Dark Souls is a series I have a lot of affection for and a long and interesting history with. Released in 2011 I purchased it for the Xbox due to its excellent art style and even better reviews it was getting. And man - that game was FUCKIN' hard! I played a good deal of it at a friends house and the near-constant sighing and growls I made while playing it are still remarked on to this day! I never did manage to beat the original until the PC version came out and I got myself a trainer to make things somewhat easier but I still dearly love the game.
But we're here to talk about the 3rd~ish game of the series (Demon's and Bloodborne are technically a part of it too, Sekiro kind of also) and not the first. DS3 is the first one on next gen consoles and is the first one released after Bloodborne and carries much of that games DNA. The combat is MUCH faster and more fluid than the previous two Dark Souls games and you feel much more in control of your actions. While that certainly works very well as a GAME it does lower the distinct Dark Souls "FEEL" of heft to its combat and movement that I'm not sure is a strict improvement? I love the increased mobility and kineticism of Bloodborne but I'm not sure Dark Souls is 100% appropriate to that...
Also I said we are here to talk about the third Dark Souls game - but that's not quite right. I have downloaded the "Cinders" mod, a well-regarded overhaul of DS3 that changes up a decent number of things to vastly increase build diversity and make things a bit more "gamey". All weapon infusions are available right away and basically every ordinary weapon is there to purchase right off the bat. That along with even more starting classes and there's no more starting a build that takes half or 2/3rds of the game to come online anymore - you pick the idea of what you want to be when you start and you're pretty much there: You just get a lot better at what you do. There's also a bajillion little QOL changes like infinite (or near) respecs for your builds, items are reshuffled, Dark Souls 1+2 + BB weapons and armors are added to the game, the DLC is much easier to access AND there are several warp points added to the game that make DS3 considerably less linear.
I started the playthrough as a Hexer build which was pretty cool (I've never played a hexer build as they typically take forever to come online) but once I got to a certain point in the game my hexes just were doing fuck-all so I hopped around builds for a while until I landed on a Faith-Dex build based on Archery and a new DLC miracle that shoots lightning arrows and I was pretty damn happy with that. I haven't played through with a ranged character like this since I BELIEVE my original DS build which was a sorcerer!
But anyway - Dark Souls 3. The story is definitely more cogent in this one than in previous: The fire of light is slowly dying and you have to forcibly convince the old embered lords to give up their souls to light the fire one last time... for some reason they don't really care to and as you make your way through the game you start to understand why: this has happened MANY times before, and even the times where the fire has gone out things actually turned out alright again later so... what the heck is the point? There are plenty of great moments and areas in this one, though not quite the tour de force that is DS1. There's no real blighttown analog but there IS a weird poison swamp but its not that annoying. There's several drakes to fight but nothing quite like the wyvern from the bridge in DS1. There are a few areas though that are stunning. Walking into Irythyll of the Boreal Valley is really a sight like no other. A beautiful light blue shimmer over all the buildings and a peaceful snowfall off in the distance with the moon shining bright... it leads to a beautiful feel of calm which is of course interrupted not a minute later when a horrible wolf beast ambushes you on the way into the town haha... There's also the Smouldering Lake, a lava bed you can safely make your way across with ENORMOUS trees dotting the landscape up to the stone above. This area unlike Irythyll is not that fun to fight or move through due to an enormous crossbow enemy blasting you from above.. its an interesting snag but wears out its welcome pretty fast.
Overall I didn't have TOO difficult a time with it, I got some nice grinding spots so when I had an issue I just kept at it and gained a few levels and came back. Even Nameless King who was a REAL son of a bitch my first go around the game fell in only a few tries!! Yeah fuck you King...
All in all this is still an enthralling game where you are in a deadly and obtuse world but it feels satisfying as heck to make your way through it, even knowing 90% of what you're going to run into... Until the Cinders mod throws some tough as nails new NPCs at you to mess you up!! Up next - the new DLC!
But we're here to talk about the 3rd~ish game of the series (Demon's and Bloodborne are technically a part of it too, Sekiro kind of also) and not the first. DS3 is the first one on next gen consoles and is the first one released after Bloodborne and carries much of that games DNA. The combat is MUCH faster and more fluid than the previous two Dark Souls games and you feel much more in control of your actions. While that certainly works very well as a GAME it does lower the distinct Dark Souls "FEEL" of heft to its combat and movement that I'm not sure is a strict improvement? I love the increased mobility and kineticism of Bloodborne but I'm not sure Dark Souls is 100% appropriate to that...
Also I said we are here to talk about the third Dark Souls game - but that's not quite right. I have downloaded the "Cinders" mod, a well-regarded overhaul of DS3 that changes up a decent number of things to vastly increase build diversity and make things a bit more "gamey". All weapon infusions are available right away and basically every ordinary weapon is there to purchase right off the bat. That along with even more starting classes and there's no more starting a build that takes half or 2/3rds of the game to come online anymore - you pick the idea of what you want to be when you start and you're pretty much there: You just get a lot better at what you do. There's also a bajillion little QOL changes like infinite (or near) respecs for your builds, items are reshuffled, Dark Souls 1+2 + BB weapons and armors are added to the game, the DLC is much easier to access AND there are several warp points added to the game that make DS3 considerably less linear.
I started the playthrough as a Hexer build which was pretty cool (I've never played a hexer build as they typically take forever to come online) but once I got to a certain point in the game my hexes just were doing fuck-all so I hopped around builds for a while until I landed on a Faith-Dex build based on Archery and a new DLC miracle that shoots lightning arrows and I was pretty damn happy with that. I haven't played through with a ranged character like this since I BELIEVE my original DS build which was a sorcerer!
But anyway - Dark Souls 3. The story is definitely more cogent in this one than in previous: The fire of light is slowly dying and you have to forcibly convince the old embered lords to give up their souls to light the fire one last time... for some reason they don't really care to and as you make your way through the game you start to understand why: this has happened MANY times before, and even the times where the fire has gone out things actually turned out alright again later so... what the heck is the point? There are plenty of great moments and areas in this one, though not quite the tour de force that is DS1. There's no real blighttown analog but there IS a weird poison swamp but its not that annoying. There's several drakes to fight but nothing quite like the wyvern from the bridge in DS1. There are a few areas though that are stunning. Walking into Irythyll of the Boreal Valley is really a sight like no other. A beautiful light blue shimmer over all the buildings and a peaceful snowfall off in the distance with the moon shining bright... it leads to a beautiful feel of calm which is of course interrupted not a minute later when a horrible wolf beast ambushes you on the way into the town haha... There's also the Smouldering Lake, a lava bed you can safely make your way across with ENORMOUS trees dotting the landscape up to the stone above. This area unlike Irythyll is not that fun to fight or move through due to an enormous crossbow enemy blasting you from above.. its an interesting snag but wears out its welcome pretty fast.
Overall I didn't have TOO difficult a time with it, I got some nice grinding spots so when I had an issue I just kept at it and gained a few levels and came back. Even Nameless King who was a REAL son of a bitch my first go around the game fell in only a few tries!! Yeah fuck you King...
All in all this is still an enthralling game where you are in a deadly and obtuse world but it feels satisfying as heck to make your way through it, even knowing 90% of what you're going to run into... Until the Cinders mod throws some tough as nails new NPCs at you to mess you up!! Up next - the new DLC!