Dark Souls III is the third installment of the legendary hardcore action RPG series developed by the Japanese studio FromSoftware. The game was released in 2016.
Very few games in history have received as many mentions and memes as this one. An entire subgenre of "Souls-like" games exists, a term usually used for hardcore games with a very high entry threshold — designed to make life anything but easy.
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What is Dark Souls?
If you don’t know the answer, where have you been since 2009 when the series’ predecessor, Demon’s Souls, was released? In the first few hours, the game feels like it’s mocking you. Forget about gentle tutorials or smooth onboarding. You’re thrown straight into a cage with a boss.
The core combat mechanic is to observe and learn how the enemy behaves, study their attacks and abilities, and strike back with all you've got in between. This was the innovation Dark Souls brought to RPGs. Each boss demands a unique tactic, a special arena, and an adaptive playstyle.
Saves in this game are rare bonuses for the worthy. No light autosaves like in Assassin’s Creed — only hardcore bonfires scattered sparsely across vast locations.
Each strike wears down your weapon. A damaged sword deals a third less damage, and once broken, it disappears from your inventory. You can repair it, but that requires souls — the same currency needed to upgrade your skills. By the way, this mechanic was removed in Dark Souls III, making it more player-friendly.
Dark Souls III Gameplay
If you don't know the answer to this question, where have you been since 2009, when the series' predecessor, Demon’s Souls, was released? In the first few hours, the game feels like it’s openly mocking you — forget gentle tutorials or smooth onboarding. You're thrown straight into a boss fight.
The core principle of combat is to understand how your enemy behaves, study their attacks and abilities, and strike with full force in the gaps. This is the key mechanic Dark Souls brought into RPGs. Every boss requires a unique strategy, a specific arena, and a behavior pattern that you must learn to adapt to.
Saves are a rare reward for the worthy. No light autosaves like in Assassin’s Creed — only hardcore bonfires scattered sparingly throughout large areas.
Every hit you deal wears down your weapon. A damaged sword deals a third less damage, and once broken, it disappears from your inventory. Sure, it can be repaired, but that costs souls — the same ones you could’ve spent on upgrading your character. By the way, this mechanic was removed in the third installment, making the game a bit more player-friendly.
Online Helper
This game feature, introduced in Dark Souls III, is quite unusual. By learning the appropriate spell, your character can summon another player to help you defeat a boss or navigate a difficult area. Even if you don’t have friends currently playing DS3, the game will match you with a random player.
Atmosphere
The feeling of impending doom, depression, and decay is conveyed through the environment, music, gut-wrenching plot — or a combination of all three. In Dark Souls III, this atmosphere is embedded directly into the gameplay. It’s rare for a game to have all elements blend so harmoniously. The decaying world raises the stakes, and if the protagonist lacks skill, even a basic skeleton can take you down. Constant deaths from hidden traps are a reminder that you're just a small part of a massive machine.
World Design
Along the way, you'll discover many hidden areas with useful items. They’ll help you level up, upgrade merchants, and uncover more of the story. The narrative is delivered in such a way that you have to figure out the world for yourself. Artifacts you find each hold unique lore tightly connected to the main plot.
Role System and Classes
Dark Souls III introduces new character classes to better match your preferred combat style. Here’s the list of all available classes in DS3:
- Knight – a classic melee fighter in heavy armor that forgives many beginner mistakes. Average speed and block stats, and the shield allows you to defend against many attacks.
- Mercenary – a warrior in medium armor with dual swords or a classic sword-and-shield set. Two scimitars allow for powerful combos that can take down any regular enemy in seconds. The shield for this class is rather weak.
- Warrior – a lighter version of the Knight with a powerful axe. The axe is one of the best starting weapons in the game, dealing massive damage.
- Herald – a heavily armored warrior with a shield and spear, starts with basic healing magic. Classic fighting style – strike/block.
- Thief – a lightly armored fighter with a tiny shield that blocks almost nothing. Relies on light weapons, player skill, and dodging. A major advantage: starts with a bow and has 14 points in Luck – the highest of all classes, increasing chances to find valuable items.
- Assassin – a hybrid class that specializes in light weapons, fast attacks, and sorcery. Can cast the "Spook" spell to sneak up invisibly on enemies and strike with a powerful combo.
- Sorcerer – a typical fragile mage with no armor and a small dagger. Nearly useless in melee but starts with two strong ranged spells, perfect for destroying enemies from a distance.
