Hands on with Dark Souls III

Dark Souls III, which so far is one of the most difficult games I have ever played, is heading to the PS4, PC and Xbox One in 2016. I have always been appreciative of the Souls franchise (despite barely playing them) simply because I was just terrible at them. For instance, I have still yet to cross the bridge at the beginning of Demon?s Souls. On the upside, I have since took the plunge into Bloodborne, Dark Souls and Dark Souls II and have gained a newfound confidence that enabled me to actually play and complete some of the games.

Now that I have been in Dark Souls mode, I am ?prepared to die? in the upcoming 2016 threequel. I had a opportunity to play Dark Souls III recently at a Bandai Namco media event in NYC along with some other upcoming titles such as Saint Seiya: Soldier?s Souls, Tales of Zestiria, Moto GP, and Naruto Ultimate Ninja Storm 4 on the PS4, as well as portable titles like Dragon Ball Z: Extreme Butoden and Project X Zone 2 for the 3DS.

While I was able to play all of these games, Dark Souls III was what really drew me in. I started by watching a member of the press make some serious progress including getting to the big boss of the demo. The footage we saw, and played, was the same content from Gamescom a couple weeks ago. I spent a lot of time observing the different players and how each person was able to use their character in a different way.

The main reason for this was the new addition of Battle Arts for DS3. Battle Arts open up the potential of each weapon you get in the game which enables the game to be more accessible. Despite the small demo we played, there was a lot to see and explore with the weapons alone, including holding a sword two handed while having your shield braced to your arm making it still effective in combat. Since I am just exploring the original Dark Souls and DS2, this is a welcome addition to the game.

The demo was set in a castle environment and included a ton of enemies to kill including a huge dragon that was constantly breathing fire to try and block your path. When asking the representative some questions about the game, he mentioned that even in the demo there was a ton of stuff people haven’t found, including an extra boss. For me, lasting 10 minutes was an accomplishment that many players didn?t experience.

Overall, I had a great time attempting to make my way through this castle, hurdled with death, dragons, and a nice mixture in the stylings of Dark Souls, Demon?s Souls, and especially Bloodborne. I am looking forward to finally getting through the previous games, hopefully in time for the 2016 release.