From King’s Field to Elden Ring: How FromSoftware Forged Dark Fantasy

Long before Dark Souls became shorthand for punishing difficulty and intricate worldbuilding, FromSoftware was a small studio experimenting with 3D dungeon crawling on the original PlayStation. The team’s early dark fantasy RPGs, launched in an era when fully polygonal worlds were still novel, laid the groundwork for mechanics, mood, and philosophy that would later define the Soulsborne and Elden Ring era.

This article traces that evolution—from the rough-edged ambition of King’s Field through to the refined, interconnected worlds of modern FromSoftware titles. Using those early experiments as a lens, we can see how design risks, hardware limitations, and a willingness to challenge players crystallized into one of gaming’s most influential lineages.

FromSoftware Before Souls: A Studio Finding Its Voice

FromSoftware was founded in Japan in 1986, initially as a business software developer. According to the company’s official history, the studio’s first major step into gaming came with King’s Field for PlayStation, released in 1994 in Japan as a first-person dark fantasy RPG built entirely with polygons.¹

In the early 1990s, polygonal 3D was still experimental on consoles. Many games used sprites or hybrid techniques. FromSoftware’s decision to pursue a fully 3D dungeon crawler was less a safe bet and more a bold, somewhat naive leap—exactly the kind of challenge a studio new to game development might take on without knowing how difficult it would be.

The 32-bit leap and a young studio

Within the context of the PlayStation’s launch window, King’s Field stood out for several reasons:

• Full polygonal environments: The entire dungeon was built in 3D, including the walls, ceilings, and enemies.
• First-person perspective: At a time when many console RPGs favored overhead or side views, this created a sense of immersion and claustrophobia.
• Deliberate pacing: Movement was slow, attacks were weighted, and combat required careful positioning, foreshadowing later FromSoftware design.

These pillars were not yet refined, but they signaled a studio interested in atmosphere and tension over instant gratification. That principle would only strengthen over the next decades.

King’s Field: Prototype of a Dark Fantasy Philosophy

King’s Field and its sequels never reached mainstream popularity on the level of Dark Souls, but they established many ideas that would later resurface in more polished forms. The series emphasized mystery, sparse storytelling, and a world that felt indifferent—if not outright hostile—to the player.

Hallmarks of early FromSoftware design

Several traits from the King’s Field era would become the foundation of the studio’s future work:

• Opaque storytelling: Narrative was delivered through item descriptions, cryptic NPC dialogue, and environmental hints rather than long cutscenes.
• Exploration over direction: Players were rarely told exactly where to go. Getting lost was part of the experience.
• High stakes progression: Death was punishing, and progress could be lost quickly, creating tension and caution.
• Deliberate combat: Attack animations were slow and committing, demanding timing and patience rather than button-mashing.

In a modern context, these might sound like deliberate design choices. At the time, they were also shaped by technological limits, budget constraints, and a team learning through trial and error.

Learning through constraint

Early 3D hardware limited draw distance and geometric complexity. FromSoftware used those limitations to its advantage, leaning into:

• Narrow corridors to reduce rendering load while intensifying claustrophobia.
• Dim lighting that both masked visual roughness and heightened suspense.
• Minimalist UI to keep focus on the environment and player awareness.

These choices coincidentally supported the dark fantasy tone that would become the studio’s signature. Instead of competing with flashy visuals, FromSoftware doubled down on mood and systems.

Building a Dark Fantasy Identity

As the studio continued into the late 1990s and early 2000s, it produced a range of titles—mech simulators like Armored Core, more King’s Field entries, and other experiments. Yet the DNA of a particular kind of RPG was solidifying: bleak worlds, cryptic lore, and an emphasis on player agency under pressure.

Why dark fantasy fit FromSoftware

Dark fantasy wasn’t unique to the studio, but the way FromSoftware treated it was distinct. Rather than epic heroics and power fantasies, their worlds tended to be:

• Decayed: Ruins, dying kingdoms, and cycles of failure.
• Ambiguous: Few clear good/evil dichotomies; moral gray areas were the norm.
• Hostile: Environments and enemies that felt designed to test, not empower, the player.

