Digital Media Concepts/Dark Souls III

Dark Souls III
Dark Souls III is an action role-playing game developed by From Software and was released for the PlayStation, Xbox, and PC on March 24, 2016 in Japan, with a worldwide release scheduled for April 12 of the same year. It is the fourth installment in the souls series and the final installment in the dark souls trilogy. Two DLCs were released for Dark Souls III.

Gameplay
Dark Souls III is an action role-player in third-person perspective like the rest of the series. Players use various weapons and items to fight enemies including bows, throwable objects, swords, axes, lances, clubs, ect. There are also shields that are mainly used to defend against damage but can also deflect an enemies’ attack, but the player may dodge enemy attacks by rolling. Players may attack with either a standard attack or a stronger but slower, heavy attack that may be charged up. Bonfires, that serve as checkpoints which allow the player to restore health, or “hit points”, and FP but respawn enemies as well as fast travel between bonfires the player has already interacted with, return from the previous games. Magic is included in this game like the other installments, called “focus points” or FP which is what is used when using magic. Players may use magic to attack enemies, restore health, cast buffs on themselves, or debuffs on others.Other than bonfires, players can restore health and FP with Estus Flasks. There are two types of estus flasks which players may allot how many of each they want depending on their play style. One type will restore health while the other will restore FP, which is new to the series. Players are able to carry more of these from collecting certain items that are placed throughout the game. Aside from combat, players will also encounter NPCs that have their own questlines or shops for the player.

Plot/DLC
In dark souls III, the Unkindled are beings of ash, unworthy to ascend to become Lords of Cinder. One becomes a Lord of Cinder by relinking the First Flame in the Kiln and Surviving. They are awakened by the tolling of a bell that rings when the First Flame, responsible for maintaining the Age of Fire, is in danger of fading. The Age of Fire can be prolonged with the linking of the fire, a ritual in which great lords and heroes sacrifice their souls to rekindle the First Flame. However, Prince Lothric, the chosen linker for this age, abandoned his duty and watched the flame die from afar. The bell is the last hope for the Age of Fire, resurrecting previous Lords of Cinder (heroes who linked the flame in past ages) to attempt to link the fire again.

The Ashen One, an Undead who failed to become a Lord of Cinder and is called an Unkindled, rises in the Cemetery of Ash and seeks the embers of the First Flame and must link the fire by returning Prince Lothric and the defiant lords of cinder to their thrones in the firelink shrine. The 5 Lords are Aldrich, Saint of the Deep, Ludleth the Exiled, Yhorm the Giant, Farron's Undead Legion, and Lothric, the last hope of his line. Aldrich was once a cleric that devoured men. He became so powerful that he was used to relink the Flame. Upon ascension to a Lord of Cinder, Aldrich sought to devour gods and even gained a cult around him that formed the Sable Church of the Deep. Ludleth the Exiled linked the First Flame long ago by willing himself to. Yhorm the Giant wanted to end the Profaned flame by relinking the First Flame. Instead of Eliminating the Profaned Flame, the capital burned, killing all except Yhorm. Farron's Undead Legion of Abyss Watchers partook of the blood of an ancient wolf, the Wolf's blood linked the Abyss watchers to their master. The Abyss Watchers guard against creatures from the Abyss. The Abyss Watchers swore on their share of Wolf's Blood to relink the Flame.

Once all of the Lords of Cinder have been returned to their thrones, the Ashen One may travel to the ruins on the kiln of the first flame ,where they encounter the Soul Of Cinder, the combination of all previous Lords of Cinder. Once defeated, depending on the player’s decisions in the game, the player has 4 choices of endings. The player may link to the flame, becoming a Lord of Cinder, summon the Fire Keeper to extinguish the flame, beginning the age of darkness, or kill her. The player may also take the flame for themselves and become the Lord of Hollows.

Ashes of Ariandel
Ashes of Ariandel is the first of two DLCs in Dark Souls III, which was released on October 25th for $14.99. Ashes of Ariandel introduces a new area, the Painted World of Ariandel, bosses, enemies, weapons, armor set, magic spells and more. Players may access the DLC by speaking to a new NPC, the wandering knight, Gael, at the Cathedral of the Deep and accept his rotten piece of a painting and the player will be transported to the Painted World, a cold, ruined place where no bells toll and the city suffers from a rot.

The Ringed City
The Ringed City is the second and last DLC for dark souls III, it was released on March 27, 2017 for $14.99. Players may access this from a bonfire within the Kiln of the First Flame which will transport the player to The Dreg Heap, the result of the close of the Age of Fire, with the world collapsing in on itself, ancient lands and ancient civilizations all find themselves converging into a single location.

Development
Dark Souls III began development even before the release of Dark Souls II. Development for Dark Souls III started in the middle of 2013, while Bloodborne was also actively being developed by Tomohiro Shibuya and Yui Tanimura instead of the series creator, Hidetaka Miyazaki. Dark Souls III started development on Jun 10, 2013, was officially revealed on Jun 15, 2015, gameplay was revealed on Aug 4, 2015, and the game was released on Apr 12, 2016. The game's level design was created to become more of another "enemy" the player must face. The game's visual design focuses on "withered beauty", with ember and ash scattered throughout the game's world.