Things I love and hate about… Dark Souls 3

The supposed swan song to Dark Souls is now upon us worldwide and fans everywhere are once again revelling in the latest From Software title headed by Hidetaka Miyazaki. Bloodborne was always going to be a tough act to follow, keep an eye out for what I loved and hated about that soon. There is certainly a lot to like about the latest Dark Souls and it may be the best Souls entry thus far but it’s not without its flaws so what did I love and hate about… Dark Souls 3.

Love – Level Design

As evidenced in my Rise of the Tomb Raider article level design is something I’m very critical of in video games. While having sound mechanics and satisfying gameplay is critically important, if the areas you’re set loose to use those in are weak then the whole thing comes crumbling down. From Software has excelled in bringing back the verticality and intricate map design that their titles are widely acclaimed for.

This doesn’t necessarily translate to huge maps but rather what they do with the space they have. There are moments when you feel slightly hamstrung by indecision as you are presented with three branching paths and stand there wondering which to take and consider whether you might miss anything based on your decision. Half an hour later and you often wind up on the other end of one of those paths and a little investigation will show you that they are often all linked in some form or another making exploration that extra bit more rewarding.

While all the levels don’t interconnect the way they did in the original, more on that later, with Dark Souls 3 taking the warping approach to individual levels. Each self-contained area is absolutely crammed with content. Some areas offer the branching paths detailed above while others hide obscene amounts of secrets to find; is that a real wall or an illusory wall? Can I make that jump and get down there? What’s up there? What’s through that locked door? These are all questions that spring to the forefront of your mind while playing and naturally drive you to take your time and look around. It’s great.