Dark Souls III... 6 Years Later

[@Retrovoider]

I've played 500 hours of Elden Ring so far, and with careful consideration I can say, in my opinion, Dark Souls 3 is still better.

[@KonnyKhaos]

I’ve put a lot of thought into this same thing, and for me I think it’s because I prefer the semi linear style.

[@Retrovoider]

@@KonnyKhaos same. Something about being able to run through the game with minimal time between bosses and not a ton of open nothingness just feels better.

[@Insp.CountMortisWinshipKlaw]

ER is the worst of the souls games because it has eliminated the prospect of being invaded, removed tension like trying to get to the next bonfire, destroyed the threat of losing your souls. I played Elden Ring half asleep most of the time. I never ever did that with previous souls games. ER may look spectacular but it is a borefest

[@lahunica2726]

No Elden Ring is vastly superior to ds3. DS3 is extremely uninspired, borrowing a lot from ds1 and Bloodborne in references and concepts, making it not as distinct as even ds2, and not as good as the games it takes inspiration from. The flaws go from the linear world design which makes following playthroughs repetitive, to nearly all enemies in the last part of the game being recycled, to mediocre areas especially in the first half, to half the bosses being either not good, giant guys in armors with similar features (flaming swords, magic arrows), to a more generic soundtrack than other games. There's other things to say about it, but the matter is ds3 is still an excellent game, but better than Elden Ring ? Absolutely no chance.

[@KonnyKhaos]

@@lahunica2726 You’re arguing something that is completely subjective.

[@SmoughTown]

I always loved Dark Souls 3; I found some pockets of lore to be superb, the gameplay was slick, the vistas were awesome and as you say it has the best boss fights. Twin Princes still lives in my head rent free and always will.

[@KonnyKhaos]

SMOUGHTOWN!!! Love your stuff man!

[@loladas9]

I feel the same about the princes. They aren't even hard or challenging, but there's just something about that fight that I Iove

[@SmoughTown]

@@KonnyKhaos Thanks Konny!

[@SmoughTown]

@@loladas9 Yeh exactly, it's just a good bit of storytellng and epic as hell

[@Maffo__]

The lore god has also incredibly based opinions on bosses, to the surprise of no one. Twin princes is amazing, OST too! I've been loving your long form lore videos on ER, keep up the great work man

[@johnathonlongtin2275]

I loved elden ring, my first playthrough lasted 130 hours, it’s was amazing. But it’s the first Fromsoftware game I havnt immediately started a new game+. What I did immediately do was play dark souls 3 again.

[@foster5819]

Probably because it was 130 hours.

[@KeimpeJ]

I did play Elden Ring again. With a complete other character. Certain areas that were easy at first are now hard.

[@ddipster9342]

@@KeimpeJ it’s so weird how much more I struggled on my second elden ring run than my first

[@KeimpeJ]

@@ddipster9342 Same here. I played a magical character the second time. Lucardia was hell. :D

[@darkdivergrandahl4913]

elden ring is definitely a flawed masterpiece....hate that oxymoron but its the best way ive heard it described. I have 6 toons and 2 are on ng+. ds3 was def one of my faves though....fucking beautiful.

[@tonybaker1268]

600+ hours for Elden Ring 1500+ hours for DS3 The build diversity in Elden Ring is amazing. The bosses in DS3 are my favorite.

[@internetinternet9610]

Holy shit how do you have so much free time

[@tonybaker1268]

@@internetinternet9610 no idea 😂 I work full time but I've played DS3 for years

[@JusticeforLiberty]

I agree , the bosses in ds3 are my favorite. Except for the nameless king , he is the worst boss every created. Zulie the witch proved his fight all comes down to RNG. He has several moves that can miss your hit box but you still take damage. On my last couple of play throughs , I just cheesed with the crossbow so he couldn't hit me with his dash or swipe attacks.

[@yamnbam4346]

@@JusticeforLiberty does he really? Are you talking about phase 1 or 2? Cause the second phase is a really smooth fight. The first phase is dogshit though. Edit: and Fire Giant or placidusax are easily worse imo

[@alexanderscott5492]

@@JusticeforLiberty I’m not sure that’s entirely true. I always have trouble with nameless, but when I finally get my head in the game, and I dodge through all his attacks, it’s really not hard

[@Gakusangi]

The Cathedral of the Deep is a fantastic bit of level design, how it all loops back to the same bonfire is very much in the spirit of that classic Miyazaki style. The only thing I hate about it... the enemy types and enemy placements there, which essentially turns the initial run of it into an unnecessary gauntlet rush. Otherwise, that areas design is rock solid.

[@theshekellord]

Cathedral of the Deep could have been one of the best areas in the game if it didn’t end with the lamest boss in the entire game.

[@Gakusangi]

@@theshekellord Oh yeah, it doesn't help that it culminates into a really bad gimmick boss. I almost forgot about the Deacons, they're such a non-entity XD

[@skinless5136]

Very frustrating to go through sometimes for me

[@Gakusangi]

@@skinless5136 Yeah, the roster of enemies in that area and where they've been put makes it hard to admire the layout.

[@TrueKivan]

Stuck there for 3 days now, love it. That first real shortcut after the bonfire at the doors is a real grinder, in like 40 attemps only managed to break through twice.

[@lordofcinder8884]

Came back to this game after elden ringand I have done 3 playthroughs immediately, the game is so addicting especially the bosses

[@rumplstiltztinkerstein]

There are some great mods that expand the game even more.

[@masterjenkins632]

Dancer was such a good boss fight, i felt like i was dancing with it as i was dodging

[@TooDeepForSleep]

its a perfect game

[@templarkid.]

The best bosses of the series indeed

[@sjsmmsms9245]

@@templarkid. I wouldn’t say that

[@ultimatewolfexists2378]

One thing I like about DS3 is that you truly do *become* better in the game. In other games the level upgrades and better weapons truly do carry you through late game. With DS3, after NG+++ I played a SL1 playthrough and was surprised how much easier it was than my first playthrough, because I improved.

[@poreba1153]

bo9 me.

[@popcornfilms1]

@@poreba1153 black ops 9

[@whatthediddle6859]

Not sure how you didn't get better when replaying the previous souls games, I've had a much different experience than you

[@sand_sand7304]

ELDEN RING ELDEN RING ELDEN RING ELDEN RING ELDEN RING ELDEN RING ELDEN RING ELDEN RING ELDEN RING ELDEN RING ELDEN RING ELDEN RING ELDEN RING ELDEN RING ELDEN RING ELDEN RING ELDEN RING ELDEN RING ELDEN RING ELDEN RING ELDEN RING ELDEN RING ELDEN RING ELDEN RING ELDEN RING ELDEN RING ELDEN RING ELDEN RING

[@OiMitch]

Was ds3 your first souls game?

[@paulroche7588]

I totally agree about the twin prince’s fight, that fight felt so incredible, the atmosphere, the music, the fight all incredible, and I’ll never forget my first time playing through, the phase change cut scene, when Lothric whispers in his brothers ear “raise if you would, for that is our curse” holy goosebumps

[@DannysMyNanny]

Twin princes fight definitely one of the best in the series. That and gael are probably my favorites in DS3

[@Lynxx52]

DS3 was my first souls game and even I felt the weight of the final boss and his accompanying song truly a masterpiece

[@SirEggo2412]

Plin plin plon😭😭😭

[@amauriherrera6022]

Well, that's just another callback to vets from DS1 the final boss of DS3 is Gael at the end of time, as it s the thematic culmination of what the overarching conflict of all 3 games, as well as the conflict of DS3.

[@Xenotypic]

final boss as in gael or soul of cinder? in my opinion, gael is the best video game boss fight of all time. great a e s t h e t i c s, incredible lore, good mechanics, just everything. not sure if gael could ever be topped, honestly.

[@Kenji-117]

​@@Xenotypicdont forget his soundtrack. ABSOLUTE PERFECT to play alongside the last fight between the last 2 humans.

[@tristinfrazier1687]

DS3 was my first playing introduction to a souls game. I played it co-op with my friend who I wasn't too close with at the time. After playing and beating the game w him I loved the game. Some of the best memories I've ever made. After beating the nameless king and all the DLC bosses we marathoned all the souls games. This game is a masterpiece and will remain with me forever. Just like every other souls game. Im glad I made the choice to play it.

[@ramrodbldm9876]

Awe did you end up marrying your bf?

[@ramrodbldm9876]

Did you end up meeting yout bf?

