VaatiVidya, YouTube's Premiere 'Dark Souls' Lore Explainer, Will Officially Narrate 'Dark Souls' Lore In New Book

It's common practice among FromSoft gamers to go through one of the studio's games, beat some of the most challenging bosses they've ever encountered, be blown away by the incredibly detailed and beautiful world, then immediately head to YouTube to understand what the hell was going on.

For nearly a decade, the service of interpreting the inscrutable worlds of games like Dark Souls, Sekiro and Elden Ring has been famously executed by VaatiVidya, an Australian YouTuber who has made a living giving the backstories of FromSoft's worlds, bosses and side characters with his dulcet, velvety voice.

Naturally, he was the only choice to narrate Abyssal Archive, a book created by Souls scholar Lokey that explores the lore of the first Dark Souls in painstaking detail. Vaati intentionally let slip that he would narrate the audio version of the book in a Twitter exchange this morning.

The book, published by Tune and Fairweather, will feature an analysis of director Hitedaka Miyazaki's breakthrough work, combing through his "oeuvre" to "mine unique insights from Dark Souls’ source material," according to the publishers. The two hardcover books will also feature artwork and an incredibly detailed map of Dark Souls' Lordran by artist Judson Cowan.

News of the books and VaatiVidya's involvement in the project excited Souls fans online, though the books will come with a hefty price tag of $180 for the basic version.

Currently, the books are looking at an early 2023 release.