Dark Souls III: The Fire Fades Edition - PlayStation 4

TLDR - you don't need to have played the previous iterations, but if you are new to the dark souls series you will have bad impressions initially- awkward controls ( buttons not customizable), no jumping, unimpressive graphics, frustrating movement and targeting mechanics, lots of dying. But once you push past that first few hours and your first boss fight you become genuinely addicted to it. The level designs, character upgrade customizations, game atmosphere, story telling, npc interactions, level design, enemy design, epic boss fights are truly masterfully well thought out and executed. This game is truly remarkable if you're into the diablo feeling, medieval type, old school Single player non-open world type RPG. It's truly addictive. And you never feel alone if you're online because of the messages other players leave and the player ghosts ( and even player and npc assists ) you'll see as you're going through the game. It's quite brilliant. I've yet to experience a dull moment.Music score is also fitting and brilliant for the settings of the game.Now the long version:Wow. I'm new to the Dark Souls series and it's worth it to note that no previous experience in the series is required to enjoy this game. This is the best single player RPG experience I've had since FF7, Zelda, Diablo - I haven't played games in years. I understand why this series has such a strong cult-like following now.As new player that's unfamiliar with the series, you really have to push through the initial learning curve to really start appreciating the game for what it is.What do I mean by that?It's a game that doesn't leave good first impressions in my opinion - my first impression of this game was that it was lack luster. The graphics I thought looked like crap compared to other games like battlefield one, Until dawn, and so on. I thought the controls were stupid - I can't jump, the enemy aiming initially felt bad and confusing. I couldn't even customize the button actions to make it all better and had to adapt to what the game forced me to use and that led to an intial frustrating experience as I struggled to dodge, block, hit enemies and even just general movement across the starting area lead to death from falls off cliffs and unexpected enemies. And the game gives you no breaks, you can't even pause in the game which is what I'm used to. If I want to take a break I just press the pause button, but not in this game you have to be in a safe zone if you want to rest or just plain quit the game ( and there is a special menu option for you to quit , you can't just hit the PS4 button and close the app ).So yes, the game doesn't leave a good first impression, but if you can push past that and give it a few hours, defeat the first boss, learn the controls and start getting better weapons and understand the upgrade system, you start to be able to appreciate what this game has to offer and I think it's a rare thing to have quality RPG games like this. It is genuinely addictive.To be up front with expectations:It's not an MMO like World of Warcraft and not an Open world RPG like Elder Scrolls so don't come into this game expecting that. It's actually more closely resembles a third person version of Diablo I from the old pc days. What you should expect is awesome draw into the medieval world of the undead with great atmosphere and epic boss fights unlike any other. Lots of tidbits of lore here and there about the spirits that inhabit this place and their terminology and tragedies that unfold before you. It all adds to an atmosphere that is unique and believable to you as you role play your custom character and the character customization itself is awesome for the intentions of this game ( the stats on your player determines weapons and abilities you can have and it's well done if you understand them - and what you use and what gear you wear really makes for an awesome looking character you feel proud of and it's all up to you if you want to look like a knight, hobo, thief, sorceress, slayer, swordsman, priest etc ). And how difficult the game is is ultimately up to the player depending on the players equipment and how much time you spend leveling your stats before progressing.Gameplay:It's hard to explain the game play without experiencing it yourself. Watch a few game review videos if you want an idea, but the gist of it is that it's not a button mashing game. It's a third person RPG that requires enemy targeting and some level of strategy. Every enemy can be a challenge and has the ability to kill you if you are carelessly swinging. You need to know their attack patterns and know when to attack and if you're really into it, what to use for attacking that works most effectively. It's casual enough that you can just jump right in but not so casual that you can just hack and slash your way through the entire game ( if you're new ).Besides that, the game offers a pretty unique way to level up, but the stat adjustments are typical of the genre but with a twist here since the game has unique attributes associated with each stat. There are no skill branches, just attributes, weapons, armor, weapon/armor upgrades, spell purchases, but it's varied enough that you can have near unlimited choices to make the character you want. And the game can be as hard or as difficult as you want it to be depending on the time you spend upgrading/leveling.Game progression:The game progression itself is rather linear with forks in the quest line that you can choose to do and affect outcomes at different parts of the game with NPCs and game endings, but it's done so well that you never mind that it's linear since there is enough freedom that it makes the player feel they have control of what they want to do next. There are enough things players can do and side areas to explore if they so please. Basically it has an open world feel in terms of side quests vs main storyline but the map areas are pretty closed with hidden and optional areas but the level designs are so well done ( the best I've ever seen ) that I rather prefer that than exploring a boring barren open world.Boss battles:If you're looking for epic boss fights then this is the right game for you. The fights can be brutal but impressive and no two bosses behave the same way or have the same attacks. They are enjoyable and I hesitate a little every time I see the door that could lead to the next boss fight because I just don't know what to expect.Game replay value:I am only going through this game my first time and I'm hooked. The game does have a lot of replay value , different endings, new game difficulty after your first run, and different faction enlistments , different character attributes /customizations / weapons armor you may want to try, and quest lines that could have been missed the first time around, npcs you may want to kill etc. the game is brilliantly designed so it never really gets old even if you revisit an old level. It will offer hundreds of hours gameplay if you choose no doubt. Even just one play through will probably require at least weeks or months to complete if played casually about a few hours a day. The game levels / areas are deceptively huge. They feel large and natural and will take time to explore if you don't have maps or a game guide.With that said if you're a busy working professional and just want the one play through and want the most out of it I strongly advise to use a walkthrough and map guide as there are things that happen in the game in a sequence that can have big irreversible consequences are not obvious in any way. Otherwise just enjoy the surprises you'll have a hell of a time figuring out what you're supposed to do next.

