There is always the possibility that an upcoming mod or fan project will not come together at all. It's a scene full of good intentions and great concept art. But Dark Souls: Nightfall has a large team of well-known Souls mod creators and data divers, including Grimrukh, the creator of the Daughters of Ash mod. Now, an 18-minute video has been released showcasing this very ambitious reimagining of the game.

Dark Souls: Nightfall begins where the original game left off (like Daughters of Ash, it is a mod for Dark Souls: Remastered), and as this opening suggests, players are taken through the game's locations in roughly reverse order The original starting point is the undead. Starting at the original starting point, the Undead Asylum, the player is immediately dropped into the first fiery kiln.

The name of the mod, Nightfall, comes from the world where the chosen undead have chosen the "dark" ending of Dark Souls, where your character is hollow and what then happens in Lordran. From Asylum to Kiln, the way this story is pieced together is impressive, reusing samples and assets in clever ways as the video progresses.

And then there is the cycle of day and night.

Besides the reuse of environments, there are some truly impressive ones, including a new twist on Souls' combat. Nightfall has a "stance"-like system that allows players to choose between playing ultra-aggressively with quick attacks, superior dodges, and a health recovery system a la "Bloodborne" or with slightly less aggressive but more restorative abilities. Switching between the two takes about the same amount of time as drinking Estus, a combat element that fits especially well in boss fights.

Dodging in aggressive mode is like a warp dash, which is not only omnidirectional (you can roll in four directions in Dark Souls), but also more or less invincible. This makes the usual Dark Souls enemies trivial, but of course Nightfall has its own set of enemies, composed of elements from the original game, but more aggressive and with some unexpected tricks.

This video introduces the "Blistering Demon" boss, which shows what these modders are doing to the game. This boss is based on the game's first real boss, the Taurus Demon, but has a much quicker moveset, is enhanced by attacks from other enemies, and uses existing animations in one AoE attack to create something completely new.

In addition to these, Nightfall has its own story, items, and NPCs. The tone and voice acting are spot on. It is clear that this project comes from people who deeply love and understand the game they are working on.

There is no release date for "Nightfall" yet, but when it does come out, I will be hooked on this game like a seagull on chips. If you are particularly interested and want to follow the development, you can support the creators on Patreon here: Grimrukh, Meowmaritus.