Dark Souls III

 PC
User Score
8.6

Generally favorable reviews- based on 4553 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 3,853 out of 4553
  2. Mixed: 281 out of 4553
  3. Negative: 419 out of 4553
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  1. defive
    Apr 26, 2016
    4
    Mechanically, probably the worst Souls game so far -

    1. Combat is speeded up to the point of being silly 2. The removal of poise means that people wearing the heaviest armor can be stunlocked by low level mobs wielding broken swords 3. Terrible balancing of weapons meaning that straight swords are by far and away the best weapons 4. Magic in general is awful, particularly due to the    Mechanically, probably the worst Souls game so far -

    1. Combat is speeded up to the point of being silly
    2. The removal of poise means that people wearing the heaviest armor can be stunlocked by low level mobs wielding broken swords
    3. Terrible balancing of weapons meaning that straight swords are by far and away the best weapons
    4. Magic in general is awful, particularly due to the increased closing speed of mobs - total lack of balance

    Dark Souls 2 was a better game by far.    … Expand
  2. Dhelio
    May 11, 2016
    4
    People are giving this game incredible votes only because of its legacy; but it is far from perfect.

    DK3 suffers problems that its predecessors didn't have, nor does any game with a decent development time behind. Poise is a deactivated stat, which influences nothing (as confirmed to me by Bandai Namco technical assitance), causing you to get staggered by any enemy, even if you're    People are giving this game incredible votes only because of its legacy; but it is far from perfect.

    DK3 suffers problems that its predecessors didn't have, nor does any game with a decent development time behind.

    Poise is a deactivated stat, which influences nothing (as confirmed to me by Bandai Namco technical assitance), causing you to get staggered by any enemy, even if you're wearing heavy armor, thus making heavy armor useless. This bug is even more unbearable given how every enemy is relentless in attacking you, making stunlock deaths the norm just because the enemy (be that a player or a mob) managed to connect a single hit.

    Combat is also heavily influeced by Bloodborne, focusing in fast attacks and dodging and flashy movesets...while you wear armor. Yeah, you can see for yourself why this is **** DK3 combat is way faster than DK1. And that is really not what DK is about.

    Late game level design is also terrible. There are whole shortcuts that are never used, because once you've unlocked them there is no enemy to defeat, just bonfires. And the bonfires themselves are placed really badly, with multiple occurences of bonfires distant just a room from each other.

    Whole areas consist in just a single room filled to the brim with enemies, without shortcuts nor buildup to the boss (Profaned Capital, Consumed King's Garden and a late game level I don't feel like spoiling). And the enemy placement and variety PLUMMETS in the second half, with occurences of invisible enemies that are placed there only to corner you in a blind spot (that is so consistent with the game design THAT IT ONLY **** HAPPENS ONCE).

    It has now been discovered, as I write, that phantom range in straight swords are rapiers is a thing, making them SIGNIFICANTLY longer that Ultra Great Swords and Great Swords which, given the increased speed and damage of straight swords, makes using them the only viable options for PvP and make the life everyone that does PvE with any weapon other than straight swords significantly harder.

    The bosses themselves don't follow the same rules, with some who have attacks that are literally instakills (Dancer and Lothric in particular), so fast that players barely have time to dodge .

    Performance is also an issue, with early areas that run smooth as butter and lategame areas that have unbearable FPS drops when looking at distant geometry.

