Prepare to Die?
FromSoftware is a game developer that has found popularity in the gaming industry thanks to their widely popular and best-selling series, Dark Souls. They may have gained notoriety from this series, but they have been around since 1986 with their first video game published in 1994 and have produced many popular games. Here are 5 games they have made that are not Dark Souls.
NOTE: I will keep this list strictly to games released in North America as many of their games did not make it out of Japan.
1. Armored Core Series
The Armored Core series has been around since it’s first entry on the PlayStation 1 in 1997. The series made a name for itself with it’s fast paced mech combat as well as the ability to customize their mech, “Armored Core”, to their liking with funds earned by completing missions. With a plot set in a post-war setting, corporations rule the world and battles are fought between Armored Cores piloted by mercs for hire. The games have continued on since then with expansions and sequels. The last entry in the series was Armored Core: Verdict Day, released on the PlayStation 3 in 2013.
2. Evergrace
Evergrace is an action role-playing game released on the PlayStation 2 in 2000. The third person RPG had two main characters that could be switched at any save point. The experience system was based on the items equipped to the character as opposed to the standard experience from combat/story progression. While the game did offer some ideas such as the ability to visually see any equipment placed on the character, it was met with poor response on it’s US release. Some of the ideas in this game may have served as inspiration for the eventual Demons’s Souls.
3. The Adventures of Cookie & Cream
This is quite the odd one. Some people may recognize this game from the older entry in the Game Grumps videos. Egoraptor and Jontron tackled this game and many fans were left wondering how a game like this came from the minds of FromSoftware. Released in 2001 for the PlayStation 2, the game requires either one player on their own, two players on one controller or two players on two controllers. The player(s) lead Cookie and Cream through hazardous terrain as they use teamwork to reach the end of the levels to eventually battle bosses such as a giant totem pole… Yeah, I am pretty sure this did not have any influence on the Dark Souls series.
4. Enchanted Arms
Released in 2007 for the Xbox 360 and the newly released Playstation 3, Enchanted Arms, is a Ubisoft published, JRPG with a somewhat convoluted story line. As the main character goes from a student to member of a rebellion, the player has to force their way through bad dialogue and a playable battle system, thanks to it’s auto play feature and tight turn based combat. As a launch game for the two systems, it was an “alright” pickup but the game has not aged well as many more innovative and interesting JRPGs have been released since then.
5. Ninja Blade
With Ninja Blade, FromSoftware was making their own attempt to make a Ninja Gaiden/Devil May Cry-esque game. Featuring huge set pieces, hack-and-slash combat and high intensity action, the game had everything to fit in line with the other heavy hitters in the genre. Microsoft took it upon themselves to assist in development and publishing in hopes of creating a new, exclusive series for the console not only in the US, but also in Japan where the Xbox 360 had not been doing well. The 2009 release of Ninja Blade was met with weak scores across most reviewers and did not manage to fight it’s way to the top and hang with the likes of Ryu Hayabusa and Dante.
FromSoftware may have reached the peaks with Dark Souls but the developer has been at this for a while now and has garnered experience and respect from it’s peers. There are many more games they have done in their 20+ years in the game industry and some are really great games that slipped by the masses. The next time you get mad that you were killed by that demonic creature guarding the gate to the next part of Lothric, just be glad you are not playing The Adventures of Cookies & Cream.