in the past- like the player character. The intro makes it clear you were one who failed, but now you must try again, for there are none left who can.

[@mateus_snw]

Some suggestions for Dark Souls 2 soundtrack reaction: - Burnt Ivory King - King Vendrick - Majula

[@denniskabba226]

Finally the Main Theme ❤❤❤

[@protossinator]

Another great Dark Souls pick is Majula theme from DS2!

[@DivineArchangelAzrael]

For main menu osts i recommend Code Vein's, it goes way too hard for no reason, its actually nuts

[@YTDariuS-my6dg]

I think it'd be nice to hear your thoughts on Elden Ring's "Starscourge Radahn" OST and then the DLC's "The Promised Consort" OST. I mean, Yuka Kitamura is a great composer (used to be my favorite when I just started playing Souls games) but DS3's OSTs almost sound too much sometimes. Too epic for a dying world. Shoi Miyazawa, on the other hand, hit the nail on the head with his work in Elden Ring.

[@Dasaltwarrior]

Fromsoft honestly might be unmatched when it comes to sweeping orchestral pieces, but I honestly love the more humble pieces of Demons Souls and Dark Souls 1 just as much Like Soul of Cinder and Ludwig are chilling pieces, but Maiden Astrea's theme from Demons gives me a pit in my stomach thinking about it, and I mean that in the best way possible Also "its fun to speculate and guess" is basically the fromsoft narrative experience, so you're more or less already there

[@AzurelimitM]

Id say youre half right. the story is optional, but it IS very important. you can play through the whole game(s) without really knowing whats going on but if you pay attention to the details you can piece together something incredible. the games would not have the following that they have if it weren't for the story

[@shirovader]

"it's the main character" the final boss antagonist of evil and the remains of all the people who use their life to light up the flame:

[@angeltzepesh1]

Hidetaka Miyazaki, the head director of most of Fromsoft games, doesn't like sequels, thats why every game besides Dark Souls has none. Dark souls has them because the first one was such a success. About the main theme being so chaotic and bombastic, that was supposed to be the theme of the final boss(slightly altered), but it was changed later in development and they didn't want the song to go to waste.

[@SAS_Traveler]

You NEED to hear "Lady Maria" OST from game Bloodborne

[@Nihlm2]

While all of fromsoft's games can be played without the context of the others, dark souls 1 and 3 are canonically of the same world, hundreds or thousands of years apart. The games follow a chosen human tasked with killing the old gods who had brought / continued the age of fire and becoming a sacrifice to free humanity of an "undead curse" and prolong their prosperity. The "cinder" part of both gwynn lord of cinder's and soul of cinder's titles refers to them being the current guardian of the flame (a literal representation of humanity's prosperity), with soul of cinder being the player character from the first game and the character on the soundtrack art. As for why it's only dark souls 1 and 3, the souls series was only a trilogy because of a contract, I believe with Bandai Namco, to make 3 games for them. The 2nd game was initially not even directed by the same person, and has a lot of different ideas, many of which would inspire elden ring's story. Though still, all of the fromsoft games you mentioned are commonly associated because their gameplay feel, art direction, music, and fundamental story principle of being a sacrifice to restore a decaying world are similar. Sorry for the wall of info lol

[@teunvanderveen6477]

I want this to play on my funeral when they hit the "cremate" button

[@kylebrown7968]

"he looks very hollow" bro you are just always on the money