History YMMV / DarkSoulsIII

* ItsShortSoItSucks: The general reception to ''Ashes of Ariandel'' can be chalked up to this. It has a great final boss and the area itself is well designed, but it only has ''two bosses'', and at most has maybe two areas if you are generous. To put this in perspective, Dark Souls 1 had four DLC bosses and Dark Souls 2 had three bosses per DLC.[[labelnote:*]]Albeit each DLC had one boss reskinned from the base game (and, in the case of the Ivory King, ''from earlier in the same DLC'', so it amounted to 2 ''new'' bosses per DLC.[[/labelnote]] One of the things FROM made sure to mention when advertising ''The Ringed City'' was its increased length and greater number of bosses (4).

** The Catacombs of Carthus being underneath the Abyss Watchers has been accepted by many as being that the Abyss Watchers, upon learning of Wolnir in the Abyss, destroyed Carthus and setup shop on top of the Catacombs so that they could guard it. This is also used to explain how they became corrupted by the Abyss, essentially making Wolnir's presence as a boss below a form of TakingYouWithMe. In game nothing of this is implied to be the case, but due to how natural the transition is, many feel it makes more sense than just being "the lands smashed together".

* BreatherBoss: After the ''triple'' whammy of Sulyvahn, Aldrich and the Dancer, the Dragonslayer Armor is fairly easy by comparison, especially if you summon for him. [[ShmuckBait Just don't use]] [[DamageSpongeBoss both the summon signs.]] On the other hand, if you resort to SequenceBreaking and [[ThatOneBoss/DarkSouls fighting him early]].

* ItsShortSoItSucks: The general reception to ''Ashes of Ariandel'' can be chalked up to this. It has a great final boss and the area itself is well designed, but it only has ''two bosses'', and at most has maybe two areas if you are generous. To put this in perspective, Dark Souls 1 had four DLC bosses and Dark Souls 2 had three bosses per DLC. One of the things FROM made sure to mention when advertising ''The Ringed City'' was its increased length and greater number of bosses (4).

** Londor. Various pieces of in game lore explain it to be a city of Hollows founded by three sisters, all of them want to bring about the Age of Dark, or rather, the Age of Man. Not only is it a unique concept given how most cities or homes in the series are poorly made settlements that easily fall due to the curse, but apparently ''Kaathe'' had a hand in the creation of it. Given how many items and pieces of lore exist about Londor, and Usurp the Fire ending essentially having you take the Fire and Dark together, you would expect Londor to be one of the DLC locations, but nothing comes from it. Like with the Angels of Lothric plot, it comes across as a huge missed opportunity, and the fact that both of the games DLC references the lore of Londor makes the cities absence sting harder.

* NarmCharm: While they are some who feel that the multiple [[TitleDrop title-drops]] featured throughout ''The Ringed City'' come across as forced and awkward; ''many'' more people find them ''hilariously'' memorable, and each variant has become a meme in it's own right.

** The Hollow Slave is an imp-like enemy that carries an axe, or Flamberge and are really great at appearing out of nowhere. They're annoying but manageable in the undead settlement but hit DemonicSpider status in the Cathedral of the Deep, often showing high up on ledges where falling to your death is a constant danger. They also love to ambush and dogpile you!

* ThatOneAchievement: As always with [[VideoGame/DarkSoulsI this]] [[VideoGame/DarkSoulsII series]], one of the "Master of" achievements for collecting all of a certain thing is noticeably harder than the others. This time it's "Master of Rings", which requires you to collect, well, [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin all of the game's rings]]. While there fortunately aren't any as ridiculously difficult to get as ''DSII's'' two Illusory Rings[[note]]"of a Conqueror" required you to beat the game [[NoDamageRun without dying]] and "of the Exalted" required you to beat the game without resting at a single bonfire other than the Primal Bonfires that spawned after beating the first four major bosses[[/note]], but instead there are a ''lot'' of upgraded versions of some rings that only spawn on NG+, or even ''NG+2'', often very late into the game, meaning you need to effectively complete three entire playthroughs in order to collect them all. The [=DLCs=] add even more rings to the game which also count for the achievement (making a grand total of ''107'' in all), and to add insult to injury, most of the ones added in The Ringed City are +3 versions and are available on your very ''first'' playthrough, making all the +2 rings you spent blood, sweat and tears grinding through to NG+2 in order to get completely redundant for everything ''other'' than the achievement before you even get them!

