Dark Souls III: The Ringed City

From Software raises the stakes for Dark Souls’ endgame.

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We can’t help but feel a little sombre as we take our first steps into The Ringed City, the second and final expansion for Dark Souls III. This is, if Miyazaki is to be believed, the last time we’ll set out into new territory in the Souls series as we know it. The opening location for this final adventure is The Dreg Heap, which appears to be in the fallen city seen in Dark Souls III’s concluding area, Kiln Of The First Flame, and sits above the titular Ringed City. Swathes of a once-towering city now sit at 45 degrees to the rest of the world amid a sea of ash, crumbling towers jutting out like porcupine spines from their dislocated base. It’s a fitting visual analogy for what is to follow, as FromSoftware leads us down into the depths of this new area.

But before we take the plunge there’s a kindly old pilgrim to chat to, who offers us a little local history, some apparently genuine concern for our wellbeing, and the opportunity to buy or sell items. Given we have no souls to hand, we elect to leap down the first of several severe ledges instead – there’s no way back to that opening bonfire without a Homeward Bone now. The precarious pathway leads to a large, suspiciously empty area. As soon we reach it, the floor erupts as a dozen skeletal torsos emerge from the ground and overwhelm us while staff-wielding (and leg-owning) skeletons pummel us with blasts of some kind of undead magic. It seems that FromSoftware isn’t pulling its punches.