Final thoughts on Dark Souls 3 (spoiler free!)

[TheErebus.]

This was played on a PS4, so no 60 FPS. However I will not be taking this into account because I don't care for framerate. The game was very smooth on the PS4 and very seldom did it drop at any point, typically when there was a lot of stuff happening in the game. 

 

So it's come a long way. From Demon's Souls to Bloodborne and finally, we have the last game in the Souls series "Dark Souls 3". Now if you've ever seen me in the forum, you'll know by now that I am a huge Souls fan and considering how Bloodborne blew me outta the water, I had high expectations for DkS3 and man it was just out of this world.

Character customization: You can give your female characters thick body hair and even wizard beards. I don't think I've ever seen a game do this, and it's actually pretty cool they included this. 

Gameplay: The gameplay is like a mix of everything that was good in Demon's Souls, Dark Souls, Dark Souls 2 and even Bloodborne. It mixes some animation sets from Dark Souls 1 and 2 (with the greatswords being a great example of this), but it primarily has Dark Souls 1 animation sets. This makes it feel less floaty and way more impactful as a result. Weapon arts are this game's new feature, and I have mixed feelings towards it. At times it's useful, but honestly you can kinda ignore it. It's very situational, sometimes it's very useful but other times it's just their to make your character look flashy and stuff. Backstabs are quick to initiate but if you fail it, you can still deal damage as it turns into a heavy looking stab which can deal quite a bit of damage. The animations for it are all DkS1, which is kinda meh imo. I don't know why but FromSoft always goes for 1 type of finisher animation and it gets kinda meh after a while. But the impact you get when you do it is still there and it feels amazing to stab 'em. The hollowing mechanic is in the game but not like in previous Souls games. I don't know much about it, but it is there. Embers take the place of humanity and they increase your health whilst also giving you a neat little scorching visual effect on your armor. When you die, you simply lose your souls and have to get them back.

The game still feels fresh to me and it doesn't feel boring at all.

Bosses: Oh. My. God. I love them all. Even the easy ones are still fun to fight and the hard ones are engaging and refreshing. There's this interesting sense of creativity with the bosses as quite a few of them aren't just hack and slash wherever you want, you gotta find specific locations to attack. Hell they even make a gank fight fun. They made a gank boss fight enjoyable and fair and it doesn't help that the majority of the soundtrack is just amazing. 

Speaking of which...

Music: In every single Souls game, there's at least a few tracks that I don't like to listen to. Like Seath's theme from DkS1 and the majority of the tracks from DkS2. But here? Only 2 tracks I don't like. 2 out of 25. This game features some of the most beautiful tracks I've ever heard, I know I said I don't wanna spoil stuff but just listen to these (if you want):

Spoiler

 

Armor and weapon designs: There are lot of familiar weapon and armor designs, and of course some new ones. The new ones are pretty damn cool looking and the old familiar ones are also really cool to see again. It's like experiencing Dark Souls 1 with current generation technology as well as the gameplay refinements we've seen throughout the series. 

Level design: It's very Bloodborne like. Which is both good and bad. Good because there is a sense of verticality and exploration is emphasized, but bad because like Bloodborne it's like a linear path from level a to level b but the levels themselves are huge and promote exploration. I would've preferred having multiple levels connect to one single area, like the Firelink Shrine form DkS1.

Graphics: On the PS4, the game looks great. The lighting is like Bloodborne, so no Dark Souls 2 BS and there were moments where I genuinely had to use a torch to guide my way throughout the game. 

PvP: It's really fun. I don't invade often ( I prefer to use the Red Soapstone ) but the actual PvP mechanics are fun and so far I've really encountered any cheap weapons. There's this nice PvP spot after a certain boss (you'll know it when you see the dozens of summoning signs).

Conclusion: As the last game in the series, this is a very fitting end to it. I can easily say that it's the best in the series. There are 4 endings and so far the one I got was dark but fitting. 

[Eidolon_Slayer]

Overall: 8/10 

Can't wait for the DLC, hoping giant dad reappears.

[TheErebus.]

10 minutes ago, RevivedEdgeLord said:

Overall: 8/10 

Can't wait for the DLC, hoping giant dad reappears.

