Reviews for what is said to be the last Souls game have begun to roll-out, and the game appears to have been very well-received.
Dark Souls III will release on 12 April for PC, PS4 and Xbox One.
Below are the game’s current Metacritic scores and international reviews:
IGN – 9.5/10
“If Dark Souls 3 truly is the last in the series as we know it, then it’s a worthy send-off. Weapon arts allow stylish and versatile new moves without tarnishing the purity of the combat system.
Lothric’s awe-inspiring locations provide visually stunning arenas for rigorous exploration and fierce face-offs with hosts of deadly enemies and even deadlier bosses. While not all the risky changes land as neatly as others, Dark Souls 3 is a powerful journey and the sequel the series truly deserves”.
PC Gamer – 94/100
“The added fidelity in Dark Souls 3 could have just been a simple upgrade in texture detail, but FromSoftware treats the extra space like a wider canvas, pushing their themes and story through every possible avenue—sound, music, enemy design, animation, dialogue, item descriptions, environmental cues—with more finesse and frequency than ever before.
Dark Souls 3 gracefully pushes the series’ notoriously difficult action towards a greater artfulness that tests far more than reflexes. I was challenged to read environments and props like a novel, to empathize with Lothric’s imperfect inhabitants, and to ask whether or not I was trying to save anything worth saving. But there are no easy answers here, only 40-plus hours of tense action, awe-inspiring exploration, certain death, and big, bleak, beautiful questions”.
Destructoid – 8.5/10
“If Dark Souls III truly is the last game for now, it makes perfect sense, since it’s just as much of a love letter to fans as it is a culmination of the series. I may not have like this iteration as much as the rest, but it’s still streets ahead of most current action games and deserves a warm spot on your shelf by the bonfire”.
Gamespot – 8/10
“There are several possible endings to Dark Souls III, and although most are anticlimactic, they drive home the loneliness of the paths we took. The old lords have abandoned their posts, and in the hunt to usurp them, we descend into those dark valleys, and climb those imposing peaks.
This is the essence of Dark Souls III: periods of doubt, followed by great reward. The journey may be rocky, but there’s a throne waiting at the end”.
Polygon – 7/10
“At this point, most Souls players know what they’re looking for in a new entry. Your personal expectations for the series will play a key part in your enjoyment of Dark Souls 3. If you play these games for the intense, controller-clenching combat and the excitement of invading other players’ worlds, then there’s a lot here to keep you busy and happy.
But in so many important ways — its world design, its pacing, the technology powering it — Dark Souls 3 falls short of the mark. Do you play for the joy and stress of exploring dangerous, intricately crafted places full of hidden elements and endless side paths? Then I suspect you’ll join me in being a little let down with the direction this sequel has gone in”.
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