Dark Souls: Design Works: Volume 1

I'm a big fan of the souls franchise so this art book was something I really wanted. It has three sections;complete art, concept art and a small interview and it goes into a bit of detail and shows you everything even the unused parts which were used for later games I believe. The quality of the prints were decent some of them were very slightly blurring but I really had to look at it to tell. The interview really goes into detail about their process in designing the environment and bosses like the gaping dragon and the belfry gargoyles It's really great and was worth the money, definitely cheaper then some other art books out there.

just had a quick look come woth concept art and unused pieces and covers some of the bosses towards the end there is an inteview included

This book may be slightly slim (as most artbooks are, really) but it's worth the asking price, in my view. Dark Souls is my favourite game of the last 10 years, if not ever. My adoration of it is largely due to its visual design, which establishes the dark fantasy theme of the world of Lordran perfectly. Seeing the original conceptualisations of characters, armour, environments, and enemies that I'm so familiar with in 3D is a fascinating experience. Incidental details, like how Siegemeyer's onion helm opens (it's on a hinge), or alternative designs for Smough's mask, or even how Smough isn't actual fat under that armour, will be like catnip to any Dark Souls dweeb. Some of the pictures are a wee bit small on the printed page, but overall I'd say the layout is solid and the printing quality is good. Best of all, in my opinion, is the lengthy interview at the back with some of the principal designers. The attention to detail combined with fertile imaginations is evident in how the team answer the questions and I just wish it was longer. A whole book about the conceptualisation and design of the game would be nice, Fromsoft, cheers.

This book is a must for any Dark Souls fans, beautifully images to gander over and really interesting interviews. The Art is broken down down into concept art and design materials. the first containing prints of previous released art ( in collectors edition/ptde) and some unreleased art. The design works, as far as i can tell is mostly unreleased items, some of ideas that never made it, and small notes for developers. The interview(s) that fill the last chapter is really interesting and gives a good insight into the design processes that go on at from software. overall i would definitely recommended to any Souls fan.

A must have for a Dark Souls fanatic, like myself, but be wary of the cost to content ratio. I have bought UDON books before and this cover art is probably up there with the likes of the Okami book. It even comes with a reflective sleeve that you can take off and still get a nice cover, which is black and red, rather than black and white. The art inside is great with both big and small images, but not a lot of text. You only get the names of what it represents, so it might say the name of the enemy in the drawing, or the area for example. Funnily enough, there was an error. I am not sure if it's due to the translation or the original write up of the Japanese book. The error was getting the labels for 2 enemies mixed up, it's nothing major to me, but a perfectionist might want to take note. I primarily buy these books for the text so to only have information about the art in an interview, a very lengthy one at that (about 9 full A4 pages) was a bit disappointing. But the interview is really good and gives quite a lot of information on the design of Dark Souls throughout the development of the game, and it taught me that Miyazaki has a great sense of humour and learns from the mistakes he made producing this game. Sadly, the book ends after the interview at only 128 pages long. At 30 pounds, really consider how much you want it. After 1500 hours poured into the game, I saw it as a no-brainer. Some of the art you may have seen already, but it's still nice to have it in a physical format. So thank you very much UDON for translating this, and many others. Highly recommend, but just consider the price.

The art direction is incredible

An extremely good, minimalist art book, for a moment I thought it wasn't going to give me much more insight into the world of Dark Souls but that was alleviated by the amazing interview with three of the developers and the director, my one gripe is that I would not have paid thirty british pounds for it and was happy to get it at the price of £20.39 from Amazon, but this is purely my own opinion on the price, fantastic if you're a fan of the souls series.

Bery good quality

Dark Souls hayranlığınız varsa görmeniz gereken bir sanat eseri. Son bölümdeki röportaj kısmı bu sanat eserinin nasıl dizayn edildiği ile ilgili çok detaylı bilgiler içeriyor. Baskı kalitesi on numara.

