>>715869549
Stonefang is a good example of the level of attention to detail put into the environmental storytelling, with the way it logically progresses from mining, to transporting ore, to smelting it, to the lava pits and then the dragon shrine
environments feel more real since they're spaced by potentially hundreds or thousands of miles unlike DaS. each place feels as if it has its own history and flair
the places you visit have only recently become corrupted by the Old One, over the space of about ~25 years, and since each location is spread out by hundreds or thousands of miles you get to see how the Fog affected each one of them differently, twisting their cultures, inhabitants and all the rest of it. in Dark Souls the world feels like it has always been magical, that magic and fantasy creatures are things the inhabitants are already very familiar with since the world itself was fantasy right from the start, and the fact that Lordran is so compact can make the world feel a bit too gamey and hard to believe at times, considering how the Ice World is only 5 minutes away from the Lava World
I think it touches on more esoteric / occult / shaman type stuff too, with the Shrine of Storms especially; just look at the skeletons and how they're decorated with animal skulls, the trinkets they wear, the weird slugs and their swirl patterns (very hard to see), the sacrificial stuff going on there, the stretched lips of the Old Hero and Adjudicator, the wisps, reapers, it's really compelling stuff and this level of attention is everywhere in DeS