DARK SOULS™ III
DARK SOULS™ III screenshot 1DARK SOULS™ III screenshot 2
ActionSouls-likeDark FantasyDifficultRPGAtmospheric

2,991 playing

Peak in the last 24 hours: 4,859

Peak in the last 7 days: 6,181

DARK SOULS™ III Steam store

Game description

Dark Souls continues to push the boundaries with the latest, ambitious chapter in the critically-acclaimed and genre-defining series. Prepare yourself and Embrace The Darkness!

Basic info

DeveloperFromSoftware, Inc.
PublisherFromSoftware, Inc., Bandai Namco Entertainment
PlatformsWindows
Steam DeckVerified
Release dateApr 11, 2016
Price

Prices by IsThereAnyDeal

Minimum specs

OSWindows 7 SP1 64bit, Windows 8.1 64bit Windows 10 64bit
ProcessorIntel Core i3-2100 / AMD® FX-6300
Memory4 GB
GraphicsNVIDIA® GeForce GTX 750 Ti / ATI Radeon HD 7950
Storage25 GB
steamyze

Review Analysis Score

Based on 395 reviews from the past 1 year

89.6/ 100
Top 20%

Steam rating: Very Positive (94%)

Metacritic: 89 /100

Review analysis summary (Reviewed Oct 20, 2026)

Hard but fair is the verdict most players reach on this dark fantasy action RPG, which scores 89.6, top 20% of games we analyzed.

👍 Strengths

90 reviews say they enjoy it, and some still call it their favorite in the series years later. 83 praise the difficulty as a challenge that rewards learning and persistence. 54 describe a world steeped in melancholy and decay, with level design and atmosphere that pull them in. Visuals & Sound ranks 103rd of 1249, Story & World ranks 154th of 1096, and Gameplay ranks 225th of 1396. Multiplayer ranks 262nd of 642.

👎 Where it falls short

49 reviews say the difficulty turns unfair at times, pointing to sudden spikes, delayed boss attacks and deadly runs back to each boss, and the most upvoted says one late fight is more about fighting the camera. 14 find it hard for new players to learn, saying questlines are obtuse and the fragmented story needs guides or a wiki. 14 complain about the price, saying the base game and DLC still cost too much for a game this old. Pricing & Fairness ranks 689th of 1399.

Representative reviews Original reviews ↗

“relaxing game with lots of positive emotions” · 90 reviews
“Dark Souls perfectly mirrors life; you only lose when you give up” · 83 reviews
“the atmosphere and world design convey profound melancholy and decay across the trilogy” · 54 reviews

How it holds up

−50+5

Controls, difficulty, progression and depth
Mentioned in 72% of reviews · Top 20% of the games we've analyzed

Difficulty +3.07 · How hard it is, how the challenge ramps, and whether it feels fair
Positive “Dark Souls perfectly mirrors life; you only lose when you give up” · 83 reviews
Negative “Nameless King fight is tedious camera fighting rather than skill challenge” · 49 reviews

Progression 10% · Onboarding 14% · Freedom 15% · Strategy 12% · Controls & feel 23%

Plot, characters and the world
Mentioned in 49% of reviews · Top 20% of the games we've analyzed

World +3.92 · Lore, atmosphere, and how immersive the setting is
Positive “the atmosphere and world design convey profound melancholy and decay across the trilogy” · 54 reviews
Negative “bland world with uninspiring areas lacking interconnectedness and environmental rewards” · 2 reviews

Story 21% · Characters 9%

How much there is to do, variety and replay value
Mentioned in 22% of reviews · Top 20% of the games we've analyzed

Volume +3.26 · How much there is to play, including endgame, for the price
Positive “70 hours played, playing second time, perfect for relaxation” · 4 reviews
Negative “too quick to finish despite collecting everything” · 4 reviews

Variety 6% · Replayability 8%

Graphics, art style, music and sound
Mentioned in 38% of reviews · Top 10% of the games we've analyzed

Visuals +3.81 · Graphics, art style, and animation
Positive “game quality is excellent” · 35 reviews
Negative “graphics are not perfect in detail” · 3 reviews

Audio 23%

Playing with others, the community and servers
Mentioned in 12% of reviews · Top 50% of the games we've analyzed

Playing together +2.51 · Fun of playing with friends, teammates, or rivals
Positive “helped by friendly player in multiplayer, fun unexpected encounter” · 12 reviews
Negative “forced PvP invasions ruin enjoyment, no choice to disable” · 4 reviews

Community 3% · Servers & Connection 1%

Pricing, cheaters, balance and matchmaking
Mentioned in 13% of reviews · Top 50% of the games we've analyzed

Pricing -0.14 · Whether the price, DLC and microtransactions are reasonable, and how much paying gives you an edge
Negative “publisher refuses to lower price after 9 years, greedy pricing” · 14 reviews

Anti-cheat 0% · Balance 8% · Matchmaking 0%

Bugs, performance and developer support
Mentioned in 9% of reviews · Bottom 50% of the games we've analyzed

Developer support -0.11 · Updates, patches, and how devs respond to players
Negative “devs pursuing exclusivity after building on multiplatform players” · 2 reviews

Stability 4% · Performance 4%

Grey means too few reviews mention it to trust. — means almost no reviews mention it.

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