This past week, it was announced that iconic mangaka Kentaro Miura had suddenly passed away earlier at the age of 54. Miura leaves behind an impressive legacy with his three-decades strong manga series, Berserk.

Berserk has branched out into various mediums over its monumental run, from anime to film and more. However, Berserk has had a particularly tough time cracking into the video game scene, with all three of its official releases receiving middling reviews, at best. Berserk has inspired many games, though, and those influences were far more successful than the original was.

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Devil May Cry

Hideaki Itsuno took over the Devil May Cry franchise starting with 2003's Devil May Cry 2, though he was only involved late in the process. Beginning with Devil May Cry 3: Dante's Awakening, Itsuno would rebuild the franchise using the same philosophies that Berserk popularized. In fact, during a 2019 Game Developers Conference speech, Itsuno would acknowledge that reading Berserk had inspired his design philosophy of "things a 14-year-old would find cool."

With its massive weapons, cool but tragic protagonists and plenty of demon-slaying action, Itsuno spearheaded what amounted to a lighthearted twist on the Berserk formula. Devil May Cry 3: Dante's Awakening and Devil May Cry 4 cemented the series as a lighthearted romp with serious storytelling potential and challenging, fast-paced action. Clearly, it worked, too, as Capcom went back to Itsuno for 2019's Devil May Cry 5 after an attempted series reboot failed to find an audience.

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Dragon's Dogma

Another property helmed by Hideaki Itsuno, Dragon's Dogma may not look like it has a lot in common with Berserk outside of its fantasy setting. The game sees players become an Arisen when a dragon takes their heart, tasking them with bringing down the paragon to prevent the apocalypse. Dragon's Dogma released to reviews somewhere between mediocre and favorable reviews, though it has quietly amassed a fan following over the years thanks to a re-release and a Netflix anime.

The design elements of the world, one which embellishes fantasy elements with a real-world touch, were heavily inspired by the style of Berserk. To drive that comparison home, Dragon's Dogma had an officially licensed cross-promotion with the then-new Berserk: The Golden Age Arc film trilogy. Players could find two armor sets, the Swordsman Armor Set and the White Hawk Armor Set, which were the armors worn by Guts and Griffith, respectively. Unfortunately, the licensing agreement expired, and the armors are excluded from the 2017 re-release on PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC.

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Final Fantasy VII

As iconic as Final Fantasy VII's elements are, they don't exist without Berserk. Main antagonist Sephiroth bears a more than passing familiarity to Griffith with his bishounen looks and flowing white hair. There are smaller elements, too, like Barrett's gun arm, which strikes an apparent similarity to the crossbow Guts would wear on his arm after the Eclipse.

But obviously, you can't discuss Final Fantasy VII and Berserk without talking about the Buster Sword. An iconic piece of FF7's imagery, the Buster Sword is the first exposure many gamers had to the trope of the anime protagonist with a giant sword. However, that trope begins with Berserk and Guts' Dragonslayer, a sword from which Cloud's Buster Sword almost certainly took inspiration.

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Final Fantasy XIV

Years after the release of Final Fantasy VII, MMORPG Final Fantasy XIV would continue the legacy of paying homage to Berserk with the Dark Knight subclass. Introduced in Final Fantasy XIV: Heavensward, the Dark Knight class dons a variety of pitch-black armors and wields a massive greatsword. There are more than a few designs for the armors and swords, and several of them play clear homage to Miura's work.

The similarities aren't lost on fans, either. So similar is the Dark Knight to Guts' Berserker Armor that a makeshift tribute went up in FFXIV immediately following the announcement of Miura's passing, with Dark Knights standing in memorial of the late author.

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Dark Souls

The geniuses at FromSoftware haven't exactly been hiding how much they love Berserk. While Demon's Souls may have been a bit more discreet, Dark Souls kicked it into overdrive. The notion of the Dark Sign itself mirrors that of Berserk's Brand of Sacrifice (which another From game, Bloodborne, would use a version of for its Hunter's Mark), as does Dark Souls' general tone of perpetual misery despite attempts to carry on. You can even find analogies for Berserk's characters in Gwyn's family and knights; look no further than the Wolf Knight Artorias to be a Guts clone, right down to his broken, useless arm.

The sequels would become even more blatant, with the moon at the end of Dark Souls III bearing more than a passing resemblance to the Eclipse from Berserk. Dark Souls has even taken a few style cues, with weapons and armors that resemble (though seldom replicate) the armor and weapons used in Berserk, making Guts cosplays the most common build in the game. Dark Souls continues to have a reputation as a perfect example of a Berserk fan game; in fact, many would argue that it's a tragedy that From never was tapped to make an actual Berserk game.

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