Dark Souls III - Ashes of Ariandel Reviews

Dark Souls III - Ashes of Ariandel is ranked in the 48th percentile of games scored on OpenCritic.
Metro GameCentral
Top Critic
7 / 10
Oct 27, 2016

Splitting half the content between a mode many players won’t be interested in is an odd decision, but short as it is the new area still has that classic Dark Souls appeal.

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7 / 10
Oct 27, 2016

A new painted world serves as the setting for the first Dark Souls III DLC--with a new host of goals, enemies, and loot, but not much else.

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7 / 10.0
Oct 20, 2016

You don't really need Ashes of Ariandel unless you've squeezed every ounce out of Dark Souls III already or thrive on PVP. I think the concept of splitting up their resources took away from the sum of both parts, but there's still plenty of challenges and surprises to warrant another bloody good time. Or a future Game of the Year version bookended romp.

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7 / 10.0
Oct 31, 2016

The final boss fight is challenging and worth the DLC, while the PvP arena will keep fans busy for some time, but ultimately the world of Ariandel is bleakly beautiful if unsatisfying.

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7 / 10
Oct 21, 2016

Ashes of Ariandel is a well-designed, 4-5 jaunt through another painted realm, with a structured PvP annex that to some may be worth the admission price alone. But it’s missing the superlative spark of previous Souls DLCs.

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Justin Celani
Top Critic
7 / 10.0
Oct 25, 2016

Ashes of Ariandel is a good time for those looking to give themselves an excuse to boot up Dark Souls 3 again, as if that is even necessary.

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70 / 100
Oct 28, 2016

Ariandel is polished, but the entire package can be sped through in a way that’s uncharacteristic for the series.

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Sep 29, 2016

The Painted World of Ariendel has a bleak beauty that’s begging to be explored, but it’s all over far too quickly. Drilled down to its basic components, this DLC is one great boss fight, some decent items and a PvP arena. Unfortunately, if you don’t care about battling other players online then you're unlikely to get much out of this.

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3.5 / 5.0
Oct 26, 2016

Dark Souls III: Ashes of Ariandel is possibly the weakest of all the Souls-Borne expansions, but that doesn’t mean it’s bad. While it doesn’t reach the near perfection of those before it, there is enough variety and good ideas here to support a playthrough.

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Nov 3, 2016

If Dark Souls 3 is the franchise's greatest hits album, Ashes of Ariandel is its B-side collection – a mostly unremarkable, yet complimentary addition that hides one unmissable gem – in this case, the gloriously climactic final showdown.The bare-bones PvP arena offers a fleeting blast of adrenaline and the painted world's gorgeous wintry landscapes are enchantingly brutal, yet as a whole, Dark Souls 3's first expansion colours within deeply worn lines and falls short of FromSoftware's illustrious history of unforgettable, industry-leading DLC.

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7 / 10
Oct 20, 2016

Ashes of Ariandel is a fine addition to Dark Souls 3, but does not strive far beyond simply being anything more than just adequate.

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3.5 / 5.0
Oct 20, 2016

Dark Souls III: Ashes of Ariandel is a short but sweet experience.

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7 / 10.0
Nov 11, 2016

It's more great Dark Souls content, but this expansion offers few unique aspects to the tried and true formula. An additional PVP matchmaking system is a nice touch, but it could do with a bit more polish.

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7 / 10.0
Nov 8, 2016

Dark Souls 3's Ashes of Ariandel DLC is an odd little piece of content...and little is the operative word. It's fun while it lasts, PvP receives some pretty cool new additions and the environments are gorgeous. Nonetheless, From Software is capable of so much more. This ranks slightly above acceptable.

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Oct 28, 2016

Pretty but shallow, Dark Souls III: Ashes of Ariandel is sorely lacking in content and inventiveness.

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Oct 20, 2016

All things considered, the first expansion for Dark Souls 3 is kind of a letdown, particularly if you don’t enjoy fighting other players.

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Nov 18, 2016

I appreciate that multiplayer is a big deal in the Souls games, but this is the first time From Software has crafted a piece of DLC content that focuses almost entirely on that multiplayer experience, and I think this will fall flat with plenty of other Souls fans.

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3 / 5
Oct 25, 2016

High-quality content that doesn’t take long to go through. If you’re a fan of the series, and its competitive (PvP) mode, you’ll find plenty to enjoy here. However, if you’re expecting many additional hours of solo gameplay, then don’t expect much.

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6 / 10.0
Oct 26, 2016

A soulless addition to a phenomenal franchise, which has been seemingly created only for the old guard of the Soulsborne titles. However, even the fanatical fans of the series may find the overwhelming feeling of familiarity to be too strong for its own good.

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5 / 10
Oct 27, 2016

Dark Souls III: Ashes of Ariandel misses the mark. It fails to fill a large, fresh environment with tangible reasons to stay there any longer than a few hours, and although the new weapons and gear are some of the best in the game, you'll want to play about with them somewhere other than The Painted World. Each boss battle feels generic and produces a dead end, feeling unrelated as a result. The experience constantly builds itself up but never climaxes, falling flat without spectacle leaving you to lug your new arsenal of weapons and gear back to the Firelink Shrine, your work in The Painted World apparently complete. The Arena finally constructs a functional environment for something long curated by the community, but removes something in the process thanks to reward-less matches that fail to emulate the underground fight club feeling found in the main game.

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