* MisaimedMarketing:

** The line the Fire Keeper has when you give her souls to level up. "[[UnusualEuphemism Touch the darkness within me]]", anyone? Not to mention that the act of doing so involves [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything one partner kneeling while the Fire Keeper is filled with a white substance.]]

** The Spear of the Church can turn into this if the player controlling him happens to suck. Even if the Spear is controlled by an AI, it's still basically just a 2 vs. 1 [=PvP=] fight. The fact that this is the very last fight you'll have before ''[[spoiler:the very last boss of the entire franchise]]'' only adds salt to the wound. Many players choose to beat him first, and then go back and [[BonusBoss fight Darkeater Midir]] before progressing with the story just because of how lame the Spear fight is.

** Darkeater Midir, the BonusBoss of ''The Ringed City''. Depending on who you ask, he's either an [[BestBossEver epic endurance test]] and a worthy successor to Kalameet and Sinh, or a tedious DamageSpongeBoss with obnoxious attack patterns, similar to the Ancient Dragon.

** Oceiros The Consumed King has a son named Ocelotte, whose Japanese name is literally "Ocelot". And when he can't find Ocelotte, he yells "[[Franchise/MetalGear OCELOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOTTT!!]]" More than enough players can't help but shout back "SNAAAAAKKKKKKEEEEE!!" when they hear that.

* NarmCharm: While they are some who feel that the multiple [[TitleDrop title-drops]] featured throughout ''The Ringed City'' are across as forced and awkward; ''many'' more people find them ''hilariously'' memorable, and each variant has become a meme in it's own right.

* {{Narm}}: There are some who feel that the multiple [[TitleDrop title-drops]] featured throughout ''The Ringed City'' come across as forced and awkward.

* CrazyIsCool: Much like [[spoiler:their founder Artorias]], the Abyss Watchers have a thing for incorporating front flips and other odd displays of acrobatical skills into their swordsmanship--and they're all the more beloved for it.

--> "[[CowboyBeBopAtHisComputer Return to the unforgiving terrain of the Dark Souls series as Red Knight]] and take down a Lord of Cinder! [[FateWorseThanDeath The Age of Fire is upon us]] and the [[EmptyShell Red Knight]] is [[OhCrap our only hope]]!"

*** More damningly is how little a weapon actually degrades, contrary to what the stats screens tell you. Despite the Washing Pole seemingly possessing the lowest durability of all weapons at 20 points, it really only loses 1 point every 10 or so hits, effectively giving it 200 points of durability. And the cherry on top is at one point Acid Surge was buffed to deal significantly threatening amounts of durability damage, giving it a new niche in [=PvP=] by creating space lest a player risk being completely neutered by their equipment breaking. [[{{Nerf}} This of course lasted all of 24 hours]] before the developers gutted and buried it, citing it as being [[BlatantLies "bugged"]] and "too effective", and nerfed Acid Surge so hard, it was actually ''worse'', than it was before it was buffed. [[LetsPlay/Videogamedunkey Thank you FromSoftware.]]

** [[spoiler:Seeing the Soul of Cinder perform the iconic backflip popular with players of VideoGame/DarkSouls1 is supposed to be a WhamShot... but for people who haven't played the first game (and potentially those who have played the game), seeing this ominous FinalBoss in smouldering heavy armour randomly perform a handstand-backflip can look ridiculous to the point that it pulls one completely out of the moment and the dramatic nature of the fight.]]

