Just pre-ordered, but rumor has it it's releasing in just a few hours. My recent character is actually right at the Cathedral of the Deep bonfire, of all places, though I won't be able to venture very far without getting slaughtered, just hoping to snag a weapon or two. On top of that Fallout 4 arrived in the mail this afternoon, and the Season Pass was 50% for another half a day as well. Not a bad haul. Hope they're both good.
"Due to a logistical error, the Dark Souls III Ashes of Ariandel DLC was made available for download for a short period of time for Xbox One players. We have since corrected this scheduling error and the Dark Souls III Ashes of Ariandel DLC will now be available on October 24, 2016 at 3 PM PDT for Steam players and October 24, 2016 at 9 PM PDT for console players.
Here is a link to a concept art portfolio from a Korean studio who has done work on the Souls games in the past. Obviously might mean nothing, but please god let this stuff end up in the final DLC. If it doesn't someone should make a Souls-like game with these enemies. Wow.
So....I'll start a discussion here about the "story", so to speak in regards to the DLC. I don't know that spoiler tags really apply, since spoiling a story that is completely up for interpretation is fairly difficult, but, if you want to not spoil anything, stop here...........
Now then. This Painted World seems to be both the same and different than the old one. Eventually, the Painted World starts to rot (like a painting would I suppose). The general consensus among the denizens of the world is to burn it down and start anew, willingly (in opposition to the outside world, which struggles to continue on til it's last breath). However, there seem to be two rather powerful beings fixated on keeping the world as it is, rot or no. They are Sister Freide and Father Ariandel.
At this point, the speculation about this being Allfather Lloyd seems to have jumped the gun quite a bit. It almost certainly isn't. If anything, he seems to be some sort of Corvian Elder or deity. Maybe he painted this world. maybe he was just the most powerful being in it. But now, his blood is the only thing keeping the world from crumbling. And he is watched over by.....one of the 3 sisters of the Sable Church. Elfreide. It is actually confirmed from dialogue with Yuria later that Freide abandoned the Sable Church. Why is she in the Painted World, and why does she want to stay there?? I have yet to figure that out. There is much to imply that she is ALSO an Ashen One, and that with your presence in the world along with hers, the fire is fading fast. Indeed, it seems to be rotting because of her as well, but cannot sustain itself with both of you there. Which leads to the ultimate confrontation, which I won't elaborate on too much. Suffice to say, I can't for the live of me understand WHY she is here and why she is obsessed with preserving the rotting world.
On the other end of the spectrum, you have the man who lead you to the world, Uncle Gael, and the little girl who confirms he is her uncle, the one who is waiting to start working on painting a new world. However, she needs to be shown flame to burn out the rotting, dying one, before she can start it anew. Now, if Sister Freide wants to preserve the world, and this little girl wants to reset it, why is she letting this child hang out in the attic of her Cathedral?? And what, in the end, is the motivation of Uncle Gael?? He's clearly sinister, and his garb SEEMS to bear resemblance to the Crimson Set of the sorcerers of New Londo. Is he on a mission from the remaining sister of the Sable Church, Liliane, to punish and destroy the sister who betrayed them?? The connections to the Sable Church are established. We have now seen two of the sisters, Yuria and Elfriede. If the DLCs are connected, don't we inevitably have to travel to Londor and finally unlock the mystery of the Sable Church?? I certainly hope so, and will be extremely disappointed if we don't. It's been clear since the game was released that Yuria, Yoel, Anri, and the entire Lord of Hollows ending was the major hanging plot thread, tinged with mystery, obscene rituals and dread. In a series of games filled with horrifying revelations and monsters, I can only imagine what kind of nightmares From could come up with for us in Londor. Let's cross out fingers.
I started a knight recently, just sitting in the Crucifixion Woods, dealing with some Wolves of Farron. Looks like its time to head to the Cathedral then.
I traded the Longsword for a Claymore and got rid of my helmet. Lets see how well he will fare in the new areas (lvl ~35 )
Just barely stepped in....much more visually striking actually doing it than watching a Let's Play. I am able to kill the first few soldiers, even at level 32, but the damage taken is off the charts. It goes without saying, but this is a late-game area :P....then again, I read a post on Reddit of someone beating the main boss at SL1 already, which is something I can't even comprehend.