    Input delay is also a problem, with multiple times I've died because the game thought that rolling after I've pressed the button more than 3 seconds Before was a good idea.
    --------------------

    Dark Souls 3 is not a perfect game. As it stands, it is not even a good game. Between bugs, cut content and rushed features, DK3 is a relevant step back from its predecessors, and not a masterpieces it should rightfully be. Maybe DLCs will fix that, maybe not. But as it stands, the only thing DK3 does right is atmosphere and music.    … Expand
  3. a9249
    May 22, 2016
    4
    The world is rich and beautifully molded. Unfortunately there is barely any story and the player is left running through hallway after hallway repeatedly re-spawning and trying to get the timings on their attacks *just* right so they can make it to the next guy. This is basically a fighting/dodging game, with unfluidic controls. Making an attack and another guy decides to hit you? dead.The world is rich and beautifully molded. Unfortunately there is barely any story and the player is left running through hallway after hallway repeatedly re-spawning and trying to get the timings on their attacks *just* right so they can make it to the next guy. This is basically a fighting/dodging game, with unfluidic controls. Making an attack and another guy decides to hit you? dead. Blocking but slightly off on the angle? Dead... Tried to parry the wrong random attack? Dead! Dull. boring, and nothing to keep the player interested. I stopped bothering about halfway through, and after my 50th re-spawn.… Expand
  4. psylife
    May 1, 2016
    4
    Despite the plethora of enemies and bosses on offer, this is a highly repetitive experience. Incredibly, you are not allowed to restart a boss fight, instead, the game will force you to run back from the last checkpoint over and over in a mind numbing cycle of frustration and despair ; This is a seldom seen time waster in games. This pathetic design choice is most likely there toDespite the plethora of enemies and bosses on offer, this is a highly repetitive experience. Incredibly, you are not allowed to restart a boss fight, instead, the game will force you to run back from the last checkpoint over and over in a mind numbing cycle of frustration and despair ; This is a seldom seen time waster in games. This pathetic design choice is most likely there to artificially extend the game-play time. About 50% OF THE GAME-PLAY TIME had me run back to the boss fight location so as to get a shot at the actual challenge ; THIS IS NOT AN EXAGGERATION, you will fight bosses as much as you will run back to them. This design choice alone has me resent the developer profoundly. Past the built-in time wasters, the game is surprisingly not that challenging and the whole design structure encourages you to use exploits in conjunction with Exp grinds. The combat has plenty of nuance, yet it all comes down to rolling, slashing and dying until the end credits. The plethora of enemies on offer are fantastic to look at (as are the worlds), but ultimately fail to add a satisfying level of variety to the combat, as I said, this is very much a one note experience, roll, slash until you reach the end. Dark souls is fundamentally and structurally not a good game, and should be severely reprimanded for some of its design choices. There is something clearly addictive and the world design, lore and detailed visuals must be commended for there exceptional quality. The frame rate is all over the place and bugs abound. Unless you are a nerd with literally no life, or you simply can't resist the lore and visuals, I advise you stay away ; What is good and exceptional about this game cannot be reached other than through the sadistic prism of frustration and a massive amount of time waste. You've been warned.… Expand
  5. eldumloido
    May 13, 2016
    4
    Hackers. Get console version instead. If they had some sort of punkbuster would give 9.5. PVP is meaningless as you can be as good as someone with 1000+hours with 30 seconds of cheating. If you play it alone or without ember I guess you could get some enjoyment, but even then the 30fps console version with multiplayer is superior and compared to that can't give more than ½ of the points.
  6. kidcash764
    Apr 12, 2016
    4
    If you like dying over 20 times to figure out a boss fight fight pattern then I guess this game or any Dark Souls game is for you.

    Normal common gamers need not apply to this game.
  7. Elitist
    May 9, 2016
    4
    Dark Souls III like the former two installments isn't nearly as good as the overrated games journalists make it out to be. The fresnel visual effect is still in this game and for anyone who hates this we find ourselves plagued by it again, like cheap instagram photo-filters.

    Another key drawback is that the RPG element is lacking again, in contradiction to RPG sites that promote it. As    Dark Souls III like the former two installments isn't nearly as good as the overrated games journalists make it out to be. The fresnel visual effect is still in this game and for anyone who hates this we find ourselves plagued by it again, like cheap instagram photo-filters.

    Another key drawback is that the RPG element is lacking again, in contradiction to RPG sites that promote it. As it's still squarely in the Third Person Action genre button masher. The Japanese studio has escaped very critical condemnation for both elements and should have rightfully been charged with failing on both.

