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. Praesi
    Apr 22, 2016
    7
    Its a huge improvement to DS1+2. M+K Controlls work good. Yes there are XBox promps, but that isnt a big deal cause you can remap everything (but still a lazy move from FROM). When you set your Controlls and played 1-2h you can move and fight without Problems. Again "our" Press dont say anything about it (just:"use a controller", which is not necessary) When you use a sweetfx preset, theIts a huge improvement to DS1+2. M+K Controlls work good. Yes there are XBox promps, but that isnt a big deal cause you can remap everything (but still a lazy move from FROM). When you set your Controlls and played 1-2h you can move and fight without Problems. Again "our" Press dont say anything about it (just:"use a controller", which is not necessary) When you use a sweetfx preset, the Game looks realy good. Its still a very difficult Game, but its more fair than the first Games. More Bonfires and shortcuts makes it more Fun. I didnt like DS2 and hated DS1 for its lack of Quality in Case of PC Standarts. But when im honest, DS3 is a good Game. The Camera sometimes sucks when you have a Wall in your Back, but the PC Controlls work. I defeated 9 Bosses at this Point. I realy enjoy it and i was a DS Enemy because of the horrible PC Releases in the Past, but here you can go for it if you play with K+M.… Expand
  2. hell88
    Jul 5, 2018
    7
    Superb game! Very well crafted, very immersible and dark climate! that looks and feels like dark fantasy medieval Europe. But, its too difficult, too punishing, that makes the game not fun, after you died sometimes you still have the will to fight and continue. but after a lot of frustration mostly of player who are not hardcore gamers, will run out of expectations... thats bad, in mySuperb game! Very well crafted, very immersible and dark climate! that looks and feels like dark fantasy medieval Europe. But, its too difficult, too punishing, that makes the game not fun, after you died sometimes you still have the will to fight and continue. but after a lot of frustration mostly of player who are not hardcore gamers, will run out of expectations... thats bad, in my opinion that game would be fix if the curve of difficult would be changed. but thats my view! I did not remember a game that difficult on that modern era!… Expand
  3. ShadowOfTheMoon
    Apr 3, 2020
    7
    Great atmosphere. Some bosses are great, and some are super dumb. The game also infuriates rebirth points that separate the boss and you, where there are a bunch of mobs. But the game still turned out very good
  4. Cinept
    Mar 7, 2022
    7
    7/10. The combat is fun and the enemy variety is quite good. Suffers from unfair difficulty spikes at times and forced linearity.
  5. Rtheom
    Feb 1, 2018
    7
    If you're a fan of Monster Hunter, this is basically Monster Hunter on rails. Instead of learning monster attack patterns to more easily harvest that monster for parts before moving on to the next, you learn level segments until you can move on to the next. It's not a bad game, but I didn't really feel any drive to keep going . I didn't find the story or the settings interesting enough toIf you're a fan of Monster Hunter, this is basically Monster Hunter on rails. Instead of learning monster attack patterns to more easily harvest that monster for parts before moving on to the next, you learn level segments until you can move on to the next. It's not a bad game, but I didn't really feel any drive to keep going . I didn't find the story or the settings interesting enough to want to continue this game for very long and the meager level up bonuses just didn't feel exciting.… Expand
  6. rAMZA
    Apr 25, 2017
    7
    Realy boring combat just hit and roll hit and roll, ill give it a 7 because it is still a good score, could have more difficulty options and a hc mode if character dies then its the end of it.
  7. Jenne
    Dec 1, 2017
    7
    Unfortunately most complains revolve around the PC port and controls. Honestly, if you've played DS1 and DS2 ports, then DS3 port will look positively fantastic. And M&K controls...they're fine. At least the game doesn't need any third-party tweaks and patches this time around.

    But who cares about bugs and control issues in a Dark Souls game? The series has always been about four    Unfortunately most complains revolve around the PC port and controls. Honestly, if you've played DS1 and DS2 ports, then DS3 port will look positively fantastic. And M&K controls...they're fine. At least the game doesn't need any third-party tweaks and patches this time around.

    But who cares about bugs and control issues in a Dark Souls game? The series has always been about four gigantic virtues - the combat, the vibe, the surprise/exploration, the on-line element.

    Demon's Souls, DS1, DS2 Scholar and Bloodborne always delivered fully on all fronts. DS2 needed all the DLCs and a light remake to achieve it but now it's an excellent game. Unfortunately DS3 delivers only on the combat. Everything else feels incredibly disinterested and by-the-numbers. For casual fans or people who came to the franchise only now it won't matter, they don't know any better. But if there's anything that can absolutely kill a Souls game....it's the lack of soul.

    Dark Souls 3 is a Souls game without a soul. Playing any other FromSoft game you can feel the love and care, the attention to detail, the delightful secrets, little surprises and devious tricks. DS3 is not completely devoid of those but you can palpably feel that this time around the developers just wanted to make the product and ship it out. After all Miyazaki said many times he doesn't want to make another Souls game and it shows. DS3 almost feel as if it was outsourced to someone else - they met the minimum requirements for a solid Souls game but didn't add much more.

