Where to start? Where to start indeed. Lets start with a bit of credentials. I've personally played and beaten the three Souls Series predecessors. Demon's Souls, Dark Souls and Dark Souls 2. I havent, however, beaten the DLC for Dark Souls 2, any of them, so let's make that clear. I've never played Bloodborne, a similar yet different game also made by From Software. Bloodborne has an entirely different feel to it, and playstyle, than the Souls Series. I have also put over 100 hours into this game alone. I'm one boss away from the final boss at the time of this writing.
To best put it, Bloodborne is to say...Persona, as what the Souls Series is to the mainline Shin Megami Tensei games. or rather, to make it more well known, Bloodborne is Chrono Trigger, where Souls, are the Final Fantasy.
Got that? There's a distinction between the two game series, despite having similarities, and being made by the same company.
Visually, audibly, the game is spectacular. Unlike its ancestors, Dark Souls 3's main menu has a theme and it is GLORIOUS. The music in this game, when it appears (as well with most of the Souls Series, music is normally saved for Hubs and boss battles) is incredible, and adds heavily to the feeling of being up against a toweringly powerful opponent. The game also looks incredible, with almost every single visitable locale visible from the gate right after the second boss. Many times, and fairly commonly, will there be a cliff or opening where if not a message stating "Try Jumping Off", there will be one saying "Gorgeous View", and those messages are entirely accurate.
It is truly a beautiful game to look at, to listen to. But...to play is...a bit of a different story.
As stated above, i have played the Souls Series since Demon's on the PS3. From the beginning i've been playing through, multiple playthroughs with multiple characters trying various builds and themes. the Souls series was always difficult but fair. you WILL die. you WILL lose your souls. you WILL get frustrated and angry and feel cheated. But the series has always been simple: Learn.
The games have always punished you for your mistakes, and demanded you to learn from them. Skill, was the name of the game, and it forged you into a threat to be reckoned with as the game went on. as the Series went on.
and then Bloodborne happened.
To make the distinction, Bloodborne is a different beast. Practically no armor, summoning mechanics completely different, gameplay similar but still at the same time completely different. there is no blocking, there is no rolling, only dodge-hopping and dash-jumping. There is no parry mechanic, but an interruption one. There are various weapons that all transform.
Speed and maneuverability, are your best defense, in Bloodborne. That is the biggest difference between the games. When Bloodborne came out so different from Souls, the Souls community specifically, worried about what would happen to Souls now that such a different beast had emerged. We were told that they were separate things, we had little to worry about.
We were right to worry.
Dark Souls 3, is not at all like its ancestors. It is an unholy lovechild between Souls and Borne. Weapons, armor, shields, magic, character, like souls, but ENEMIES, like Borne. and therein lies the problem.
Dark Souls 3 enemies come en masse, where in previous titles, they only did at certain venues, for specific encounters. "ganking" was not a thing that happened terribly often, and usually involved obvious trap or chokepoints. And rarely did it involve more than two "heavy" enemies, that is to say, enemies with decent health that hit hard and did not stagger or remain staggered easily.
Enemies in Dark Souls 3, are like enemies in Ninja Gaiden 3 Razor's Edge. That is to say, they are fast, many, and easily break through your defenses. However unlike that game, in Souls you do not have the ability of speed. you were never meant to. Souls, up until now, was slower. Methodical. it required patience, doubly so on a first run. Hit and run tactics sometimes, learning mistakes, overcoming your own hubris. To block, meant something. to roll was a tactical maneuver that was risky based on your weight, and timing.
Dark Souls 3, from the start, sets you against enemies that can simply plow through your shield. They swing rapidly, they recover faster than your player does wielding anything not a dagger, they swarm faster, they break through your stamina faster. You, the player character, are not working with the same abilities they are, at ANY point.
