Dark Souls 3 - Review

SPOILER ALERT 

As I prepare to traverse the ethereal fog gate for the umpteenth time, I check through my inventory to ensure that all of my equipment serves a purpose. My armor is lightweight with solid lightning defense; my fastest, viable weapon has been upgraded to the max; and my inventory list is stocked with a variety of healing wares and performance buffs. Most importantly, I know that the outcome of this fight is entirely in my hands. And so I cross into the fog and I finally execute perfectly. A feeling of euphoria washes over me in waves. Ahhh.... When Dark Souls III is at its best, you truly feel perhaps the most visceral and grounded sense of fulfillment that gaming is able to provide, an unrivaled sense of achievement.

Finally, after multiple characters, a completely blind playthrough, an internet-guided walkthrough, and seemingly countless hours of overcoming the world of Lothric, I feel comfortable in passing judgement on the final installment of the Souls series. Dark Souls III is an absolute triumph, living up to the lofty standards set by its predecessors and delivering a wholly engaging game in spite of its necessary derivative nature.

The Best Combat of the Series

Action-Adventure games live or die by the strength of their combat. Players will spend the vast majority of their time in Dark Souls III swinging axes, slamming hammers, sweeping scythes, throwing fireballs, casting spells, stabbing spears, parrying clubs, slashing swords or otherwise engaging with the various foes strewn throughout each environment. It is essential that this activity be diverse, challenging and fun. Fortunately, Dark Souls III knocks it out of the park. Weapons feel dangerous and weighty with each strike purposeful and deliberate. The stamina system again proves to be the all-star ingredient by making every movement count whether it blocking incoming strikes, dodging a potentially life-threatening blow, or counter attacking after an enemy's flurry. Making sure that you have enough stamina to roll out of range after you confront a foe remains as a quintessential part of the Souls combat formula. The speed of both the enemies and your own character has also been slightly increased making battles all the more tense as you know that if you're not careful, enemies can quickly burst through your entire health bar. After Bloodborne, it may feel awkward to hold up a shield but maintaining a good defense will result in success more often than trying to dodge-spam your way out of a sticky situation. Perhaps the greatest success that Dark Souls III has when compared to its predecessors is the fact that the undead legions and grotesque monstrosities that each player will face consistently challenge you to adapt to new strategies and methods. Holding up your shield and waiting for an attack will not work on all enemies. You need to learn to dodge, apply pressure and play creatively in order to come out alive.

Soul of Variety

As they say, variety is the spice of life and Dark Souls 3 is one spicy game. Over 100 unique weapons ranging from frost scythes to spotted whips to incendiary maces are available to test at your leisure and all of the feel relatively viable. You need but to upgrade and the weapon can be utilized in any area in the game. After the first couple of areas, upgrade items begin to drop like skittles out of a rainbow allowing to test out new weapons before upgrading them with some of the more rare, end game titanite. But wait, the variety doesn't stop there! After you get through some the more familiar locales (looking at you undead settlement), the player is greeted by a vast array of locations with diverse enemy designs. These include but are not limited to: a mountainous desert with bipedal snakemen, a fiery lake with a massive bone wurm, a twisting dungeon with healthbar-sapping jailers, and a Victorian-era city of ice with graceful, balletic knights bent on slicing you like a sushi chef. Putting this together with all of the different ways you can apply some variation of plethora of magic to your build and it feels as though infinite possibilities await.

