Approximately six years ago, Elden Ring publisher and Souls IP owner Bandai Namco received a pitch for a 2D Metroidvania-style game that would leverage the rich world of the Dark Souls series, with Dark Souls 3, in particular, used as a reference.
Despite how popular this particular niche has become – just this year I spoke to the makers of several popular games, many of them Metroidvanias and all widely known as Souls-likes, to dig into the genre's roots – that pitch never bore fruit. But thanks to artist Thomas Feichtmeir, we now know that it looked cool as all hell.
Feichtmeir posted a stunning bit of art (above) that was used for the pitch, noting that the NDA on such materials had finally run out. The pixel art is impeccable, and the detail in this one shot – from the Dancer of the Boreal Valley's armor to that classic Dark Souls user interface – shows a lot of promise. It's hard to imagine a better version of 'Dark Souls 3 but 2D.'
"Back at the time it just became evident that Metroidvanias hit a nerve and would get big," Feichtmeir said in response to one inquisitive Souls fan after the art went viral. "Many of the Metroidvania games which got pitched or seemed interesting anyways had a Dark Souls inspiration, so the idea made a lot of sense."
"I think From Software was / would not have been involved, as Bandai Namco holds the IP," he explained in another Twitter reply. "Pitches like this are often made for any IP, some of them become games. It's quite a normal business practice." He also added that "the art here was created in a style which would have been doable in the average budget estimations of Metroidvanias back then," and he wasn't entirely sure why the game never got off the ground.
The art was created around 2016 as everyone wanted to have a cool 2D Souls-like Metroidvania
Thomas Feichtmeir
I reached out to Feichtmeir to learn more about the project and his role in it, not to mention his history as an artist. He's been specializing in pixel art for over 12 years – with about six years dedicated to Metroidvanias alone – and has contributed to over 20 games. He says working on Blasphemous was especially enjoyable, and he's currently art director on Streets of Rogue 2. Some of his recent, non-Metroidvania projects include Songs of Conquest and Dome Keeper, which have both earned glowing reviews on Steam.
"I was approached to do this by a company who hired me as an independent contractor," he said of this 2D Dark Souls game, speaking with 12DOVE over email. (Unfortunately, he said he couldn't share any more assets from the pitch, so this image is all we've got.) "I am allowed to finally show this artwork after many years of waiting which was part of my agreement with them. The art was created around 2016 as everyone wanted to have a cool 2D Souls-like Metroidvania, as the genre was new and the hunger for a game like this was really strong. Of course someone had to try a pitch to Bandai Namco. Sadly I can't say more.
"If you ask me why I got this job, I can only speculate, but I was at that time already well-established in the Dark Souls YouTube and streamer community and made a lot of Twitch emotes for them," he continued. "On top of that I had a lot of experience and many pixel art game credits under my belt. I also know a fair bit about European Medieval and Renaissance history and things which are very helpful for creating those visuals. So I most likely was just a very good fit for this job, in style, experience and interest. A lot of people pointed out that this looks a lot like Blasphemous; they are right, and it also makes a lot of sense as a few years later I actually would work on Blasphemous as an artist."
I hope you enjoy looking at the Dark Souls 3 art I shared as much as I did creating it back then
Thomas Feichtmeir
Interestingly, Feichtmeir's post also surfaced traces of another canceled Dark Souls spinoff which was reportedly in the works at Bandai Namco Vancouver before the studio was closed. As artist Jessie Lam lamented on Twitter, the project was apparently internally competing with Slashy Souls, a Dark Souls 3 promo game. "We would've ended up with essentially two Dark Souls-inspired mobile titles," Lam said.
"Game pitches sometimes get pitted against each other without either dev studio knowing, for a variety of reasons we're not privy to, and honestly it's such a long time ago all I have left are a lot of sad memories I'd rather not dig up," Lam said when I reached out.
Feichtmeir said he wasn't familiar with any other Dark Souls spinoff pitches, but he acknowledged that it's not uncommon for these sorts of pitches and side projects to die internally.
"I hope you enjoy looking at the Dark Souls 3 art I shared as much as I did creating it back then," Feichtmeir concluded. "Knowing that at some point you'll be able to share what you create can be a really strong creative force, even if it takes years. This is the first time this is shown!"
We've reached out to Bandai Namco for additional details on this project and will update our reporting if we hear back.
Dark Souls is slowly coming back to life after extended multiplayer downtime.
