The iconic franchises suffered stellar installments in the face of Dark Souls 3 and The Witcher 3. The fantasy genre has occupied a fair share of representation in video games, but undoubtedly two of the finest examples are Dark Souls and The Witcher series.
This series had specular entries on the consoles’ current generation, serving as the third game in their franchises.
Coming from legendary developers CD Project Red and FromSoftware, Dark Souls 3 and The Witcher 3 were met with commercial and critical praise and regarded as massive successes on the overall scale.
Each of these used drastically different ways but made its mark on fantasy. Although both of these are notable games, they incorporate their specific strengths, and this article will walk you through typical strong suits that each game holds.
Which game has better character creation?
The character creation feature of Dark Souls 3 enables players to customize how they look, leading to various impeccable cosplay builds from several other franchises. For example, Dark Souls 3 features a fantastic character creator that players have used for ages to customize how their character looks. You must create a character right when you start a new game.
The process involves assigning a name to your character, selecting a gender, choosing a gift and a class, and customizing it using presets. You are also required to give a character to your body using the physique option, which controls how your character’s body looks. It can be chosen from top-heavy, extensive, and slim builds.
You can customize the color and shape of your character’s face according to your preferences and choose a hair color for it. For example, Dark Souls 3 occupies only a few named characters who might appear cool-looking when it comes to the characters. They rarely do anything apart from merely standing around; even infrequently, do they play a significant part in your story?
Unlike Dark Souls 3, The Witcher 3 doesn’t offer many customizable character creation options. Instead, you are born an established character in the game, Geralt. You cannot control being born an extortionist or a good guy at every game turn because most significant decisions are pre-made for you in The Witcher 3.
Contrary to Dark Souls 3, the characters are not monotonous and dull in The Witcher 3 because Geralt encounters various unique characters of diverse backgrounds. Almost all of these are well-written and memorable. The game doesn’t go short of fantastic characters throughout, from the determined and adventurous Ciri to the humorous bard Dandelion.
What is the difficulty of either game?
Dark Souls 3 is indeed a challenging game. It might be a difficult game, but that makes it so rewarding to finish. Death in dark souls three is not regarded as a punishment but rather a lesson that exposes you to multiple arrays to better yourself. Each lost game mimics a learning experience that leads you to excellent progress further through the game.
After experiencing death multiple times in an area, you’ll likely discover an alternate path to bypass the challenging route altogether. The real difficulty of the game lies in learning how to make things work for you. Furthermore, the game offers hundreds of options for each boss and area, and you must figure it out.
Different players differently comprehend the difficulty of Dark Souls 3; for some players, the brutal difficulty curve of the game makes the series special. The attribute differentiating Dark Souls fans is that they love to play up the game’s difficulty.
Dark Souls 3 is a great place to start, and it’s not nearly as brutal as the player base and the publisher wants people to believe. Dark Souls 3 is only as hard as a player wants. Additionally, players are allowed to choose their difficulty right from the beginning.
Like most RPGs, players opt for a class in Dark Souls 3, determining the difficulty level as the player moves through the game. Beginners in the series who wish to get their hands on a challenge but don’t want to get frustrated should opt for the Knight.
This class indicates the “normal” difficulty setting in Dark Souls 3 and begins with a decent weapon, heavy armor, and stats centered around dealing with damage and keeping the player safe. If the game is still challenging for you, focus on getting heavier armor, halberds, and better shields. Instead, focus on strengthening dexterity, strength, and vigor as you level up.
Players should make a caster if they want an easier time. The Dark Souls accessible mode is Sorcerer. The spells consume focus and stamina. Focus only replenishes using bonfires and potions essentially termed as the game’s safe spaces while stamina recharges on its own.
The Witcher 3 incorporates various difficulty levels, and you should pick the one that sounds the most comfortable to you. Remember that the easier the difficulty level, the less time you’ll take to complete the game. Instead, the game features four primary difficulty levels for players: Just The Story(easiest) to Death March (incredibly hard).
