5 Ways Dark Souls 3 Came Prepared For Death

Firstly, I wish to address a rather shocking and horrifying truth about my feelings towards the Dark Souls series. It hasn’t been that great. Just take a second to sink that in. Before I get backstabbed by all you angry ‘Dark Spirits’ out there, it’s not that I despise the games, it’s just I think they lacked a bit of soul.

For example, the first Dark Souls employed a whole new game engine, which for the most part looked pretty damn gorgeous. But it came at a rather large price for me in the form of framerate issues. In the heat of a critical battle, which is all battles in Dark Souls, whether you’re facing down those pesky Black Knights, the Bell Gargoyles or even the grand Knight Astorias, these dips in frame became another force to fight against. Many a times I would have lost the pacing of the game, or even mis-read a key animation due to the frame drops.

Many would say the issue of framerate comes with the territory in a game where just about anything goes. For example, hiding behind a wall with a bow to kill a lowly mob who seemingly don’t mind dying while standing completely still. However, I did play through the first game and completed it. I just never felt compelled to play through the whole affair again dampened by the engine’s technical faults as well as the slight nuance surrounding the game.

Dark Souls 2 followed fairly quickly and boy, it was too soon for another Souls experience. I was still reeling from the first game and I decided I’d wait a while until I played it, which played out just okay because not only did I pick the game up rather cheap, I found that I wasn’t really feeling the game at all. Something never sat right with me.

There was still a slight issue with its framerate, but the game itself just lacked any sort of character. The ability to move between bonfires from the get go was more welcome, especially after the farce that was having to kill Ornstein & Smough in the first game. In fact, I’ve never fully completed Dark Souls 2 and I don’t ever intend to as I didn’t feel like it was a great game.

But hold up, there is some light at the end of this tunnel and by god we will praise it like the sun!

Dark Fucking Souls 3. What a beautiful game it is, I have never connected with a Souls title quite like this one. In fact, I think it’s pretty much down to my love for the original Demon’s Souls game that prevents me from fully enjoying the Dark games after it. Yet Dark Souls 3 has opened my eyes. I may even be rather controversial and go as far as saying it is quite possibly better than my beloved Demon’s Souls. However that is a topic for another time.

After you’ve all read my feelings on the series it maybe a little weird to understand that I am actually rather sad to see this be the last Dark Souls. It’s just I don’t want Dark Souls 3 to end at all. I’m no speed runner but I’m on the verge of completion with the intent of creating multiple other characters. A Souls game has never made me feel so inclined to play it since Demon’s Souls, where I played around 4 different characters.

So I’m going to delve a little deeper into why Dark Souls 3 provides us with the best experience in a Souls game yet. To do so, we will have to traverse the fog and reveal my numbered list. Here goes.

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