So, Uncle Gael is found praying at the Cathedral of the Deep. The Cathedral of the Deep used to be a holy place for the Way of the White. The Way of the White was founded by Allfather Lloyd. The Corvians would certainly seem to have some connection to Velka, with the raven-like features. Sable actually translates to "black". The Black Church of Londor. Dark Souls 3 makes the plot of the first and second games look almost straightforward in comparison.
I was wrong in how I perceived how the fire works in the Painted World. Friede was likely lured here by Gael, much like you. She found common cause with Ariendel, who is the restorer of this permutation of the painting. Whether he was a corvian originally or took their form later doesn't matter.
When Friede, another Ashen One, made home in the world, over time, the flame started to flicker, get stronger. Father Ariandel flails himself and uses his blood to stamp out the flame. Because, even though it's now rotting, it is their home, and they wouldn't have it burned away as is custom. The little girl is there to paint the world anew, after you "show her flame". She is initially locked away to prevent this (guess they couldn't bring themselves to kill a child). My guess is, she paints the new world from within. When she's finished, the other one is ready to burn away. It's a great story, I just hope it expands into something more epic and less self-contained in the big finale.
I also want to mention this area is a FAR better representation of the Painted World than in Dark Souls 1. Ariamis was great aesthetically, great conceptually and thematically, but junk as an actual area to play through. Furthermore, Priscilla's main dialogue about the "inhabitants being kind" was nonsense. For one thing, they weren't really inhabitants at all, but random reskins of regular enemies, and secondly, they were anything but kind. The actual inhabitants of this world, mostly corvian (but in a sickly state) ARE for the most part kind, wanting nothing more than a safe place to stay.
Vaati has already made a video about it, the first in a multi-part series. I feel vindicated that he (basically) arrived at the same general conclusions I have:
@jjstraka34 While good, Vaati is not the absolute truth. You are very welcome to hold on to your personal interpretation even if it doesn't agree with Vaati.
Tomorrow I finally get to play the game. Then I can comment on your posts @jjstraka34 BTW have you checked Reddit there is loads of lore discussion going on.
Tomorrow I finally get to play the game. Then I can comment on your posts @jjstraka34 BTW have you checked Reddit there is loads of lore discussion going on.
I have. I have generally gotten what seems to be going on down in my head. There seems to be a general consensus about what's going on in this particular DLC, it's fairly self-contained and the puzzle comes together since it's basically a short story. The real question now is in regards to Gael, the man who lured you into the rotting painting. The little girl's last lines of dialogue are about her "uncle" and she is wondering if he has completed his quest to find the "dark soul of man". This is, almost certainly, the clue to the final piece of Dark Souls content we may ever see. It almost certainly has to involve the Abyss, I'm just hoping it's by way of Londor and the Sable Church.
Okay, I already retreated from the addon content. I can deal with the wolf packs and dispatched a lot of Farron's Followers but the other creatures are a bit much for me. Life pool is great enough, but my damage output with a +3 Claymore is just a bit too low for dispatching those masses of monsters, blocking my way.
The warning signs to not enter before having visited Lothric Castle should not be disregarded
@Yamcha Yeah I tried it with my mid-game guy (level 40-50ish with +5 weapon) and the start was fine but it got pretty hard pretty quickly. Now I'm doing it level 125 NG+.
After a bit over 5 hours I have finished all the content (I think). While I wish there was more, if the only major problem with your game is that It's too short, that's not so bad.
Even at level 32, I was able to beat the first area with the Followers (took some doing). After that I simply sprinted to the second bonfire down the hole (cannot deal with the wolves at this level). Then made my way to the chapel, got the Chillbite Ring from Friede, and managed to get Frost Weapon as well. But this just isn't a level that can be reasonably completed at a low level. You can do enough damage, but you simply can't take the hits. I didn't even bother trying to confront one of the Millwood Knights or those Corvian/Wolverine type mobs. I wouldn't survive 2 seconds. That said, I still feel like I've physically seen at least 25% of the expansion just by running around. It's good, but it's damn short.
She does look alot like Velka does in the statues. The scales on the little girl was pointed out by Vaati as well. But that is a REALLY hidden connection to Priscilla, one that isn't even really noticeable without camera manipulation. Have the lore clues gotten so hidden that you have to use camera mods to find them??