    Parts of the game even feel like unfinished stumps - the poise system is clearly a makeshift solution of someone who just can't make heavy armor work properly, there's a system for absolving sin but no sin mechanics, the covenant system is much simpler and worse than even in DS1 which is just shocking. The New Game + is incredibly phoned-in, especially after the excellent NG+ system in DS2. The world is even more linear than in DS2, and all this after the stink the community raised in reaction to DS2. As if From didn't care anymore.

    All in all, DS3 is a skillfully animated corpse. The body still moves fine and may even fool newcomers but there's no soul anymore. Vast majority of the old delightful, devious playfulness, inventiveness and spirit is gone and what we are left with is mostly a polished mass market product. A difference between a fabulous dish by a French master chef and the same dish prepared by KFC - the calories are still there but most of the flavour and surprise is gone.    … Expand
  8. allwititnowsuck
    Sep 13, 2018
    6
    This series is nowhere near as difficult as people claim it to be, if you are a generic "MLG xxxProGamerxxx" who plays nothing other than Call of Duty,Grand Theft Auto,Fifa,League of Legends and CS:GO you will find this game to be the most difficult challenge of your live but if you ever played and finished any old RPG game from early 2000s and 90s/80s than you are up for a mediocoreThis series is nowhere near as difficult as people claim it to be, if you are a generic "MLG xxxProGamerxxx" who plays nothing other than Call of Duty,Grand Theft Auto,Fifa,League of Legends and CS:GO you will find this game to be the most difficult challenge of your live but if you ever played and finished any old RPG game from early 2000s and 90s/80s than you are up for a mediocore slasher with average(at best) difficulty,honestly people should stop listening the youtubers and streamers and build their own opinions.… Expand
  9. PizzaSHARK
    May 4, 2016
    6
    It's an okay game, but it's not the 10/10 game the fanboys are calling it. There are a frankly immense number of flaws that, considering it's their fifth game in the series, aren't really forgivable.

    The camera still sucks and makes many boss fights far harder than they should be. There are still severe issues with hitbox lag and hitboxes being wider than they appear (primarily on    It's an okay game, but it's not the 10/10 game the fanboys are calling it. There are a frankly immense number of flaws that, considering it's their fifth game in the series, aren't really forgivable.

    The camera still sucks and makes many boss fights far harder than they should be. There are still severe issues with hitbox lag and hitboxes being wider than they appear (primarily on grab attacks, like always.) Poise, a mechanic the game is quite clearly designed around, was shipped turned off in the game's configuration files and has yet to be turned back on, nor has From Software released a statement explaining why such a crucial gameplay element was disabled for launch.

    There are some extremely severe balance issues, too. More than is reasonable for the fifth game in a series, but no game releases in a perfect state. From Software seems to be rather slow in identifying and remedying the problems, however, and in fact actually nerfed some gameplay elements that were already performing far below other playstyles.

    There are also innocent players getting hit with bans because players using cheats (via Cheat Engine, a well-known and well-documented process editing tool that From Software should be well aware of by this point) are able to modify their stats simply by attacking them. Happened to me tonight, on a fresh character. From Software's advice? Back up your saves and revert to them if you're affected by a hacker. Yup, that means you lose all progress on all characters since the last time you made a backup, and you can't back up the files without exiting the game. This is, honestly, not acceptable and really shows just how little they know about the PC format, despite going to great lengths with both Dark Souls 2 and now Dark Souls 3 to court them. Maybe they should've used some of that multimillion dollar budget on hiring or contracting some people who actually understand the PC format.

    In spite of the basket full of severe flaws and a goddamned trainload of minor flaws, it's still a decent product. A bit better than average. I originally planned on giving it a 7, but after making one last-ditch attempt to have fun with the game after beating it the first time, I fought Dancer of the Boreal Valley and that boss fight is so horribly designed and has so many obvious problems that will never be addressed that I decided a 7/10 was being a little too generous.

    If you're expecting this to be the crown jewel of the Soulsborne series... man, I'm sorry but you're in for a lot of disappointment. While the production values and aesthetics knock it out of the park, as far as gameplay goes it's barely any better than damned Lords of the Fallen, and has absolutely no chance of competing with Dark Souls or Dark Souls 2.

    I honestly regret spending $60 on it. This is not a $60 product.    … Expand
  10. tomvs123
    Mar 25, 2017
    5
    Story and atmosphere are what I value most. Dark Souls is excellent in this respect, Bloodborne is even better. Dark Souls 2 was the absolute worst, and Dark Souls 3 is in between Dark Souls 1 and 2.