Als leidenschaftlicher Dark Souls-Spieler waren die düsteren und melancholischen Schauplätze des Spiels stets mein persönliches und heimliches Highlight gewesen. Das Design der verwitterten Ruinen und der exotischen Rüstungen sucht Seinesgleichen und macht durch die vermittelte Atmosphäre das Spiel erst so einzigartig. "Dark Souls: Design Works" hielt für mich was ich mir davon versprach, einen tieferen Einblick in die Arbeit der herausragenden Designer. Das Hardcover gebundene Buch kann durchgehend mit hochwertigem Papier und ebenso hoher Druckqualität überzeugen. Die Auswahl der Artworks wirkt rund und bietet eine gute Mischung aus Gebäuden und Kreaturen/Charakterdesigns. Einige wenige Bilder weisen leider eine recht magere Auflösung auf was den Gesamteindruck aber nur leicht trübt. Abgerundet wird das edle Buch durch ein ausgiebiges Interview mit den wichtigsten Künstlern/Kreativen die an dem Spiel mitgewirkt haben (Vorsicht: Alles in Englisch). Wer sich, genau wie ich, sehr für den Look von Dark Souls begeistern kann wird den Kauf dieses Buchs nicht bereuen.

The interview at the end is surely the highlight of this book. Its a great book, and i highly recommend it, however i find it lacking when it comes to showing the design process. Often the final design is the only image shown, so its interrsting to see how it was adapted into the game, but theres no sense of evolution of design which, in my opinion, is what should be showcased in an artbook of this sort, especially when titled "designworks". I also found the characters to be stronger and more clearly designed than most of the environments were. Overall still a good addition to an artbook library ad the designs themselves are excellent.

Like many, my relationship with Dark Souls started a bit rough. I wasn't quite sure I wanted to continue on with such an abusive relationship. But then, all of a sudden, there was a brief serenity and calmness in all the death and stun-locking that taught me the value of the experience. If you work hard enough, you'll reap the ultimate reward: experiencing that majesty that is Dark Souls. It was at that point that my liking became an obsession. To this day, if I pick up the game I have to know that it will be a while before I put it down again, just for a breather and perhaps a swig of estus. In fact, my obsession was so real that I had the original Japanese Dark Souls: Design Works imported from Japan less than a year ago. I knew that I had no chance in deciphering the vast text in the interview section but, for me, the art alone was worth the premium. Never in my wildest dreams did I think we North Americans would be intentionally treated to such a great work of art. Then, the wonderful people at Udon Entertainment made a dream come true with their announcement of an English translation of Dark Souls: Design Works. After the long and eager wait that comes with pre-ordering an item months ahead of its release, it finally arrived at my doorstep. I was immediately greeted by the grandiose facade, very fitting for Dark Souls, that is its cover. The slipcover is a matte metallic silver stock with a sandpaper texture. The black title plate planted atop it is contrastingly glossy and smooth. On that back is a deeply implanted silver sword silhouette. But the real beauty comes when you remove the luxurious slipcover and reveal the ash black hardcover with text and ornaments as orange as a raging bonfire. As if the presentation was not enough to warrant five stars, inside this tome you will find nothing but the most stunning content. Chapter 1: Concept Art The first 30 pages feature no words - solely massive, sprawling concept art on every page, all featured on glossy black stock. I spent a good minute at least on each page, just admiring the beauty and quality of each work. Chapter 2: Design Materials The following 80 pages are broken up into sections, each visually describing the design process of various elements and showing insight into the design of World Materials, NPC Materials, Boss Monster Materials, Monster Materials, Player Equipment Materials, Weapon Materials, Unused Materials (very interesting!), and a brief look at the First Edition Purchase Bonus Poster Materials from the collector's edition release of the game. Chapter 3: Interviews This section is undoubtedly what I looked forward to most. Having held onto the Japanese edition for so long with no hopes of gaining insight into the thought process of the masterminds who crafted the masochistic symphony that is Dark Souls, I couldn't help but skip first to the twelve-page interview with Hidetaka Miyazaki, Daisuke Satake, Hiroshi Nakamura, Masamori Waragai, and Mai Hastuyama. It was everything I could have hoped for. Their insight is breathtaking and inspiring and truly something I don't wish to spoil to any readers, but these twelve pages alone were worth the $30 purchase price. I really cannot say enough to try and convince onlookers to purchase this, but please do it. Not only will you treat yourself to something truly unique and amazing, but you will be convincing Udon Entertainment to continue their great practice of bringing English translations of beautiful Japanese books to the west.

Libro de arte en tapa dura del legendario Dark Souls. El primero me llegó con una grieta en la esquina superior demasiado apreciable a simple vista, así que lo cambié. Sin embargo, el libro es una joya. Las ilustraciones se ven claras (no como en los últimos libros de arte de Elden Ring), y el papel es de buena calidad. Totalmente recomendado. Como única pega, es algo fino para el precio.