It wasn't a side effect of Hollowing, it was just because it was set literal millenia after DS1. Just look at the real world, we also don't really have any solid evidence for most of the stuff that happened more than 1000 years ago and we're living in a modern world. The Dark Souls-world has no archaeology, it doesn't even really have a consistent religion, also the world is literally reborn every few hundred years or so. That people in Dark Souls 3 know every little detail about the birth of Pyromancy or the origin of Havel's armor is utter bullshit.
The Nameless King I agree on being a great addition, but that actually was a direct continuation of a hanging plot thread from the first game, not some weird nostalgia-thing. But there are definitely things in there that are just in the game for nostalgia reasons:
- Why is the blacksmith André of Astora again? How is he even alive?
- Why do we randomly go to Anor Londo again?
- Why are the Demon Ruins (including Quelana & The Sister of Chaos) in the game?
- Why is there a random Asylum/Stray Demon on top of Farron Keep?
- Why is there a retread of Siegmeyer of Catarina in the game?
- Why is Patches in the game again?
- Why is the main hub area called Firelink Shrine and do you go to the Kiln of the First Flame in the game when none of those two things even look remotely like their Dark Souls 1 counterparts?
- Why is Kaathe randomly mentioned in a conversation with a NPC even though nothing else in the game ever refers to the primordial serpents?
All these things are in the game for nostalgia reasons only, they have no real purpose in the game except for being there for the fans. Not that I'm complaining, I like most of these decisions a lot. It's just weird that Dark Souls 2 gets a lot of flak for the Old Dragonslayer, while Dark Souls 3 does the exact same thing multiple times. Also, it's silly to say that all the Dark Souls 2 callbacks were purely fanservice: Nashandra and the other queens being created out of Manus was a really cool concept.
The Dark Souls world is very high concept, so applying real world rules on anything in the series is not really a thing you can do. Also, as I said above, we know most of the things you mentioned because people wrote stories and books about them and we found proof of the existence of these civilizations through archaeology, the Dark Souls world has none of those things. Nobody is writing books and nobody is actively researching the past. Hell, in all three games pretty much everyone in the world is dead already, there is no one around to remember the stuff that happened even a year ago. Also, even in the first game there were hints of people just forgetting pretty big parts of history and stuff just disappearing. Oolacile was were Darkroot Gardens are in the main timeline of Dark Souls 1, yet everybody seems to have forgotten the existence of that kingdom or what happened there and in Darkroot Gardens itself there is zero evidence of there ever being a big city.
This is a pretty nonsensical argument and just seems like you can't be bothered to look into the game a little bit and instead want to take everything at face value. Your argument doesn't even make sense.
Books exist in Dark Souls, what do you think The Grand Archives are filled with? What do you think Seath's archives are filled with? What do you think archives
are?
Just because you the character never get to read them doesn't mean they don't exist, stories of ancient kingdoms and figures exist, how do you think most of the lore and story in the game is told to the player? Through stories from other characters. Gwyndolin, the son of Gwyn lived up until shortly before the games events, you don't think he told others? In addition to the fact that this games royal lineage among others are of Gwyn's lineage?
In addition to that, you still have evidence of prior kingdoms in all 3 games, that's what half of these games are about, exploring the past and understanding what went down, particularly exploring decrepit kingdoms, and if you're doing it you think others haven't? Would that not be considered a form of archaeology?
Oolacile is also a fairly poor argument considering that:
A: There are still many obvious, large structures in Darkroot garden
A:Oolacile was an unfinished part of the game that was only added later as DLC and wasn't really always going to for sure be in the game at all
A: When you visit Oolacile hundreds of years prior to Darkroot garden its already decrepit
A: A lot of it was also swallowed by the abyss or simply overgrown.
In addition to that "Death" in Dark Souls is hardly "death" you yourself die hundreds of times as likely do others.
in addition to that: Nashandra and the Sisters is a fairly poorly thought out concept which only exists to go "Look guys, this really is a sequel!" its not a cool concept and serves no purpose. It's reviving a dead character simply for the reason of connecting it to the prior game, THAT is nostalgia.
You can argue Patches, Andre and Siegmier are fanservice, because they are. (Even though it's stated that you yourself among others were revived by the tolling of the bell)
The demon ruins exist because they never dissapeared, kind of like Anor Londo never did either and is there to show the player what happened after the loss of the Chaos Flame, you know, like what's explained in game if you actually payed attention. Why is the Old Chaos in Dark Souls 2 despite you killing it in Dark Souls 1 being a major plot point?
You go to Anor Londo to show you how the area has changed with the absence of sunlight and also to show you the Pontiff's influence.
Because Farron built overtop of the catacombs which are in turn on top of the demon ruins, which again, is in game.
Why is Pate an obvious retread and callback to Patches?
Because the linking of the fire had become a world changing event and the shrine was built to honor that and those that had linked the fire. The Firelink Shrine of Dark Souls 1 is an easter egg of Dark Souls 3, but they're not the same thing.
The Kiln of the first flame exists at an entirely different place in time all together when you visit it (Same as the Ringed City) and is after every kingdom had fallen and the world had literally collapsed in on itself
Because Kaathe founded a movement that still exists today. The primordial serpents are also ALL OVER Dark Souls 3, both in the ringed City and in the upper reaches of Lothric Castle to show their influence.
Your entire argument is basically "Well, I couldn't be bothered to pay attention when playing the game and it wasn't spelled out for me, so all of these things make no sense"
I never had a problem there tbh...
"Just because"
lol ok
It's almost as if Dark Souls is a fantasy, magical world completely unlike our own with its own rules and mythology :O Might as well complain about magic and dragons while you're at it.
Also, considering how much misinformation there is about those figures you cited, especially Jesus (and Columbus), and how 6 of the 7 wonders of the ancient world are completely gone (some of which might not have even existed and are actually quite debatable), the idea that humans never forget history is quite the comical one. Not like you'd know about those figures who are actually completely forgotten too, because... again... how would you know xD
Nice misinterpretation of my argument but alright. It's not as if that very same thing is represented in Dark Souls 3 with the abyss watchers following a misinterpreted legend of a figure they
think they know about.
and as if it being a fantasy game therefore means basic logic can no longer be applied in any form. Especially when the game being defended does the exact same thing but with a different context.