Story
If the trailers from E3 and Gamescom, and the word of Hidetaka Miyazaki himself, are anything to go by, the main theme of Dark Souls III is probably going to be fire, or anything else that has to do with flames and burning. It’s rather unsurprising, really, considering the fact that the bonfires have always played an integral part of the Dark Souls games.
In this third installment, however, players will be facing these giant beings called the Lords of Cinder. These Lords will take on the form of huge bosses and players will have to defeat them throughout the course of the game. Now, any Dark Souls fan might automatically assume that the Lord of Cinder we saw in the trailer might have been Gwyn, the final boss from the first game. After all, he even has the title ‘Lord of Cinder’ in his name. However, it should also be noted that a Lord of Cinder refers to anyone who has linked the flame, so it’s entirely possible that the story in Dark Souls III may revolve around the consequences of the character’s actions in the first game.
Considering that the Souls games have usually dealt with concepts like endless cycles and repetition, it seems plausible to think that we’ll be contending with the repercussions of the curse bearer’s actions in the past.
Gameplay
While the combat in Dark Souls III looks largely unchanged from that of its predecessors, it also looks a lot speedier, almost as if it’s taking a leaf out of Bloodborne’s book. While the classic sword and shield setup makes a return in this installment, the player character also moves a lot faster on her feet. From what we saw of the game at a hands-off demo during E3, the rolls and dodges feel swifter than in previous games, and that might be a good thing for the series.
In addition to that, Dark Souls III will also have yet another huge repertoire of weapons for players to collect and experiment with. Miyazaki also revealed that certain weapons would allow your character to enter a sort of ‘ready stance’. When in this stance, the character will be able to perform special actions such as a forward thrust or guard break against enemies. Some weapons can also be two-handed when in the ‘ready stance’. Not all weapons in the game will allow your character to enter the stance, however, so this will be an additional factor to consider when deciding what weapons to equip.
On a more technical level, Dark Souls III will run at 30fps. I thought I’d throw that out there, for those of you who care about the frame rate.
Exploration
We don’t really have a wholesome idea of exactly how big the world of Dark Souls III is going to be just yet, but going from the demo we saw at E3, it looks like everything you can see in the game will be open for exploration. In the demo, we got a quick look at Lodeleth, and the environment was filled with tall castles surrounding the player character and in the far distance. Miyazaki made sure to mention that that everything you saw around you would be available for exploration, and that you could enter any of the structures you came across in the game.
In-game collectibles will also receive an increased focus in Dark Souls III. Scattered throughout the game are gravestones that you can activate to unlock bits and pieces of the game’s lore and backstory. Seeing as how this game shares the same world as its predecessors, and the Souls games generally aren’t known for making their stories explicitly clear to the players, this little scavenger hunt in Dark Souls III could serve as a good reward for completionists who wish to uncover more of the game’s plot.
Multiplayer
Online co-op and PVP have always been integral to the Souls experience, and Dark Souls III is no different. The game will support up to 6 players in an online session as usual, but the difference is, Dark Souls III will also have dedicated servers for its online modes. Essentially, this is good news for fans that love playing online as this means we’ll get smoother connectivity and fewer issues in trying to join or host games.
While we haven’t received too many details on exactly how the online multiplayer will work in this third installment, it seems like some sort of in-game sacrificial ritual will be involved in traveling to different player worlds. The trailers have shown off fallen bodies around the environments and how the player character can use these bodies to perform ceremonies.
We don’t have anything concrete just yet, but it might be safe to assume that these sacrificial rituals will be key to invading other worlds and helping other players progress through the game.
Setting
Game director Miyazaki took care to mention that the world of Dark Souls III was one of “withered beauty” and that this third installment would deal with the inevitable apocalypse that threatened its existence. He describes the world’s sun as one that is “faded” and makes note of how the castles of Lodeleth are all decrepit and crumbling away.
And yet, if you’ve been paying attention to all the Souls games that have been released thus far, you’ll also notice that Miyazaki has an uncanny obsession with portraying elements of beauty in such grim settings. One of the bosses players will face in Dark Souls III is a being called the Dancer of the Frigid Valley. In spite of her frightening skeletal appearance, there’s also something ethereal about the way this boss moves and attacks.
The bosses in the Souls games have never been overly grotesque or deliberately distorted for shock value; in fact, some of the bosses in these games have even retained a sense of elegance and modesty. From everything we’ve seen of Dark Souls III so far, it is evident that Miyazaki wishes to take the concept of the apocalypse and illustrate an inner beauty that lies within. The early environments and designs that have been revealed are already looking good, and I can only imagine how spectacular the rest of the game will look when it’s finally ready for public eyes next year.
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