Lost Izalith is overgrown with roots (or perhaps the branches of trees growing up through the ground beneath it it’s hard to tell) that are both massive and long dead. Undead Burg is like a mediaeval arcology, a castle town so built up over the years that you can’t really see the ground level. That world is implied to be incredibly old. The word “post-apocalyptic” has been applied to Dark Souls on occasion certainly in all three games you spend your time sifting through the ruins of the world. Smouldering Lake calls back to two different zones from the first Dark Souls. In that, it serves as a sort of thesis statement. It’s the first time you encounter a direct reference to a level in Dark Souls. It’s an optional area, easily missed, like the original Ash Lake in Dark Souls but it also comes relatively early in the game. Or, to put it in terms that aren’t mythopoeic word salad: Smouldering Lake is the dry rot in the foundations of the world. Smouldering Lake is what happens when the lava-flooded Demon Ruins, built around the corpse of Izalith and the Chaos Flame, collapse into Ash Lake. But people who played the first game might recognize the familiar shape of the giant columnar archtrees littering the place. Players who encounter Dark Souls III as their first entry in the series will find Smouldering Lake to be another iteration of the fire level, a video game trope that has been with us for 30 years now. This article contains spoilers for later areas of Dark Souls III.
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