The Unbowed Soul

My journey with FromSoftware games began in 2009, when I picked up Demon’s Souls on PS3. At the time, it didn’t fully click, but I came back to it years later and eventually completed all three PS3 stacks along with the PS5 remaster.

The turning point for me was Bloodborne. Its atmosphere and themes made me want to master the combat, not just to survive, but to explore and progress. From that point on, I fell in love with the genre and have followed every direction FromSoftware has taken since. Both Bloodborne and Demon’s Souls have had a lasting influence on the direction of Unbowed.

The vision for Unbowed started when I realized I wanted to play a pirate-themed Soulslike, and no one seemed to be making one. At its core, Unbowed is being crafted as the kind of game I’ve always wanted to experience.

Many of the design decisions reflect that foundation. There’s a focus on clarity and restraint in systems, alongside a strong emphasis on class identity. That philosophy is influenced by games like Sekiro, which favors mastery over build freedom. You can also see echoes of this approach in Elden Ring: Nightreign, though I view that more as validation of the concept rather than direct inspiration.

Other influences are more direct. The firearm-based parry system draws from Bloodborne, adapted to fit the pirate setting, while the underlying themes of cosmic horror remain a constant thread. Even the hub-and-spoke world structure takes cues from Demon’s Souls.

This is the foundation Unbowed is being built on, not as an imitation, but as a reinterpretation through a different lens.