I have played many more hours of Dark Souls 3 since last week. I have explored its many depth and I am just wrapping up the last few hours of my journey through Lothric, rising from ashes to embers.
Progress through the game has been slow and I’ve had a slower time at this game than any other Dark Souls. I don’t know if it’s more difficult but I’ve run into a few road blocks along the way. In the end, I’ve persevered and won the battle and as I come to the end of the game I’m turning toward the multiplayer.
For those unfamiliar with the Souls games, Dark Souls allows other players to be summoned into or invade your world. When you summon someone they are usually white, yellow or purple. White phantoms and yellow phantoms are your allies and can fight again the evils of the world, while purple phantoms are neither friend of foe. It’s up to them.
Accessing these functionalities is mostly straightforward, the white soap stone lets you be summoned by other players but the color of the phantom is determined by your covenant.
Covenants are an item system that allow you to interact with the multiplayer in different ways many revolve around being summoned into another person’s world to kill either an invader of the host of that world themselves.
The purple phantoms summon is the Mound Maker and getting to this covenant is a little obtuse, if you fight a boss in the Undead Settlement, you’ll lose access to the mound maker covenant unless you fulfill a certain side quest.
The mound makers, being able to attack the host, summons or npc enemies add some real chaos to the fight and I’ve found that entering someone’s world as a purple often bring a lot of pvp combat.
PvP mostly focuses around the invasion mechanic in Dark Souls. A character who is in his ember form may be invaded by a red or purple phantom with the intention of fighting. PVP makes use of all the same mechanics, only now you’re fighting against another human being and it can either be a lot harder to fight them off or extremely easy. A lot of people play the PVP almost as its own fighting game within Dark Souls and for those looking for that kind of action, Dark Souls 3 provides plenty of options.
Along with plenty of ways to fight other players you also have a lot of ways to kill them, as I’ve played more Dark Souls 3 I’ve run into countless weapons, spells and other pieces of equipment many with unique movesets and abilities, allowing for a wide variety of choice when it comes to what you use to kill the npcs and other players you encounter in the game.
Of particular note is the variety of dual weapons that allow you to swing around two spears in a real flash fighting styles, this is probably the weapon i’ve had the most fun with due to its versatile moveset and heavy damage output.
I’m pushing to finish the final boss soon, and so next week will be my last entry in the Dark Souls 3 diary,
Have you been playing Dark Souls 3? How are you finding it? Let us know in the comments!