One would simply think "well that means you have to dodge more, right?" Not exactly. While the rolling mechanics have been improved for each game, with so many enemies in almost every encounter, with even the "heavy" enemies able to literally blitz towards you at any given time, with almost every enemy in the game having almost no recovery time to their attacks, rolling, your best defense now, is easily punished. On top of which, the mechanic starting in Dark Souls, that allowed both enemies and players alike to be able to power through hits based on a semi-invisible counter, is completely gone.
Poise, a stat brought in from Dark Souls, used to be a number that when high enough, allowed for both enemy and player alike, to not stagger (meaning get stunned/be stopped in their tracks) from an individual, or series of hits. the higher the poise stat, the more hits it took from various weapons before one would stagger, or flinch. What varied, would be how many swings from what class of weapon, would be taken. a number high enough to ignore three swings with a dagger, might not be high enough to ignore a swing from a greatsword, or a greatclub. But, it might be high enough to ignore a swing from a whip-like attack, or a stab from a normal blade.
The mechanics were tweaked in 2, but largely stayed the same. however 3, has no such thing. It has a "Poise" stat, that has the same explanation as it did in previous games, but what we've seen, it does nothing. or rather, it governs an entirely different concept that has nothing to do with the original stat from the last two games. As such, many of us, myself included, have deduced that "Poise" as it is right now, is functionally useless. this is confirmed by data-miners that have dived into the game's code and messed around, and have found a way to "Activate" poise, causing it to function exactly as it did in previous games. From Software claims that poise as it is currently, is working as they intended it to, but the Japanese have had a long-standing reputation of being vague and airy and pretending that everything is fine even when its not, until enough people start threatening their honor or direct reputation.
Or until it no longer matters.
As well, unlike previous games in the series, Armor, while plentiful and beautiful and varied, with almost every set from both games combined, returning; armor is functionally worthless. the defensive stats coming from armor do not increase anywhere near as much as they previously did, and even wearing one of the heaviest armor sets in the game, simple dagger wielding enemies have managed to cleave giant chunks out of my health with only a few swipes. Combine that with the inability to upgrade your armor anymore, meaning its base defenses are what you're stuck with forever, with the massive horde of both normal and "heavy" enemies in almost every encounter, and you will be blowing through your Estus Flasks faster than ever before.
Weapons are still varied, plentiful and numerous, as well as upgrading them simplified. However, the costs to upgrade weapons has been increased dramatically, as well as droprate for upgrade items reduced. By late-game, you will be swimming in upgrade materials, but until then, they are scarce, and "farming" for them is made difficult by changes to how Item Discovery, the stat that governs the droprate of an item, have been made. Where before, in previous games, a the cost to upgrade a standard weapon started at 1 Titanite shard, and increased from there, it starts at 2 in this game. double the cost automatically. you need a total of 12 shards, 12 large shards, and 12 chunks to upgrade a standard weapon to +9, the second highest level possible. In the other games, were you so inclined, you could potentially +3 or +4 a normal weapon before even reaching the third area, be it through prior knowledge, or simply playing. in this one, you wont be seeing +3 until possibly AFTER, the third location. if you're fully exploring.
It's not just standard enemies that are an issue. Bosses too, are much less fair than previously. True, in every game, there were bosses with strange, even BS seeming attack patterns or abilities, but they still worked within the general same mechanics you were, save maybe the ability to leap, or generate shockwaves and the like. Things you'd expect a BOSS to do. In previous games, all bosses had the same mechanics as standard, even "heavy" enemies: they would attack, and follow patterns, sometimes even varying them under specific circumstances like length of time or health reduction. But they would leave openings. you could be patient. you could take your time and understand them. Bosses in this game, do not do that.
They are faster, they have wider swings, they have more varied attack patterns, which, all in all, doesnt sound terrible on paper. and were it not for one thing, it wouldnt be. However the "one thing" is that they have almost no recovery time, and other than VERY specific things, have no "trigger". They will use all of their available attackstrings, at any given time, under any given circumstance, BACK TO BACK.
