Dark Souls III: 8 Niggling Concerns No Fan Wants To Admit
5. How Do You Surpass A Universally-Loved Cast Of Characters?
Cast your mind back to the many, many times you fought against, died to and subsequently conquered your enemies in the first Dark Souls. Are those memories punctuated by the quieter moments in Lordran when you stumbled upon an NPC going about their business, seemingly oblivious to the perils around every corner?
The answer to that question will obviously be yes. Dark Souls' colourful cast of characters are undoubtedly part of the first game's charm. Even if you ignore the meme-spawning, Grossly Incandescent Solaire Of Astora, there's the jolly, onion-headed Siegmeyer Of Catarina, the aloof Shiva Of The East or the butt-ugly Kingseeker Frampt to get acquainted with - to name just a few.
If you try and reminisce in the same way about Dark Souls II, you're not likely to remember much. Whether the residents of Drangleic were better or worse than Lordran's borders on the subjective - but they were certainly nowhere near as memorable.
Dark Souls III has a mountain to climb in this regard, and they have almost everything working against it. Solaire's pop-culture status in particular is not something that can be made to happen, no matter how hard you try.