[@_Hierophant]

Did u kiss

[@matteodemaso8160]

My issue with Elden Ring is the pacing. DS3 is my favorite game of all time and huge part of that is its replay value. I can easily go through the entire game in less than a fifth of the time it takes me to complete ER. This allows me to make many more builds to experiment with in PvP. A great balanced experience that everyone must try. I’m still waiting for that Dark Souls 3 2!

[@AtreyusNinja]

Im sorry did u Just Said that ds3 have a good replayability and also good builds?

[@LyllianaofMirrah]

truly. mid level PvP encourage a far more diverse build compare to meta one.

[@scotaloo77g73]

@@AtreyusNinja Elden Ring's replayability is horrible because of the boss design. They barely allow the player to use their build since bosses are so fast and aggressive the overwhelming majority of the fight will be nothing but roll spam.

[@AtreyusNinja]

@@scotaloo77g73 yes i'm totally fine with what have u just said, is the same thing i noticed since my first experience, but as well cuz the massive open world, i enjoy trying to do much as i can, take it slowly, trying to find every "secrets" around, is what i did from my first experience and i would never repeat something like that, instead, i can do that in theyr old games

[@ivanchaki372]

@@scotaloo77g73 that's a you problem chief

[@tommapar]

One thing to keep in mind, whilst the progression is semi-linear (I compare it to Resident Evil games, in which you hit a lock door, go back to the fork in the road, head the opposite direction, and get the key for said door) the levels in in of themselves are all but linear. They have verticality, branching paths, loop-around shortcuts and all that good shit people expect from Dark Souls level design.

[@Walamonga1313]

Yeah I love this aspect of Souls too. I'm a huge RE fan so I love that semi linear progression, not a fan of true open worlds

[@the4given196]

thats what i think is disappointing about elden ring. everyone always gets annoyed at swamps and too open areas, but this is liek 90% of elden rings map. the only areas in true soulslike style are stormveil, raya lucaria,mount gelmir, lyendell castle, the dragon place (cant remember the name rn) and the haligtree. and at least imo only stormveil comes close to the better ones of ds3. lothric castle, cathedral of the deep, irithil, grand archives + dlc locations all overshadow the ones in er. and these areas arent even really connected to the open world. stormveil can only be entered from margit boss fight, raya can only be entered from the elevator, mount gelmir can only be entered through a hidden wall and by using the abductor and cheesing your way into the actual area, lyendell can only be entered from the bossfight with the weird cavalry boss, the dragon area can only be entered by teleport and the haligtree can also only be entered by teleport. its not like they made an openworld envirement that has the same feeling as the old soulslike areas, theyve jsut done an old soulslike area and put it into the open world without connecting it more than necessary.

[@ryzae6202]

Right. Just because you can't play the levels in any order doesnt mean the levels themselves are linear. I like that it maintains the difficulty curve The swamp is a giant loop and in the center in an optional mini-boss that if you break his tail he has an optional animation and its hilarious.

[@neamraven]

Yeah, DS3 has the best world in the series. People who say it has the worst world are either parrots or don't know what they're talking about.

[@thaearthquake]

@@the4given196 it’s almost like… it’s an open. world. game?? You just hate ER, and that’s fair but to say the level design of the legacy dungeons are worse than DS3? You sound delusional 😂

[@adamyohan]

I haven't finished the video yet (15mins in), but I enjoy the pacing of the video and the voice over. Many people don't realize how important these are to keep the audience engaged.

[@BroonDad]

I’ve beat ds3 probably close to 100 times by now, I’m level 600 something on my main, beat it with no armor and only a katana, a dagger only run, and I could still play it right now and have a blast, idk what they did to make it so fun but it’s got me locked down

[@jingle_boy]

I only got this game a few weeks ago, but I’ve already put over 70 hours into it across multiple characters, and am currently looking for new challenge runs to do

[@jinougawithchocolate9329]

@@jingle_boy I've never had the urge to immediately replay a game as much as with ds3, it's insane lmao. I'm currently on my 5th playthrough and doing sl1 and at the twin princes on it. I literally beat the game twice with the dlc within like 3 days, I'm absolutely hooked.

[@DietBajaBlast]

100 times? wtf you are missing out on a world of amazing games. I hope that 87th time beating deacons was worth it.

[@BroonDad]

@@DietBajaBlast I’ve played about everything I’ve ever wanted to, ds3 is my 2nd favorite game ever made and I was playing it like 3 days ago

[@goldeneagle987]

I can't believe it's been 6 years already. It feels like yesterday on my 16th birthday when I got this game as my first souls game. I remember dying to Gundyr at least 30 times lol.

[@wolf1nsoul]

Thank you for finally making a retrospective on DS3 Thrust! I know that many SoulsBorne fans criticise it due to being similar to DS1...But this game honestly means so much to me and is still my favorite FromSoftware game (excluding Sekiro). The OST, faster gameplay, builds, lore, loot varriety, level design, characters, THE FREAKING BOSSES?! I feel like From haven't toped themselfs ever since DS3 came out - Gael, Midir, Nameless, Twin Princess, Champion Gundyr, Abyss Watchers, Sister Friede, Dancer etc. The bosses are the perfect combination of top tier design, OST, and lore. Glad you're enjoyed it so much❤️

[@evn556]

Yes dude. There’s just something about Ds3, including all that you listed, that remains untouched and intoxicating. Something so special there.

[@Don_Fucius]

Agreed! The boss fights in this game are my favourite boss fights in any game ever made.

[@lahunica2726]

Although bosses you named are great, there are things I don't like about ds3 bosses. Half of them are bad or mediocre, especially in the first half of the game so half the bosses. The popular bosses are pretty much giant guys in armors, using at some point a fire sword and magic arrows, obviously referencing ds1 bosses (Priscilla, Gwyn, Seath, Gwyndolin) and using for most of them epic soundtracks with some of them being as generic as possible. It's like the game can't live outside ds1's shadow. Ds3 doesn't have as much variety in boss encounters that ds1 brought, even if it wasn't always well executed but at least there was variation and surprises. Not even mentionning that Bloodborne already did better bosses before and Sekiro and Elden Ring did better bosses after.

[@the4given196]

@@lahunica2726 elden ring didnt do better bosses tho (cant talk about sekiro and bloodborne havent played them). a fight like malenia will never be as fun as something liek gael or twin princes, because the lategame bosses in elden ring feel overpowered. in ds 3 i want to play through the game with different builds jsut to fight gael again. in elden ring i see myself going back to the meta after i fight morgott (the last truly good fight in er imo), because i dont feel like the bosses are rewarding with themed builds.

[@lahunica2726]

@@the4given196 I find Placidusax, Godfrey, Maliketh, Morgott, Radahn, Godrick, Mohg better to fight than Gael and Twin princes.

[@mbh9566]

My favorite Souls game regardless of its issues. Each game in the series has issues. Dark Souls for example has a seemingly rushed second half. Part 3 has the best bosses in my opinion and also feels the most polished. All that being said, it’s the only one that I haven’t Platinum’d yet… someday.

[@weaponizedautism3269]

Let me guess All miracles trophy is missing?

[@mbh9566]

@@weaponizedautism3269 Nope, I’m missing the ‘Master of Rings’ Trophy. I haven’t grabbed the NG++ only rings yet.

[@marvjrb0531]

Use Heavy Armor, use Vordt's Great Hammer. Use Fap ring,Wolf Ring, estus ring, Havel's ring. Level up - strength,vigor, vitality, endurance Look up a checklist for 107 rings Play till grand archives ng++

[@nextnash14]

Haven’t got platinum either because I need like 30 proof of a concord kept

[@reesespieces8173]

I don't really get the idea that DS3 is somehow NOT the best Souls game. It clearly is in pretty much every single way. DS1 is awesome but DS3 BLOWS it out of the water. How is any other opinion real? DS3 is a near flawless masterpiece.

[@MissChambers]

I actually much preferred 3 to 1 for the combat system. I don’t really have the nostalgia for 1 since I was 12 when it came out, and because I played ER and DS3 before DS1, the age really showed for me. And that’s not because I don’t play old games, I loved Bioshock and RE4.

[@oyelaking]

Yeah. I think nostalgia is a very potent factor. I also don’t have that nostalgia factor as DS3 was the first soulsborne game I played; then BB, followed by Sekiro. DS3 is the one I love most, and I think this is because of 2 reasons: DS3 made me fall in love with FromSoft games, and it helped me get through a very difficult phase of my life. I actually tried playing DS1 and 2 and just couldn’t get into them. I think I am just gonna have to wait till they remake the game like they did Demon Souls.

