Well well well, Dark Souls III

You already know that if it's From Soft that it's going to be great. I still remember my first playthrough. You get this epic cut scene, reminiscent of the Dark Souls one opening, and then you just wake up in a coffin surrounded by ash. The feeling I had was strange. I felt lost and dreaded what was to come. The enemies were just a bunch of hollows that looked like white beef jerky. But at the same time there was this intrigue, this curiosity, this anticiption. I didn't know what was lurking behind every corner and after seeing a litteral black ooze snake tumor thing growing out of the FIRST BOSS that you fight like FIFTEEN MINUTE INTO THE GAME, then I knew that I could literally not be prepared for anything. But this made things so exciting.

The level design was screeming one thing in particluar very loudly: desolation. The world feels like it is falling apart and turning bit by bit into a wasteland, taking with it everyone's sanity. Atmosphere and world building have always been a huge part of From Software's game design and they've really nailed it again this time.

The gameplay by far the easiest to get behind among all the souls titles. The dodge roll is easier to use than ever before. The world is less labyrinthy than in Ds 1. Most weapons are actually worth using and this game has a huge quantity of cool, unique and interresting weapons, as well as sorceries, hexes, pyromancies and ... miracles (although I should mention that miracles poo poo, sorry faith builders). Exploration is, as it has always been in Dark Souls, the best part of gameplay. Levels are exciting and unique, with each level containing ever more harrowing beasts that make you question the sanity of the enemy designers (No but really, how do you come up with some of those designs?). Secrets are everywhere and walls are, as per usual, a lie.

The characters in this game cover all ranges. From the jolly blacksmith André, to the hopeful Anri and the heartstrong Knight of Catarina Siegward, you have characters that provide a little bit of company that is much appreciated in this grim world. But there are also characters like trusty old Patches, that closes the exit door of the tower that you are standing in, trapping you inside. The characters are most of the time the only thing not directly attacking you, the last pieces of humanity you can find. In their human lives they have one endeavor, one thing they try to achieve. As you progress their quests you can either help them or hinder them. No matter for which option you decide to go, the outcome is the same. I let you guess what it is. This reflects the futile human struggle to keep a world running that really, really doesn't want to anymore, providing another layer to the story telling.

And lastly: the bosses. Areas end in boss fights. Some are really good like for example the Abyss Watchers, and some are like the Deacons and not really that thrilling. But most bosses provide a good bye to an area, with most bosses having a musical theme that will leave you breathless once you've beaten the foe.

Dlc made this game even better, although I will go into more detail in their respective reviews. For now just keep in mind, that they took this 10/10 and made it a 11/10. Coolest weapons ever. Pathing variety. Bosses that are... wow. Unique areas and an ending to a story of bravery.

So to wrap things up. 11/10. No questions asked. This was not only a game, but an experience, that marks the peak of my favourite series. I love this game whole heartedly and I truly believe that you can't ever get much better than this. Everybody should play this game. I could not imagine a person that would not like it.

Returning under the direction of Hidetaka Miyazaki, Dark Souls (DkS) 3 has a focus on lore, aiming to be a concluding and cohesive chapter, bringing answers but also clarity over the world of these games, how they connect, and how our choices change it.

Kindled Cinders

The main character is an ashen one, a burnt-to-ash undead, raised again by the bell after failing to link the fire previously.
We are not a champion, but using a brace, burnt humanities that make our character stronger, maximum HP increases by 30% and fully heals. This also enables online functionality, but is also a disadvantage to invaders and summons, as they will always be without it.

DkS3's world and map are amazingly crafted and it gives a real sense of scale to the world with most areas always visible from anywhere in the landscape.
The game is stunning, with areas that regardless of angle belong in a painting. The world design suffers greatly from the linearity of the title but shines with its shortcuts and connections well placed, rewarding exploration. An early map choice and DLCs do add some interesting crossroads and help break the linearity but often lead to a dead end.

NPCs quest lines have more interactions between them and interesting paths, often talking of not just their story, but the world around them. The voice acting is as usual top-notch and some unique animations have also been included to make some moments more special.
The new mechanic to have the inventory of merchants still available in case of their death is a great addition.

This is a treat for long-time fans and students of the lore with everything taken into account and thoughtful additions. I still remember on my first playthrough, still in the tutorial, reading the description of an item dropped by a miniboss and feeling back home for its depth and connections to things that were speculated since the first game!