    Gameplay is exactly what I expected. The standard Souls formula with minor tweaks. A few minor annoyances remain, like weapon switches not happening reliability depending on the animation    Story and atmosphere are what I value most. Dark Souls is excellent in this respect, Bloodborne is even better. Dark Souls 2 was the absolute worst, and Dark Souls 3 is in between Dark Souls 1 and 2.

    Gameplay is exactly what I expected. The standard Souls formula with minor tweaks. A few minor annoyances remain, like weapon switches not happening reliability depending on the animation you're in, dodges happening after you're hit/stagger animation, even though you hit the dodge button while you were getting hit, and the almost worthlessness (or extreme difficulty) of attempting to play the game primarily as a spell caster.

    The story, lore, atmosphere, and characters really let me down, coming from Bloodborne. I thought it would at least be equal, but it's all definitely worse. If I would have known that, I would have passed on the game.

    There's no big surprises in the story. What you start out to achieve is what you end up achieving. You're told exactly what you need to do. There's no figuring things out like with the original or Bloodborne. And the characters are comparatively lifeless. The few bits of dialogue they have are they same bits of dialogue they have for the entire game.

    Playing this, I can't stop thinking about the doll in Bloodborne, and absolutely amazing she is at being a character and at adding to the full package. Imagine Bloodborne without the doll, without the story-based cinematics, with 1/3rd of the number of interactable characters, and in a different (and more generic) setting, and you get Dark Souls 3.

    So I give it an average score for being an average game to me.    … Expand
  11. Arroyo_man
    Dec 21, 2016
    6
    I dunno man. I'm playing it but not feel any vibes. More weapons, better graphics (arguably, personally i prefer old rendering methods) more Npcs, but everything feels so flat, so... hollow. You finding a key IN FRONT of the gate... Seriously? No hidden locations like Ash Lake. I'm coming do DkS1 just to enter the Ash Lake and enjoy the atmosphere. There is no places like that in DkS3 atI dunno man. I'm playing it but not feel any vibes. More weapons, better graphics (arguably, personally i prefer old rendering methods) more Npcs, but everything feels so flat, so... hollow. You finding a key IN FRONT of the gate... Seriously? No hidden locations like Ash Lake. I'm coming do DkS1 just to enter the Ash Lake and enjoy the atmosphere. There is no places like that in DkS3 at all. Locations are very narrow. You go straight forward from one bonfire to another, nothing in between. Speaking about bonfires, there is waaaay too many of them. In one place you can see bonfire from a ... bonfire :) Mobs are moving too fast, stamina is gone, poise is just cosmetic. It's look like from soft wanted to pleased wider audience, some newcomers and soul vets. No guys it won't work and i must admit i've lost some amount of respect for you. At least i hope Bloodborne 2 will remain true to its core, and won't be dumbed down for the wider audience too.… Expand
  12. karson
    Mar 15, 2017
    7
    I'm a fan of the series, however, this time Dark Souls 3 didn't deliver. Controls and combat are not as good as Bloodborne. Bosses are extremely easy and bland. They have too little freaking HP. It was a good experience when playing on PC with the visuals and smoothness. That's about it. Nothing special nothing new nothing jaw dropping that I would consider it a great/must buy.
  13. nextgengameflop
    Oct 18, 2017
    7
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. All the content of this game has been lifted and rehashed from previous FROMSOFT titles, barring the bosses. The content that isn't directly copied from another title is instead based on, or reminiscent of the previous games. This comes off as lazy to me and made me cringe constantly throughout my first playthrough. The game feels very dead (or soulless, if you will) outside of one, or maybe two playthroughs maximum, at which point you'll likely ask yourself why you are not just playing one of the unique previous games instead. This is not the souls game you will be coming back to years from now or playing through many times over.

    With the exception of the multiplayer, (not something I partake in) this is a good game. There is some new lore for you to think about while you are playing the game even if it does retcon the others, the bosses are generally good, the level design is excellent as always and the game looks nice. The new challenges were fun to tackle in the beautiful new areas paired with an excellent soundtrack. Just do not expect to be able to put the same time into this game as many like I were able to put into a game like Dark or Demon's Souls.

    Some examples of the rehashed content (non-exhaustive):
    - Karla is identical to Yuria from Demon's Souls. She is wearing the same outfit, sitting in the same position, rescued in a similar fashion, has the same voice actor, sells the same items, functions the same, warns you of dark magic identically, speaks similarly. She is identical in everything but name.
    - The blacksmith is the one of the same name from Dark Souls. He uses the same animations from Dark souls and has the same voice actor.
    - Champion Gundyr - Old King Doran
    - Siegward - Siegmeyer
    - Irina - Rhea
    - Orbeck - Freke's Apprentice
    - Irithyll Dungeon - Tower of Latria
    - Eygon - Garl
    - Stormruler
    - Siegward taking the same role as Biorr during the Yhorm encounter.
    - Many enemies (from the swamp in particular) look as if they are unused or cut content from Bloodborne.
    - Sister Friede is an amalgamation of many bosses from previous titles; combining moves from Lady Maria (Bloodborne), Gehrman (Bloodborne) and Crossbreed Priscilla (Dark Souls).