This aesthetic ethos carried forward directly into Demon’s Souls, Dark Souls, and eventually Elden Ring, where the beauty of the world is inseparable from its cruelty.

Demon’s Souls: A Risk That Changed Everything

While the GamesRadar article focuses on FromSoftware’s earliest dark fantasy efforts, it’s impossible to trace the lineage to Dark Souls and Elden Ring without acknowledging Demon’s Souls. Released in Japan in early 2009, the game initially had modest expectations from publisher and studio alike.

A video retrospective by GameSpot notes that Demon’s Souls launched in February 2009 and, despite not being a blockbuster, quickly exceeded sales expectations and developed a dedicated following.² Its challenging gameplay and unconventional online systems surprised both players and publishers, setting the stage for the Souls phenomenon.

Core innovations of Demon’s Souls

Demon’s Souls refined many ideas hinted at in King’s Field while adding new systems that would become iconic:

• World Tendency: A dynamic difficulty mechanic affecting enemies and world state based on player actions.
• Asynchronous multiplayer: Bloodstains, messages, and invasions created a feeling of a shared, haunted world.
• Hub-based structure: The Nexus connected distinct worlds, each with its own identity and challenges.

Commercially, the game significantly outperformed limited projections. In North America, it was published by Atlus USA, and Atlus later reported that strong sales of Demon’s Souls helped boost its profits in that fiscal period.³ While exact numbers vary by source, the game’s unexpected success demonstrated that there was an audience eager for demanding, atmospheric RPGs.

Dark Souls: Codifying the Formula

When Dark Souls followed in 2011, it transformed a surprise success into a global phenomenon. According to FromSoftware’s own company history, Dark Souls shipped around 2.8 million units worldwide in its initial release period, signaling the franchise’s leap from cult hit to mainstream recognition.¹

From hubs to a cohesive world

One of the biggest shifts from Demon’s Souls was structural. Instead of separate worlds accessed from a hub, Dark Souls presented:

• An interconnected world: Areas looped back into one another, creating a sense of place and continuity.
• Diegetic progression: Elevators, ladders, and hidden passages replaced menu-based travel.
• Environmental storytelling at scale: Architecture and geology hinted at history without exposition.

Even this design leap traces back to the studio’s early experiments: the maze-like dungeons of King’s Field taught FromSoftware how to build spatially coherent, navigationally challenging environments.

Core design pillars that persisted

Across Dark Souls and its successors, several design ideas remained central:

• Risk & reward: The soul/bloodstain mechanics made every decision meaningful, echoing the high-stakes progression of earlier games.
• Player-driven discovery: Secrets, shortcuts, and lore all rewarded curiosity rather than checklist-following.
• Mechanical clarity over spectacle: Despite improved visuals, readability and timing in combat always trumped visual excess.

These pillars are now widely discussed in industry circles as examples of how to build satisfying, challenging gameplay loops.

Modern Milestones: Dark Souls II, III, and the Road to Elden Ring

After the original Dark Souls, FromSoftware iterated on its formula across multiple sequels and spin-offs. Each entry refined aspects of combat, level design, and narrative delivery while staying true to the studio’s core identity.

Official figures released by Bandai Namco and FromSoftware indicate that the Dark Souls series has sold tens of millions of units worldwide, transforming what began as a niche experiment into a major global brand.⁴

Elden Ring: Open Worlds with Old Lessons

Elden Ring represents the culmination of FromSoftware’s dark fantasy tradition, translating the principles of King’s Field, Demon’s Souls, and Dark Souls into an open-world structure. Rather than abandoning its roots, the game reinterprets them on a much larger canvas.

Continuity with early design

Several aspects tie Elden Ring directly back to the studio’s early work:

• Exploration as primary motivation: The Lands Between is structured so curiosity leads to discoveries, similar to how King’s Field rewarded thorough dungeon exploration.
• Layered mystery: Lore is still partially hidden in item descriptions, architecture, and optional encounters.
• High-stakes encounters: Bosses remain tests of observation, patience, and mechanical mastery.