[@Walamonga1313]

I don't have nostalgia for DkS1 either because my first Souls was Demon's. To me DkS1 never felt like discovering fire (pun not intended), because I already found it with Demon's. DkS3 on the other hand, is still my fav FromSoft game to this day. My most played by far.

[@iHaveTheDocuments]

Yeah I played 3 before 1 and it feels absolutely ancient. Without nostalgia it's hard to ignore.

[@indrast5203]

I mean it had more time to get refined.

[@whaleshey]

i played ds3 first and then ds1, and ds1 is still my favorite of all their games

[@trissy2446]

Still my favorite game from FS. Absolutely beautiful, so Damn fun and had the most replayability to me.

[@smoker5989]

I thought people said DS2 has the best replayability and DS3 was so linear.

[@t0q14s9]

@@smoker5989 the linearity is what makes it so replayable for me. The best thing about open world games is the exploration but when you already know where everything is it just feels like the world is really littered.

[@lewanbroski504]

@@t0q14s9 same I love how linear it is and you just make your way to the next boss no fucking around do or die. Elden ring was great but I love ds3

[@Yive.]

the perfect game for me

[@T--wg7qc]

This was my first souls game and also the first multi-player game I ever owned. Had some great times figuring it all out. I still remember this dude in pontiff who showed me the ropes and taught me of the etiquette. This dude basically trained me, it was a great experience. I never talked to him or got his gamertag though, it was all through emotes. I think of him everytime I run into a noob in elden ring and hope I can train them as he trained me. I'm not that good but I have trained a couple noobs and it feels good.

[@zainkhan69420]

DS3 Characters and questlines were top tier. Hawkwoods redemption from being a crestfallen coward, Grierats yearning for adventure and meaning and Siegward's promise to yhorm just to name a few. Elden Ring didn't really have this level of questline and character quality, except for Diallos and Alexander who were great.

[@buggy5079]

I liked Ranni and sellen personnaly, Ranni quest was super interesting, learning the lore around the eternal cities and rannis motivations for wanting to destroy the golden order (she wants to have free will) Sellen quest was great because of the lore, a lot of lovecraftian vibes, she becomes an abomination in search for knowledge

[@mingQWERTY]

I do think that Ranni's, Fia's and the Volcano Manor's questlines deserve to be on that list. There's just so much content in them and it's great to explore more of the factions and their motives. I do agree with your statement on DS3 characters and questlines. Hawkwood is probably one of my favourite characters in the trilogy. A problem I have with Elden Ring's questlines is how it doesn't give you any direction. The system works in DS3 because the game is much smaller and linear. FromSoft already have markers in the game for NPCs and important locations so why not give them to every questlines? They also used a genius idea in the form of glowing messages (with Varre) but never used it again. I think that could be a substitude for any markers because it tells you where to go but you still need to explore and find the place.

[@gogetathestrongestfusion]

Thinking about it Sigward and Alexander characters are very similar

[@Chaoblahippo]

u forgeting ranni, millecent , and many more

[@Rektz31]

ds3 questlines are just reskin ds1 questlines you probably played ds3 before ds1

[@mk_games_official]

Ive finished Elden Ring and now playing again DS3..and...I love it more than never before! Wow im soo hyped to beat it again (after 6 yrs I bateley remember anything)

[@DownwardThrust]

Enjoy brother

[@luigivercotti6410]

1 question, guys; How come does _no-one_ seem to mention that the linearity of ds3 enforces the theming and the message of the entire trilogy? Like, is it not obvious? Dark Souls has many themes; The relationship of Man and God, respecting your enemy, jolly cooperation, and stalwartness in the face of despair. But above all, it is a rumination on death. The inevitable. Just like how in an open-ended game like ds1, you start "running out of options" towards the finale, making it increasingly clear that you can't put off finishing the game forever; Ds3, does the same for the entire series. It is the finale of the entire series. It _starts_ already closed in on itself because it is the very end of all things, and there's nothing Man or God alike can do to hold it off any longer. If ds1 pictures the last days of the world, afraid, but by fear revitalised; And ds2 draws the world's very last dream, in a way alien, in another uncannily familiar, and ominous to no end; Then ds3 is the last few seconds between drawing one's last breath and the end. It is a place of acceptance. It is when fear finally fades, and gives way to this strange serene sensation, cast like the night sky upon a lifetime's worth of bitter-sweetness. As the very last bombastic boss theme gives its last gasp, it is already too late. Those transition chords feel like going through a portal, crossing an event horizon whose complete inescapability makes it into its own peculiar world, one that lasts only a moment but feels real and yet somehow separate, detached from everything else. You can rest, now. Finally, it is all over. The fight seems to still be going but you and the world both know it's a foregone conclusion. There is no more room for fear. There is no more energy for defiance. There are no more tears to shed, and no more sparks to fly. All there is, is just enough time, to say goodbye... . . . _"But one day, tiny flames will dance across the darkness._ _Like embers, linked by lords past._ _Ashen one, hearest thou my voice, still?"_

[@dullhaus6536]

Underrated comment

[@thaearthquake]

Sure people can see those themes but it doesn’t make it any less redundant considering the first game (and second to a degree) already said all of that. Like when you get that deep you can make anything sound purposeful. “The lack of poise in DS3 supports the idea that our hero is weaker now than the heroes that have come before, but they must do what is right for the world no matter how difficult.” just a quick example. Throw in “the lands are converging” and bam they got their out to make any convoluted plot point “make sense” for the narrative and throw in as much fanservice as they want. Don’t take this as me coming at you or anything, I just see a lot of people waxing lyrically about the themes not like fans aren’t getting it.. it just isn’t that resonant after hearing it again.

[@luigivercotti6410]

@ThaEarthquake Well, you know, when people get emotional like that when talking about a thing, they're generally not doing it as a debate tactic. It may or may not help with that, but the main reason is that they seek some way to externalise their feelings and experience with said thing. I can assure you, my maudlin overblown writings are 100% genuine. And it is true what you say, a keen enough writer could potentially make a convincing argument about anything by tugging on people's heartstrings. That's just how art works; You win if you make the other guy care, no matter how you do it. But then again... I'm not a skilled writer. I'm not even halfway decent in prose, and poetry is just out of the question. So if my piece were to resonate with someone, I can tell it would not be because I used some writing magic to change their mind and confuse their heart. It would have to be that they had a similar experience, and can rejoice in it being expressed, no matter how abhorrently, or in what crooked prose. I've noticed people do tend to appeal to emotion more often when talking about Dark Souls than other games. To my mind, that is more a signifier of the series' quality rather than of its absence in its' fans' arguments. And yes, like I said, the first game and the second already do this. In fact, if you think about it, almost every game does this. But choosing to enforce the idea and make the game aggressively linear in spite of established formula is a conscious choice, and I can trust FromSoft's level designers of all people wouldn't just go with it because they're lazy or incompetent. Sometimes a good artistic choice requires you to expose yourself to technical criticism and to be accused of "taking the easy way out". Generally, a series' first installment (book, game, anything) is made to be self-sufficient with simple but powerful writing, and because of that it often outshines its descendants. But I played ds3 first, and on my first playthrough, as a complete newcomer to the series and completely unaware of the lore, that ending still hit me like a ton of bricks. Redundancy is kind of the point in a finale, innit? I mean, if you actually believe in your statement, you're gonna have to affirm it in the end. Sure, it opens you to being called a predictable hack, but that is the price of having an earnest opinion. Of course, being redundant without being boring is a challenge, but it's not impossible. In the end, most people do prefer the first game, and I can't deny its technical superiority, but niches can nest. Even as a fan of the series in general, each game is its own acquired taste. In ds1 you have to put up with lots of jank and with cumbersome and nonflowing combat. In ds2 you have to put up with the fact you're playing ds2. And in ds3 you have to put up with the linear design, dumbed down combat (that feels better though) and the straightforward nature of the story. In any case, if you can put up with these things, it is absolutely worth it. I did not write my comment as an intellectual thinkpiece, it's an opinion in which I truly believe and reflects my true feelings on ds3. It's fine to disagree with it or not see where it's coming from though.

[@jacobvaness975]

the cathedral actually does have an optional path. you can teleport to the painted world and then after completing the final boss of the DLC you have an option to warp to the ringed city DLC. it is a dead end path however it is another path

[@devindalton4688]

That's dlc dude, that's not an optional path, lol. It's an npc interaction that opens up additional content that you paid for that wasn't part of the base game, it hardly qualifies.

