Dark Souls 3: The Ringed City Review

You’d expect the finale of the Dark Souls trilogy to be a grand, apocalyptic affair, and as far as its haunting new settings and frightening boss fights go, The Ringed City certainly delivers. But for all the cool new gear, spells, and thrilling tests of skill and endurance it throws at you, this final DLC adventure for Dark Souls 3 has its strongest moments tucked away in the quieter corners of its carefully crafted world.This is the end of Dark Souls as we know it, and with it comes a host of exciting lore implications that tie back to previous games in the series. Most of those moments trigger startling revelations about this beloved world's past, but also a few thought-provoking questions about its future… even at the end of everything.

Watch the first 13 minutes of Dark Souls 3: The Ringed City below.

Your journey to the legendary Ringed City actually begins in the Dreg Heap, a dreary, ash-covered ruin that resembles a tangled mass of old kingdoms, folding into themselves. The verticality of this strange place brings a terrifying scale to the opening moments of your journey. One of the first things you do upon your arrival is drop down a series of ledges, before later falling several stories straight into the stained glass window of a fallen church.

Check out our wiki guide on how to access The Ringed City.

The dizzying heights and mangled architecture of the Dreg Heap is disorienting, bordering on the surreal, and I often found myself stopping just to take in the awe-inspiring views between bouts of battle with its equally corrupted residents. But your downward progression towards the Ringed City feels compellingly thematic, too — a literal descent towards the end of the world, as everything that ever was and ever will be crumbles into oblivion.

Check out The Ringed City's terrifying first boss below. (Spoilers.)

Remnants of Lordran and Drangleic are around every corner, sometimes buried deep inside item descriptions or environmental details only the most observant may notice. Other times, the connections are startlingly direct. My careful exploration often gave way to unexpected revelation as I realized the true nature of where I was, or where I was going. But even if you aren’t invested in Dark Souls lore, there is still a satisfying handful of secrets, shortcuts, and side paths to break up the relatively linear progression of the main journey. I found at least two illusory walls, and several well-hidden detours, where formidable NPC invaders or a new weapon or spell lay in wait.

New +3 rings not available in NG+3 iterations are handy finds.

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Even after the initial 7 hours it took to beat the first time (albeit at a slow pace), I spent several hours after trying to complete an NPC sidequest and grappling with a particularly tough riddle. I’ve also found myself coming back to track down the plentiful new gear offered up, which includes a set of massive dual greatswords, a dagger that extends into a crystal bladed sword, and a staff infused with the corpse of a “mad king.” Certain armor sets recall characters and enemies in previous Souls games, and new +3 rings for those not available in NG+3 iterations — such as Havel’s Ring and the Wolf Ring — are handy finds. The Giant Door Shield might take the cake as the silliest offering in the otherwise dreary DLC: dual greatshields that lock together to create a massive double door, which you can plant in place to absorb hard hits or charge into crowds of enemies like a battering ram. (I look forward to the inevitable Giant Door Shield-only runs.)

Check out the ridiculous Great Door Shield in action below.

The enemies that roam The Ringed City aren’t incredibly new or imaginative, but they are at least relevant to the tale being told. Hollow-eyed insect men scurry around a marsh of sunken churches, lashing at you with glowing birch branches as they preach of doomsday. Intimidating Ringed Knights who patrol the streets with dragon-headed greatshields were particularly fun to face off with. (And yes, you can get their armor set.) Perhaps the most interesting new foes are the haunting angel-like creatures in the Dreg Heap, which demand a more restrained, problem-solving approach to overcome. They also have some of the coolest lore implications if you know where to look — yet another way The Ringed City forces you to take your time, despite how compact it is.

Environmental obstacles spice up exploration in cool ways, including a stealth section.

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Occasionally, it throws way too many enemies at you at once rather than setting up more interesting encounters. Fighting my first Harald knight was fun, but facing six at once while being bombarded by projectiles from smaller enemies was more annoying than engaging. But The Ringed City demands patience, even moreso than usual. That’s especially true in a certain familiar swamp area, which introduces an element of stealth not typical to the Souls series. Bringing the acute attentiveness and patience learned from this early section into the rest of the DLC makes even its toughest hurdles manageable. One of my favorite of its environmental obstacles, aside from being visually stunning, initially makes the Anor Londo archers look like child’s play.

Check out the second boss of The Ringed City below. (Spoilers.)

The four bosses you’ll encounter (three required and one optional) each bring some interesting element to the battle — whether that means an alterable second phase, a startlingly vast arena, or even an interesting multiplayer element. While playing pre-release means I wasn’t able to test it myself, one of the boss fights ties into a new covenant introduced in The Ringed City, which will enable the boss to summon loyal members into other players’ battles. That means you’d be fighting player invaders alongside the boss (think the Looking Glass Knight fight in Dark Souls 2), which could feasibly grant longevity to The Ringed City for fans of PvP.

Verdict

Dark Souls 3: The Ringed City has found a way to revisit the past without a cheap reliance on nostalgia, wrapping up the story of Dark Souls in a way that will be satisfying for fans who enjoy digging into the rich lore the series has been building for the last few years. But you don’t need an encyclopedic knowledge of the Souls series to appreciate the satisfying twists and turns of this short, but exciting adventure, with its abundance of haunting, secret-filled locales and terrifying boss fights.

Dark Souls 3: The Ringed City Review - IGN (2024)

Verdict

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