Dark Souls III

Dark Souls III embodies the "slow cancellation of the future." Lothric is a geology of smashed narratives, a violent compression of history where the new cannot emerge. The central ritual of linking the Fire is exposed as a grotesque administrative prolongation—a refusal to let a decaying status quo die. Here, nostalgia is weaponized; the past is not a comfort, but a hauntological trap. The game is a eulogy for the sequel, arguing that the exhausted old world must fade for history to start again - Full Review

Peak

My least favorite of the trilogy, but still incredible.

Probably the weakest of the four Souls games, despite obvious technical improvements and minor gameplay refinements. It all feels quite weary and bereft of anything fresh or interesting - like a long slog through a failed "greatest hits" compilation of its predecessors. The orange and teal color scheme just serves to hammer home the startling lack of creativity.

While noticeably more refined, I enjoyed this less than the original, primarily because of the increased speed and aggressiveness of enemies, which is, of course, a design choice rather than an issue, but I prefer other games' more methodical combat.

The most refined Dark Souls gameplay experience. Beautifully crafted level design with an artistic direction to match. The series and themes are starting to run out of steam here, though, and you'll feel that while you play, but Fromsoft has taken that into consideration and crafted it into a story of a dying world clinging on to an irrelevant past. Overall, the game is not quite as iconic as DS1's first half, yet it carries a consistent quality that makes up for a lack of a distinctive oomph.

A really cool mix of classic DaS combat with some Bloodborne thrown in - I went shieldless dual-wielding but still couldn't play it entirely like BB - with more fucking awesome boss battles and area layout design whatever I'm getting sleepy now but I liked it a lot except for Yhorm who is by far the worst From boss I've had to fight so far

Takes a lot of lessons from its superior predecessors in Dark Souls 1 and Bloodborne; lots and lots of weapon and build variety from DS1, plus sleek movement and high-speed brutality from Bloodborne. However, it also shares some mistakes; Profane Capital is the worst level in Souls history, managing to eke out over Lost Izalith, and the game is unfortunately really linear. That being said, STILL really fucking good.

Dark Souls 3 suffers from a severe case of dissociative personality disorder. It wants to be Dark Souls 1 and Bloodborne at the same time, and as a result it fails to become both. The game starts out strong but becomes increasingly more boring with time, culminating (for me) with the very disappointing Ariandel DLC, after which I quit. Who thought it was a good idea to put 10 enemies who literally consume your health bar just by looking at you in the same area so you have to kite them all?

Another case of a series lasting for too long. Dark Souls III is another solid entry into the Souls series but this is not a true sequel, either. Gone is the interesting boss design and replaced with mechanically intense challenges. The world is as linear as ever and features rehashed levels. Overall it still pails in comparison to the original and Demon's Souls which were brimming with creativity. Definitely worth playing but this will not set the world on fire, pun intended.