After almost four years in development, Dark Souls 3 mod Archthrones is set to release a demo on March 15th. If you were unaware of said mod, it's a Patron-funded expansion that puts Dark Souls 3 on an alternate storyline in a way akin to Demon Souls, with a hub area home to five gateways that'll transport you to five worlds. If there was ever a reason to return to Dark Souls 3, this is probably it.
]]>I hope Dark Souls 3 rested at a bonfire recently, because its servers are down once again. FromSoftware confirmed that PvP multiplayer for the Steam version of the game had gone offline in a tweet, and said they’d provide an update once details were available to share. When I published this post, no explanation was forthcoming about what the cause of the downtime might be.
]]>Sony Interactive Entertainment and Chinese conglomerate Tencent have bought a combined 30% of stock in Elden Ring and Souls series developers FromSoftware, parent company Kadokawa Corporation have announced today. The transaction leaves Sony with a 14% stake in FromSoft, and Tencent acquiring 16% of the company’s shares. Kadokawa remain the largest shareholders, holding almost a 70% stake in FromSoft.
]]>Elden Ring devs FromSoftware have restored the PC multiplayer servers for Dark Souls 3, the studio has announced today. Servers were disabled for all Dark Souls games in January following the discovery of a security vulnerability that could affect anyone playing Dark Souls 3 online. Today’s restoration marks the first step in getting multiplayer back on track for the series on PC.
]]>The serious security hole affecting PvP in the whole Dark Souls series on PC should not be a problem with Elden Ring, Bandai Namco have announced. In January, they took all Dark Souls PvP servers offline following the publicisation of an remote code execution exploit which let wrong'uns run commands on other players' computers. Some feared this hole might be present in Elden Ring too. Bamco now say that Elden Ring is fine, but those Dark Souls servers won't come back down until after FromSoftware's new game launches.
]]>As if Dark Souls wasn't dangerous enough already, Bandai Namco have temporarily taken every Dark Souls PC server offline following the discovery of a Dark Souls 3 security vulnerability that could harm anyone playing in online mode. A malevolent string of code threatens the many kingdoms of ash, so to speak.
]]>The stabbing worlds of Dark Souls 3 and Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice come together in Blades Of Ashina, a DS3 mod which adds a number of Sekiro-inspired weapons. Mods swapping in weapon from other games are common, but these are full additions: they have unique moves, adding complex setups and combos with the speed and variety of Sekiro. Looks dead fancy. Come check out these sweet clips of upcoming murders with Owl's sword.
]]>Hubbish bubbish, rhymes are rubbish, eye of newt and blah blah blah. Gosh, magic is a chore. If only we had a catalyst to... Oh, hello reader, what are you doing here? Well, as it happens, yes, you can help me out. Just stand over here while I scratch these runes around you. I’m trying to summon the 9 best magic spells in PC games, you see. Stand still, please. You won’t feel a thing.
]]>Beating the final boss of a Dark Souls game can be an overwhelming experience. You reflect on your journey, the countless hours and failed attempts that led you to this moment, and a wave of emotion rolls over you.
The Twitch channel of Eric “McRaptor” Harper was host to a litany of these moments during the recent “Souls-4-Souls” (SFS) charity tournament that ran in late April. When you think of competitive gaming tournaments, Dark Souls probably doesn’t spring to mind. However, SFS featured 25 challenge runners racing through Soulsborne games as quickly as possible whilst trying to take zero hits. Thousands tuned in to watch.
]]>What was your last build in Dark Souls 3? I'm partial to axes myself, though I've had a lot of success in moving to whopping huge greatswords as of late. For my next run, though, I think I'm gonna try something new - blapping my way through Lothric with a sawn-off, filling every undead goon on the walls with buckshot thanks to this ridiculous new mod created by Asasasasasbc.
]]>If it's not baroque, don't fix it. Little architecture joke for you there, just to kick off a dry topic with a giggle. You see, appreciating architecture is for people in beige cardigans. Folks who subscribe to magazines printed on paper so thick you can still calculate the tree’s age. You know the type I mean. Spectacled couples with non-Ikea coffee tables. Thirty-year-olds. People like you! Here are 11 examples of very satisfying architecture in PC games.
]]>Imagine a world without electricity. Horrible. What would we use to blend our smoothies? How would we know when uncle Derek hits the metal bit again in the Sunday game of Operation? Electricity has roughly one dozen uses, and yet it is in the realm of videogames when we see its most fantastical and offensive capabilities brought screaming to life. To celebrate the important role of sassy electrons in your otherwise mundane life of neutrons and - ugh - protons, here are the 8 most shocking uses of electricity in games.
