Dark Souls III is a game of valleys and peaks, down through dungeons and up over castle walls. It's a plummet into places we shouldn't be--an escape from places we don't belong.
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 est-us 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 play through. 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.
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.
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.
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.
Author : Saatvik Awasthi
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