In the Age of Ancients the world was unformed, shrouded by fog. A land of gray crags, Archtrees and Everlasting Dragons. But then there was Fire and with fire came disparity. Heat and cold, life and death, and of course, light and dark.

Finally, after weeks of procrastination, I will be trying to write a review that corresponds to my deepest thoughts and feelings about Dark Souls, one of my favorite games ever due to the amazing experience that I had playing it.

First, I want to mention that during this review I will be focusing on 2 major points that fascinated me in this game, the technical aspect (including scenarios, designs, and gameplay) and the theory part (at least my point of view) behind the game.


I would like to begin the technical part by presenting my thoughts on the scenarios of the diverse locations that the player-character visits. I've got to mention that the remastered version of the game mainly enhanced the lighting, so the textures have been left as bad as before. However, that does not mean that the game cannot be beautiful in its aesthetics, providing an immersive ambience that construct the universe of the game in an amazing and authentic way, keeping the player interested in the world of Dark Souls. Those features are as well applied to the level and character designs.
In the beginning the game might look like a generic medieval fantasy, but as you progress it keeps innovating with traits of dark fantasy and deep atmosphere (reflected on the bosses, locals, NPCs and music), which are often present in other Soulsborne games as well.
To finish the technical review of the game I will be talking about the gameplay. Those aspects can be good at some points (as when talking about the multi-class mechanism and the simple yet difficult to master combat system), but bad at others (boss and enemies bugging at times, glitchy camera, sudden slowness in the game's movements, and, at least in my experience, problems with controller recognition). Even with those bad points, it is still an immersive and pleasurable experience.


Dark Souls is a game about entropy, the decay of an era, and you play as the undead who has the responsability of continuing the era or extinguishing it.
My first impression of game was pretty vague, but with time I started to notice that it was trying to teach that there is essencial to learn from your mistakes, to emerge the player-character in the universe of the game and mainly to keep them motivated in order to continue.
The game experience creates a correlation between the player and character as you keep dying and becoming a hollow (the name given for the undead that died and do not have any more motivation), which is interesting when you think about the players that have been giving up on the game (since their characters have become hollows without any motivation to progress).
An interesting detail is that at a first glimpse the game will not reveal you anything, neither about the lore nor the path to follow, which ends up being up to the player and their interpretation.
Apart from that, I would like to give a shout-out to this incredible article written by Daniel Podgorski relating the existentialist philosophy with Dark Souls: The Gemsbok [thegemsbok.com]

Thanks to all the people who read my review, I really appreciate it.

Praise the Sun!

“Yes, indeed. It is called Lothric, where the transitory lands of the Lords of Cinder converge. In venturing north, the pilgrims discover the truth of the old words: "The fire fades and the lords go without thrones." When the link of fire is threatened, the bell tolls, unearthing the old Lords of Cinder from their graves...Aldrich, Saint of the Deep... Farron's Undead Legion, the Abyss Watchers... And the reclusive lord of the Profaned Capital, Yhorm the Giant... Only, in truth... the Lords will abandon their thrones... And the Unkindled will rise. Nameless, accursed Undead, unfit even to be cinder. And so it is, that ash seeketh embers.”

I am a big Souls-Like fan thanks to Dark Souls III, the first game of the genre, and the series, that I have played.
I have been planning on writing a review about this game for a long time now, but never found the perfect timing to do so. Now, that the game is having a discount, and probably there will be plenty of people coming to give it a look, I decided to write this review.
Like I did with my Dark Souls: Remastered review on Steam, I will separate this review into 2 main parts: the Technical Aspect and the Story/Plot/Lore of the game.