Lore Infusion

The 'story' of Dark Souls has been a point of contention, admiration and even a few not so successful imitations ever since the original game's release in 2011. Told primarily through sparse NPC dialogue, cryptic item description, and environmental design, it's no wonder that when this is done wrong, the results can be disastrous. Fortunately, Hidetaka Miyazaki has had few misfires and Dark Souls 3 is no exception. Nothing is done by accident and everything serves the overarching tale of rebirth. Numerous items from the previous games make a return in one form or another and can alter the perspective of what was previously believed. Questions surface that practically beg to be answered. Why does that Demon's soul transpose into a former NPC's ring? Why are the Darkwraiths, servants of the Abyss, fighting these other equally deadly enemies? Why is Patches such a dick? Hardcore fans of the series will find a ton of throwbacks... perhaps too many. This begins to touch on the biggest problem with Dark Souls III, a topic I will discuss at length later. With the trilogy's narrative cyclical and the fact that its been announced that this will be the final Souls game, From Software needed to retread old ground to bring the story full circle. Nonetheless, the world is tightly built, the lore always makes sense and is supported, and Dark Souls fans will enjoy diving into it. If your new to the series, I doubt you'll know what you're missing out on but hopefully you'll be able the to enjoy the meticulous nature with which the world around you has been built.

Aesthetically Stunning

The graphics, art direction, music and sound effects of Dark Souls III are absolutely stunning. Utilizing the power of the next generation and From Software's recently attained Triple-A developer status, the studio has created a game overflowing with gorgeous vistas, bombastic, orchestral boss scores, and beautifully animated enemies (see Dancer of the Boreal Valley). The importance of deliberate and striking art direction is essential not only for aesthetics but also to reinforce the story presented in the item descriptions and dialogue. The game uses statues and avenues and boss designs to further the lore of the entire franchise. It looks, feels and sounds fantastic when the game is running smoothly. Unfortunately, as with past Souls games, there are a few areas with a quite a bit of chop to them, cutting the FPS from the crisp 30 to around 15 which, while rarely problematic in combat, can drag you out of the moment. A few bugs are also present though I didn't play on PC so I haven't had to contend with any of their larger problems. Still these are minor gripes in an 35-50 hour game that is sensational and mesmerizing for the vast majority of its game time.

The Boss Factor 

Rarely does a game deserve an entire section describing and, for the most part, praising the design, challenge and individuality of the bosses but it must be mentioned more than in passing that Dark Souls III is home to some of the best bosses in the history of video games. Is that an overstatement? Maybe but if you're a fan of complex, climactic fights that test your skill and assault your senses, fights that leave you breathless and quivering with joy when you finally bring down the towering adversary, you will not be disappointed. Each fight has it's own set of rules that you'll need to master in order to come out alive and figuring out the ebb and flow of each major engagement is one of the highlights of Dark Souls III.  Undoubtedly, some players will have a more difficult time with certain fights than others but all of them require a particular strategy. Out of the 18 bosses, at least of 5 of them will go on to be part of the undying pantheon of incredible bosses from the Souls series and there's not a single fight that's feels cheap or boring. The Nameless King stands as my personal favorite boss from the entire Soulsborne series, an achievement that I do not bestow easily. Simply put, you will fight some of the biggest, baddest, most interesting and detailed bosses in Souls history in Dark Souls III.

Multiplayer Shenanigans 

Demon's Souls, the spiritual predecessor to Dark Souls, revolutionized the idea of what multiplayer could be in an action adventure game. Writing notes on the ground that could be seen in other worlds; invading another player's game world and hunting them down for their currency; blood stains that would demonstrate how someone else died; even a boss fight that summoned a real human player to face the challenger. These innovations sent ripples throughout the game industry that can be seen in major studio titles such as Destiny, Metal Gear Solid 5, Dragon's Dogma, and even Journey.  Dark Souls III continues to use these iconic multiplayer tools to provide a sense of community on your lonely quest and they're as effective as ever. There are eight covenants that you can become a part of in order to engage in multiplayer on a larger scale and, in a welcome change, you can now switch between covenants on the fly rather than traveling to a designated shrine. Some covenant will reward you for invading other players, some will summon you to defend against other covenants, and others encourage you to offer your services as a cooperator for boss fights. Most interestingly, there is a brand new covenant that prioritizes group play and will allow you to interact with both the enemies in a level and the human player. In terms of consistency, the invasions are faster and more available than ever but the covenants that are supposed to summon you automatically rarely trigger. Actually fighting another player can depend a lot on internet speeds. Sometimes it would feel tight and responsive with every hit registering on time but other times the lag would kick in and you would die to a hit on your screen that looked impossible far away. Passing judgement on these systems is a double-edged sword as you're subjected to the nebulous speeds of the internet but when it works, it works beautifully.

