Well, if there was a best first impression award to any game, I wouldn't even need to think about which game deserved it. From the get-go this game tells you that it's going to be fair to you, but also make you want to destroy everything you can in a ten metre radius. But just writing this game off as hard would be doing the genius work a massive disservice. For this game is difficult, punishing and unrelenting for all the right reasons. The bosses all have fast, but predictable move-sets, and the true art of the game is recognising this and using an enemy's weakness to your advantage. Secrets are also littered all throughout the depressing world that Dark Souls III takes place in, some rewarding you with unique weapons, others with terrifying beasts that are true pains to defeat, and even entire levels ripe with enemies and unique bosses are held as secrets.. I love that they incorporated some of the speed from Bloodborne into the game, although not as much. It shows in the enemies, some of which are incredibly fast, requiring you to dodge, parry and fat-roll to even stand a chance. The sheer number of weapons also never fails to astound me, as even in very specific groups such as Great-Hammers, there are still plenty of weapons there. Every build, from a swift person who wears rags and jumps around with a dagger, to a fat tank that takes very little damage from anything, but dishes out a giant amount, is viable, although some might be better suited other situations. But, alas, in a game that puts such and emphasis on bosses, just one boss fight can drag the game down quickly. And I found this out with the penultimate boss, who was an absolute annoyance to fight. But one thing that this game does miles better than anything else on the market, is the music. The melancholy soundtrack is based around a choir and stringed instruments, while some scores experiment with brass and bells. Even from the main screen, you understand very clearly that the game is going to posses an amazing soundtrack, and Dark Souls III doesn't disappoint in this front at all. In fact, I'd go as far to say this is the greatest soundtrack to emerge out of gaming. Yes, I said it, and it's not meant to be exaggeration. I mean it. The graphics are up next, and I can't help but say this game looks quite nice. The backdrops of some locations can just look drop-dead gorgeous, while some things are just not pleasant to the eyes whatsoever. The colour scheme is also sadly limited to, for eighty percent of the game's length, grey, brown, black, red and yellow. And, yes, I acknowledge the fact that this is meant to symbolise the atmosphere of gloom and dread, and it does make other locations stand out, but the abstinence of another less other than its pallet can drag down the experience. The lore in this game, and really in any modern From Software RPG, is cryptic at best, and hard to understand, but the main premise that you, the Ashen One, must kill all Lords of Cinder to keep a fire alight, prolonging the Age of Fire, and keeping the world from becoming darker than it already is. As with bugs, I've encountered none, except one extremely frustrating crash, in one of the most loathed areas in the entire series, that deleted not only the character I was playing as, but also every single other character. Aside from these gripes, Dark Souls III will not be forgotten by me for years to come. Its fast paced combat, that includes hundreds of various weapons and shields, its unforgettable bosses that made me run around the house like a madman and its incredible approach to level design. This is the end of the Souls series, and what better way to end a series than making a masterpiece?
