Dark Souls III + Ashes of Ariandel DLC Review
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Those very same weapons I mentioned earlier use the same system for upgrades that From Software first implemented in Dark Souls II, with ascensions upgrading their statistics up to 10 times and infusions changing their properties, but this time the distribution of materials feel far more gated. In practice, this creates an environment where the designers always have a very good idea of the level of a player's weapon when approaching a particular area, especially since Dark Souls III is far less prone to sequence breaking than any other game in the series. Infusions that improve Strength and Dexterity scaling make a return from Demon's Souls though under different names, elemental infusions are middling, and a new Luck-based infusion called Hollow further complicates the game's already convoluted lore while also being a very welcome gameplay addition. It's worth noting that armors also can't be upgraded anymore, and instead scale more aggressively based on a character's attributes, reducing the need for titanite (the upgrade material) and further helping the designers predict a player's statistics and balance the game around them.
Speaking of items, there are a couple of changes that I consider downright bizarre. Some of the gaming press focused on the confusion surrounding the Poise attribute for items, which players struggled to figure out around release. While in previous Dark Souls games, Poise governed a character's resistance to stagger (details varied depending on the game), Dark Souls III characters seemed to stagger at the lightest attack, regardless of whether they were naked or wearing heavy armor. A recent rebalance brought to light that the system was meant to govern resistance to stagger while performing attacks, but it wasn't until values were completely readjusted across the board that the attributes started feeling useful. While the original game's implementation had its own problems, it's bizarre to see the game ship in this state.
Another change that perplexed me is the addition of an item slot specifically dedicated to covenant items, separate from rings. On face value, this change would suggest a deepened and more complex covenant system. That's far from the truth, as a cursory analysis reveals covenants that share the same problems as Dark Souls II's while also carrying over less of the positives. I might have misunderstood what was simply a quality of life choice, of course, but I was disappointed nonetheless. Finally, power stancing was replaced by specific twin weapons that can be used to their full potential when two-handed. This is a sensical change and is easier to understand than the previous system, but removed the thrill of experimentation for me, which is ultimately the reason while I list it among negatives.
Level Design, World Design, Enemies and Bosses
Looking back at the time when I reviewed Dark Souls II, I can safely say that one mistake I made was to overvalue its level design. I felt, and still feel, that Dark Souls II's main problem was its disconnected and sometimes nonsensical level design, but there's something to be said for the fact that levels also felt less like spaces and presented less room to explore and an often more linear progression. This is easy to say in retrospect, of course, because it's a flaw that Dark Souls III corrected. Overcorrected even, though that word carries a negative value that I don't want to imply here.
Dark Souls III's areas are massive, sprawling, and filled with secrets and multiple routes. This design philosophy is employed since the very beginning of the game, in the Cemetery of Ash, which provides side routes and opportunities for difficult early encounters, and the Firelink Shrine hub, with its multilevel layout and hidden items. Indeed, with the exception of a bizarrely abrupt area in the Profaned Capital, almost every area in the game is at least very well-realized, when not exceptional.
The game also fares well in terms of mise en scene. Its spaces are reasonably realistic, though of course always stylized to a degree, and feel lived-in, and any bizarre geographic element and transition is usually justified by the game's apocalyptic lore, which hints the very fabric of reality is ruined beyond repair. The idea of various lands converging around the kingdom of Lothric -- evocatively exposed by the narrator in the game's intro sequence -- prevents the game from achieving the same cultural and environmental cohesion of the original game, but it also makes for a far better world than Dark Souls II's unintentionally dreamlike collage of separate areas.
Gameplay-wise, however, Dark Souls III's world design errs too much on the side of caution and guided progression. I'll be more blunt. Dark Souls III is linear. You're occasionally granted a bifurcation in your path, yes, but essentially every player will go through the same areas at the same time, meeting the same bosses in the same order. Gone are the days of using the Master Key to go through Blighttown first, or killing Dragon Rider to buy the Silvercat Ring and subsequently drop down to the pitch-black Gutter.
Even the single opportunity for sequence breaking, which is morbidly afforded to players with the inclination to murder a defenseless NPC, is short-lived and loops back to the main path. Whether that's ultimately due to From Software choosing to implement bonfire-based fast travel and a separate hub yet again (the same structure was used in Dark Souls II, though with the hub connected to the rest of the world, and Bloodborne) or because of the need to provide a more directed experience, remains to be seen, but ultimately it's not very important. Whether that's a flaw or a quirk of the game, depends on whether the game is seen simply as a combat engine with a great atmosphere or as more of an adventurous trek. Personally, I like to see myself in the second camp, and while I think Dark Souls III is a fantastic game, I can't help but think of this particular characteristic of the game as a downgrade. It's also the only real, notable flaw in the game's approach to level design and space. While I was disappointed by the lack of gimmicks and innovation (something that characterized Dark Souls II and its DLC in particular), it's hard to see it as a fault when previous designs have been iterated to nigh-perfection.
