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What We Know About Dark Souls III

Resident Guardian Lord Jordan steps away from Destiny to talk about FromSoftware’s upcoming release

Gamescom was full of announcements. From the release date of the backwards compatibility update for Xbox One to the release date of Gearbox’s Battleborn, a lot has been thrown our way. But that is not what we are here to talk about. We are here to discuss what we currently know about Dark Souls III and what was revealed at Gamescom 2015.

Here, watch the new trailer!

For those of you who don’t know, Dark Souls is a hardcore third-person action role-playing game produced by FromSoftware and published by Namco Bandai Games. It is a spiritual successor to FromSoftware’s Demon’s Souls and all releases are a part of the Souls series. It is commonly known for being very difficult and punishing, but by no means is it unfair.

Miyazaki is back:
Unlike Dark Souls II, Hidetaka (or Hiddentaco) Miyazaki will be spearheading this project. This is big news because a lot of the community felt like Dark Souls II paled in comparison to its predecessors, Demon’s Souls and Dark Souls. I loved Dark Souls II, but I can certainly see where this is coming from. I personally cannot wait to see what this genius does with this project, I will certainly spend time away from Destiny to play this.

What smells like burning flesh?

What smells like burning flesh?

To inform those of you who are unaware, “Hiddentaco” Miyazaki is the guy who created the Souls series and Bloodborne. The only game he wasn’t the director for was Dark Souls II, he was merely the supervisor due to the fact that he was simultaneously working on Bloodborne.

The plot:
Dark Souls III appears to be based around the Lord (or “Lords.” You can never be too sure, it is rather vague) of Cinder and his (or their) resurrection. But don’t think it is Gywn (the final boss from the first Dark Souls game), it will more than likely be another soul who chose to link the fire.

You may be faced with the punishment for the sins that your original character from Dark Souls committed. This would not come as a surprise because the Souls series is all about cycles and the like.

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Big booty bosses:
The bosses look more badass than they ever have.

Come here, boy!

Come here, boy!

Let there be blood:
The combat system will still feel somewhat familiar for Dark Souls veterans but the pace will be slightly quicker in comparison to its predecessors. The “sword and shield” gameplay will still exist, but you will be slightly more encouraged to dual wield weapons and dodge more than just tanking with a shield.

May I hold that for you

May I hold that for you?

Switching your stance will mean more than it ever has. Yes, stance switching was a thing in Dark Souls II but it wasn’t quite what it could have been. Dark Souls III seeks to bring meaning back to what stance means. It appears as if some weapons will now have differing stances and special properties. Short swords will have a “ready” stance where the sword is held two-handed above the head and able to crush guards when used correctly. Greatswords will be receiving a “lunge” attack. Using this will make your character protrude forward quickly with an upward stab. This move may even have its own invincibility window on it. But don’t think that these changes to stances will only benefit you. Your foes (both AI and humans in PVP) will also gain the ability to use stances and skills very similar to the way you can. So don’t expect your enemies to fall for your tricks repeatedly. They will learn, and they will probably shove their respective weapons up your butt; not the most pleasant of things. They may even use your dirty dirty tactics against you. This terrifying news brings joy to my heart as it means I can never get too comfortable with my enemies. Hopefully it is utilised well and makes for a fun experience, at any rate you’ll probably be tearing your hair out before long (unless you’re like DYEGB member John Gray who hates games that require patience, in that case you should probably steer clear).

Bows and arrows are also receiving a bit of an upgrade too. Drawing and firing an arrow will require less time in comparison to how long they took in previous games. This could even give you the option to use them as an up-close and personal kind of weapon. Miyazaki facetiously stated that “using the short bow is a bit like being like Legolas in Lord of the Rings.” However, he did also say that he may have been exaggerating a little.

Technical mumbo jumbo:
Some person was so smart that he used his one chance to talk to Miyazaki personally 1-on-1 to ask about the framerate. What a genius. Regardless, Dark Souls III will run at 30 FPS (frames per second) much like Dark Souls and Bloodborne did. Let’s hope that there isn’t an area like Blighttown, framerate-wise (Blighttown was an area in Dark Souls that had a severe problem with dropping frames). Hopefully the true fans of this game won’t care about such a silly thing like framerate. Need I remind you people that you got 60 FPS on Halo 5, at the cost of couch co-op (split-screen). 60 FPS isn’t the entire game.

This will be the last in the series:
We all knew this was coming. Dark Souls III will be the fourth and final instalment in the Souls series. We couldn’t have expected this series to go on forever and I think this is just making it go out with a bang. However, knowing today’s gaming tendencies we will either see an unnecessary slew of remakes or some other company will pick up the series and make it generic (*cough* 343i *cough*).

You look cold

You look cold. Here, let me help you.

However, we must also take note that this won’t be the last game made by Miyazaki and his team at FromSoftware. Bloodborne is a new game that could have one, maybe two more sequels to it; not to mention that FromSoftware have a tendency to make spiritual successors and similar series. However, with Miyazaki at the head of this production this ending will be a cracker!

Release window:
Dark Souls III is set to release around the first quarter of 2016 (I would speculate a mid-March release).

16 minutes of actual gameplay footage were also released. If you would like to watch it, here it is.

What are you most looking forward too in Dark Souls III? Is it getting a weapon rammed up your butt? What about changing your stance or hearing people complain about the framerate? Stay tuned in to DYEGB to keep up to date with Dark Souls III and I hope to see you invading each other (but not me) come Q1 2016! Praise the sun!

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Written By Jordan Garcia

Jordan lives and breathes Dark Souls, even though his favourite game is Bloodborne. He takes pride in bashing his face on walls and praising the sun. Hailing from the land of tacos, he is the token minority for WellPlayed.

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