Agreeing to Create Bad Games, What the Hell Is ‘Titanfall’? Chapter 476: Lord Ash, can you still hear my voice...?

A grand celebration!

And the climax of this celebration was completely ignited when the Lord of Ashes entered its second phase!

The lting heavenly flas erupting from the First Furnace brought an unparalleled, visually stunning experience!

The earth-shaking, fla-engulfing five-hit combo from the Lord of Ashes made countless players tremble with fear, watching helplessly as they were sent back to the bonfire!

Thunder suddenly roared!

The golden Sunlight Spear unleashed its lightning fury!

Flas raged everywhere!

The wild Kusabimaru swept out overwhelming heat waves!

Amid this spectacular, visually saturated ultimate showdown, the Ashen Ones also unleashed their unique skills, fighting desperately to overco the challenge!

Soul Spears launched from staves.

The brilliant light struck by the Moonlight Greatsword.

Sparks flying as the Exile Greatsword smashed against the ground.

One after another, Gray Explosion was confronting this incredibly powerful Lord of Ashes incarnation in their own way.

He was truly too ferocious!

The Lord of Ashes before them seed to have no particular distinctive features.

No ancient dragon's massive size, no Sullivan's dazzling dual swords, no Naless King's imposing flying dragon mount.

But he was like the combined form of countless battle-hardened players.

What Gray Explosion could do, he could do.

What Gray Explosion couldn't do, he could also do.

Straight swords, curved swords, staves, spears...

Sorceries, pyromancies, miracles...

Powerful martial arts and attacks as scorching hot as the sun—he was the embodint of all players, all enemies, even all life in the entire Dark Souls world.

The Lord of Ashes incarnation was the world, and the world was the Lord of Ashes incarnation.

He was omniscient, all-knowing, mastering all combat techniques!

But!

Gray Explosion was no longer the unburnable trash who first entered the Dark Souls world!

Now!

They had inherited the final embers of the five Lords of Ashes!

They had beco fla-kindling heroes with formidable combat experience and steadfast souls!

Countless players tried again and again.

And fell again and again.

Opening streaming platforms.

Shark, Dragon Tooth, Black Flag, TT, Twitch...

Countless Gray Explosions dostically and internationally were engaged in desperate battles with this absurdly powerful Lord of Ashes using their weapons!

Every attack, every dodge roll, contained the effort of dozens or even hundreds of hours of their dedication!

This was the charm of the ga.

This was the steadfast soul of the Unkindled Ash, rising again after countless failures!

Finally!

When the tireless rebirth once again brought the grinding king back, facing this nearly omniscient and omnipotent Lord of Ashes incarnation, and desperately unleashed the final attack!

BOOM!!!

That health bar so long it spanned the entire interface, like an insurmountable mountain, like a rushing river.

At this mont, finally completely vanished.

Thud.

The scorching flas on the Lord of Ashes incarnation gradually dimd as it knelt on the ground.

The grand symphony abruptly ceased!

And the dimd Lord of Ashes incarnation, like embers burning out, slowly collapsed to the ground, turning into a wisp of flying soul.

[LORD OF CIDERFALLEN]

A faintly glowing dark golden soul appeared where the Lord of Ashes incarnation had fallen—

[Soul of the Lords]

[The aggregated souls of the great Lords of Cinder who inherited the First Fla after the first Lord of Cinder, Gwyn]

It was an end, and also a beginning.

The first Lord of Cinder.

Gwyn.

From the very beginning of the ga, the glorious age of fire was like a mysterious ancient book buried in the fragnts of historical dust, elusive yet captivating.

And now, this first fla Lord of Cinder nad "Gwyn" was undoubtedly the creator of this age of fire.

So what did Golden Wind an by specially placing this na in the final battle reward?

Undoubtedly—

The story of Dark Souls was far from over.

The glory of the First Fla would surely be displayed in retrospect in the upcoming sequel.

But at this mont.

As the Lord of Ashes incarnation's soul was collected, the ti for the Ashen One's choice had arrived.

Thinking back carefully, it seed the bell ringing was already a distant mory.

Slowly looking up—

The Ashen One gazed at the boundless, desolate First Furnace.

The solar eclipse in the sky had grown increasingly darker.

If they didn't quickly pass on the fla, this world would soon plunge into darkness.

Now, the fate of the world was gathered in their hands.

Throughout the journey, whether it was the fla-kindling faction of Lothric hoping for the fla's continuation, or the fire-extinguishing faction advocating for the world's destruction, or even the Abyss waiting in the darkness.

All forr factions, at this mont, dissipated like smoke, becoming insignificant.

Whether Gray Explosion chose to kindle the fla or extinguish it, the world had to accept this outco.

Gray Explosion ca before the First Fla, looking at the burning fire within, falling into deep thought.

He had been awakened by the bell to kindle the fla, and had fought with this belief until now.