** The soft-spoken and enigmatic Yuria of Londor is the potential architect of the Age of Dark, pledging her loyalty to [[PlayerCharacter the Ashen One]] once they obtain 5 Dark Sigils from the pilgrim Yoel. Set on making you into a Dark Lord, Yuria uses a proxy to manipulate Anri of Astora into joining you in wedlock, granting the Ashen One the remaining Dark Sigils they need to become the Lord of Hollows. Instructing them to usurp the First Flame, one of the potential endings of the game sees the Ashen One bringing forth a new world of darkness, one where mankind can potentially thrive, [[WellIntentionedExtremist just as Yuria desires]]. Of course, it's also possible that it's so that humanity can be enslaved as mindless hollows who, rather than attacking anything that moves, now follow the orders of a puppet ruler "guided" (read: manipulated) by Yuria.

* CameraScrew: The King of the Storm's large size can lead to terrible camera angles. Locking on to him too much will throw your camera all over the place and make it difficult to see what you're doing, leading to many avoidable deaths. This can also happen sometimes in the second phase, as some of his dash attacks can break your lock-on.

** The Nameless King's Stormdrake has an aerial firebreathing attack that can be absolute hell for melee players. The Stormdrake is generally a source of CameraScrew due to how quickly it flies around and how inadvisable it is to lock onto it or the King, but what makes this attack so devastating is how it is almost impossible to avoid if you keep close to the boss, which is not helped by how well the attack's direction corrects for your attempts at evasion. The Stormdrake will leap up and breath fire at you from a ''terrible'' angle for your camera, and its size and capacity to pancake you can make dodging out of it something of a crapshoot with the CameraScrew, so it can damage you twice. This can easily be a deathblow, but even if it isn't, it damages you in a fight in which you could use all the health you can use in the second phase.

** There are a number of rings in the game which are considered pretty much mandatory for all builds, such as the Prisoner's Chain (increases Vigor, Endurance, and Vitality by 5--basically 15 free levels--at the cost of a paltry 4% loss in all defensive stats), Ring of Favor (the old ''DS1'' favourite that increases health, stamina, ''and'' maximum equip load), and the Chloranthy Ring (a series-long favourite that makes stamina regenerate faster). Magic users have it even worse, they have all of the above ''plus'' the Sage Ring (faster casting speed) and ''two'' rings that boost the damage of their chosen type of magic (sorcery, miracles, or pyromancy) by 15% and 25%. With only four ring slots, this means that magic users have to miss out on two of these rings, leading to some complaints.

** The endgame and DLC weapons crank this up to comical levels. Many of the boss weapons become insane displays of flips and weapons swipes at impossible angles. Notable examples include [[spoiler: Freide's Greatscythe, which causes the user to attack like the boss herself, flipping around and shooting out ice, the Demon's Scar, a falchion made of pure fire that can shoot pyromancies, and the Ringed Knight Paired Greatswords, which are two greatswords that cause the user to spin and flip around with a greatsword in each hand.]] Not to mention the Farron Greatsword from the aforementioned Abyss Watchers: An ultra greatsword paired with a parrying dagger in the off-hand that lets you do the same kinds of acrobatics as the Watchers.

*** Whats significant is that the first Leaping Ghru the player is likely to encounter is designed to catch you off-guard, not by creeping up on you but by playing off your arrogance. The first Leaping Ghru the player finds is static and has its back to the player, it looks no different from the easily managable standard ghru. If the Leaping Ghru surviving the players backstab doesn't tip you off to it being a stronger enemy, then its sudden brutally ferocious moveset will. Return visits to the Farren Keep tend to have players circle in the opposite direction...

* DracoInLeatherPants: Suprisingly, there's a fair bunch of fans who sympathize with Pontiff Sulyvahn, of all people. He's considered by these fans to be a savior who wants to establish a new order and end the age of fire just like the Ashen One, and he's only a villain in the gods' viewpoint, ignoring that he's a power-hungry ManipulativeBastard who drives his underlings to insanity and is driven by nothing other than power for its own sake and a hatred against the gods.

** The [[ChestMonster Mimic]] and the [[DemBones skeletons]] in the Catacombs of Carthuas (aka [[FanNickname MVP Ledge Mimic and the Skeleton Gank Squad]] are extremely well-liked for the mechanic that lets you [[EnemyMine cooperate]] with them to kill the much larger nearby Fire Demon, which both of them can do [[CurbStompBattle without hardly breaking a sweat.]]

