THE LIBRARY
Collector guides, cover censuses, and edition answers, documented issue by issue. Every page answers one specific question, completely.
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FROMSOFTWARE
45 shelvesWhat is FromSoftware?
FromSoftware, the Tokyo studio behind Dark Souls and Elden Ring: founded 1986 by Naotoshi Zin as a business software company, King’s Field in 1994, Kadokawa…

The FromSoftware Box Art Gallery
Verified cover art for Demon’s Souls, the Dark Souls trilogy, Bloodborne, Sekiro, Elden Ring, Nightreign, Armored Core and Otogi, with the Japan and West…

What was King’s Field?
King’s Field, FromSoftware’s first game (December 16, 1994): the Japan-only original, the Western renumbering of II and III, King’s Field IV, the Sword of…

What is Demon’s Souls?
Demon’s Souls (PlayStation 3, February 5, 2009): the troubled FromSoftware and Japan Studio project Hidetaka Miyazaki took over, its Boletaria, World Tendency,…

Why did Demon’s Souls become a cult hit in the West?
How Demon’s Souls conquered the West without a Western publisher: Sony’s pass, the import wave, Atlus in North America (October 2009), Namco Bandai in PAL (June…

How are Dark Souls and King’s Field connected?
The documented line from King’s Field (1994) through Demon’s Souls (2009) to Dark Souls (2011): spiritual succession at each step, Miyazaki’s own cited…

Who is Hidetaka Miyazaki?
Hidetaka Miyazaki: born 1974 in Shizuoka, Keio graduate, Oracle account manager turned FromSoftware planner in 2004 after playing Ico, director of Demon’s Souls,…

How did Miyazaki become president of FromSoftware?
Hidetaka Miyazaki’s promotion to FromSoftware president in May 2014, following Kadokawa’s purchase of the studio: the unprecedented ten-year rise, Zin’s move to…

What inspired Dark Souls?
The documented inspirations of Dark Souls and Demon’s Souls: Miyazaki’s childhood library reading, Sorcery! gamebooks, Ico, Dragon Quest, Zelda, King’s Field,…

What is Dark Souls?
Dark Souls (2011): FromSoftware’s spiritual successor to Demon’s Souls for PS3 and Xbox 360, the Lordran setting, bonfires and bloodstains, the Prepare to Die…

How was Dark Souls designed?
The design of Dark Souls: Lordran’s interconnected structure, bonfires that reset the world, bloodstains, asynchronous multiplayer, and the real architecture…

How does Dark Souls tell its story?
Dark Souls’ storytelling method: item flavour text, environmental detail and NPC dialogue in place of cutscenes, and Miyazaki’s stated preference for player…

Why is Dark Souls so difficult?
Why Dark Souls is difficult, in Miyazaki’s documented words: accomplishment through tremendous odds, death as a learning tool, the scrapped permanent-death idea,…

What is Dark Souls II?
Dark Souls II (March 2014): the trilogy’s only non-Miyazaki-directed entry, directed by Tomohiro Shibuya and Yui Tanimura, designed by founder Naotoshi Zin, set…

What is Dark Souls II: Scholar of the First Sin?
Dark Souls II: Scholar of the First Sin (April 2015): the compiled edition with The Lost Crowns DLC trilogy, remastered visuals on PS4 and Xbox One, revised…

What is Dark Souls III?
Dark Souls III (2016): Miyazaki’s return as lead director, Lothric and the Lords of Cinder, the Bloodborne-quickened pace, Ashes of Ariandel and The Ringed City,…

What are the Dark Souls Design Works art books?
The Dark Souls Design Works books (Kadokawa in Japan, UDON in English): three hardcover art volumes for the trilogy, the Design Works interview with Miyazaki in…

Who composes the music for Dark Souls?
The composers of the Souls sound: Shunsuke Kida (Demon’s Souls), Motoi Sakuraba and Yuka Kitamura (Dark Souls trilogy), Bloodborne’s six-composer score, Sekiro…

What was the Japanese Dark Souls Trilogy Box?
The Dark Souls Trilogy Box (Japan, May 24, 2018): the Japan-exclusive PlayStation 4 set with all three games, every expansion and soundtrack, bookends, art…

What is Bloodborne?
Bloodborne (PlayStation 4, March 2015): Miyazaki and Japan Studio’s gothic action RPG, Yharnam and the night of the hunt, trick weapons and guns in place of…

How was Bloodborne made?
The making of Bloodborne: the 2012 Japan Studio approach, the Project Beast codename, parallel development with Dark Souls II, the deliberate 30 fps target, the…

What is The Old Hunters?
The Old Hunters (November 24, 2015): Bloodborne’s single expansion, the Hunters’ Nightmare, Lady Maria of the Astral Clocktower, the Fishing Hamlet and the…

What is Bloodborne Official Artworks?
Bloodborne Official Artworks: the 256-page official art book (Kadokawa in Japan, UDON English paperback 2017), Future Press’s 744-page complete guide, the Titan…

Why has Bloodborne never been remastered?
Why Bloodborne has never been remastered or ported: the documented record, the 2022 Sony legacy poll it won, Bluepoint’s rejected remake pitch, and Miyazaki’s…

What is Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice?
Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice (March 22, 2019): FromSoftware’s Sengoku action game, Wolf and the Shinobi Prosthetic, resurrection and Dragonrot, its Tenchu origins,…
