Whenever I play Dark Souls 3, I can't shake the feeling that I'm just running down a very long hallway. The entire game feels like a straight line from beginning to end in a way that's sort of unsettling once you notice it. And I could see myself maybe appreciating that experience... if I liked the areas, enemies, or combat in this game. Unfortunately, I don't.
The movesets on every enemy in this game are so fast and combo oriented that it makes progressing a slog. In the previous two games, basic enemies are threatening in numbers but rarely one-on-one, especially for an experienced player. This keeps early areas and fights from being too overwhelming for newer, more cautious players. Crucially, though, it also makes repeated trips through an area frustration-free on the combat side once you do understand what's there and how to respond.
This is not the case in Dark Souls 3. No matter how many times I play it, I live in constant fear of stun-lock combos and enemies chasing me faster than I can sprint even in early areas. I never feel like I reach that point where I can use my experience to confidently cut my way through an area that I do in the first two games. Every fight potentially being a near death experience is not what I want from Souls games, yet that's what FromSoft seems to want from them now if this and portions of Elden Ring are anything to go by. And don't get me started on how much they ruined magic with this one.
The story here is also the flimsiest of the trilogy, content to just shrug and say, "Idk, all that old stuff you liked is back because the world is ending, I guess". But in a nearly Rise of Skywalker-tier display of pettiness, the "old stuff you liked" is apparently all from the first Dark Souls. Hardly a hint of 2 anywhere to be found. The NPC stories are also a step back from 2, as following most characters' quests without a guide is now hilariously obtuse. How this happened when the game is the most linear of the three is beyond me.
This is the only one of the trilogy I haven't even gotten close to finishing, my motivation always petering out somewhere around the Smouldering Lake/Irithyll section of the game at the latest. It just isn't for me, and I'm okay with that. Even if it is disappointing.
The movesets on every enemy in this game are so fast and combo oriented that it makes progressing a slog. In the previous two games, basic enemies are threatening in numbers but rarely one-on-one, especially for an experienced player. This keeps early areas and fights from being too overwhelming for newer, more cautious players. Crucially, though, it also makes repeated trips through an area frustration-free on the combat side once you do understand what's there and how to respond.
This is not the case in Dark Souls 3. No matter how many times I play it, I live in constant fear of stun-lock combos and enemies chasing me faster than I can sprint even in early areas. I never feel like I reach that point where I can use my experience to confidently cut my way through an area that I do in the first two games. Every fight potentially being a near death experience is not what I want from Souls games, yet that's what FromSoft seems to want from them now if this and portions of Elden Ring are anything to go by. And don't get me started on how much they ruined magic with this one.
The story here is also the flimsiest of the trilogy, content to just shrug and say, "Idk, all that old stuff you liked is back because the world is ending, I guess". But in a nearly Rise of Skywalker-tier display of pettiness, the "old stuff you liked" is apparently all from the first Dark Souls. Hardly a hint of 2 anywhere to be found. The NPC stories are also a step back from 2, as following most characters' quests without a guide is now hilariously obtuse. How this happened when the game is the most linear of the three is beyond me.
This is the only one of the trilogy I haven't even gotten close to finishing, my motivation always petering out somewhere around the Smouldering Lake/Irithyll section of the game at the latest. It just isn't for me, and I'm okay with that. Even if it is disappointing.