'Dark Souls 3' Review Roundup: A Fitting, Challenging End To The Trilogy

FromSoftware has been on an incredible streak with its "Souls" series and last year's "Bloodborne," considered by many to be the game of the year. "Dark Souls 3," to be released April 12, marks the end of the franchise fans have come to love for its sheer level of difficulty. For the finale, "Dark Souls 3" is a satisfying, albeit challenging, journey through Lordran and the lost city of Izalith.

"Dark Souls 3" maintains its combat — attacking, parrying, magic and consumable items — with some lessons learned from "Bloodborne," according to Eurogamer. Enemies are more aggressive, but that can be countered by strategic defensive play from gamers. Timing rolls, parrying attacks and finding an opening are essential to any success within "Dark Souls 3." Players will die often, which serve as painful lessons on how to tackle the area or a boss. New to the game are skills that can unlock special attacks to add another wrinkle to the combat system, notes Game Informer.

Massive boss battles, another staple of the "Souls" series, do not disappoint. Each boss is a well-crafted experience, according to critics. Players will have to use all of their skills to defeat each boss. "Gimmick" fights are another fun challenge found in "Dark Souls 3."

Above all, "Dark Souls 3" manages to be an incredibly beautiful game, according to IGN. The whole game is epic with plenty of breathtaking scenes that will make the multiple deaths seem like a distant memory. Dense is another term used to describe the game by critics. "Dark Souls 3" is packed with lore, secrets, sidequests and minor story threads that lead to big rewards for the intrepid player. Exploration is crucial in "Dark Souls 3" with plenty of fake walls to be discovered.

"Dark Souls 3" is not without its flaws. A noticeable framerate drop was the most glaring issue among critics. Glitching and character clipping were also reported in reviews. The majority of reviews were positive, with "Dark Souls 3" earning a score of 90 on Metacritic, but Polygon's mostly positive review is disappointed from the straightforward nature of the game and the technical issues.