    The industry should hang it's head in shame for misrepresenting the game as an RPG and overuse of cheesy 3d effects. This was no more apparent than the grotesque decision to paint models as pure blue or red in Dark Souls II, like walking blobs of color.    … Expand
  8. MrMe43
    May 11, 2016
    4
    I have been playing Dark Souls since the original (never really got into demon souls) and I truly did enjoy the first two games in the Dark Souls franchise. I cant really find anything wrong with PVE, although it seems easier than the others, but the PVP is where the game is severely lacking. The biggest issue is the lack of poise alongside the insane stability of great shields . I don'tI have been playing Dark Souls since the original (never really got into demon souls) and I truly did enjoy the first two games in the Dark Souls franchise. I cant really find anything wrong with PVE, although it seems easier than the others, but the PVP is where the game is severely lacking. The biggest issue is the lack of poise alongside the insane stability of great shields . I don't know when they are going to fix this but currently pose does nothing, one hit from any weapon and you will stagger no matter the armor or rings. The result of this is the spamming of straight swords with great shields and full heavy armor. It takes the fun out of PVP. Unless you do the same, these scrubs will stun lock you from one lucky hit and sit behind a shield until they start spamming 10 swings at a time again. I can win matches if I pull out a straight sword, but I believe it just ruins what made this amazing co-op, PVP system so great to begin with. I don't know why they did this but I am very disappointed. The PVE, while extremely fun and somewhat challenging (the first couple times), can only be amusing for a certain amount of time before it becomes mundane. If you are not a fan of PVP or don't aim for it, Dark Souls 3 is a extremely worthwhile buy, but the multiplayer is extremely biased towards one play style and it is exponentially more frustrating than single player. And some might not find this a problem and will just stick with the same spam style to keep pace with the rest of the masses, but if you are looking for a diverse group of players to challenge you online, you will be extremely disappointed until they fix this system. My score is harsh only to show my frustration.… Expand
  9. BoomerZoomer
    Jul 14, 2022
    4
    Such a recycle of DS1 and DS2 assets with 2x speed rolls and less player uptime in combat with constant ambushes
  10. SuperKev
    Apr 18, 2016
    3
    I guess I just don't have the dexterity to play this game. It's the hardest game I've ever played. Graphics on the bosses are beautiful and their abilities very very cool. I just die repeatedly. BTW you can't just fight the boss again it starts you back at the beginning of the level so you have to kill the easy minions each time before you get there. I had to play around with the settingsI guess I just don't have the dexterity to play this game. It's the hardest game I've ever played. Graphics on the bosses are beautiful and their abilities very very cool. I just die repeatedly. BTW you can't just fight the boss again it starts you back at the beginning of the level so you have to kill the easy minions each time before you get there. I had to play around with the settings until the frame rate on my 290X was reasonable. Really frustrating experience for me.… Expand
  11. Avadon
    Apr 12, 2016
    3
    The game is in a disastrous state for me. Running on 4790k, 16g ram, gtx980. The framerate is high, but suffers from occasional weird spikes that really impact the gameplay. But that's nothing compared to the constant crashing. The game crashed 4 times for me in 90 minutes. I refunded because I don't trust FROM with fixing their games in a timely manner. When Dark Souls 1 was firstThe game is in a disastrous state for me. Running on 4790k, 16g ram, gtx980. The framerate is high, but suffers from occasional weird spikes that really impact the gameplay. But that's nothing compared to the constant crashing. The game crashed 4 times for me in 90 minutes. I refunded because I don't trust FROM with fixing their games in a timely manner. When Dark Souls 1 was first released on PS3, the target locking was completely broken. It took them like 3 months to fix it, and it really ruined the experience. It took them so long to fix something that basic and important. Let's not even mention the weapon degradation nonsense in DS2 for PC, which they only bothered with when they had to deal with it for the PS4 version. I just don't trust them.

