Dark Souls : Beyond the Grave - Volume 1

Dark Souls : Beyond the Grave - Volume 1

Author: Damien Mecheri

Publisher: Third Editions

Published: 2019-02-19

Total Pages: 283

ISBN-13: 2377840000

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Story of a saga video games... If the Dark Souls series managed to seduce players and journalists, it was mainly by word of mouth. It was such a great success that Dark Souls 2 was named “Game of the Year” 2014 by the vast majority of gaming magazines and websites. To date, this saga is one of the most important in the gaming industry. The odd thing is that these games are well known for their difficulty and their cryptic universe. This publication narrates the epic success story, but also describes its gameplay mechanics and its specific lore across more than 300 pages. Characters, plots and the scenario of the three Souls (Demon's Souls, Dark Souls and Dark Souls II) are deciphered by Damien Mecheri and Sylvain Romieu, who spent a long year studying these dense and enigmatic games down to the smallest detail. The serie Dark Souls and her spiritual father Demon's Souls will not have secrets for you anymore! EXTRACT "In May 2014, Hidetaka Miyazaki succeeded Naotoshi Zin as president of FromSoftware, after the studio was purchased by Kadokawa Shoten. This was a highly significant promotion for the person who had led the company’s most successful project, Dark Souls. And yet, he did not lose from view what had attracted him to the field: an insatiable creative drive. In spite of his new status within the studio, one of the conditions he requested and was granted was to remain creative director of his new project: Bloodborne. This allowed him to successfully design this spiritual successor to the first Souls game, while also assuming his new responsibilities. Given his drive to work and create, it is not surprising how quickly Miyazaki moved up through the ranks." ABOUT THE AUTHORS Passionate about films and video games, Damien Mecheri joined the writers team of Gameplay RPG in 2004, writing several articles for the second special edition on the Final Fantasy saga. He continued his work with the team in another publication called Background, before continuing the online adventure in 2008 with the site Gameweb.fr. Since 2011, he has come aboard Third Éditions with Mehdi El Kanafi and Nicolas Courcier, the publisher’s two founders. Damien is also the author of the book Video Game Music: a History of Gaming Music. For Third Éditions, he is actively working on the “Level Up” and “Année jeu vidéo” collections. He has also written or co-written several works from the same publisher: The Legend of Final Fantasy X, Welcome to Silent Hill: a journey into Hell, The Works of Fumito Ueda: a Different Perspective on Video Games and, of course, the first volume of Dark Souls: Beyond the Grave. Curious by nature, a dreamer against the grain and a chronic ranter, Sylvain Romieu is also a passionate traveler of the real and the unreal, the world and the virtual universes, always in search of enriching discoveries and varied cultures. A developer by trade, he took up his modest pen several years ago to study the characteristics and richness of the marvelously creative world of video games. He writes for a French video game site called Chroniques-Ludiques, particularly on the topic of RPGs, his preferred genre.


Sekiro

Sekiro

Author: Ludovic Castro

Publisher: Third Editions

Published: 2020-09-02

Total Pages: 355

ISBN-13: 2377842909

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Discover an analytic work of Sekiro, a game that spectacularly marked the 2010s. Few video game series can boast having marked the 2010s as much as Souls. FromSoftware mainly owes this amazing and unexpected success to the talents of the now-famous Hidetaka Miyazaki, whose radical vision of video games was quick to charm and win around players. In May 2014, the director was promoted to president of FromSoftware. He could have continued to create Souls forevermore, but instead chose to develop new franchises. The first true representative of this new era was Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, a game with unprecedented richness and flawless thematic consistency. This book will discuss the work’s development process, an analysis of the storyline and characters, the soundtrack, themes, and its historical, cultural and artistic influences. It will also present an analysis of the problem with Sekiro’s difficulty—which saw a lot of ink spilled at its release—and take a look at the evolution of Miyazaki’s games. This book will provide you with an analysis of Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice : it will discuss the game creation process, as well as the themes, the storyline, the characters, the soundtrack and its diferent influences. The book will also present an analysis of the problem with the game's difficulty and the evolution of Miyazaki's games. ABOUT THE AUTHOR It is by exploring the world of Super Metroid at the age of seven that Ludovic Castro finds himself for the first time captivated by a world of video games. A big fan of Japanese RPGs, he later became passionate about the background stories about his favorite games in Gameplay RPG magazine. Now a doctor of theoretical chemistry, he sometimes manages to find enough free time to write about his favorite series, Megami Tensei.


