Dark Souls III Network Test Tech Analysis

Last weekend’s Network Test has given the folks at Eurogamer’s Digital Foundry a chance to take a preliminary look at the technical compartment for From Software’s upcoming Dark Souls threequel. Overall, they come away satisfied by this early look, though they note a lack of motion blur and the presence of some performance hiccups that closely match Bloodborne’s own problems:

Dark Souls 3 has plenty of development time ahead of it but even this early on, there’s huge promise in the sheer scale of Lothric area shown here – an area we hope holds to the series’ ‘if you can can see it, you can explore it’ mantra. In terms of world and enemy designs, there’s a sense it’s pushing in its own unique direction, and From Software’s experience with Bloodborne is applied to a bigger current-gen project overall. As for the core engine-work, it’s familiar territory with a sharp 1080p presentation we had hoped for. Barring the changes to its post-process effects, Dark Souls 3’s lighting is a standout feature as well, put to great use by the studio’s on-point art design.

We’re eager to see what other wild, fantastical areas From Software has in mind for the final work. But the fundamentals are in place, with flickers of the gothic style of its last creation shining through. As for the PC and Xbox One versions – both of which have gone unseen so far – we’ll have to wait to see what each brings to the table.