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FromSoftware is a company known for making games that are mechanically challenging, aesthetically pleasing, and narratively confusing. The storytelling in their games is rarely straightforward, and information about the narrative or themes is almost never given directly. In spite of this indirect method of storytelling, when one looks closer at FromSoftware’s breakout title Dark Souls, it becomes clear how thematically rich the game is. Many of Dark Souls’ themes are solely communicated by gameplay elements. This method of communicating themes takes full advantage of the interactive medium and allows a player to discover the meaning in the story themselves. Combine this with the fact that multiple elements and items in Dark Souls contribute to these broader ideas, and the first and perhaps even subsequent playthrough of Dark Souls can be a very introspective experience. These pages examine just some of the themes presented in Dark Souls through the items a player can find in the world of Lordran.