Dark Souls : Beyond the Grave - Volume 2

Dark Souls : Beyond the Grave - Volume 2

Author: Damien Mecheri

Publisher: Third Editions

Published: 2019-02-19

Total Pages: 338

ISBN-13: 237784233X

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We thought we had gone through the topic in the first volume, those two games opened new pists of reflexions. The in-depth analysis of Hidetaka Miyazaki's Dark Souls saga continues with this volume 2, decoding the Bloodborne and Dark Souls III episodes. An indinspensale ebook for all the fans of the game Dark Souls ! EXTRACT "The project, christened Project Beast, began soon after the Astorias of the Abyss DLC was released in August 2012. At the time, FromSoftware was also beginning to build Dark Souls II, its cash cow. Miyazaki kept his distance from this sequel, which was handed off to Tomohiro Shibuya and Yui Tanimura, with support from the FromSoftware president and creator of King’s Field, Naotoshi Zin, who supervised the game system. On his end, Hidetaka Miyazaki formed a trusted team of regular collaborators, such as lead programmer Jun Itô (who had already filled this role for Demon’s Souls and Dark Souls), composer and lead sound designer Tsukasa Saitô (Armored Core games), and most of his regular artists: Daisuke Satake, Masanori Waragai and Hiroshi Nakamura. The success of Demon’s Souls, and the even greater success of Dark Souls, allowed FromSoftware to grow its ranks significantly. In total, no fewer than fifty programmers participated in the project, along with around twenty game system designers and fifty people working on visual creation (animation, scenery, characters, etc.). Thanks to financial support from Sony, many Japanese, Chinese and Taiwanese studios were sub-contracted during the production to help with graphics and visuals." ABOUT THE AUTHORS Passionate about films and video games, Damien Mecheri joined the writers team of Gameplay RPG in 2004, writing several articles for the second special edition on the Final Fantasy saga. He continued his work with the team in another publication called Background, before continuing the online adventure in 2008 with the site Gameweb.fr. Since 2011, he has come aboard Third Éditions with Mehdi El Kanafi and Nicolas Courcier, the publisher’s two founders. Damien is also the author of the book Video Game Music: a History of Gaming Music. For Third Éditions, he is actively working on the “Level Up” and “Année jeu vidéo” collections. He has also written or co-written several works from the same publisher: The Legend of Final Fantasy X, Welcome to Silent Hill: a journey into Hell, The Works of Fumito Ueda: a Different Perspective on Video Games and, of course, the first volume of Dark Souls: Beyond the Grave. Curious by nature, a dreamer against the grain and a chronic ranter, Sylvain Romieu is also a passionate traveler of the real and the unreal, the world and the virtual universes, always in search of enriching discoveries and varied cultures. A developer by trade, he took up his modest pen several years ago to study the characteristics and richness of the marvelously creative world of video games. He writes for a French video game site called Chroniques-Ludiques, particularly on the topic of RPGs, his preferred genre.


A Discovery of Witches

A Discovery of Witches

Author: Deborah Harkness

Publisher: Penguin

Published: 2011-02-08

Total Pages: 593

ISBN-13: 1101475692

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Book one of the New York Times bestselling All Souls series, from the author of The Black Bird Oracle. “A wonderfully imaginative grown-up fantasy with all the magic of Harry Potter and Twilight” (People). Look for the hit series “A Discovery of Witches,” now streaming on AMC+, Sundance Now, and Shudder! Deborah Harkness’s sparkling debut, A Discovery of Witches, has brought her into the spotlight and galvanized fans around the world. In this tale of passion and obsession, Diana Bishop, a young scholar and a descendant of witches, discovers a long-lost and enchanted alchemical manuscript, Ashmole 782, deep in Oxford's Bodleian Library. Its reappearance summons a fantastical underworld, which she navigates with her leading man, vampire geneticist Matthew Clairmont. Harkness has created a universe to rival those of Anne Rice, Diana Gabaldon, and Elizabeth Kostova, and she adds a scholar's depth to this riveting tale of magic and suspense. The story continues in book two, Shadow of Night, book three, The Book of Life, and the fourth in the series, Time’s Convert.