Again, like my complaint about bosses in Ninja Gaiden 3 Razors Edge, bosses in Dark Souls 3 do the same exact thing, where they have attack patterns, that mean absolutely nothing, because they can simply chain out of them into something else, at any given time. But unlike NG3RE, you, the player, do not have anything similar to that option. for example, a required lategame boss, is a distanced magic user with slow close range attacks. However, one of their attacks is to fire off a giant beam of magic at you, and then fire a second one right after.
This attack is done at any given time, and can be CHAINED repeatedly. Four of my deaths to that boss, was simply because the second i entered the boss arena, it fired those back to back beams at me, which cleaved through my health (almost 75% of it gone in a single blast, and i had fairly decent health, and was wearing most of one of the heaviest armor sets in the game) to the point where i was stuck only being able to get hit, attempt to heal, only to get hit again as i tried to dodge, because blocking would have been just as pointless. As well, it constantly spawns homing projectiles as it moves, and has the ability to fire an arrow into the sky, which spits out a rain of thousands of them, that fill the screen and cover the ground. In its second state, said arrow rain TRACKS you for at least ten seconds, with each one doing fair damage. and when i say Arrow Rain, i mean like that scene in 300: "Our Arrows will block out the Sun".
Bosses in this game are capable of near-instant recovery from any of their attacks, and almost always have some sort of close range, flash reactive attack that punishes you for even thinking of attempting to capitalize on what you're supposed to. Combine that with the NG3RE style AI, where they will do what they want, when they want as many times in a row as they want, in tandem with that your armor is functionally meaningless, Poise has no meaning, and your health, regardless of its number, can be cleaved in half with single swings, the bosses of Dark Souls 3 are particularly unfair.
All in All, Dark Souls 3 is...not a terrible game, but it is particularly "unfun" in the worst sort of way. the Souls Series has always been difficult, punishing, even unfair seeming at times. but prior to this, it was playing of of you, the player. could you learn from your mistakes? could you take it slow, when you needed? could you speed up, when needed? could you push aside your frustration and pay attention? could you understand audio and visual cues? could you Adapt?
Prior games in the series, everything followed the game's established rules. even "ganks" could be turned around because the rules were the same, you just had to be evasive, or defensive, or in some cases, offensive, to compensate. only specific enemies moved at higher speeds than your character, but either were weak, or had something exploitable about them, as a weakness to balance the scales. In this game, there is no such balance.
Combat favors straight swords over anything else, due to the Weapon Art system, and that enemies with shields, or blocking with their weapons, can be almost instantly guard broken through the Stance > R1 combo that most straight swords have. the underhanded swing does damage and knocks aside the shield, allowing you to land a Critical Strike on the recoiling opponent. The same type of critical strike that previous games only allowed if you PARRIED an attack, and not all attacks were parryable. As well, with so many enemies in each encounter, the wide swing arc of straight swords keeps them at bay, much easier and effectively than nearly any other weapon type.
Again, in previous games there were more 1 on 1 encounters, or 2 or 3 on one encounters triggered by a trap, or you entering aggro range. And even so, generally those encounters were standard enemies that would be moving at your speed, or if they were fast, were easily staggered and kited about. In this, it is very easy to encounter 4+ enemies gathered together, all of them rushing at you at once.
In previous games, that sort of encounter could be managed by Poise. they could strike you, but you would strike down at least one of them, before they could stagger you, due to poise. in this, EVERYONE staggers in a single hit, unless its a Boss, or a Heavy in an attack animation, or a standard enemy with a big weapon.