If I were to give a rating (which I dislike doing) I'd give a 8.9 or just a 9 outta 10

[Eidolon_Slayer]

Just now, TheErebus. said:

If I were to give a rating (which I dislike doing) I'd give a 8.9 or just a 9 outta 10

The multiplayer problems, performance issues, and camera bugs deducted 2 points.  - PC

[TheErebus.]

5 minutes ago, RevivedEdgeLord said:

The multiplayer problems, performance issues, and camera bugs deducted 2 points.  - PC

PC wise yeah it'd be a bit lower. PS4 though, I haven't found MP or preformance problems, but that camera can be really frustrating at times

[Eidolon_Slayer]

2 minutes ago, TheErebus. said:

PC wise yeah it'd be a bit lower. PS4 though, I haven't found MP or preformance problems, but that camera can be really frustrating at times

Really? Blue Sentinels, Blades of Darkmoon, and Aldrich Faithful covenants barely get players summoned because of the games netcode. There's also the problem with latency, and strange hitboxes that don't make sense. Plus, parrying is difficult unless they're hardcore spamming due to netcode.

Edited April 20, 2016 by RevivedEdgeLord

[TheErebus.]

5 minutes ago, RevivedEdgeLord said:

Really? Blue Sentinels, Blades of Darkmoon, and Aldrich Faithful covenants barely get players summoned because of the games netcode. There's also the problem with latency, and strange hitboxes that don't make sense.

Really? I've never used those covenants so I wouldn't know (also either it's the netcode, or that people don't use them). Latency wise, I've not had any lag issues (barring 1 or 2 matches I've had) and the hitboxes aren't as bad as DkS2.

[Artekkor]

Totally the best game in the series. The Bloodborne genes definetely made the game much better.

Then again i haven't played DS1 nor Bloodborne (though i watched a lot of gameplay videos so i know how it looks and feels like), but only DS2 instead so DS3 is like a totally new game for me and i totally love it. I also can appreciate a little references like black knights from DS1. Some armor designs are very Bloodborne like, especially the Undead Legion one.

My favorite weapon right now is Farron Greatsword (the one combines with the dagger). I absolutely love the special attacks, they feel so badass and fluid, it's like i'm dancing with my enemies.

Ranged weapons got better and more usefull, you can basically play only with them as long as you have enough ammo.

The leveling up got slow down though, so i'm having troubles with making a quality build where stuff like Vigor, Vitality, Endurance, Dexterity and Strength are all equally high (my goal right now is to get them all to 30, and we'll see from there).

In my book that's a 9/10 game. Not 10 because... I don't even know why, it feels like something is missing for 10/10 but i can't tell what it is.

The only thing i really miss though are life gems... Not, it's not them that took away 10 score, but still i miss having 99 back up healing items.

[TheErebus.]

7 minutes ago, Artek94 said:

The only thing i really miss though are life gems... Not, it's not them that took away 10 score, but still i miss having 99 back up healing items.

I'm kinda glad life gems are gone. I dunno but the idea of having those gems always on standby made the game feel a little easier. 

[Artekkor]

Just now, TheErebus. said:

I'm kinda glad life gems are gone. I dunno but the idea of having those gems always on standby made the game feel a little easier. 

They had a huge drawback though - a slow healing, so you had to use multiple gems in a row to heal a wound from a boss. Which meant you had to waste multiple boss openings not for damage but for healing.

But yeah, having only the flask in DS3 somehow feels comfortable.

1) You can tell how far can you go with current charges and that you totally shod retreat when flask is empty

2) Instant healing makes the game feel much more fluid, a lot like bloodviles from Bloodborne

Hell i even had a PvP fight where both me and my opponent were healing, the fight continued for like 3-4 minutes before i ran out of flask and died, but the fight still felt awesome and fair so i totally wasnt even angry.

[TheErebus.]

19 minutes ago, Artek94 said:

They had a huge drawback though - a slow healing, so you had to use multiple gems in a row to heal a wound from a boss. Which meant you had to waste multiple boss openings not for damage but for healing.

But yeah, having only the flask in DS3 somehow feels comfortable.

