There are numerous Dark Souls mods out there, whether you're looking for a curated new world, randomized encounters and loot drops that could have you facing off with multiple end-game bosses in just a few minutes, and more. Yesterday, Grimrukh and Meomaritus released a 18-minute preview of the upcoming Dark Souls: Nightfall, which you can watch below. In a nutshell, this mod includes new story, new combat system, new world, and a lot more.

As is the case with most projects like this, there is no affiliation with Bandai Namco or From Software. You can see significant shifts from the standard Dark Souls opener in just moments of this demo, which offers quite a bit of insight into how things could end up coming together.

Watching fans tear apart and put Souls games together is always fascinated and has created many interesting projects over the years, including Cinders and one of Grimrukh's previous projects, Daughters of Ash. The demo is worth a watch, featuring new voice acting, start of a new storyline, and a new boss as some of the key highlights. A day/night cycle is also being worked on that may or may not have important implications.

Preview of Dark Souls: Nightfall is finally landing this weekend! It's a video of me playing through the game up to the first boss.

Until then, here's a separate demo of the time-of-day system I've been working on. Watch the sun set (and unset) over Lordran in real time! pic.twitter.com/wPgpPebfQ2

— Grimrukh (@grimrukh) February 19, 2021

The Dark Souls series has led to its own subgenre coming into force over the last few years, tasking designers to come up with elaborate worlds, haunting environments, and fearsome fights that challenge players to overcome the impossible. "Seven years later, the influence of From Software’s Dark Souls on the games industry is impossible to ignore," I said in my Game Informer review of Dark Souls Remastered a few years back. "A challenging atmospheric experience through classic fantasy tropes with a grim tint, Dark Souls spurred an entire genre of souls-like titles, and provided a haven for those who love exploration, larger-than-life boss battles, and a world drenched with mystery. Dark Souls Remastered is the way to play the game today if you’re on console, though PC players may have experienced many of the same improvements via Durante’s famous DSFix mod."

Now, not everyone is into modding. You could always get some time in with Nioh 2 if you can't wait for Elden Ring!

Update: Activision has announced that Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 + 2 is coming to PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and Switch. You can learn more here.

Original Story – February 22 @ 5:53 p.m. Central:

Last year, fans of the beloved Tony Hawk's Pro Skater franchise finally had their prayers answers as developer Vicarious Visions released Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 + 2 on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC. The title brought the first two games forward with modernized visuals, new features, and a huge skater roster to become the first well-received Tony Hawk's Pro Skater game in more than a decade.

Now, various prominent Twitter accounts seem to be teasing a possible Switch version of the well-liked, remade skating titles. It all started about 45 minutes ago when the man himself, Tony Hawk, tweeted, "Just heard #Crash4 is coming to new platforms and I'm kinda jealous. Hey @CrashBandicoot can you hook @TonyHawkGame up?"

In that tweet, Hawk is referencing the fact that Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time is coming to PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and Switch on March 12 after launching on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One last October. Similarly, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 + 2 released last fall on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC, but we have not yet heard any confirmation of a Switch title or a new-gen release. The remakes are currently playable on PS5 and Xbox Series X/S through backward compatibility. Given the hashtag and the official @-mentions, it certainly seems like a coordinated marketing effort. Then the publisher and platform-holder accounts got involved.

Shortly after Hawk's tweet, Activision, the publisher of the Tony Hawk's Pro Skater games, responded to the skating legend's tweet with the "shifty eyes" emoji before retweeting the tweet directly onto the publisher's main timeline. Then, the official Nintendo of America account retweeted Hawk's tweet with that same emoji, further hinting that an announcement seems imminent.

While Nintendo getting involved doesn't necessarily mean anything (the gaming giant retweeted Sony's announcement of MLB The Show going multiplatform, and this year's game is just coming to PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, and Xbox One), it all happened so fast that it sure feels like an announcement involving Nintendo and Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 + 2 is imminent. It should be noted that Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time is coming to PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S in addition to Switch next month, but neither the PlayStation or Xbox Twitter accounts have interacted with Hawk's tweet as of this writing.

We reached out to Activision PR for comment on the story but did not immediately receive a response. We will update this story if the publisher responds. 

For more on Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 + 2, check out our review. To see the game in action and hear more thoughts on why this is exactly the release fans of the series have been waiting for, check out our discussion on the game.

[Source: Tony Hawk on Twitter, Activision on Twitter, Nintendo on Twitter]