    The game itself looks great from my limited experience, but I recommend you wait and keep an eye on patch announcements and the Steam forums before you buy it. As for the score, I can't give a game that crashes every 20 minutes anything higher than 3. Will revisit it if/when they fix the game and update the review.    … Expand
  12. PutCashIn
    Apr 28, 2016
    3
    Having been pleasantly surprised with the console port of Dark Souls 2, I am amazed at the incredible lack of foresight and early game decisions made for Dark Souls 3.

    There is a boss character in the TUTORIAL area, almost making Deprived characters impossible to play, especially on PC, with the as ever present in a Dark Souls game amazingly bad camera aiming and lack of any meaningful    Having been pleasantly surprised with the console port of Dark Souls 2, I am amazed at the incredible lack of foresight and early game decisions made for Dark Souls 3.

    There is a boss character in the TUTORIAL area, almost making Deprived characters impossible to play, especially on PC, with the as ever present in a Dark Souls game amazingly bad camera aiming and lack of any meaningful block and parry.

    In Dark Souls 2 you could start deprived, find a dagger, make your way to the Hub, level up, invest in your character and actually do some ROLE PLAYING GAME gaming.

    In Dark Souls 3, you are essentially forced into one of the Character builds given at the start of the game. Zero emotional investment, utterly immersion breaking.

    It is horrible, all the bugs and frame rate issues aside, who in their right mind removes the 'blank' character class from a RPG with a supposedly classless levelling system. By placing a boss, in the TUTORIAL area.

    Whomever was a play tester for this game needs to be black listed for gross incompetency.    … Expand
  13. Glacialangel
    Feb 11, 2018
    3
    Of the trilogy, this game was the worst. Dark Souls 3 picked up too many of Bloodborne's bad habits, equating speed and difficulty with quality, when that's entirely not the case. While I had no problem beating it whatsoever(I like greatshields and strength weapons, by the way), it felt like it was trying to be hard because it thinks its fanbase is a bunch of masochists that like to beOf the trilogy, this game was the worst. Dark Souls 3 picked up too many of Bloodborne's bad habits, equating speed and difficulty with quality, when that's entirely not the case. While I had no problem beating it whatsoever(I like greatshields and strength weapons, by the way), it felt like it was trying to be hard because it thinks its fanbase is a bunch of masochists that like to be punished. Skip this one and just stick to the first two.… Expand
  14. defenz
    Aug 18, 2021
    3
    ⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣
  15. StarkAgentos
    Mar 4, 2022
    3
    Поиграл всего 10 минут. Управление мне показывают геймпадное и приходится догадываться, какая это клавиша на клаве. Персонаж медлительный, долго реагирует. Первый же босс уже непроходимый.
  16. TemplarGR
    Sep 9, 2016
    2
    Well, to get this out of the way first, the port is good. it is playable, but you need a controller. This game is hell with keyboard and mouse. But i won't focus on that, because the main game is trash anyway. Just know that i have played it properly with a gamepad, and my criticism is not about the port.

    If you try to be objective for a moment, and look at this as a piece of software,    Well, to get this out of the way first, the port is good. it is playable, but you need a controller. This game is hell with keyboard and mouse. But i won't focus on that, because the main game is trash anyway. Just know that i have played it properly with a gamepad, and my criticism is not about the port.

    If you try to be objective for a moment, and look at this as a piece of software, comparing it with the competition, you can't help but wonder how can this compare to other AAA games of its era. Graphics are bad, animations and hitboxes are archaic, controls are literally trash. Sound is nothing special, music, what is music? Dialogs are few. The character system is bad and not explained, you can't design a good character without a guide. Enemy AI is non-existant, enemies just stand on their place and just hit you with swords/arrows/whatever. They are just hit point sponges. There are bugs. This game could have been created with 4-5 interns at best. This is no AAA.