Compared to DkS1, some quality of life are added or brought forward from DkS2. For example, the removal of a mid-rolling slower animation under 70% equip load, equipment slots increased to 3 weapons and 3 shields, 4 rings, and 10 consumables. New are 5 belt slots accessible on the in-game start menu and 1 covenant slot to change it on the go and without committing a sin.

Anti-aliasing is not great, with a lot of jagged edges, especially on details. Thankfully, the game runs in DX11, so it's nothing Nvidia Control Panel's AA can't improve.
The HUD is improved, and the inventory stands out with the inclusion of bigger higher quality item artworks, just like in Bloodborne.

The post-launch DLCs are connected and I consider them integral to the experience.

Ashes of Ariandel is a really but alas, on the shorter end. I think Bloodborne's The Old Hunter was being used as a comparison at the time, which was actually two DLCs in one. Do keep in mind, though, that this is in line with all the other Souls DLCs in terms of variety and content. It also had it has an amazing boss fight in the game.

The Ringed City is the show-stopper. It's stunning and varied, so much so that even my best expectations were not as good. The map, the added lore, and the boss fights stand out, including in my opinion. Years after, while translating and adapting my original review, it's still my favorite in all the From Software games.
The DLC is a wonderful period to the sentence made by all the Dark Souls games.

Strives of Mastery

Learning from the other games that came out before, DkS3 grows into a familiar yet faster gameplay compared to DkS1, but it's not as refined as it could be. Weapons' light attack movesets lose the 4-hit combo system of Bloodborne with a recovery window when finishing the combo; instead chain perfectly in a 1-2, leading to attack spam rather than clever swordplay. The only thing stopping you is how much stamina you have. Most bosses, while all amazing, suffer by having very consistent timings that allow for spam rolling to be viable without any consequence.
Nothing will ever make me forget the lack of poise/stun protection and longsword permastunning in PVP at lunch. Balancement for the game was a learning curve, with bleeding so out-of-control-broken it bought a complete redesign of weapon paths and scaling along the last DLC, only for the better.

Instead of spell usage, a mana bar and respective potion have been introduced, needed for mages to cast, or warriors to use additional moves called weapon arts.
The game features more than 200 weapons. Movesets and weapon arts are mixed and matched, and sometimes unique, especially for bosses, and DLC weapons.
Each weapon has something different, and choosing a weapon for a minor difference finally returns to the series, be that a specific heavy attack, weapon art, etc. Great addition, especially after DkS2 had standardized movesets into weapon categories, with the choice falling only on the numbers.
Outside the DLCs, weapon arts variety does suffer a bit, missing some great opportunities with abilities you see enemies with the same weapon use, but unobtainable.

Enemies do not have limited spawn and are well-positioned, with tactics in mind, relying less on quantity or surprise. There is more variety with a minor enemy throwing at you items stopping the usage of healing items during a fight with a knight, for example.
Tracking - the ability of an enemy to follow the player's movement even when motionless, essentially sliding - while always present in these games, like in DkS1, it tracks until the enemy attacks, after which it no longer tracks the player, but instead moves in the chosen direction.

The bosses are many and all different, and with the DLCs' additions, this is only improved upon. Even humanoids with a big weapon, fight very differently from one another. DkS3 is the first title with all the bosses that are technically different. From more classic boss fights to others requiring a more thoughtful approach, not shying from gimmicky mechanics.
Many bosses have multiple phases where the boss either adds new attacks or has an entire new movesets. There are no bosses that are a disgrace, like Bed of Chaos or Ancient Dragon from the previous titles.
The reward for defeating bosses, their souls, have all different artwork adding more personality to their lore, and the descriptions are exhaustive with even more information to be found in the unlockable weapons and armors afterward.

Unrestricted Cooperation

Just as their other titles, there are asynchronous mechanics for messages and death blood stains, plus a summon system.
Passwords can be used to summon without any limits, scaling the stronger player down.
Co-op covenants are the best they've ever been, while PVP ones suffer a bit from the matchmaking rules and some design choices. Where in DkS1 a Blade of the Darkmoon could actively benignly invade to help the world of anyone being invaded, in DkS3 Blue Sentinels work passively and rely on the player being invaded having a specific covenant equipped asking for help, decimating chances.
An arena has been added post-launch and can be obtained with any of the two DLCs, and offers a one-stop place for PVP.
At the moment of writing there are many cheats and exploits that won't get patched, so I would strongly suggest installing the mod Blue Sentinel from Nexus Mods, as it won't get you banned and will protect you better than the included anti-cheat.