]]>Dark Souls modders are forged in the flames of adversity. While mostly limited to technical improvements (such as Durante's fixes for the wonky original PC port) and small texture packs, the past few years have brought about a whole new genre of Souls mods for all three games. While limited in what can be added to the trilogy (though breakthroughs are being made on that front, too), it turns out that by creatively rearranging what's already there, you can get what feels almost like a new game. Today, we take a peek at a bundle of B-Side adventures across the entire series.
]]>I have spent the winter holidays making a list, checking it twice, trying to find who is naughty on ice. But unlike the popular red-clad demon of the north, my list is reserved for terrors, demons and critters larger than 4 feet tall. I’m talking about cold monsters. They’re very chic this week. You see, while Nic has been battering majestic species of endangered giganto-moose in our Monster Hunter World: Iceborne review, I have been working hard to catalogue the frostiest freaks this side of video gaming. Here you go, the 8 coldest monsters in PC games.
]]>I heard you don’t like our podcast, the Electronic Wireless Show. But have you listened to 76 hours of it yet? Honestly, mate, it opens up after that. The 76-hour mark, that’s when it “clicks”. But I understand if you don’t have the time. Just skip ahead to this week’s episode, in which we’re talking about games about which we changed our minds. Listen in for the platformers we prematurely pooh-poohed and the Souls games that “sucked” before they were super.
]]>It was inevitable that this would feature in a Have You Played article. Dark Souls III heralded the end of the wildly popular trilogy of punishing games, and it was the culmination of everything From Software learned over the Souls years. But of course, you probably knew that. You probably don't know, however, that according to the deep and secret lore of Dark Souls 3, one of the giant crab enemies is called Carol.
]]>I hope you didn’t have anything planned this week, because speedrunning extravaganza Awesome Games Done Quick starts today at 4:30pm GMT.
If you’ve never tuned in before, AGDQ is a weeklong, 24/7 marathon of games, all played as fast as possible, while streaming on Twitch and raising a whole shedload of cash for the Prevent Cancer Foundation. What’s not to like?
]]>You might have heard of Berserk already. A few people have pointed out the similarities between Hidetaka Miyazaki’s Souls series and the manga Berserk. Perhaps you’ve even gotten curious, toyed with the idea of getting into it, but without a clear idea of where to start. Or perhaps you got the impression that Berserk is not for you.
You may have heard Berserk is filled with violence, sexual assault, gore, grim characters and questionable content. And for the most part, you would be right. But at its core, Berserk is about love.
]]>There are weeks when the Steam Charts surprise us! There are weeks when interesting new and old games reappear, pushing out the dreary regulars! And then mostly there are weeks like this one, where it's so depressingly bland that it starts raining outside the moment you glance at it. Not good rain, just bland drizzle.
]]>We've just passed the half-way point of 2018, so Ian Gatekeeper and all his fabulously wealthy chums over at Valve have revealed which hundred games have sold best on Steam over the past six months. It's a list dominated by pre-2018 names, to be frank, a great many of which you'll be expected, but there are a few surprises in there.
2018 releases Jurassic World Evolution, Far Cry 5 Kingdom Come: Deliverance and Warhammer: Vermintide II are wearing some spectacular money-hats, for example, while the relatively lesser-known likes of Raft, Eco and Deep Rock Galactic have made themselves heard above the din of triple-A marketing budgets.
]]>I have reached a conclusion. Everything that's bad is the fault of Steam sales. Two weeks ago these charts had reached a place of being a fertile ground of interesting new games and discounted classics. Today, they're back to being mostly a miserably predictable list of games that even the undiscovered tribes of Papua New Guinea have on their Steam accounts.
]]>Whatever Dark Souls maestros From Software have planned for their next game proper is an only slightly-teased mystery, but here's some fine news to make our own souls ache less during that wait. Dark Souls, the original and greatest in the series (Bloodborne excepted) and also one of the best PC games ever, sez us, is getting a remastered edition.
Update: confirmed for PC on May 25 via Steam, with 60FPS 4K support. Hurrah!
]]>As the feedback loop of Steam successes reaches an ear-shattering scream, this week we see last year's best sellers dominating the New Year's first week. So I refuse to live in the past. Let's look forward. Let's imagine what we might want from these behemothic developers.
]]>We've already seen which games sold best on Steam last year, but a perhaps more meaningful insight into movin' and a-shakin' in PC-land is the games that people feel warmest and snuggliest about. To that end, Valve have announced the winners of the 2017 Steam Awards, a fully community-voted affair which names the most-loved games across categories including best post-launch support, most player agency, exceeding pre-release expectations and most head-messing-with. Vintage cartoon-themed reflex-tester Cuphead leads the charge with two gongs, but ol' Plunkbat and The Witcher series also do rather well - as do a host of other games from 2017's great and good.
