While fans in other regions are still waiting on the edges of their seats, Dark Souls III has hit the market in Japan with an early Xbox release, and is currently garnering great reviews.
Meanwhile, those ready to throw their hard earned paychecks at Dark Souls III in North American and South American regions have to hold their horses until April 12th, 2016, when the game will be released for PS4 and Xbox One, as well be available for purchase on Steam. To capitalize on the antsy wait time, producers at BANDAI NAMCO released a third trailer to satiate people’s excitment (or add fuel to the flames…either way).
Contrasting light and dark, life and death, the trailer showcases the grotesque and stunning sights and intense conflicts that have made the Dark Souls franchise hugely popular around the world.
Additionally, with the early Xbox release for Japanese regions, a few dedicated fans have already begun playing the game and passed analysis. Digital Foundry, an “in-depth technical analysis of games and gaming hardware at Eurogamer.net” put the game through a series of gameplay tests, and the results/critique can be seen in the video below, courtesy of their youtube channel.
As for graphics and frame rate, many people are vastly impressed. Fans can gladly expect 30 frames per second for consoles–with Xbox running at a resolution of 900p, while the Playstation 4 beta ran on the originally promised 1080p. However, not a lot of people playing the released Xbox versions are complaining.
Along with similar streams of Dark Souls III concurrent with its early Japanese release, many US fans are claiming confusion/clamoring that the inconsistency with release dates and overabundance of gameplay videos leads some to ask, “If the game is done and ready for consumption in Japan…why can’t we play too?”
Dark Souls III will be available to play on April 12th in North American regions on Xbox One, Playstation 4, and PC for $60 USD, while Steam is offering a pre-order sale of $84.98 “Pre-Purchase DARK SOULS™ III Deluxe Edition”, which comes with an additional Season Pass.