Dark Souls 3 Review

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As I walk through the scorched land, taking time to read the instructions, I was so sure that I would survive until the first boss, but alas, it was not to be. I saw a white lizard and was enticed by the high level of items it would drop. Little did I know that it would spell the doom for my still fledgling Pyromancer! Bad decisions were made, but I regret nothing. I know that this story is all too familiar to fans from the Souls Saga by FromSoftware and Bandai Namco, but notwithstanding its high difficulty we go back again and again.

Tree monster

The reason is quite simple actually. Despite the steep learning curve and the difficult gameplay, there is an underlying challenge to it all, which is highly rewarding. The graphical fidelity is high and although the land is dying it is still beautifully rendered. The game rewards people who like to take a minute to observe a boss before trying to bash out its brains. In fact, if you try to go “guns blazing” in this game, you are highly likely to be confronted with the famous: You Died. And this is what makes it both frustrating and endearing to its large fan base.Lothric

There are countless positive things which can be said about the overall gameplay. The simple interface is quite good and the inventory management does not take long to master. Like always it is best to go in with at least a backup set of weapons, in case your experimentation does not yield the results which you thought it would. The special moves are an excellent addition to the overall gameplay. Dodging and a timely retreat are still as important as they were in the previous installments. There is no powerful run through in this game, at least not in the first play through. You will have to select your battles carefully. The boss fights are amazing as well. The angry state is awesome. In this version, the angry state will sometimes give a whole new life line to the boss and although the lower ones can be finished off before them transforming into gigantic beasts, the higher level ones require proper planning.

The storyline is simple, but if you are in it for the lore, then know that it is as cryptic as it was in the first Souls game. You will start in a dying but beautifully gothic world. Nothing is as it should be. However, if you have recently played Bloodborne, you may be a bit disappointed in the enemy versatility. Everything is basically undead. There are no sinister silver beasts or slime scholars in this one. But, then they are two different games. Yet, I was hoping for a bit more diversity, with respect to enemy outlook.

Nevertheless, Dark Souls 3 is an excellent game which gets 9 out of 10 things right. It is one of the best games for the hack and slash horror RPG genre. Great graphics, a good storyline, and rewarding gameplay, these are the things that I look for in games and Dark Souls 3 has all three of them.

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One Comment

  1. I think, Bloodborne was something special since this current trend of games it’s really hard to get into. The Ni-Oh demo is very demanding, and while this game certainly looks faster than the first two Souls games I think it still wants to distance itself from Bloodborne in terms of gameplay.

    With all that said I have just one question; Do the NPCs move their mouths now? It might be meaningless but I do find weird that has become a staple of this series. But oh well its just a meaningless gripe.

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