[@kylemalone1263]

@@devindalton4688 In my opinion this game review was still biased for the simple fact it's not ds1

[@anonisnoone6125]

@@kylemalone1263I don't get what ur saying.

[@kevinhadap6463]

Glad you mentioned the mechanics. One of my biggest frustrations with Elden Ring is that all the calm and controlled manner with the button inputs goes right out the window. I'm not sure what it is, but at least on my main install / gaming rig (PC) button presses are just dropped altogether. And I don't mean buffering. I mean, straight up when I want to roll (not queued during another action - like if I'm sitting there, patiently waiting to time a roll, and press roll) - it sometimes just doesn't fire. If anything, Elden Ring has encouraged me to button mash to ensure I can get an action to go, and then button mash some more to override queues... all because sometimes the buttons inputs are just not accepted. This NEVER happened in Dark Souls 1-3. Not sure if it's the new engine or what, but I know it's going to be hard to go back to the reliable button presses of Dark Souls 3.

[@Budd631]

I loved this game. I platinumed Demons Souls, DS1-3, Bloodborne, Sekiro and Elden Ring, too. The OST, the bosses, quest lines, fashion, builds. The game just “works”. The DLC as a whole package was a great send off.

[@superninjapirate19]

I really hope that FromSoft does not abandon the more linear approach of DS and Bloodborne. The fact that they were not open world was really refreshing to me. I’m not hating on elden ring, I just can’t dedicate the time required to play such a massive game.

[@Walamonga1313]

Same. I did 100% Elden, twice actually, but it gets old before you even beat the first playthru. At one point I literally just rode with the horse collecting items not fighting anything because I couldn't be bothered to

[@MrTheDarkKnightFan]

Really exhausted with the amount of Open world games since GTA 5. Linear games are so good & much more story focused.

[@hodir1914]

Sounds like a you problem. Not to hate on you, but criticizing Fromsoft for doing something new with their formula and call the linear approach refreshing is a little bit strange in my eyes. Like they have made 6 linear games before this one.

[@TC70]

@@hodir1914 because elden rings design for story and sidequests function like linear dark souls quests, but they are in an open world Elden ring as a first entry into open world for fromsoft is poor, everything it does right, dark souls 3 or prior games did first, and everything unique about it is done poorly or done better by other games.

[@matthewsmithers8273]

@@TC70 tf you mean poorly done

[@johnyoung8745]

As an og demon’s souls player, ds3’s linearity, more frequent bonfires and teleporting to areas is actually a strong positive. I never beat dark souls 1 and not because the combat was hard (as I said I beat and loved DeS) but the getting lost unsure of where to go and long treks from same bonfire that just made me give up on dark souls 1. DS3 takes care of those issues with more clear guiding without hand holding, better distinct areas in the same zone and the teleporting makes soul farming more viable a strategy.

[@Walamonga1313]

As another og Demon's Souls player, I loved DkS3. I prefer the pacing and the gameplay is so tight and smooth, music so cool, bosses so fun... DkS1 is a good game but I never found it to be legendary. I still think Demon's Souls was the better experience, even if DkS1 is the better game with more content and mechanics/polish

[@mrbobert6312]

I actually found myself returning to DS2 and 3 much more than DS1. I just felt like they were both much more unique than 1 and kept me more intrigued.

[@chadwolf3840]

DS1 was the GOAT- you aren’t wrong. But DS3 was a near masterpiece itself. If they’d have tightened level design a bit for DS3 it’d have been the GOAT.

[@rigorm136]

Ds3’s level design is very tight it’s just that the world itself is very linear but in my opinion that’s not an issue because the levels themselves are quite well thought out and still have very good shortcuts, for example the cathedral of the deep and it’s looping shortcuts or how the path from the corvian village links back to friede’s church through the basement.

[@seedcoconut]

This is my first souls game (I had sekiro before ds3 but thats a whole other thing) and I bought it on sale on xbox and its amazing.

[@erikhendrickson59]

The Abyss Watcher is one of the best boss-fights in any game, ever. Also worth noting is that the Bonfire is *_very_* close to the boss arena, allowing newer players very little frustration for repeated attempts.

[@Bolt2049]

Only real problem with the Watchers fight imo are the three or so darkwraiths fighting the ugly Farron monstrosities right in front of the boss door, not a huge problem but they will clip you easily if you try to run through

[@Bolt2049]

But apart from that yeah the best early game fight in DS3 no doubt

[@masson5775]

@@Bolt2049you can run to the right side of the way up to the boss and there are only two poisonous enemies there that you can easily run by and get to the arena with no trouble

[@Bolt2049]

@@masson5775 tysm for replying dude, I already know that since I've beaten the game 3 times so far in the year or so since I first played it. I just mentioned that comment from a new player's perspective, the runback is just a slight annoyance of course, nothing serious.

[@Vman_95]

Sister Fredie, Nameless king and slave knight Gael bosses are also close to bonfire 🔥

[@jakubpuawski3875]

for me, ds3 was the first FromSoft game I've played, so I never had to fight nostalgia for ds1 and it does remain my favourite From game to this day (Elden Ring has some amazing moments, but also many problems). I appreciate you changing your mind on it, I really believe that it is Souls formula refined to perfection - ER couldn't have been that for obvious reason (open world).

[@kendrickleibenguth1154]

Is this a scam or no because I got it to

[@jakubpuawski3875]

@@kendrickleibenguth1154 Im gonna let you figure this one on your own :D

[@Rivr_Shen]

Linearity is not inherently bad. A lot of games put you on one path that you can't deviate from. Obviously Dark Souls got progressively more and more linear, but I think that strengthened the gameplay and the world-building, in DS3 especially.

[@bartagame_3070]

"Linearity is not inherently bad" Finally a sane Person

[@c.l.a.u.d.e]

Premise is true, but it doesn't apply to an RPG such as this. Even BB had a more linear progression than FROM's previous titles, yet didn't sink as low as barely having any optional content. Even Sekiro could have gone fully linear and still decided to offer an entirely optional Hirata Estate and three post-Blazing Bull branching paths.

[@Rivr_Shen]

@@c.l.a.u.d.e the optional content in DS3 is far more extensive than BB. Archdragon Peak, Smoldering Lake, and Untended Graves all have decent to amazing bosses, and offer great exploration. Yes one is a copy paste of the starting area, but it serves to tell the story of the best opening boss in the series. As for choice in progression, you have options, just not ones that are as impactful. You could go beat Wolnir first and save a bit of time, or go to the Cathedral and get the doll first. You can choose to take down Yhorm first for an easier start to get the ball rolling, or take down Aldrich to get him out of the way. You could even clear out Lothric before Farron Woods. I don't know why people don't realize you can do Lothric Castle first.

[@Rivr_Shen]

You can go up until Grand Archives, at least.

[@c.l.a.u.d.e]

@@Rivr_Shen Both Smouldering Lake and Untended Graves are mediocre at best: the former is a large empty field with some extension of the catacombs you've already gone through underneath, it presents the great number of exactly 1 (ONE) new enemy, the Demon Cleric, and its related machine gun-like gimmicks; while the latter is simply the tutorial with some new additions, none of which you haven't seen before, and a completely pointless invasion that awards no drop at all. Archdragon Peak is ok, but they had to throw a bad gimmick into the mix, otherwise it wouldn't be a DS3 area. ALL and I mean ALL early game choices are an illusion: it doesn't matter if you clear Lothric Castle first or/and the Cathedral of the Deep first, you HAVE to go through these areas anyway and the same applies to going first to Anor Londo or to the Profaned Capital. Doing Lothric Castle as early as possible is also entirely pointless, as you won't find the 6 Titanite Shards needed to get your weapon to +3, making all successive rewards useless until the Undead Settlement is cleared, and both the Miracle Tomes and Boss Souls require the exploration of said area to be put to use. And the best part is that you can't even complete the castle itself, because entering the Royal Archives requires all the other Lords of Cinders to be defeated for a key to appear out of the blue.

[@joelaugustin6407]

The ratio of game time to fun bosses is so high in DS3 compared to Elden ring and the other souls games. I haven't played demon souls or Bloodborne mind you, but I think that's the thing that keeps bringing me back to DS3 over the years. Elden ring is a beautiful game that's amazing to experience at least once, but only a few of the unique bosses stuck out to me. I'm not sure why.

