Recent reviews by AndAleX09

Ever since Demon's Souls I have been hooked on games made by From Software. Dark Souls opened a whole new part of gaming that I didn't even know existed. For a long time I was used to games that were not amazingly good nor disappointing, yet the first Dark Souls set up a new record for games to come! I was imppressed with the game's mechanics, by the enemies and the level design. The world of Dark Souls 1 was incredibly inter-connected. However, the story is really the best thing about it. The so-called Lore of Dark Souls is awe inspiring and there is so much depth to it.

Now comes Dark Souls 3. It's predecesor Dark Souls 2 was somewhat of a letdown and now that we know DS3 is the last from the Souls Franchise, we all expected a grand finale, a new point of view for the story and a resolution for the beloved characters and perhaps even what comes after the Age of Fire. To cut it short...Dark Souls 3 provides all of the above, but in an unforseen manner.

The levels in Dark Souls 3 are made with great detail and certainly have a flavor that creates the right atmosphere for the last game. Unfortunately the level progression is somewhat linear and I feel there are a lot less branching paths than in previous titles. The world is still extremely well inter-connected although the feature of travelling between bonfires diminishes the exploration process and takes away from the geographical mapping that Souls Fans were used to. The enemies in each level are very well placed and there are some nasty combinations in some areas and this pushes the player into finding different approaches, yet people that are NOT new to Souls Games will not find these encounters surprising or difficult. Most of the enemies have a backstory that you can figure out or interpret for yourself. The combat system has been greatly improved and the addition of the weapon art makes thing very interesting. That being said, the combat system has its flaws regarding PvP.

Now...the bosses! One of the most important aspect of these games are the bosses. Each boss has special mechanics and some bosses have a special "puzzle" side that you have to figure out, although not hard to discover. Most of the bosses in Dark Souls 3 I feel that have to little health and can sometimes be a pushover, yet this doesn't stand true for the DLC bosses. The DLC bosses lack a bigger variety mechanics and diminish the fight dynamics.

The last aspect that I have not yet touched are the NPC's and the Lore. The NPC's in this game are a huge let down for me. If you have played the other games you will feel cheated on by the NPC encounters some of which are just copies from DS1 and DS2. Don't get me wrong, it was amazing at first to meet the Onian Knight or to see Andre of Astora in Firelink, but in time this will start to feel like poor game design and rushing. There still are a few new NPC's that are interesting, but in the same time there is little character development and too few encounters. That being said their existance and placement around the world is perfectly falling into place with the Lore. Although I will not spoil anything this games Lore is not surprisingly entangled and dependent on the Lore of the other games, which in turn gives a strong continuity of the story itself.

To sum it all up, the game is very good although it doesn't rise to the gaming standards of the original Dark Souls. Some enemies are new ideas while there is also a lot of reused content. In the meantime the level design is good although the details are a great mix of Dark Souls 1, Demon's Souls and Bloodborne. The NPC's are good but flawed, yet the few interactions are strong. The Lore is based on a cycle and this gives a lot of replayability to the game and the story itself has a lot of depth! The Ringed City DLC also brings a strong and fitting ending to the series.

In conclusion:
-to someone new to games made by From Software: Dark Souls 3 is a great game, an entertaining experience and the difficulty will live up to the Franchise's reputation. Be ready for greatness!
-to a player with experience from the other Souls titles: Dark Souls 3 is still a good game and answers a lot of the questions left unaswered by the other titles, yet the difficulty is taken down a bit and the level design is not entirely as expected. The experience will certainly not feel fresh, but I still recommend the game!