Anyone who knows me finds it to be no big surprise that I’m a huge
fan of From Software’s Soulsborne games, which includes downright
classics like Dark Souls and the recent Bloodborne. With Dark Souls 3 a
few months away, and the new gameplay footage out from PAX over the weekend, I thought it would be a good time to talk about what I want to see in Dark Souls 3.
Level Design
So far, with all the Souls games and Bloodborne, From Software has
been the absolute master of level design, and I hope to see the trend
continue. While Dark Souls and Bloodborne had some amazing level design,
with most of the environments we explored feeling like real places that
could actually exist, Dark Souls 2 dropped the ball on it before its
DLC came out. Hopefully, From will take what it has learned from
Bloodborne and expand on giving us an epic world that feels real to
fight through.
Multiplayer
The Souls games have had some incredibly well-done multiplayer
systems, including the player messaging system and the invasions and
co-op mechanics. Sadly, except for the messaging system, Bloodborne used
a vastly inferior method of ringing bells for multiplayer instead of
the traditional summon signs. While Dark Souls 3 is set to go back to
the summoning sign system, I hope that it also takes into account the
improvements to the multiplayer covenants and networking brought along
by Dark Souls 2.
Story
The Dark Souls franchise has traditionally been a bit light on the
storytelling, choosing to let players decide their own level of
involvement with the going-ons of the world. While I hope Dark Souls 3
uses the same method for storytelling as its predecessors, I do hope
that it makes the fates of the older settings, namely Lordran and
Drangleic, clearer. Considering a big theme of Dark Souls 3 is going to
be ashes and the Lords of Cinder, it looks like we’ll be seeing some of
our older acquaintances as well.
Combat
The Dark Souls franchise has some of the best combat mechanics to
ever grace an RPG, despite it being deceptively simple. Dark Souls 3
will undoubtedly use the same mechanics from the earlier games, but I
also hope it uses some of the improvements Bloodborne had. While I hope
Dark Souls 3 maintains the series-tradition of having an unimaginable
number of weapons at your disposal, I hope From takes Bloodborne’s trick
weapon system and incorporates it into the combat mechanics of Dark
Souls 3.
Magic
Magic may have been pretty boring in the original Dark Souls, but
Dark Souls 2 expanded the magic system by a tonne, even bringing in new
mechanics involving hexes. Hopefully, Dark Souls 3 will carry forward
this tradition of massive improvements on the magic system. I also hope
to see some of the lesser-used abilities from Bloodborne make their way
into Dark Souls 3, including Augur of Ebrietas, which essentially lets
you smack an opponent with tentacles, and A Call Beyond, which lets you
carpet-bomb an area with magic missiles.
