For my first few sessions of Dark Souls III I was under the impression that it was just fine. I liked it! It was Souls! But that was exactly it - it was incredibly safe and re-hashes a lot of ideas and content from Dark Souls I in a way that felt a bit cynical and pandery. As time went on however, I started seeing how these callbacks to DS1 are both intentional, and very contextually justified - in fact they're a very part of the game's lore and world. (Although I still don't get why fuckin' Andre is here, lmao.) That's one thing - but then the game also just hit its stride about halfway through (after you've done Irythill Dungeon, basically) and turns into this conveyer belt of banger boss fights and areas that, quite boldly for Dark Souls - don't make me want to set myself on fire.
It IS safe, and it's less ambitious and interesting than the likes of Dark Souls 2, a game I appreciate a lot in spite of its flaws because I respect how different it feels and how much new stuff it tries. It's also a lot more linear and a lot less interesting design-wise than Souls 1, which frequently branches out in multiple directions and invites a sense of wonder that Souls 3 never even touches. But it's fun. It's the most fun Souls game by a country mile. It's not as important or ambitious or inspired, but fuck man if I'm gonna replay any Souls game again anytime soon it's gonna be this one. You mean I can get the thrill of sick combat and Souls boss fights without having to deal with Tomb Of The Giants, Blighttown, Iron Keep, Shrine Of Amana or Bed Of Chaos and the like? Bro, sign me the fuck up.
Yeah, it grew on me a lot. It has the sickest boss fights of the trilogy by far - Pontiff Sulyvahn, Slave Knight Gael, Champion Gundyr all among my favourites in the series now. It's a pain in the ass to go back to Firelink Shrine every time you wanna level up, I have absolutely no idea how they thought it was a good idea to map the kick to the same button as your standard attack, giving you far more unintentional kicks than an action RPG should ever have but the fact that stuff like this were my biggest gripes should say a lot. (Irythill Dungeon can also eat my ass but w/e.) It's like Dark Souls I but with all the rough edges polished up. Some might say that's a bad thing, or a good thing, but it means that it is quite a different experience from DS1 after all, because the thought of a replay doesn't intimidate me, and it actually just sounds like an uncomplicated good time.
Not particularly revolutionary or bold, but fun!
There are 4 poison swamps in this game.
It IS safe, and it's less ambitious and interesting than the likes of Dark Souls 2, a game I appreciate a lot in spite of its flaws because I respect how different it feels and how much new stuff it tries. It's also a lot more linear and a lot less interesting design-wise than Souls 1, which frequently branches out in multiple directions and invites a sense of wonder that Souls 3 never even touches. But it's fun. It's the most fun Souls game by a country mile. It's not as important or ambitious or inspired, but fuck man if I'm gonna replay any Souls game again anytime soon it's gonna be this one. You mean I can get the thrill of sick combat and Souls boss fights without having to deal with Tomb Of The Giants, Blighttown, Iron Keep, Shrine Of Amana or Bed Of Chaos and the like? Bro, sign me the fuck up.
Yeah, it grew on me a lot. It has the sickest boss fights of the trilogy by far - Pontiff Sulyvahn, Slave Knight Gael, Champion Gundyr all among my favourites in the series now. It's a pain in the ass to go back to Firelink Shrine every time you wanna level up, I have absolutely no idea how they thought it was a good idea to map the kick to the same button as your standard attack, giving you far more unintentional kicks than an action RPG should ever have but the fact that stuff like this were my biggest gripes should say a lot. (Irythill Dungeon can also eat my ass but w/e.) It's like Dark Souls I but with all the rough edges polished up. Some might say that's a bad thing, or a good thing, but it means that it is quite a different experience from DS1 after all, because the thought of a replay doesn't intimidate me, and it actually just sounds like an uncomplicated good time.
Not particularly revolutionary or bold, but fun!
There are 4 poison swamps in this game.