Full winners and runners-up below, with links to our previous coverage of each game if you're so-minded. Plus: I reveal which game I'd have gone for in each category.
]]>Another year over, a new one just begun, which means, impossibly, even more games. But what about last year? Which were the games that most people were buying and, more importantly, playing? As is now something of a tradition, Valve have let slip a big ol' breakdown of the most successful titles released on Steam over the past twelve months.
Below is the full, hundred-strong roster, complete with links to our coverage if you want to find out more about any of the games, or simply to marvel at how much seemed to happen in the space of 52 short weeks.
]]>A bone, a ratchet, a bloody rope, parchment - these are the clues in this short teaser-trailer for the next project from Dark Souls studio From Software. What do they mean? Oh, probably a metaphor for death and the afterlife - it usually is. In terms of what game could it be, well, knee-jerk reactions leaned towards Bloodborne 2 (for my money it's From's finest, but, o tragedy, the first game remains a PS4 exclusive), but that might be simply because of the aforementioned bloody rope. BB is generally a more gory sort of horror than DS, y'see.
Some, however, are looking deeper into From's past, theorising that the 'Shadows Die Twice' text after the footage could imply a return to Shadow Tower, From's 1998 PS One game which laid some of the groundwork for Souls.
]]>This week we finally learn who the killer is, but will the answer provide more questions than solutions? Read on for this week's hair-raising installment of... The Steam Charts.
]]>As we learnt last week, the Steam Summer Sale feels like the sort of thing that should enliven the charts. Nothing can enliven the charts...
Apart from me!
]]>I finally completed Dark Souls III [official site] last week, a world that I have been dipping in and out of between bouts of listlessness since its release in April last year. It didn’t grip me like the first revered Dark Souls, but it still made me sad to know it was all over. Where could I go now for my Souls fix? The answer, it turns out, is loads of places. The games industry is quietly reverberating with the series’ influence. From small games boasting “souls-like” combat, to bigger games doing weird things with death and player messages. Meanwhile, our PlayStation brethren got Nioh, which took the “pocket full o’ souls” idea and simply renamed them “Amrita”. There is a popular complaint that everything in the industry is now being compared to Dark Souls, and it's easy to forget that games embraced difficulty and strangeness long before the Bed of Chaos made you weep with frustration. Nevertheless, the mechanics and the tone of Miyazaki’s magnum opus is leaking into games everywhere.
That there's an influx of Soulsian disciples out there isn’t a problem to me. My problem is that they are learning all the wrong lessons. At least, they are neglecting the most important one. But first let’s look at what sly tricks are being lifted from the series, and who is lifting them.
]]>He was a boy. She was a girl. Can I make it anymore obvious? He wrote the weekly Steam charts. She read them.
What more can I say?
Other than that these are the ten Steam games with the most accumulated sales over the past week, obv. See ya later, boy.
]]>Dark Souls has now concluded. Dark Souls 3 [official site] today launched its second expansion, The Ringed City. Barring a secret change of heart from the developers, this is the final expansion for the final Dark Souls game. The Ringed City delves into a lost city at the crumpled edges of the world to find... ah, you don't want me to tell you.
]]>This is nearly the end, one of my few friends, nearly the end. Tuesday will bring the launch of The Ringed City, the final DLC for Dark Souls 3 [official site], the final Dark Souls game. I can forgive publishers Bandai Namco for slinging out The Ringed City's launch trailer four days early because heck, what a run it's been. In a series about the endless ends of the worlds, this last one's sure to be a biggun. Spoilers follow, obvs.
A new patch is out today too, paving the way to The Ringed City.
]]>Bandai Namco have released a new trailer for the final Dark Souls 3 [official site] DLC, The Ringed City, and I don't think you should watch it. It combines a load of gameplay clips showing locations, enemies, bosses, and other things that would surely be a lot more fun to discover yourself in-game. This is the end, my friend. The very last bit of Dark Souls as far as we know. Why flick a few pages ahead? I'll post it, for people who refuse to know better, but I suggest you instead brew a cup of tea. Don't click "Read the rest of this entry »". Off you go. Bye now. Ta ta.
]]>The Dark Souls saga will conclude with the second and final Dark Souls 3 [official site] DLC expansion, The Ringed City, on March 28th. That's the release date Bandai Namco announced today. The Ringed City venture into a lost city at the end of the world, through a mish-mash of merged lands, with new enemies, new bosses, and at least one ↑ fancy egg. Here, have a peek at what awaits in this first trailer for The Ringed City:
]]>Valve capped off 2016 by revealing the year's 100 highest-grossing games on Steam, which is a pretty interesting list. If you've been following Alec's prolonged breakdown over the weekly charts you'll not be shocked by revelations that Grand Theft Auto V and Counter-Strike: Global Offensive are near the top, but you might not expect them to be joined by the likes of No Man's Sky or the free-to-play Dota 2.
