As the final installment of the infamous series, "Dark Souls 3" exceeds expectations by delivering fans a fantastic game that is heavily influenced by its predecessors, implementing the best aspects of each to create a stunning sequel that doesn't leave much room for criticism. Warning: Spoilers ahead.
Same story, different chosen one.
In typical Souls fashion the game starts by introducing the eternal conflict that is found in every Dark Souls game: the fires are slowly beginning to fade, marking the end of a golden era with an age of everlasting darkness threatening to encompass the land if someone doesn't intervene. To ensure that the fire doesn't go out, the "chosen undead" must link the bonfires and defeat ancient heroes that have been lost to lore and legend, which is an insurmountable task given that we don't even know how to wield a sword or shield yet.
This introductory two-minute cut scene is likely the longest one in the game before the ending credits roll. The series has been known not for giving a story, but rather letting the player put the pieces together themselves through an extensive amount of lore read through character dialogue, item descriptions, and inferences through the world that they're playing in. For any potential "Dark Souls" scholars the lore is vastly intriguing and adds another layer of depth to the game when trying to fit details to weave a story, but for those who aren't interested the gameplay is compelling enough to where the lore won't be missed.
Balanced gameplay caters to all players.
"Dark Souls 3" boasts the most impressive gameplay in the series, hosting a multitude of armor sets, builds, and weapons to keep players interested for dozens of hours. Each "Souls" game has implemented different speeds and armor penalties, with "Dark Souls" being the slowest, "Demon Souls" and "Dark Souls 2" noticeably faster, and the spiritual successor Bloodborne taking the ribbon as the fastest. "Dark Souls 3" is between "Dark Souls 1" and "Dark Souls 2" in terms of speed, which is a perfect balance between action and strategy for engagements.
For players interested in PvE "Dark Souls 3" offers a slew of different enemy designs and bosses that will make their jaw drop from monstrous transformations and sheer size. There will be plenty of death. Bosses may crush a player's spirit like the crestfallen warrior's shattered spirit, and enemy ambushes may force the player to simply walk away from the game for a while after falling prey to a swarm of enemies killing them mercilessly for the 20th time, but "Dark Souls 3" is anything but unfair. The game is a very brutal teacher who will do more than slap your hand for answering a question wrong, but if the player learns from their mistakes they will soon understand how to take on variations of enemies and the numerous boss battles with relative ease.
If a player is having trouble getting through a certain level or defeating a boss, they can call upon otherworldly allies (a.k.a. players over the internet) to assist them, or they can assist other players in the same fashion. To do this, a limited item called an ember must be used to be able to summon other players into their world. This is a double-edged sword, however, as this also allows other players to invade their world. These malicious phantoms aren't harmed by the enemies that you tackle in your path to the boss door, but they will try to defeat the player in combat (whether honorably or by baiting the player into a very powerful enemy that can kill them in two hits).
For players who are interested in PvP "Dark Souls 3" does an excellent job of supporting this kind of gameplay. There are a plethora of different armor sets, weapons, rings buffs, and builds that will keep the game entertaining, whether it's in an honorable 1v1 duel, or if invading someone's world and thwarting their chances to make it through an area is more rewarding. To achieve this, several covenants can be joined to either engage in jolly cooperation like the Warriors of Sunlight or kill other players like the Watchdogs of Farron.
Players can upgrade stats to pursue a pyromancer build, a dexterity build, a strength build, a sorcerer build, a cleric build, and any combination that they see fit to create. Weapons have unique abilities built in that increase their move set beyond simply mashing the right trigger and a player hoping they land a hit. Weapons can also be upgraded down different pathways, ranging from raw physical damage to dealing elemental afflictions such as fire or lightning damage.
Throwback to every "Souls" game.
It's apparent how much time and effort the producers of "Dark Souls 3" put in to cater to the veteran Souls fanbase when it comes to all of the influences from the other games. In terms of characters and setting "Dark Souls 3" steals from its siblings. The level design takes roots from both Demon Souls and "Dark Souls 2." Instead of having an open world without level selection like the first "Dark Souls," "Dark Souls 3" has a selection of levels with bonfires scattered within them. A player can travel between these bonfires and they can open shortcuts when exploring expansive areas, making for travel within a level not nearly as frustrating if a player dies; they will only have to make a five-minute trek instead of a 30 minute one if they haven't found the next bonfire to rest at.
Some of the areas can be seen as backdrops when viewing the beautiful scenery that "Dark Souls 3" has to offer, allowing the player to have a relative idea of where they are in the world while basking in the graphical beauty that is "Dark Souls 3." Redesigns of areas from the past games make their way into "Dark Souls 3," such as Farron Keep taking innovation from Black Gulch in "Dark Souls 2," the High Wall of Lothric holding similarities to the first world in "Demon Souls: Undead Settlement," is a throwback to Yharnam in Bloodborne, and even Anor Londo itself making its way into the game.
Incarnations of several characters make another appearance, such as the crestfallen warrior, the maiden in black, the onion knight, and even Andre the blacksmith himself. Many enemy designs are influenced by the previous games, like the town people from Bloodborne, the ministers from "Demon Souls," the black knights from Dark Souls 1 and a vast amount of other redesigns.
The gameplay also takes cues from previous installments. Embers increasing the maximum health of the character mimic the human effigies in Dark Souls 2 and the ephemeral eyes in Demon Souls. An MP meter only seen in Demon Souls makes its way back into Dark Souls 3 for using spells and miracles. Estus flasks are the main device to heal health, but in a twist ashen estus flasks refill MP meters and players can toggle which kind of estus flask they want more of. Estus flasks are created through estus shards, similar to Dark Souls 2. Numerous weapons are also from the old games with the Moonlight Sword a well-known staple found in almost every Fromsoft release.
Conclusion.
"Dark Souls 3" takes every good aspect from the previous games, improves them, and brings back an incredible feeling of nostalgia for veterans of the series while putting out an extremely polished game for newcomers to experience for the first time. The lore is intriguing, level designs are masterful and well thought out, the gameplay is fantastic, and there are so many throwbacks to the previous installments that it's hard to not remember some of the best experiences made when playing through the entire Souls series. "Dark Souls 3" lives up to its reputation for difficulty; it's punishing, but not unfairly so. With over 60 hours worth of gameplay in a single playthrough and new game plus offering even more content and playability "Dark Souls 3" is worth the investment as one of the greatest games that I have experienced in years.