[@DownwardThrust]

Thanks for watching! All gameplay recorded on PC, with Incandescent Reshade Use code POGDOWN120 for $120 off across 5 boxes at strms.net/DownwardFactor #ad TIMESTAMPS 0:00 Introduction 1:20 Game Design 20:05 Combat & Difficulty 33:22 Late Game & DLC 46:21 Conclusion

[@kendrickleibenguth1154]

Hey there is someone using your name for a PC give away thing and I was wondering if that is actually you or is it a scam

[@tomascruz1353]

It’s funny but I played dark souls 3 too, this weekend and Oh boy, I’m having a blast with the bosses, the thing is that it feels like a duel unlike in elden ring, where you have to wait minutes until the boss is done with their combos, just like in the end game of er, I love ER, but dark souls 3 has my favorite boss fights: abyss watchers, pontiff, friede, gael, dragon slayer armor, dancer, demon prince, midir, twin princess, naneless king, champion gundyr, omg, what a line up

[@Insp.CountMortisWinshipKlaw]

ER is a spectacular looking borefest

[@notheccs8974]

@@BBQcheese minutes is an exaggeration but for me bosses like margit are kind of bullshit with his 10+ hit combos and input reading

[@martinsergo6108]

@@BBQcheese even if you think Margit is easy and provides plenty of consistent openings (fair I guess), it's a lot harder to extend that courtesy to Morgott, Malekith, radagon (to a lesser extent maybe) and especially Malenia with her bullshit waterfowl dance and 20 second clone move in phase two. Not only do they go on forever in some cases, the windows for getting in damage are inconsistent since the recovery time from an attack is so high and the bosses have optional extensions for some combos that can't reasonably be predicted. It seems like a lot of the late game bosses in particular are just built around summoning becasuse they're unreasonably hard if you choose to fight them one on one. Getting hits in for ds3 feels so much more consistent, even with an ultra. I love ER but it's bosses are a huge step down from ds3 and Sekiro. The exploration and visuals are the parts that stand out much more.

[@tomascruz1353]

@@BBQcheese maliketh, malenia, hoarax lux, dragonlord, even margit, I recommend you to watch joseph anderson review on elden ring

[@harlanschafer8287]

on your too many tree in swamp complaint, when i first played it i didn't realize what i needed to do at first until i climbed up the bridge to the stray demon and noticed them fire towers poking out over the forest. ended up being a cooler discovery of the puzzle for me

[@calvin624]

It's heavily implied that Farron Swamp is Oolacile, or the Dark Root Garden from the first game, so it makes sense for there to be an abundance of trees.

[@LoveFactoryParties]

the editing and general quality of the production in this video is so on point

[@mt2r-music]

The feeling of defeating a boss for the first time in DSIII is something no other game can recreate.

[@ppnfilms3532]

@Boulderbruh323 lmao exactly

[@kapoink835]

@Boulderbruh323 Dark souls III has the best bosses of the series by far. And I don't mean individual bosses, but bosses as a whole. Ds3 has way less gimmicky fights than the previous games, and the fights are always fair no matter what unlike in ER. The average boss fight quality is highest in Ds3 by far.

[@kapoink835]

@Boulderbruh323 I said the older games are more gimmicky, and Elden Ring is more unfair. Read my comment again if you're having trouble.

[@jbtakedown23]

@Boulderbruh323 crystal sage isn't gimmicky its a gank fight. Yhorim, wholnir and deacons were the only 3 fight in the entire game that were gimmics. 3/24 bosses being gimmicks imo makes a ton of sense. That being said I can say i only really loved roughly 15-20 fights in elden ring out of 100+. The ratio in ds3 is by far the best.

[@jesterdayplays771]

I think this means you started playing Soulsborne with DSIII. DSIII was my second Soulsborne game, and Iudex Gundyr was already down in the first ten minutes on my first try, not really a remarkable experience at all for me. I defeated most of the bosses in the game in my second or third tries, I even defeated some of them on my first like Gundyr. If you are talking about bosses in general, there were some standing out yes. Abyss Watchers, Pontiff Sulyvahn, Dancer of the Boreal Valley, Twin Princes, Nameless King, most of the DLC bosses were good fights. But I wouldn't say the same for Curse-Rotted Greatwood, Crystal Sage, Deacons of the Deep, High King Wolnir, Old Demon King, Yhorm the Giant, etc. I think half the bosses in DSIII is boring and forgettable.

[@Makszi]

DS3 is my fave game of all time. It refined and purified the DS experience and closed the loop on open threads of story from previous Souls. Almost perfect in my experience. It's only contender is other Souls games and Elden ring

[@the.bloodless.one1312]

DS3 is my favourite in the trilogy. Specifically for the atmosphere, the colour. The world feels so cold, I could almost feel the cold on my skin when I think about that world.

[@cosmiclikesminecraft]

Genuine question, what colour, that’s my biggest problem with the game is how the areas all blend together, in all the other games, you can show my like a random zoomed in part of an area I can instantly tell where I am on colour palette alone. Without that brilliant vibrance the games areas all blended together, and the game generally lacked the stunning vistas of say, Shulva, Demon ruins and Heide’s tower of flame. DLC 2 showing you the beautifully twisted and warped ringed city was the closest it came. While I do love all 3 equally for different reasons the areas of DS3 have always held the game back for me, I can see merits in all of Miyazaki’s games to the point that I can’t pick a favourite tbh

[@-opus]

DS2 for its complexity, creativity, replayability and 3 good DLCs

[@the.bloodless.one1312]

@@cosmiclikesminecraft I mean DS2 is defs the most colourful, I guess I mean the colour shading, I don’t know I’m talking with my emotions there’s no logic to it 😂 but ya I’ve always felt an emotional connection to the areas in DS3. Might also be the excellent ambiences in the sound design that imprinted themselves on the environments for me. Spent hours just standing around the Road of Sacrifices with my headphones on listening to those ambiences

[@the.bloodless.one1312]

@@cosmiclikesminecraft when I say colour I don’t mean to imply colourful. Just that the colours and colour shades used evoke a coldness for me that I resonate with. A game could have a limited colour pallet and still be visually engaging I think at least. I mean look at Bloodborne, that games got like 2 colours lol but they’re well used.

[@cosmiclikesminecraft]

@@the.bloodless.one1312 you know what fair enough. I’ve spent a lot of time jsut vibin with the fair lady/the bottom of blight town

[@CharlieKellyEsq]

Dark souls 3 is easily the most polished and best experience of any souls game; due to it's linearity. It isnt even close really. The upgrade materials are locked behind difficult challenges, and the guidance towards the player is so incredibly well done. It's the only souls game that was neither too easy or too frustrating throughout the entire playthrough.

[@geordiejones5618]

Nah if it's polish then Sekiro is king hands down. It presents the clearest narrative, tells a fairly intimate story, showcases a beautiful setting and has by far the cleanest gameplay of their output, and I say this as a Bloodborne and Elden Ring junkie.

[@Lead1121]

Darksouls 1 holds a special place in my heart and I played it AFTER my first bloodsouls game (bloodborne). Bloodborne is beyond my favorite and I think the best game/story. I love the feel of DS3 for sure but not my favorite

[@sasaki999pro]

Bloodborne is the souls combat refined to perfection and its a shame that later games abandoned what made it work, I cant believe Rally is not a mandatory staple mechanic of the subgenre at this point, you should atleast be able to get a ring(Talisman = Elden Ring) that enables the function as a starting gift, and locking the feature behind end game progression merely exasperates the issue instead of solving it. Also not having the ability to swap spells out of your inventory freely like your weapons is so asinine. And I have still yet to see a souls magic meter that is superior to the "Quicksilver Bullets" system.

[@evn556]

Bloodborne was my least favorite souls game personally. Ds3 /DS1 tied for best games of all time.

[@LuM4rex]

I'm not trying to be smelly, I finished bloodborne yesterday, and to be honest, hand on heart, I don't understand the hype. The game is good when it comes to the uniqueness of the world setting, design and character speed. Especially tricky weapons. But the bosses weren't nearly as good, except for the DLC. In some cases, if you're a Lovecraft fan, you should really like it, but for me it's still below DS1/3 and Sekiro, ahead of games like DS2/ER/DeS

[@Lead1121]

@@LuM4rex To each there own, just like I think Sekiro is the worst out of all of them. Just personal opinions I guess. which is fair

[@Walamonga1313]

I used to have BB at the top but in time its flaws just brought it down to around 3rd spot (prob tied with Elden). DkS3 and Sekiro are just super consistent quality wise, whereas BB has some questionable bosses and mechanics. That said, BB DLC is still my fav and Ludwig probably my favourite boss ever in any game.