    Then we have the supposed "difficulty". Make no mistake, this game is not difficult, it is cheap. Let no blinded fanboy and "hardcore gamer" tell you otherwise. There is nothing difficult with Dark Souls. If it had a proper save system and allowed proper difficulty settings (easy/medium/hard), it would have been much, much easier than other games, because there is literally no enemy AI on this game. If you play Skyrim on the hardest setting, enemies can become HP sponges too, and hit you harder. Same thing, on a far better video game.

    You don't have to be a good gamer to complete this game. I am all for a challenge, but i am 33 years old, and my time is limited. I don't have the time to die 500x times, lose all progress and have to travel all the way again, or grind endlessly in order to beat a boss. That sh1t should have died in the 80s/90s. This is not difficulty, this is tedium. Difficulty is trying to beat a hard AI in chess. Having to grind to win a boss or die repeatedly to learn its patterns, is just a way to waste hours of your life for no reason. It is just BAD DESIGN. A proper human being, that means not a basement dweller, has no time for this sh1t.

    Last but not least, there is no reward for suffering to complete this game. The story is trash, the lore is trash. You have nothing to gain by completing this, other than "bragging rights". For me, if anyone, and i mean, anyone, comes to me and tells me that "he is a hardcore gamer because he wasted hours of his life dying cheap deaths in order to finish a non AAA console port", it is a litmus test for being an idiot. "sure bra, you completed this abomination, what a life accomplishment you made!" All the while normal people play real games to relax for fun. They accomplish things were it really matters, in real life, not in a trashy video game made to torment them and waste their time. Time is precious and short on this planet.

    I can't explain the high scores of this game by reviewers. Typically, the metacritic scores it has achieved are reserved for classics and masterpieces, and this trash is not. Also, typically, Japanese games have become garbage in the PS3 generation and afterwards. Repetitive trash with low production values. From software was a small japanese developer never known for any good game prior to this. So how come they made it? I believe it is a combination of "marketing" (read:bribes), younger gamers' inexperience and vanity, and Stockholm syndrome. Sony and Japanese gamers/media, have every reason to attempt to push this cheap trash as a "masterpiece" in order to make a comeback in the industry. They don't have the budgets/expertise to compete with western AAA, with a few exceptions, so they get "creative" promoting obsolete design as a virtue. Professional reviewers don't want to score it lower to not be called "n00bs" and told to "git gud". They typically never finish their games, they almost always play on easy, but somehow they adore Dark Souls... Yeah right... Kids with no accomplishments in their real life, are eager to show off by finishing this turd, and then go online and tell everyone and their dog about it. And they call anyone who won't suffer this garbage "a casual". Most of those kids have completed this game by sheer repetition and grinding, or with guides and cheats. Yet they want to keep the appearence of having fun with it, because admitting this is trash, will make them having to admit they wasted their time and what they accomplished is nothing special. Or maybe they are kids, so they don't value their time. Probably the reason for the whole popularity.

    I have even seen a best game ever list on us gamer, putting Dark Souls on No1 spot. That is after the release of Witcher 3... Calling it a master piece and work of genius. My God, the emperor has no clothes. Are these clowns getting paid to write this?

