Bandai Namco has just debuted its full gameplay trailer (seen above) for what will be the final expansion coming to Dark Souls 3, titled The Ringed City. As its name implies, it's a mysterious expansion that has some neat tricks in-store.
Today, we're going to do a quick analysis of the trailer to better understand what this important piece of DLC will deliver, and perhaps why it'll be worth buying for fans of the franchise.
Note that the trailer includes more than three minutes of gameplay, spoiling some sections of The Ringed City. Although what we'll be talking about below isn't particularly spoiler rich, and we've made an effort not to include any spoiler-y screeenshots, you may want not want to proceed if you desire to walk in blind.
There's a Heavy Spiritual Presence
One of the first things shown off in the trailer is an ominous ghost-like enemy. The enemy can be seen lunging at the player through the floor as skeletons rise. Shortly after, an (unfriendly) angel is encountered who fires golden rays at the player.
This is no mistake. The Ringed City is a spiritually oriented expansion that sends players after Slave Knight Gael as he searches for the Dark Souls of Humanity. You will encounter both light and dark at their extremes, and this is demonstrated by some of the environment and enemy design.
Darkwraiths Are Back, and On Fire
Toward the middle of the trailer a very familiar enemy makes an appearance: the Darkwraith. While its move set and appearance is similar to what we've seen before, it seems to have a Darksign emblazoned on its chest. More surprisingly, it has a fiery sword and fire attributes. Could it be an Ember Darkwraith?
This is a bit confusing given that Darkwraiths have never been associated with flame. The explanation might be that the two worlds have merged into one that has mixed properties, resulting in a variety of unique enemy types and incredible locales.
There Are 3+ Bosses, and the Fire Bats Come First
The trailer finishes with the showcasing of a visually impressive boss. Although large and slow moving, the fire bat has massive swipes that leave a trail of flame behind. It wasn't a particularly amazing presentation given the familiarity of its design, but at the very least the boss model and animations are incredible.
Bandai Namco confirmed that this is the first boss of the DLC. In addition, it alluded that there will be at the very least three bosses included.
Gravity Doesn't Matter Here
While this is more of a joke than anything, the player can be seen falling a far distance during the trailer before taking no fall damage. Some players have joked around about needing to equip a Silver Cat Ring (reduces fall damage) before playing the DLC.
More than anything, this demonstrated that the "deep" world you will enter will have incredible sights and properties. Some of this is shown off with the environmental design, which includes massive structures built disproportionately sideways with heaven-like vistas. This is no ordinary place, that's for sure.
There Is a Lot of Nostalgia
This is the final DLC of the final Dark Souls game, so it's not surprising that Bandai Namco has invested time into nostalgic pieces. Judging by the trailer, these nostalgic pieces won't be obvious, either.
One such example occurs in the middle of the video when the giant raises archers that appear to be Ruin Sentinels. There are also a lot of environmental cues taken from Lothric Castle, which players are recommended to have completed prior to playing the expansion. Some of the equipment shown off also hints influence from designs from prior games. You'll be encouraged to look for these references throughout the expansion, a nice touch for fans of the franchise.
Dark Souls 3: The Ringed City is scheduled for release on March 28th for all platforms.