Ashes of Everlasting Memories

This game is not just worth the money, but the time, and effort. I think my hours on it are the definite proof I think so. It's both a great place to start and the most wonderful goodbye for long-time fans. A loving send-off to a series that shaped gaming, but also newfound freedom of an existing world's creative burden.
One of the games that define me as a player, and for the hours I sunk in it with friends, as a person.

10/10

Полтора года не брался за написание отзыва на эту игру, желая перво-наперво пройти все сюжетные дополнения, чтобы поставить жирную точку. Пора пришла.

В школьные годы я шутил про сложность Dark Souls так много, что однажды захотелось попробовать пройти её самому, причём на максимальной сложности, хотя всегда играл на средней в любые игры.

Как-то весной 2018-го приобрёл стандартную версию для Steam и запустил. Оказалось, что выбора сложности как такового не было. Зато был выбор класса. Взял рыцаря и отправился в путешествие.

Встретил Судию Гундира и отлетел. Но на второй или третьей попытке мне, новичку в жанре, несмотря на наличие у босса двух фаз, удалось одержать верх. Я слышал, что первые боссы всегда разминочные, поэтому не расслабился и пошёл дальше, разблокировав Храм Огня.

Пробовал изучать Храм, погибая каждый раз от мастера мечей. А потом, побегав немного на территории замка Лотрика, удалил игру и забил, пока спустя 4 года ввиду скуки не запустил Dark Souls Remastered, в которую тоже было наиграно всего несколько часов в 2021-ом, и нашёл первого настоящего босса, которого спустя несколько заходов еле-еле одолел. Тогда и появилась та уверенность, то ощущение: я готов.

Прошёл на консоли Dark Souls Remastered, Demon's Souls, Dark Souls II: Scholar of The First Sin подряд со всеми дополнениями. После сразу же взялся за Dark Souls III, только начав её с самого начала, потому как играл уже на другой платформе: не PC. Взял класс воина и дошёл до заветного финала.

Думаю, моё сильное желание пройти всю трилогию целиком сразу, несмотря на её сложность и продолжительность, уже говорит о многом. Настолько велики творения From Software, что переоткрыли для меня игры целиком. Но Dark Souls III всё же будет моей первой и самой любимой. С ней связаны особо тёплые воспоминания.

Не хотелось сразу так бросать триквел, поэтому второе дополнение прошёл лишь недавно, спустя полтора года. И это вышло незабываемо...

Триквел выполнен великолепно, начиная с темы из главного меню и заканчивая битвой с последним боссом в основной сюжетной кампании (да и в DLC тоже, чего уж там). Боссы здесь намного интереснее, чем в сиквеле: им уделено больше места в лоре, а сами бои с ними проходят захватывающе. Тут теперь и по несколько полосок жизней, и высокая скорость, и множество спецэффектов. А музыка... Битвы с Танцовщицей, Душой Пепла, Безымянным Королём, Гаэлем — мои фавориты в плане звучания и ритма.

Целостность. Одним словом можно описать всю игру. Она им пронизана. Точно так же, как и оригинал. Локации сплетены друг с другом, не имеют резких переходов, наполнены характерными врагами и более нелинейны. Всё это позволяет больше верить в правдивость окружающего мира и побуждает его детально изучать, чем я, признаюсь, не занимаюсь в играх, которые не способны меня погрузить с головой в себя. А Dark Souls III сумела погрузить.

Порой я просто останавливался после тяжёлой битвы и смотрел на красивые, пусть и мыльные (к графике претензий не имею вовсе), дальние планы с ветхими замками, снежными горами и руинами некогда великих городов, делал скриншоты.

Дизайн всего и вся выше всех похвал. Даже рядовые враги являются запоминающимися как с точки зрения внешнего вида, так и ведения боя. Сюжет и лор тоже бесподобны. С минимумом слов до нас донесли нечто возвышенное и бальзамирующее.

По всем параметрам Dark Souls III прекрасна. Достойна внимания каждого игрока, желающего превозмочь боль, чтобы увидеть нечто, будоражащее сознание.