Can someone explain to me why Anri goes hollow after we defeated Aldrich ? Or how much time passes between those two events?
Generally, NPCs in the Souls series almost always go hollow after they lose their purpose. Siegmeyer dies because you save him in every bad situation he finds himself in, and he loses his purpose, which is his sense of adventure. The Crestfallen Warrior's purpose is brooding and thinking the entire situation is impossible, and when you ring both the bells, his illusion of that is shattered. His purpose was to be endlessly pessimistic, and you rob him of that. Logan eventually finds Seath's magic, his goal. Same thing. The Pyromancer makes his way down to the swamp. This is actually as fairly well established as anything in these games lore-wise and isn't just my personal opinion, it's actually one of the main themes, if not THE main theme, of the first game.
Anri, in her childhood, was robbed of something by Aldrich. Her mission isn't as long as yours. She wants to find Aldrich and destroy him. When that happens, her purpose is fulfilled as well. Hence, the hollowing. Keep in mind, however, that Anri's character serves a MUCH greater and truly sinister purpose if you follow the Lord of Hollows questline that starts with Yoel and continues with Yuria. I recommend Wiki guides for any quests in Dark Souls 3. They are insanely easy to screw up and unbelievably obtuse.
Yup, not solo yet though. I'd say it was a "this raises more questions than it answers" kind of thing, but I didn't particularly care about the new questions and the answers were only tangentially related to one or two questions I was asking before so... I guess it was fun to kill stuff?
Yup, not solo yet though. I'd say it was a "this raises more questions than it answers" kind of thing, but I didn't particularly care about the new questions and the answers were only tangentially related to one or two questions I was asking before so... I guess it was fun to kill stuff?
Honestly, in hindsight (at least until the last DLC comes out) I'm starting to form the opinion that Dark Souls 2 actually handled the callbacks to the first game better than 3. At least it gave the sense of a world that had moved on, perhaps for eons. 3 essentially just drops portions of the first game down from the sky, and fits them in around the story of Aldritch and the Sable Church.
For instance, ever notice that Things Betwixt seems like it might (maybe) be in Ash Lake?? But it doesn't bludgeon you over the head with it. The Old Dragonslayer was similarly interesting to me. It plays into the question of whether the Ornstein and Smough fight was an illusion like the rest of Anor Londo, if this was the real Ornstein who had left long ago, or just someone playing copycat.
"If Dark Souls 3 truly is the last in the series as we know it, then it’s a worthy send-off. Weapon arts allow stylish and versatile new moves without tarnishing the purity of the combat system. Lothric’s awe-inspiring locations provide visually stunning arenas for rigorous exploration and fierce face-offs with hosts of deadly enemies and even deadlier bosses. While not all the risky changes land as neatly as others, Dark Souls 3 is a powerful journey and the sequel the series truly deserves."
Comments
Speaking to Gamespot, the publisher said:
"Due to a logistical error, the Dark Souls III Ashes of Ariandel DLC was made available for download for a short period of time for Xbox One players. We have since corrected this scheduling error and the Dark Souls III Ashes of Ariandel DLC will now be available on October 24, 2016 at 3 PM PDT for Steam players and October 24, 2016 at 9 PM PDT for console players.
So another six hours for you.
http://passionrepublic.com/en/work.html#popup_portfolio_10
Now then. This Painted World seems to be both the same and different than the old one. Eventually, the Painted World starts to rot (like a painting would I suppose). The general consensus among the denizens of the world is to burn it down and start anew, willingly (in opposition to the outside world, which struggles to continue on til it's last breath). However, there seem to be two rather powerful beings fixated on keeping the world as it is, rot or no. They are Sister Freide and Father Ariandel.
At this point, the speculation about this being Allfather Lloyd seems to have jumped the gun quite a bit. It almost certainly isn't. If anything, he seems to be some sort of Corvian Elder or deity. Maybe he painted this world. maybe he was just the most powerful being in it. But now, his blood is the only thing keeping the world from crumbling. And he is watched over by.....one of the 3 sisters of the Sable Church. Elfreide. It is actually confirmed from dialogue with Yuria later that Freide abandoned the Sable Church. Why is she in the Painted World, and why does she want to stay there?? I have yet to figure that out. There is much to imply that she is ALSO an Ashen One, and that with your presence in the world along with hers, the fire is fading fast. Indeed, it seems to be rotting because of her as well, but cannot sustain itself with both of you there. Which leads to the ultimate confrontation, which I won't elaborate on too much. Suffice to say, I can't for the live of me understand WHY she is here and why she is obsessed with preserving the rotting world.