    Waste no time with this series of games. Next time someone calls you a "casual" for it, just laugh at his face. This fad will be over soon.    … Expand
  17. Exfan
    Apr 12, 2016
    2
    Played plenty of Dark Souls games. Best of those seemed to be Dark Souls 1 because level design and lack of stupid punishment system that was implemented in DS2. Luckily DS3 seems to be lot like DS1 in game design. Now after getting my testing DS3 i am happy to go back playing DS1.
    I would buy this game at discount. Game has terrible framerate issues game is mostly of the time unplayable    Played plenty of Dark Souls games. Best of those seemed to be Dark Souls 1 because level design and lack of stupid punishment system that was implemented in DS2. Luckily DS3 seems to be lot like DS1 in game design. Now after getting my testing DS3 i am happy to go back playing DS1.
    I would buy this game at discount. Game has terrible framerate issues game is mostly of the time unplayable because of this. Safest choice is to wait about 6 months and perhaps it gets better optimized due patching or you get game at decent price.
    At this moment game is not worth any hard earned money that you have earned. Seems to be just another example of rushed poorly optimized beta stage game that seems to common practice in gaming industry these days.
    Asking you t buy this game and giving 10/10 is just way of saying "Go full retard" and you all know best advice is "Never,go full retard"    … Expand
  18. Zeratulr
    Apr 27, 2016
    2
    A broken piece of crap. The gameplay is as basic as it gets, it's unnecessarily hard, the game as is has no plot or characters and it's generally unpleasant. Visuals are nice... when the game doesn't crash or frame rate suddenly doesn't drop for no particular reason. Don't waste your time and money on it.
  19. Bortx
    Apr 18, 2016
    2
    Too hard and save points are made to frustrate. Have to redo to much. Not optimized for PC. The controls are awe-full. The devs have obviously never tested on mouse and keyboard. Movement just doesn't feel smooth. Feels janky. Bugs galore. On the other hand the atmosphere and sound is well done.
  20. TsukasaHiiragi
    May 11, 2016
    2
    Bugs, cut content - horrible community and the PC version suffers from a MAJOR hacker problem. Exactly, I could write a huge review here and mirror what all the other people have said - its not going to matter much because there are far too many fanboi posts or employee posts boosting positives.

    My personal problem with the DS series as a whole, is the game isn't difficult - its    Bugs, cut content - horrible community and the PC version suffers from a MAJOR hacker problem. Exactly, I could write a huge review here and mirror what all the other people have said - its not going to matter much because there are far too many fanboi posts or employee posts boosting positives.

    My personal problem with the DS series as a whole, is the game isn't difficult - its cheap, there is a difference. If your going to make a game thats brutally unfair, then the physics and execution of the game needs to be perfect and none of the DS series has managed that so far.

    If you want a perfectly structured review, then read Dhelio's review since that more or less is spot on.    … Expand
  21. Vandinroth
    Apr 24, 2016
    2
    What a horrid console port. Game doesn't support 21:9 out of the box. The combat is clunky and it feels like you are fighting the animations and the time of them more than you are the enemy. Couple this with the clunky movement and that's the reason for most of the games perceived difficulty. It felt more like I had to fire off an animation in the general direction and hope itWhat a horrid console port. Game doesn't support 21:9 out of the box. The combat is clunky and it feels like you are fighting the animations and the time of them more than you are the enemy. Couple this with the clunky movement and that's the reason for most of the games perceived difficulty. It felt more like I had to fire off an animation in the general direction and hope it completed and I could move before the enemy did. The combat is more of a whack a mole than anything. Graphics are a huge mixed bag, you can obviously tell it was a console port. The skybox is laughably bad. The stand around monsters made me think I was playing everquest again with all the static camps.

    I wanted to like this game as most modern games are far too easy, but the clunky combat, ridiculous story, and static game just made me uninstall and refund after about 2 hours.    … Expand
  22. kitsunex00
    Apr 17, 2016
    2
    the worst part of souls franchise. lots of bugs like the murders through the walls, the inability estus replenish, and much more. In general, this is not "souls" game but bloodborne without all its fatures.
  23. gssbcvegancat
    Apr 28, 2016
    2
    This is the worst incarnation of a Souls game imaginable. It borrows bosses, and mechanics, from Demon Souls/Dark Souls 1. It doesn't improve on them, in fact it is just the opposite. A great example is the "poise" system from DS1. Poise is in this game, but only in name. It appears on armor, and even in item abilities, however it has no effect on the game. This means that any fastThis is the worst incarnation of a Souls game imaginable. It borrows bosses, and mechanics, from Demon Souls/Dark Souls 1. It doesn't improve on them, in fact it is just the opposite. A great example is the "poise" system from DS1. Poise is in this game, but only in name. It appears on armor, and even in item abilities, however it has no effect on the game. This means that any fast attacking enemy can stun lock the player to death, completely negating your armor.

    The poise issue only further shows another fault in the game. Enemies have been changed from previous games. Fast attacking enemies no longer have stamina, instead they have an infinite amount of stamina and their attacks are based on a roughly static "attack per second". While this means that one versus one you can easily beat them, it also means that if there are more than one the player has a much higher chance of getting killed. This isn't a case of "getting better", because there is no poise the player will now get stunned as soon as they are hit the first time/or their stamina is drained if they block. If all things were equal it would still be annoying, however enemies in the game do have poise. It is removed from the player, while enemies get full "hyper armor". This means that the player may try to swing that big axe like the npc, but if they get hit they get stunned out of their attack unless it happens in a few frames of hyper armor. Big weapons with wide swing arcs are generally used to kill lots of weak things fast, but that won't work anymore.

    That is just two of the problems with the basic attacks. IF you look at magic you will see other problems. For example scaling in the game is broken. Not in a positive way, but in a completely nonexistent way. Further if you do reach the 50+ area where magic actually starts to deal damage, you will have the exact same outfit as everyone else who is magic. You might ask, why? Fashion souls is the real end game, right? Not when it comes to magic, because in order to be viable you need a specific setup. You need a certain head piece, a certain dagger, your rings etc are all set. There is no variety because of how the system is designed.

    Instead of just making enemies hard, they have coded in artificial forms of increasing the difficulty. FOr example some enemies are coded to have a shield and face you all of the time. If you try to kick the shield then the game lowers the shield and counter attacks. However unlike DS/DS1 in this game you become animation locked far more frequently. An easily observed example is to start running, and then try to turn another direction. In DS your character would simply move, but in DS3 you get locked into a pivot animation. There are no iframes for this, and it counts as a counter hit giving the enemy bonus damage. So if you try to kick the shield the enemy is programmed to drop their shield and counter attack while you are unable to do anything. That isn't about skill, that is the complete opposite of what DS stands for. That is taking the ability to make the play from the player, and instead asking them if they can cheese the system like a speed runner. This can be observed when fighting knights past the dragon barracks also. They have a lock on feature that will lock on and hit you through walls, or invisibility. Despite having never actually observed the player they are capable of buffing then executing an attack on an invisible silenced enemy.

    I could go on, but this game isn't that worth it. It gets good ratings from people that never played the first ones. This is just a pale, pathetic, imitation of far better games. The only reason it's getting 3 stars instead of 2 is because of the clothing options available. They did a better, if still racist, job.    … Expand
  24. LordZ_
    May 12, 2016
    2
    Well i buy the game because all the Critic reviews says its a must have game and i was looking for a beautiful RPG game ... 2 hours later i ask and have STEAM refund ...
    Game is not adapted to PC (keybord and mouse) so all the commands are A RL ... -> game is in beta mode
    UI is ugly, create and custom a character is painful I dont fit any story in solo mode ... just get kill buy badass    Well i buy the game because all the Critic reviews says its a must have game and i was looking for a beautiful RPG game ... 2 hours later i ask and have STEAM refund ...
    Game is not adapted to PC (keybord and mouse) so all the commands are A RL ... -> game is in beta mode
    UI is ugly, create and custom a character is painful
    I dont fit any story in solo mode ... just get kill buy badass boss

