Dark Souls III is one of the most boring, safe sequels to a video game I've ever played. Yes the usability improvements are great, as is the fact that it has better gameplay than DSII. But at least DSII actually tried to do something different instead of just subscribing to a formula and sticking with it. DSIII just feels like Dark Souls 1 except it took two steps forward and one step back with each innovation
It's extremely linear, with how you tackle the game mostly being forks in the road instead of having areas loop back on one another. You can choose between tackling Cathedral of the Deep or Farron Keep first (though you'll need to do both), Irithyll Castle leading to Anor Londo or Irithyll Dungeon leading to Profaned Capital, and the optional Archdragon Peak, and that's really about it. Whenever you start out you are completely railroaded into doing High Wall, Undead Settlement, and the Road of Sacrifices before you can make your first real choice in the game.
Enemies no longer circle like a record, but they are reused several times for entire areas of the game. Also, most enemies simply have a three swipe attack which you avoid and then spam R1. This is especially prevalent with the bosses, with 10 of them subscribing to these 3-4 hit combos with one or two other moves (Vordt's charge, Iudex's transformation, etc.) The knights with their backstab prevention attacks is a great addition but isn't used nearly enough.
NPC questlines are obtuse and borderline impossible without a guide. "Attack that one statue that's exactly the same as all the other statues to save this guy's life" is completely insane, and without a guide could only have been found by breaking every nondescript item in the game up until that point.
The environments themselves are mostly corridors and ladders, with very few bottomless pits and shortcuts beyond "Open the door/elevator."
It's a fantastic game, but they could have made this game so much better by taking just a few more risks.
>>336082557
/v/ knows but they just want something bew to PVP to so they can feel a sense of worth.
I enjoyed it but sadly ive put 45 hours into it and I feel like there is nothing left for me. Feel as though ive collected and done everything. Put 150+ hours into DS1 and DS2 each so this is leaving me a bit empty.
>>336082557
more risks would mean more time to balance and polish the game, this game is extremely rushed and has reused assets out the ass. From just wanted to finish the game asap, end their contract with bamco and move on.
They did good considering how rushed the game was and how little they cared.
>>336082557
Oh darn, they only released a quality game instead of another utter clusterfuck like 2.
Nice blog where I can subscribe?
>>336082557
>shortcuts beyond "Open the door/elevator."
name one shortcut in souls that isnt tied to a door or elevator.
>>336083418
>>336083246
Good point I guess I just wanted to play it for weeks instead of a few days.
>>336083418
Lol
Literally my only gripe with the game as it stands now is the fact that Poise is turned off and you can be softbanned by hackers
These are the only things wrong with it in my opinion.
>>336083418
You know I'm going to say ladder shortcut just to embarrass you.
>>336083418
ladders that you kick
But I guess ladders are just low-tech elevators.
>>336082557
you know you can go straight to lothric castle before even doing vordt right
>>336083418
Ladders, and there's also a one way illusionary wall
>>336083418
Dark Souls 1:
-The jump from Undead Burg to the Capra Demon (unintended, but a shortcut nonetheless)
-The jump in Darkroot Garden from the area near the Forest Hunter Covenant to the lake with the Hydra.
-Kicking down the ladder in Undead Burg, opening up the Gate in Upper Undead Burg
-Getting rid of the lava to proceed after Quelaag (could be considered mandatory, but it is possible to get across with a lot of Estus use)
-Feeding 30 Humanity to get to Lost Izalith
-Opening up the bookcases in the Grand Archives,
Dark Souls II:
-Opening up the door at the bottom of the Lost Bastille to get to the Ruin Sentinels (yes it uses a door but not in a traditional way.)
-Blowing up the walls in both Lost Bastille to get to Mcduff and the bonfire without finding his key, and the wall in the Forest of Fallen Giants that links the bonfire with the second part of the stage
-Skip the Ruin Sentinels with clever use of a Pharros' Lockstone
-The trees in Huntsman's Copse and the tutorial area; while basically useless, a similar shortcut could've been used.
Yes, DS1 and II's shortcuts were basically doors and elevators, but at the very least they TRIED to disguise them sometimes. Finding a bonfire in DSIII and having it loop back around the level four times is convenient, but also extremely unimaginative.