1) You can tell how far can you go with current charges and that you totally shod retreat when flask is empty

2) Instant healing makes the game feel much more fluid, a lot like bloodviles from Bloodborne

Hell i even had a PvP fight where both me and my opponent were healing, the fight continued for like 3-4 minutes before i ran out of flask and died, but the fight still felt awesome and fair so i totally wasnt even angry.

The only time I get annoyed when someone uses a flask is during a red soapstone summon. Otherwise it don't matter

[(PSN)makrisbrik]

Awesome write-up Mighty Erebus! I agree. I give the game 9/10. I progressed a little bit more. I tend to avoid looking at youtube videos and want to discover stuff for myself. Dark Souls 3 sure did not disappoint and would pre-order the DLC if they have one coming.

[Datsher]

59 minutes ago, (PS4)makrisbrik said:

Awesome write-up Mighty Erebus! I agree. I give the game 9/10. I progressed a little bit more. I tend to avoid looking at youtube videos and want to discover stuff for myself. Dark Souls 3 sure did not disappoint and would pre-order the DLC if they have one coming.

Season pass would be something for you then.

[JefPlays]

So... perfect 5/7?

[TheErebus.]

3 hours ago, (PS4)makrisbrik said:

Awesome write-up Mighty Erebus! I agree. I give the game 9/10. I progressed a little bit more. I tend to avoid looking at youtube videos and want to discover stuff for myself. Dark Souls 3 sure did not disappoint and would pre-order the DLC if they have one coming.

They have 2 DLC packs coming out. 

[LordOfScrugging]

13 minutes ago, TheErebus. said:

They have 2 DLC packs coming out. 

Given they have anor londo in this game. what would you say to having some old areas from DS1, DS2, and maybe BB returning in a twisted sort of form with new weapons (and maybe old ones) I think we could see trick weapons with weapon arts now. Only a bit disappointed that you can't left hand the wolf knight greatsword and have the wolf knight greatshield in your right (btw it was so annoying farming 30 wolfblood swordgrass from those enemies in farron's keep)

[AM-Bunny]

I haven't played very far into the game as my time with it has been limited, but I've got pretty mixed reactions on it. Generally favourable impression.

I really enjoy that the NPC Questlines have been expanded upon, but I really resent how easy they made it to miss and ruin their progression. It's practically impossible to do without a guide, which I find quite presumptuous and ridiculous. It spawns a conflict in the minds of players who wish to play through the game blind and enjoy themselves, but at the same time wish to gain at least some appreciation for the characters and quests associated with them. I feel it was good content, handled somewhat poorly.

As a big video game music enthusiast, I've always felt the soundtrack was a huge weakpoint for Dark Souls. It's always been bland, uninspired, and mushed together. This is rather odd, since I greatly enjoy the music in the Valkyrie Profile series, also by Motoi Sakuraba. The huge exception is the Firelink Shrine music in the original Dark Souls and a few other notable scores like Dark Sun Gwyndolin's music. Contrastingly, I loved the music in Bloodborne. Dark Souls 3 combines the two composers, and the result is satisfying enough. I don't think it lives up to Bloodborne's soundtrack.

The bosses, level design, and enemy 'traps' are great. I wish there were a few more options for exploration (early on at least, perhaps more paths open later).

Pretty sick of the fact it's a Playstation 4 game that still doesn't bother to have NPC's mouths move when they speak. It doesn't have to be great lip syncing, just the generic mouth-flap that people have done in animation for... forever? It just comes off as so lazy and half-hearted.

Also, they've never said that this is the last Dark Souls, just a turning point for the series.

3 minutes ago, LordOfScrugging said:

Given they have anor londo in this game. 

Come on mate, the title says 'spoiler free'. Have some sense.

[LordOfScrugging]

7 minutes ago, AM-Bunny said:

I haven't played very far into the game as my time with it has been limited, but I've got pretty mixed reactions on it. Generally favourable impression.

I really enjoy that the NPC Questlines have been expanded upon, but I really resent how easy they made it to miss and ruin their progression. It's practically impossible to do without a guide, which I find quite presumptuous and ridiculous. It spawns a conflict in the minds of players who wish to play through the game blind and enjoy themselves, but at the same time wish to gain at least some appreciation for the characters and quests associated with them. I feel it was good content, handled somewhat poorly.

