Bonfire (Dark Souls)

Bonfire
Dark Souls franchise element
A bonfire as it appears in Dark Souls III
Publisher	FromSoftware
First appearance	Dark Souls
Created by	Hidetaka Miyazaki
In-universe information
Function	Checkpoint

The bonfire is an object that serves as an in-game checkpoint and center of rest for the player character in the soulslike Dark Souls video game series, created by Hidetaka Miyazaki under the Japanese game development company FromSoftware. Making their debut in the 2011 video game Dark Souls and reappearing in the sequels Dark Souls II and Dark Souls III, bonfires take the appearances of orange flames composed of ash plus bones that have coiled swords inserted into them that are scattered across many areas in the three games. They serve as checkpoints for saving in-game progress and can be utilized for leveling up, repairing gear, and replenishing health points, magic points, and healing items called "Estus Flasks." Upon usage, bonfires will respawn most enemies, and players will respawn to the last one that they used prior to their death. According to Miyazaki, they were meant to serve not only utilitarian purposes but also be areas of relaxation in an otherwise harsh fantasy world.

Since its debut, the bonfire has been considered one of the most iconic features of the Dark Souls series and likely influenced the checkpoint mechanics of many other video games, which largely serve similar utilitarian purposes. It has been the subject of positive receptions by critics, who noted that it effectively served as centers of warmth and safety that players could grow attached to. Bonfires have gone on to appear as easter eggs for many other video games.

Characteristics

The bonfires serve as the in-game checkpoints of the Dark Souls series, a game trilogy produced by FromSoftware starting with the 2011 video game Dark Souls. The large fires are composed of bones plus ash and each contain a coiled sword in them. They radiate a warm and orange coloring within their area in distinct contrast with the other coloring schemes of their surrounding areas. When encountering each bonfire for the first time, the player can activate it and cause its flames to light up, thus leading them to save their progress in the area as a saved game.

Upon usage, the bonfires will also fully restore both their health points and magic points. Their limited supplies of "Estus Flasks," or magical drinks that can be consumed to restore the player's health points, will be replenished. Upon death, the undead protagonist will respawn at the last bonfire that they used, but they will not retain their accumulated souls, which serve as in-game experience points. The player, as a result, has to retrieve the souls in the area where they died, but they will lose them permanently if they die again without recollecting them prior. The usage of bonfire will also cause most slain enemies to respawn at their respective locations - only bosses and minibosses will not respawn. Lorewise, the ability for the undead player character to infinitely respawn at bonfires is explained by them being afflicted with a curse called the "Darksign."

Additionally in the first game, to obtain more Estus Flasks from individual bonfires, players can choose to upgrade, or "kindle," them by using items called "humanity" there. While the player is unable to kindle bonfires while in a "hollowed" state (an in-game mechanic that results from players lacking humanity pieces), they can reverse their hollowed state at bonfires. In the trilogy, the player can also use bonfires to level up, upgrade in-game attributes, and repair their gear. Furthermore, in the series, players can warp between bonfires to travel to different previously visited locations. In Dark Souls, bonfire warping is unlocked via traveling to the city of Anor Londo and talking to the character Gwynevere, who is accessible after defeating the Ornstein and Smough boss duo and grants the player the "Lordvessel" item for the travel method. In the sequels, the ability to teleport between bonfires is inherent for the player.

In 2011, the Dark Souls series creator Hidetaka Miyazaki revealed via the Playstation Blog that his favorite addition to the 2011 game was the bonfire, as he felt that it was flexible in what it could represent. More specifically, he referenced its gameplay utilities to the player and wanted it to be a place where players can "gather together and communicate – not verbally communicate, but emotionally communicate" with each other. He intended for the bonfires to serve as the centers of relaxation for players, noting its "heartwarming" tone in the midst of a "dark fantasy world".

Appearances

Bonfires make their first appearance as in-game checkpoints in the 2011 video game Dark Souls and later recurred with the same roles in the sequels Dark Souls II and Dark Souls III. The appearances of the checkpoints in the trilogy differ from those in the preceding FromSoftware soulslike game Demon's Souls and its 2020 remake, which take the form of "Archstones," and those in the subsequent games Bloodborne and Elden Ring, which instead take the forms of "Lamps" and "Sites of Grace," respectively. In the Dark Souls series, many of them are scattered throughout various different locations and range from close proximity to each other to far away to give off appearances of being scattered throughout different locations. In 2017, the YouTube creator Sanadst, known for investigations of cut contents of games produced by FromSoftware, uploaded an analysis video revealing leftover animations from Dark Souls III of the player character kneeling then using their weapon to grab into the ground. He theorized that the animation would have played in-game and that it was intended to play for the bonfire creation process. This theory was based on the scrapped "Sacrifice Ceremonies" mechanic, which seemingly involved the player character using a corpse of an enemy to create a bonfire. The year after, another YouTuber Lance McDonald, also known for analyzing cut content from FromSoftware games, revealed that the scrapped creation process of "cult bonfires" via the "Cult Death" system would have involved the player character dragging enemy corpses, plunging their sword into them to ignite bonfires, and using them similar to those of previous games. Another cut bonfire variant involved a similar flame ignition process from an enemy sword but with the coiled "Ceremony Swords," allowing players to transform their worlds into "eclipsed states" and therefore enabling other players to invade their worlds for player vs. player interactions.