    This list could sadly exceed the character limit...

    Maybe this was supposed to be a throw back to fans, fan service, or just laziness? We could have had new content here but instead we have some from another game where it was arguably done better. Some of this kind of stuff is great when it's subtle and as a display of homage, but when it's in this large of a quantity it makes me feel like they were just out of ideas. You can't just ride the coattails of another game forever. That's not what made the other titles great. I'm happy this will be the last entry to the series.

    UPDATE: DLC for FROMSOFT titles is usually the best content in its respective game. DaS3 fails miserably here on living up to this expectation. It could have been the saving grace for this title but the DLC was such a huge disappointment that I don't even want to write about it. This is not the quality we've come to expect.    … Expand
  14. captainkane
    Jun 15, 2016
    6
    Dark Souls III is a decent game. But it’s the safest and most frustrating in the series. DS3 brings back many familiar elements while neglecting to fix problems that afflict every DS game, such as janky hit boxes, embarrassing frame rates, and broken targeting. Also, I can’t highlight enough the boring and unbalanced PvP. After the perceived Dark Souls 2 tragedy, many critics laud DS3 asDark Souls III is a decent game. But it’s the safest and most frustrating in the series. DS3 brings back many familiar elements while neglecting to fix problems that afflict every DS game, such as janky hit boxes, embarrassing frame rates, and broken targeting. Also, I can’t highlight enough the boring and unbalanced PvP. After the perceived Dark Souls 2 tragedy, many critics laud DS3 as being a “return to form”, but that really translates to “more of the same”. For people who sank 100+ hours into the original DS, this newest entry feels too familiar.

    Performance wise, DS3 is barely passable. It’s prone to random crashes, stuttering, and freezes. Even with all graphic settings turned down, DS3 can’t push out a consistent 60fps at 1080p. I even lowered the resolution by 20% and still couldn’t achieve the target rate. The environments aren’t nearly as detailed as the Witcher 3 or Shadow of Mordor, so the problem isn’t detail. Although DS3 has long draw distances, remote objects are so poorly rendered they remind me of Castlevania 64.

    Boss battles push DS3 to its limit since those are where the biggest fps spikes occur. All evidence points to bad optimization, which is something gamers see in every DS game. Does DS3 look good? Barely. But DS2, also look good at launch while performing markedly better.

    The camera is a problem. A BIG problem. In DS3, enemies move faster, use more vertical movements, and spam attacks. However, the third person camera is set too close to the character to properly track foes. In close quarters the camera will get hung up on walls. When fleeing enemies your character may not be visible as the camera positions itself on the baddies’ butts. The camera will peer up thru the floor if enemies jump above the character. People have suggested turning off target tracking to allow manual camera control, but then spells, bombs, projectiles, and pyromancy become useless. Still, the lock-on feature is broken most of the time anyway. Its range is incredibly short. And target locks will cease for unknown reasons. Many times, I’ll cast a spell just as the target lock ceases, so my character spins around and tosses magic at the camera. However, I’m able to turn back around, reacquire those same targets and cast spells even though enemies moved further away. Failed lock-ons can cause players to spin 180 degrees, exposing their backs to enemies. Enemies will often use the opportunity to execute lethal backstabs. This problem is especially common with foes at the edge of doorways.

    Poor performance and the awful camera negatively impact combat. But that isn’t enough for From. It has to add janky hit boxes to the mix. I can thrust a great sword square into enemies’ chests—the tip pokes thru their backs—and still not register hits. I can roll away from attacks and take damage after the attack animations have ended. Even worse, enemy spells/projectiles track players and splash damage from enemy magic is ridiculous. Arrows will curve around corners. Fire attacks can pass thru stone walls, boulders, and even track players up and down stairs. All these issues make combat an exasperating experience. As a result of all these problems, DS3 feels more difficult because many deaths are cheap. They’re the result of all the bugs and broken mechanics. So in many instances, death isn’t the fault of the players. It’s immensely frustrating.

    PvP is a joke. It’s just players endlessly rolling around to avoid damage. That’s pretty much the gist of it. Co-op is OK. Lag still rears its ugly head in multiplayer. I doubt it’ll get fixed.

    As for the rest of the game… For players who trudged thru the original Dark Souls, they’re getting a nearly identical experience in DS3. From has taken cues from Activision by creating a franchise that releases are nearly identical products every cycle. DS3 sacrifices innovation for mass market appeal. This actually breaks the immersion because all the environments and enemies feel samey. The story is as cryptic as ever, but lacks much of the depth I felt in DS2 and the haunting futility of DS1. Although I wasn’t a huge fan of DS2 at the time, developers made risky decisions. Dark Souls 2 retooled combat and equipment mechanics, broadened spell casting, beefed up NG+, introduced the biggest variety of enemies, and incentivized multiplayer (while also improving it). Level design and boss fights were downers, but NG+ is when DS2 really shines. Plus, the DLC is excellent. DS3 doesn’t bring anything new to the table. Nothing. It’s possibly the laziest game in the series. From shamelessly milks fans by offering Dark Souls 1 version 1.5 instead of a refreshing sequel.

