Dark Souls III - Ashes of Ariandel Reviews
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.
Pretty but shallow, Dark Souls III: Ashes of Ariandel is sorely lacking in content and inventiveness.
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.
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.
Ashes of Ariandel is light on content, but still likely to please Dark Souls III fans.
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.
Ashes of Ariandel is a fine addition to Dark Souls 3, but does not strive far beyond simply being anything more than just adequate.
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.
With Dark Souls' formidable reputation undisputed, other characteristics slip into transparency. Humor, long rumbling under the surface, receives a more stable focus in Ashes of Ariandel. Expectations are bent, defied, and destroyed in ways that are designed to simultaneously humiliate and impress series veterans. After five games and six pieces of downloadable content, it's hard to imagine a more suitable approach.
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.
Paints a beautiful picture, but it’s a small one.
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.
A piece of content that falls short of past expansions in length but makes up for it by adding a well designed assortment of weapons and spells as well as some memorable boss fights. The addition of the arena adds longevity for PvP fans or those just looking for a rumble with friends.
The Ashes of Ariandel DLC for Dark Souls 3 is more of the same, but with visibly more polish and shine than the base game.
Ashes of Ariandel offers more Dark Souls III, which can only ever be a good thing in my book.
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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You reposted in the wrong neighborhood, Ashen One.
Quality always beats quantity… almost always, because Ashes of Ariandel is surprisingly short for the price tag that it currently comes with. Its desolate, frozen world is majestic, the challenge is high, the bosses are pretty neat, but it's only a small taste, when it could very well be a full meal. Hopefully, Dark Souls III's next (and final) DLC will be way more satisfying than this one.
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.
All things considered, the first expansion for Dark Souls 3 is kind of a letdown, particularly if you don’t enjoy fighting other players.