Dark Souls III Review

I was lucky to get access to the game early i.e. before its initial release date, though I must point out that I had the day 1 patch installed so this is the same version you guys will be playing.

Patch it!

Speaking of which the game itself roughly takes up 17GB of hard disk space on the Xbox One version I reviewed and then you have to add on the 1.1GB day one patch on top of this; which is a must! So if you have read any early reviews based on the bodge of getting hold of the Japanese version then take any criticism, score lines or whatever is mentioned in these reviews with a pinch of salt!

Of course being the third title in the series the game is supposedly setup for fans of the originals i.e. with the game's gameplay design following closely from Dark Souls II.

At this early stage I need to hold up my hands and confess that I have never played the previous two games, so my thoughts are from a unique (naïve) perspective here! Experienced players will most certainly be laughing at this point or uttering the words you poor poor man! Yep, its madness really, because I have had my balls literally handed to me on a plate during the 17hours of gameplay that I’ve amassed so far!

Then again while I’ve certainly made mistakes in my catch-up and I’ve died so many times that I’ve lost count, I would still say that from a newcomer’s point of view it’s a superb game that you can enjoy (albeit in between the moments of pain) even with the lack of background knowledge of the previous titles.

I suppose this is mainly because the storyline is done in drips and drabs (with a few cut-scenes here or there) in order to help you focus on the game’s core function which is the excellent combat system! I will pop back and discuss this in a moment.

Character Creation?

Before you head into one the toughest challenges of your gaming year or perhaps life, there is a small process of picking your character’s class and appearance. I can’t quite remember which comes first but I have to admit to spending over 30 minutes fine-tuning my character’s appearance! Compared to Fallout 4 the number of customisation options seems vast and at first you would think totally unnecessary i.e. you can tweak your body mass, face colour, nose width and facial hair, the list goes on!

Yet it’s alarmingly addictive once you get into it and when you are going to die a lot in this game you certainly want to form a connection with your character and this is why I spent so long in this section!

Note: You can also save your customisation to apply to other classes.

Character Class

With this being the third title in the series the class system provides a variety of choice. Interestingly all of them (bar 1) are equipped with a moderate skill level from the start i.e. the Mercenary is at level 8 and has a solid set of standard RPG attributes to begin with i.e. from strength to luck.

You also have a base level 1 class; a blank canvas, which I eventually ended up with (there was a reason for this) and all the attributes here are even across the board i.e. 10.

Each class comes equipped with various pieces of armour and defence shields, plus of course attacking weapons. With the exception of the level 1 character who has a mere loin cloth for covering his/her modesty!

I did originally pick the aforementioned Mercenary class to begin my adventure - because it matched my style of play - but due to my lack of experience I was forced to start the game from scratch and pick a different one! I'll explain all about this decision in a moment.

Stats Galore

I’m jumping ahead of myself here, but I must admit that alongside your early look at character attributes you are also provided with a comprehensive list of stats - that you can access at a drop of a button - for various EQ items and weapons/defence items. Some of which you can buy/discover on your adventures.

At first this stat list seems pretty daunting for a newcomer, but thankfully after a fashion it proved easy to follow. For example they have colour coded system in place with stats in red showing which attributes are required to utilise a weapon or wear a piece of armour properly. You also get real-time comparison of weapons that you want to equip i.e. is it better or worse than your current item. Likewise you get stats on your resistance to magic, such as poison and fire.

There are various stat views you can tap into as well, so switch to a simple view to see your character on the right with the stats on the left.

I really liked the options on offer, mind you don’t look at these stats outside combat situations because the game does not pause while you are viewing them!

Learning on the fly

When you first start playing the developers have added a few markers on the floor, that you can read, which governs the basics i.e. moving, defence and attack. More experienced users will skip these, but for newcomers it kind of helps. Then again in the long run you are better off learning the hard way i.e. on the fly!