According to financial reporting by Bandai Namco, Elden Ring sold over 20 million units within its first year, underscoring how far the studio’s distinct design philosophy has migrated into the mainstream.⁴

Lessons FromSoftware’s Journey Offers Modern Developers

Looking backward from Elden Ring to King’s Field, a few key lessons emerge that are relevant for current and aspiring game developers.

1. Constraints can define style

FromSoftware’s early hardware limitations helped shape the claustrophobic, carefully paced experiences that became its hallmark. Instead of treating constraints as obstacles, the studio used them to reinforce atmosphere and gameplay. Even on modern hardware, the team avoids overloading the screen, preserving clarity and tension.

2. Difficulty can be an identity, not a gimmick

The studio’s games are often associated with difficulty, but it’s more nuanced than simply making enemies hit hard. FromSoftware tends to ensure that:

• Rules are consistent and learnable.
• Player deaths usually feel explainable, not arbitrary.
• Failure teaches tactics or routes rather than just punishing progress.

Game design researchers have noted that well-tuned challenge can lead to the psychological state of “flow,” where players remain engaged and motivated despite repeated failure.⁵ FromSoftware’s work is often cited as a pop-culture example of this principle in action.

3. Trusting the player fosters deeper engagement

FromSoftware rarely over-explains its worlds. This trust that players will piece things together has arguably contributed to a culture of community lore analysis, wiki-building, and discussion. The approach contrasts with heavily tutorialized games that risk undermining discovery.

4. Iteration over reinvention

From King’s Field to Elden Ring, the studio seldom discards successful ideas. Instead, it iterates on core systems—stamina-based combat, meaningful death, environmental storytelling—while experimenting with new formats (hub worlds, linear adventures, open worlds). That balance keeps each title distinct without losing the identity fans expect.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is King’s Field part of the Dark Souls universe?

No. King’s Field and Dark Souls do not share a canonical universe or storyline. However, they share themes, mechanical ideas, and a dark fantasy tone that clearly link them as part of the same design lineage.

Why were early FromSoftware games considered so difficult?

Early titles like King’s Field offered minimal guidance, punishing death penalties, and deliberate combat that required patience. Combined with hardware limitations that restricted visibility and responsiveness, these factors created experiences that felt demanding and sometimes unforgiving.

Did Demon’s Souls succeed commercially when it launched?

Yes, though expectations were modest initially. In Japan and later in North America, Demon’s Souls sold better than projected and quickly built strong word of mouth, contributing to higher-than-expected profits for its publisher and encouraging the development of Dark Souls.^2,3

What makes Elden Ring different from earlier Souls games?

Elden Ring takes the core combat and progression ideas from Souls games and places them in a sprawling open world. Players can approach challenges in various orders, explore optional regions, and use mounts for traversal, all while experiencing the familiar high-risk combat and cryptic storytelling.

Can new players start with Elden Ring, or should they play Dark Souls first?

New players can comfortably start with Elden Ring. It offers more flexibility and tools to overcome difficulty spikes, while still capturing FromSoftware’s signature style. Playing earlier games first can deepen appreciation for the design evolution, but it isn’t required for understanding or enjoying Elden Ring.

Looking Back to Understand the Future

FromSoftware’s path from the polygonal corridors of King’s Field to the open fields of Elden Ring is a story of gradual refinement more than sudden reinvention. A small team, initially unfamiliar with game development, embraced the risks of early 3D technology and, through years of iteration, turned that experiment into a globally influential design philosophy.

The studio’s dark fantasy RPGs are now studied for their integration of mechanics, mood, and worldbuilding. Yet at their core, they remain true to the same impulse that drove the first PlayStation dungeon crawler: to create a world that feels dangerous, mysterious, and wholly absorbing—and to trust players to find their own way through the darkness.