Dark Souls III: The Ringed City

gael

goat

The Ringed City serves as a eulogy for continuity, presenting a world choking on the debris of its own refusal to die. The Dreg Heap is hauntology rendered as level design—a vertical landfill of smashed empires where time collapses. The endless cycle of the Fire mirrors Capitalist Realism: a system devouring itself to maintain a status quo that expired ages ago. It argues that we must stop clinging to the corpse of the familiar; for the new to emerge, the Fire must finally be allowed to fade. - Full Review

Probably my least favourite Dark Souls experience; a lot of it just annoyed me. Final boss was fun though.

The better of the two DS3 expansions, this adds a lot to the game compared to Ashes. The Ringed City unfortunately also shows how desperate FromSoft were in their last content for this series. Intense visual effects, multi-phase bosses, and world-defining plot reveals can't overcome a creatively bankrupt franchise nearing its end. I would be happy if Dark Souls ended here, not that this is a great ending, I just know it could get worse.