Dark Souls is an Open-World, RPG, type of game, it’s hard to describe it since its in a category in of itself. The whole gist of the story is that there is a fire called the First Flame that brings light to the world, but it is fading, to relight the fire, a powerful being would sacrifice themselves to reignite the fire and keep the Age of Fire going, those who complete this take are then called Lords of Cinder. During the time of Dark Souls III, the fire is fading once more, and the current candidate for reigniting the flame has refused, so four former lords have been resurrected, and they too have refused to reignite the fire, so your character has been resurrected, an Unkindled, one who was charged with linking the fire but failed in doing so. Now this post isn’t exactly going to be about the entire story, that would take forever. No, today I am going to talk to you about the soundtrack. With each boss you encounter throughout your journey, each of them have a score that enhances the personality of the boss, making them feel more alive rather than another obstacle in your way. A good example of this would be the Abyss Watchers, one of the previously mentioned Lords of Cinder. The Abyss Watchers’ name is pretty self explanatory, they watch the Abyss, a force that is the First Flames opposite, while the flame is light, the abyss is the dark, and it corrupts people into monsters. Any sign of corruption of the Abyss in any Kingdom would result in a swift end by the hands of the Abyss Watchers’, by any means necessary. In the end however, they too were beginning to be swallowed by the Abyss, as shown on their armor.
This in itself is shown in the music for this boss. A song of camaraderie and a fall from grace into corruption. There is a quote that goes very well with the theme of the Abyss Watchers’ story,
“He who fights monsters should be careful lest you become one yourself, for when you gaze long into the abyss, the abyss also gazes into you.” -Friederich Nietzsche
They were soldiers who guarded the world from darkness, yet in the end, they were swallowed by the same darkness they swore to fight against.
Greatest of Gaming And Music 