Dark Souls III - Review

“Let the sunshine upon this Lord of Cinder” – A review of Dark Souls III. 

After the stress of the first two Dark Souls games, I have come to accept that I am simply not good enough to truly enjoy these games. With that being said, I do appreciate them for what they are – Dark Souls III especially.

Released in 2016, I genuinely think Dark Souls III is the best of the trilogy. It is of course still incredibly challenging, still set in a beautifully bleak world and still full of opportunities for exploration. The level designs are intricate and occasionally rewards curiosity, which is something I felt was a little lacking in the second game.

I do love the environment of this game. It’s so haunting and genuinely full of a strange, sad beauty. From poison swamps full of terrible beasts to medieval strongholds overlooking snow-capped mountains, this is a maze of a game which, if you’re better than me and can conquer the difficulty, is truly stunning to explore. Add the melancholy soundtrack to this and you have a genuinely atmospheric, gorgeously gothic game to get lost in.

The difficulty curve of course, again, feels incredibly unforgiving. Whilst the sense of achievement you get from beating a boss fight is pretty unmatched, you also need unmatched levels of patience, and as I’ve mentioned in previous Dark Souls reviews, that’s something I simply don’t have. My frustrations with these games are much more frustrations with myself – I know they’re supposed to feel incredibly challenging, but I sadly lose interest if I’m stuck in the same place for too long.

 The storytelling is pretty typical for a FromSoftware game – fragmented pieces of lore are subtly hidden throughout, and its up to you to find it all and piece the story together. There are fans who adore this, but I think I prefer a story that’s easier to follow – once again, this is a case of me not being the target audience rather than a criticism of the game.

I think this is one of the major issues I have with this and all of the Dark Souls games - I don’t feel like I can just pick them up and play. There are countless guides and YouTube videos online explaining lore and gameplay mechanics, and I really do understand how much fans of the series love them, but for me I never want to have to Google a game to be able to move through it or understand a story.

Writing these reviews has genuinely made me feel quite sad. On the surface, I should really adore this series. Something that I’ve taken away from this writing process is that the issue is with me, not with the games – so if you’ll excuse me, I think it’s time for me to try again. Maybe 2026 will be the year I finally learn to be patient.

Written by Tam Page

Posted by Mr. Tomney

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