Loving this game. My favorite Dark Souls out of the three. Trying to finish the game with a level 10 first, then build a level 50 or so for my second character. Haven't gotten very far, I take my time on each stage and explore every crook and nanny. There's so many short cuts, secrets, hidden items etc, it's almost overwhelming. I only look at the ds3 wiki map to see where items are after I think I've fully explored it and I end up missing a few things. Other than that, going into the game vanilla, not knowing what to expect. When I get around to my second character, I'll probably have that one set up to be versatile with a few builds. A fighter/mage or pyromancer hybrid with different weapons maxed out. Game seems easier than the other souls games so far. Some of my friends haven't died to a boss yet, which would never happen in the games prior to this one. I'm up to the 4th stage and haven't had much trouble killing bosses with my lev 10, so I think that says something about the difficulty. Feels a lot like DeS.
I started the game Saturday night and played til 4:30am, then played all day Sunday and I am firing it up again when I get home from work today. Dark Souls 3 trumped Silicon Valley and Game of Thrones for me last night. DS3 feels really awesome. I love the Souls games and this one feels like it's probably going to be the best in the series. It feels a lot more similar to Demon's Souls than Dark Souls 1 or 2 did, in my opinion, which is a really good thing. It's like they have refined the formula to a near perfect mix. I re-rolled a Deprived character last night after getting my first guy to around level 30 or so. My new guy at level 12 is almost as powerful as my first character. It was pretty damn hard beating that first boss as a naked level 1 with a tree branch for a weapon, though. It took me an hour to beat that jerkoff.
Moved onto NG+. Was a sorcerer the first go around. When you get near the end, try the friend spell on the angels. So many hidden locations and paths. Great game. Liked the Story ( kindle the flame ). Lots of bosses and options. Had the hardest time with Aldrich and the arrow rain. Took me almost two days to get past the devourer of Gods.
I'm sitting at the end of NG++ now (beat it three times... I don't want to play through it anymore because I know that there will eventually be DLC). It's a damned fine game. But then, it's Dark Souls, so of course it's great. It feels a little short to me... longer than Demon's, but shorter than Dark 1 and Dark 2. Might be just my subjective feeling. As to where it ranks on the pantheon, I still like Dark 1 the best, and Dark 2 the least, with Dark 3, Demon's, and Bloodborne all sitting in the middle somewhere. I don't think I can pick between them. I think the combat's as good as it's ever been with the addition of weapon arts, although I am a little sad that this consideration forced them to go back to an MP bar, as I actually liked the set number of uses per spell system they had going in Dark 1 and Dark 2. Another thing I'll say, without spoiling anything, is that I was floored by some of the endgame content. The final area of the game (leading up to the fight with the final Lord of Cinder) is awe-inspiring (both visually and from a level design standpoint). And similarly awe-inspiring is the second boss of the game's secret area, easily the most visually stunning fight in the history of the franchise. Anyway, yeah, probably not my favorite of the franchise, but I'm fine with that, as the series is still going out on an awfully high note.
I actually didn't die in the first two areas to anything at all, bosses or otherwise. At that point I was a little worried that the whole game was just going to be too darned easy. Then I reached the Undead Settlement, and died to the first Evangelist I saw, and from then on I died fairly regularly. It felt like the real Dark Souls 3 started there, so to speak. Probably good for the game's health to start things out an easier note for new players.
