Dark Souls 3 Review Round-up: Prepare to Die

Gamers outside of Japan rejoice – April 12th has arrived! The long wait for Dark Souls 3 is over and you can just about taste the feeling of pain, regret and, of course, the many deaths that await you. Having already hit the Japanese market on March 24th , the eagerly awaited third and, according to series creator Hidetaka Miyazaki, perhaps last entry in the Dark Souls series is officially ready to wreak havoc on our social lives.

In a recent interview with GameSpot, Hidetaka Miyazaki gave his thoughts on the future of Dark Souls and From Software.

“I’m considering Dark Souls 3 to be the big closure on the series. That’s not just limited to me, but From Software and myself together want to aggressively make new things in the future. Dark Souls 3 will mark the last game where the development project began before I became president. The next title will be a game that was conceived while I was president. I believe that From Software has to create new things. There will be new types of games coming from us, and Dark Souls 3 is an important marker in the evolution of From Software.”

So while the series may be taking a break or finally hitting its conclusion, by many accounts this third entry is something of a greatest hits. The reviews are pouring in, proving once again the prowess of From Software and this amazing universe they have created. IGN calls Dark Souls 3 “a worthy send off” and continues stating, “Lothric’s awe-inspiring locations provide visually stunning arenas for rigorous exploration and fierce face-offs with hosts of deadly enemies and even deadlier bosses.” For an avid Dark Souls fan right here that sounds very promising indeed.

A quick review round-up includes:

4.5/5 from GamesRadar
“Dark Souls 3 is a vigorous tale of sacrifice and cunning. It is oblique, punishing and gratifying in a way mainstream console blockbusters seldom dare to be”

9.5/10 from IGN
“Dark Souls 3’s roster of relentless horrors hit harder and sometimes faster than ever.”

5/5 from Twinfinite
“As the final game in the series, Dark Souls III delivers a fantastic, no holds barred, 30-hour experience that will satisfy longtime fans.”

93/100 from Gameinformer
“If you’ve never played the series, this is a great place to begin”

If the trailer along with those reviews does not whet your appetite, you must be long hollowed dear reader. So it seems it’s business as usual then in terms of quality for the series and From Software. We at Cultured Vulture are especially excited to see the trademark difficulty and fierce encounters are still well intact. Interestingly as the difficulty level of the series once again came in question with some calls for an ‘easy mode’ from a number of sources, it is nice to read Dark Souls 3 is perhaps the most challenging yet. I personally cannot wait to sink my teeth into it. Keep an eye out for our very own review which should hit these pages very soon as we explore Lothric more in depth over the coming days.

The wait for Dark Souls 3 though has been storied and once again brought to light the problems of staggered regional releases. Being commercially available for almost 3 full weeks in Japan already, the wait has been painful for the rest of the world eager to get their hands on From Software’s latest and perhaps greatest. Even more testing has been the 4-5 weeks in advance key streamers and content creators have had the game. The release schedule has in fact urged many gamers outside of Japan to take things into their own hands to get some closure on the series before spoilers emerged.

Rather questionably, the international version of the game with English language options was already available to be accessed by creating a Japanese account on Xbox Live or PSN. Importing the disc or simply changing your region on xbox.com and following a few simple steps was also a fairly uncomplicated process. Those wishing to stay the distance though to play a complete ‘day one’ patched release were again having to tune out and wait for the official release date.

So you could easily say Dark Souls fans patience has been tested a little in recent weeks but perhaps that’s the plan all along? Patience….isn’t that what the series is about? Perhaps this is a primer to prepare our own souls for the next godly instalment of this much-loved franchise. We will all surely be needing a lot of patience as we fire up Dark Souls 3 and head deeper into the land of Lothric and the infamous ‘you died’ message appears across our screens ad infinitum.