I like referring to Dark Souls III as a child’s game. Do you want a hard game? Try playing The Lion King on the SEGA Genesis and making it past the Giraffe stage! But seriously, Dark Souls III is the newest (and final) installment in its franchise. With it, they are staying true to their sentiment of “you will die an awful lot”. Like the previous games in this series, you start out making a character that you will rarely if never look at. A “character creator” was probably not even needed.
I went for a Knight because it’s me, and I like fighting with a sword and everything. From there I started up the game and my eardrums began to bleed. I lowered the audio in the options menu, but apparently, that doesn’t affect cut-scene volume. So it sent me deaf as the opening sequence echoed throughout the house and woke up my wife.
From there I continued on my merry way, learning the controls again (it has been ages since I played a Dark Souls title), and made my way through the starting area. I began reading all the notes left on the ground until I encountered the first enemy of the game…and then my GPU driver took a dump. I reloaded the game and tried again, and again, and again, and gave up. I got an Xbox One copy because like a few new games coming out, this title is broken on PC. This franchise has been so notoriously bad on PC, Bandai actually endorses fan mods and fixes!
The game’s controls are a bit confusing and have always given me a hard time. I’m constantly forgetting what button to press next, and because of that I’m dying a lot (and I mean a lot!) To be fair, that’s kind of the thing with Dark Souls; you will die a lot. Because of its convoluted controls…and not my lack of skill…I feel cheated much of the time. This is where the Internet could chime in and in a collective voice tell me to “get good”. So I continue on my way and venture through the ruins of this castle.
Attacked by dragons and that weird creature from Studio Ghibli’s Princess Mononoke (you know the one). But I must admit as I’m venturing through, I feel I’m not being drawn into the game. The buildings are well-designed and beautiful, but because of my constant worry of enemies and dying I’m not feeling immersed in the game’s atmosphere.
The dark and damp look of the place has me constantly on guard and looking out for all manner of things that want me dead. The world’s variety of enemies has me constantly adapting to change my play style. This poses a really great challenge even for the most seasoned players (except for that one guy who beat the game without rolling, dodging, or blocking, all at level one!)
What I loved about the game is just how hard it makes things; how challenging it is and the thrill it gives you after you make it to a new area. But what I dislike about it is just how rage-inducing it is. In competitive games, you get mad from lag, as with Counter-Strike back in the dial-up days. You’d drop a smoke grenade and bam…instant disconnect. But in this game you’re constantly dying.
Overall the game is amazing. What it lacks in the atmosphere really makes up for in everything else. What’s more, if you can figure out the story for the game, Bandai is willing to dish out $10,000 (USD)! Myself, I’m just going to continue playing Dark Souls III! If you want to check Dark Souls III out you can find it on Steam!
An autistic gamer with opinions on games who also enjoys making dumb videos on the internet!