But of course, we fight our way
through the darkness, and find our way out. There are a few stumbles
along the way, but in the end, Dark Souls III is well worth the riveting
climb.
This is the third in a series of dark fantasy
role-playing games known for their brutal difficulty and unforgiving
nature. It gives minimal direction and little room for error. As with
its predecessors, playing Dark Souls III means accepting two extremes:
recurring defeat, and the reward of breaking through it. This is a game
that recognizes the value of perseverance, tearing you down before it
pulls you back up, reinforcing the spots where it broke you, preparing
you for that next valley just down the road.
The world
itself is a disconnected series of detailed areas--some sprawl outward,
while others stack on top of themselves, folding back and looping around
in intricate webs. It's a testament to the level design that
discovering a bonfire checkpoint is as important as levelling your
character or defeating a challenging boss. In this dangerous world of
swamps, prisons, and undead villages, every milestone is a victory.
Returning
to the Firelink Shrine hub world in order to level up character stats,
weapon quality, and the health-imbuing estus flask seems tedious at
first, but as time goes by, you'll recruit helpful companions that set
up camp at your base, granting useful items and buffs throughout your
playthrough. Bonfire checkpoints strewn throughout Dark Souls III allow
for easy fast travel, and returning to Firelink becomes a welcome
reprieve from the surrounding world.
This macabre locale
has subtle stories to tell--enemies on the Road of Sacrifices behave
defensively, only attacking once attacked. Giants bow their heads in
exhaustion among the rafters of the Cathedral of the Deep. A sense of
mystery pervades Dark Souls III's gloomy world, and there's a confidence
on display that's often missing from many modern games--Dark Souls III
has secrets, whether you find them or not.
It's also
impressive how Dark Souls III strikes a balance between exploration and
guidance. There's usually more than one path you can take through the
world at any time--to new bosses, secret dungeons, or new areas
entirely--but never too many that it feels overwhelming. The level
design encourages wandering without losing focus.
Dark Souls displays a confidence often missing from many modern games--the secrets are here whether you find them or not.
Obstacles
come in a variety of grotesque forms along the way: hulking giants and
feral dogs; ancient knights and suicidal monks. Each enemy is a unique
threat, and in groups, they grow more dynamic and punishing, demanding a
flexible approach to combat. Dark Souls III is also clever in the way
it plays on your false sense of comfort: many deaths come when you
underestimate an enemy you've killed dozens of times before. The danger
is always lurking. In the long run, survival requires patience.
This
is true throughout--there's a certain cadence to the combat, a certain
pattern to each enemy, that's only discernible when you take time to
observe it. Some enemies are weak near their sword arm--others are
vulnerable from behind. Instinct may tell you to dodge every time a
knight retracts its spear, but wasting stamina could lead to a quick
death, forcing a restart at the most recent bonfire. Dark Souls III
doesn't just teach you new skills--it forces you to forget ones you've
already learned.
The combat fluctuates between measured
duels and frantic fights, but it almost always manages to keep things
fair: you may be outnumbered and underpowered, but defeat is usually
your fault. Sometimes, however, Dark Souls III breaks that rule. The
camera often struggles to adjust in tight spaces, and the lock-on
mechanic can be capricious, especially against Dark Souls III's more
mobile, aggressive enemies. In boss fights that require precision, an
imprecise camera becomes all the more of a hindrance.
But
what impressive monstrosities these bosses can be. In fact, several
display more creativity than any others in developer From Software's RPG
lineup. These creatures play on your expectations and force you to
adapt. One boss fight pits you against a crowd of pyromancers that
inches toward you, hinting at its weakness with subtle visual cues.
Intuition tells you to keep your distance, but it soon becomes clear
you'll need to enter the fray. It rips you out of your comfort zone at a
harrowing pace.
Despite the nuance and novelty of most
bosses, however, some stick to familiar ground. Deja vu kicks in during
several fights, when the monsters display move sets similar to those
that came before them, diminishing the creativity displayed elsewhere. I
brought down Pontiff Sullyvahn, the Consumed King, and even Aldrich--a
boss the game purports to be one of my major targets--with tactics I had
used hours earlier. These enemies feel recycled. They feel repetitive.
The skin may be different, but the beast remains the same.
One
glaring design misstep involves a boss requiring a specific item to
bring him down--that is, if you don't want to spend half an hour
whittling away at his health. There is an earlier, obscure side quest
that removes the need to use that item. But many players might not
stumble upon it. Dark Souls is at its best when it rewards your growth,
and tests your character's hard-earned experience. This boss fight
doesn't--it has a very specific solution, despite the path you've taken
to get there. This enemy, and the repetitive bosses, fly in the face of
the progress you've made. They repeat patterns you've already mastered.
The late-game hours of Dark Souls III seem not to erupt, but fade slowly into the fog.
So
too does the overall level design of the late-game hours. Whereas most
of Dark Souls III makes uses of labyrinthine corridors and trap-laden
outdoor settings, these areas lose their design appeal as the game comes
to a close. I expected Dark Souls III to carry me through imaginative
fights and engaging treks as my character reached the apex of her
skills, but instead I felt disappointed. I had come all this way with
her, and aside from two fantastic end-game bosses and a handful of
inventive secret areas in its waning hours, Dark Souls III seemed not to
erupt, but rather, fade slowly into the fog.
But by and
large, your growth is respected. It's that thread--that near constant
sense of progress--that leads to Dark Souls III's greatest moments. We
create our travelers. We make them stronger, faster, more resilient,
turning them into fighters as we too learn the intricacies of this
foreboding world. We can't slay the final boss until we conquer every
enemy before it, so by the end of Dark Souls III, we've truly mastered
something. That's a special feeling.
Much
like From Software's earlier entries, Dark Souls III obscures its plot
beneath its gameplay elements--the story is more concerned with tone
than exposition. But what plot there is asks important questions: why do
we place our idols in such high regard? How did they become our
legends? The Lords of Cinder are imposing figures in Dark Souls III, and
their power is attractive to pawns like us. But the end of their road
is a lonely one--was that destination worth the sacrifice it took to get
there?
There are several possible endings to Dark Souls
III, and although most are anticlimactic, they drive home the
loneliness of the paths we took. The old lords have abandoned their
posts, and in the hunt to usurp them, we descend into those dark
valleys, and climb those imposing peaks. This is the essence of Dark
Souls III: periods of doubt, followed by great reward. The journey may
be rocky, but there's a throne waiting at the end.