As a big video game music enthusiast, I've always felt the soundtrack was a huge weakpoint for Dark Souls. It's always been bland, uninspired, and mushed together. This is rather odd, since I greatly enjoy the music in the Valkyrie Profile series, also by Motoi Sakuraba. The huge exception is the Firelink Shrine music in the original Dark Souls and a few other notable scores like Dark Sun Gwyndolin's music. Contrastingly, I loved the music in Bloodborne. Dark Souls 3 combines the two composers, and the result is satisfying enough. I don't think it lives up to Bloodborne's soundtrack.

The bosses, level design, and enemy 'traps' are great. I wish there were a few more options for exploration (early on at least, perhaps more paths open later).

Pretty sick of the fact it's a Playstation 4 game that still doesn't bother to have NPC's mouths move when they speak. It doesn't have to be great lip syncing, just the generic mouth-flap that people have done in animation for... forever? It just comes off as so lazy and half-hearted.

Also, they've never said that this is the last Dark Souls, just a turning point for the series.

Come on mate, the title says 'spoiler free'. Have some sense.

whoops. sorry, i won't say anything more :x

[AM-Bunny]

Also, I hold the lore and story of Dark Souls in pretty high esteem. With that in mind, I was pretty disappointed by how heavily DkS3 relies on the 'shifting and colliding worlds/times' to explain things. It comes off as really contrived, and just an excuse to have a lot of callbacks to the original, while negating some of DkS2. 

I still haven't found a definite answer to whether DkS3 takes place before or after DkS2 chronologically. Perhaps both, simultaneously, conveniently enough.

Also, the entire plot with the Lords of Cinder seems like it was orchestrated just an excuse to include you-know-who.

While I haven't completed DkS3, I think my favourite is still Bloodborne. The best thing about it was the world, and the lore. It really worked together to  make a tangible and unique story. DkS3 feels a little scattered and doesn't have much focus.

[TheErebus.]

16 minutes ago, AM-Bunny said:

Also, I hold the lore and story of Dark Souls in pretty high esteem. With that in mind, I was pretty disappointed by how heavily DkS3 relies on the 'shifting and colliding worlds/times' to explain things. It comes off as really contrived, and just an excuse to have a lot of callbacks to the original, while negating some of DkS2. 

I still haven't found a definite answer to whether DkS3 takes place before or after DkS2 chronologically. Perhaps both, simultaneously, conveniently enough.

Also, the entire plot with the Lords of Cinder seems like it was orchestrated just an excuse to include you-know-who.

While I haven't completed DkS3, I think my favourite is still Bloodborne. The best thing about it was the world, and the lore. It really worked together to  make a tangible and unique story. DkS3 feels a little scattered and doesn't have much focus.

In regards to the "last in the series" my mistake, but for some reason I remember him saying it's the last one and that he wanted to go to more sci-fi games (PLEASE RELEASE ANOTHER ARMORED CORE).

I don't care much for the lore, to me the gameplay is what's most important. As for the mouth movements, honestly it's not something that's terribly needed. At first it did bother me in DkS1 but you get used to it, now when I see Andre's mouth flap about it seems really out of place and just ugly. 

Music is 100% subjective so I wont comment on that.

The sidequests aspect I agree with you 100%. On my first playthrough I didn't even realise you can meet the other characters again. Sure Anri popped up in the Shrine once but beyond that, she vanished into thin air. The same goes for an optional area in the game. Spoilers below.

Spoiler

Heading to Archdragon Peak. You need to use a gesture found by defeating an optional boss and use it in an obscure location that you would never really guess you'd have to use. I mean there's exploration and finding stuff out on your own, and then there's the good ol' trope "Guide dang it".

 

Edited April 20, 2016 by TheErebus.

[AM-Bunny]

16 minutes ago, TheErebus. said:

I don't care much for the lore, to me the gameplay is what's most important. As for the mouth movements, honestly it's not something that's terribly needed. At first it did bother me in DkS1 but you get used to it, now when I see Andre's mouth flap about it seems really out of place and just ugly. 