When I asked Alec if he fancied writing up this chart too, he began hissing "The Venga Bus is coming the Venga Bus IS coming the Venga Bus is coming to take me away ho-ho hee-hee ha-haaa" so you get me and my GIFs instead.
]]>Warning! There are plentiful spoilers ahead for all Dark Souls games.]
You'll meet his acolytes first – giggling ogresses in matted, sagging corsets, their belts jingling with torture implements, and red-cloaked porters who shoulder cages full of chopped-up bone and flesh. Deep in Undead Settlement – an area you'll reach, in a portentous reversal of a key moment from the original Dark Souls, when two gargoyles carry you down the cliff from Lothric Castle – you'll find rooms hung with carcasses, neatly bundled up in sackcloth for transportation.
Beyond that there's the Road of Sacrifices, with its mutant carrion birds and its lone madwoman in rags armed with a butcher's cleaver, a road that takes you via the Crucifixion Woods to the grounds of a befouled cathedral. And then there are his rings, obtained from the colossal fusions of wolf and spider which haunt that cathedral – magical artefacts that impart a little of the master's terrible hunger to the wearer. Aldrich, Saint of the Deep. Aldrich the man-eater.
]]>As mentioned last week, it's been one of those years. Lots of the biggest RPGs that we were expecting decided to spend a few more months in bed, or simply skip 2016. Can't blame them! It'll mean an awesome 2017, even if looking back there's only been a few big names to pick from. Still, tradition is tradition! This week, another year marks another set of the RPG genre's most fiercely fought-over fictional awards.
(Disclaimer: Actual fighting may also be fictional, all awards are based on the incredibly scientific principle of Wot I Think, awards cannot be exchanged for money, goods or services unless they too are entirely fictional. Please write all questions or complaints onto the back of a Myst CD using a Sharpie, break it into four pieces and bury them in interesting points around the globe for future treasure hunters to encounter, reforge, and then gag "Oh, god, Myst..." Or indeed, not. Completely your choice!)
]]>Aside from starting a new tradition of unusually-named Steam Awards, Valve have also pulled out their worn and adored bargain bucket and have begun to fill it with games you’ll enthusiastically buy and probably never play. Yes, it's their Autumn Sale. In the streets, the apocalyptic jockeying for TVs and blenders has started. The moon has turned blood red. And I looked and behold a pale horse, and his name that sat on him was Black Friday, and sales followed with him.
]]>An altogether healthier chart than we've had over the last few weeks, even if the usual ghosts continue to haunt it. That was a spooky halloween reference. It's probably still Halloween in Tazmania or something. Even if it's not, there's definitely a hungover guy in a vomit-smeared David S. Pumpkins costume shambling down a street somewhere.
]]>Ashes of Arandiel is the first of two DLCs for Dark Souls III [official site], making it quite possibly the penultimate Souls adventure. We sent intrepid Robert Zak into the cold wastes of the Painted World of Ariandel to see how well it lives up to the mighty legacy of the series, and he returned a short time later stricken with frostbite. And wolfbites. Here's wot he thinks.
]]>Unless you've been hiding under a rock lizard for the past several months, you'll know the wonderfully twisted and challenging action role-player Dark Souls returned to our PC telly boxes earlier this year. With series director Hidetaka Miyazaki reinstated at the (knight) helm, the third installment isn't necessarily the best but is probably the most realised, and like its forerunners - and console cousins Demon's Souls and Bloodborne - it'll swallow you whole if you don't know how to handle it. And even when/if you do it rarely shows mercy.
Out next week, Ashes of the Ariandel marks Dark Souls 3 [official site]'s first of two proposed DLCs before the series is laid to rest, which seems like a good time to explore the mods which might, just might, make reading the words YOU DIED over and over and over again that little bit easier to stomach. If not, they should at least help you have fun doing so. Git gud or die trying.
]]>We've already had a peek at the singleplayer side of the first Dark Souls III [official site] DLC, which launches later this month, but what about the PvP? Along with a new hunk of singleplayer story, Ashes of Ariandel will add a bit to multiplayer too. Here, have a peek in this new trailer, which includes some serious-looking 3v3 arena action:
]]>Dark Souls III [official site] will be the end of Dark Souls, as far as director Hidetaka Miyazaki is concerned, but we've still got two DLC story add-ons to come before it wraps up. The first of these will be Ashes of Ariandel, which is due on October 25th, and... do you want to know more about it or enjoy a surprise? If you fancy going in fresh, probably don't watch the new trailer released today. Its four minutes of gameplay show not much, really, until they show exciting spoiler-ish things that honestly I'd rather have seen fresh while playing. Be warned. For the bold, onwards:
]]>I am ill today. It's my guts, you see. My Goddamned guts. Despite my imminent death by a thousand craps, I am duty-bound to bring you the regular round-up of what sold best on Steam last week. Think of me, won't you, as you wonder how many humans who don't yet own Counter-Strike: Global Offensive there can possibly be in the world, and lament the total absence this week of anything we might traditionally deem to be 'indie.'
