14 DAY TRIAL // Dark Souls 3 is finally launched for Western gamers, and that means that the latest experience created by From Software is finally offered on the PC, after being available in Japan for the Xbox One and the PlayStation 4 for a few weeks.
The game does look better on a solid enough machine, allowing players to experience some impressive sights and combat moments, but for many of those who have picked up a copy, crashes are one of the biggest problems at the moment, as documented on the official Steam forums as well as on Twitter, Reddit, and other social media.
Most of the problems are linked with getting to bonfires, especially the first one of Dark Souls 3, or the Firelink Shrine, but there are also crashes that take place consistently at the same point in one level or when the player performs a particular move, regardless of the options that are active in the graphics department.
The knight seems to be the least affected by the game issues at the moment.
The biggest problem is that so far From Software has not talked about the issues publicly despite the fact that the bonfire crashes were present in the game and the studio suggested that it was planning to offer updates before the official launch to deal with them.
Dark Souls 3 offers a very solid take on the mechanics of the series
The development team needs to move fast to collect information from players about their issues and to deliver a patch or a hotfix that eliminates these character and bonfire linked crashes and allows PC gamers to get a solid experience.
Dark Souls 3 on the Xbox One and the PlayStation 4 might be more solid, but it does have sections where the frame rate drops significantly, which is a problem given the already difficult fights that the game delivers.
From Software has made it clear that it sees the new release as the final title in the franchise, designed to integrate all the core ideas that they have explored over the year and to refine them based on the feedback they have received from fans.
You can read a full Softpedia review of Dark Souls 3, which offers more details on the combat mechanics, the difficulty level of the game and how it manages to create an engaging world without over-using narrative elements.