Derivative vs. Original

In the third installment of any franchise (fifth if you include Bloodborne and Demon's Souls), you are bound to come across a certain level of familiarity of design choices and world building. With that being said, I think that Dark Souls III's greatest weakness is its reliance on the past and its reuse of locations, both in concept and in the actual game. Part of what made Dark Souls and Demon's Souls so powerful was the feeling of being a sort of digital archeologist, unearthing new secrets and lore from the meticulously crafted world and deliberately vague item text. Feeling as though you're traversing ancient ruins and towering cathedrals with history and culture not ever seen before. The majesty of Lordran inspired such a need for discovery. With Dark Souls III, there are simply too many areas that feel too similar to ideas used in the past. We've been to the abandoned village populated by crazed villagers in Bloodborne, we've been to the catacombs with shambling skeletons that reincarnate in Dark Souls, we've been to the poison swamp in literally every Souls game. From a story point of view, I understand why they had to return to some locations and those aren't the ones that I have an issue with. I think the return to Anor Londo was perfectly executed with a reminiscent (but thankfully not as brutal) section with ballasts and archers until you reach familiar ground tainted by some sort of viscous sludge. Having the ability to explore the lower city of Anor Londo in the form of Irithyll of the Boreal Valley sent shivers down my spine and it was a glorious realization when I found out where I was the whole time. However, with areas like the Undead Settlement and the Catacombs of Carthus, I just felt like it was old news. Pair this with innumerable items and weapons that make a direct return and it takes some of the magic away, making the game seem self aggrandizing and derivative. With all of this being said, for each area that leeched off of the past, there's another that rekindles your fascination with the world of Lordran. Ahem, excuse me, Lothric. What the Undead Settlement and Catacombs of Carthus failed to do, which is being familiar while also feeling fresh, Lothric Castle, the Grand Archives, and the Irithyll Dungeon accomplish wonderfully. These successful homages combined with the truly unique areas (Irithyll of the Boreal Valley, Archdragon Peak, Cathedral of the Deep) make up for the lackluster environments on the whole and it would be a disservice not give credit where credit is due. Dark Souls III is a fantastic experience but I know moving forward that the lore won't be quite as deep, the world won't feel quite so original, and I won't be the rapt gamer that I used to be. And, honestly, that's a shame.

Kindled for the Last Time

It's all over. Dark Souls has kindled its last bonfire. We've got two more DLCs coming but the last major game release has come and gone. As the final chapter in the trilogy, Dark Souls III scratches all the right itches and leaves us with satisfied smile rather than a despondent sigh. The combat is the best its ever been, the world of Lothric is rich and complex, the bosses are magnificent, and the multiplayer is addictive. Despite my misgivings about parts of the game feeling uninspired, the game is a masterwork. Testing out alternate play styles with new characters and weapons, realizing a monumental aspect of the story through careful investigation, discovering vast stretches of unplundered landscape, taking down challenging obstacles through dedication and execution, it's all here. Dark Souls III felt right. Dark Souls III succeeds at delivering a thrilling, demanding experience that every stripe of player, from the battle-hardened veteran to the newly initiated rookie, can embrace wholeheartedly should their resolve hold true.

Final Judgement

9.25 / 10

Pros: Perfect Combat, Varied and Viable Weapons, Epic Bosses, Interwoven Level Design, Lore Continuity

Cons: Occasionally Imitative Environments, Minor Performance Issues, Numerous Recycled Items

Image Credits: gamespot.com, fextralife.com, vg247.com, imgur.com, gamerant.com, kinja-img.com, ytimg.com, amazonaws.com