When comparing Dark Souls III vs DARK SOULS II: Scholar of the First Sin, the Slant community recommends Dark Souls III for most people. In the question“What are the best Action RPG games on Steam?” Dark Souls III is ranked 20th while DARK SOULS II: Scholar of the First Sin is ranked 31st. 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
Ranked in these QuestionsQuestion Ranking
Pros
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.
Pro Not an RPG
The entirety of the Dark Souls series are NOT RPGs!!! They are Action Arcade Shooters with swords...otherwise known as a Third-Person Shooter.
Pro New lighting system
Before the original Dark Souls II was released the developer had shown off a lighting system where areas were pitch black and a torch was necessary to see. This was eventually removed before the release. Now with the release of the DX11 version, DARK SOULS II: Scholar of the First Sin is able to actually have this lighting system working on par with what was shown of years ago pre-release.
Many areas will now be completely dark and in order to traverse them the player will need to use a torch to see and light static torches throughout the level to keep it lit. This will then allow the player to go through the level without the aid of the torch in order to battle all enemies that lay within. this overhauled lighting system creates a whole new play mechanic that will force players to tackle levels in a completely different manner than the original game.
Pro Slow and deliberate fighting with reward/risk mechanics
Each enemy encounter needs to be calculated and precisely timed, as any mistake will most likely mean death. An added level of complexity to this equation is enemies that can be ignored but will then gang up on the player once a boss is beaten. This creates a risk/reward scenario that the player needs to weigh with a lot of thought.
Pro Excellent boss battles
There are many iconic boss battles throughout the game that make for some of the most difficult moments to be played. But once finally defeating a boss the feeling of accomplishment is well worth it.
Pro Expansive fantasy settings
Dark Souls II offers a wide variety of locales to explore, all within a fantasy setting. The amount of differing locations does give a feeling of lack of cohesion though but does have the benefit of locations that are wildly different from each other, which can be refreshing at times.
Pro Branching gameplay with plenty of choices
The branching gameplay within Dark Souls II makes for not only a great way to tailor each adventure to each player keeping everyones experiences unique, but also a reprieve from many difficult points in the game. If one area has become to tough or something has the payer stuck from advancing further, an alternate path in the game can be taken to wholly different areas. This allows for a multitude of options on how to level up as well as well as many different options in finding and equipping that found gear.
Cons
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.
Con Not and RPG
The entirety of the Dark Souls series are NOT RPGs!!! They are Action Arcade Shooters with swords...otherwise known as a Third-Person Shooter.
Con Difficulty that requires a lot of time and patience
To be honest, difficult is a nice way of putting it, this game can destroy ones will to live. It is not even worth counting how many times one dies, as it will be in the hundreds if not thousands. Only through patience and sure determination will many reach the ending of the game. So much time is needed in order to replay many areas and bosses over and over in order to learn the exact timing and what moves to use that not many people can spare it.
This is not a game for casual players, that is for sure.