Dark Souls-inspired 2D Metroidvania games have surged in popularity in the past decade alongside FromSoftware’s RPG releases. Souls-likes’ harsh difficulty, dark fantasy setting, and cryptic storytelling are rather directly inspired by both the Metroid and Castlevania franchises. However, these Metroidvania games have been almost entirely indie releases. So far, large publishers have avoided Metroidvanias, outside of Nintendo and its own Metroid games.

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It sounds like there was at least one effort to make a Metroidvania from a major property, though. Metamorphosis Games art director and freelance pixel artist Thomas Feichtmeir, known for their work on Gestalt: Steam, Cinder, and Blasphemous, confirmed on Twitter that they helped pitch a Metroidvania version of Dark Souls 3 to Bandai Namco. Feichtmeir explains that the pitch is “finally out of NDA,” so they can share more information about the project.

Feichtmeir shared a single screenshot from the game, which Dark Souls 3 players will immediately recognize. The scene depicts the Dancer of the Boreal Valley fight, with the Dancer doing a slam attack with their flaming sword. The player character is wearing what looks like a blue version of the Lothric Knight armor set, replete with a Lothric shield and sword. Even the background should be familiar to Dark Souls 3 players, as well as the user interface elements. It’s a faithful 2D recreation of the Dark Souls 3 boss fight.

The pitch was for a Dark Souls 3 game, but Feichtmeir points out that pitches can often be shifted to other properties or made into their own new IP. FromSoftware was not involved in the project and, obviously, Bandai Namco didn’t accept the pitch. Feichtmeir says there was a team of 11 artists ready to make it happen if it was approved.

There’s a long list of pros and cons to go alongside a potential Dark Souls spin-off Metroidvania. For one, it’s difficult to imagine a Souls game not made by FromSoftware, which is probably why it’s best it didn’t happen. With that said, a major 2D Souls-like with support from FromSoftware could be very exciting. Maybe that’s something Bandai Namco will consider in the future.

Dark Souls 3 is available now on PC, PS4, and Xbox One.

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