Хотел подробно расписать всё, но Яндекс, будучи сыном старой больной собаки, забраковал мой отзыв, поэтому мне пришлось прогнуться и порезать его.

This game is really challenging, fun and thought provoking.

In all honesty Dark souls shows the fundamental flaws of the game’s industry that being the need to make things easy and more generalised for an audience, Dark souls is not for everyone, however that is a good thing, considering the amount of games we are currently getting that are either live service infested games, “Hollywood” games, which are games that are more films than they are interactive software like Forespoken or Last of us 2 and anything that Sweet baby games publishes.

Dark souls, with other exceptional games like Shovel knight, Cuphead, Hades and others are almost telling players that they need to grow up, they need to understand that when you play a game you need to demand challenges, you need to understand that not everything in life and gaming is going to be easy, they will always be trouble and that it is going to unfair, but what counts is the fact that despite the pain and the gauntlet of issues, it is all the sweeter when you achieve that peak, that sense of relief, that sense of “you did it, you climb the mountain.” Imagine that the mountain you climbed had an escalator that got you to the top faster than taking the long difficult route, sure in some ways that is what everyone wants, but would you want it?

Do you want to be treated like a child or a warrior?

That is the problem with most modern games, they would rather take the escalator than push the players to their limit, they want to make gamers more docile and blander than inspired or feel achieved, while there are games that are easy and well liked like Kirby, that is a different beast all together, that is a casual game for people who want to relax, if you are complaining about a game that is intentionally meant to be difficult, then you need to go back to free maths games on your browser. I am mostly extending these complaints to Game’s journalists since they are one half of the issues, whether that is complaining about the fun aspect of the game, butchering the point of the story, or praising a bad game just because they filled out a checklist, both the mediocre games thrive through the basic and robot journalists that could not even get past the tutorial.

In the end, I believe Dark souls is important as that game reinforces to many that despite the constant stream of terrible, bland, or underwhelming games, there will always be a game that will explode everyone’s mind or teaches them something interesting, I am glad that I can play and beat a hard game that is rewarding. (Also, Kotaku is a parasite.)

Dark Souls 3 é a epítome do subgênero Souslike, a referência, o modelo a ser copiado. A mecânica de combate é perfeita, a adição de Mana e Weapon Art são perfeitas, os chefes são extraordinários e a ambientação... Ahhh, a ambientação!

Na minha visão DS3 tem gráficos feios, estranhos e serrilhados. A iluminação é desconfortável e desengonçada, nada agradável. Porém, tudo é tragicamente LINDO, elegante e depressivo, rico e podre por dentro. Uma verdadeira fantasia obscura, sombria e trágica. Toda paisagem esbanja dicotomia, toda paisagem conta uma história, cada esquina é uma lição diferente. A direção de arte é de tirar o fôlego. Sem palavras! DS3 buscou se inspirar nas origens, sinto que o jogo é uma carta de amor para aqueles que amaram Demon’s Souls e Dark Souls™.

Infelizmente, até mesmo os prodígios têm suas falhas, pois DS3 deixou a desejar em outros pilares que sustentam o conceito de Soulslike, o que afetou diretamente no produto final. Se DS1 é cansativo na 2ª metade da campanha, a 1ª metade (antes de Irithyll) do DS3 não empolga. A exploração é estranha e às vezes entediante, o jogo é muito linear como em DS, os atalhos que interligam o mundo faltam criatividade e a quantidade de fogueiras é exorbitante. Os personagens são interessantes, mas não são os melhores da série, comprometendo um pouco a qualidade da lore.

DS3 pode ser o filho prodígio, incrível, mais polido, inteligente e maravilhoso na visão popular. Mas não é aquele que eu mais tenho carinho, ele tenta demais ser outro jogo ao invés de criar a sua própria identidade. Por esses fatores DS3 tem o pior fator rejogabilidade na série, se for para fazer uma nova campanha nesse momento, DS3 seria o último na lista de prioridade.

Dito isso: OBRA PRIMA! :)

My favorite video game of all time.
One of the first games where I was deeply interested in it's world and lore.
I also own a physical copy of the game's soundtrack. I will acknowledge that this is a flawed game and it doesn't have the best level design, but I do think it has the most consistent leven and boss design.
Not only that, but this game has the best boss lineup of all the souls games in my opinion. With Gael being peak fromsoft boss design.
Love this game and highly recommend it to anyone seeking a fun and challenging experience.