Outside of video games, the bonfires again play major roles as centers of respawning upon death for players of the board game Dark Souls – The Board Game, created by Steamforged Games. The bonfire was featured as official merchandise in the form of a collector's statue with LED lighting that was sold under the Japanese brand Gecco.

Reception

Since its inception in Dark Souls, the bonfire has been the subject of largely positive receptions. Rock Paper Shotgun editor Alice O'Connor called it memorable because of its "cool" design combined with it serving as a temporary haven for the protagonist. Electronic Gaming Monthly writer Nic Reuben complemented the "ephemeral beauty" of the bonfire, claiming that its existence as "a hybrid between the ritualistic, somber yet Saturnalian bonfire, and the weary traveler’s respite represented by a campfire" is resonant with the greater themes of life and death in the Dark Souls series. Edwin Evans-Thirlwell of Eurogamer praised the tone of hospitality offered by the presence of bonfires, noting that he was able to recall "that strange, airy, undulating note, more like the hum of a machine than the crackle of a blaze". Despite having noted the "chill" vibes of the bonfires, he also said that they still invoked the common in-game theme of the flame "as creator and destroyer". Kat Bailey, writing for VG247, considered the "image of a knight sitting cross-legged in front of a lonely fire" from Dark Souls "one of the iconic images of the series, and arguably gaming as a whole," that many other video games have adopted similar imagery since. She said that Dark Souls subverts common literary tropes of fires by making its bonfire "a signifier of solitude rather than companionship" while providing "warmth and safety" for the player.

Joe Donnolly of Vice called bonfires a central component of Dark Souls, emphasizing them as being like "receiving a badge of honor—the reason you're able to rest here is testament to what you've previously overcome." Another Vice writer Patrick Klepek considered as them merely "fancy checkpoints" but highlighted their importance in preserving in-game progress. He criticized Dark Souls 3 for its imbalanced "back-to-back" bonfire placements that were unlike "a certain rhythm to the appearance of bonfires in a Dark Souls game, which the first games nailed perfectly. It's an ebb and flow that generates tension when it's needed, and surprises when you least expect it." Kotaku writer Robert Zak praised the lack of teleportation method for much of the first Dark Souls game, stressing that they were "symbolic Point[s] of No Return in Dark Souls" where the player faces increased tension for each bonfire they progress through, "eventually taking you to breaking point as you desperately wonder when the game will finally relent". In contrast to the execution of the bonfire mechanics in Dark Souls, he criticized the inherent presence of the warp method in the sequels for creating "uncomplex" feelings of "comfort without caveat, a complete break from the immersion and perils of a given area".

Authors of multiple gaming publications have noted the parallels between the checkpoints of many video games outside of FromSoftware and bonfires from the Dark Souls series, referencing the similar abilities to save the game and/or upgrade in-game features there. Ian Boudreau of PCGamesN similarly called the bonfire mechanic "one of the Souls series’ best ideas, and its most copied," but he also highlighted the increased difficulty and tension felt by the lack of any bonfire as a midway checkpoint for the Sen’s Fortress location that threatens to destroy "all the progress you’ve made since the last time you rested". GamesRadar+ writer Matthew Elliott stated his opinion that compared to save points of other games that the bonfires utilized in the Souls games were the "meaty cocktail of progress, exhaustion and joy". He argued that they elicited a range of emotions from the player depending on their situation, namely the typical "simple and welcoming" feeling when newly encountering each one, that of numbness and contemplation when using a bonfire after completing a difficult boss battle, and finally the feeling of relief of encountering a save point after having navigated through overwhelming dungeons. He noted the recurring feeling of safety seeing the "distant flicker" of the flame and expressed contentment that the game titles almost always respected the state of "sanctity of bonfires".

TheGamer editor Jade King praised bonfires as the "physical manifestation of relief," since the player is "safe to catch [their] breath and celebrate that [they had] managed to make it this far". She argued that bonfires in the Dark Souls series were innovative as a mechanic to the extent that they became both staples of so-called "soulslike" games and a "representation of Dark Souls [but] with little distinct lore". Christian Donlan of Eurogamer said bonfires were his favorite concept in a "game filled with incredibly good ideas" because they were the areas of making progress and served as bases to return to. He wrote that at first, he was confused as to why bonfires reset the world and respawn monsters upon usage, but he later expressed his love for hating said progress resets in exchange for being the centers of rest. Cameron Swan of Game Rant voiced his opinion that no other game replicated the large "emotional weight for the player" like bonfires of the Dark Souls titles had, pointing out that it "always [comes] at the perfect time to rescue players at the very last minute" from active moments of death. He argued that even the other Soulsborne titles Bloodborne and Elden Ring failed to mimic the feelings of joy and comfort from the "sudden rush of flames, followed by the comforting crackle of the wood at its base" upon lighting a "warm and inviting" bonfire for the first time. The iconicity of the Dark Souls bonfires, he said, is demonstrated through its frequent appearances as easter eggs for other games such as "Borderlands 2, Just Cause 3, The Witcher 3, Fallout 4, and even Overwatch".