When comparing Unavowed vs Dark Souls III, the Slant community recommends Dark Souls III for most people. In the question“What are the best adventure games on PC?” Dark Souls III is ranked 14th while Unavowed is ranked 37th. The most important reason people chose Dark Souls III is:
There's tons of lore everywhere for you to discover, but it isn't necessarily told through a conventional story. Weapons, armor, spells, and items you acquire have descriptions on them that tell you where in the game world they came from, any prominent characters they're associated with, and a bunch of other relevant and interesting information. So when you find examples of the lore scattered around the game, like bosses wearing a style of armor you read about, or an obscure NPC mentioned in a sword's description, you know the history behind the design and their purpose without that boss or character needing to explain anything to you. Even though the actual story in Dark Souls III is very thin, there's a lot to find under the surface if you're willing to look for it.
Specs
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Pros
Pro Unique premise
You play as a character that was possessed by a demon for one full year and subsequently used to corrupt people and commit violent crimes around New York City.
As the story begins, you are freed from your demonic bonds by The Unavowed, an ancient and secret society who combats evil, who casts the demon out of your body. However, due to the nature of the possession, you have no memory of the atrocities you committed. Having nowhere else to turn because you are now a wanted criminal and can't go back to your previous life, you join their ranks.
With The Unavowed, you will travel to various evil "hot spots" around New York City, have run-ins with many different paranormal/mythological entities, and gradually learn more about the destruction and misery you caused under the influence of the demon.
Pro Character creation is not only interesting, it also changes how the story unfolds
Rather than playing a set-in-stone protagonist, you are able to customize your character a bit. Not only can choose between male and female, but you may also choose a background such as police officer, bartender, or actor.
Depending on the combination you choose, your origin story about how you came to be possessed by a demon will be different, allowing for a wide range of various playable opening chapters.
It also influences some of what unfolds in-game, such as dialogue choices or being able to use skills from your profession to solve puzzles. For example, choosing the police background sometimes gives you additional dialogue options to interrogate or allows you to flash your badge to intimidate or gain access to restricted areas.
Pro Well developed characters that are unique and easy to like
Each member of The Unavowed is given a great level of detail - they all have different personalities, backgrounds, and goals. When taking them out as companions on missions, each one has their own unique reaction to people, situations, and problems which allows the nuances of each character to shine through.
For example, Eli is a fire mage who doesn't age, but is being pursued by a group that hunts mages to extinction. To keep his family safe from harm, he left them behind when his powers manifested. This is a source of great pain for him, and helps to shape his character and how he treats every situation. He has traditional family values and often acts as the voice of reason when you bring him along.
Since all of the characters are so developed and fleshed-out, it becomes very easy to get attached as you adventure with them, learn their stories, and befriend them.
Pro Interesting RPG-styled party system adds a ton of replaybility
Each time you embark on a new story chapter, you may select two (from a pool of four) companions to bring along with you. Every companion has their own strengths and abilities, so the dialogue and puzzle solving will vary depending on who you choose to bring along.
For example, Eli the fire mage can read burned documents and handle hot objects with ease, whereas Logan can communicate with ghosts and spirits. Meanwhile Vicki the ex-cop is good at getting information out of people, and Mandana is quick with her sword and can detect when someone is lying.
The characters also uniquely react to every situation and banter among themselves, meaning depending on who you choose, the dialogue and story in each chapter will vary greatly.
This allows you to replay the game many different times and make each chapter a new experience every time you play.
Pro Extensive lore that's presented in unconventional ways
There's tons of lore everywhere for you to discover, but it isn't necessarily told through a conventional story.
Weapons, armor, spells, and items you acquire have descriptions on them that tell you where in the game world they came from, any prominent characters they're associated with, and a bunch of other relevant and interesting information. So when you find examples of the lore scattered around the game, like bosses wearing a style of armor you read about, or an obscure NPC mentioned in a sword's description, you know the history behind the design and their purpose without that boss or character needing to explain anything to you.
Even though the actual story in Dark Souls III is very thin, there's a lot to find under the surface if you're willing to look for it.
Pro Stunning environments
The world of Dark Souls 3 looks amazing, so you may often feel the need to stop and take in the beautiful sights. This can be the sheer size of structures, mountains, or caves. It can also be the decorations, inscriptions, or details in a room. There's always so much to look at, allowing you to truly immerse yourself in its world.
Pro Can give a great feeling of accomplishment
The Dark Souls series is known for its difficulty and Dark Souls 3 is no exception. It's filled with difficult enemies and tough boss battles, able to cause you grief on more than one occasion. However, every time you progress to the next safe spot or defeat a boss you'll often be filled with a mix of joy and relief. Beating this game will almost certainly feel like an achievement.
Pro Unpredictable boss battles
The boss battles in Dark Souls 3 consist of several phases, changing up how the bosses fight over the course of the battle. They will gain new abilities, become more aggressive, or reveal various nasty surprises. This creates an enjoyable experience that is different from most modern games where bosses are just glorified pincushions.
Pro A great variety of equipment for almost any playstyle
You'll be finding new pieces of equipment quite often, giving you many options to choose from. Each one has its strengths and weaknesses, allowing you to pick the equipment that best suits your playstyle.
For example, heavy armor will make you move slower, but you'll be better protected. Greatswords have a wide reach, but you swing them really slow. Conversely a dagger is very fast but it has a horrible reach.
Pro Solid controls
This game feels and plays really well. Your character responds to button inputs immediately and it almost never feels like you're losing control over it. The control scheme can also be customized, giving you the option of a more personalized experience.
Pro Great combat system
Dark Souls 3 is a very fast-paced game but it's not just about having quick reflexes. A lot of the combat comes down to exploiting your enemies. To do that, you have to learn their patterns and attack the moment they pause or perform a telegraphed attack. This creates a combat system, which rewards awareness and patience, and is satisfying to master, even if you don't have extraordinary reflexes.
Cons
Con Puzzles are rather easy
Most of the game's puzzles are on the easy side. While there are a few head-scratchers, for the most part there's not much of a challenge for seasoned adventure gamers.
Con Poor support for mouse+keyboard control
The default DS3 key/button bindings actually prevent full use of certain weapons by requiring the shift key to be pressed and not-pressed simultaneously. Rebinding is possible, but limited by issues like the left mouse button overriding all others and certain bindings not actually working in game (e.g. Shift+MiddleClick).
Con It's hard
You should try avoiding the trap of great review scores since most of them fail to mention the difficulty. It's simply put - hard. A lot of the combat requires quick reflexes, good mechanics, and the mental fortitude to carry on after failing for hours. If you're new to the Souls-like genre or simply want to enjoy a relaxing evening playing a video game, you most likely won't enjoy Dark Souls III.
Con Poorly tuned dynamic visiblity
You may notice some texture pop in while sharply turning the camera. It can be somewhat distracting if you notice it, but most of the time you won't because it happens in the distance.
Con Occasional performance issues
There are portions of the game that will have noticeable framerate drops, which can negatively affect the gameplay. Most of the fault lies with the game engine, so getting better hardware won't help that much.