Developer: From software
Genre: Third person, Action, RPG
So, I know what you're thinking. "Ryan, you keep going on and on about how you're a big Souls fan, how did it take you a month to beat the game?" Well, I wanted to wait until I had completely finished the game so that I could give a more thorough review. And by completely finish the game, I mean that I played out every ending, followed all NPC quests, and got every achievement. I played through the game a full 3 times in my 91 hours with it and here are my thoughts.
Story: The story of DS3 is almost as obfuscated as the previous ones, but there is a bit more hand holding than in the previous games. The subtleties in the story are still expressed by the item descriptions, but the high notes are communicated through NPC interactions and cutscenes. The story here is very similar to the story for both DS1 and DS2 in that you are a chosen undead tasked with reigniting the fire of the world to stave off the end of all life. It seems like this game had more religious overtones than the previous games, but I could certainly be mistaken. I haven't taken notes to corroborate my observation, but it certainly seems like the setting and many of the themes in this game are more tightly woven into the covenant system as well as the in-game lore. In previous games, the covenants were almost hidden from view, but almost every covenant in this game has a zealot that you can either appease or piss off given your choices in other covenants in the game. They tied a lot of the lore for DS3 back into DS1, where you visit a few of the same locations and there are many callbacks. As a series fan, I quite enjoyed it, but I can see how a newcomer to the series might be offput or just not notice the attention to detail.
Visuals: DS3 is easily the best looking game in the series. It and the Witcher 3 are in contention for the best looking games that I've ever played. The environmental design in Dark Souls 3 is top notch and continues in the series tradition that almost everywhere that can be seen on the horizon can be explored by the player. By now this series is known for having very few out-of-reach sky boxes. There were several spots where I stopped and took a screenshot because the art in the game was breath-taking. They learned a lot from Bloodborne and DS2 in terms of lighting and it really shows in this finale. The enemy design is also top notch. There are many enemies that seem like they would be right at home in even Guillermo del Toro's nightmares. Which is great! There are dragons that the series is known for, as well as some armor clad knights of varying shapes and sizes.
Audio: By pre-purchasing the game I got access to the soundtrack, which I was a bit underwhelmed by before experiencing the game. After experiencing it, I can say that I am glad to have the soundtrack! The music that is in the game is so perfect for matching the atmosphere and tone of the game that I don't feel bad calling it a masterpiece. I've sat on the starting menu of the game for quite a bit more time than I have in other games just to listen to the music, it's that good. The sound effects of the game are good enough to not mar any of the gameplay experience, but not quite good enough to be memorable. Many of the sound effects have been mostly recycled from previous games, which I think is a little lazy, but "if it's not broken, don't fix it" I suppose.
Gameplay: I think that this gameplay in this game is the best in the series by quite a bit. The controls feel fluid, there is less of an issue with move storage, and there are fewer ways to cheat the game by duping it seems. The combat seems faster and weightier than in the previous Dark Souls games, but that doesn't mean that it's nearly as fast as Bloodborne. There are tons of weapons and armor to be found in this game, just like the previous ones in the series. When I found a new cool bit of armor though, it didn't seem to make as much difference in this iteration as it had in previous games of the series. Similarly, many of the weapons only had different moves based on their type of weapon instead of each one having its own unique set. A weakpoint in the game design is its lack of replay-ability. In previous games in the series the world would change in subsequent playthroughs by adding additional enemies or tough red-phantoms. In Dark Souls 3, the only differences are in the numbers. Enemies hit harder and have more health and the consumable souls that you can pick up have higher values so that they aren't useless. Additionally, upgraded versions of each ring appear in subsequent playthroughs, with you needing to clear all but the final 2 bosses and a couple optional ones to collect all the rings. Dark Souls 2 did a much better job in this regard and I believe was praised for that aspect. Why they didn't listen to those critiques is beyond me. As almost an after thought, the level design is back to being top-notch.
Overall: This game really is great, but it wasn't as good as I'd hoped it would be. It was more Dark Souls, which was definitely nice, but there weren't a whole lot of improvements to the formula. There were no additions to the language of the series, which I am a little disappointed in. As I said, the game is really enjoyable and highly polished, but I don't think it adds as much as I'd hoped. There are more gimmick-y bosses, the mimics are telegraphed the same way as in Dark Souls 1, and there are still some pretty obvious placements of illusory walls. They kept some of the good lessons of Dark Souls 2 like early bonfire warping and an infinite use Homeward Bone item, but there wasn't enough new for me to give this game the highest of praise. It's a great addition to the series, and possibly even the best entry point for new fans, but as a veteran, I wanted more. 8.5/10
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