    I’m upset by the artificial difficulties culminating from lazy development and rushed testing. I also hate that From dumped on PC gamers once again. PC modders resuscitated the franchise after fixing DS1, and they're rewarded by a crappy PC port. From has set the bar so low, I’m passing on its next release.…    … Expand
  15. Oppip
    May 3, 2016
    5
    Just one word: Boring.
    Story is uninteresting, combat is lame (just roll away and that's it), overwhelmingly easy compared to DS1.
    And also a terrible port of a console game on pc.
  16. OberiousLocke
    Jul 25, 2017
    5
    How do criticize a game like Dark Souls? It's particularly hard. A staggering majority of the fan base are just go brain dead and start spouting "hurr durr git gud lololololol" at the thought of any slight criticism of the Souls games, because if you have any issue with the games, it's your fault for being bad at the game even when it's objectively not. It always seems that there is a fineHow do criticize a game like Dark Souls? It's particularly hard. A staggering majority of the fan base are just go brain dead and start spouting "hurr durr git gud lololololol" at the thought of any slight criticism of the Souls games, because if you have any issue with the games, it's your fault for being bad at the game even when it's objectively not. It always seems that there is a fine mix of the "Git gud" brain dead and the ones that will consistently say regardless of what is said that X boss/monster/area is actually really fair, interesting and one of their favorites in the entire series. There is always one of those.

    The only reason I'm giving this the score that it I am is because story and world amount to a very large chunk of a game's quality, regardless of what the typical gamer stereotype would like to believe. I've never been TOO big on the whole show-dont-tell approach that Dark Souls takes, but I certainly appreciate the story all the same, it's one of three series' (the other being Mass Effect and Dragon Age) that can get me to legitimately care about the world and the people in it, and it's history.

    That being said, the series has been on a very steady decline gameplay wise post Dark Souls 1. In Dark Souls 1, if you put the work in to build a good character, you would be rewarded by becoming justifiably strong. You would struggle, bleed, and die over and over again, but you would rise and become a force to be reckoned with.

    Unfortunately, after Dark Souls 1 was released, it's reputation for tough-but-fair difficulty superseded everything else about it, as Dark Souls 2 and 3 both have a feeling like the Dev's were afraid of undershooting the difficulty, and so cranked it to an excessive degree, though 3 got the brunt of it, in hindsight, thus allowing the games reputation for difficulty to become the games sole identity.

    For example, take Lothric Castle. By the end of the game I had roughly 1.3k in HP while embered. I was farming for souls outside the Twin Princes fight, after realizing that with the Shield of Want + Cov. Silver Serpent Ring that they dropped an okay amount. Specifically, it was the red-eyed knights. In 3, red-eye's = big trouble, the ninja skeleton in Catacombs can attest to that. The number of times that I had 50-75% of my health taken out in one hit by these mobs makes me wonder why exactly people praise this game.

    Another prime example of the overdone difficulty is the Twin Princes fight itself. It seems manageable at first, if not a little screwy because of Lorian's teleport. That is, until a minute or two into the fight when Lorian whips out his obnoxious ground laser attack that does a usually deadly and frankly absurd amount of damage and has a wonky hitbox.

    Lets say you get past that and the high damage he deals in general, you kill him. You think you've won? Oh no, that was just the first phase you silly scrub. Now in addition to everything else, Lorian becomes unkillable as his little invalid brother clings to his back raining magic down on your head, while teleporting, while also retaining his shiny white death beam attack, giving you very little time to counter or heal of recover stamina unless you are god-tier on your timing.

    To put the cherry on top, without magic or a big honking sword, you cannot damage Lothric (the primary goal of the entire damn fight) until you kill Lorian again, and even then, you get like 5 seconds to get hits in before he explodes, dealing heavy damage, resurrecting Lorian, and starting it all over again.

    I'd not be doing my job writing this if I didn't at least touch on PvP in some aspect. People like to say that Dark Souls 1 had a OP twink problem, but reflecting on my experiences in 1, then 2 and 3, 3 sees that twink problem and goes "Hold my beer". Case in point, I was a lowbie helping another lowbie through Undead Settlement, when suddenly we're invaded by a lowbie brandishing the Dragonslayer Armor boss weapon, twinked out taking little damage, and one shotting the both of us in one swing. One shotting the player, PvE or PvP, in any game, is never acceptable in any circumstances. It's fun to have a fair chance then die because you screwed up. It's frustrating to be killed while feeling like you never had a fair chance.

