Dark Souls, Anor Londo, by Ario Barzan.

This is an overhead map of a section of Anor Londo, an area from Dark Souls. Whereas most of the game’s architecture is circuitously asymmetrical and suggestive of a deteriorating world, Anor Londo represents a bygone ideal in its preserved austerity and expansive symmetry (which has implications for the narrative, too). Were the whole game made up of its type of level design, it wouldn’t be nearly the success that it is; as a contrasting, distinguishing exception, Anor Londo works. Dark Souls is particularly involving for me because it is so intent on indulging the pleasure of seeing how a world, that never spatially contradicts itself, interconnects without the assistance of a map. A future project of mine might involve drawing a total map of the game to see how it would look all laid out.

[Josh says: really nice work, Ario, and thanks for the thoughtful analysis of Anor Londo in context.]