Game Review: Dark Souls III

Nothing lasts.  

It’s an inconceivable truth that defines the very fabric of life. We live, we die. Kingdoms rise, and fall. Even the sun, in all it’s bright and relentless strength, will one day shine its last set of rays and cast the galaxy in a veil of darkness. The finality of life is uncompromisable, but what if it wasn’t? What if in our struggle to accept the end of all things, we fight against nature and extend it relentlessly? Life is beautiful in a lot of ways but ages are meant to come and pass; to rekindle the fire and extend everything over and over, it would be a perpetual nightmare. That very nightmare is the core basis of the theme behind the final entry in the Dark Souls series; Dark Souls III.

Developed by FromSoftware and published by Bandai Namco, Dark Souls III is the third entry in the Dark Souls trilogy. It was released across PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC in 2016. Development on Dark Souls III started initially in 2013 prior to the release of Dark Souls II. Hidetaka Miyazaki was pulling double duty at the time, leading the development of Dark Souls III and Bloodborne across two separate teams. This turned out to benefit Dark Souls III in the end, as Miyazaki touted a lot of the inspiration behind the design choices came from the limitations they faced from the initial development of Bloodborne. Upon it’s release, Dark Souls III received both critical and commercial success; averaging a solid 90 on OpenCritic as of today and reportedly selling over 10 million copies as of 2020.  While it didn’t earn any Game of the Year nominations, Dark Souls III did get a plethora of other nominations during the respective rewards season.

Dark Souls III is set in in the kingdom of Lothric. Much time has come and past since the events of the first Dark Souls in which the Chosen Undead rekindled the First Flame and extended the Age of Fire.  In that time, more and more have journeyed to rekindle the First Flame and have earned the title of Lords of Cinder.  In the present time, the young Price Lothric who was destined to rekindle the First Flame has chosen to abandon his duty and let the flame die out.  In an attempt to avert this, the Bells of Awakening are rung and a selection of prior Lords of Cinder who linked the First Flame are resurrected to do so once again.  All but one of these resurrected lords however follow Lothric in shirking their duty and follow their own intents.  In a last-ditch effort, the bells resurrect the Unkindled, heroes who died in their attempt to rekindle the First Flame.  Your player character is one of these Unkindled, titled the Ashen One and they are tasked with bringing Prince Lothric and the other Lords of Cinder to heel by killing them and returning their ashes to their respective thrones in the Firelink Shrine so the rekindling can begin again. 

I love how much Dark Souls III builds upon the narrative themes embedded in the prior two entries.  In Dark Souls I, the narrative was very much the same idea, you were on a quest to rekindle the First Flame. However in that quest, you saw the scale and power behind the lords who started the Age of Fire.  You saw an empire built to prosper, withering away into darkness slowly but surely.  In Dark Souls II, you saw again, how the Undead Curse ruined a civilization and corrupted it into an empty hollow shell.  All throughout the trilogy, the pure idea behind this world is its unwavering ability to proceed in spite of itself.  In Dark Souls III, a great emphasis is put to reflect that idea within the locations you explore and the bosses you face.  Lothric was built upon the ruins of Lodran, all the might and history that once was there is buried deep within the foundations of a new kingdom. Nothing will stop this world from existing and as the ages continue, the cycle will repeat over and over until all that’s left is the dust of the many kingdoms that rose and fell.  

The idea of life persisting in spite of itself is a fantastic theme for the game to focus on, because it was established consistently throughout the series.  You don’t just see that storytelling in the world design either.  The journey your character is on is one clearly geared to question that whole concept.  You are someone who tried but failed to kindle the First Flame, the Lords of Cinder who you now oppose don’t want to rekindle it like they did before, it’s not clear but it can be interpreted that they know the futility of rekindling the First Flame. Instead of fulfilling their purpose, they each instead fall into their own selfish desires. This is where the games vague approach to storytelling helps, because it gives the player all the information to make an informed interpretation of whether your quest to take down the Lords of Cinder is justified.  I loved this approach because I found myself pitying the occupants of this world more than anything.  You see this echo of a once magnificent kingdom and you can’t help but relate with the suffering everyone faces.  Whether it’s the NPC’s, the enemies or the bosses, everyone in this world is either lost to its madness or yearning for it to end.  It all revolves around the idea of perpetual existence being a curse more than a blessing, which is the whole crux behind this series. I want to give extra credit to how the two DLC’s narratives build on this too, especially the Ringed City DLC.  The scope of that DLC really goes out of its way to emphasize the never-ending torment that the Age of Fire will force all of life to endure until the very end. This is easily my favourite narrative of the three games.

