Dark Souls III Reviews
Among the best results of Dark Souls 3 is the clear distinction between greater accessibility and substance below the surface, in the face of a very difficult, long and intricate adventure like any good Souls must be.
Review in Italian | Read full review
With Souls titles now a pseudo-genre of their own, there's an inevitable familiarity to the rewarding challenges, deft storytelling, and intricate, shortcut-laden level design of Dark Souls 3. But familiarity alone should not detract from this third title's fine implementation of ideas and mechanics. The enigma may be waning, but there's still nothing quite like a Souls game.
I truly believe Dark Souls 3 is the best Souls experience a player can get out of the franchise. Newcomers can jump in, old fans will experience lots of ties to the previous games both visually and lore wise, and if this is indeed the final Dark Souls game in the series, it went out with its monster arms swinging high! It's fitting that the end would come like this, not dead and buried but at the pinnacle of its hollowed life.
Dark Souls 3 must bow its head to its Playstation predecessor - but should be proud that it manages to be a gruelling, challenging adventure, pushing endlessly through horror and weirdness.
Series director Hidetaka Miyazaki has returned to bring the series to a close. Can he recapture the magic of the original Dark Souls?
The series had a rocky road with Dark Souls II and had some fans questioning design decisions, but Dark Souls III has reminded the community of why the series has the reputation it does. The game is an undeniable treat for both eyes and ears, and uncovering the lore as you explore the darkest depths is an experience that is unparalleled in many other games.
Few titles this generation will match the purity of Dark Souls III as a game. This is as brutal, exhilarating, and compelling as the series has ever been, but it is also laden with the heavy burden of expectation that its heritage brings. Significant, yet minor improvements are made to the established formula, and nostalgia is warmly embraced a little too often, yet this still doesn't prevent Dark Souls III from being a fine game.
Dark Souls III is another triumph of the imagination for From Software, a studio which surely now must rank as one of Japan's leading talents. The company's Souls series has a near-flawless track record and after the cult nature of Demon's Souls has thankfully found a large and receptive mainstream audience – not bad for a franchise which delights in being obtuse and hair-pulling tricky in equal measure. Dark Souls III is arguably the most accomplished entry yet, refining the core mechanics and cunningly utilizing next-generation hardware to excellent effect.
Bosses in these games are always a highlight, and Dark Souls 3 has some excellent encounters that will surely kick your ass.
Dark Souls III is beautiful and terrifying all in one. Intense, atmospheric and so cruel. An essential game for RPG fans and one of the very best games of 2016 thus far.
Unsurprisingly, the PC version of Dark Souls III is a little more accomplished than the console version, mainly for its framerate (60FPS) really very pleasing to both the eyes and the gameplay.
Review in French | Read full review
Dark Souls III is one of the demonstrations that video games (some, like movies) are pure art, without any possible discussion and its director is the greatest current genius in the sector, also without discussion. Miyazaki says that he is going to take a long vacation and that there will be no more Dark Souls for now.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
The level design is excellent, the gameplay neat, the artistic direction grandiose and the graphics of quality. Despite some minor technical issues, this game is undoubtedly one of the best "Souls", and even, without hesitation, already one of the best games of 2016.
Review in French | Read full review
I think it goes without saying that if you are a fan of Miyazaki's creations, you should run as soon as you can for a copy of Dark Souls III. In case you have committed the sin of never giving this franchise a chance, don't worry, because leaving aside its very intricate history that only some have been able to solve, this installment is optimal for those who are just entering the complicated world revolving around the brilliant works of FromSoftware.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Dark Souls is a series about pushing through the unknown, pressing forward with your shield raised, probing the darkness, and looking for the flicker of the next bonfire. When the fire is lit, the previous area loses its mystique. It is conquered. This same sense of familiarity permeates Dark Souls 3, and it only ever gets you out of your comfort zone by resorting to cheap tricks. Yet despite this, it's still a beautifully bleak adventure with one of the best combat systems in videogames - it just falls short of the magic of the original. Like the opening cutscene says: the fire fades.
Dark Souls III represents yet another valiant swing in the brutally addictive formula that is From Software's unforgiving Souls series. Glitches and a been-there, done-that vibe for series veterans take off some of the sheen from the game. The solid gameplay, however, combined with new battle arts and more dynamic boss fights make Dark Souls III another worthy entry in the franchise.
You start off as a weak, undead wanderer and eventually grow into a being that can kill god-like monsters, and it's not because the game's narrative needs you to be that powerful, but because you've worked so very hard to get to that point. It's an incredible feeling, and makes Dark Souls III an incredible game.
For fans and newcomers alike, Dark Souls III is a magnum opus of From Software design. You'll celebrate as bosses fall to your sword, gaze in wonder at the landscape's snowy hamlets and towering cathedrals, scold yourself for losing souls to a bottomless pit or eldritch beast, then grab the controller to relive the nightmare again and again.
Dark Souls 3 doesn't take many risks, but when you have fans that played Demon's Souls, Dark Souls, Dark Souls 2 and Bloodborne, you need something to keep the series fresh and new. Dark Souls 3 doesn't offer anything like that, which means you should already know if you'd enjoy the new game. It's more of the same, with slight adjustments to differentiate it from the other games in the series.
Dark Souls III is another punishingly hard game in an era of hand-holding that masochists will appreciate. While enemy AI is laughably dumb, those same enemies can take you down in no time flat. This is a game that forces you to learn its intricacies and quirks, and use them all to your advantage. Sporting a wonderful environment full of color, suffering, death, and a small amount of hope, fans can expect to sink several dozen, if not hundreds, of hours into the game, if they haven't already. From Software knows how to make challenging games that reward those who invest the time needed to properly engage enemies, and Dark Souls III continues in that tradition.