#12
YoY: -3 My Rating: 9.4/10
To put into perspective just how much I enjoy the Soulsborne games from FromSoftware, this is the second lowest of five of their games on my list. Dark Souls III serves as a perfect send-off to the series, bringing the story that had always existed on the background full circle, while also making some wonderful improvements to the gameplay the series had become known for. There are elements that don't quite reach the heights of the first game, but others were also the best in the whole series.
There were some absolutely wonderfully designed locations in this game, and it also contains the absolute best boss fights out of all the Dark Souls games. The music composed by Yuka Kitamura and Motoi Sakuraba is excellent, the visual design and art direction were FromSoftware at their best, and the gameplay was the most fluid and varied in the series, taking some notes from Bloodborne's faster combat. With some of the most intriguing lore in the whole series as well, Dark Souls III is a worthy final chapter for the series.
There was a clear sense of finality present here, with the world spiraling further and further into decay. This was made more and more obvious the further you got in the game, until it was practically spelled out to you in the final DLC release. Yet, at the very end, by visiting a certain character, you were left with a sense of hope that perhaps something beautiful would eventually come out of the end of the age of fire.