Depending on the name of each difficulty level, the easier levels in the game will allow you to focus primarily on the game’s storyline. For example, if you’re playing The Witcher 3 for the first time, opting for “Just The Story” might be the best option. Alternatively, if you’re pretty experienced in the game and wish to take on a challenge, “Death Match” might be the one for you.
The first difficulty level, which is also the easiest, is “Just The Story.” This level features enemies at around -50% health which deals with an average damage amount. The second difficulty level is normal and termed “Sword and Story.” This level features enemies at 10% health which deals 40% more damage.
Next on the list is the fourth difficulty level, complex “Blood and Broken Bones.” Enemies in this level have 20% more health and deal 130% more damage. The last level on the game is Death Match, which features an insane difficulty level. The enemies have 80% more health and deal 230% more damage.
How are the games’ open world?
The worlds of Dark Souls 3 and The Witcher are unique and incredible, but it’s challenging to argue against the sheer massiveness of the Northern Realms. The plot is huge and completely traversable. It would essentially mean nothing if the place wasn’t.t stuffed with stuff to do.
Both the games are unique in their way of this factor. Unlike Witcher 3, dark souls 3 offers a pretty linear experience exploring the world. This indicates that you will only access another new area after exploring one area. Furthermore, you invade other people’s worlds or be summoned into their worlds to help them out.
Dark Souls 3 features a big world, but you must work to get places. Various areas in the game are locked behind items that are purchased or found or boss defeats. As you ascend deeper in the world, bosses and enemies become more potent as they occupy damage resistance, and higher HP.
One cannot term dark souls 3 as an open-world game because you will go where the game wants you to go, for the most part. Although you’re free to run wherever you want, and the game has plenty of linear paths hooked together, the game still has planned corridors and routes.
Think of the dark soul’s world as an old-school RPG where you will first enter the first area and get access to a new site only after you defeat the boss. The game still allows you to go back and visit old places, but that’s all about it. Like any dungeon crawler, you must fight to progress in Dark Souls 3.
The Witcher 3 is an open-world game that offers a vast virtual background where you can tackle things however you like and go practically anywhere. If the main story doesn’t sound interesting to you, you can hunt feasibly wander off and hunt some monsters in the woods or enter a bustling medieval town to investigate murders.
Apart from this, The Witcher 3 incorporates a semi-open-world game. Unlike an open-world game, it allows you to feasibly travel from one side of the regional scale to another without an essential loading screen. On the contrary, there are various regions you can travel to, requiring a loading screen to get there.
The Witcher 3 exposes you to 4 large zones and 5 in case you have wine expansion and blood. The four essential large zones include Novigrad/Velen, White Novigrad (an area that doesn’t require zoning), Kaer Morhen, and Skellige. You can access Toussaint more if you occupy the Wine and Blood expansion.
This game can also be considered an open world filled with detached, small stories, but that is why they work as a whole. Considering The Witcher 3, the team decided that the game world could itself function as a quest giver, filling it with characters and side stories you can stumble upon while exploring the map naturally.
What are the quests like?
Side quests have always been a necessary element of the RPG genre, yet they’re one of the most challenging things to get right in a game. Quite often, they can be regarded as a mere inconvenient necessity. However, when done right, Side Quests can be just as, if not more engaging than the potential primary campaign.
Dark Souls 3 occupies a relatively large selection of NPC’s with an average count of 15 in total. You can interact with them by claiming new rewards by completing side quests. Side Quests in this game are optional questlines that NPC or an event can efficiently trigger. After all, this game is renowned for its memorable side quests that true franchise fans drool over.
The Witcher 3 has efficiently set the bar high for side quests in fantasy games. Unfortunately, this game doesn’t feature side quests in the traditional sense, and the few that could be considered ones can often be completed due to an accident. In The Witcher 3, quite the bulk of your time playing is spent completing side quests that are unique, engaging, and incredibly fun.
How is the story of either game?
Both the games have fascinating stories, but they narrate the story in drastically different ways. For example, Dark Souls 3 tells the story comparatively less straightforwardly. You have to observe some things in the environment, read item descriptions, and talk to various NPC’s in the game to comprehend half of what’s going on while the other half is merely guessing.
You won’t find the background story of Dark Souls 3 clearly explained at the beginning of the game or the opening cut scenes, nor would you hear it from an all-knowing NPC. Most NPC’s in the game can be dishonest or even ignorant.
Similar to its predecessors, the story of this game can be pieced together through item descriptions, dialogues, environments, and its introductory cinematic. Furthermore, Dark Souls 3 commences in a transitory place, centered around the dark cycle, the first flame, and the fire.
The Witcher 3 features an immediate story that is multiple leagues better. The prime focus is kept on the narrative, making it significantly easier to follow and substantially impacting the player. Another big bonus is that the story of dark souls 3 doesn’t require extensive outside research.
The Witcher 3 essentially begins with Geralt located in a guest room at Kaer Morhen, the essential old keep, where the training of witchers used to be executed. After the terrifying and sudden appearance of the Wild Hunt, a player learns that all of these events happened in the dreams of Geralt, located at Kaer Morhen.
After doing an essential discussion of his dream with Vesemir, they resume their former tracking of Yennefir’s disappearance, who is the potential long-lost lover of Geralt and has gone missing ever since the last battle fought in White Orchard.
How are the games’ boss fights?
Boss fights are undoubtedly Dark Soul 3’s crowning achievement. At the same time, the boss battles you encounter in the face of Geralt can be challenging and fun. Still, they pale compared to the sheer epicness, difficulty, and variety of the big bad that the player is exposed to in Dark Souls 3.
In a renowned series for its incredible boss battles, Dark Souls 3 brings a lot more to the table. Bosses such as The Nameless King, Darkeater Midir, and Abyss Watchers stand as some of the best in the franchise and potentially aid the game edge out the win in this category. Dark Souls 3 consists of 19 bosses, out of which six are optional to battle.
The Witcher 3 has many powerful enemies to battle during a playthrough, ranging from the humans and creatures in the multiple side quests. These various monsters can be hunted in Witcher Contracts and the mighty warriors of the essential Wild Hunt.
The most brutal enemy you’ll encounter in The Witcher 3 is essentially known as The Beast of Beauclair, which is a higher-level vampire that shows up in the Wine and Blood expansion. It is considered by many players to be the most formidable enemy the game will throw at you. The final boss in Eredin is the fourth and final member of the potential Wild Hunt crew.
What DLCs do they have?
Dark Souls 3 features two DLC’s known as The Ringed City and Ashes of Arendal. On average, it requires 3-5 people to beat this DLC, which is not considered long. The DLC might be worth it if you wish to have the whole essential experience for the complete Dark Souls series. The best DLC of the game is The Ringed City because it is intriguing, mysterious, and challenging.
The Witcher 3 includes sixteen DLC’s, and for the excellent part, all of these will come along with the next gen-update of the game, which will be free. The DLC for the essential next-gen update will cover several extra items inspired by the Netflix series.
How is the combat?
Although Dark Souls 3 lacks an engaging narrative. But it efficiently makes up for it with a great combat system. The game’s incredible difficulty, playstyles, and PVT further bolster it. The combat-equipped by dark souls 3 is by far the best in the history of video games due to the balancing of equipment and variety of movesets.
The Witcher 3’s core aspect of the gameplay is labeled as combat. After all, Geralt is an assassin, hunter, and monster. The game does an incredible job of giving complexity and depth to combat. However, players turn grossly overpowered over time, and even the most challenging fights become significantly more manageable.
Conclusion
The Witcher 3 and Dark Souls 3 are very different games intended for diverse audiences. If you’re someone who loves both games, you would be able to understand why both of them are so enjoyable and unique. You should essentially try out these games because they are effectively worth playing.