Dark Souls III Review Thread
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Bloodporne
Member
That Polygon review really pissed in my hype cereal. It's like they read my mind's worries about the game and decided to confirm all of them. I generally really appreciate their reviews which is what makes this tough to ignore for me.
I know a ton of impressions on here were very positive but the common criticism I see here is the world design which is #1 for me. You'd think they could've taken one more damn year of development instead of pumping everything out one after the other and actually made amends for Dark Souls 2's level design. Completely frustrating to read these criticisms and I knew that instant warping would be a crutch for faster development time and cheaper level design. Still buying the game but fuck...
I know a ton of impressions on here were very positive but the common criticism I see here is the world design which is #1 for me. You'd think they could've taken one more damn year of development instead of pumping everything out one after the other and actually made amends for Dark Souls 2's level design. Completely frustrating to read these criticisms and I knew that instant warping would be a crutch for faster development time and cheaper level design. Still buying the game but fuck...
shortsFortallPeople
Banned
Dark souls games are above average at the very least.
New dark souls game gets above average scores.
A note is made that the games aren't for everyone.
We all agree that these games aren't for everyone.
I'm failing to see an issue here.
CrocMother
Banned
From what I've read In the import thread, areas are huge and there's a ton to explore/discover. It's easy to find one reviewer out of hundreds to "confirm" your preconceived fears about the game.
Right, and I enjoyed the optional content, but having the main progression tied to a nearly fixed order was a negative in my view. Really love the game though.
In this one there are segments which have to be done in order but within each segment you can do (non-optional) things in different orders. And there is one big segment break that is kind of secret.
I don't think this is a development problem, it is a design choice.
Blooborne released before this and it is still very connected and coherent with the overall design.
I still feel that DkS3 had the time, the world in it was design choice
LegendofLex
Member
The issue is that a score getting knocked to 7 because "the game isn't for everyone" doesn't tell you much about what score the game would get if it was being rated for its actual target audience.
You can't compare these marks to other games. You should compare them to other DaSo games to get an idea of how innovating / gamplay expanding / new experience providing this sequel is. You can't keep giving the games 9's for simply coming out and offering more of the same.
shortsFortallPeople
Banned
What if the review is meant for everyone though?
never fully trust a review. Or metacritic in that sense
I though that was common sense.
Even if this is not for everyone, people should take the time to find if they like it instead of throwing that job to a review.
The world design is awesome. The game is just more linear as a result of it.
There's exploration, good itemization, interesting enemies strewn about, and better enemy variety than anything other than SOTFS.
Instant Warping gets none of the blame, here. Even Dark Souls 1 had it, and patches greatly expanded how useful it was, and every game since then has had it even more.
redflamingolingo
Banned
This review is coming from the same reviewer who gave DSII a 9/10.
This review is bogus and nitpicky to a fault. If you love the original DaS, you'll love this game.
It has masterpiece and quality written all over it.
I can confirm there are performance issues, but not enough to derail what FROM have accomplished here.
LegendofLex
Member
You can say that in a review without factoring it into the score.
People shouldn't have a way to scope out whether they'll like a game before they buy it?
CrocMother
Banned
Outlier reviewer gets most discussion, as always. "8.9" syndrome at work
never say to not trust them at all, I just said.. fully.
never trust it fully, If the metacritic has a 90, its is because of something, no? if it has a 60, there should be some degree of reason about it.
I use it as a reference, not as my only reason, I never trust them fully. I find for myself with various ways (like checking gameplay) before I dig into a game, that's how I started here in the souls series and I absolutely love them.
Meanwhile, probably the best writer on Dark Souls, Rich Stanton, says, "Screw Uncharted 4, let's talk real games. I reviewed Dark Souls III for Eurogamer & it's kinda the ultimate Souls."
But let's all focus on that Polygon (of all places...) 7.
ViewtifulJC
Banned
Bloodporne
Member
Thanks for coddling me, it actually worked. I feel like you guys had to burp me with these statements.
My issue with warping from the get-go remains however. I really disliked it in Bloodborne even though I think the game is indeed a masterpiece and I absolutely loathed it in DS2. It's disruptive and feels like a cop-out whenever the interconnected world gets a tad too tricky, it's easy to toss a bonfire there and go 'eh alright then, level done'. I just got the impression based on quite a few impressions, including this review, that that is essentially the case here.
base shagohod
Member
😩️ Don't remind me
I have no idea what you're talking about. I just copied and pasted a post from Twitter, the point of which is that Rich Stanton, who constantly bashes Dark Souls II, called III "Kind of the Ultimate Dark Souls" while most of the discussion is focused on a less-than-stellar review from an outlet many on here profess not to like.
anyone missing the GT reviews should be glad, they will put soon (don't know if today) a DkS3 review in their new name, Easy Allies, check them on youtube
Robot Pants
Member
Ooof course polygon with that 7/10
KZXcellent
Member
Well the GameTrailers have reformed as the Easy Allies. They'll have a video review up later today.
With this game the levels are all physically connected to each other (with one exception, where there is a large gap but you can still see the other side). The difference with DS1 is that they aren't connected twice or three times. Instead you get the feeling of going on a long journey which is really quite cool, although different to the feeling you get in DS1, and you also mostly feel like there are 2 or 3 ways to go.
Same narrator? Pls say yes I love him.
