Fans of From Software’s brutal action RPG Dark Souls II have reason to be excited, as publisher Namco Bandai announced the development of three additional DLC chapters for the game.
Titled The Lost Crowns Trilogy, these additional chapters will tie in with one another, having the player traverse hostile environments in search of lost crowns of various kings from Dark Souls lore.
The first of the three episodes, titled Crown of the Sunken King, will be released on July 22. A trailer for the episode has the following description:
The Crown of the Sunken King sends players on a quest to reclaim the Crown that King Vendrick once owned. With an entirely new areas to explore within the Dark Souls 2 universe, players will find pyramids, underground caverns, and unknown foes. It is said that the Ancient Crown is buried deep below the surface, but surely it cannot sit unguarded.
In Dark Souls II, King Vendrick was the former king of game world, Drangelic, who was reduced to a mindless shell of his former self after obsessively trying to cure the Undead Curse. He can be encountered in the game as an optional boss, and, without proper preparation, is nearly impossible to beat.
The next two episodes in the trilogy, Crown of the Old Iron King and Crown of the Ivory King, will be released on August 26 and September 24 respectively. All three episodes will cost $10 each, but a season pass for PC gamers on Steam allows for the collective purchase of all three in advance for $25.
The development of additional content for Dark Souls II seems to have been spurred by the overwhelmingly positive reception the game has received. Prior to its release, From Software producer Takeshi Miyazoe said that no DLC was being considered, as the studio wanted to deliver a complete and thorough experience with the game.
Miyazoe later said that additional content for Dark Souls II would depend on fan feedback. Post release, the game has sold 1.2 million copies in three weeks and achieved an extremely rare 91 Metacritic score, a clear sign to From Software that there is a hunger for Dark Souls‘ brand of punishing gameplay.