This wouldn’t be a Dark Souls or FromSoftware game however if it wasn’t willing to make you suffer right along with everyone else and that’s where the gameplay comes into the equation.  This game takes the consistent formula of all of the typical FromSoftware games up to this point.  Your player character is tasked with navigating a varied and distinct world in which its sole intention is to kill you. Every single path you tread is littered with enemies who all have a remarkably unified ability to kill you in your tracks.  Like all other FromSoftware games, the enemies you face are all distinctly realized in some remarkably creative designs and animations.  Fighting the variety of enemies in this game is always such a fun and challenging experience because they all present the player with unique obstacles to overcome.  Some enemies may be weak on their own, but if they gang up on you, you’ll drop souls quicker than it takes for Solare to praise the sun. Other enemies feel likes sub-bosses all on their own with the way they’re able to overpower or out speed you. There’s never a single moment where this game felt repetitive with it’s enemy placement like Dark Souls II, Miyazaki and his team really worked their asses off with the enemy design of the game.  The same can also be attributed to the boss design for Dark Souls III as well.  I can easily say this game has the best range of bosses out of the three games.  Optional and mandatory bosses are all remarkably crafted to justify their large health bars and grand orchestral music.  Each of the four Lords of Cinder each present their own unique difficulty that really reinforces their history and stature. Again, special shout out to the DLC bosses too, Sister Friede and Slave Knight Gael really put me through my paces, which is what I expect from any FromSoftware boss.

To counteract the large range of bosses you fight, the combat system of Dark Souls III shows where Miyazaki really took the Bloodborne influence to. Like in prior games, the arsenal at your fingertips is broad and extensive.  There’s a weapon here to suit any kind of playstyle, whether you’re an axe swinging warrior, a staff wielding mage or even a katana wielding ninja.  The plethora of weapons are all each accompanied with their own Weapon Arts.  Similar to Bloodborne, each weapon you wield has a unique ability to utilize which may allow you to gain a certain type of buff or deal a different animation of attack.  The variety of choice behind the weapon system in this game is well considered and it offers players a justified reason to replay the game over and over to try new playstyles and weaponry. On top of the weapon system there’s also the standard levelling system which allows you to imbue yourself with the souls of all the enemies you’ve collected.  It’s been tweaked to be more in line with the original levelling system, likely in response to the complaints stemming from the Dark Souls II system.  Part of why I always love this system is it offers a lot of flexibility to let the player play and scale themselves to a certain playstyle.  Certain weapons will only be viable based on your level within a certain attribute and there’s a neat scaling system too. All in all, Dark Souls III’s combat system feels the most refined of the three and there’s a lot to appreciate within it.

The design element behind Dark Souls III bares recognizing also.  Following along with the theme of a prolonged existence from the narrative, the environments of the game all reflect a once beautiful world long past it’s prime. The kingdom Lothric looks grand upon your initial steps, but you soon see the dark taint that has enraptured it.  Once mighty structures have withered and crumbled, leaving desolate and decrepit echoes in their place.  The way the environmental design also serves to accompany the storytelling in the game is simply amazing.  Starting out from the high walls of Lothric, you venture further down into the ruined lands which surround the kingdom, you see how the abyss has ruptured through the land and corrupted it in a lot of ways. It’s quite depressing to see how far the world has fallen. Even the mighty Anor Londo is a cold, desolate shadow of its former self. All of this goes to reflect the phenomenal job FromSoftware’s designers did in building these locations not just from a visual perspective but also a gameplay one, with so many secrets and shortcuts to discover.  There’s so much to appreciate from your exploration of the game’s world, even if it is out to kill you at every second.  Then there’s the soundtrack, Yuka Kitamura and Motoi Sakuraba clearly outdid themselves here.  Dark Souls 3’s original score is majestic and harrowing in equal conjunction.  The boss tracks themselves deserve an extra spotlight too, as the orchestral pieces accompany the fights so well and help add to the intensity that comes from fighting them. 

To conclude, Dark Souls III is every bit as good as I was led to believe.  Prior to Elden Ring, it was often Dark Souls III that would come in conversation when it came to discussing FromSoftware’s best work.  While I personally consider Bloodborne in that regard, I can fully appreciate why people also consider Dark Souls III.  It is in every essence the perfect way to cap off the Dark Souls trilogy. It’s narrative hones in on the pure concept behind this series and capitalizes on its conclusion with a very poignant consideration.  It’s gameplay and visual design mesh together to make it a beautifully tragic experience you’ll have no qualms about suffering through.  It’s funny really, the very idea of a perpetual existence is to reflect the suffering the inhabitants of this world struggle through day in and day out, the fact is though; your character persists in spite of it.  That isn’t just the basis of Dark Souls III, but of every FromSoftware game. It’s to persist in spite of the struggle, in spite of the difficulty.  You die, you get back up and you persist. Tragic as it might be in relation to the world of Dark Souls, I think it reflects a strength we all share in the real world when it comes to living through each day despite it’s hardships.