This June marks one year since FromSoftware released a teaser trailer for their new game and IP in collaboration with George R. R. Martin, Elden Ring, and in true FromSoftware fashion, they haven’t given us any new details since then. FromSoft loves to keep us in the dark up until their final product is ready, and while a year is a pretty long time without any new game details or footage, it’s safe to think that Elden Ring won’t disappoint us when it’s finally released. I mean, just look at how Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice turned out.
Still, it’s tough being a FromSoftware fan waiting on a new release. We did, however, get some great news from the recent PS5 reveal event: Demon’s Souls is getting a remake for the PS5, and it’s being made by Bluepoint Games, the studio behind the excellent remasters for The Shadow of the Colossus, the Metal Gear Solid HD Collection, and Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection, among others. It’s a win-win: we’re getting a next-gen Demon’s Souls experience handled by a reliable studio other than FromSoftware, which means that FromSoftware are able to use their time to work on Elden Ring.
Until we get new announcements and trailers for the Demon’s Souls remake and Elden Ring, all we can really do is wait. But sometimes you just need your FromSoftware fix, and while marathoning through your Soulsborne collection is one way to get it, you could also just check out these YouTube channels for fun playthroughs and thorough analyses on the FromSoftware games we love. I do love me a hundred hours of playing Bloodborne, but it’s much less frustrating to watch someone else die to the Orphan of Kos over and over.
Here are six YouTube channels that I recommend to the FromSoftware fans out there who just can’t get enough of the Soulsborne games.
The Lorekeepers
One of the things you’ll immediately notice when you start any FromSoftware game is that the story and lore are not spoon-fed to the player. There’s a vague narrative for each game so you can figure out how to progress, but you’ll have to iron out the details yourself from the weapon and item descriptions as well as NPC dialogue. The sparse information you’re given helps to immerse you in the games: you never skip dialogue, and you always pay attention to even the smallest detail.
And yet, when you finally finish a FromSoftware game, there are still plenty of questions about the story that can be left unanswered because of all the small details that might have flown over your head when you were too preoccupied trying not to run out of stamina and die. For when you’ve just finished Dark Souls or Bloodborne and you need someone to explain to you what the hell just happened, here are two YouTube channels whose specialty is searching for and explaining every bit of lore found in FromSoftware’s games.
The Ashen Hollow
VaatiVidya
The Seekers of Secrets
FromSoftware’s games are often huge and contain a large amount of secrets, with most of the secrets being accessible in the games through secret passages or behind those frustratingly hard-to-kill megabosses. But the other kind of secrets that lie within FromSoftware’s games are the characters, weapons, and locations that were cut from the games’ final versions.
If you ever found a door that mysteriously would never open or an NPC who seemed to play a big part in the story but never actually gave any quests or items, it’s likely that they were cut from the game due to time constraints or simply because they didn’t fit well enough in the final game. Here are two YouTube channels that explore the hidden secrets and cut content in FromSoftware’s games.
Lance McDonald
Sanadsk
The Absolute Madlads
Finally, when you’re all caught up with the lore and you’ve seen all the secrets and cut content in each game, what else is left to do but watch some gameplay videos? Of course, you’d want to watch those no-damage runs and boss fights, or maybe the speedrun records for each game. Those are all fine and good, and they definitely prove how easy and beatable the Soulsborne games can be so long as you’re willing to give them a couple of hundred hours of practice.
But just like how the Nuzlocke Challenge was created to make Pokemon games more interesting, there are all sorts of fun, rule-restricted runs you can do with the Soulsborne games, and these YouTube channels have some of the best of them. Did you ever wonder if the entirety of Bloodborne can be beaten without leveling up? Or if Dark Souls 3 can be played martial arts-style with some invisible gauntlet weapons? The answer to both questions is yes, and there’s video proof of them right on YouTube.
Yung Maestro
Ymfah
Did I miss any of your favorite FromSoftware game content creators? Let me know in the comments! And for updates on the Demon’s Souls remake as well as Elden Ring, be sure to stay tuned as I’ll be covering these details as soon as they come out.