For example there were a few options, such as manipulating the equipment menu and doing basic jumps that took me a while to work out. No doubt experienced Dark Souls players will probably already know how jumping works, as you need to hold B down (or the equivalent button/key) used for dashing and then press the left analogue stick down to initiate the jump. Even so it’s not easy to master for newbies, yet it is a useful skill for reaching ledges that could contain a vital item that will aid you in battle!

New Combat Weapon Skills

Combat quickly follows and while it can be slow going to start  with once you get into the dynamics of the one/two handed combat (including stringing combos together) it offers an extremely rewarding experience that keeps the game interesting despite having to replay sections over and over game; due to death or by choice.

Most of the combat is melee based (with ranged attacks being possible with magic or finding crossbows). However one of the new features of Dark Souls III is the weapon skills function, which at first I thought was tied into your attributes, but it turns out it has nothing to do with them.

Basically you normally have a set amount of combat moves (alongside a focus option which allows you to center on a particular foe), these can include lighter attacks, stronger attacks, blocks, swiping blocks, rolls and dash moves. Yet with the shield unequipped you can press the left trigger to activate your weapon skill set.

If we take the club for example this will boost the weapons damage by 10 or with the Katana sword you enter a Samurai style stance and from here can unleash some devastating attacks (albeit until your endurance runs out).

The offset here is the AI is superb (ambushing is also a speciality) and foes will sometimes back off from confrontation when you are in this stance or if you mistime your attacks you are defenceless and open to killer blows! So there is a subtle balance to combat which I had to learn the hard way i.e. knowing which combat type works best for each foe.

However this dynamic approach also makes the combat more enjoyable when having to re-face foes - which is a common occurrence in this game. By this I mean it feels as if combat is unique each and every time you play even though it technically isn’t.

My Reasons For Switching

Enemy classes also differ/vary depending on how far you get into the game, but even the basic set of foes can whip your ass at a drop of a hat if you are not focused enough on the task! Especially if they double team you or you make a mistake when circling around, blocking and so forth.

Anyway the main reason I switched from my Mercenary character was due my lack of experience with looking after weapons and of course discovering my first boss!

Boss makes me cry!

I’ve never played against a Dark Souls boss before and boy did it show. I made the mistake of using  brute force attacks at first which subsequently got me killed within moments! You then have to retrace your steps back before confronting them again!

I did learn that your one area of defence here is the roll move, which I found allows you to leap out of the way of their attacks! Even so, the attack patterns do vary and the timing of each roll is essential.

Of course because I was dying so much I forgot to keep an eye on my weapon damage meter, so the primary weapon broke and while you can still use it the attack strength bottoms out! Which made the task of defeating the first boss almost impossible for my skill set!

At this junction and without giving too much away you will eventually discover bonfires which will automatically repair your weapons if you rest at one in time. It has greater uses later on such as offering the ability to store items, fast travel and attune magical items. Yet it does have a side effect (which you can use to your advantage later) in that it re-spawns all the enemies/bar the bosses each time you use it.

My weapon of course was beyond the help of the bonfire and while there are other ways to fix the problem I can’t really mention any more about this because it will give some of the game-play mechanics away.

Let’s just say I decided to quit the game and choose a different class. Now my thinking was to choose a level 1 class here as it had a strong set of attributes across the board and naively I thought choosing level 1 would make the gamer easier (hangs his head in shame), Wrong! The game does not give two hoots if you are level 1 or level 100 as the level only effects your attributes and not how much damage the bosses deal out. Though in fairness with improved attributes later on you can become a better fighter and your weapons can kill quicker.

Yet despite me being a loin cloth wielding bad-ass I did have a strong primary attack weapon and more importantly I had agility!

This helped a touch with rolling away from danger and with this skill, plus being more patient with the boss, after 4 hours of trying I got past it!

Let’s have it!

Up until this point I was dreading playing the game as I knew I had to face the challenge of the boss again, but once it had been vanquished I truly understood why other Dark Souls Players love this series so much!

The sense of achievement is literally off the scale! From this point forward I then started to really enjoy playing! It opens up a whole new level of confidence and appreciation of the combat system, for example during the first boss battle the controls of the character felt really responsive and the one-one confrontation was captured in epic proportions.  I just can’t explain it, you will have to play the game for yourself to appreciate it.