Ultimately, this game truly is a Souls game in name only, due to the disgusting mechanics changes that arent even balanced out by capabilities of the player. It's not as if we get super-fast stamina regeneration, or cancelable attack strings, or teleports or AoE counters or anything that matches the speed. As well, one of the first enemies in the game, a standard Lothric Knight, PUNISHES you for trying to use the tried and true method of backstabbing, by way of reaching out and quickly bashing you over the head with his shield. Logically sound, but never before encountered in the Souls series, as Backstabs were the most effective counter to the "Elite Class" enemies. Combine with a base 4 hit combo, which used to only be open to mid-late game and "Super Elite" enemies such as the Black Knights from 1, or the Red Eye Knights from Demon's Souls, on top of the nearly nonexistent recovery time of every enemy in this game, along with swing speeds much faster than anything the player is capable of outside of a dagger, and you have an enemy that is just as difficult as any Boss! And he's on the normal path! it's not even as if he was a Black Knight from Dark Souls, whom either guarded powerful items, or shortcuts, or were off the beaten path and more of a "dont go this way until you're stronger" thing, this Knight is right there, almost completely unavoidable.
As a Game, it's fine, i suppose. but as a Souls game, it's disgusting and not worthy of the name. and considering this has been stated by the developer to be the LAST Souls game? a pathetic way to end the series. Some of the mechanics changes were welcome, like how they handled Weight classing, and making it very easy to connect to and play with your friends rather than having to hope a stranger doesnt grab your summon sign before they do. But others, such as upping the speed of every enemy but keeping yours the same, armor being not upgradable, the difficulty in finding upgrade materials along with the amount of them required, let alone the destruction of the Poise stat, along with their lack of transparency with their community about just what the hell they're playing at...
I love the Souls series...but this, this is not Souls.
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From the manufacturer
As fires fade and the world falls into ruin, developer FROMSOFTWARE and director Hidetaka Miyazaki continue their critically-acclaimed and genre-defining series with Dark Souls III. Fans and newcomers alike will get lost in the games hallmark rewarding gameplay and immersive graphics.
Intense Combat Action:
- Challenging, genre-defining gameplay
- Diversified combat action allows players to craft their own unique style. Team up for some jolly good cooperation or test your ability in PvP battle
- All PvP maps unlocked and accessible
- Improved online matchmaking functionality
Product Details
The DARK SOULS III: The Fire Fades Edition delivers the complete Dark Souls III experience and includes the full game & all Season Pass content - ASHES OF ARIANDEL and THE RINGED CITY DLC expansions. Winner of 2017 DICE Awards for ‘RPG/Massively Multiplayer Game of the Year’ and the 2016 Golden Joystick Award's ‘Ultimate Game of the Year’, Dark Souls III continues to push the boundaries with the latest chapter in the critically-acclaimed and genre-defining series from director Hidetaka Miyazaki. Players will be immersed into a world of epic atmosphere and darkness with colossal enemies, expansive environments, and challenging and intense gameplay combat. As fires fade and the world falls into ruin, prepare yourself once more to Embrace The Darkness.
The Complete Dark SoulsIII Experience All on One Disc:
- Includes the award-winning base game, Plus both complete DLC expansion chapters: Ashes of Ariandel and The Ringed City
- Expand your experience with new maps, bosses, enemies and additional weapon and armor sets
Easily the most challenging, and REWARDING game ever
Reviewed in the United States on May 15, 2016
First off, in response to all the reviewers stating "this game is TOO hard, don't get it" are obviously people who have not given the game a chance. This game IS hard. All of the Souls games are hard. They are suppose to be challenging. I said the same thing 5 years ago when Demon Souls came out. But I gave it a chance, and since has become my most favorite game franchise EVER.If you played the other Dark Souls games, you will pick this one up quickly. The game play is virtually identical, with addition of a special move set attached to each weapon. There have been a few changes since Dark Souls 2. The Estus system now includes FP (skill points, Mana or Magicka - whatever you choose to call it) You allot your Estus Flasks between your HP and FP. This is annoying for lower level caster builds, because you must choose between your Health, and your Magic. Also there are a few new weapons, armor sets, spells, miracles, and pyromancies. There aren't