Dark Souls 3: Is the Magic Fading?

A kingdom in disarray. An absent monarch. An undead scourge. It all feels very familiar. But isn’t it supposed to? Dark Souls is a series about vicious cycles. It asks you to ignite a new age of light, knowing darkness will smother the embers eventually. It invites you to ascend the throne, having told you the kingdom is destined to fall again.

The problem with this thematic echo is that deja vu begins to take hold, and with each new entry repetition threatens to define the series’ gameplay too. The Dark Souls 3 network test, a multiplayer beta that ran for a total of nine hours, allowed us to explore a microcosm of the game, and it felt like going through the motions again.

From a design perspective, Dark Souls 3 exhibited all the hallmarks of the series and, in terms of its construction, demonstrated a deft stitching of claustrophobic rooms, snaking corridors, and open arenas, all which fold back onto themselves to create a neat, self-contained. But, crucially, there weren’t very many surprises within it.

Players awaken in a decrepit mausoleum, where dead vines snake up stone brick walls, decayed flags hang from the ceiling, and a browned chalice sits atop an altar with whatever significance it once had lost in time. Pushing through a large door, we emerge onto the High Wall of Lotharic, its sepia sky dominated by a castle that recalls Annor Londo from Dark Souls, Drangleic Castle from Dark Souls 2, and Cathedral Ward from Bloodborne. This place is supposed to be otherworldly, but it feels like we’re re-watching an old movie.

Inching along a battlement lined with enemies, suddenly an ashen dragon swoops down. It sinks its claws into the side of a building and drapes its wings across the length of structure, daring you to approach. As you do it peers over and unleashes a furious roar of fire, just like the dragon did in the game before this, and the one before that. It’s a moment that stirs a mixture of nostalgia and numbness.

This feeling is more pronounced since the game is built on the same engine as Bloodborne. Environments, enemies, and character models are highly detailed, but the appeal of the functional fantasy aesthetic it’s wrapped in has dulled--especially considering how visually arresting Bloodborne is. Some may argue it’s unreasonable to expect the series to shed its skin just for the sake of being different, and we’d probably agree, but the shared building blocks have smudged the Dark Souls identity into Bloodborne’s, and the result felt distractingly similar.

From a gameplay standpoint, Dark Souls 3 is making interesting changes to character classes. In previous games roles could overlap by equipping the necessary weapons and sinking experience points into the appropriate stats. Knights, for example, could be made to also function as a mage. Dark Souls 3, however, offers more distinct disciplines and provides a robust set of tools to encourage the player to make the most of them.

The biggest change to gameplay is the introduction of Weapon Arts, a unique special move for the game's arsenal of arms. Three games in, the way a broadsword, axe, or rapier works has become second nature, but Weapon Arts add a new wrinkle. While one weapon may have a heaving upward swing that launches enemies into the air, another may activate a powered-up state for a short period. This gives players a reason to experiment with different weapons again, instead of sticking to those they’ve become attached to. Better still, it provides a reason to carry a second weapon beyond serving as a fallback for your main one if it breaks. Since all this is governed by a new energy bar, there’s also a layer of strategy to micromanage Weapon Arts.

Despite all this, it’s still hitting the the same beats that a Dark Souls game should. It’s challenging, hides enemies off camera to spring an ambush, while bosses are towering monsters, and environmental traps punish the foolhardy. It’s still satisfying, but feels rote. Seasoned players have peeked behind the curtain multiple times, so it’s easy to predict what’s coming. That convenient alcove in the camera’s blind-spot that’s just big enough to hide an enemy isn’t fooling anyone.

It all feels very familiar. But isn’t it supposed to? Dark Souls is a series about vicious cycles.

But maybe that’s what From Software wants us to think. Souls mastermind Hidetaka Miyazaki has proven he’s capable of getting in our heads and subverting expectations in interesting ways. It is, fans would say, one of the defining qualities of his designs. Perhaps Dark Souls 3 seeks to capitalise on our assumed mastery of the series. The heart is haughty before a downfall, as they say.

There were moments in the network test that effectively pulled off that bait and switch. Most notable of these is an encounter with a boss that lures you into falling into old habits, then ruthlessly punishes you for doing so. In the same way the dragon throws back to all that came before, this boss casts a vision of what may be lying in wait.

Squaring off against the Dancer of the Frigid Valley, we employ the Souls boss fight routine: keep the shield up, strike at the most opportune moments, don’t be overzealous, and circle behind the boss to deliver a blow. The Dancer, however, stonewalls these strategies. She rushes at you and delivers a barrage of attacks, making it difficult to maintain the stamina needed to keep the shield up. Her attacks hit hard and often, so opportunities are difficult to seize. As you circle behind her, she contorts her spindly body to lash out with her blade.

She glides around the battlefield like a ballerina, pressuring you and keeping you on your toes. And just as you settle into a rhythm, she summons a second blade to give herself more range and a whole new set of attacks. This mid-battle shift in dynamics is an exciting twist that makes sure you rarely stay in your comfort zone.

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For fans of the series, who have been trained to read between the lines and never to take things at face value, such moments like feel like a wink and a nod from Miyazaki. A secret message that, perhaps, From Software knows you expect this to be an assembly line sequel.

For those that have spent countless hours researching theories and watching Souls lore videos, there are others hooks to get caught on. In one of the area’s many darkened rooms is a small grave. Players that light the candle at its base and pay their respects are met with a cryptic message: “Grave of a nameless retainer. Raised his sword for the Lord of Cinder.”

The references to the Lord of Cinder are tantalising callbacks to the first Dark Souls and Gwyn, the god who linked the first flame to usher in an age of light. How does he, and the player’s actions in that game, fit into Dark Souls 3? Why have the Undead returned, and why do they seemingly worship the corpses of their friends? If we aren’t the Chosen Undead, as Miyazaki has previously confirmed, then who are we and what are our goals? The thirst for answers to these questions are another sign that Miyazaki and his team still know how to tap the Souls vein.

There are clearly sparks of that Miyazaki magic in what we played of Dark Souls 3, but whether his spell can break the cycle is something we’ll find out when the game ships in March 2016.