Why it matters: Just when you thought the Age of Fire had faded, a group of passionate modders has rekindled the flame with Dark Souls: Archthrones – an ambitious total conversion mod that's breathing new life into Dark Souls 3. It features new bosses, areas, and lore spun from the iconic Dark Souls mythos.
This free mod has been years in the making, but it just hit a major milestone by releasing a playable demo on Nexus Mods. And from what we can tell, Archthrones looks insanely impressive. The mod utilizes the core Dark Souls 3 experience as a foundation and builds something entirely new on top of it, with influence pulled from across FromSoftware's catalog.
The team describes it as a "retelling of the Dark Souls universe" inspired by the level structure of Demon's Souls. But it also borrows combat mechanics, weapons, armor, and more from other Soulsborne games like Elden Ring and Sekiro. Basically, it is a Frankenstein's monster made from stitching together the best parts of FromSoft's acclaimed action-RPGs.
According to the modders, they've added 17 unique boss fights so far (with more on the way), along with fresh locations to explore, revamped enemy types, and tons of original weapons, armor sets, and spells. There are even brand new NPC characters with full questlines to discover.
Suffice to say, the Souls community has been devouring all this new Archthrones content. In the days since details of the demo emerged, the mod page has been viewed over 80,000 times on Nexus Mods, with upwards of 18,000 people downloading the demo already.
With Elden Ring's massive success, it's obvious that the hunger for rich, challenging gameplay experiences set in haunting medieval fantasy worlds remains incredibly potent among gamers. Archthrones taps directly into that desire – plus it's a labor of love made by passionate fans who want to keep the Soulsborne flame burning bright.
If you're craving another descent into that irresistible cycle of anguish and triumph, you can download the Archthrones demo over on Nexus Mods.