Exatly the same crew apart from one or two. Same narrator, yes
KZXcellent
Member
check the Quatum Break review.. it's exactly like it was before
I felt Dark Souls II scored & reviewed too high because reviewers felt a bit overwhelmed by the post launch fan reaction of Dark Souls. I mean, Dark Souls II won quite a few more GOTY awards than Dark Souls I, even though very few would argue about it being a better game... Makes no sense to me, and just makes me think some outlets were making up for the fact they didn't give the first game more awards.
It must be scary to give a DkS game a bad review.
Review scores have trended down over the last few years, so the difference is completely explicable.
DS2 also performed better on consoles, but that's not that important here I guess. And it did do a fair number of important things better (IMO). There's definitely room for people to like DS2 more, and there were some that definitely thought that in the Unmarked Spoiler thread.
GAF is a fairly extreme outlier in terms of its negative response to DS2.
EDIT: And, yes, statistcal noise. With only 50 reviews or so, there's no reason to point out a few percent different as substantial.
Each game in the series emphasizes different design styles, and DS3 is more of this; it has by far the largest individual areas, tons of shortcuts, tons of verticality, branching paths within these areas, meaningful distances between bonfires (with a few that are back to back for logical reasons), and when you get up high on a tower you can see clearly how all these areas link together.
The cost of this is that the start of the game is fairly linear and major branching doesn't happen until the 3rd or 4th boss.
It's not the same as before, but on its own terms it is very good.
Personally, I would have preferred they introduce non-warping bonfires so that you can warp to some from start but not others, but could rest at those as checkpoints like the middle of Blighttown... But what they've done is just fine.
I can see 2 reasons about why:
- everyone was more hyped about DkS2 after coming from the masterpiece everyone loved in DkS1
- The franchise fatigue after DkS2 and BB could be playing a good part about it.
Karak
Member
Aside from Blighttown 2.0 in the swamp its pretty good. Not perfect but good.
Each bonfire has a proper name and picture in the select screen, like Dark Souls 2. I think it really helps develop the identity of sub-zones and regions that the broader splash screens don't.
All of the Souls games + Bloodborne have reviewed within the same general range. Minor differences in imprecise aggregates like Metacritic aren't particularly meaningful.
I thought
Upper Lothric Castle
Karak
Member
Didnt have any issues there. No where near as bad as the sudden death swamp.
60 to 12 is one of the worst drops I have ever seen.
What were you playing on?
robotzombie
Member
The problem is that the people who review games rarely tend to be the type of people who would notice or understand the technical and design differences that make the fan base like 2 less than the other games.
Same reason why DmC got the same/better reviews than other DMC games; on the surface level, it all just seems the same
Sword Of Doom
Member
Just play the game and stop worrying so much.
BennyBlanco
aka IMurRIVAL69
You'd be crazy to get the 30 fps console versions
The_Hitcher89
Member
By reviewer's accounts, DmC is different but still great afaik
By my account, DS2 is just worse than the other games in the franchise.
Bloodporne
Member
That's what I was initially hoping for, that we'd get SOME warp points which, while I'm not that into it I would totally see as a nice compromise. The fact that you can warp from every single one and there not being main 'gateway' ones or so only at the beginning of a major area is what really burns me on the concept. I suppose that system wouldn't work with the Firelink hub, but then again we already had an incredibly slick solution for this...take care of all your deeds at a bonfire. I just see it as them fixing a problem that was already solved beautifully.
Sanctuary
Member
They didn't overstate a lack of exploration. They stated that it wasn't necessary and that the areas don't have shortcuts that seem to make much sense. You need to go from point A to point B to progress, but if you want, you can visit points C, D and E in the meantime before getting back towards going to point B. I for one am going to explore every nook and cranny that I can, but it is a little disheartening to read that the world design is somewhat superfluous.
It sounds like the level designs are kind of like Demon's Souls (which is fine to me), although they realized that people really liked the way Dark Souls was laid out, so they decided to make each area its own, self-contained, interconnected land that's mostly disconnected from the rest of the world.
The frequency of the bonfires and the ability to warp to them allows for more intelligent enemy placement. Unless you're some kind of savant when it comes to Souls games, the feeling of, "Oh my god thank you," still happens frequently when you come across a bonfire.
How many times did you go to a bonfire, only to run past 99% of the enemies on the way to where you died or left off? With more bonfire warping, you're less compelled (and less able in some cases) to sprint past everything to get to where you were. Many enemies in DaS1 just kinda stood there so you had the option of running past them.
It's always been fairly superfluous. Finding the 2 entrances to the Valley of Drakes in DaS1 changed absolutely nothing about any of my non-specialized playthroughs.
You never have to use a bonfire warp outside of going back to Firelink. It's pretty interconnected.
TimeEffect
Member
That the world is more like Bloodborne and not connected like Dark Souls 1 is the most disappointing piece of information to me.
Such a unique and incredibly rewarding experience that they decided not to do at all this time around. To me, it was what made Dark Souls so special and different from Demon's Souls at the time. It's just really unfortunate.
I really hope that if a Bloodborne 2 is made, that it brings back Dark Souls 1 open world connectivity
Such a unique and incredibly rewarding experience that they decided not to do at all this time around. To me, it was what made Dark Souls so special and different from Demon's Souls at the time. It's just really unfortunate.
I really hope that if a Bloodborne 2 is made, that it brings back Dark Souls 1 open world connectivity