Dark Souls III: The Ringed City (PC) Review

By Athanasios 27.03.2017

Review for Dark Souls III: The Ringed City on PC

This is it, folks. The end of the circle. Your final undead journey into the lands that Hidetaka Miyazaki envisioned for all your Dark Souls needs. It was a fine journey, although, undoubtedly, one that surely involved a few bumpy parts, with the most recent example being the series' penultimate DLC, Ashes of Ariandel, which was fine and all (more than fine, in fact), but a bit (or a lot) on the short side. Will The Ringed City offer the finale this deserves? Follow the trail that leads to the Dark Soul of Humanity to find out.

Skyrim met Dark Souls III in Ashes of Ariandel, as the Ashen one left the medieval castles of the main game, and entered a Norse-like dying world, full of wolves, undead knights, screaming trees, and then some. Unlike it, The Ringed City is more "traditional," with a much heavier emphasis in castles and caverns, corpse-like enemies and weird monsters… and dragons.

While closer to the core material, and although definitely lacking that extra something that could make it more striking, and thus, help it stand out, the second and final DLC is beautiful in its own morbid way - speaking of which, that aura of a world that's on the verge of death is even more prevalent here. From the initial area that looks like a tower graveyard, to the abyssal depths of this microcosm, this feels as post-apocalyptic as a Dark Souls can be, and that says a lot.

Screenshot for Dark Souls III: The Ringed City on PC

Enough with all these, though. What really matters about the article at hand is simply this: it shouldn't exist! Soulsborne fanatics have already opened their pockets, and this won't change their minds. Furthermore, as this is the grand finale, it should be experienced spoiler free - after all, one of the greatest joys in these games is the feeling of exploring an area for the first time… and, of course, revisiting it again and again after dying again, and again. Therefore, the next paragraphs will simply try to summarise everything on offer without spoiling anything.

Like the previous DLC, this brings in a new area to visit, and that means new enemies, new weaponry, items, and spells, and, thankfully (or not), new bosses to slay and be slayed from. Are these any good? Well, it's a mixed-to-great bag. In terms of tools of the trade, nothing spectacular, but certainly nothing bad either, with the only thing that stands out being a shield that's actually a giant door! As for the big bad baddies, they range from typical Dark Souls cannon fodder, to some that offer some pretty good surprises. Finally, the bosses are nothing to write home about, to be honest, but they are generally a fine addition.

As a whole, The Ringed City is, at the same time, a must have for fans, but nothing special in terms of new content and gameplay. Furthermore, like Ashes of Ariandel, it's somewhat short in length (although it does feel a bit longer), and even a bit more linear compared to it. Dark Souls, however, was never just a simple ARPG, as part of the fun is its lore - in fact, there are even people that play it solely for that, and this DLC is far better than the first one in this department. Why? Oh, Ashen one… that's on you to find out.

Screenshot for Dark Souls III: The Ringed City on PC

Cubed3 Rating

6/10
Rated 6 out of 10

Good

Dark Souls III's The Ringed City isn't exactly the final piece of the puzzle that people have been waiting for, as it's just more of the same (albeit, very good), and not something that will be hailed as a DLC masterpiece, partly due to its short length. Buy, rent, or never play? Irrelevant. Soulsborne aficionados are already on it…

Developer

From Software

Publisher

Bandai Namco

Genre

Real Time RPG

Players

1

C3 Score

Rated $score out of 10  6/10

Reader Score

Rated $score out of 10  0 (0 Votes)

European release date Out now   North America release date Out now   Japan release date Out now   Australian release date Out now   

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