The Impact Factor

To End The Fire

Review

Dark Souls III, From Software (PS4)

Abstract: Despite an initial hesitance, one that unfortunately loomed throughout my entire playthrough, I’m happy to write that Dark Souls III delivers. In a number of significant ways, Dark Souls III is the best Souls game to date. Combat is faster and more skill intensive than ever. Smart new systems add to the intricate balance of risk versus reward that teaches players to succeed organically. The world is intricately crafted and steeped in fascinating lore. It is a culmination of a franchise I regard at the center of my gaming identity. Dark Souls III is a perfect conclusion to the Dark Souls franchise and easily one of the best games of the year. I’m ready to say goodbye.

For the first time ever, a new Souls game was not at the top of my year’s most anticipated list. It’s not that I had low expectations: everything I had seen about Dark Souls III looked great. It’s not that I feared weak direction: Hidetaka Miyazaki was back on board to steer the Dark Souls ship in the right direction. It’s not even that the game was hitting at a time inundated with other new releases: Dark Souls III released during a relatively slow period in gaming. But there was something different about the release of Dark Souls III, and it colored my early interpretation when I first jumped into the game.

Dark Souls III is the third Souls game in as many years, following last year’s game of the year Bloodborne, and the year before’s runner up Dark Souls II. Dark Souls III would have to not only bring something new, but also perfect the familiar to give me that same amazing Souls experience I look forward to. Did it deliver? The answer is exceedingly complex but in short: yes, very much so.

The story in Dark Souls III immediately felt familiar to longtime fans, while being accessible to newcomers. Since the end of endless, the world of Dark Souls has been defined by a terrible cycle. Flames burn bright, ushering in prosperity throughout the land and bequeathing unrivaled power and god-like status to those who wield the flame. Invariably the fires grow dim, bringing about death and decay. For centuries, the keepers of the flame have sacrificed themselves to rekindle the world’s fire. And so the beginning, diminishing, and rekindling cycle repeats endlessly. In Dark Souls III, your hero once again arrives at the end of this cycle tasked with an almost impossible mission: to decide the fate of the world.

 

Lothric has seen better days.

In Dark Souls III specifically, you quickly learn that the keepers of the fire (called Lords of Cinder) are shirking their duties. Unwilling to end themselves to rekindle the flame, the land of Lothric is falling deeper and deeper into darkness. It is therefore up to you to find the four Lords of Cinder and end them yourself, so that the cycle can begin again. Or not, depending on the player’s actions. The plot isn’t exactly detailed for the player, on par per the rest of the Souls series, but is still perhaps the franchise’s most straightforward quest. Where it gets complicated, and fantastic, is in the world of Lothric itself. Lothric exists as a paradoxical mashup of past cycles, featuring familiar sights and characters from both Dark Souls I and II. It was great discovering who the characters were, both new and old, and how they fit into the synthetic new world. It works as both an exciting new setting while also acting perhaps as a commentary on the franchise itself: you’ll tread familiar ground, but in new ways. Similarly, it also felt like an end point: you’re returning to these familiar locations and characters because it will (or should) be the last time you see them. The melancholy of that realization only further strengthened the sadness built into the crumbling kingdom of Lothric.

The familiarity of Dark Souls III permeates its core experience, but it is no more evident than in the gameplay systems. Estus Flasks return as your sole source of health restoration. Bonfires act as checkpoints that not only heal players, they refill flask charges, repair weapons, and respawn enemies. Bosses are found behind ominous fog walls, challenging players to a tense battle to the death in their arenas. Dark Souls III has an almost unmanageably large suite of weapons, armors, shields, spells, miracles, and pyromancies for your character to fight with. I stuck to the basic longsword + shield + medium armor build that always gets me through my first playthrough. While it felt familiar, the underlying systems still made my roughly 35 hour time to completion satisfying throughout.

 

A familiar view for any Souls player.

Combat in Dark Souls III is the series’ best. What worked from the previous two games is kept in an identical fashion: every fight is a tense balance of risk and reward as both player and enemy alike die within a few blows, the stamina bar makes each encounter exciting as you need to carefully plan your attacks and blocks, and pattern recognition remains key to your success. Here again, the player is the experience points. You get better at Dark Souls III because you are better, not that your character has reached the right level or found the best sword. It’s hard to gauge the game’s difficulty overall because I have become so accustomed to the systems, but Dark Souls III did feel among the easiest in the franchise and perhaps a good starting place for beginners.

 

Pro tip: Nearly every chest in Dark Souls III is a mimc.
Attack on sight.