]]>We've known that two big story add-ons were coming to Dark Souls III [official site] and now the first is officially announced. Ashes of Ariandel will send the Ashen One to a new land to do the usual stuff: fight new monsters, duff up new bosses, jab at new lore, put on new hats, and learn a few new magic tricks. It'll launch on October 25th and, until then, here's a trailer introducing Ariandel:
]]>For years hardcore Souls bros have been faced with a problem. How do you make Dark Souls even more difficult, unsettling and frightening than normal? Some have resorted to 'one bro' runs, playing through the games in their pants, others to killing all the bosses as fast as humanly possible. But for one YouTuber, the answer was much simpler. Just add crabs. Lots of crabs.
]]>Everything I love about Dark Souls is everything that makes me want to scream in Salt and Sanctuary [official site].
]]>Hallo there! Planning a spot of Dark Souls III [official site] this weekend, are we? Here, things might have changed a bit since your last go. From Software pulled a patch on Monday to fix hitches and freezes it caused, then re-released it on Wednesday, then today brought a brand new patch. This new one is mostly a balance patch, but does also improve matching for players in the Blue Sentinel and Blade of the Darkmoon covenants - good news if you want to scrap this weekend?
]]>I realise that Dark Souls comparisons are now overused to the point of near-meaninglessness but Salt and Sanctuary [official site] is, like, really Dark Souls-y. It's a hand-drawn 2D side-on platformer, sure, but does so many Souls-y things from all its parrying and rolling down to needing to go reclaim your souls salt after you die. From what I've heard, it sounds great? Following its debut on PlayStation 4 in March, Salt and Sanctuary is now available on PC. Great!
One of the larger issues with being a games critic is having to devote time to sitting down and actually playing the games before you write about them. Finding the space in a busy work day of accepting bribes and secret meetings to decide industry biases is a nightmare, and anyway, you pretty much know what you think of a game from the box cover/Steam store page, right? Right. So let's stop pretending and get on with the sorts of straight-to-the-point honest reviews we're all really after.
]]>A Dark Souls III [official site] patch released on Friday, intended to combat online hackers, has been pulled as it was also making framerates stutter. That wasn't intended, obviously. Wasn't another devious twist from those scamps at From Software. The stuttering wasn't tapping out a rhythm to reveal a secret boss, which players needed to repeat by bashing the Firelink Shrine bonfire with a broken straight sword. Nah, it was simply a bug. So From Software have pulled the patch, and plan to release a new anti-hacker update once this is sorted.
]]>I say top ten, but there are actually only seven different games in the past week's Steam charts, once pre-orders and deluxe editions are filtered out. It seems like a lifetime ago that Stardew Valley and Factorio were doing a little indie rampage around the charts, as Steam's best-sellers have now very much reverted to big-brand type. Also: pre-ordering sure doesn't seem to be going away any time soon, no matter how unwise it might seem.
]]>Dark Souls has always been an incredibly obtuse series, and Dark Souls III [official site] is living up to that tradition beautifully. With a cast of characters who intersect your journey and a backpack full of indecipherable items, only the most observant players will be able to put together Dark Souls 3's subtle clues to unlock the more interesting endings.
That's where I come in. Armed with spoilerific knowledge, I'm going to cast back the mist and lay bare all of the ways your unkindled self can find some kind of resolution in the transitory lands of Lothric. Deciphering what each of these endings mean is going to be up to you, I'm just the one who will show you the way.
]]>"Dark Souls isn't about difficulty, y'know?" they say, backing you into a corner. "It's about mysteries and secrets, about observation and deduction." You consider smashing your bottle over the bar and driving it into their guts but ach, you've still a few sips left. "Do you know about... poise?" Ah what the hell, you need another anyway.
The poise statistic in Dark Souls III [official site] has been a mystery. Is it meant to, like in the first two, stop enemy hits making your soul man flinch? Why doesn't it? And how come folks can re-enable the old way by hacking settings? Is it bugged? Bandai Namco now say nah, it's meant to be this way.
]]>Well, more accurately it's The Souls Your Destination, but Dark Souls III being a chart-topper is old news now. This week's Steam shaker-upper is Paradox's intergalactic grand strategy title Stellaris - but one of PC gaming's oldest men takes up residence in the top ten too.
]]>With this weekend's announcement of Battlefield 1 dominating the newsosphere, it put us to considering whether this could be the game to finally topple Dark Souls 3 from the top of things people will click on if we write a headline like that. It's okay, people don't read this bit - they start at 1) below.