>>336084260
You're totally right, and I forgot about that one.
>>336082557
>NPC questlines are obtuse and borderline impossible without a guide. "Attack that one statue that's exactly the same as all the other statues to save this guy's life" is completely insane, and without a guide
Oh no, how difficult is to just pull your phone out of your pocket and type "Anri Dark Souls 3" these days.
You get her/his whole side quest, A and B right in the first result lol
>>336084572
>NPC questlines are obtuse and borderline impossible without a guide.
>lol how hard is it to just look up a guide
hmm
DS3 is better than DS1
The soundtrack is bland as hell too. Only the menu had me listening. But that's probably because of Bloodbornes's orchestral themes.
>>336084572
>this whole post
>>336082557
Well put, OP. I'm still really loving it to be honest, but this captures how I feel about the game really well. It's really competent and well put together, but nothing has particularly stood out to me. Safe is the perfect way to put it.
>>336082557
Why is that thing a different color?
>>336084803
>>336085192
So you guys don't check the wiki while playing Dark Souls? Then fuck you, no patina/1000g for you. Fine by me, the rarer the better!
>>336085343
going to a rave
>>336084803
You don't even know what's the meaning of obtuse if checking a few lines of text on a wiki page is obtuse to you.
>>336083064
how? dark souls 1 is no greater content-wise.
honestly, for me, the area design is really top notch, irithyll, lothric castle/grand archives, and archdragon peak in particular are pretty much my favourite areas in the series.
The enemy variety is really large as well, I love how despite that, they don't limit certain enemies to singular areas, it gives the world a much more natural feel, which is something the game does a ton better than DaS2 what with the actual decent world design this time.
The bosses are where I think DaS3 shines though, Nameless King is the most visually stunning boss in the series, the first phase is so successfully realised I was genuinely shocked it wasn't a gimmick fight when I first played it, the circling lightning throws, the slams from atop the neck, the huge dip downs, the fly backs and smog walls, it was fucking gorgeous, especially with the wind and smog effects going on. Soul of Cinder's moveset is fucking ridiculous, there must be like 30+ moves in total, and the sheer variety in the first phase made the boss stand out a ton, probably my favourite final boss in the series. Twin Princes are arguably one of the most succesful duo fights because they actually fully account for each others weaknesses in a way that doesn't feel unfair or unfun, if anything with the added spells, music change and cutscene, the two boss battle fight was realised to perfection here. The boss battles in general were really high quality, each boss I felt had a unique feeling to it, like they belonged in their area, each one of their music, mechanics and general theme felt different, and while there were a few more less challenging bosses, each boss felt very realised.
It's really the best "release" game I've played in the souls series, and the most satisfied I've been with a game since dark souls 1. This comes after DaS2 and BB let me down in their own ways.
>>336082557
>Remember Dark Souls?: the Sequel
>>336082557
Thanks doc
>>336085838
More like:
>SoulsBorne: Best of.
>>336082557
I kind of agree.
I don't feel like making any builds in Dark Souls 3. I've already made like all the builds with what they offer in Dark Souls III when I played Dark Souls I & II.
I guess for me a large part of the fun came from doing hybrid builds, and mixing spells and magic so when hybrid builds are shit and all the spells are pretty much the same as I & II I'm left pretty bored.
Miyazaki has said he's done with souls games for the foreseeable future, and it shows.
It just feels like this games plot tried WAYYYY too hard to be meta, and made itself the Bioshock Infinite of souls games.
>>336082557
N O! F U C K Y O U!
O
!
F
U
C
K
Y
O
U
!
>>336082557
>Dark Souls III is one of the most boring, safe sequels
>safe
Then it must be fucking fantastic. I don't get why people seem to think a sequel should become almost like another genre. I got real tired of all my favorite games changing too much. This is why I loved Dark Souls even after playing Demon's Souls. It was different yet felt familiar enough. This is why I hate what modern Halo has become. This is why I hated Mass Effect after the first game. They change too much is when things get shit.
>>336082557
every point you made was correct. bravo OP
>>336083064
This. I got all the achievements, cleared up to NG+5, and... I don't really feel like making any new chars because every build I've tried has paled in comparison to my STR/DEX darksword build.
Plus there's just no fun gimmick things.
>>336087095
He's right, buddy.