My 18 year old son HAD to have this game, so I got it. It was about $35 cheaper on Amazon than ANYWHERE else. He is enjoying this game VERY much. I've watched him play, and the graphics look simply amazing. I'm an old school gamer, I grew up playing on the NES, fighting Bowser in the castle to save the princess - so the video graphics nowadays just blow me away. The graphics on this game are far better than a lot of other I've seen recently. My son is a serious gamer and he gave this game a 10/10, that's all I can say. But for the price, even if you ended up not caring for it, I don't eee how anyone could be really disappointed. I just don't see that happening. The game looks pretty fun, really. Go ahead and give it a try!

Amazing game, but the American cover art is so ugly.

Arrived on time brand new sealed no damage to disk im happy!🌞🙌🏻

I didn't play Dark Souls for 4 years because I thought it was too difficult. I didn't know what I was missing.This game is harder than Dark Souls 1.If you farm for souls, this game will be a walk in the park (just make sure you don't fall from the heights).However, in all the Dark Souls and Bloodborne games (haven't tried Sekiro yet), farming for souls won't make you so overpowered that you will steamroll through enemies. You still need to learn to dodge, read enemy movement patterns to know when to swing your sword, and manage your stamina so you don't get a critical attack on you because your stamina bar ran out. Your shield is useful, but you can't continuously block with your shield like in Dark Souls 1, which means you have to play smarter.Dark Souls 1 is easier than Dark Souls 3.Dark Souls 3 is easier than Bloodborne.Dark Souls 2 was kind of boring. The world felt kind of empty.Dark Souls 3 has tougher enemies than Dark Souls 1. In Dark Souls 1, you could just circle around enemies and backstab them, and parrying was easier. They stepped it up a notch with this game so that it was more challenging because Dark Souls 1 became too easy as you gained many levels.This game has many of the same enemies you saw in Dark Souls 1, but the level designs are mostly unique and there are new enemy types as well that keep the game fresh.If you're afraid of Dark Souls because you think it might be too difficult, you can try playing Nioh first. That's not by FromSoftware, but they were inspired by the Soulsborne series. That game is difficult and less punishing in certain areas (you can eject the disc if you die while trying to reach your currency so you don't lose it, whereas you can't do that in the Soulsborne games) and will teach you how to play this game.Praise the sun!

Best product darksouls hands down