    Refund Refund Refund    … Expand
  25. donMyrmi
    May 12, 2016
    2
    Guitar Hero. not a real RPG. everything is just awful. story, control, fun. one of the worst games I've played so far. and no - it's not hard. it's just dumb. no fun at all.
  26. servo
    May 15, 2016
    2
    This game was made out of Bloodborn , so they didn't have to spend much resources on a new game, you can see how stats/combat work similar to Bloodborn and not Dark Souls. This is just a cash grab and nothing else.
  27. Fiffo
    Aug 18, 2016
    2
    The game is a real time-waster. Even the daily quests in WoW are more fun than this! Running from the checkpoint to your dying place over and over again is what you will do mostly here. Checkpoints are usually far from one another and if you are cautious and prefer to take the shortest way, you can miss a lot of content. A lot of the fights in the game, including boss fights do not offerThe game is a real time-waster. Even the daily quests in WoW are more fun than this! Running from the checkpoint to your dying place over and over again is what you will do mostly here. Checkpoints are usually far from one another and if you are cautious and prefer to take the shortest way, you can miss a lot of content. A lot of the fights in the game, including boss fights do not offer anything different and there is very little room for tactics - mostly always it's "hit first and roll out, or take a hit and you won't make it to the next checkpoint". One of my worst spent money.… Expand
  28. evarr
    Nov 21, 2017
    2
    So, no poise, dead pvp.
    A lot of copy-past, even dark souls 2 was better.
    And lastly, no humanity, you can't do fair heal fights in dark souls 3.
    Dark Souls 1 so much better.
  29. HeyMarce
    Feb 3, 2020
    2
    You cant coop easly... Game not for eveyone. If you ve no hands, you cant play it.

    Its unfair
  30. Sky-Moondrift
    Dec 24, 2016
    1
    Yet another disgustingly shabby console port by FS.

    - Resolution capped at 1080p - Hideously bad textures (playstation 2 lvl bad) - Fugly 2D backdrops resembling that of a SNES game. - Forced mouse acceleration - Input prompts and UI are for XBOX not PC. - Extremely bad character models - Console UI - No UI scaling - Does in no way improve upon the first DS game both technically    Yet another disgustingly shabby console port by FS.

    - Resolution capped at 1080p
    - Hideously bad textures (playstation 2 lvl bad)
    - Fugly 2D backdrops resembling that of a SNES game.
    - Forced mouse acceleration
    - Input prompts and UI are for XBOX not PC.
    - Extremely bad character models
    - Console UI
    - No UI scaling
    - Does in no way improve upon the first DS game both technically or aesthetically.

    + I got a Refund

    The game itself could be good, I don't know, I spent my first hour trying to comprehend how terrible this port is and looking for ways to fix it.

    But don't let all that bother you, it hasn't in the past right? Just keep throwing your money on the ever growing fire that's ruining the potential greatness of this franchise and PC games in general.

    Why make a good game when you can spend no effort on insulting and blatantly lazy console ports that casuals (people with no standards or expectations) gobble up and worship anyway. This right here is the reason 95% of games these days are trash.

    Stick it up your A-hole From.

    Copy/Paste of my Steam review.    … Expand
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Awards & Rankings

6
#6 Best PC Game of 2016
4
#4 Most Discussed PC Game of 2016
14
#14 Most Shared PC Game of 2016

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
89

Generally favorable reviews - based on 56 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 54 out of 56
  2. Mixed: 2 out of 56
  3. Negative: 0 out of 56
  1. Easy Allies
    Dec 1, 2016
    90
    Despite an inconsistent frame rate once again hindering the console versions, Dark Souls III is still an undeniable success. Before playing, we felt ready to say goodbye to the series, looking forward to whatever From Software gave us next. Yet after finishing, it's hard not wanting more. Few companies can craft a world so completely enthralling. Whether you've played every entry, started with Bloodborne, or are brand new, this is a game you should absolutely make time for.
    Read full review
  2. CD-Action
    Jun 29, 2016
    85
    Everything about Dark Souls III is great, but it fails to push the series forward. Bloodborne and both previous Souls squash it in terms of ambition. DkS3 is like a compilation album by your favorite band – you enjoy listening to it because you love these songs despite having heard them so many times before, but there’s no room for even a tiniest surprise. [06/2016, p.34]
  3. Riot Pixels
    Jun 6, 2016
    82
    It seems that From Software has finally realized that bad game design decisions were a poor addition to an already uncompromising game, and fixed them, while keeping the same level of ruthlessness.
    Read full review
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