]]>Dark Souls III is a favourite here at RPS, but it hasn't lit a fire in the hearts of the entire team. Recently, Alec jumped into the game, having observed the series from afar for some time, and shared his thoughts. He, Pip and Adam gathered to discuss the appeal of the series, and talked about its divergence from traditional RPG systems, the intimidation factor and the complicated nature of its much-debated difficulty.
Adam: Dark Souls III is probably going to be in my top three games of the year, despite the thousands of good games coming out this year. I’m continually surprised to see it selling quite as well as it does though, because so many people that I recommend the series to treat those recommendations as a form of sadism.
]]>Blindspots is a new, irregular series in which I play games, series or genres that I have, for one reason or another, never spent significant time with. Sometimes that's because of simple omission, other times it's because I've deliberately avoided them - convinced that I wouldn't enjoy them or that they were poor quality. My intent is to play each for long enough that, at the very least, I understand their appeal in order that I no longer dismiss them out of hand, but ideally I'll reach the point where I break through the wall of ignorance or fear and love them as my own.
We begin with the Souls games, specifically the recent Dark Souls III. I have resolutely steered clear of this series because I have been certain that they would be too 'difficult' for me. Because I am a pathetic little babyman.
]]>When Dingle arrives at the circular ruins outside the old church, the first thing he sees is a man in a crown, holding a flaming torch - it is the man he must kill. But the crowned man shows no fear, he simply waves and beckons him over. Dingle is curious. He approaches with caution and looks into the grassy arena below, where he sees two dark spirits - red phantoms like himself - taking swings at each other. The man in the crown begins silently dropping glowing stones everywhere, one by one. There are two more red phantoms squatting on the stone ledge nearby, quietly watching the duel below.
Dingle (full name: Dingle Dongle) looks at the fight, then at the man he is supposed to kill, then at the spectators. Then he does something that more and more dark spirits in Lothric are doing. He puts his weapon away, he sits down and he waits his turn.
]]>If I have learned anything from reading other people's opinions about Dark Souls it's that Dark Souls is probably a metaphor for something. But what? WHAT? There are so many conflicting opinions out there.
Well, that's where your pal, Pip (that is me), can help. I have come up with a definitive list of ways to interpret Dark Souls correctly:
]]>"These charts are supposed to be weekly, Meer." "I know, but I keep having to go away for unhappy reasons." "Oh OK, but you'd damn well better tell me what were the top ten best-stelling Steam games last week, or I'm going to spraypaint pictures of bottoms onto your house." "Alright, alright, here you go."
]]>To many, Dark Souls III [official site] can be summarised as a boss stamping on a human face forever. We're here to help. This is a guide to killing all of the bosses in Dark Souls 3 but it's not simply a how-to-murder manual. It also takes a look at some of the sumptuous design and the patchwork lore surrounding many of the bosses, explaining who they are, what they leave behind when they perish, and why it's necessary to steal all of their souls. As such it's absolutely riddled with spoilers, as well as strategies and a sprinkling of silliness.
]]>Dark Souls III [official site] is a superb entry in From Software's series, and in both design and lore it feels like a fitting finale. Is it time to move on?
One day, many years from now, when I have a family that I hang out with by way of a VR headset while in real life we all fester in our isolated cubicles, I envision my future kid coming up to me in our shared virtual space and asking “Daddy, what was Dark Souls like?” At this point, I’d look wistfully out the virtual window at the setting sun (an illusion concealing the fact that in the real world the sun had set for the last time many years ago), and I’d say:
“Dark Souls, my child, wasn’t like all the other games. It didn’t play nice. It didn’t hold your hand, or make you feel loved or important, but it was, in many ways, the purest game series of all. It ended in 2016."
]]>The day that Dark Souls III [official site] arrived on Steam, the multiplayer functionality for Dark Souls I mysteriously died. No messages, no invasions, no human helpers, no ghosts, no bloodstains. Your world was no longer a vibrant place, riddled through with the lives (and deaths) of others. People spoke of deliberate closure, to cause a migration to the new game, while others thought servers had been moved from one to the other for less sinister reasons but with the same end-result.
Last night, the servers came back online, leading to much praising of the sun. But what actually caused the lights to go out in Lordran?
]]>We play Souls games for numerous reasons – the uncompromising challenge that feeds beautifully into themes of the series, the wonderful boss design and the world building that sees a gigantic Gothic labyrinth created for us to explore and die in. But we also play them because they allow us to look fabulous. Dark Souls 3 [official site] sees returning favourite armour sets with texture overhauls and new classics making their debut, while changes to the upgrade system means you’re freer than ever to swap between sets and pieces.