Grave's End

Grave's End

Author: Elaine Mercado

Publisher: Llewellyn Worldwide

Published: 2001

Total Pages: 196

ISBN-13: 9780738700038

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You leave us alone; we'll leave you alone. When Elaine Mercado and her first husband bought their home in Brooklyn, N. Y., in 1982, they had no idea that they and their two young daughters were embarking on a thirteen-year nightmare. thin a few days of moving in, Elaine and her older daughter began to experience the sensation of being watched. Then came scratching noises and weird smells, followed by voices whispering, maniacal laughter, shadowy figures scurrying along baseboards, and small balls of light bouncing along the ceilings. From the beginning of the haunting, "suffocating dreams" were experienced by everyone except the younger daughter. These eventually accelerated to physical aggression directed at Elaine and both the girls. This book is the true story of how one family tried to cope with living in a haunted house. It also describes how, with the help of parapsychologist Dr. Hans Holzer and medium Marisa Anderson, the family discovered the tragic and heartbreaking secrets buried in the house at Grave's End. I struggle to open my eyes, but achieve nothing but frustration and failure. I am not asleep. I am fully conscious, in a state of panic unthinkable during the day intolerable in the dark of night, held prisoner by some tortured, invisible presence, insistent on abruptly invading my slumber. The more I struggle toward freedom, the more I am pushed into the mattress, perspiring, heart palpitating, a scream involuntarily silenced within my throat. Some nights I experience my skin being stroked while I fight to regain control of my body, my sight. Thank God, this was not one of those nights. Tonight it lets me open my eyes, shaken but unviolated, frightened, but not as frightened as I know I can become. First Runner up for the 2001 Coalition of Visionary Resources (COVR) Award for Best Biographical/Personal Book


Dark Souls: The Complete Collection

Dark Souls: The Complete Collection

Author: George Mann

Publisher: Titan Comics

Published: 2021-10-27

Total Pages: 388

ISBN-13: 1787737799

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In the Age of Fire, only one thing is certain: darkness is coming. From hallowed and silver knights, to lone adventures in unnatural lands, the fight against the rising swathes of undead is unending and their battles are epic. Featuring stories by some of the comic industry’s finest writers and artists, this collection is the perfect jumping-on point for those new to the iconic series, and essential reading for veterans of Namco-Bandai’s genre-defining videogame franchise. Collects Dark Souls: The Breath of Andolus, Dark Souls: Winter’s Spite, Dark Souls: Legends of the Flame, and Dark Souls: Age of Fire. “Jaw droppingly gorgeous from start to finish.” – We The Nerdy


The King Beyond the Gate

The King Beyond the Gate

Author: David Gemmell

Publisher: Del Rey

Published: 2011-06-01

Total Pages: 416

ISBN-13: 0307797481

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Once the mighty fortress had stood strong, defended by the mightiest of all Drenai heroes, Druss, the Legend. But now a tyrannical, mad emperor had seized control of the fortress, and his twisted will was carried throughout the land by the Joinings --- abominations that were half-man, half-beast. Tenaka Khan was a half-breed himself, hated by the Drenai for his Nadir blood and despised by the Nadir for his Drenai ancestry. But he alone had a plan to destroy the emperor. The last heroes of the Drenai joined with him in a desperate gamble to bring down the emperor -- even at the cost of their own destruction.


