While it’s not as entwined as The Ring City, this section is still a surreal experience that will leave a positive first impression.įortunately, FromSoftware does have a strong grasp on enemy designs. It’s meant to be a completely decimated version of the Earthen Peak from Dark Souls II, with familiar enemies roaming about, along with some iconic visual treats. You’re constantly scaling walls that were torn down decades, if not centuries ago and carefully walking across ledges that were once hand railings. Never did I think I’d get dizzy just from thinking about my placement in the world, as you’ll be battling on top of knocked over towers and structures.

With that said, the first section of the DLC is the complete opposite. At the very least, there’s a few secrets spread across the city, ensuring players will be rewarded for exploring every nook and cranny. They have all these environments that, while layered on top of one another, feel disjointed and aren’t large or fleshed out enough to be special. It has become formulaic, something Dark Souls has never really struggled with in the past, although it might be because so much potential is stuffed into a four-hour package. So for example, there needs to be a swamp, a crypt, a dragon blocking your path, a castle with a princess at the top, and so forth. It’s as if the developers had a checklist of their favorite areas and slapped it into a small city.

While it certainly has a strong assortment of locations to trek through, not to mention being visually captivating, a lot of it, at least in the second half of the DLC where you reach The Ringed City itself, is far too cut and paste. The environmental design in The Ringed City is varied to a point of contention. New areas, enemies and bosses are par for the course, but adding a brand new covenant and tacking on to the already expansive lore will have fans digging into every aspect of The Ringed City. While the last piece of DLC, Ashes of Ariandel, stumbled a bit in its approach, big promises were made for what was going to be the series’ swan song, wrapping things up a positive way. Ever since the incredible success of Demon’s Souls, FromSoftware has been capitalizing on this creative and challenging formula, bringing multiple Game of the Year nominees. Despite having only three games in the franchise, it feels like Dark Souls has been going on for far longer than six years.

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