EP: Research - Dark Souls 2

Dark Souls 2 is also inspiring to me. While I think Dark Souls has much more character and personality in its environments, I do think Dark Souls 2 has a great sense of scale and use of location for architecture. Castle and towers on high mountains, cathedrals and ruins on open seas. It also benefits from having more up-to-date visuals which help the appearance of the vistas in the game.

A primary source of ideas for me has been the area: Heide's Tower of Flame. It has a very regal, classical architecture inspired style to the whole place with parts them look reminiscent of Ancient Greek buildings. Also, something I really like about the area is its lighting. Anor Londo in Dark Souls looked like a masterpiece however the orange light of the place which bled into every bit of its area sometimes appeared too monochromatic to me. I understand why it was like this, orange  and bright to look celestial as it was the city of the Gods but I just prefer the area of Heide's Tower of Flame in Dark Souls 2. It's brighter, there are nice breaks between colours: Deep blue sea and sky, orange horizon and white and cerulean tiled buildings.

My 'Dark Souls 2' Inspiration Board

A key thing I like about Heide's Tower of Flame is that it's in such a weird, surreal location. There's a huge cathedral, a dome-shaped building and a big tower with intricate pathways and detailed bridges all in the middle of the sea next to a huge mountain range. Why not build on the land? Why the sea? The tower looks quite lighthouse-like I suppose but still, there's no ruins or civilization on land. It's weird and unlikely but I think it looks great and adds to the sense of being in a far-off enigmatic land.