    None of this is helped by the fact that the community of honor and unwritten rules that made 1's PvP so endlessly good has withered to a husk, and are now routinely called "Le edgy honors lel ecksdee scrubs" by the new members of the Souls community that weren't around in the first game's heyday. There are some holdouts in this regard, but they are far outnumbered.

    They also took one step forward and another back, in my opinion. They thankfully removed that stupid Soul Memory system, but also allowed invaders to use their flasks again. Combined with the facts I mentioned above, and their tendency to chug estus while parry/backstab fishing makes the PvP in this game insufferable.    … Expand
  17. Agade
    Aug 19, 2016
    7
    Souls games are quite challenging which is somewhat appealing but here are some cons:
    Platforming is terrible
    Alot of hard bosses simply have misleading attack animations you have to memorise to dodge properly and/or mess with your camera and/or your locking of said camera onto the boss. This feels cheap and uninteresting. Going through packs of trash mobs can be frustrating as they    Souls games are quite challenging which is somewhat appealing but here are some cons:
    Platforming is terrible
    Alot of hard bosses simply have misleading attack animations you have to memorise to dodge properly and/or mess with your camera and/or your locking of said camera onto the boss. This feels cheap and uninteresting.
    Going through packs of trash mobs can be frustrating as they stagger you over and over, especially when you realise you can just run/roll past everything
    You get hit through walls

    I would say DS3 is a better souls game:
    Better graphics
    Faster paced gameplay, the 10s animations of ds1/2 were killing me
    The PC version actually works out of the box for once, although it still feels like a poor port when you see controller controls everywhere    … Expand
  18. draxlink
    Apr 1, 2017
    7
    A good game with excellent difficult, good history, graphics, game mechanic, but i never will understand why this game only have music in bosses fights!! Im not agree with Miyazaki about this, Dark Souls saga must have music on their stages, imagine a wonderfull music when you arrives on Boreal Vally....
    After you complete the game there's nothing to do, collecting update for rings is    A good game with excellent difficult, good history, graphics, game mechanic, but i never will understand why this game only have music in bosses fights!! Im not agree with Miyazaki about this, Dark Souls saga must have music on their stages, imagine a wonderfull music when you arrives on Boreal Vally....
    After you complete the game there's nothing to do, collecting update for rings is boring and complete secondary missions for npc rewards not bring a big satisfaction, the camera for some bosses fight is awful, the control feels very old like classic resident evil games and Dark Souls 3 difficulty is not so big like other people says, is a good game but not perfect.    … Expand
  19. ShapeLayers
    Jun 5, 2017
    7
    +
    1. Мимик повеселил меня, когда попытался открыть в первый раз этот сундук, с мобами полный порядок — интересные
    2. На пк игра смотрится весьма красиво. - 1. Атмосфера создает духоту, в сравнении с атмосферой в Bloodborne. 2. Боссы дались очень легко. Вывод: Лучше играть в Bloodborne    +
    1. Мимик повеселил меня, когда попытался открыть в первый раз этот сундук, с мобами полный порядок — интересные
    2. На пк игра смотрится весьма красиво.
    -
    1. Атмосфера создает духоту, в сравнении с атмосферой в Bloodborne.
    2. Боссы дались очень легко.

    Вывод: Лучше играть в Bloodborne
  20. Nixxime
    Apr 16, 2016
    7
    Dark Souls III, as a hardcore fan of the series I was expecting this game to the freaking game of year hands down, but no.. tbh i would have given it a 6/10 but hey im a hardcore fan.

    Dark Souls III graphicaly and depth wise is fantastic but the game bears way too many similarities in terms of areas, boss and mobs to bloodborne and dark souls I. I beat the game in 20hrs, all bosses and    Dark Souls III, as a hardcore fan of the series I was expecting this game to the freaking game of year hands down, but no.. tbh i would have given it a 6/10 but hey im a hardcore fan.

    Dark Souls III graphicaly and depth wise is fantastic but the game bears way too many similarities in terms of areas, boss and mobs to bloodborne and dark souls I. I beat the game in 20hrs, all bosses and collecting 80%of the items. Im not saying im good coz im not but really?.... Its still fresh in some areas but some only.

    One of the biggest grip about bloodborne was its pvp was not very lasting, I expected dark souls 3 to have pvp more fantastic than dark souls 2 but dam i was so wrong. around 80% out the time for a red phantom, u are up against 4 phantoms including the host, matchmaking is terribly slow and lag is everywhere. This is further exacerbated by the PS4 edition's frame rate drops in major pvp areas and the terrible network that sony forced us to pay for. I kinda feel miyazaki sucked so bad at pvp that he hated red phantoms and cursed them to be slaughtered forever, dark souls 3 is that cursed.