[@danielpayne7194]

Personally, Farron Keep is one of my favourite areas in the whole FromSoft series. Archdragon Peak I dislike but Nameless King I love. Well, phase 2.

[@seandevlin4059]

After Elden Ring, I realized that DS3 was far more enjoyable to me. I think that the linearity plays a major role.

[@JohnSmith-mc2zz]

Dark Souls 1 and 2 have the best worlds and they don't feel linear. DS1 is especially not linear.

[@SaintsFan09-z3s]

Just run to the main dungeons then

[@rogofos]

dark souls 3 feels almost designed for an sl1 challenge a suspicious amount of things can be barely wielded by an sl1 character (such as power within - a powerful late game spell that for some reason only requires 10 int and 10 faith) and a suspicious amount of attacks will barely not oneshot an sl1 character (if you use Lloyds shield ring, the dancer will literally only have one attack that can oneshot you - the grapple)

[@bohanxu6125]

Ds3 buffer feels very good for the most part, but it works weird with shield. If you hold shield and try to roll an income attack and rolled too late, you will first get staggered while blocking with you shield, and then roll after the stagger finished. This is just super clunky. The dev should either give a way to cancel a buffer (like with movement) or automatically cancel all buffered action when the player is staggered.

[@pdcandis]

Yesterday I beat the dlcs for the first time, it was amazing.

[@lucam.m]

Great video, I recently completed the game for the first time and absolutely loved it. Definitely one of the best games ever.

[@canadiangopnik7007]

The other day, I was messing around in NG+5, and decided to finally try out the Twinkling Dragon Torso Stone and Dragon Head Stone, it was fun playing as an Anorexic Reindeer, but it was pretty underwhelming. But then, an epiphany struck me, "I must do PvP as a dragon" so I did, I immediately threw on the Aldritch Faithful covenant, and after some time, I was summoned, however, the host was already being invaded by a dark spirit, so like the gentleman dragon I was, I patiently waited my turn, in that time, another invader appeared, a fellow Aldritch Faithful. I was having fun being a friendly, occasionally spitting flames in the host's general direction and other nonsense, so I let my fellow Faithful go first, before long it was just me and the host, there we stood, face to face, note: this entire time, I had no weapons in hand, just my bare fists, and he was wearing heavy armor, so I first activated my Dragon Head Stone to hit him with a single tick of fire damage, not much, then again, then I punched him once... still no retaliation, so I activated my Twinkling Dragon Torso Stone. For those who are unaware, the Twinkling Dragon Torso Stone unleashes a slow buildup, relatively low damage, low range, knockdown blast right in front of you, it's not a good source of damage, however, It does MASSIVE stamina damage to shielding foes, It's essentially a free stagger, and I can only assume that my hapless opponent was unaware of this fact, because his response was not to roll away as I assumed he would, but to bring up his shield. This was his greatest mistake, upon him becoming staggered, I was in awe, I hadn't expected this, but this was my chance, I seized the opportunity and riposted him, and plunged my scaly dragon fist into his gut then slammed him to the ground, Victory, not in the traditional sense, I did less than 100 damage, but damage was never my goal, I quickly activated my Black Separation Crystal, and I was gone, that man will have to live with the knowledge that he got styled on and outplayed by a malnourished moose. I have never once felt like more of a Giga-Chad in my life. 10/10 - This is the best game ever

[@Blandy8521]

Malnourished Moose made laugh

[@madmansprinkles]

"GNAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA" - dark souls 3 dragon form

[@ElektelStar]

I found DS3 to be way more difficult than elden ring. Simply because DS3 is so linear that if you hit a wall in a section you're gonna be hitting that wall for a long time, and I lack the patience for that. At least in elden ring, if I got frustrated with a section, or didn't like an area I could just go somewhere else to either skip the obstacle completely or change the scenery until I was either better equipped or in a better mindset to take up the challenge. And doing so wouldn't prevent me from completing the game, which I love. And I did constantly and stubbornly went to areas while being under leveled, died and got frustrated yet refused to leave but it was less mind exhausting than DS3 simply because I knew I had the option to not do it if I wanted to.

[@rily2885]

yeah, this is definitely the most consistent one and I feel like its a fair trade for the freedom, I had a hard time getting lost in every other souls game because those games allow me to get lost in difficult areas sooner, tbh I like this freedom to screw myself but ds3 is probably one of the best souls if you are new to series, even better than elden ring in some aspects, I still miss the branching paths but the lack of them doesn't make it worst when the intended path is this good

[@moonasha]

i think sekiro did it best. best combat in the series (if you count it as a souls game anyways, might as well if elden is), best map in the series, a good mix of linearity and openness, and the best story and characters...

[@Yamsauce]

The time spent on input delay and how design is built around it is a nuance i dont find much in other game channels. Good job, your video quality is improving since I began watching 4+ years ago. Keep at your craft man.

[@thomasstewart1380]

Man really just spent 30 minutes to tell us that he hated Dark Souls 3 until he "got gud." Glad to hear you hear you gave it another shot, man. 3 definitely feels like the Souls game meant be enjoyed primarily for the mechanics of the Souls formula over anything. Which is probably why it can feel so bad if you don't get good at it.

[@Keeks33]

Found your video today and you are one of the few people I've heard mention that ER honed your skills so much that it made DS3 a lot easier. I am absolutely loving DS3, yet frankly can't believe how much I miss the level of difficulty of ER. Great video.

[@daviidchacon101]

Tbh i played Dark Souls 3 after beatin Sekiro Bloodborne Elden Ring Armored Cored 6 and this Game its still a must play at anytime and age! ❤ i just bought a physical copy to keep it as a leyend game and i cant wait to play the DLC

[@gentriggerTTRPG]

I think I'd like to push back just a tiny bit about the trees in Farron keep. Mostly because you can circumvent this navigational issue by getting a higher vantage point either through them much more visible bridge strut tower with the wolf of farron in it, or from the hills with the towers that are usually more raised. It sucks to not be able to see the towers always but I think getting your bearings then trying your hardest to not get lost while slogging through the mess down below is a valid part of the challenge. It's really cemented itself as the most poison swamp of the poison swamps, usually the first I think about when remembering the fromsoft poison swamps so there's something to be said about that. I will hate against the slow running though. It's joyless and the giant enemies who use projectiles are sadistic while doing it, though maybe that's to put pressure on you to not get seen by them or deal with them in some way. I can't deny that there's intention.

[@aidancorfield1055]

let's all just admit that we're starting to miss linear progression games, open world is getting a bit boring now ngl

[@tarodfowlkes3934]

Open world isn’t getting boring just over saturated,

[@007chicken11]

dude yes

[@007chicken11]

i love elden ring so fucking much but there is nothing i love more than having the option of exploration, whilst still progressing linearly and not being worried if i’m missing anything or going out of order. i’m my own worst enemy in these games and linear-ness help a lot for my personal enjoyment. fucking absolutely love elden ring tho, it’s what got me back into gaming 2 years ago

[@forwardmoving8252]

Nah that's a brainless take.

[@AquamentusLives]

Disagree. It just has to be done right.

[@KonnyKhaos]

I threw 1500 (thank you PVP community!) hours into this game the first 3 or so years. It was my first introduction to souls and many could say that is the reason it’s my favorite of them all, and I would partially agree. Either way, I fell absolutely and completely in love.

[@kendrickleibenguth1154]

Is this a scam

[@KonnyKhaos]

@@kendrickleibenguth1154 nah man. I love the game.

[@kendrickleibenguth1154]

@@KonnyKhaos no someone replied to one of comments saying I won something that's what I was asking was a scam or not

[@vanquish5023]

Dark Souls 3 still has the best boss roster in the series. Including Bloodborne and Elden Ring.

[@hodir1914]

No it has not, the early game bosses of DS3 suck in comparison to BB and ER

[@manea7074]

Sekiro

[@robsonchagas7632]

@@hodir1914 no they do not ?

[@bwhere45]

@@hodir1914 lol and ER late game bosses fail in comparison to DS3. A point made even stronger now by DLC comparisons.

