Dark Souls III: Ashes of Ariandel

From Software plays to its strengths with Dark Souls 3: Ashes of Ariandel giving players more difficult content to progress through in a big new area to explore. While a little light on big boss fights, the new multiplayer Arena mode has the potential to keep the fun going long after players have mastered and discovered all the new secrets and items this content has to offer.

The latest Dark Souls debuted six months ago and now its first DLC pack is available. You may be surprised by how much content is included so let's relight the flame and prepare for another epic (albeit shorter) adventure.

The Painted World of Ariandel presents a land that’s both enticing and dangerous, and there’s plenty of challenges to face even if you won’t have to face them too many times. However, unless you really love dueling in PvP arenas and can find sustained interest there, this adventure may serve as more of an appetizer than a full course meal.

There are two perspectives to take here; if you are the Souls lore fan, one who clamors for precious mentions of the Hollow land of Londor, then Dark Souls III's latest DLC will be an absolute gem for you. It is dripping with lore relevant characters and items, expanding the hidden details from the first Dark Souls to Dark Souls III, and it’s wonderful. If you’re a more casual Souls fan, however, then Ashes of Ariandel’s fairly short run time will leave you wanting more – even if the fights to be found within are, at least in one case, potentially the most memorable of the entire Souls series,...

The latest DLC for Dark Souls 3 has hit, and it’s admittedly left a bit of a mixed taste in my mouth. It brings us to the world of Ariandel, a painted world slowly being consumed by a rotting plague, with you being summoned to help burn it away with a grand, sweeping flame. It fits right into the world of Dark Souls immediately, and while this world clearly has a lot of polish, the Ashes of Ariandel is over before it feels like it even begins. There’s a lot to like in this DLC, but there’s also some big points that left me wanting more, because I know From Software can do better. The Painted W...

You don’t really need Ashes of Ariandel unless you’ve squeezed every ounce out of Dark Souls III already or thrive on PVP. I think the concept of splitting up their resources took away from the sum of both parts, but there’s still plenty of challenges and surprises to warrant another bloody good time. Or a future Game of the Year version bookended romp.

Dark Souls III: Ashes of Ariandel attempts to add an immersive experience and a great new area to what is already a great game. But due to lack of smart level design, short length and lack of bosses, it ultimately fails.

Ashes of Ariandal is, in the grand scheme of things, another merely alright Dark Souls DLC. It gives you new weapons, armor, and spells, and a new playground to test them in. It may not be something that will blow your mind or significantly shake up the world of Souls games, but if you just want an excuse to spend more time in the world of Dark Souls 3, this is that excuse. On top of that, a new match making system brings this much closer to being a must-buy for fans who are devout player-vs-player fans.