10 Awesome Video Game Features That Came From Contest Winners

There are literally hundreds of weapons, armour sets, and other items available to you in Dark Souls. Some are more useful than others, admittedly, but the fact remains that players are given SO many different ways to play during their perilous quest across Lordran.

With that in mind, FromSoftware really didn't need to stuff in some fan designs alongside the smorgasbord they already had. But the fact they did really makes the game that much more epic.

Before release, the developers announced a shield-designing contest, the winners of which would have their designs fully realised and worked into the game. Naturally, ideas came flooding in, but the submissions from the select few winners have proven, to this day, to be some of the prettiest and/or most useful shields in the whole series.

Among them are the Bloodshield, which greatly increases your elemental resistances; the Sanctus, which gradually restores your health; the Spider Shield, which grants a total immunity to poison when used to block attacks; and, perhaps most notably, the Black Iron Greatshield, the signature greatshield of fan favourite Black Iron Tarkus.

With many of these appearing in the series' later instalments, it's safe to say that these fan-made shields have made quite an impression within the Dark Souls universe.