The manga that inspired Elden Ring and Dark Souls gets its final volume in November

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After more than 30 years, Berserk has come to an end

page from Berserk
(Image credit: Dark Horse Comics)

Berserk, the manga that inspired Elden Ring and the Dark Souls series, will come to an end later this year after a three-decade run.

According to the series' US publisher Dark Horse (via Polygon), the 41st and final volume of Berserk will arrive in November, having launched in Japan last year. The brutal, dark medieval fantasy manga began in 1988 and ran for more than 30 years until the death of creator Kentaro Miura last year.

Berserk's influence across those three decades has been significant. The series has been adapted for anime a number of times, and its setting and themes have inspired an array of other forms of entertainment. Arguably most significant, however, is the series' impact on Hayao Miyazaki's Soulsborne series, which occupies a similar dark fantasy setting. 

References to the manga have been apparent since as far back as Demon's Souls, and appear throughout the Dark Souls trilogy. While Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice and Bloodborne both veer a little from the medieval setting central to the series, Elden Ring is filled with nods to the series throughout its world, with easter eggs popping up before the game was even out in the form of protagonist Guts' iconic greatsword.

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Ali Jones
Ali Jones
Managing Editor, News

I'm GamesRadar's Managing Editor for news, shaping the news strategy across the team. I started my journalistic career while getting my degree in English Literature at the University of Warwick, where I also worked as Games Editor on the student newspaper, The Boar. Since then, I've run the news sections at PCGamesN and Kotaku UK, and also regularly contributed to PC Gamer. As you might be able to tell, PC is my platform of choice, so you can regularly find me playing League of Legends or Steam's latest indie hit.