Souls baby

One thing I forgot to mention is that killing foes releases their souls and souls are the main currency in this game for levelling up your character (which actually happens when you up your attribute points) buying items, mending/upgrading weapons or getting hold of general EQ.

Your main EQ is your life line as it contains Estus Flasks for healing or improving your manner.

Bonfire Manipulation

Here the bonfire can play apart as it will refill these flasks (three health and one mana, though the number can be adjusted) and as I mentioned earlier it also allows you to respawn creatures, so you can farm the souls.

Yet there is a gamble here as if you get killed you lose the souls where you died. Thus, while you can get back to them you may need to cross paths with difficult adversaries, so if you get killed again they are lost for good. This is where exploration helps, as you can traverse the landscape in order to find alternative paths which may lead to discovering new items or sub-quests!

My only observation with the bonfires is that sometimes you can discover/activate a bonfire quite close to each other, yet at other times they are far apart and when having to meet the bosses you will need to sometimes run through the enemies (after dying) so as not to risk loosing precious health.

Graphics

I haven’t really mentioned the graphics yet because I have been going on about the combat etc., but when I was reviewing the game I did so on my 24” monitor which means I got up-close and personal to the action.

At first the location is set in a graveyard/crumbing castle style environment and it can be a little dark/muddy in terms of graphical finesse. In reality this made it harder to spot certain paths. It was only when I got to the next section that the graphical quality shone through and the use of subtle lighting effects and colour really set the mood!

I wouldn't say Dark Souls III was gory, as in limbs flying off, but the audio effects, such as when chopping into the hordes of undead resulted in satisfying chops! The musical score is also worthy of note.

Most of the time you are governed along standard paths, but most areas are accessible in one large area or by fast travelling. The only drawback is that sometimes you get a mist across a doorway. Mostly this is to get back to a boss, but at other times it merely hides the loading of an area behind it. So there were occasions that I had to stand about waiting. Thankfully it does not hamper the game to much, so as not to warrant immediate concern.

Frame rate also seems relatively stable on the Xbox One version I was playing, that is until you get to certain bosses and then the frame-rate does drop a touch – thankfully again this is not enough to spoil matters.

Online Play could save you!

My review was based on the offline mode of play (servers were not activate at the time of the review). Yet there is an online functionality offering coop/PvP which sounds exciting stuff!

Thankfully you have control over how the online side works.

For example within the settings you can add a password to prevent random strangers from dropping into your game or alternatively you can enable cross-region matchmaking (Australia, Japan and Europe) and from what I can tell in the level there will be summoning signs dotted about the place. These are left by people in desperate need of help or vice versa you can drop your own calling card!

It is a way to combat the difficulty of bosses to a certain degree or if you have come across a location that you can’t get past. It’s also useful for exploration purposes by getting others to lead you to new areas or you to lead them to a new place of interest.

Then again PvP encounters are also possible and yet with the simple settings options I spoke of above you can at least set the game to how you want to play i.e. solo or the occasional helping hand!

I’m looking forward to giving this a blast, but only when I have exhausted the offline mode, so I don’t spoil the experience!

Summary

I have tried to dumb down my review of Dark Souls III, which you could argue is down to my lack of experience having not played the previous titles, but my main reason behind this is I don’t want to give away too much!

It’s a title you have to experience for yourself i.e. learn its ins/outs and experiment with the varied use of ranged (crossbows) and melee weapons (which also vary from daggers, swords to gigantic two handed axes).

Experienced players I’m sure will love the game and all its complexities, but newcomers will most certainly hate it at first with the sheer difficulty on offer (solo play).

I was the same until I got passed the first boss, now I absolutely love Dark Souls III and if you immerse yourself completely there is a lot of gameplay to be had; as I’m some 17 hours in and I have only done 6% of the game!

The exploration to find new gear, the upgrading of my character/weapons and the combat system also plays a large part of the enjoyment. So get past the pain barrier and the rewards will be worth it!