Yes, really.
This non-sequitur approach to texture modding highlights many background details that experienced players might otherwise miss, and if offers an even richer experience if you’re a SpongeBob SquarePants fan. “Are you feeling it now, Mr. Krabs?”
Offering only the explanation “So I replaced ALL the textures in Dark Souls 3 with a Crab…” the above mod captured by Limit Breakers showcases a version of Dark Souls 3 in which every in-game element has reverted to a crab-like state.
The mod’s pro-crab agenda extends to background textures, player models, clothing, and equipment, making for a hilarious juxtaposition with the game’s usual dark fantasy setting. It even goes so far as to replace menu and UI elements with crabs, making the experience that much more difficult to visually parse, much less play.
The true extent of this mod’s damage becomes fully apparent when the player enters Dark Souls 3‘s introductory area, the Cemetery of Ash. Normally noted for its oppressive, unfriendly atmosphere, the Cemetery of Ash has been transformed into a crustacean paradise where crabs unite to form craggy hills, valleys, and shell monuments.
Players who look to the heavens for answers regarding this mod’s existence will see the Cemetery of Ash’s oppressive skyline replaced with yet more crabs. In Limit Breakers’ mod, crabs are everything. They know all, they see all, and they comprise all.
Somehow making it to the game’s later Road of Sacrifices area, the player in the above video goes on to explore a world in which varied crab species have fully reskinned a normally hostile environment. The video then concludes with a boss battle that should basically be a foregone conclusion for anyone who has played Dark Souls 3 through to completion.
We need to give credit where it’s due: the retail version of Dark Souls 3 is frequently unsettling, but it can’t quite match the visual nightmare that is Limit Breakers’ unholy creation. Well done, crabs.