Update 24 August, 2016: The Dark Souls III DLC, Ashes of Ariandel, has been officially revealed. It will be the first of two expansions.
It’s time to die all over again. Dark Souls III’s first DLC, Ashes of Ariandel, is arriving on October 25. It adds everything you’d expect – new weapons, areas, magic and evils.
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Here’s exactly what’s inside:
- A “brand new environmentwithin an unnamed frozen land” where we have to uncover a – you guessed it – terrible secret “of what has caused the land to become defiled.”
- “New weapons, armour sets, and magic” including, by the look of the trailer and screenshots, some lovely new miracles.
- “New features for the game’s wildly popular competitive multiplayer mode.”
No details were given on that last, but based on the leaks from Japanese magazines yesterday, it involves a new PvP arena mode. You can also see a screenshot of what looks like that below.
No details on price were given either, so see below for those in Japanese. It will be available both on its own and in a season pass, which will also include a “second expansion” that Namco Bandai say is expected to release some time in early 2017.
Update 23 August, 2016:With an official announcement due tomorrow, various Japanese magazines have apparently already revealed some details about the much-anticipated upcoming Dark Souls III DLC.
It looks like Japanese magazine Famitsu had the world exclusive on Dark Souls 3 DLC, and is now being reported on various sites and translated by NeoGAF. As you’d expect, there’s new weapons, magic, areas and some PvP goodies.
Via GAF, here’s what’s apparently included:
- New weapons and armours
- New magic spells
- A new area that features snow, apparently
- A PvP “map” – whether that means a small area dedicated to PvP, Dark Souls 2’s arenas or its special zones remains to be seen.
It also confirms the existence of a second DLC to be released afterwards, which will come in a pack with the first for 2,000 yen (about £15/$20) or individually for 1,200 yen (about £9/$12).
Inevitably we’ll get the full details, and probably a trailer, tomorrow. Hopefully it’s as good as DS3’s initial surge.
Original story August 17, 2016:Looks like the Dark Souls folks decided to leave Gamescom to the living and take their undead lot to the week after. According to a tweet sent today, a “major announcement” is coming on August 24 regarding Dark Souls 3. Given we haven’t heard hide nor hair of the DLC for the game yet, that would be a fairly likely topic.
Here’s the relevant tweet:
Huge news on the way, folks. 'What is it?" You ask? Well, you're going to have to wait to find out. pic.twitter.com/ivrzL0Z7N3
— Dark Souls (@DarkSoulsGame) 17 August 2016
It’s exciting not only because Dark Souls 3 was superb – the best in the series if you ask me, which you aren’t going to – but because the DLC for Souls games has generally been the best part of them. From Dark Souls’ fight against Artorius to the rock-hard bosses of Bloodborne’s Old Hunters, it’s been excellent.
It could be something else, of course – a big patch, more comics or other out-of-game content – but generally you’re not going to tease an announcement like this unless it’s significant. That said, a Dark Souls anime has been a massively long-time coming. Is it too much to ask for both?
We’ll find out in a week. Cross your horribly malshapen fingers.