Dark Souls III is not without its innovations, however, as the series continues to not only learn from past mistakes but also refine the already stellar gameplay package Dark Souls is famous for. Dark Souls III is the fastest Dark Souls game yet, clearly inspired by the fantastically fast Bloodborne. It adds to the game’s skill ceiling and made combat feel fresh. Dark Souls III also introduces the Focus Point (FP) system, which acts similarly to the magic bar found in Demon’s Souls. FP is used to cast spells, miracles and pyromancies but also for another new addition: weapon arts. Each weapon as a special attack, or set of special attacks, that consumes your FP meter. It’s a small addition but one that worked well and made what was usually a useless stat for melee-only players (which I imagine is a great deal of the player base) something meaningful. The FP meter can be restored with the new Ashen Estus Flask item. The Ashen flasks are yet another smart addition to the game, as choosing to equip Ashen flasks remove from your total available charges of your health flask. It has the player make tough decisions: how much do I value FP restoration? Is it worth losing a precious healing charge? What would it be like if I did all ashen flasks? And on and on. Dark Souls III’s refinements to the combat experience are minor, but all work together with an already robust foundation to create, in my opinion, a perfect Dark Souls combat experience. It just doesn’t get any better.

World design in Dark Souls III feels like a 1:1 combination of the previous two entries. Dark Souls III brings back the amazing verticality found in Dark Souls. Exploring thoroughly almost always leads to the discovery of a shortcut that completely redefines your perception of the zone’s geography. Each of the discrete zones felt handcrafted and remarkably clever: mazes that aren’t really mazes, long routes, short routes, tough routes, easy routes, with beautiful backdrops accompanying them all. Unlike Dark Souls, and similar to Dark Souls II, the third is a deeply linear experience. You can find some branching paths and a couple well-hidden optional areas, but the majority of your exploration is from A to B, in a straight line. I appreciate that it was less linear that Dark Souls II, but I would have loved a return to the complex and real feeling world of Lordran.  

 

A graphical depiction of each Dark Souls game's progress route.

Bosses are a hallmark of the Souls franchise and are done well here. For the most part, Dark Souls III avoids past errors like having too many similar boss fights or bosses that aren’t fun to fight against. A few exceptions aside, each boss is either a) a fun fight or b) an awe-inspiring monstrosity. Many check both boxes. Overall, however, there weren’t many bosses that left a lasting impression. They were good, but not great. I commend a return to giving players some truly creepy and intimidating monsters to fight against, I just wish they made a bigger impact. That said, two fights in particular (being vague here but: the brothers and the nameless) are absolutely fantastic. I wish I could go back and fight them again.

 

The fight was both a) and b). It also killed me the most of any boss.
Ya jerk.

Despite all my glowing praise, and I do mean every word I write, something just felt off while I was playing Dark Souls III. I wasn’t meticulously scouring the world for every hidden secret. I wasn’t trying to perfectly optimize my player build and weapons. I didn’t engage with any online play or covenant shenanigans. I felt elation at beating some bosses but nothing matched my stand-up-and-cheer victories of past entries. I got the game on release day but didn’t play until nearly 5 days later. I also feel no compulsion to get the game’s platinum trophy. I’ve reflected on these feelings for nearly 3 weeks now and I still have no concrete answer as to their true root. Maybe 3 Souls games in 3 years is just too much? Maybe 2016 has a lot of other games that feel newer and more exciting? Maybe something is off about Dark Souls III and I’m just missing it? It is too hard to say. Because despite what I just wrote, I still played 16 hours in my first two and a half days after booting up the game. I still played essentially nonstop until I had beaten the game, gotten all endings, and finished all optional zones and bosses. Both in the moment and upon reflection, I still appreciate just how expertly crafted Dark Souls III is and the purity of its game design. I would still be excited for another Souls game next year, confusingly enough. I’m ready for Dark Souls to be over, but at the same time that thought devastates me.

 

I don't want to leave. Not really. But then I do. I'm so conflicted.
Regardless, Dark Souls III is great.

What is clear, however, is that Dark Souls III is an absolutely phenomenal game. Removing my weird mental state makes it one hundred percent obvious. Gameplay has been perfected. The story wraps up so many loose ends and gives a definitive conclusion to the franchise. Dark Souls III still deeply engrossed me in its world, start to finish, and I feel better for playing it. Dark Souls III is a great culmination of what the franchise has built towards and an exceptional experience in its own right. I’m glad the Souls series is taking a break, but I’m even more glad Dark Souls III is the game it’s (supposedly) ending with. It really could not be any better. Thank you for everything, Dark Souls. Here’s to the future.

Dark Souls III

5/5