The Dark Souls Series has been lauded by critics and hardcore gamers like me since the series’ spiritual predecessor, Demon’s Souls, was released in 2009. Renowned for its blistering difficulty and intimidating learning curve, the series has become a mainstay near the top of most critics game of the year lists. Unfortunately, all of this love from critics and hardcores has driven away many potential fans. Dark Souls is commonly referred to as a “hipster” game in message forums. Regular players of the series often act like we’re in an exclusive club of “real gamers” who don’t even want to be touched by everyday gamers, a.k.a…
With the release of Dark Souls 3 on April 12, it’s finally time for every gamer to take a real shot at this wonderful formula. Yes, it’s as tough as ever; but the designers have decided to give newcomers a break for the first 4-hours or so with slightly easier combat and level design. I cannot recommend this game enough for newcomers to the series. After picking your character class (warrior, thief, assassin, etc.), you’re dropped right into the action. I always play through Souls games with a sword and shield, yet one of the series’ hallmarks is the flexibility it gives you in choosing your style. The encounters are so well designed that you’ll get just as much challenge and satisfaction from heavy battle axe combat as you will from using ranged “miracle” spells.
If you’re unfamiliar with the Souls formula, here it is in a nutshell: As you explore the world, taking on increasingly difficult and disturbing enemies, you’ll eventually come across a bonfire. After lighting the bonfire, you can rest there to refill your health and focus bars, and replenish all your estus flasks. Estus (AKA Sunny D in the souls community) replenishes your health bar out in the field. Whenever you die, you respawn at the last bonfire you visited. Like all good RPGs, you earn experience points in the form of souls to spend on leveling up and consumables. Unlike most RPGs, you lose your XP when you die. You have to make it all the way back to the spot where you died to pick the souls back up; if you don’t make it, all of those souls are gone for good.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QWiXi1y_2Z8
In theory, it sounds like a real pain in the ass. In reality, the challenge gives every encounter an intense weight that doesn’t exist in most games. In Borderlands, you lose some cash when you die. NBD. In Destiny, you just go back to the checkpoint. Meh. In Dark Souls, you’re looking under every rock to see what’s hiding there, because you’ll be GOD DAMNED IF YOU’RE GOING TO LOSE ANY MORE SOULS TO THESE DICKS. After slogging through hordes of enemies, learning their attack patterns and how they interact with the environment, you’ll get to a boss fight — absolutely where Dark Souls 3 shines brightest. As I mentioned before, it goes pretty light on players in the first few hours. The bosses are just as massive and dangerous as ever, but average players (like Monsignor “Casul” Moody) will be able to take them down with some patience and determination.
Once you get past the first five, however, the boss fights get wicked once again. I feel that surround sound headphones are damn near necessary to really figure these fights out. The sound design is unparalleled. In a fight against four spell-casting, fast-moving witches, I had to pay attention to the sounds off camera in order to properly time my dodges while closing in on the one true boss witch. It’s equal parts exhilarating and exhausting. The level design, especially toward the beginning, is much more linear than in past Souls games. I had no trouble finding exactly where I was supposed to go and what I was supposed to do, maybe because I’ve played these games for so long. And it’s also possible that From Software wanted to invite more casual players into its world. The formula works.
My favorite feature so far is the Focus Meter. It’s used to manage magic use for sorcerers and clerics; but for sword-and-shield people like me, it gives special heavy attacks that are extra fun during boss fights. It’s not a game-changer, but it’s a nice addition to the already rich combat system. It’s not all good news, however. Having recently replayed Dark Souls 2 and Bloodborne, most of the characters and environments seem recycled. The character variety picks up a little as you get deeper into the game, but the lack of enemy and landscape variety grow tiresome quickly. There are long stretches of repetitive enemies in familiar settings for much too long. Many of the early enemies feel like they were ripped right out of Bloodborne and plopped into the Dark Souls Universe.
My biggest beef with Dark Souls III are the graphics. Sure, the game is pretty and disgusting when it needs to be, yet for the most part, I wouldn’t be surprised if you told me this was a PS3 game. What’s the point of all this fancy new hardware if they’re going to keep churning out the same character models and environments? Technical issues in presentation are plentiful as well. In 2016, on the Playstation 4, my feet and legs *still* disappear into the environment when I’m walking up steps. Inexcusable. And while the draw distance is impressive when standing still, there is a laughable amount of pop-up and fill-in going on when going anywhere. I thought the level was changing before my very eyes as part of the game, but no. It’s just the GPU filling things in on the fly. It’s downright distracting, which is a huge minus in a game that requires your full attention.
While these technical issues will almost surely be addressed in future patches, this “Operating Thetan” is judging the game on what’s here, not what’s supposed to come in the future. So: Is Dark Souls 3 worth $60? Absolutely. If you accept that this game will be difficult going in, you’re going to have a good time. If you try to play it like Assassin’s Creed or Arkham Knight, you’re not going to have a good time. Who knows? If you stick with it long enough, you might just join hardcore gamers like me at the big boy’s table, looking down at all the casual gamers below. Graphic issues aside, From Software still makes the best Action/RPGs in the business.
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