This guide will take you on a tour of some of the weird and wonderful armour sets to be found in Dark Souls III, with advice on where to find them. Whether you want to be the mad invader dressed like a Mushroom, or the terrifying samurai who took down a host with signature style, above all you want to leave other players asking - Who was that? And who do I have to kill to look like them?
]]>A Dark Souls III [official site] patch launched today, and it probably doesn't do what you were hoping for. I don't what exactly your hopes and dreams for DS3 are, but I suspect they're a little loftier than a few balance tweaks and bug fixes. But if your Souls just updated and you're wondering what's going on, hey, it's this collection of things.
]]>Dark Souls [official site] isn't for everyone in the same way that a bowl of piping hot broth isn't for everyone. Let it cool for a while, add some seasoning, and people might happily tuck in and enjoy, but if you expect them to eat it exactly as you would – whether that's by chugging it down in a few swift gulps or taking tiny sips long after it's gone cold – a fair few folks would rather have a nice sandwich instead. Nothing wrong with that. Nobody should have to drink soup through a straw.
Or should they? Given the cries of 'git gud' that greet many complaints about the difficulty – or inaccessibility – of Dark Souls, it's tempting to see those who love the series as precisely the sort of people who would chase you away from the bowl if you brought a spoon to the soup kitchen. “NO SPOONS” they'd shriek “YOU WON'T APPRECIATE IT IF YOU DON'T GET IT ALL DOWN YOUR CHIN AND THE FRONT OF YOUR JUMPER BEFORE YOU MANAGE TO SWALLOW A MOUTHFUL”
I wholly agree with these kitchen monsters.
]]>Dark Souls III [official site] launched last night and is, you'll probably not be surprised to learn, a mite wonky for some players. Problems reported include controllers not working, lower performance than expected, and the game crashing at bonfires. It's not clear how widespread these problems are, and publishers Bandai Namco haven't addressed them specifically yet, but for now players have figured out workarounds for some. Or, you know, it might be fine and dandy for you. Life is full of surprises.
]]>Today's the day for Dark Souls III [official site]! This is a good day. Maybe you've read Wot Adam Thinks (spoiler-free!), maybe you've devoured every available scrap of Dark Souls III information, maybe you've tried to avoid as much as possible, or maybe you're thinking now might be a fun time to check out that 'Dark Souls' everyone is always going on about (I suppose you could also not care about it, not be able to afford it, or actively dislike it, which are also fine). I know technically it comes out on the 12th, but that's in Japan - half the world can play today.
]]>Ever had one of those games that you just long to get into, but can't? There haven't been many I've wanted to get into more than the Dark Souls series. To sink into the world I see people talking about on my Twitter feed. To have that sense of discovery in ash and ember. For that crumbling world to feel like something more than just a succession of traps and gauntlets. I want to like Dark Souls. I really hope Dark Souls 3 is the clicking point. But... so far, (whispers) I've never managed to like Dark Souls.
]]>It'll take a great deal of analysis to figure out how exactly Dark Souls III [official site] fits into the wider mythology of the series in terms of its tremendous, cryptic lore, and it might take even longer for critical opinion to decide where it ranks in the pantheon of Souls games. But we can all agree on one thing, right? Dark Souls is superior to its first sequel in almost every way.
Not Michael Johnson. Here, he argues that Dark Souls II changes and improves on the formula set by its predecessor and that it has the greatest expansions in all of gaming.
]]>I wasn't around to cover the previous week's Steam Top 10 as per usual, so you'll have to wildly imagine the shape of it yourself. I can take an educated guess if you like: I'm pretty sure Soldner was a shock number one, with Limbo of the Lost and Aliens: Colonial Marines hot on its heels. Strange that they're completely gone from the latest chart, below, but that's the fickle nature of the millennial digital consumer for you, innit?
]]>Dark Souls III [official site] is almost here so if you haven't done so already, prepare to die. In this spoiler-free review, I'll explain how From Software's latest borrows almost as much from trilogy predecessor Demon's Souls as from the previous two games, and why I might be ready to say goodbye to the series, even though I've loved almost every minute of my time in Lothric.
In the moments when I’m feeling generous toward Dark Souls III, I’m tempted to say it takes the best of series-opener (and only non-PC entry) Demon’s Souls and mixes it with the best of Dark Souls I. That’s an argument I reckon I could stitch together.
There have been plenty of those moments, scattered across the tens of hours I’ve already spent with From Software’s latest, but there have been plenty of drawn out moments when I’ve felt as if both I and the series are going through the motions to an extent. To explain why that is, I need to talk about the aspects of the Souls games that I love.
]]>Dark Souls III [official site] is already out in Japan but the rest of the world has to wait until April 12th. I received review code late last week and have spent a few hours kindling bonfires and carving my way through the early stages of the game. I've also, as you might imagine, died quite a lot.