I totally get that there are more important things than mouth-flap, but it's just one of those things that's so basic. I feel like Dark Souls gets a free pass on so many things that other games would be torn apart for, like its wonky hitboxes, etc just because.

Edited April 20, 2016 by AM-Bunny

[TheErebus.]

8 minutes ago, AM-Bunny said:

I totally get that there are more important things than mouth-flap, but it's just one of those things that's so basic. I feel like Dark Souls gets a free pass on so many things that other games would be torn apart for, like its wonky hitboxes, etc just because.

Believe me when I say that legit bad hitboxes are always torn apart by the community. Dark Souls 2 was constantly criticized for how the hitboxes were badly screwed.

[LordOfScrugging]

12 minutes ago, TheErebus. said:

In regards to the "last in the series" my mistake, but for some reason I remember him saying it's the last one and that he wanted to go to more sci-fi games (PLEASE RELEASE ANOTHER ARMORED CORE).

I don't care much for the lore, to me the gameplay is what's most important. As for the mouth movements, honestly it's not something that's terribly needed. At first it did bother me in DkS1 but you get used to it, now when I see Andre's mouth flap about it seems really out of place and just ugly. 

Music is 100% subjective so I wont comment on that.

The sidequests aspect I agree with you 100%. On my first playthrough I didn't even realise you can meet the other characters again. Sure Anri popped up in the Shrine once but beyond that, she vanished into thin air. The same goes for an optional area in the game. Spoilers below.

  Reveal hidden contents

Heading to Archdragon Peak. You need to use a gesture found by defeating an optional boss and use it in an obscure location that you would never really guess you'd have to use. I mean there's exploration and finding stuff out on your own, and then there's the good ol' trope "Guide dang it".

 

Also, once you kill the ancient dragon and get teleported, if you use the same gesture that got you to this area infront of a shrine you are given a calamity ring. Doesn't really do anything beneficial. i guess it's just a collector's item? who knows

There are also a good bit of throwbacks to the first game. So i think it's more of a sequel to the first than the second.

1 minute ago, AM-Bunny said:

I totally get that there are more important things than mouth-flap, but it's just one of those things that's so basic. I feel like Dark Souls gets a free pass on so many things that other games would be torn apart for, like its wonky hitboxes, etc just because.

I think it takes place after the second but it's more connected to the first game

The description of the faraam set talks about the destruction of forossa, which in DkS2 wasn't necessarily destroyed just mentioned by several sources. I think this game takes place well after both games given the decrepit state of anor londo later in the game compared to it's pristine condition from the first game

[AM-Bunny]

1 minute ago, LordOfScrugging said:

I think it takes place after the second but it's more connected to the first game

 

  Hide contents

The description of the faraam set talks about the destruction of forossa, which in DkS2 wasn't necessarily destroyed just mentioned by several sources. I think this game takes place well after both games given the decrepit state of anor londo later in the game compared to it's pristine condition from the first game

 

Yeah, it's certainly confusing. The flavour text on Lucatiel's armour clearly designates it as her armour, not just some generic Mirrah set, so it seems that it must take place after DkS2.

However, DkS2 seemed to be set very, very far after DkS1 chronologically. The names of the places, Gods, and lands from DkS1 had all been lost to time. That's the main reason that it's so conspicuous that there are all these DkS1 references in DkS3. Were all these things just miraculously re-discovered? It seems pretty odd.

[LordOfScrugging]

1 minute ago, AM-Bunny said:

Yeah, it's certainly confusing. The flavour text on Lucatiel's armour clearly designates it as her armour, not just some generic Mirrah set, so it seems that it must take place after DkS2.

However, DkS2 seemed to be set very, very far after DkS1 chronologically. The names of the places, Gods, and lands from DkS1 had all been lost to time. That's the main reason that it's so conspicuous that there are all these DkS1 references in DkS3. Were all these things just miraculously re-discovered? It seems pretty odd.

Maybe the DLC will patch things up. I personally think it'd be cool if we visit other locations from the first games to try and piece the lore together more. How far are you anyways.