Firstly, I would like to say that this game has not the same mechanics as Dark Souls I and Dark Souls II, they end up being faster-paced, and also a lot of hitboxes issues have been improved. With that said, due to the date of launch of the game, it’s is obviously getting better graphics and textures, 2 aspects that the previous games weren’t strong at.
Being FromSoftware the company that we are talking about, the scenario, the ambiance and the designs are, of course, on the point and perfectly fit in each occasion of the game, giving the player the same immersion given on the other Soulsborne games. Being even more detailed on that aspect, places like High Wall of Lothric, Irithyll of the Boreal Valley, The Ringed City, Archdragon Peak, and Kiln of the First Flame, will mostly pass to the player a feeling of astonishment due to the amazing landscapes and atmosphere that they have. While, on the other hand, there will be areas that will give the player the feeling of progression and curiosity about what is to come, like, Road of Sacrifices, Cathedral of the Deep, Farron Keep, Catacombs of Carthus, and actually most of the other places to visit.
Just like Dark Souls I, areas in Dark Souls III like Archdragon Peak and Untended Graves will be hidden and will only be discovered with certain triggers.
The music can be really amazing at some bosses, but at others, it can feel kind of boring, which is a negative trait when compared to Dark Souls I’s unique compositions by Motoi Sakuraba (that being only my opinion though).
The combat mechanic varied a lot from the previous games to Dark Souls III. Now there are specific habilities and possible combinations with each weapon presented. It synthesized ideas presented before in the other previous games and ended up making a pleasurable result (and, as said before, faster-paced).
Lastly, to conclude this topic, Dark Souls III is a game that will not feel somewhat tiring when compared to the other Dark Souls, it balances every aspect already mentioned and does an amazing job to entertain the player for the first run until how many times one will feel like to play it again and again and again (in my case, 4 runs have already been completed).


It would be impossible to put together every piece of lore in a review, thus I will be summarizing the main plot.
Unkindled, the player is a composition of the ash from the once, fire-devoted, undead that has given itself to the flame, and its duty remains the same.
The game starts off presenting that the “fire fades” and that the Lords go without thrones. Giving that we are in the same universe set by Dark Souls I and II, we are left with speculations until finally arrive at conclusions by progressing in the game.
The whereabouts are the “same” as Dark Souls I… However, there are slightly different things that might give the idea of the passage of time. Hundreds, or perhaps, thousands of years have passed since the Age of Fire and mighty new Lords of Cinder have linked the fire to maintain it. Even though there are controversies on the “time” aspect in Dark Souls III. The time seems to be simultaneously blended with the Abyss and dark of long ago (in which the concept of time doesn't exists) and also the present that is experiencing the undying cycle of the fire legacy, which would probably be a base for proving the theory of the End of the World during the Filianore cutscene in The Ringed City (in which there is a burst of light, indicating time, and, consequently, a time-skip beyond the living of anything).
As for the main objective, the player would have to kill the 4 lords of cinder that neglect themselves to link the flame once again because it would be useless and that they would die in which way. The only one that remains in the Firelink Shrine is Ludleth, whom has long ago linked the fire, and now is just waiting for his end on his throne... for that, he is known as The Exiled. The objetive of killing those Lords would be to acquire the necessary power in order to link the fire.
Killing every Lord of Cinder and putting their ashes on their thrones will let the player travel to the Kiln of the First Flame, the place where the battle against Soul of Cinder happens, a manifestation of every Lord Soul until then.
Not only in terms of new Lords of Cinder speculations and lore the game creates its identity, but there would also be the side-bosses encounters that reveal individuals or even groups that shaped the dying world of Dark Souls III (e.g. Pontiff Sulyvahn; Oceiros; etc).
In terms of DLC (Ashes of Ariandel and The Ringed City), lore-wise speaking, it presents a rich story completion and also the Grand Finale for the series with the final boss fight against Slave Knight Gael, an undead, like you, seeking the blood of the Dark Soul for his lady's painting, who would be going to paint a new world for humanity.


I cannot put in words my passion for the game, I can simply recommend buying it with or without a discount, it is worth each time played and each credit paid. I do not even possess a high knowledge about the game yet, but I am still discovering and reading about its deep and amazing world.
Got some free time? Get Dark Souls' series to play and you will not regret it.