Dark Souls 3 is better than Dark Souls 2 in every right way possible and it picks up correct attributes from its sibling Bloodborne as well. You create a character – based on a set of classes ranging from burly Knights to Assassins and spellcasters – and you venture forth into a hostile and nightmarish medieval fantasy where most of the creatures you meet are looking to kill you. Defeating enemies in battle yields souls which can be used to purchase items and improve your character’s base stats. These souls are carried around with you until they are used, and if you happen to die, the souls you have acquired are lost also, dropped at the point where you fell.
This delicate balancing act has been the bedrock of the Souls series since day one, and imbues Dark Souls III with an interesting “risk and reward” mechanic. When you’ve stockpiled plenty of souls, the temptation is to head to the latest bonfire, which acts not only as a way of restoring your health but also allows you to fast-travel back to the hub-like Firelink Shrine, where you can level up, augment weapons, and buy items and spend your hard-earned souls. Doing this resets all of the enemies in the game, which means you have to fight through them again when you return to that location.
Movement is more fluid this time around, thanks to Bloodborne’s influence and while there are less weapons to play around with than in Dark Souls II, the ability to dual wield certain types and the inclusion of special skills attached to each one make the process of mastering them all the more challenging. Each of the skills consumes FP, which is also guzzled up by magical spells. FP, like HP, can be restored using flasks – Estus for health, Ash Estus for FP. These recharge at each bonfire and you can only carry a finite amount of each.
Online play is a massive part of the Dark Souls experience, in fact, with some of the more taxing bosses some players might find it impossible to progress without the assistance of “summoned” friendly allies. It’s possible to call players into your world and have them lend their might to your own, but you can also lay down your own summon sign and be called into another player’s game. Bloodborne’s code-based matchmaking system has been carried across, allowing players to connect to one another’s worlds via a password. The promise of additional souls and the ability to revert from your weaker “Hollowed” state as reward makes this jolly cooperation thoroughly worthwhile, but you can hinder as well as help if you feeling takes you; invading another player’s game as a phantom is equally bountiful and gives Dark Souls 3 an additional competitive edge. Another side of the online experience is the ability to write special signs which appear in other players’ game you can point other players in the right direction or warn them of an impending attack.
Dark Souls III doesn’t attempt to reinvent the wheel, then, but it absolutely does benefit from next generation hardware. Character models haven’t experienced a particularly notable bump in terms of detail, but the environments are positively awe-inspiring; FromSoftware has used the additional horsepower to create more spacious locations which seem to almost go on forever. These epic levels are matched by the creative foresight of the game’s designers, who have an uncanny talent for crafting complex, winding passageways which twist and turn on themselves, eventually connecting in unforeseen ways which reveal time-saving shortcuts.
The myths, legends, and chilling stories of the kingdom of Lothric are only part of Dark Souls III’s charm, more potent is the constant battle to better oneself, to push your skills that little bit further – either with or without outside assistance – and defeat that seemingly impossible boss or overcome that gaggle of monsters. The sense of progression and advancement is unmatched in modern video gaming; while typical RPGs feature levelling systems and upgradable weapons and armour, only the Souls franchise makes it feel like your own skills are growing in stature alongside your avatar and their equipment.
For some, Dark Souls III may lack the revolutionary elements which made Bloodborne such a refreshing change of pace, the aggressive combat system of that title is absent here. However, the pace of Bloodborne’s combat has been carried over, proof that FromSoftware is constantly iterating and improving its stable of titles. Visually, there are moments of wonder and moments of unfortunate shakiness as the game engine struggles to cope with the gorgeous vistas that FromSoftware’s designers have so painstakingly sculptured.
