Dark Souls III

How FromSoftware’s fourth Souls game triumphantly paints itself into a corner

- EDWIN EVANS-THIRLWELL

Deep in the frozen city of Irithyll there’s a candlelit ballroom hung with gilt-framed paintings. One in particular holds our gaze as we enter from the kitchen below, and not just because there’s a Silver Knight standing by it, gazing at the brushwork. It shows a majestic, reclining woman with golden hair, wearing white. The oils are faded, but her gentle expression is visible over the enemy’s shoulder.

As we approach cautiously, our impulse to stab the knight in the back struggles against a feeling of shared nostalgia and reverence. For this is no mortal woman, but Gwynevere, Princess Of Sunlight, one of the fire gods of Anor Londo – capstone of the original Dark Souls world. Other paintings depict locations from the first game, along with Dark Souls II’s Drangleic, giving the room the character of an Easter egg gallery sealed off from the terrors outside. But much like the Gwynevere of old, these images exist to deceive. As we cross the midpoint there’s a mocking creak, and we’re struck from behind by an arrow the size of a spear. It’s a testament to the staging that we still fall victim to this ruse on returning to Dark Souls III, five years after we first played it.