as many new items as you would hope however. MOST of the weapons, spells, etc have been carried over from the other Souls games. This is good for familiarity, but for the first playthrough, you will be surprised at how long it takes you to find a weapon you haven't seen before. This game combines aspects from ALL of the Souls games, including Demons Souls and Bloodborne. The overly large, very fast moving enemies from Bloodborne make an appearance in this game. Not the same enemies of course, just similar in combat style. The slower dumb enemies are here too, as well as many humanoid enemies that fight like a real human player would. This adds to the challenge, and ultimately the frustration, as you will die a lot more. That's good though. The challenge adds to the replayabilty of this game.The online aspects of this game are also what add to the replayabilty, and have created such a loyal fan base. The problem though is that the COOP and PVP elements are still broken after the game has been out a month. I did not subtract a star for this, because they will fix it, as they always do. I am surpised of the problems, this far after the release. There have been days at a time, that there is virtually NO ONLINE PLAY. That totally sucks, but don't let that prevent you from buying it. THEY WILL FIX IT.So when it works, PVP and COOP is pretty amazing. You can summon up to 3 people to help you, usind a dried finger (2 people without the finger). You can also be invaded by a plethora of human players itching to kill you. Up to 6 players in the game, including the host (YOU) can exist at any one time. You can choose to manually summon phantoms to help you, or wear a special item that will automatically bring phantoms to your aid when you get invaded. The online play of this game is unlike any other game, and it has in turn created a HUGE LOYAL fan following.So I will wrap it up. You can see videos on youtube all day that will give you more info than any written review. I will say this though: If you have played all the Souls games including Bloodborne, this game will seem very famliar to you. So many aspects have been carried over including weapons, spells, bosses, areas, NPCs, items, move sets, armor, etc. If you are not familiar with other souls games, this game will give you a run for your money. It is challenging, and not straight forward at all. There is nothing linear about this game. There is a lot left to figure out even after you think you've completed an area. If you can get past the initial learning curve of the game, you will end up loving it just like all the other loyal fans.
Reviewed in the United States on May 15, 2016
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Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on May 28, 2016
Platform For Display: PlayStation 4Edition: StandardVerified Purchase
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on January 20, 2023
Platform For Display: PlayStation 4Edition: StandardVerified Purchase
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on May 15, 2016
If you played the other Dark Souls games, you will pick this one up quickly. The game play is virtually identical, with addition of a special move set attached to each weapon. There have been a few changes since Dark Souls 2. The Estus system now includes FP (skill points, Mana or Magicka - whatever you choose to call it) You allot your Estus Flasks between your HP and FP. This is annoying for lower level caster builds, because you must choose between your Health, and your Magic. Also there are a few new weapons, armor sets, spells, miracles, and pyromancies. There aren't as many new items as you would hope however. MOST of the weapons, spells, etc have been carried over from the other Souls games. This is good for familiarity, but for the first playthrough, you will be surprised at how long it takes you to find a weapon you haven't seen before. This game combines aspects from ALL of the Souls games, including Demons Souls and Bloodborne. The overly large, very fast moving enemies from Bloodborne make an appearance in this game. Not the same enemies of course, just similar in combat style. The slower dumb enemies are here too, as well as many humanoid enemies that fight like a real human player would. This adds to the challenge, and ultimately the frustration, as you will die a lot more. That's good though. The challenge adds to the replayabilty of this game.
The online aspects of this game are also what add to the replayabilty, and have created such a loyal fan base. The problem though is that the COOP and PVP elements are still broken after the game has been out a month. I did not subtract a star for this, because they will fix it, as they always do. I am surpised of the problems, this far after the release. There have been days at a time, that there is virtually NO ONLINE PLAY. That totally sucks, but don't let that prevent you from buying it. THEY WILL FIX IT.
