It’s a series that’s been said to have one of the steepest learning curves in video game history. And now, FromSoftware and Bandai Namco Entertainment are back with the fourth and lastinstallment in the Souls franchise, looking to send gamers into a frenzy of rage and controller-throwing. Older games in the franchise gained popularity through their seemingly impossible levels and enemies, which were showcased by many YouTube channels in series and videos. Two prime examples are Rooster Teeth’sRage Quit, in which the player almost instantly dies multiple times to one of the first opponents in the game, and EpicFaceFist’sDark Souls 2, in which a cartoon player thinks the game will be easy but is met with a quick, ironic death. Most players were humbled by the difficulty of the games, but those few who bravely sought to defeat it barely found reprieve in a slow-paced playstyle.
And the developers are not holding back with Dark Souls III, which is set to be released on March 24. The game is based on theresurrection of the Lords of Cinder, who have used their souls to replenish the first flame (the origin of fire in the world) and rise up against the dragons. If this first flame were to go out, the world would be restored to its barren and grey state. And, although we only know of one location, Wall of Lodeleth, it is safe to assume that every building and castle in the game can be thoroughly explored by the player, which means that there will be a seemingly endless amount of areas to explore and a whole profusion of impossible enemies to fight against. However, players will be able to choose between four basicclasses of characters to explore and fight with: Northern Warrior, a specialist in close-range combat, Wandering Knight, who is skilled at a wide range of abilities, Academy Assassin, who makes use of sorcery as a wizard and Herald of White, who uses miracles as a cleric.
These four classes will be muchfaster than playable characters in past installments. As the developers realized that many players were adopting an extremely slow playstyle in order to defeat enemies, the director, Hidetaka Miyazaki, decided to add influence from Bloodborne into Dark Souls III, giving the game faster paced combat and more aggressive enemies. The world will be so hectic and large that developers decided to cap the frames per second (FPS) at 30 in order to keep the game running smoothly. Considering the fact that enemies will now be able to hide behind walls and jump out of nowhere, the FPS cap will help these sequences appear fluid and polished, consequently giving players mini heart attacks.
However, players will have a huge variety ofweapons available to combat the impossible-to-beat enemies in the game: swords, reapers (a type of scythe), bows and arrows and even talismans for casting miracles. The skills for these weapons will range from the simple, such as a straight lunge with a sword, to the more agile and creative, including a rolling shot with the bow and arrow and a war cry that can stun all nearby enemies. Stance-switching from holding weapons with one hand and two hands will return in Dark Souls III, allowing players to perform moves including guard-breaking and knocking enemies into the air, rather than simply making attacks more powerful and changing the trajectory of moves, as stance-switching had done in past installments. And, if one weapon is not enough, scimitars that can be dual-wielded are returning to Dark Souls III.
Of course, light and heavy armor is available in the forms of helms, chest pieces, gauntlets and leggings. For the most defensive players, who do not want to die from one shot, shields can be a prominent part of the game, from the small, circular target shield to the large, beveled edge guardian shield. There is also a combat style intended for players who want to be powerful, giving them a huge advantage in any battle — magic. As of now, we know that magic players will be able to use spells such as heal, which increases a player’s health, and sacred oath, which reduces damage taken by the player by 50 percent and increases damage inflicted by 30 percent. Perhaps the most interesting skill in the magic category is the ability to conjure soul weapons — classic weapons made out of magic — such as the soul arrow, soul dart and soul great sword. Furthermore, rings can be equipped in order to add extra abilities to your character. Although these skills are not yet known, they will include both offensive and defensive skills, possibly including increased stamina or increased close-combat strength. They can be upgraded through boxes and chests, but in order to balance the rings’ powers, they will degenerate over time, and the only way to keep them will be to find blacksmiths to repair them.
Weaponry, skill set, magic, armor and everything else that Dark Souls III has to offer would mean nothing without the infamous enemies that have made this franchise so wildly popular. From the agile fighters who dart around players and defeat them in one swipe to the huge tag-team bosses who work together to make gamers’ lives miserable, there will never be a dull moment in regard to adversaries. In this installment, we know a few of the types of enemies, including the undead, skeletons, dragons, knights and drifters (swimming serpents). The only boss we know for sure is the Dancer of the Frigid Valley, which is a large humanoid figure with no face and a sword. Already, people’s curiosity is being tested with the tiny amount of interesting information that has been revealed about the most controversial part of the game.
Of course, the enemies in single player are not the only ones that players will be able to fight. Multiple forms ofonline play will be available.While there will not be cross-platform play, there will be dedicated servers, which will ensure good online connection with very limited lag and skill-based matchmaking, where players will be connected to others who play at a similar level to themselves.
Skill-based matchmaking will only really be useful in multiplayer modes that require Soul Signs, which are artifacts that characters can collect to play with people from around the world. These modes include co-op, in which up to four players can play the story together using a White Sign Soapstone, and competitive play, in which players can invade others’ worlds and fight against them using a Red Eye Orb. Players can use embers to obtain the power of Lord of Cinder and host a multiplayer game. There are also indirect forms of multiplayer play, in which different players can interact, but not play together. Players who are playing their own single-player game can appear in others’ games as phantoms, which can give others a guide as to what will happen next in the game. Bloodstains appear where players in other story modes died and can be activated to view a replay of that character’s death, which can also foreshadow what is coming. The simplest form of multiplayer interaction is messages. Characters can send and receive messages in the main menu to and from other characters, and if these messages are rated, then your character can gain health points in-game.
From the simplest multiplayer interactions to the most complex castles and corridors, Dark Souls III will have players on their feet at all times. The plethora of weapons, armor and abilities available along with the intense battles and mysterious locations will always invoke a sense of excitement in anyone who plays the game. The developers have sought to create the fastest-paced and most thrilling game for their last installment in the Souls series, and it does not look like they will disappoint.
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