Our full review will be closer to the international release but I wanted to share some thoughts about the opening areas, the PC version and the overall quality of what I've seen so far. No spoilers regarding bosses or locations.
]]>Dark Souls III [official site] is out now-ish! In Japan. Sorry. But hey, we can still benefit from the release of the Japanese launch trailer, which uses English for voiceovers and its other languages, of music and ultraviolence, are universal anyway. It's pretty, and has me commencing my scripted descent into extended illness for the game's western release on April 12th. Observe, but be wary of minor spoilers and revelations:
]]>Dark Souls 3 [official site] will be with us in less than seven weeks, and the footage we've seen so far has been pretty blooming terrifying. The latest trailer, backed by a hauntingly dysfunctional rendition of Cyndi Lauper's True Colors, offers another glimpse at life in the Lothric Kingdom. If, like me, you have "You Died" etched into the small section of your brain you've set aside specifically for From Software games, perhaps Lauper's Time After Time would've been a more suitable soundtrack to append all the inevitable death. Either way, it looks darn good.
]]>We have to wait another two whole months until Dark Souls III [official site] arrives but hey, we can experience the opening minutes right this very day! The opening cinematic, that is. In blocky YouTubevision. It's a trailer. A trailer of the intro cinematic. You may wonder "Who are these monsters?" and "How do I murder them?" and "How many times will they murder me?" and "Who is this narrator anyway?" and "But really, is that an octopus made of sludge?"
]]>The holidays are now over, and it's time to get back to what matters - saving a million accident-prone fantasy realms from their own past mistakes, evil gods on the rampage, and all that pesky loot that they clearly don't have anything better to do with than stick it in barrels at the bottom of dungeons. This is why so many of them have no choice but to have bandit-driven economies. Shameful. Someone should Do Something There.
Here's some of the most exciting RPGs due in 2016. I suspect a couple may not actually make it to final release this year, but never mind - 'tis the season to be generous. In no particular order, then, some of the ones I'm looking forward to...
]]>You've seen the latest in-game footage of Dark Souls III [official site], right? Or maybe you're saving yourself until its release? I won't ruin anything, then, except tell you what I'm sure you'd already guessed: it looks stunning. In an attempt to find out how to run Dark Souls III in the most stellar of settings, I tracked down Gwynevere, the Princess of Sunlight from the original Dark Souls. Given she deals with sunlight, I naturally assumed she'd be an expert on what I'd need to optomise Dark Souls III's visuals when it arrives in April. It turned out I was right.
]]>If I hadn't already played Dark Souls III [official site] (and what a wonderful experience that was), I'd probably be avoiding any screenshots or videos. A self-imposed media black-out. Because I am a small part of the media, however, that'd involve knocking myself unconscious and staying that way until April 2016. I'll understand if you want to skip the four minutes of in-game footage below though. I'll understand if you want to be surprised by the new horrors on show.
]]>That headline's not me playing coy and trying to entice you into reading more of my drivel to find out a specific release date for Dark Souls III [official site]: "April 2016" is the release window publishers Bandai Namco announced in the wee small hours of the morning. I wish I could tell you a specific date so you could book the cat into the cattery, the kids into the nursery, and the nun into the nunnery, then skive off work, but no, you'll need to wait a bit longer to hear that.
]]>Dark Souls 3 [official site] is in the shadow of a giant. The giant probably has a wound for a face, not a single leg to stand on and spends his days dragging his torso around the ruins of a throne room. After one slightly uneven sequel, the Souls series has returned to the guidance of creator Hidetaka Miyazaki. Rather than replicating what worked so well four years ago, however, From Software are tweaking their design. The architecture of the world is immediately recognisable but combat is changing.
After half an hour with the game, I'm half-way convinced it might be able to step out of the shadow of its predecessors and find a new sun to praise.
]]>Like those guys who stand by the highway and tease uncoming traffic with such visual delights onlookers have nary seen before, Microsoft has unbuttoned its overcoat to reveal the first gameplay video for Dark Souls 3 [official site]. It's a tough visual metaphor to keep up so I'll leave it at that.
]]>The leaked information about Dark Souls III [official site] is looking more legit now. The game was officially announced during Microsoft's E3 press conference today and, while some of the more granular specifics are yet to be announced, one thing has been confirmed. Legendary director Hidetaka Miyazaki is back in the driving seat for this one when it launches in early 2016. I guess that's actually two things.
]]>Dark Souls 3 is apparently well underway in the workpits of From Software, according to leaked materials bearded NerdBro YouTube news channel The Know have seen. Screenshots, concept art and gameplay info are detailed in a new video from the crew, but it's all vague enough that the fate of the PC version is thrown into confusion by one little word.
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