Bandai Namco rejected a 2D pixel art Metroidvania reimagining of Dark Souls 3
It died.
A 2D pixel art Metroidvania reimagining From Software's Dark Souls 3 was rejected by Bandai Namco.
The news comes courtesy of artist Thomas Feichtmeir who released a screenshot of artwork used in the pitch to the publisher six years ago - now, the NDA is finally up.
Feichtmeir also worked on Blasphemous, itself a Metroidvania inspired by the Dark Souls series.
In fact, there have been plenty of Metroidvania games influenced by the dark tone and challenging gameplay of Dark Souls - Salt and Sanctuary, Death's Gambit, Dead Cells and more.
But an official Dark Souls release? That could have been exceptional.
The artwork itself is of a knight character battling the iconic boss Dancer of the Boreal Valley.
In a follow up tweet, Feichtmeir explains the art was "created in a style which would have been doable in the average budget estimations of Metroidvanias back then".
Feichtmeir said the prevalence of 2D games is why this Dark Souls spin-off was pitched. The artist's tweet has since gone viral so the game likely would have been popular too.
Now, how long until a 2D Metroidvania reimagining of Elden Ring? At the least, there are already Game Boy and SNES versions.