I just got done playing theDark Souls 3 Gameplay demoat Gamescom. We got there as soon as the doors opened so I could get the information to you guys as soon as possible. We have an English-language hands on at 2PM and then a behind closed doors presentation at 3PM, so expect screenshots, video and more detailed information in a few hours!. For now, let me tell you a bit about the game and what I think so far, with the disclaimer we played only a short demo so we may notice other things later.Update:Screenshots & Mechanics Post is live!
There is no doubt about it, Dark Souls 3 takes elements from all of the recent From titles and ties them all together in one game. Demon’s Souls, Dark Souls, Dark Souls 2, Bloodborne collide in a very pleasant merge in this title.
Afterseeing the game at E3I believed the game was run on the Bloodborne engine and that it looked like Dark Souls running on said engine. After my second session with the game, it has the look and feel ofDark Blood Souls 2.5. The things that remind me of Bloodborne here, is the general setting and theme, as well as the statues and decorations of the environments. The design seems to smoothly blend the previous Dark Souls games including Bloodborne into the ultimate Blood Souls.
The game never went over 30 FPS and sometimes was even less, that’s not a criticism, that’s just a statement. I’m aware this is probably and alpha build. One of the things I really noticed was the effects seem much improved.
The demo was clearly running on a PC. Resolution is great, and the draw distances are impeccable which is nice as you can see other parts of the castle in the distance.
Fire lingers on the ground after things are lit andit is the most realistic fire I’ve seen in a Souls game.
Animations and Combat
The backstabs take their looks from Dark Souls 2(the animations were different for various weapons), but the timing felt much more like Dark Souls 1. Combat overall felt very similar to Dark Souls 2, and the fears of Bloodborne speed on the game are no longer valid. The game is fluid and reconciles the sword and shield mechanics with a slightly speedier swing.
I was wondering how I’d take to blocking and rolling again after the far greater mobility of Bloodborne. To be fair, the character feels responsive and the rolls felt a tad faster that they used to be, but not a lot. Your character’s movements were slightly heavier than Dark Souls 2, but it had some of that weightless feel, not as much, but some. You do get staggered quite hard, however and it is extremely easy to be stunlocked.
What we mean about combat speed, this is a comparison of Longsword gameplay:
Gif from unauthorized recording published toyoutube- not by us!
Poisewas hard to get a feel of in the short time I played. Nearly everything I attacked staggered in one hit (including knights). After playing a bit more I’m starting to get the idea that Poise determines the length you are staggered when hit, not IF you are staggered, but this has not been confirmed.
Enemyhealth bars when hit turned yellow while their missing health was being depleted (just as they did in Dark Souls 2). The lock on looks like it has been “improved” and looks slightly different, but you still rotate through targets with R3. It felt much more accurate and easy to use.
I was able to use multipleWeapon Arts, although they were new so I was extremely bad with them. Something to note about them is that you have to hold L2 to use some of them and others preform an action instantly when pressed. TheLongswordfor example, you have to hold L2 or you cannot use it, and while holding L2 you can’t block, heal, etc. It makes timing important. The Axe on the other hand, has a Battle Cry of sorts (I think it is called “War Cry”) that seems to stun nearby enemies and is instantly cast. It also puts a red aura around the player, which is what I believe was shown in the Gameplay trailer yesterday. I don’t know if it buffs you, but I suspect it does.
Bonfires, estus flasks and even Green Blossoms are all duly in place and seem to be exactly like you know them - in a world that is interconnected with shortcuts, much like Dark Souls 1 and Bloodborne. AsMiyazaki had hinted, there is a dragon guarding loot early in the game (assuming we are at or near the beginning). There are corpses with souls strewn around and in locations I couldn’t fathom how to get to (like usual). The hud looks nearly identical to Dark Souls 2, with the exception of a Solaire symbol in the upper left corner, possibly depicting theCovenantof the player.
Enemies looked and felt a lot like Demon’s Souls/Bloodborne. Between the skeletons and the knights, I seriously had a flashback there to Boletaria and between the pack after pack of them roaming around I felt like I was back in Yharnam.
I did see one giant knight that looked similar toSmoughin Dark Souls 1, who was wearing full plate armor that was silver and reflected light, which looked beautiful. I didn’t make it to the boss, but I’ll try and get there in the next demo in a few hours, at which point I’ll also have screenshots ready for you. I did, however, get to see a second boss that looks like a wirey knight in silver armor that almost crawls like a beast on the ground, attacking with his sword (It is rumored you’re able to find him in the Gamescom demo).
Something of note, courtesy ofGod’s Slave, the attention to detail on the title matches the high resolution and impeccable graphics. See for yourself:
The game clearly takes things from all the games in the Series and sort of mashes them up into one new game. Dark Souls 2 is a big influence here, perhaps with strong design elements from Bloodborne blending in, and models from Dark Souls reminding you of the roots. It didn’t take me 5 minutes of playing to see that. It really feels like they took the strongest elements of all the From games and put them all together in one game. Perhaps this will be the Dark Souls we are waiting for, only with some new Weapon Arts and nuances. We’ll all have to stay tuned and see as this is not the final build. I just hope they get the Multiplayer right.
