Dark Souls III: Ashes of Ariandel

 PlayStation 4
User Score
7.4

Mixed or average reviews- based on 234 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 140 out of 234
  2. Mixed: 64 out of 234
  3. Negative: 30 out of 234

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  1. HTGamer
    Oct 30, 2016
    4
    Sadly, this DLC is a big disappointment.

    It's a small story expansion, with only 2 boss fights included, along with some new weapons added. Nice environment, some great new enemies, but it still is rather short. The new multiplayer PvP mode "Undead Matches" is simply a joke. Lag is all you will get in this small arena. You can choose from 3 modes and between 1 vs 1, 2 vs 2 or 3 vs 3,    Sadly, this DLC is a big disappointment.

    It's a small story expansion, with only 2 boss fights included, along with some new weapons added. Nice environment, some great new enemies, but it still is rather short.

    The new multiplayer PvP mode "Undead Matches" is simply a joke. Lag is all you will get in this small arena. You can choose from 3 modes and between 1 vs 1, 2 vs 2 or 3 vs 3, but they all follow the same rule, just kill the opponent(s). There is no score board, you only see how many kills you got and have to wait until the match ends, and only then will you learn if you won or lost. But even then, you gain nothing, unlike duels in the main game where you are awarded with souls and/or Covenant items.

    Ashes of Ariandel costs $15/€15, and there is a 2nd DLC coming in the next few months. For what it offers, it is overpriced.

    Avoid this, or if you can't have enough of Dark Souls 3, wait for either a discounted DS3+DLC bundle, or a sale of the Season Pass. Don't waste your money.    … Expand
  2. Deadheadbill
    Oct 26, 2016
    3
    Short and boring with a crappy almost non-ending. Sorry I paid 15 bucks for this and wish I had waited for reviews. I mistakenly thought I could blindly trust From Software.
  3. PaddyAshton
    Jan 25, 2017
    3
    Oh dear... Lets hope from redeem themselves with their second DLC offering.
    Gone is the slow and steady methodical approach, learn the enemy placements and attack patterns to progress, replaced instead by cheap and cheesy mob swamping, 6 enemies on screen at any given time, 3 enemies off screen that have an AOE attack that blankets your entire screen.
    This is not difficult. It does not    Oh dear... Lets hope from redeem themselves with their second DLC offering.
    Gone is the slow and steady methodical approach, learn the enemy placements and attack patterns to progress, replaced instead by cheap and cheesy mob swamping, 6 enemies on screen at any given time, 3 enemies off screen that have an AOE attack that blankets your entire screen.

    This is not difficult. It does not add to the challenge, its just cheap. If this is what we can expect from the series going forward, then its time to lay it to rest.    … Expand
  4. mykod95
    May 15, 2020
    2
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Ridiculously short and with a awful final boss. Not that it is impossibly hard but has 3 phases where if you die on the final one (and you will!) you’ll have to go through the 3 phases over and over again. Why? To artificially extend the time of the DLC since otherwise you would complete it in 20 minutes. Worst dlc from ever did. By far.… Expand
  5. KingOfDragon777
    Sep 2, 2021
    4
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. This DLC is extremely uninspired. Enemies seem to be placed with little thought, stage design is sloppy but functional and enemy designs feel clunky to fight, and the area is less than 20 minutes long if you go quickly. This area feels as if it came from dark souls 2's main game, rather than the quality we are used to in DS3. The bosses in this dlc are both horrible, one is a lazy reskin gank and the other is a Bloodborne hunter fight in a game without Bloodborne mechanics, which makes Friede feel like an infuriating and one sided fight. She is the only boss in the entire souls series I use summons against, I beat her solo once, but I never want to do that again. There are good parts to this DLC, most of the weapons are fun to use and the entire Corvian settlement sub area was extremely well designed, including the enjoyable battle with Sir Vilheim. Run in, grab some cool weapons and titanite slabs and then leave, this DLC is not worth a large expenditure of time.… Expand

Awards & Rankings

94
#94 Most Discussed PS4 Game of 2016

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
71

Mixed or average reviews - based on 26 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 9 out of 26
  2. Mixed: 17 out of 26
  3. Negative: 0 out of 26
  1. Gamers' Temple
    Mar 31, 2017
    68
    In the penultimate addition to the Dark Souls series (the next DLC will be the last, and thus, the end of the series ' sure.. sure it will be'), we see From Software's usually brilliance peeking through, but the Painted World of Ariandal, while worthy of the Dark Souls name, just isn't their best work. I don't doubt for a second that the final DLC will knock the series out of the park in legendary fashion, but this first Dark Souls III expansion feels a little lost in the blizzard.
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  2. CD-Action
    Jan 12, 2017
    65
    It saddens me to see the game that stole more of my time than I’m willing to admit turn into a self-parody. Ashes of Ariandel is like a covers playlist prepared by someone who has never heard the original recordings. Its only truly valuable moment is the wonderful last boss fight. [13/2016, p.48]
  3. Games Master UK
    Jan 1, 2017
    50
    It feels like From Software phone this one in. As DLC for the Souls series goes, this is a disappointment. [Christmas 2016, p.69]
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