So when it works, PVP and COOP is pretty amazing. You can summon up to 3 people to help you, usind a dried finger (2 people without the finger). You can also be invaded by a plethora of human players itching to kill you. Up to 6 players in the game, including the host (YOU) can exist at any one time. You can choose to manually summon phantoms to help you, or wear a special item that will automatically bring phantoms to your aid when you get invaded. The online play of this game is unlike any other game, and it has in turn created a HUGE LOYAL fan following.
So I will wrap it up. You can see videos on youtube all day that will give you more info than any written review. I will say this though: If you have played all the Souls games including Bloodborne, this game will seem very famliar to you. So many aspects have been carried over including weapons, spells, bosses, areas, NPCs, items, move sets, armor, etc. If you are not familiar with other souls games, this game will give you a run for your money. It is challenging, and not straight forward at all. There is nothing linear about this game. There is a lot left to figure out even after you think you've completed an area. If you can get past the initial learning curve of the game, you will end up loving it just like all the other loyal fans.
Platform For Display: PlayStation 4Edition: StandardVerified Purchase
Easily the most challenging, and REWARDING game ever
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on May 15, 2016
First off, in response to all the reviewers stating "this game is TOO hard, don't get it" are obviously people who have not given the game a chance. This game IS hard. All of the Souls games are hard. They are suppose to be challenging. I said the same thing 5 years ago when Demon Souls came out. But I gave it a chance, and since has become my most favorite game franchise EVER.Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on May 15, 2016
If you played the other Dark Souls games, you will pick this one up quickly. The game play is virtually identical, with addition of a special move set attached to each weapon. There have been a few changes since Dark Souls 2. The Estus system now includes FP (skill points, Mana or Magicka - whatever you choose to call it) You allot your Estus Flasks between your HP and FP. This is annoying for lower level caster builds, because you must choose between your Health, and your Magic. Also there are a few new weapons, armor sets, spells, miracles, and pyromancies. There aren't as many new items as you would hope however. MOST of the weapons, spells, etc have been carried over from the other Souls games. This is good for familiarity, but for the first playthrough, you will be surprised at how long it takes you to find a weapon you haven't seen before. This game combines aspects from ALL of the Souls games, including Demons Souls and Bloodborne. The overly large, very fast moving enemies from Bloodborne make an appearance in this game. Not the same enemies of course, just similar in combat style. The slower dumb enemies are here too, as well as many humanoid enemies that fight like a real human player would. This adds to the challenge, and ultimately the frustration, as you will die a lot more. That's good though. The challenge adds to the replayabilty of this game.
The online aspects of this game are also what add to the replayabilty, and have created such a loyal fan base. The problem though is that the COOP and PVP elements are still broken after the game has been out a month. I did not subtract a star for this, because they will fix it, as they always do. I am surpised of the problems, this far after the release. There have been days at a time, that there is virtually NO ONLINE PLAY. That totally sucks, but don't let that prevent you from buying it. THEY WILL FIX IT.
So when it works, PVP and COOP is pretty amazing. You can summon up to 3 people to help you, usind a dried finger (2 people without the finger). You can also be invaded by a plethora of human players itching to kill you. Up to 6 players in the game, including the host (YOU) can exist at any one time. You can choose to manually summon phantoms to help you, or wear a special item that will automatically bring phantoms to your aid when you get invaded. The online play of this game is unlike any other game, and it has in turn created a HUGE LOYAL fan following.
So I will wrap it up. You can see videos on youtube all day that will give you more info than any written review. I will say this though: If you have played all the Souls games including Bloodborne, this game will seem very famliar to you. So many aspects have been carried over including weapons, spells, bosses, areas, NPCs, items, move sets, armor, etc. If you are not familiar with other souls games, this game will give you a run for your money. It is challenging, and not straight forward at all. There is nothing linear about this game. There is a lot left to figure out even after you think you've completed an area. If you can get past the initial learning curve of the game, you will end up loving it just like all the other loyal fans.
Images in this review
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on March 4, 2017
Platform For Display: PlayStation 4Edition: StandardVerified Purchase
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