pretty easy to think i've soured on souls titles whenever I think about them and yet they're always just so, so good to play and revisit pretty much whenever. I know there's a lot of discourse (or whatever word you want to use) about DS3's linearity, designs, whatevers, but I think it's still top to bottom an excellent experience. definitely inclined to agree that it's lacking somewhat in some of its levels, it's hard to be fond of any of the areas, High Wall excluded, before the Catacombs of Carthus; but the sense of exploration and discovery throughout is really underrated. artistically, I think it's also got such a fine sense of aesthetics and graphically I don't think any of their games have looked as good as this one does. as a side note, it runs and looks amazing on a steam deck and the pure playability of it is what made me pick this up again.
even as a critic of fromsoftware seemingly putting too much attention into boss fights rather than overall experiences as of late, I really can't deny that this has pretty-probably the best roster out of their Miyazaki titles. even the less good ones (I don't think even a single one of them is BAD) are memorable and I'm never rolling my eyes walking through that fog door.
If there IS anything to criticise, I think there's just too much fanservice and callbacks to the original Dark Souls. even with that title being my favourite in the series, I can't help but think a lot of these references are lazy at best. as another nitpick I think this is the most difficult one to get every achievement for other than DS2 and I'm not really looking forward to trying to do it.
but yeah, just such a playable, engaging entry. traversing a location like Lothric Castle is evidently great level design with its shortcuts and there's a really strong sense of progression and strength as you continue. the implications of an area like the Untended Graves is just as thrilling as a lot of these boss fights. never feels unfair and it's short and breezy enough to enjoy casually. can't help but love it.
even as a critic of fromsoftware seemingly putting too much attention into boss fights rather than overall experiences as of late, I really can't deny that this has pretty-probably the best roster out of their Miyazaki titles. even the less good ones (I don't think even a single one of them is BAD) are memorable and I'm never rolling my eyes walking through that fog door.
If there IS anything to criticise, I think there's just too much fanservice and callbacks to the original Dark Souls. even with that title being my favourite in the series, I can't help but think a lot of these references are lazy at best. as another nitpick I think this is the most difficult one to get every achievement for other than DS2 and I'm not really looking forward to trying to do it.
but yeah, just such a playable, engaging entry. traversing a location like Lothric Castle is evidently great level design with its shortcuts and there's a really strong sense of progression and strength as you continue. the implications of an area like the Untended Graves is just as thrilling as a lot of these boss fights. never feels unfair and it's short and breezy enough to enjoy casually. can't help but love it.