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Dark Souls III The Ringed City (2nd DLC) - Review Thread

T

takoyaki

Member
dark-souls-3-ringed-ciyukv.jpg


NeoGAF OT by Hikami

Release:
*March 28th on PS4, Xbox One and PC for $14.99/14,99€/£11.99
*The DLC is part of the Season Pass
*On April 21st, Dark Souls 3: The Fire Fades Edition will be released. It includes the base game as well as both DLCs

Info:
*Final DLC for DS3
*Recommended for players LV100+ who have cleared Lothric Castle
*Reddit leak of all the new weapons, gear, areas, etc. SPOILERS
*How to access the DLC: YT Video

Opencritic: 83

Metacritic: PC (82), PS4 (82), XBOX ONE (...)

Reviews:

 
V

VertPin

Member
I have a level 150 with all spells possible, dex/faith build with dark moon blade on NG+++. I hope this DLC is challenging, longer, and better than Ashes of Ariandel.
 
M

mullet2000

Member
Interested to see how people think it compared to the first dlc. I wasn't a big fan of the first one outside of the amazing final boss.
 
B

brandonh83

Banned
The bosses in the first DLC felt super cheap to me, like yeah I have trouble with some Souls bosses like anyone else, but I legitimately could not beat any of them in that DLC. I beat the bosses in Old Hunters without too much trouble (got lucky a few times though admittedly) and those were rough.

We'll see though, already downloaded, primed and ready.
 
G

GinoFelino

Member
First season pass I bought, thinking Miyazaki would never let me down.

Miyazaki let me down.

That said, this one looks to be turning out pretty nicely.

I'm playing this on Pro, so that's one thing that sucks already.
 
R

Rarius

Member
Does it make the Season's Pass worth it? Ariandel was so short that for the price they sold it for, it was kinda embarrassing.
 
Freeman76

Freeman76

Member
Im done with this series now. I regard DeS and DKS1 among the finest videogames of all time but they milked this setting until I lost all interest. Glad they are moving on now, having said though it's nice that people still engrossed in the series get a good send off :)

Fired this up on my PRO the other day to check the patch out, was very impressed by the hugely increased performance but even that didnt keep me playing for long.
 
F

Fried Food

Banned
Freeman76 said:
Im done with this series now. I regard DeS and DKS1 among the finest videogames of all time but they milked this setting until I lost all interest. Glad they are moving on now.

Fired this up on my PRO the other day to check the patch out, was very impressed by the hugely increased performance but even that didnt keep me playing for long.
Click to expand...

Gotta throw bloodborne into the finest all time talk
 
T

Toxi

Banned
Unfortunately I don’t think From Software were entirely confident in their work here. There are developer messages all over the environments in this DLC which really take the tension out of exploration. There will be a massive fall you need to take, with a developer message placed right in front of it that says “you can fall here without taking damage”, dissolving much of the tension that may build up in those moments before a jump. I get that From Software were probably worried players might get stuck from not trying to jump at all, but there surely could've been a better way to communicate to the player that they won't die from a particular fall. Developer messages have always been used very sparingly in these games as unlike the emergent gameplay that comes from a note another player might leave, we know the developers are only going to give us the best advice possible. It's a big con for me because the verticality of Ringed City suddenly feels like artifice when you know exactly where to jump and where not to.
Click to expand...
Dark Souls 3 unfortunately has a lot of this. "Place the basin at the feet of the beheading knight." "Extinguish three fires to open the door to the Wolf's Blood." "A transposing kiln lies in the tree' belly." "One should brave the depths of Lothric Castle before advancing." It seems like a response to people getting stuck in previous games.

Still will enjoy, but I might deliberately avoid reading messages if they destroy the tension this badly.
 
G

Goldboy

Member
ParagonDS on YouTube, despite not liking Ashes of Ariandel, says that The Ringed City is on par with Artorias of the Abyss and The Old Hunters. I'd link but I'm on mobile
 
T

Toxi

Banned
brandonh83 said:
The bosses in the first DLC felt super cheap to me, like yeah I have trouble with some Souls bosses like anyone else, but I legitimately could not beat any of them in that DLC. I beat the bosses in Old Hunters without too much trouble (got lucky a few times though admittedly) and those were rough.

We'll see though, already downloaded, primed and ready.
Click to expand...
The final boss of Ashes of Ariandel is hard, but completely doable. It's all about playing cautiously and being able to conserve your healing until the final phase.

There's also always the option of summoning help, or alternatively, putting down your summon sign and helping other people so you can learn the boss.
 
B

Bluenoser

Member
Levito said:
A fair bit larger, it's a much more difficult DLC than Ariandel too.
Click to expand...

