Dark Souls III: Ashes of Ariandel

Don’t get the hate for this either. It’s oppressive as hell, though - probably the most oppressive area in the entire franchise (still haven’t played through all games, though), both in atmosphere and difficulty. Was relieving to get to the bosses, as they were way easier than the areas themselves.

Started off killing wolves for ten minutes, only to be surprised by a giant one bringing more small wolves in. Then the ninja guys and the giant vikings killed me several times. The ominous trees and the flies made for a grim terrain, then jumping around on janky branches being bombarded by archers with infinite range, only to be met by giant ice crabs at the bottom. Just kept getting more oppressive, holy hell. Then culminating in what I guess is the start of the next DLC, getting ganked by random lasers from the sky that I have no idea how to deal with.

Overall I found the design questionable at times, but I’m adept enough at these games now that I thought it was a fun challenge. Can understand why some people dislike this, though.

15 dollars for a boss with a bonus area

really hard to tell with Souls if an area is stressful, depressing and anxiety-inducing in a good or in a bad way lol. aesthetically this is great, but i really struggle for motivation to go through wolf-infested zones again and again

the hate actually comes from the cost of content and not the actual content itself

this is one of my favorite levels in the game ngl

peak dark souls

this is great if u love gank 😁 but sister friede single-handedly saves this, perhaps one of the best bosses from has ever made

5/5 boss, 1/5 area