DLC I Beat: Ashes of Ariandel

Dark Souls III Ashes of Ariandel
Action RPG Lore 'Em Up
1-6 Players
System: PS4
Developer: From Software
Year of Release: 2016
Beaten: July 15th, 2017

Dark Souls 3 might get a bit of flak from some fans of the series, but it is probably the most polished of the Souls series. Personally I quite enjoyed it even if it felt a little bit like a Greatest Hits album for the franchise. I never felt drawn back to play through the DLC though, until recently.

A friend of mine wanted to reconnect after he had moved across the country years ago. He wound up buying a second copy of Dark Souls 3 for the PS4 so we could play through it together. After finally getting the third ending in the base game I got to experience both of the DLC packs.

Ashes of Ariandel continues the Greatest Hits vibe and feels like a decently expanded Painted World of Ariamis from the first Dark Souls. While the entire area is covered in snow and there's even a familiar wooden bridge there is a fair amount of new content. Vikings lost in the woods, a really unsettling village filled with seemingly aborted bird people, and two bosses of varied quality set the area apart from the original.

While only slightly less linear than the base game, the world design is still top notch. Each new area was interesting and tense to explore. The amount of souls dropped by enemies seemed a little low, especially considering how brutal the viking, and a few of the bird enemies, in particular could be, but they aren't an insurmountable challenge. There isn't anything particularly interesting about thew new enemy designs though.

As for bosses, one of them is near the top tier of the series, while the other is admittedly less so. The lesser boss is basically an NPC invader hanging out with some dogs, one of which is a very large dog that joins the fight later. Personally I felt the fight was enjoyable, but it is very bare bones, and the giant wolf addition doesn't really add much considering how long he waits to join. He does utilize a fairly unique weapon that allows him to block while attacking, and he drops it after beating him.

The main spectacle is, shockingly, the fight with Father Ariandel and Sister Friede. Oh man. This fight is just a wonder to fight through. Initially you have to beat down Friede alone utilizing a scythe weapon with some frost enchantments. Afterwards this will enrage Ariandel to the point that he manages to unbolt himself from the ground, though he's still strapped into a giant chair. While quite humorous, the ante is upped and requires you to defeat both at once. Finally, Friede gets up one last time with stronger and bigger attacks. I don't know how else to describe this fight other than, it is spectacular.

Ashes of Ariandel is a short, sweet and simple DLC. Now that a complete version of the game is available, and the season pass has been all along, it isn't much of a problem. Upon release though, for anyone who bought it alone, I think it might have been a bit of a rip off. Now though, it's a great additional piece of the puzzle that is Dark Souls 3. Adding an extra area I highly enjoyed exploring, several new pieces of equipment and two boss fights, one being undeniably an amazing experience. For any fan of the series, especially Dark Souls 3 in particular, this is well worth playing through.