- Pyromancer – a fire mage with a powerful axe and a medium shield, capable of handling close combat if needed.
- Cleric – doesn’t start with offensive spells, but deals decent damage with a mace. Has two spells: a heal and a knockback, which can push enemies into pits Spartan-style.
- Deprived – the most hardcore class with all stats set to 10. No armor (just a loincloth) and a wooden club with a shield that barely functions. Designed for experienced players looking for a real challenge.
Your starting character does not determine your long-term progression. Within an hour or two, you’ll likely change both your gear and fighting style. Dark Souls III doesn’t tell you how to play — it gives you a challenge, and how to handle it is entirely up to you.
Dark Souls III System Requirements
The game is built on a modified PhyreEngine, and despite its age since 2016, the graphics remain visually relevant. Originally developed for consoles and later ported to PC, the transition was done quite well. As a result, Dark Souls III has clear and straightforward system requirements — consoles don’t upgrade yearly, so many games from the same generation share similar specs.
| Minimum System Requirements for Dark Souls III | |
|---|---|
| Operating System | Windows 7/8/8.1/10 |
| Processor | Intel Core i3-2100 |
| Graphics Card | NVIDIA GeForce GTX 750 Ti |
| RAM | 6 GB |
| Storage | 17 GB |
This spec list is supposed to deliver a royal 60 FPS on max settings — according to FromSoftware. In reality, however, a GTX 750 Ti with 2 GB only reaches about 29 FPS, dropping to 26 in heavy scenes. To play comfortably, you'll need to lower settings to minimum.
| Recommended System Requirements for Dark Souls III (2K) | |
|---|---|
| Operating System | Windows 7/8/8.1/10 |
| Processor | Intel Core i5-2500 |
| Graphics Card | NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970 |
| RAM | 6 GB |
| Storage | 17 GB |
These official system requirements are aimed at 2K resolution. Yes — the developers actually specified 2K requirements back in 2016, which is still uncommon. But even on a GTX 970 4 GB, the game only runs at around 45 FPS with drops to 41. For a game that demands quick reactions, that's not enough. To stabilize performance, it's better to lower either the graphics settings or screen resolution. In Full HD, the GTX 970 can deliver a solid 60 FPS on max settings.
| Maximum System Requirements for Dark Souls III (4K) | |
|---|---|
| Operating System | Windows 10/11 |
| Processor | AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D |
| Graphics Card | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 |
| RAM | 16 GB |
| Storage | 20 GB on SSD |
This setup is for gamers who don’t settle for compromises.
How to Choose a PC for Dark Souls III
A well-balanced setup creates a symphony of perfect performance. The graphics card in your gaming PC determines which games you can play, what monitor to pair it with, and how high you can set the graphics settings.
For RAM, the standard across all gaming PCs is 16 GB. Having significantly more won’t boost performance. It’s better to focus on the frequency and quality of the modules, which is determined by factory timing settings. To keep it simple: higher frequencies, lower timings.
The CPU is less critical — it just needs to be good enough. It's heavily utilized only in PC-only games, where developers aren’t limited by outdated console chips. These are typically complex physics simulators, strategy games, city builders, and the like.
Graphics Card
Normally, this section includes a GPU performance table to help choose the right model. But for DS3, every entry would show the same value: 60. That’s the framerate cap imposed by the game — typical of console ports. The only variation would be at 4K resolution, where not all modern GPUs can maintain stable performance. But keep in mind: Dark Souls III doesn’t have high-resolution textures, so even if your GPU can handle 4K, the visual gains are minimal while the load increases significantly.
Processor
If you're buying a PC specifically for gaming, you likely don’t need a very powerful processor. High-end CPUs are more important for streaming, video recording, 3D work, and similar tasks.
- Basic options: Intel Core i5-12400F, i5-14400F, i5-14600KF; AMD Ryzen 5 7500F, Ryzen 7 5800X
These entry-level CPUs are great for building a rig for Dark Souls III. It’s not a demanding game and looks fine in Full HD and 2K. For 4K-ready GPUs, consider a more powerful processor.
- Gaming-grade: Intel® Core™ Ultra 5 245K(F), Ultra 7 265K(F), Core™ i9-14900K, Ultra 9 285K, AMD Ryzen 9 9900X3D, 9950X3D
An ideal choice for streamers, YouTubers, modders, and game developers. These CPUs can handle anything you throw at them — perfect for 2K and 4K gaming, or immersive VR experiences on high-end headsets.
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