Concept art of Smough's armor depicts a rather muscular man wearing it. Whether this depiction is of Smough himself, or a male Chosen Undead wearing his armor, is unknown. As for Blighttown, I started with a number of images that I wanted to incorporate, but due to the complexity of the area, it would have been difficult to try and design all at once, so instead we began with large features like the water wheel elevator and, with the designers and artists, gradually built the area up from there.

Satake: Yes, as design progressed he really turned into the type of king who would fight at the head of his troops. I suppose you could also add to that the image of the ancient dragons. These themes, along with utilising the artists' personal styles, formed the basis of the Dark Souls design principle. In contrast to most art teams, we didn't have our artists concentrating on a specific section, instead all the artists contributed to all areas. This concept applies to and works especially well with The Dancer of the Boreal Valley fight in Dark Souls III as the character is the sole subject of the scene. As the level progresses, the dancer will progressively set fire to a hall, now changing the colours of the entire scene to warm oranges and golds from the initial cold blue hues as seen in Figure VI. Waragai: Yes, I was, but before we started developing the look of the area, we first decided on the general layout and then we worked together with the 3D artist. I set out designing the main features such as the statues and the revolving elevator.Waragai: It can be difficult to explain how you want the material to behave to the animators can't it, the feel and the weight of something isn't easy to put into words.

Miyazaki: Everyone really loves it. There are a couple of people who also draw mechs, but I think it would be very difficult to work with someone who didn't like fantasy. It would be hard to communicate some of the more fantasy based-ideas. In the code for the Japanese version of the game, Smough's name is displayed as '処刑者スモウ', which translates to read as 'Executioner Smō'.Since “gameplay” is sort of an unwieldy term when used outside of the context of footage of a game being played, let me attempt to clarify Margaris’ statement by saying: when you look at a spot in Dark Souls, it’s often fairly easy to determine how that space is delineated. Its environments have a spatially explicability that’s uncommon for modern 3D games. I think that one reason why I and others find Anor Londo so striking is that we can look down from an elevation, see that the area is sectioned into identifiable landmarks, or focal points – a central walkway, an elevator-tower, or a great church – and also know that we can visit each. Nakamura: Before we move on, I'd like to ask you about the Demon enemies I designed, specifically those designs which incorporate some type of symbolism. I know that you dislike designs which are too easy or obvious, but spending too much time trying to force symbolism into designs can be just as damaging to the development of the world. So I just wanted to know how you feel about the demon enemies overall. Miyazaki: I always thought of the Painted World as a place where things go to escape and the bird men are no different. They were originally designed as worshippers of the Goddess Velka whose bodies were warped by their devotion. I think this obsession makes them really interesting characters.

Romanticism was an artistic movement spanning from the 1800s to the 1850s that focused on intense emotion as being a source of beauty in artwork, especially when in face of nature. The aesthetic beauty of nature was empowered within Romanticism to evoke desired emotional responses within the viewer. To further analyse the design behind Rosaria I must explain a concept crucial towards the progression of this essay: semiotics. The definition of semiotics is as follows: Satake: I was responsible for the design. It was actually based on a very old sketch. I was trying to create something strange and unique, like the Great Race of Yathfrom Lovecraft'smythos, or something with many eyes, on springs. There was a period where I was created a lot of designs around these themes, and it was one of these sketches that formed the basis for this particular design. I'd been wanting to do something with it for a long time now so I'm glad we were able to use it in the game.I'm sure made the designers and programmers really angry because I forced them to make his armour equippable. Miyazaki: The Catacombs and the Tomb of the Giants have a similar atmosphere to that of Blighttown but both contain a great many more man-made objects, which meant more work for the artists. In our team, the 3D artists would sometimes be called upon to do work more akin to that of a traditional artist, because we tried to utilise their skills as much as we possible. As I said before we don't have many artists to work with and just throwing more people at something doesn't guarantee a better result. Spatial positioning, rather than dodges or counters, is at the heart of many NES games and at the heart of Dark Souls combat.” Miyazaki: Yes, we did, although I think the 3D artists would have heard that more than the concept artists, or those people in charge of lighting and effects. At first, we tried to explain it saying "you know, the light glows behind him like this", but in the end it was just easier to call it "Power"

Otsuka: Well now that we've talked about the bosses, I'd like to talk a bit about the normal enemies. Waragai: How about the tentacled beasts in the Izalith Ruins? When I look at them all I see is Mixer Taiteifrom Kinnikuman. I think some of the players noticed it too.Rosaria, Mother of Rebirth is a non-playable character featured in Dark Souls III that shares certain similarities with the Virgin Mary and her representations in the Madonnas, primarily those of the Renaissance. Although we are not directly observing the Renaissance period throughout this essay, the Madonna and other religious iconography are not specific to the period and still prevalent within the art of the following centuries. The designers have created a juxtaposition within aesthetics and theme to create a character that feels malevolent and inhuman, and maternal and caring at the same time. Miyazaki: That's the truth… I regret that the fight turned out this way… Of course there are other designs that I really like, the Iron Golem for example, is a great, large powerful enemy. The designers and artists of Dark Souls III make use of this composition to empower the emotions of despair and dread throughout this section of the game. The fact that the ending of the game is approaching in this level is not communicated through dialogue or text but through the presentation of the environment towards the player. This communication is made effective through the application of techniques commonly found within paintings of the romantic period. The yellowish colour pallet in this case does not create a warm atmosphere, but instead contributes towards the feeling of desolation by emphasising that the location is in fact an apocalyptic wasteland deteriorated by countless years of ruin and erosion. The viewer can comprehend the magnitude of time since passed through the image. Entire ruins and castles seem to have been shifted and pushed by sands. There is a significant contrast between light and dark tones in the scene that give the work a dramatic quality. This dramatic quality is supported by the gusts of wind that drag sand across the scene; the power of the environment is displayed. I don't have that problem with people like Mr. Nakamura or Mr. Satake. I've worked with Mr Nakamura for a long time on both Armoured Core and Demon's Souls, and have always trusted him with the most important designs. I've also worked with Mr. Satake since Armoured Core, and on this project he worked with the out-of-house artists which basically meant he had to translate my abstract directions into something they might understand. I'm very grateful. Semiotics is the study of symbols and signs and their respective meanings in the context of a global human culture. For example, on a warning sign, the colour red would indicate danger. The colour red is the signifier and danger is the signified. Together these two ideas form a sign. As a whole, these concepts form a semiotic code. A semiotic code is a set of conventions, a system of signifiers, the signified and signs used to communicate meaning, a popular example being a cowboy hat, revolver and a bandana signifying the idea western style outlaw.