Eep, I've never actually beaten the final boss of the Ariendel DLC. I just wasn't that into the DLC overall, and didn't feel motivated to finish it. Also, that boss is pretty difficult- 3 stages is annoying as fuck.

Hearing that Ringed City DLC is harder is pretty cool though. I will push through any difficulty if the content quality justifies it.
 
H

Hippolnareff

Member
Goldboy said:
ParagonDS on YouTube, despite not liking Ashes of Ariandel, says that The Ringed City is on par with Artorias of the Abyss and The Old Hunters. I'd link but I'm on mobile
Click to expand...

I watched it, it's always a little hard to take a Dark Souls channel at face value, he's very dramatic in his presentation.

"X is ... the best X... that FROM have ever done."

He basically says the only issues with the game are the lack of new rings and the lack of incentive to play the Arena mode (Uh, to fight people?).

He says everything else: the bosses, level design, weapons etc. are all the best since AotA or even better.

He seems consumed with hype, I guess we won't know until we play.
 
R

Rektash

Member
The Old Hunters was rated lower than the BB by critics even though, by most accounts, it is one of the best DLCs that has been ever created and quality wise probably better than any souls content released to date.

Reviews for DLC are at a very weird place.
 
S

Sinatar

Official GAF Bottom Feeder
That destructoid review is a joke. He literally just lists what you get in the DLC and slaps a score on it. No talk at all about whether or not it's actually good or why.

I'd be embarrassed if I wrote that.
 
F0rneus

F0rneus

Tears in the rain
Rektash said:
The Old Hunters was rated lower than the main game, even though, by most accounts, it is one of the best DLCs that has been created and quality wise probably better than any souls content that has been created.

Reviews for DLC are at a very weird place.
Click to expand...

From DLC's actual reviews come from the fanbase I feel. It's those coming weeks of new builds over the new weapons and armor, the sunbroing over the new bosses and all of the lore videos that will tell the story proper.

But then again, I don't expect much because everyone and their mother shit on Dark Souls III like it's sub ET on Atari tier. Me? I'll still be playing with the 10 people who like the game outside of well, me. Come at me From. Shower me with the greatness.
 
M

Metalingus5150

Member
Rektash said:
The Old Hunters was rated lower than the BB by critics even though, by most accounts, it is one of the best DLCs that has been ever created and quality wise probably better than any souls content released to date.

Reviews for DLC are at a very weird place.
Click to expand...

Probably had trouble with Ludwig lel
 
T

Toxi

Banned
Goldboy said:
ParagonDS on YouTube, despite not liking Ashes of Ariandel, says that The Ringed City is on par with Artorias of the Abyss and The Old Hunters. I'd link but I'm on mobile
Click to expand...
IIRC, ParagonDS liked Ashes of Ariandel. He understood the problems with its length and content, but enjoyed the level design and final boss.

Hippolnareff said:
I watched it, it's always a little hard to take a Dark Souls channel at face value, he's very dramatic in his presentation.

"X is ... the best X... that FROM have ever done."

He basically says the only issues with the game are the lack of new rings and the lack of incentive to play the Arena mode (Uh, to fight people?).

He says everything else: the bosses, level design, weapons etc. are all the best since AotA or even better.

He seems consumed with hype, I guess we won't know until we play.
Click to expand...
Paragon DS didn't like Dark Souls 3 at launch (Though the game has grown on him). So he's not the sort who's only positive.

You are right that he's a huge Souls fan though, which means that his perspective will be different from that of many players.
 
L

Lightningboalt

Neo Member
I just wanna hear some comparisons to Ariandel. I thought Ariandel was just outright bad. Final boss of it was just drawn out cinematic fluff, the level design was trash, and only a handful of the new items were anything I found enjoyable.

If people in general think that Ringed City is better than Ariandel, then I'll be interested. Otherwise, I'm probably going to forget that I have this DLC for a while because I've got Nier, Yakuza, and Rainworld to play. Dark Souls 3 is great but it's also very disappointing in a lot of ways too. It's been out for a year and it's the Souls game I feel by far least likely to want to replay out of the whole series, despite enjoying it quite a bit.
 
A

Alo0oy

Banned
Lightningboalt said:
I just wanna hear some comparisons to Ariandel. I thought Ariandel was just outright bad. Final boss of it was just drawn out cinematic fluff, the level design was trash, and only a handful of the new items were anything I found enjoyable.

If people in general think that Ringed City is better than Ariandel, then I'll be interested. Otherwise, I'm probably going to forget that I have this DLC for a while because I've got Nier, Yakuza, and Rainworld to play. Dark Souls 3 is great but it's also very disappointing in a lot of ways too. It's been out for a year and it's the Souls game I feel by far least likely to want to replay out of the whole series, despite enjoying it quite a bit.
Click to expand...