But looking at the small fla before him, recalling the journey, the Ashen One seed to be truly examining this world for the first ti.

He put on Onion Knight's helt, equipped Thief Brother's Blue Tearstone Ring, wore the pyromancy teacher's glove on his left hand, slowly crouched down using Bald Patch's squat, looked at the Fran Greatsword deeply inserted into the ashen dust before him, tightened the Anri's Straight Sword hanging at his waist, and gently placed Hawkwood's shield nearby.

In this world, everyone had their own mission.

And now, I too have reached the end of my mission.

Having the courage to face the darkness might be the foundation for rebirth from the flas.

In silence, the white soapstone mark behind the Ashen One gradually lit up.

The Fireguard Maiden, who had been by his side from beginning to end, never leaving, slowly materialized.

Then, the Fireguard Maiden in her elegant black robe slowly walked toward the First Fla, carefully crouched down, leaned beside the Ashen One, and reached her hands toward the fla.

Weak and small.

Like a single grain in the vast sea, desperate and minute.

Then, that small fla was gently gathered into the Fireguard Maiden's palms.

The crimson sky grew increasingly darker.

The First Fla.

Gray Explosion looked at the fla in the Fireguard Maiden's hands, his feelings complex.

What a magnificent miracle.

Through this small cluster of fla, he seed able to see the forr fire that was as prosperous as the sun.

But now, it was held like this in hands, just a small cluster.

"The First Fla is gradually fading."

"I suppose darkness will descend soon."

The Fireguard Maiden's voice was soft and shallow, but filled with calm:

"...But one day, a small fla will surely reappear in the darkness, that is the ember passed down by the lords..."

The extinguishing of the fla would an the arrival of the Age of Deep Sea.

But the arrival of the Age of Deep Sea did not an the eternal end of the world.

In that endless and prolonged Age of Deep Sea, there would always be an opportunity, a mont when a small First Fla would reappear in the boundless darkness, like the cycle of reincarnation, illuminating this world again.

And fresh, prosperous hope would once again spread across this land.

The sky gradually darkened, all surrounding light rapidly fading away.

Darkness spread, Gray Explosion slowly walked to the Fireguard Maiden's side and sat down.

Finally, silent darkness enveloped the world, and simultaneously, the silhouettes of the two disappeared into the complete darkness.

After a while, the Fireguard Maiden's voice erged from the darkness.

"Lord Gray Explosion, can you still hear my voice...?"

Was the descent of darkness terrifying?

Now, Gray Explosion seed to have found the answer in his heart.

As long as courage and hope like flas still exist.

Darkness.

Would never be sothing to fear.

Dong— dong— dong—

The bell tolled, solemn and grand music gradually rose.

The world entered the next cycle.

And in the complete darkness.

Dark golden text quietly appeared—

["Dark Souls"]

["Golden Wind"]

["Grand Presentation"]

Sigh—

The ga had ended here, but many players were unwilling to leave the motion-sensing pods for a long ti.

A breath released, as if relieving tension, yet with a sense of loss.

This tragic epic that seed to foreshadow the final outco from the very beginning had now drawn its curtain.

Gray Explosion ultimately chose to extinguish the world's fla, completely ending this final age of fire already filled with sorrow and deathly silence.

Ending the long and hopeless era with montary pain.

Of course.

Following Golden Wind's tradition, the ga naturally didn't have just one ending.

Fire extinguishing was the official ending of this Golden Wind work, but players could also choose to continue this world, waiting until a truly powerless mont to let the world plunge into darkness and enter the next cycle.

Oh right, besides kindling the fla and extinguishing the fire, you could of course also be a traitor, killing the maiden to prove your path when the Fireguard Maiden obtains the fla, becoming a fire-stealing villain, the Lord of Hollows.

The open design gave players the possibility of multiple playthroughs.

And the thousands of additional NPC side quests were enough to ignite players' interest in experiencing a second playthrough.

"Dark Souls"

As a ga representing the pinnacle of motion-sensing technology and Golden Wind's storytelling ga design experience, had reached its conclusion here.

But the discussion heat about Dark Souls was just beginning to ignite.

As the first work in the series, the conclusion that "Dark Souls is the first work in the series" was firmly established as players completed the ga.

After all, as an age where fire is fading, this world left players with far too many mysteries.

Just the na of the first Lord of Cinder Gwyn alone was enough for players to engage in endless speculation.

And if players were willing to dig deeper, the clues hidden within the layered fragnted narrative also revealed the prosperity and entanglents of the forr age of fire.

Moreover, in terms of quality, this Dark Souls not only represented the current peak of comprehensive indicators including gaplay, art, soundtrack, story, and atmosphere in "Wolf-type gas".

Its deep exploration of human nature and spirit absolutely deserved players discussing it separately.

Regarding this, various dia and reviewers, while scoring, offered their own insights, even sparking a dostic and international hashtag discussion titled #So, what exactly is Dark Souls?#—