What would Dark Souls look like with Cuphead’s animations?

By Marshall Lemon

Dark Souls as an early 20 Century cartoon is simultaneously charming and terrifying.

When Cuphead first launched, the most direct comparison was Dark Souls, if Dark Souls was a platformer based on early 20th Century cartoons. Which naturally raises one question: Why couldn’t it be?

Enter 64 Bit, a YouTube video creation team that has reimagined Dark Souls with impressive and surprisingly faithful results. Titled “Cupsouls”, this video renders the characters, environments, and bosses of Dark Souls with classic animations and an upbeat soundtrack. The experience walks a fine line between charming and disturbing, but it all feels strangely playable – such as when the heroes flee a boulder of bones, or while watching the “You Died” countdown screen.

I’d normally joke that Cuphead needs a Dark Souls treatment now, but it already captures that quite effectively.