** Considering that in ''Dark Souls II'' the Blue Sentinels just plainly didn't work most of the time, the community is even less happy that they've not only returned but also now share the exact same group of people to defend with the Blade of the Darkmoon, a covenant which never had anything to do with defending the innocent[[note]]Blades of the Darkmoon pursued and punished invaders who were indicted by the players they invaded and killed. Since there is no indictment, being summoned to defend someone currently being invaded is the closest the game can offer but creates a redundency.[[/note]]. That, and the Way of the Blue gives no rewards and can once again be swapped out for a better covenant extremely early on.

** The Nameless King's Stormdrake has an airial firebreathing attack that can be absolute hell for melee players. The Stormdrake is generally a source of CameraScrew due to how quickly it flies around and how inadvisable it is to lock onto it or the King, but what makes this attack so devastating is how it is almost impossible to avoid if you keep close to the boss, which is not helped by how well the attack's direction corrects for your attempts at evasion. The Stormdrake will leap up and breath fire at you from a ''terrible'' angle for your camera, and its size and capacity to pancake you can make dodging out of it something of a crapshoot with the CameraScrew, so it can damage you twice. This can easily be a deathblow, but even if it isn't, it damages you in a fight in which you could use all the health you can use in the second phase.

*** It is also host to two NPC invasions. One of them has a ring equipped that makes them invisable unless they're just a few feet away from the player. She starts off very far from the player, leaving them wondering just how close she is as they stand in the middle of their dinky island. The other NPC invader is likely to occur when you're busy with the basilisks. It's worth mentioning that these two invaders are each linked to a major faction, but neither is a Watchdog meaning a player Watchdog won't be spared. But hey, at least there's soup.

** [[OurAngelsAreDifferent The Angels of Lothric]] were one of the more unique story additions to the series. They seem to have nothing to do with the Demons of Izalith, Gwyn or even the First Flame. One day, Gertrude (who may or may not be Gwynevere's daughter) was visited by something only described as an Angel. Gertrude is blind and mute, which was possibly due to the experience but still managed to record a Miracle which is utterly unlike any kind of Miracle spell in the game thus far. This inspired a new religion, which led to a civil war between Lothric Knights who still followed Gwyn and the Winged Knights of the Angelic faith. Pilgrims eventually turn into Pilgrim Butterflys which may or may not be related. The Ringed City DLC had an enemy that evoked Angelic imagery, but just turned out to be the hologram of Pilgrim's who grew some kind of parasite. Safe to say, they remain the biggest mystery in the game. Everything written here is the extent of the story the player gets on these beings, which can be disappointing.
** Londor. Various pieces of in game lore explain it to be a city of Hollows founded by three sisters, all of them want to bring about the Age of Dark, or rather, the Age of Man. Not only is it a unique concept given how most cities or homes in the series are poorly made settlements that easily fall due to the curse, but apparently ''Kaathe'' had a hand in the creation of it. Given how many items and pieces of lore exist about Londor, and Unsurp the Fire ending essentially having you take the Fire and Dark together, you would expect Londor to be one of the DLC locations, but nothing comes from it. Like with the Angels of Lothric plot, it comes across as a huge missed opportunity, and the fact that both of the games DLC references the lore of Londor makes the cities absence sting harder.

** With the release of ''Ashes of Ariandel'' we have [[spoiler: Father Ariandel himself. A massive Corvian, he has been constantly flagellating himself for ages to use his blood to stop the fire from burning the Painted World away, preferring to let it rot. He's also surprisingly cordial to you when you first meet him, asking you politely to ''fetch his flail for him.'' Then it's made abundantly apparent that he and Sister Freide (a.k.a. Elfreide, elder sister to Yuria and one of the founders of the Sable Church of Londor) are a team in this endeavour, and he does nothing to help you as Friede wails on you. Then heaven help you if you beat her, 'cause then Ariandel goes absolutely '''''mad''''' with grief and proceeds to revive Freide and pound you into the dirt for daring to kill her.]]