Expectations are bent, defied, and destroyed in ways that are designed to simultaneously humiliate and impress series veterans. After five games and six pieces of downloadable content, it’s hard to imagine a more suitable approach.
I am good at Dark Souls. Actually, I am not good at Dark Souls, however, four Souls games and Bloodborne have instilled an operating level of competency. I’ve been cursed without a cure nearby, noticed my health bar vanishing incrementally, and been destroyed by countless enemies that were lurking slightly out of sight. I’ve seen FromSoftware’s tricks and still willingly buy tickets to their show. At this point—realistically at any point that I am playing a Souls game—I am foolish enough to believe that I am in control and know what I am doing.
Within five minutes of starting Ashes of Ariandel an avalanche had left me disoriented and I was fleeing from a procession of sentient trees that were also throwing clusters of tiny fireballs. I had to laugh. I needed to laugh. What the hell is this? Why is this happening? Dark Souls has always been a process of breaking down the player only to recast them in a new and better prepared mold, but rarely is it so undisguised and absurd with its malice. With equal parts structure and novelty, Ashes of Ariandel seeks to conquer complacency.
While the original Dark Souls’ downloadable content was infamous for its arcane accessibility, Ashes of Ariandel is a bit gentler. The new area, the Painted World of Ariandel, is accessed from the Cleansing Church bonfire, and the only (recommended) pre-requisite is a level over 80. I had a save file with a level 91 character just after the end of the proper game, making my entry point perfect.
As for the canonical reason why you’re here; I have no idea. I know the Painted World of Ariamis was a dreaded place in Dark Souls and a significant facet of the series lore, but, really, Dark Souls’ narrative has always been esoteric and slightly broken riddle that required dozens of episodes of Bonfireside Chat to reconcile. Rest assured, the Painted World of Ariandel comes equipped with meek bird creatures, NPC’s speaking in measured English, and a rich assembly of new gear and item descriptions to pore over. If you’re into that, it’s all there.
While Ashes of Ariandel isn’t especially long—it took me around seven hours, two of which were spent on a ridiculous boss fight—the Painted World of Ariandel is dense with original content. The Millwood Knights patrol all three of Ariandel’s de facto environments, patrolling in great supply with significant variation between them. A fire blower, and spear thrower, standard sword and shield bearers, and the occasional giant axe murderer fill out their ranks. Millwood Knights are essentially the fodder enemy of Ashes of Ariandel, they don’t have a ton of health, but my god they’re everywhere and do well to blend into the monochromatic snow slopes.
Ashes of Ariandel is also one of the few areas where Dark Souls III prefers quantity to quality. The trees, the Millwood Knights, the roving packs of pack-hunting wolves—all are designed to startle the player and subversively heard them to a central area. Fighting more than one enemy at a time isn’t impossible, the wolves go down especially quick, but it’s another level of stress on top of an already demanding mental gauntlet.
Boss fights are critical to Dark Souls, and this is the one area, ironically, where Ashes of Ariandel prefers strength to numbers. One fight is optional and provides access to a surprisingly cogent and candid way to organize PvP match-ups. The other is one of the better battles in all of Dark Souls III. Without specifically spoiling the context or tactics, Ashes of Ariandel’s boss fits neatly in the template established by the rest of the downloadable content. It’s wild, unexpected, and briefly demoralizing before you summon your resolve to get back up and do better.
Two other new foes round out the remainder of Ashes of Ariandel. The first is a more of an assassin archetype, one of which is remarkably similar in both appearance and operation to SoulCalibur’s Voldo. The other forfeits the Vega claws for a more traditional sword, but both sport outrageous hit points and a knack for the element of surprise. The other new foe appears to be a close cousin to the Basilisk, Dark Souls‘ infamous curse-friendly frog…things, only with a gift for slight and specialty in inflicting bleed. Lovely.
A portion of Ashes of Ariandel forces you into a room with maybe twenty of these new bleeding, hovering Basilisks. Again, the game appears to be favoring quantity over quality. This is only the case if you’re unable to break from ingrained methods of dealing with common Dark Souls problems. Initially I baited them out, one by one, with my bow. This took forever. After a careless death and a quick inventory of the new items I discovered in the Painted World of Ariandel, I found a better way. A much easier way. As usual, patience perseveres.
This is the surviving definition of Ashes of Ariandel. It’s still Dark Souls—and I still got that raw surge of emotion after not playing Dark Souls III for six months—but augmented slightly to topple player expectations. Moreover, it wants the player to indulge in its own absurdity as means of mitigating frustration. There’s a sequence near the middle of Ashes of Ariandel where, seemingly for no reason, you surf your way down an icy hillside. This is deliberately goofy, and it’s credible evidence of Ashes of Ariandel thesis; pull down the dour mask and let suppressed grin peak through the eye holes.
Ashes of Ariandel could be a sign that the Souls tank is starting to run on empty. More than likely, it’s FromSoftware bursting at the seams to let Souls’ latent humor briefly run amok. Whether it’s assumed to be a detonation or assigned as a deviation ignores the larger point; Ashes of Ariandel maintains Souls’ sharp approach to post-release content.