[@waltersullivan2727]

Easily my personal favorite in the trilogy. The movement is just so clean and it offers a lot of amazing bosses. The vistas really can be amazing like how the Highwall. Can be seen from so many areas towering over you. It kinda foreshadows your return to the very top. I can understand peoples gripe with it be more linear. But that wasn’t something that really bothered me too much. The levels are still pretty tightly packed with stuff. And I’ve gone through these games countless times. I love the cold and corrupt atmosphere of many of the areas like COTD and Irithyll. I’m also a huge fan of the lore/pacing there’s quite a good bit of interesting NPC’s who follow you. The Lords of Cinder are pretty fleshed out at least having one if not more NPC’s tied to them. On a side note just like DS2 it implemented a respec system which I consider huge. No respec greatly hurts exploration imo. If you find something and it doesn’t fit your build you’re kinda screwed. This games hub is also incredible it has so many resources. It’s great just how full of with other characters it can get like DS2. Can’t forget the music it’s some of my favorite!

[@Count_Meowza]

I happen to like every gimmick fight that I've played in the soul series. Including the bed of chaos. I feel like it's a breath of fresh air in between your usual boss and it's definitely nice to have to use your brain a little bit.

[@Kolket1389]

It's weird, Bloodborne and Elden Ring, although flawed, are my favorite From Games, but I think DS3 and Sekiro are literally perfect. Each part of the game is so finely tuned that it's honestly insane... It's because of that perfect balance that I still am more likely to replay DS3 or Sekiro, even though Bloodborne is above everything for me...

[@MassimilianoCavalera]

I agree with everything you said

[@_yllw6155]

DS3 is the best in the series and imo, one of the best games of all time. Fight me. Who cares that it's linear? the game performance, story, items, fights, quest lines, and dlc all make up for it. I always feel like the criticisms of this game are unfairly specific to DS3. Gimmick fights? They're in every souls game. Poison swamps? Again, a souls tradition. This game is a masterpiece unlike any other

[@utisti4976]

My first and favorite Fromsoft title. Like Skyrim, Divinity Original Sin 2 and RDR2, DS3 marks a milestone in life for me. It was a major confidence booster to me. It took me a year or so to get into it, but once I found a build I liked I was hooked. Loved every second of it. Watching the end credits roll by on the verge of tears is my most fond gaming memory ever.

[@gauravbarman3731]

That soundtrack in the firelink shrine after giving the fire maiden her eyes always gives me the chills.

[@esxivy1944]

There is something about dark souls 3 that just... idk, It clicks with me. Dont really know what, but i like it

[@michaelcameron4337]

DS3 is the greatest game of all time. Will always be my favorite, such an incredible story. Amazing lore and gameplay. It was the peak.

[@ryanvandoren1519]

Yeah I think it's FromSofts magnum opus.

[@Kixolisjous]

Fantastic video! Going through DS3 at the moment myself for the second time achievement hunting, and loving every moment of it.

[@justrandomstuff6828]

Some of the criticisms also apply to DS1, there are literal walls stopping you from going places, you must go through the depths, you must go through the undead berg, you choose now or later, the world is open, but you still need to follow a path, you can't access DLC before the middle of the game, and c'mon, running around that big open map that slowly, is just not fun, being lost is not fun, making progress is, also, saying it's more linear, i don't see that as a criticism, it's the way it is, being different than the first doesn't mean it's bad, that goes for everything

[@Blandy8521]

You don't actually need to go through the depths. With the master key or going through Valley of Drakes you can enter blighttown through a path that skips the depths.

[@markgruner5812]

Dark Souls 3 is special. The end of an era, that lead to Miyazaki making new IPs like Sekiro and Elden Ring. People were disappointed with Dark Souls 3 on release but it was my favorite of the Souls trilogy after finishing it. Also despite preferring Elden Ring over the rest of Miyazaki's games simply because of the world and lore, I DO think Elden Ring was by far the easiest game yet from Miyazaki. Only 3 bosses gave me any issues, Malenia, Maliketh and the Godskin Duo.

[@Ghorda9]

DS1 objectively is easier, the bosses are very straightforward and the areas aren't hard to run through.

[@GhilenPeek]

Dark Souls 3 is my favorite Souls game because it was my first complete experience (first being OG Demon Souls, but I didn't end up finishing it). Still absolutely gorgeous

[@jayquoproductions]

DS3 will always be my favorite game. I've never completed any other game 25+ times. I still do playthroughs just because I love everything about it. the levels and their designs, the bosses, the music, the art style and aesthetics, the DLC, the challenging nature of the game, everything is so masterful and it will remain as one of the best games of all time

[@jihigh482]

Every other game is "one of the best of all time" nowadays lol saying a game is great is not enough anymore apparently smh

[@jayquoproductions]

@@jihigh482 not true really. nowadays most companies shit out unfinished products and say deal with it. I would never give this title to a game that didn't deserve it but DS3 certainly does. and yeah there is not definitively THE BEST game of all time. if you're a hardcore gamer, taking another gamer's recommendation of 'one of the best of all time' is enough for me. anyone that doesn't like this game is probably not good enough at playing to complete it lol go play roblox

[@SubIndy]

When I first played DS3 I was so disappointed the world wasn’t interconnected like DS1 was, that I kind of didn't notice how solid DS3 is. Then years later I deiced to play it again and had super awesome time! Lol

[@jb1169]

Coming back to ds3 and Bloodborne I can say with confidence they’re much better than Elden ring.

[@randomnobody9229]

Liking something more doesn't make it better. You like sequential games, good for you. 🤓☝️

[@Kolket1389]

The OST "Epilogue" still gives me chills to this day

[@Jacob-lv6zy]

Although I still think DS1 is the best because of its unique worlddesign and also depressing yet also sombre- and peaceful tone; DS3 is a more complete game that executes what it set out to do perfectly.

[@caseyvines9417]

I think a lot of the "complaints" are neglecting the story element of the game. Sure the cathedral is a dead end but the boss you're looking for IS in another castle. Of course you're gonna have to turn back. Nothing forward should matter.

[@Papersky01]

I got lost in firelink shrine because I didn't know you could fast travel for like three hours I was just searching the entire of firelink and found the tree slip because of how desperate I was

[@thessop9439]

I had to look for a tutorial

[@Konyad]

Yes, it should be more obvious

[@GeorgePerakis]

This was my first Dark Souls game. I loved it then, I still love it now. Elden Ring is better. Better combat, better combat variety, better build variety, amazing exploration, and just so MANY bosses. I loved boss fights in DS3, but there were only so many of them. Elden Ring feels like the grand scale combat focused dungeon crawling RPG Skyrim wishes it could have been. I think people massively misunderstand Elden Ring's combat system and especially the intent behind the design of the boss fights. I didn't just beat DS3 in my years waiting for Elden Ring, I mastered it, and to me Elden Ring's changes felt exactly like what the doctor ordered. Sure I wish some of ER's bosses were more fine-tuned, difficulty wise, but at the end of the day all of them offered the sheer SPECTACLE you would only get very occasionally with the Dark Souls games, even DS3, which I consider to be my favourite of the three.

[@Great_White21]

Elden Ring has the most mid bosses tho. Only Radahn, Godrick and maybe Rykard felt fun and special. Radagon could have been a great fight but Elden Beast just ruins it. All bosses just 8 hit combo with AoE attacks and with some bullshit mechanic that doesnt make them harder just way more annoying. Melania is just the best example for how anime moves and bad mechanics ruin a fight that could have been a great boss.

[@5p3cu10]

Dark Souls 3... What a game. So much to discover, so much death. No game has given me more satisfaction than beating The Nameless King for the very first time. The rage, the frustration. All worth it. Love this game. I don't partake in PVP but I adore this game.

[@polisguard5714]

Read some Miyazaki interviews and you'll find he just loves poison swamps

[@Rob_and_Other_Names]

Is the term "Flawed Masterpiece" some kind of meme among reviewers or is it just a lack of imagination on the part of said reviewers?

[@yamidanne]

The negative part about the input buffer is when you press dodge too late. Not only will you get hit by the swing you just tried to dodge, but you'll also most likely be hit one more time by the follow-up swing because your character will be locked into not only the hit recovery animation but now also the queued up dodge animation you messed up from earlier.

[@flamingmanure]

fromsoft need to stop tying the dodge and sprint in the same button, thats whats messing up the dodge que the most. because of this dumb design decision, u dodge when u let go of the dodge button, and not when u actually press it. cancerous design that needs to die off! sekiro killed it but ER brought it back and its complete ass.

