Dark Souls 3: the sequel 2 should have been
Certain assumption pop into your head when you learn you're going to be exploring a new Dark Souls 3 location called “Undead Settlement”. I expected the hanging corpses, carcasses broken on wheels, and the wet mud, almost the colour of dried blood. I didn't expect the sunshine, or the greenery. A massive amount of time seems to have passed since the events of Dark Souls and Dark Souls 2. Somehow, on the brink of its destruction, the world has been lifted out of the dark.
The zone is a vast, knotty township that displays all the hallmarks of a good Souls location. You arrive with a view of the whole area. The path slopes down towards a crevasse and a few huge structures sit on the horizon. From Software excel at using vantage points to tie locations to one another, creating a web of landmarks that you encounter from various angles. In the distance I see the silhouette of a giant firing a greatbow from the top of a tower. Later I walk through a graveyard below, and have to dodge his huge spear-sized bolts as they crash into undead townspeople. Later still I scale the tower and stand at the giant's knees. There I get an extraordinary view of the entire zone—a bizarre coiled wooded town perched on huge cliffs. To the left I see the previous area, a stunning castle the size of a small city, with huge bridges link its pointed spires. Miyazaki says that's explorable, too. The whole area is bigger and more detailed than any place in the previous games.
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My wallet is saying thanks! :lol: