Dark Souls III Review

Try, and Die Again...

Before we kick off, thanks to Xbox for the code for the game!

So...

It began for me when I discovered Demon's Souls on the Playstation 3 back in 2010. I wasn't quite prepared for the effect that game would have on me, nor on gaming in general. It was brutal, unforgiving, dark, and curiously addictive. I sank into a world where storytelling wasn't spoon fed with cut-scene after cut-scene, or given to me in vast swathes of in-game lore.

Everything I discovered about this world I did as I played the game, finding NPCs to talk to, inscriptions which were at once both enlightening, and then cryptic messages often left by other players thanks to the Demon's Souls unique multiplayer aspects.

Then came Dark Souls, another trip into a Souls Universe, fraught with danger, more lore, more badass boss encounters and death. Dark Souls 2 followed, then Bloodborne on the PS4, and finally now Dark Souls 3 on the Xbox One.

For the Dark Souls series itself, this is the capstone, the end... it's done.

Third Time is really the Charm

What 'From Software' learnt from Dark Souls and Bloodborne has come to shape Dark Souls 3 and deliver what I think is quite possibly the best 'Souls experience yet. Again, highly cryptic and shrouded in lore that can be traced back across the series, Dark Souls 3 delivers a huge adventure fraught with danger around every corner, and whilst it might not be (for some) as hard as Dark Souls, it's every bit as engaging as the first game, and polished to quite a high degree on the Xbox One.

Character generation is better in this game than previously, a good swathe of options present themselves, you can save favourite looks for use to create the same character style for the different classes.

The various classes all play differently, have different starting gear and stats, and have various pros and cons. I'll leave you to figure those out, or hit a Wiki.

The Knight, Mercenary, Warrior, Herald, Thief, Assassin, Sorcerer, Pyromancer (my favourite), Cleric, and Deprived are your classes. The Knight is the easiest to play as, good for first time players, and has a good solid spread of stats/gear. The Deprived has all their stats at 10 and starts at level 1, so in essence, it's the hardest option.

Choose your class and then prepare to die, again, and again, and again.

You begin unlife as one of the Ashen, the Unkindled Ones. Very quickly the game wastes zero time in getting you to grips with everything you need to try and survive - believe you me, you will die, and die a lot in Dark Souls 3. If there's one thing I've learnt over the past playing these games is the mantra of: don't get precious about your Souls.

But back to the start. You're thrown in at the deep end, sure the early enemies will fall fairly quickly, but this is to get you used to the way 'Souls plays. A message left by the game tells you the controls to use, but that's about as far as the tutorial side of things goes. Messages left by other players will possibly help you, or trick you, then there's the bloodstains, showing you the fate of the poor sap that came before you.

I still remember things like Awesome Item Here, Just Jump. Good old 'Souls Trolls... because if you did jump, you were dead and somewhere there was a dick laughing hard at the thought of all the people who fell for their ruse. All they needed to do was check the bloodstains around where they placed their message.

It's part of the game though!

So, you go from message to message, learn bits and pieces, find out how to attack, parry, guard, dodge roll and all those useful elements against enemies which are really quite easy unless you get complacent.

A message tells you to turn back, and if you ignore it, sure there's something awesome that way... and well, I'll let you discover what else!

That's the fun, and the glory of Dark Souls 3. It rewards exploration of this gorgeously created, dark, gloomy, and quite breathtaking world. Hidden items, sweet weapons and armour all wait for you somewhere, perhaps guarded, perhaps not. Is that chest really just a chest?

Remember though, you're still at the start, you're making your way through the next area and discover a new mechanic - a bonfire, light it? Fine. Sit at it and rest, the enemies will respawn. See, that's the kicker about 'Souls. If you use those bonfires you'll bring back every non-boss enemy you fought in the area, which is great for Soul Farming (Souls are your cash in this world), not so great if you want to try and get from A-B.

Now you're fighting the same enemies, but wait, they're tougher - yet there's still stuff to find and you're not even sure what's around the next corner. There's still messages to read, elements of the game to learn.

Meet the New Boss, Same as the Old Boss

Well not quite, he's actually pretty hard as nails if you've never played a 'Souls game before. Even if you have, one lapse of concentration and he'll rip you a new one like you're a total newbie to the series. Defeating him kindles you, you get more health, you burn with an ember like effect and get some sweet Soul reward.

You might use an Estus Flask (a way to get back health) if your health is really low after that fight.

You can also be invaded - see threats in Dark Souls 3 come not only from the game's many monsters, violent NPCs, and traps. But from the other worlds inhabited by your fellow players, who can join a covenant (like a guild) that lets them invade other worlds. I'll talk about stuff like that a bit later on, because it deserves its own little section, probably called: Jolly Co-Operation!

Eventually you'll discover a way to level up, more things to find, more options and realise that Dark Souls 3 first hub is pretty useful. You'll be back here a lot, trust me. Levelling takes Souls, Soul Amounts increment as you level a stat, and there's a lot to level here. Whilst there's a mechanic later that allows you to respect up to 5 times, you don't get that luxury right from the start.

