Dark Souls Archthrones is just what souls-like fans needed before Shadow of the Erdtree

Dark Souls Archthrones is probably the most rad name for a mod. And honestly, it more than justifies its cool-sounding title. Much like the Dark Souls Convergence mod, Archthrones is a complete makeover of the base Dark Souls 3, albeit with elements from almost all other FromSoftware souls-like titles, including Sekiro.

The Archthrones mod overhauls the entirety of Dark Souls 3, changing almost everything you know and love about the beloved finale of the franchise, albeit without tampering with its core gameplay systems. The mod takes elements from FromSoftware's latest titles and molds them into a singular entity within the confines of Dark Souls 3's framework.

Dark Souls mods are nothing new. However, Dark Souls Archthrones is not just any other randomizer or graphics overhaul mod, it's essentially a new game, one that's just what souls-like fans need before jumping into Elden Ring's upcoming Shadow of the Erdtree DLC.

Note: Some aspects of this article are subjective and solely reflect the opinions of the writer

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What is Dark Souls Archthrones?

Dark Souls Archthrones is essentially a complete overhaul mod for Dark Souls 3 that takes elements from every single FromSoftware title, starting from Demon's Souls and going all the way to Elden Ring, even including games like Sekiro and Bloodborne. It delivers a unique souls-like experience within the confines of Dark Souls 3's gameplay systems.

Archthrones adds new NPC questlines while also iterating on the existing ones in base Dark Souls 3 (Image via Nexus Mods || Team Archthrones)

Developed by a small team of developers who aptly call themselves the Archthrones Team, a demo of the mod is already available for you to test out and give feedback on. The biggest new features that Dark Souls Archthrones brings are NPC questlines and a retelling of the Dark Souls lore from a new perspective.

According to the Archthrones Team, Dark Souls Archthrones' main inspiration is Demon's Souls, which is known for the richness of its lore and some of the most intricate NPC questlines in the entire "Souls" series. Other than new lore, the mod also comes packed with new gear, locations, enemy types, and yes, boss fights.

The mod essentially divides the entire game into different sections, called Thrones, akin to the Archstones in Demon's Souls. You can interact with these Thrones in any order and tackle different quests and boss fights however you see fit. There are a total of 17 new bosses, complete with their own unique movesets and lore.

Even Bloodborne's Cleric Beast makes an appearance in Archthrones (Image via Nexus Mods || Team Archthrones)

Additionally, Dark Souls Archthrones revamps the combat system of Dark Souls 3 in a major way, implementing features like guard counter from Elden Ring, perfect blocking, deflection from Sekiro, and even the back-step guard cancel, which is a very specific moveset that players use to circumvent heavy encumbrance.

It's quite clear that Dark Souls Archthrones is built with a ton of passion and dedication towards FromSoftware's work. Much like the Convergence mod for Dark Souls 3, Archthrones is easily the best way to revisit the world of Lothric, that is once the complete version of the mod is available for download.

If you have access to the PC version of Dark Souls 3, I highly recommend giving the Dark Souls Archthrones demo a shot, especially if you've already gone through multiple new game+ cycles in Dark Souls Trilogy and Elden Ring, and are looking for something to kill time while waiting for the latter's upcoming Shadows of the Erdtree DLC.

The new boss fights alone make Dark Souls Archthrones worth giving a try (Image via Nexus Mods || Team Archthrones)

I should also mention that Archthrones comes with its own private server exclusively for co-op. As such, you can also get a group of your friends aboard to enjoy this new and, dare I say, unique take on Dark Souls' established lore and gameplay. The mod also uses its own save file to prevent it from clashing with vanilla Dark Souls 3.