On the other end of the spectrum, you have the man who lead you to the world, Uncle Gael, and the little girl who confirms he is her uncle, the one who is waiting to start working on painting a new world. However, she needs to be shown flame to burn out the rotting, dying one, before she can start it anew. Now, if Sister Freide wants to preserve the world, and this little girl wants to reset it, why is she letting this child hang out in the attic of her Cathedral?? And what, in the end, is the motivation of Uncle Gael?? He's clearly sinister, and his garb SEEMS to bear resemblance to the Crimson Set of the sorcerers of New Londo. Is he on a mission from the remaining sister of the Sable Church, Liliane, to punish and destroy the sister who betrayed them?? The connections to the Sable Church are established. We have now seen two of the sisters, Yuria and Elfriede. If the DLCs are connected, don't we inevitably have to travel to Londor and finally unlock the mystery of the Sable Church?? I certainly hope so, and will be extremely disappointed if we don't. It's been clear since the game was released that Yuria, Yoel, Anri, and the entire Lord of Hollows ending was the major hanging plot thread, tinged with mystery, obscene rituals and dread. In a series of games filled with horrifying revelations and monsters, I can only imagine what kind of nightmares From could come up with for us in Londor. Let's cross out fingers.
I traded the Longsword for a Claymore and got rid of my helmet. Lets see how well he will fare in the new areas (lvl ~35
When Friede, another Ashen One, made home in the world, over time, the flame started to flicker, get stronger. Father Ariandel flails himself and uses his blood to stamp out the flame. Because, even though it's now rotting, it is their home, and they wouldn't have it burned away as is custom. The little girl is there to paint the world anew, after you "show her flame". She is initially locked away to prevent this (guess they couldn't bring themselves to kill a child). My guess is, she paints the new world from within. When she's finished, the other one is ready to burn away. It's a great story, I just hope it expands into something more epic and less self-contained in the big finale.
I also want to mention this area is a FAR better representation of the Painted World than in Dark Souls 1. Ariamis was great aesthetically, great conceptually and thematically, but junk as an actual area to play through. Furthermore, Priscilla's main dialogue about the "inhabitants being kind" was nonsense. For one thing, they weren't really inhabitants at all, but random reskins of regular enemies, and secondly, they were anything but kind. The actual inhabitants of this world, mostly corvian (but in a sickly state) ARE for the most part kind, wanting nothing more than a safe place to stay.
Vaati has already made a video about it, the first in a multi-part series. I feel vindicated that he (basically) arrived at the same general conclusions I have:
The warning signs to not enter before having visited Lothric Castle should not be disregarded
Anri, in her childhood, was robbed of something by Aldrich. Her mission isn't as long as yours. She wants to find Aldrich and destroy him. When that happens, her purpose is fulfilled as well. Hence, the hollowing. Keep in mind, however, that Anri's character serves a MUCH greater and truly sinister purpose if you follow the Lord of Hollows questline that starts with Yoel and continues with Yuria. I recommend Wiki guides for any quests in Dark Souls 3. They are insanely easy to screw up and unbelievably obtuse.
For instance, ever notice that Things Betwixt seems like it might (maybe) be in Ash Lake?? But it doesn't bludgeon you over the head with it. The Old Dragonslayer was similarly interesting to me. It plays into the question of whether the Ornstein and Smough fight was an illusion like the rest of Anor Londo, if this was the real Ornstein who had left long ago, or just someone playing copycat.
"If Dark Souls 3 truly is the last in the series as we know it, then it’s a worthy send-off. Weapon arts allow stylish and versatile new moves without tarnishing the purity of the combat system. Lothric’s awe-inspiring locations provide visually stunning arenas for rigorous exploration and fierce face-offs with hosts of deadly enemies and even deadlier bosses. While not all the risky changes land as neatly as others, Dark Souls 3 is a powerful journey and the sequel the series truly deserves."