[@ponponpattapon]

Ds3 is by far the most rounded of the series. It doesn't have the looping level design of ds1, but traded it out for a more sprawling and grand adventure

[@peterpansie5]

Farren keep is an amazing area and probably my favorite in 3 after high wall. No slander allowed

[@mattimus90]

I love the poison swamps. They force you to think about how you move through the level in a different way. That area in ringed city would have been more interesting if it was a poison swamp. And having the trees in farron keep obscure the objective is a good thing. Otherwise you would just beeline for the fires and not have to explore and deal with the swamp. That would be boring. Im glad the developers put more thought into it than that.

[@anujsreenivasan5040]

I hate the poison swamps. They suck balls.

[@angrykook1]

I thought Ashe of Ariandel was a great DLC, it's short but the quality is there. When you play it back to back with the Ringed City it's the absolute best of DS3.

[@samuelconnel2166]

Agreed, the DLCs are by far the best part about DS3.

[@C_O_N_C_E_P_T]

Finally someone that agrees with me as elden ring being the harder of the bunch. I’ve heard people say ds3 is harder than elden ring but it really isn’t. But also depends how you play elden ring because everything can be trivialized and made easy in that game if you want it. I didn’t play ds3 till after elden ring and didn’t have much issue getting through it. I started with bloodborne onto demons souls remaster and then elden ring. All games have had 3-4 playthroughs with elden ring racking up the most time and most of my challenge runs with include no hit boss fights with some of the hardest bosses in these games. So ds3 wasn’t too bad. I saw what came from ds3 in elden ring with a ton of the weapons and special moves but I also realized that I like a lot of the weapons more on ds3. Ringed city weapons are insane. There’s no trick daggers in elden ring, no very unique spears or straight swords like those in the ringed city in elden ring(miquellan knight sword having its own unique heavy attack which is amazing though). No lothric knight straight sword moveset in elden ring. At least they have stance for straight swords but why not on greatswords? Great swords in elden ring feel not wonderful compared. They dropped the running spin attack of the but have a running heavy which is slow and angled. Just doesn’t work the same because of it. The best greatsword in the game is still the claymore. There is no hollowslayer type greatsword with its rolling poke even though they have they similar low attack greatsword. They also dropped rolling heavy attacks which is sad because they are very fun and useful in ds3. Most all greatswords in elden ring get that rolling slam down attack which I hate and also that side swipe heavy which I’m not a fan of. A lot have it in ds3 but at least they have better movesets otherwise. I feel like they put more love in the weapons in ds3 honestly after platinuming it and having spend 175 hours on the game doing so. The saving grace for elden ring is the dual wielded movesets. Ds3 did have its own unique dual wielded weapons you just couldn’t combine ones for singles. Anyway, I can talk about these games differences and strengths/weakness’s all day long. I love this breakdown of ds3. I really love this game and I’m sad I took so long to play it.

[@sirtetris]

imo elden ring is harder only if you take the total difficulty, the difficulty per boss is easier than ds3 (especially if you count enemies felled as bosses) and difficulty per area is easier than ds2

[@Chaoblahippo]

elden ring is not harder wat? its the easiest souls game i played. and before you asked i ran through the whole game with a lordsworns straight sword so i didnt cheese. what part gave you trouble ? the only shit thing about this game is the unbalanced ganks and elden beast being impposible to no hit without good rng but the movesets themselves are very forgiving. you even get an extra flask to restore 50% of hp

[@C_O_N_C_E_P_T]

@@Chaoblahippo not hard. I mean I’m doing no hit runs and no hud runs against the hardest bosses in the game. But compared to the other souls games this is the most challenging. Go back and play ds3 after elden ring. It’s pretty simple. Bloodborne is pretty hard first time playing it also. I also don’t play with summons and no ranged stuff. I’m all melee. No shields either. I also went up north in the map earlier than I should of because I like things very hard and I was underleveled. I went to get the map pieces pretty early on. Elden ring can be very easy with things you can use if you want it like that. I play it the way I play dark souls and bloodborne. No shield only a weapon. Demons souls remake is the easiest by far. I never had issues with any of the bosses all the way till ng+5. The dlc in ds3 the bosses where the hardest for that game but I still think bosses in this game are harder.

[@Walamonga1313]

Anyone who says Elden is easier used magic, spirits or any of the multiple cheese weapons

[@dapizzasnake8462]

19:35 I love how in this scene even though its silent you can hear their internal screaming and can tell they want that tomato.

[@hodir1914]

There is some serious DS3 circlejerking going on in this comment section. DS3 in my opinion has become the most boring souls game for me because its so linear and so predictable. People are criticizing elden ring for points like: "it doesnt matter anymore to explore after your first playthrough", when in fact the same thing is holding up for DS3. The excessive fanservice was also too much and DS3 lacked some serious originality

[@711ramen4]

I don't really have an urge to replay ER like DS3. I think it's because DS3, as noted, feels like you can level up along with the game. Elden Ring is long- for me. I HAVE to go through every dungeon and every nook and cranny. DS3 feels small in comparison, to its benefit. As it is, DS2 has the most replayability, albeit with less enjoyable gameplay.

[@tvernile]

The delay attack & stamina regen roll showcase is a great example of the meticulous detail that makes this video so good.

[@Nombre19383]

Dark Souls 3 It's like a compressed version of Elden Ring, better in level design, mechanics ,difficulty curve ,bosses and enemies,gameplay ,but with less replayability ,content, aesthetic and map design ,don't get me wrong,both are masterpieces in their own Way. If you don't have to much time to invest in a game and want a quick fast action game, Dark Souls lll is for you. If you want something more inmersive and have a lot of free time, Elden ring

[@iroquoiskaram8639]

This game is incredible! The combat is the best in the series, and the bosses are so fast and dangerous compared to the slow bosses in DS1 and DS2. But NG+ sucks in this game, the enemies are still weak compared to your high level character, so I just do a new game when I finish a playthrough.

[@kendrickleibenguth1154]

Is that a scam or what

[@kolbydavenport4696]

Dark souls 3 was my first souls game, which i only played because i saw other people play it and i thought "that looks fun, how hard could it be?" and now I have spent 976 hours on Dark Souls 3 just on steam, and to this day it is still my favorite souls game

[@k-fedd]

I have to be honest. Still my favorite souls game, I even prefer it over Elden Ring.

[@TheDifferentJay]

I prefer Dark Souls 3 over Elden ring also, DS3 has such a lonelier, sad feel to the game and the environments unlike Elden Ring, ER feels livelier colour wise and not as atmospheric. I felt alone in DS3 but ER felt like it was holding your hand through the game, ER was much easier with the spells/ashes of war and weapons were way over powerd. I was hoping in ER that they was going to be a boss that would give me more of a challenge than the Namless King and Darkeater Midir as these two are unforgettable for myself, but I flew past the bosses in ER, the game feels empty.

[@jinougawithchocolate9329]

@@TheDifferentJay I usually play games for boss fights so ds3 is just better for me than ER just because it's shorter. But the balance in ER is also straight up atrocious because it's too easy with summons and OP weapons but gets frustratingly difficult without them. In ds3 I never felt like a death wasn't my fault (except for some wonky camera shenanigans lmao) but ER bosses that extend or shorten their combos because they read your inputs just doesn't feel good. The extensive delayed attacks also get old fast and the lack of consistent openings on some bosses makes the game less fun too. It still has some fun bosses but none of them hold a candle against the greats of ds3 imo.

[@TheDifferentJay]

@Jinouga with chocolate I've replayed DS3 just to fight The Nameless King, I enjoyed that boss so much. There isn't a single boss in ER that I would play the game again just for the challenge or enjoyment.

[@jinougawithchocolate9329]

@@TheDifferentJay For me those bosses are midir and gael. Just fighting them again is worth a playthrough. I do like mohg and malenia but I would never play the entire game again just for them.

[@TheDifferentJay]

@@jinougawithchocolate9329 Elden Ring is very vast, just to fight malenia would take quiet the journey to reach unless there is a shortcut to reach her, Mohg on the other hand can be reached relatively quickly. I have to admit though, Mohg did give me a challenge compared to other bosses in the game.

[@murkywters]

Dark Souls 3 was by no means my first FromSoft game, but I played it before Dark Souls 1. Out of all the Souls-games DS3 is by far my favorite, and perhaps one of my all time greatest gaming experiences ever.

[@IAmFuntimeee]

I personally really liked the Farron Keep because it is a maze and you have to climb to Lothric’s great bridge to see where to go, whereas I found that the ringed city swamp was empty and didn’t desserve any purpose