If you die, you'll create a bloodstain in your world where the Souls you collected so far will sit until you touch the stain and reclaim them. Fail to do that and die again whilst on your way to get them back? They're gone, gone for good. So if you can get to them even if there's a nasty enemy not too far away, get them back if you have a good amount, then concentrate on getting the hell out of there or facing down the foe that cut you down.

If you're not precious about the Souls, let them go and try to get to the next Bonfire. Salvation awaits!

Discovery Learning

Dark Souls 3 teaches you to play the game by being honest with you, unless you're unlucky to catch a glitch or bug which lets an enemy attack you through a wall. But for the most part it's honest, trying to play fair whilst still providing a stalwart challenge in the many combat encounters. If you die it's usually your own fault, you made that mistake, you overextended in a fight and you lost focus. It's a game that teaches you the value of understanding your foe, what they can do, what kind of challenge they represent, and how they attack.

Do this and you'll get further than mashing buttons.

Mashing buttons will get you killed. Learn the attacks, defences, the timing on a parry, and the right time to dodge-roll. The game won't teach you this, you'll pick it up from play after play, death after death, until 'CLICK' you finally get where Dark Souls 3 is coming from.

It's all about Stamina management, paying attention to that bar will save your life. Watching your 3 gauges - health, focus points (think of it like skill points or magic points), and stamina are key to maximising your chances in this game. It's also about Equip Load, basically you can't equip every bit of armour or weaponry you see, unless you have enough points in the right attribute that governs Equip Load. Go too high and you'll slow right down, and fat-roll, a slow-moving dodge which will leave you at the mercy of most attackers.

You have regular attacks, heavy attacks, a dodge, a guard, a parry and new to Dark Souls 3 - Weapon Arts. These are special things that most weapons can do when you switch stances (Y on the Xbox One controller) to two handed. They consume the blue bar, which can only be replenished by an Ashen Estus flask.

Experimentation is key here to find out the effectiveness of these arts, and when to use them.

So basically, the combat system in Dark Souls 3 is the best it's ever been, it's polished compared to previous releases and there's a lot of new/neat elements you'll discover if you're a fan of the franchise.

Stuff to do, things to find!

You'll be treated to a heck of a ride with Dark Souls 3 in terms of encounters, boss fights, story elements, and more. It's ram-packed with stuff to discover, new monsters to fight, new things to learn, and weapons (which can be reinforced/upgraded) of course. Armour can't be modified, you can mix/match various pieces to complement your playstyle, but you won't be upgraded that stuff at all.

The World Outside

Dark Souls 3 presents a great story-driven world if you look for it, there's lore all about, but it's not thrown at you constantly in long-winded exposition, or books, or anything of the sort. You'll piece the wider narrative together as you go, telling stories of your battles as you explore and hopefully having some great moments where even the smallest victory feels like a major achievement.

From Software has presented this world in a new light, the textures are better, the environments are better, and there's even a few homages to Dark Souls if you know where to look. What might appear as some disconnected environments soon become linked, new shortcuts open, new Bonfires let you fast travel from place to place, establishing little base camps before you push on.

It's pretty perfect in that regard, a great adventure, awesome exploration.

It runs a lot faster and I've not seen any appreciable frame-rate drops on the X1 even in big encounters, which I note are a thing you want to avoid, learn to kite the enemies and you'll have an easier time of it... because 3 will throw a whole bunch at you if you're not careful - not a fight you want.

Jolly Co-Operation (and not so Jolly Invasion)

There's mechanics in Dark Souls 3 that link your world online (unless you turn it off), and once you're online you'll see ghosts of other players, hints of their lives, their deaths... and their victories. You'll also be subject to invasion by hostile Red Phantoms, players who delight in coming into your world and killing the Host Of Embers for the rewards they can get.

Fear not, you can summon help, or help will find you as Blue Phantoms belong to a Covenant that protects other players from Invaders. It all works really well, and there's some epic confrontations at times - want to see some, fire up Youtube and take a look at some of the invasion videos out there.

There's also co-operative gameplay, throw down your summon sign and you can be called to fight a boss, or even help in a tricky area before the boss fight. Want to play with a friend, do something similar, but set a Password in your Online Settings - you'll both join the same world and can play together for some Jolly Co-Operation!

It's great fun!

All Good/Evil Things Must Come To An End

It's a great day to have Dark Souls 3, but it's a sad day too. At the moment, and for the foreseeable future there's no more 'Souls games in the works. The studio is moving onto a new IP, new challenges, new directions, and has done with the series. There's at least 2 DLCs on the way, so it's not all doom and gloom!

What a way to end it though, there's loads more I could talk about, loads of systems I haven't mentioned - but as I always say with 'Souls, the fun is learning all that for yourself. The bottom line without all the gubbins up there, Dark Souls 3 is the Best Souls, the top-end of the Souls series and benefits from a ton of improvements under the hood - faster combat, better weapon design, some great boss battles and one hell of a world to play in.

So go forth, explore, Praise the Sun!

Prepare...

To...

Die!