The weapons in the first DLC were great, much more inspired than the main game IMO. And the boss itself was great, it just dragged on longer than it should, they could have made it two separate bosses and it would have been significantly better.
 
L

Levito

Banned
Dio Brando said:
how much time would you say is necessary to finish the dlc?
Click to expand...

It took me about 8 hours to finish. I spent a lot of time exploring looking for hidden bosses and whatnot too though.



RandomSeed said:
Harder, as in more challenging ambush/encounter/boss design, or harder as in super poise long combo camera all over the place new enemies?
Click to expand...

Let's just say it'll test your mettle and your patience.

Like if you hate the Anor Londo archers in Dark Souls 1, YOU AIN'T SEEN NOTHING YET.
 
T

Toxi

Banned
Lightningboalt said:
I just wanna hear some comparisons to Ariandel. I thought Ariandel was just outright bad. Final boss of it was just drawn out cinematic fluff, the level design was trash, and only a handful of the new items were anything I found enjoyable.

If people in general think that Ringed City is better than Ariandel, then I'll be interested. Otherwise, I'm probably going to forget that I have this DLC for a while because I've got Nier, Yakuza, and Rainworld to play. Dark Souls 3 is great but it's also very disappointing in a lot of ways too. It's been out for a year and it's the Souls game I feel by far least likely to want to replay out of the whole series, despite enjoying it quite a bit.
Click to expand...
There are a fuckton of ridiculous new weapons and spells in The Ringed City, and the opinions on the level design seem very positive (It's much more vertical than most of Dark Souls 3). It's also longer than Ashes of Ariandel.
 
R

Rarius

Member
Alo0oy said:
The weapons in the first DLC were great, much more inspired than the main game IMO. And the boss itself was great, it just dragged on longer than it should, they could have made it two separate bosses and it would have been significantly better.
Click to expand...

Except if you were a STR character, then they all use the terrible Greataxe moveset.
 
T

Toxi

Banned
Rarius said:
Except if you were a STR character, then they all use the terrible Greataxe moveset.
Click to expand...
The recent patch made Strength builds a lot more fun because many weapons are now strong with Heavy infusion and 66 Strength. The Exile Greatsword is fucking ridiculous right now and will probably be nerfed.
 
O

OrbitalBeard

Member
I sometimes feel like I'm the only person who loved Ashes of Ariandel. Like, I have zero complaints with it, whatsoever. It gave me exactly what I wanted: more Dark Souls. If The Ringed City is on par with it (or better), I'm going to be happy.
 
G

Goldboy

Member
OrbitalBeard said:
I sometimes feel like I'm the only person who loved Ashes of Ariandel. Like, I have zero complaints with it, whatsoever. It gave me exactly what I wanted: more Dark Souls. If The Ringed City is on par with it (or better), I'm going to be happy.
Click to expand...

You're not alone, I loved Ashes of Ariandel too.
 
H

Hamster Plugin

Member
Dascu said:
So it's worse than the DS2 DLC? Eh.
Click to expand...

I'm playing through Dark Souls 2 DLC right now and so far I disagree. Sunken King had a cool looking town outside, but then you enter Dragon Sanctum which is the most boring environment I've seen in a long time. It's just the same plain wall texture and floor all over.

Brume Tower has been great so far (got up to the boss, haven't beaten yet) except for the optional Iron Passage which is very obviously built like a video game challenge room. It makes no sense to have such a path for any other reason.

Didn't do the one that starts at Shrine of Winter yet.
 
S

Sinatar

Official GAF Bottom Feeder
OrbitalBeard said:
I sometimes feel like I'm the only person who loved Ashes of Ariandel. Like, I have zero complaints with it, whatsoever. It gave me exactly what I wanted: more Dark Souls. If The Ringed City is on par with it (or better), I'm going to be happy.
Click to expand...

I thought Ariandel was great, I don't understand the hate.
 
V

VertPin

Member
OrbitalBeard said:
I sometimes feel like I'm the only person who loved Ashes of Ariandel. Like, I have zero complaints with it, whatsoever. It gave me exactly what I wanted: more Dark Souls. If The Ringed City is on par with it (or better), I'm going to be happy.
Click to expand...

It was short, level design was same-y, and the weapons just felt flashy to be flashy. There wasn't too much to explore and find in the DLC.
 
T

takoyaki

Member
OrbitalBeard said:
I sometimes feel like I'm the only person who loved Ashes of Ariandel. Like, I have zero complaints with it, whatsoever. It gave me exactly what I wanted: more Dark Souls. If The Ringed City is on par with it (or better), I'm going to be happy.
Click to expand...

I really liked it as well. It gave you a chance to explore a snowy area in the new engine and the last boss is among the best in all of Soulsborne. If the 2nd DLC is similar to Ashes of Ariandel, I'm completely satisfied with my Season Pass purchase.
 
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