Dark Souls 3
One day, tiny flames will dance across the darkness
Why
- A perfect end to the series & its world
- Friede, Gael, the Dancer, Pontiff... so many great bosses
- Fan service galore for those who've been there from the start
- World design is more DS2 than 1, but still plenty of secrets/shortcuts
Why Not
- Nope, just play it
Impressions
It feels so long ago that the pandemic gave me the push I needed to finally play Elden Ring, starting a journey which ends today with the first flame finally fading. I'll play all the other Fromsoft games in time, but DS3 epitomizes the end of a journey in everything from its visuals to its enemies and world design. The world has always been falling apart in Dark Souls but in 3 it's so much further along, and before rolling credits you'll see (and get to decide) how it all finally comes to a close.
Before that though, there's still a world packed with enemies looking to drop on you from above, push you off ledges, pepper you with spear-like arrows, eat you rather than yielding their treasure or just swarm en-masse if you're too hasty. As usual the reward for cleaving your way through the ganks is losing an Ember or two (or twenty) to the local boss, though runbacks are generally pretty friendly if you take the time to unlock shortcuts. There are some pretty creative gimmick bosses (Deacons, Spear of the Church and my personal favourite Yhorm (with an old friend helping out)), in addition to the all-timers you've heard of like Gael, Friede and the Pontiff. Friede in particular earns her position alongside Malenia in the 'ridiculously strong female endgame boss' club; it's a real pity I had some of her gimmicks spoiled through hanging out in souls communities for so long cos one in particular would've been incredible. Even as things stood it was fun figuring out how to track her while invisible, who to hit in the second phase and how to handle some of her crazier attacks.
Both DLCs where excellent, and I like how connected they are with each other/how much fan service the Ringed City manages to cram into a fairly short runtime. Some truly classic 'You Died' moments at the start of that one until you figure out the ghost archers and remember to check corners, you can just feel Miyazaki trying to get a few more cheap shots in before the series comes to a close. Gael into Soul of Cinder is a perfect ending; one of the best fights in the series into one that's maybe not as difficult but partially makes up the difference with creativity/references to archetypes you probably played along your journey. For me letting the fire fade and the world finally rest will always be the canon ending; though I did deliver a certain child some painting materials so there's always a chance...