A small team of prolific Dark Souls modders has released a demo for their sequel to the original game with a mod titled Dark Souls: Nightfall. While the original game was released in 2011, its legacy and design continue to inspire countless video games. Dark Souls won Ultimate Game of All Time at last year's Joystick Awards, beating out world-renowned games like Minecraft and Zelda: Breath of the Wild. The game's critical and commercial success paved the way for two sequels and a series of hit games like Bloodborne, Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, and the upcoming Elden Ring. However, many modders continue to find new and exciting ways to enjoy everything the first Dark Souls adventure offers and add to it.
While the original Dark Souls has received a Remastered edition, increasing the game's performance for modern consoles, fans have been modding the game and adding new features for years. Modders can accomplish wonders like successfully fixing broken games that no longer received support from their developers and making changes that can make a classic game feel brand new again. One modder successfully transformed Dark Souls into a more hardcore RPG with The Ascension Mod by upgrading the game's difficulty, weapon, and armor status effects and introducing new gameplay mechanics. One team of modders has decided to take modding to a new level, and instead of making changes to the classic game, they are looking to use Dark Soul's assets to create a new experience.
A small team of veteran modders has set out to create an entirely new Souls game using the assets and engine of the original game, and now players can download a demo for the fan-made sequel Dark Souls: Nightfall on Grimrukh's Blog. Team Nightfall includes Grimrukh and many talented individuals that have previously spent much time modding the original game, as well as 3D artists who have been adding completely new enemies and areas to explore in the ambitious sequel. The team recently showed gameplay of the mod and updated fans on the Dark Souls: Nightfall Youtube channel. Anyone who braved through the first Dark Souls knows of the game's Light or Dark endings, and Team Nightfall looks to explore the story of what happens after the game's Dark ending is chosen.
Many fans believe the original Dark Souls game manages to accomplish what so many soulslike games fail to do, which is to build an atmosphere that makes players feel uneasy and lonely. When players explore the game's world, each discovery and accomplishment feels triumphant. Nightfall's developers hope to recreate that feeling with an entirely new storyline, side-quests, and new fully voiced NPCs to populate the world of the fan-made sequel. Previous glimpses into the game have shown off a day-night cycle not seen in Dark Souls and many other impressive additions that promise to make Dark Souls: Nightfall a must-play for fans of the series.
The project was initially planned to release in December of 2021. However, to deliver the whole experience Grimrukh and his team set out to deliver and avoid a tremendous crunch on the team, Dark Souls: Nightfall's full release is now scheduled for sometime after Elden Ring's release on February 25. While there are some very impressive mods available to download for PC gamers, not very often does a mod community come together with the passion and hard work that Team Nightfall has shown in creating the new fan-made Dark Souls sequel. Soulslike fans excited for a new adventure in the vein of the original Dark Souls can download the mod's demo now and offer their support and feedback to Team Nightfall in order to help the team deliver the best Dark Souls sequel From Software never could.
Dark Souls: Remastered is available for purchase on PC, PlayStation 4|5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and Nintendo Switch.
Sources: Grimrukh's Nest, Dark Souls: Nightfall/Youtube