Answering Your Dark Souls III Questions

Yesterday you asked us a ton of questions about the upcoming From Software action-RPG. Today, we’re back to provide answers! While we certainly don’t have all the answers (you’ll have to ask Miyazaki!), hopefully we can provide some answers based on what we’ve seen, played, and discussed with the master himself about the game.

Q: Are shields still useful or did they take a page from Bloodborne?

While it’s definitely safe to say that several pages have been torn out from the Bloodborne book in regards to the speed of combat, it also feels firmly rooted in Dark Souls. Shields still seem incredibly useful, and are definitely a viable method of gameplay.

Q: Do Battle Arts feel like they’ll be easily abused and make the game easier?

They definitely feel powerful, but it also seems like you could get through many enemies and encounters without them. Are they going to be a “crutch” to get through difficult areas and bosses? I doubt it, but they certainly appear to make those situations a little easier at this point. Note that everything we’ve played of Dark Souls III thus far puts in on par with the prior games at least in terms of difficulty, possibly even harder. I always feel like throwing this in on any Dark Souls difficulty discussion – your first Souls game is going to be your hardest almost as a rule. Once you learn the unique mechanics, you have a huge edge in the next title in the series you pick up, even before picking up a controller.

Q: Is Soul Memory still in the game?

No. Dark Souls III will use Soul level for matching.

Q: Does the game take place in the mind of a child?

No, I’m sorry Blaster.

Q: Can you create a character that only focuses on bows?

The jury is still out on this one, but from what we’ve seen, the answer is – highly probable.

Q: Will Dark Souls III let us play with our friends directly or use the “dumb ring”?

Everything we spoke about the multiplayer and matchmaking indicates a return to sigils and summoning, so while it probably won’t be as difficult to deal with as Bloodborne’s bells, right now we’re guessing it’s going to be something like the ring to play with your friends.

Q: Will it have more options for dual wielding?

Probably, we’ve already seen specific dual-wielding weapons with their own special whirlwind battle arts.

Q: Can I fulton the enemy to Mother Base?

Quiet, you.

Q: Did you get a good look at the stats during your time with the game?

Actually, every time we’ve gotten hands-on with the title so far the inventory and stat screens have been unavailable.  So while we’d love to provide more information on equipment load, iframes, rolling, and all that lovely Dark Souls jazz, it’s not anything we can provide right now.

Q: How is the difficulty? Is it harder than Bloodborne or DS2?

Yes, the demo areas we’ve played are probably harder than those titles, but since we don’t know anything about level, stats, or gear specifically with our demo characters, it might not apply universally to the final build.

Q: Will there be giant enemy crabs you can flip over and attack their weak points for massive damage?

Yes, and from what I hear they are based on battles from actual Japanese history

Q: Will the world be as interconnected as the first Dark Souls?

While we can only speak to areas we’ve been allowed to play, yes.

Q: Do enemies have a respawn limit like in Dark Souls II?

Nope, they will keep coming back.

Q: Is the gameplay as fast and fluid as it looks in the trailer?

Yes. Thank you, current-gen hardware.

Q: What can you tell us about the story?

It’s inherently connected to the previous games by its very nature, since it involves the Lords of Cinder – Miyazaki directly told us Gywn would play a special role in this due to that designation (this does not mean he will be a boss or anything, to be very clear here). And that connection is going to have us acting in very different ways this time around as far as our goals go in the game. I’m pretty sure, though it’s hard to discern some of Miyazaki’s cryptic comments on this aspect, our goal this time around isn’t to kindle the fire; we’re not going to be Chosen Undead. Because of the massive story change here, humanity is going to work much differently in this game – although Miyazaki wouldn’t tell us exactly how.

Q: I thoroughly enjoyed the fact that Dark Souls 2 wasn't ridiculously bloody like similar titles, and had a T rating. Does Dark Souls 3 seem to be following the same path, or does it appear to be more like Bloodborne in its rating?

While there’s a bit of blood that we’ve seen in Dark Souls III, I wouldn’t worry about it becoming a gushfest like Bloodborne. That level of splatter seems to be quarantined to that franchise.

Q: Are the covenants mostly multiplayer based like in 2?

Yes, covenants will be multiplayer based and, according to Miyazaki, simplified in some ways to make them easier to understand.

Q: Patches?

C’mon, they even put him in Bloodborne. I mean, it’s possible that he doesn’t show up, but I doubt it.

If you asked something and it wasn’t noted here, it’s probably been discussed extensively during our month of coverage or we simply don’t have an answer with any weight behind it. Thanks for joining us during our month of Dark Souls III coverage!

Catch up on our month of exclusive Dark Souls III content by visiting our hub via the link below. It includes a full playthrough of Dark Souls, additional interviews with Miyazaki, and hands-on impressions with Dark Souls III.