The Works of Fumito Ueda

The Works of Fumito Ueda

Author: Damien Mecheri

Publisher: Third Editions

Published: 2019-05-21

Total Pages: 206

ISBN-13: 2377843700

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Go behind the scenes of the creation of the Fumito Ueda trilogy ! Fumito Ueda has worked on 3 games: ICO, Shadow of the Colossus and The Last Guardian. Each of them was able to express the depth of their author's reflection, his love of purity and showed a real poetry. Are video games art ? This study of the Futimo Ueda's work focuses on the question of the artistic essence of video games. EXTRACT When the game ICO was released in 2001, it had several decades’ worth of video games behind it. The game itself was significantly influenced by video games that had touched its creator, Fumito Ueda: Another World by Éric Chahi and Prince of Persia by Jordan Mechner. Yet, when a player takes the ethereal Yorda’s hand, when they feel this physical contact through the vibrations in the controller, something happens. Something new and profound. Something that can only exist through a video game. A simple idea, attached to the R1 button, and digital interaction opens a new door. Of course, this insignificant-seeming gesture is but a small representation of what can really happen. Its strength lies elsewhere; it draws from everything that makes up ICO: its art direction (everything in chiaroscuro), its vanishing lines, its simple and clear game mechanics, its lack of visual interface, its quest for physical realism, its minimalist narration, its extraordinary sensibilities. It is an opening to an evocative otherworld that lets our imagination soar. Contemplative, slow and nearly speechless, ICO offers an uncommon, poetic adventure, rejecting traditional video game standards while still drawing from them. Many remained indifferent to it. Just as many were touched as rarely before. ABOUT THE AUTHOR Passionate about films and video games, Damien Mecheri joined the writing team of Gameplay RPG magazine in 2004 and wrote several articles for the second special edition on the Final Fantasy saga. With this same team, Damien continued his work in 2006 for another publication known as Background, before continuing the adventure online in 2008, with Gameweb.fr. Since 2011, he has written and co-written numerous works for Third Éditions, including The Legend of Final Fantasy X, Dark Souls: Beyond the Grave and Welcome to Silent Hill: Journey to the Center of Hell and actively participates in the “Level Up” and “Video Game Almanac” collections from the same publisher.


The Legend of Final Fantasy VII

The Legend of Final Fantasy VII

Author: Nicolas Courcier

Publisher: Third Editions

Published: 2019-02-19

Total Pages: 222

ISBN-13: 2377840027

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What gamer hasn’t tried Final Fantasy VII? The game, released in 1997, is now the standard-bearer of a whole generation, and it’s also the one which catapulted Sony’s PlayStation onto center stage. To celebrate this mythic video game’s 15th anniversary, Third Editions wanted to throw itself back into this unbelievable universe. This carefully crafted publication takes a look back at all the titles that helped forge Final Fantasy VII’s mythology (including the Compilation of FF VII), and deciphers their content through examination and original analysis. This book was written by Nicolas Courcier and Mehdi El Kanafi, former authors and now publishers. The first print was release in 2011. An essential book to (re) discover the universe of the mythical series Final Fantasy! EXTRACT "To celebrate one of the most important RPGs in the history of video games, Third Editions has decided to publish a tribute book: a heartfelt edition, but also one that truly analyzes the games that revolve around this legendary RPG. Indeed, the subject of this book is not only Final Fantasy VII, but the entire Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, from Advent Children to Before Crisis, including Crisis Core and Dirge of Cerberus, without forgetting Last Order. To get this journey off on the right foot and refresh your memory, we begin by summarizing the Final Fantasy VII saga. For the first time ever, the full story will be told in chronological order: from the Planet’s origins to the awakening of Genesis, as depicted in the secret ending of Dirge of Cerberus. Once the entire saga has been told, we will take you behind the scenes so that you can discover how the video game compilation was created. You will learn about the people whose unexpected decisions changed the game’s design. We will also provide a number of anecdotes pertaining to the game’s overall development. A complete interpretation will then be offered for each title, paving the way for numerous reflections." ABOUT THE AUTHORS Nicolas Courcier and Mehdi El Kanafi - Fascinated by print media since childhood, Nicolas Courcier and Mehdi El Kanafi wasted no time in launching their first magazine, Console Syndrome, in 2004. After five issues with distribution limited to the Toulouse region of France, they decided to found a publishing house under the same name. One year later, their small business was acquired by another leading publisher of works about video games. In their four years in the world of publishing, Nicolas and Mehdi published more than twenty works on major video game series, and wrote several of those works themselves: Metal Gear Solid. Hideo Kojima’s Magnum Opus, Resident Evil Of Zombies and Men, and The Legend of Final Fantasy VII and IX. Since 2015, they have continued their editorial focus on analyzing major video game series at a new publishing house that they founded together: Third. Grégoire Hellot is a French freelance journalist who specializes in video games. He began his career in the field more than twenty years ago when he joined Joypad magazine. As a pioneer dealing in Japanese video games, he has contributed to the French public’s acceptance of these unique titles. Today, he contributes to the Gamekult website and is also the Managing Director of Kurokawa Editions, created in 2005 by the publishing house Univers Poche. Grégoire is also known for his role as the Silver Mousquetaire in the TV series France Five.