This is the video game equivalent of a greatest hits album, comprising mostly of retreads of concepts that had already been explored in earlier Souls games. While it's one of the most consistently good games in the series, it lacks a unique identity and doesn't feel as varied as Demon's Souls or Dark Souls 1. It's still a great time for sure, a good starting point for people trying to get into these games as well. Though, I consider this game the least inspired in the whole lineup.
You could also call Dark Souls 3 "Dodge Roll: The Video Game" because the combat of this game has honed the variety of strategies down to a Bloodborne-like zone of constantly needing to dodge fast attacks. Positioning and spacial awareness have become less important than ever, and the variety of combat encounters is now more to do with how many enemies there are as compared to where they've been placed. Enemy attacks also track rotation a lot, leading to a lot of enemies spinning in place as they wind up their attacks. I understand why things went this direction but it's definitely a step down from the considered combat Dark Souls used to be known for.
The level design is solid as always, though it feels very "standard video game-y" compared to the more believable spaces of Demon's, the masterful inter-connectivity of DS1, and the slightly more clever winding nature of Bloodborne. Most levels have direct comparisons to previous games and they don't come out favorably. Lothric Castle is Boletaria Palace but without feeling as much like a place that has a reason to be built in the layout it is. Irythill Dungeon feels ripped straight from the lower Tower of Latria, scaled down a ton and made much less atmospheric. Somehow the Demon Ruins are back and are worse than they were before, though thankfully nothing here is as bad as Lost Izalith. Irithyll of the Boreal Valley feels a lot like Anor Londo, though it ends up literally going to a gutted Anor Londo that lacks pretty much all the interesting level design that was originally along the right side of the castle.
As a sequel to Dark Souls 1, it often goes out of its way to call back to that game in pretty obnoxious ways. The aforementioned Anor Londo and Demon Ruins revisits, Andre being your blacksmith, a new onion knight who acts basically the same as the last... At least the Dark Souls 2 callbacks feel a bit more tasteful, like the ladder building guy being found dead next to a bunch of ladders. All that said, I do still like this game. I just have a lot of complicated feelings about it considering it was my first Souls game, and coming back to it after playing everything before makes it stand out as unoriginal and stuck in the past.
You could also call Dark Souls 3 "Dodge Roll: The Video Game" because the combat of this game has honed the variety of strategies down to a Bloodborne-like zone of constantly needing to dodge fast attacks. Positioning and spacial awareness have become less important than ever, and the variety of combat encounters is now more to do with how many enemies there are as compared to where they've been placed. Enemy attacks also track rotation a lot, leading to a lot of enemies spinning in place as they wind up their attacks. I understand why things went this direction but it's definitely a step down from the considered combat Dark Souls used to be known for.
The level design is solid as always, though it feels very "standard video game-y" compared to the more believable spaces of Demon's, the masterful inter-connectivity of DS1, and the slightly more clever winding nature of Bloodborne. Most levels have direct comparisons to previous games and they don't come out favorably. Lothric Castle is Boletaria Palace but without feeling as much like a place that has a reason to be built in the layout it is. Irythill Dungeon feels ripped straight from the lower Tower of Latria, scaled down a ton and made much less atmospheric. Somehow the Demon Ruins are back and are worse than they were before, though thankfully nothing here is as bad as Lost Izalith. Irithyll of the Boreal Valley feels a lot like Anor Londo, though it ends up literally going to a gutted Anor Londo that lacks pretty much all the interesting level design that was originally along the right side of the castle.
As a sequel to Dark Souls 1, it often goes out of its way to call back to that game in pretty obnoxious ways. The aforementioned Anor Londo and Demon Ruins revisits, Andre being your blacksmith, a new onion knight who acts basically the same as the last... At least the Dark Souls 2 callbacks feel a bit more tasteful, like the ladder building guy being found dead next to a bunch of ladders. All that said, I do still like this game. I just have a lot of complicated feelings about it considering it was my first Souls game, and coming back to it after playing everything before makes it stand out as unoriginal and stuck in the past.