Dark Souls III - Ashes of Ariandel Reviews
Ashes of Ariandel is the best Dark Souls 3 has ever been
The Ashes of Ariandel breathed new life into a game that was already strong and vital, and set the stage for the final chapter in its dark saga.
Ashes of Ariandel is light on content, but still likely to please Dark Souls III fans.
To me, Dark Souls 3 was a good curtain call. Ariandel, however, feels like perhaps the series has come out for one round of applause too many, and my hands are starting to hurt now from the perpetual clapping. The combat and visual design are fantastic – that was never in question – and I enjoyed Ariandel for its short runtime of four hours, but it’s engulfed in the shadow of its predecessors’ far meatier expansions.
Ashes of Ariandel offers a satisfying blend of lore, boss fights, and exploration that Souls fans love, but fails to shake some of Dark Souls 3's problems.
The overall level design is, unfortunately, a bit more hit and miss than the enemy work. Ashes of Ariendal thrives on putting you into tight corridors filled with enemies, and it’s rarely a good time. The overall structure of the world is branching and open-ended, which provides the player with plenty to explore, but with the environments all looking so samey with their rocks and snow, it’s hard to tell where you are sometimes.
Evocative and visually inspired, Ashes of Ariandel is a brief but masterful amalgamation of the Dark Souls series' greatest strengths.