    To sum it up, buy the game if you did not play bloodborne at all, hate pvp and only play offline, play on the pc, and only when there are discounts.    … Expand
  21. mondovious
    Apr 20, 2016
    6
    Dark Souls III is probably a great console game, however I cannot in good conscience rate it as a good PC game. The menus are horrid to navigate, the UI list's controller buttons even if you are using a keyboard (this is really annoying, and lazy by the devs), keyboard bindings experience delay and queing (click to attack but get knocked down before your attack goes off, your characterDark Souls III is probably a great console game, however I cannot in good conscience rate it as a good PC game. The menus are horrid to navigate, the UI list's controller buttons even if you are using a keyboard (this is really annoying, and lazy by the devs), keyboard bindings experience delay and queing (click to attack but get knocked down before your attack goes off, your character proceeds to get up and then attack no matter what you do), inability to bind extra mouse buttons (seriously wtf). This is the -third- 'Souls game, the devs really should have ironed this stuff out by now.

    Content wise the game is honestly just more of the same of DS1 and DS2. The gameplay is the same, with some new features for weapon stances (that personally I do not like, as I believe forcing melee attacks to use mana deincentivizes hybrid spellcaster-melee builds), with most of the same items and similar areas returning from the other games. There is little to no story as per usual for a Dark Souls game. Honestly the games are too repetitive at this point. Graphics wise I can run everything on only medium settings on my 7970 to retain good frame rate, so the game is not optimized super great (certainly nowhere near Witcher3 level).    … Expand
  22. Prais1980
    Apr 16, 2016
    5
    Dark Souls 3 ingredients:
    - Some little/medium/huge Monsters
    - Place some items here and there - Place some mini boss here and there - Place a bonfire and a boss, maybe 1 secret illusion door there - Maybe place a NPC Invader - Place a trap or more - Horrible Bugs - Recycle 99% of all weapons of previous games - Recycle 99% of all enemies of previues games - Crashs Also it    Dark Souls 3 ingredients:
    - Some little/medium/huge Monsters
    - Place some items here and there
    - Place some mini boss here and there
    - Place a bonfire and a boss, maybe 1 secret illusion door there
    - Maybe place a NPC Invader
    - Place a trap or more
    - Horrible Bugs
    - Recycle 99% of all weapons of previous games
    - Recycle 99% of all enemies of previues games
    - Crashs

    Also it contains:
    - Online Co-Op is horrible bugged
    - Bloodstains don't work sometimes
    - Bosses are bugged, they are sometimes immune to any damage (i don't talk about special hitzones, there just totaly IMMUNE, like some Mobs with the boss!)
    - The Camera is the biggest enemy in this terrible console port
    - Peformence is terrible
    - The same problems Bloodborne for Ps4 had, like online coop, massive bugs, weird hitboxes, just the worst game i have played in a while and i loved DS1.    … Expand
  23. adriandenan
    May 16, 2016
    7
    Pretty fun game but having some issues with fps drops. But besides that enjoying the game. But if you like the other Dark Souls game, you will enjoy this one.
  24. Sentient
    May 10, 2016
    6
    Folks who gave this a 10... i want some of what you are smoking. After playing through the game with a friend of mine who is also a huge souls series fan, we both came to the same conclusion; Dissapointment. While a good game, it just falls short in several areas and brings very little new to the table.

    Im a long time souls fan and have done multiple play-throughs of each title. This is    Folks who gave this a 10... i want some of what you are smoking. After playing through the game with a friend of mine who is also a huge souls series fan, we both came to the same conclusion; Dissapointment. While a good game, it just falls short in several areas and brings very little new to the table.

    Im a long time souls fan and have done multiple play-throughs of each title. This is by far the least polished game in the series. not only were there bugs at launch but framerate problems have persisted even after the first couple updates.

    But my main gripes with this game are as follows:

    the bonfire placement was more frequent; making them more like checkpoints than the much loved sanctuary in the previous games.

    Many areas and bosses alike were just so heavily inspired by previous games that only a couple areas felt totally fresh. In the end, i wish From Software had really made a more compelling send off to the dark souls series.    … Expand
  25. AngusMacAskill
    Apr 13, 2016
    7
    Graphics are pretty damn good. The design of the game is top notch, probably no one does it better than From. The atmosphere is really great, you only feel relatively safe in Firelink so the game has that feel of dread about it which is pretty damn awesome if you ask me.

    That being said, the movement of the character and movesets felt empty. There is little to no turn rate and no    Graphics are pretty damn good. The design of the game is top notch, probably no one does it better than From. The atmosphere is really great, you only feel relatively safe in Firelink so the game has that feel of dread about it which is pretty damn awesome if you ask me.

    That being said, the movement of the character and movesets felt empty. There is little to no turn rate and no transition between the turning so the character feels too light. There is no weight sense. Also, since I'm playing via a kb+m and not a controller, the camera can sometimes be erratic especially when you try to lock on a mob so I gave up locking on altogether.

    The game was way, way too easy. I cheesed most of the bosses in one or two tries. The mobs were a bit harder but but it's only because of their number and I never felt too much in danger of them and most of the deaths from them were my own dumb mistakes and not the AI of the mobs.

