In recent years there has been a huge trend toward games being super hard, and it’s partly because of the popularity of the “Souls” series. Prepare to be brutalized again with the newest entry in the series “Dark Souls III.”
If you are unfamiliar with the “Souls” games they are set in a dark and brutal fantasy world full of horrific monsters and crazy boss fights. You travel though a twisted landscape finding hidden secrets while finding gear, weapons and spells in order to survive. “Dark Souls III” is one of the most difficult but satisfying action RPG games around.
“Dark Souls III” is also one of the best looking action RPG games out there. The graphics are dark and gothic but everything looks realistic, gory and incredibly detailed because of the outstanding lighting and shadows. As you fight you gain new weapons, armor and experience points which you can use to level up your abilities. There are hundreds of weapons and accessory combinations you can create your character to suit your play style. The overall gameplay is based on the class you choose, you can decide to be a warrior, archer, spellcaster or a tank. Don’t worry if you make mistakes with your character, there are people you can meet who will let you change your specs so if you want a different play style you can do it.
“Dark Souls III” is not the kind of game that holds your hand, the “Souls” games are known for not giving much in the way of direction to the player. There aren’t real tutorials, so everything is trial and error which leads to a lot of deaths. That’s fine because, every time you die, you learn what you did wrong and if you keep at it you can conquer the whole game which is incredibly satisfying.
There are some levels that return from the last few entries, but overall everything is new, including all new creatures and bosses. There are a ton of places to explore and many secrets to find, if you want to dive deep there are 40-50 hours of gameplay to explore.
Overall I enjoyed “Dark Souls III” it retains the elements that made the last few games great and it’s just as satisfying because it ramps up to an incredibly hard difficulty level. If you are a veteran of the series, “Dark Souls III” does everything you would expect in a Souls game and expands on it with new weapons, abilities and a ton of great new boss fights to conquer. If you have never tried the series this is a good jumping off point especially if you are looking for a great action RPG game.
You can’t go wrong with “Dark Souls III” but be prepared to be frustrated and to die many times.