    All in all a solid 7/10 which may seem like a bit low for a AAA game like this but it's really not    … Expand
  26. SuperNaiv
    Apr 27, 2016
    5
    Where do I start? I really tried to enjoy this game. I played Dark Souls and I mostly hated the clunky controls and the tedious and dull combat. The pc port isn’t that bad as it was with first and 2nd DS game. Although, its long from perfect. In menu they only use Xbox buttons props. It doesn’t help if you use mouse and keyboard as your standard pc interface. Those lazy dev from "FromWhere do I start? I really tried to enjoy this game. I played Dark Souls and I mostly hated the clunky controls and the tedious and dull combat. The pc port isn’t that bad as it was with first and 2nd DS game. Although, its long from perfect. In menu they only use Xbox buttons props. It doesn’t help if you use mouse and keyboard as your standard pc interface. Those lazy dev from "From Software" never learn. This should not be happening anymore! So, what made me continue playing. Well I was kind of interested in the world. I was trying to find out more about it. But the gameplay felt so repetitive and dull that, in the end, it felt more like a job then fun. The game mechanic is very problematic in my opinion, and one of my biggest problems is the locking mechanic on “one enemy at the time”. That wouldn’t be a problem if there was one, two or tops three enemies at the time. But most of the time, game throws at you multiple enemies, and very often from behind too, where you can’t see cause your camera is focused on only one enemy at the time. This is very annoying and very frustrating, and not something I would call “fun”. This locking mechanic is not a problem only on DS3. Its something that whole series is based on. What about the story? Is it any good? I would ask then; What story? If there is a story its delivered in very indirect and with some dialog from npcs that talk in riddles. I really didn’t care about the boring and uninspiring dialog deliverance from npcs. In Dark Souls I felt at least some kind of connection to the world. Here I don’t feel nothing. The first Dark Souls game was at least something original. The world, the story, and gameplay felt in many ways something new and creative. In DS2 and DS3 its more of the same, everything has been rehashed, it’s been copy and pasted, as many other games this days. DS2 and DS3 should never exist. The story was already concluded in the first game. From Software should instead focus on making something with a different story and completely different world. But I guess the hardcore fanboys would whine to much and demand new Dark Souls game. I could continue to list many more issues and problems with this game, but it would be too time consuming. Rather watch some informative videos on Youtube.

    I can see why ppl like it. And I can also see why ppl would despise this game. But, no matter what I mean, if you like Dark Souls you’ll probably will like this one too.    … Expand
  27. Crackfarmer
    May 17, 2016
    7
    I'd say it's mediocre. I enjoyed DS and DS II way more than this. Luckily the Game Dev's weren't that retarded to go for denuvo. Which ended up spending more time/money into the actual Game.
    Wouldn't buy this Game, i'd recommend to buy DS2 Scholar of the first Sin edition.
  28. Tgc
    May 13, 2016
    7
    The game itself is close to 10. However I can't say the same about port. It is better than DS1&2 but still there are plenty of bugs, performance and interface issues.
  29. kabeer
    Apr 24, 2016
    7
    is a very good game with excellent graphics soundtrack first but lacks a little in the plot of the game.
    At other times, especially if you're a previous Dark Souls, it's a bit underwhelming in the mapping of the world, and the difficulty isn't quite the same as prior releases (not dumbed down as such... it's difficult to put a finger on i
  30. TimmyH
    Apr 15, 2016
    7
    The game itself seems rather good, with fairly challenging elite-class enemies and bosses to elicit your adrenaline secretion, but as far as PC port is concerned, this is still an insult, albeit improved in comparison to the predecessors.

    When molding your character's facial traits, there's no way to drag the cursor along the sliding bar; all you can do instead is to tap it to the left    The game itself seems rather good, with fairly challenging elite-class enemies and bosses to elicit your adrenaline secretion, but as far as PC port is concerned, this is still an insult, albeit improved in comparison to the predecessors.

    When molding your character's facial traits, there's no way to drag the cursor along the sliding bar; all you can do instead is to tap it to the left or right bit by bit, just like using a gamepad. The ingame and menu-screen hints for control are still indicative of gamepad buttons only. It never switches to keyboard/mouse icons even when you don't plug your gamepad in, while most other PC games at least support two different sets of control hints.

    The graphics look decent but some texture suffers from reiteration, which is a problem present in DS2 and is just less severe this time. But the optimization doesn't seem reasonable given the graphical quality not being so high.

    The control itself is very responsive though, with either kb/m or gamepad, but with either device, there's a bug of occasionally inducing a constant activation of key 'A', making you walking left without you pressing it, or alternatively, when the gamepad is used, it'll make you constantly do the move assigned to button 'LT'. This is really annoying. Plus, the mouse will move the camera in a very jagged way. Some smoothing is indeed required.

    On the whole, the game needs some patches to justify it being on the PC. But a large portion of problems are very likely to remain unresolved, considering this is a FROM game.    … 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.
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  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.
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