Now it’s time for the main course. Weve had salad and apps, but we’re still hungry for more. At least I am. And Dark Souls III has been my favorite game for years. Now, it’s tied with Elden Ring (which I’ll get to in the next post), but still a favorite. I love that I can get human summons for it, especially on the weekendes.
I love this game with all my heart. I have played it at least two dozen times. I’ve hundo chievo’ed it, and it was the first game I played after leaving the hospital. It was a few weeks later, and it was just me running around outside the Firelink Shrine killing the scrubs who reside there. I had tears in my eyes because it was like coming home.
1. Yuria of Londor. She is forever BAE. she disappeared from my first playthrough, which made me mad, sad, and upset. I thought about restarting the game because I had intended on going dark magicks, but I decided to just let it be. It turned out that she was not necessary for dark magicks, but she was necessary for my heart.
She is a huge part of the game. She shows up wthen Yoel of Londor dies. I’m not going to get into it, but it’s a thing. If you do another thing, then she disappears. Before she does, she tells you that she wants you tou usurp the flame. Which, hell yeah! Fuck the rule of law and the First Flame.
Later on, she warns you about Orbeck, the magic teacher. I don’t xnow why, exactly, but he has said that he’s an assassin, so maybe he went up against her in the past. It’s a bit weird because if you do kill him and give his ashes to Yuria…nothing happens. If you don’t kill him…nothing happens. I usually don’t kill him and Yuria’s questline goes on.
At some point, she asks you if you know Anri. She says you will be wed to him, which, ok, weird. Marriage in a Dark Souls game? Huh. Would not have expected that. Later on, she tells you that he’s ready to be wed and then it just gets weirder from there. There is something you can do to stop this from happening, too.
This is always the ending I choose, by the way. Once in a rare while I may choose the Fire Keeper’s ending, but that’s twice or three times out of thirty at best.
She can fight with you during the final boss fight. The big boss of the first DLC is her sister. You even get a special line of dialogue with Sister Friede if you choose to align yourself with Yuria. It’s a deep and intertwining questline that I’m glad to do every time.
I will say it here. She is GOAT. Period.
2. Sirris of the Sunless Realms. She is of the Darkmoon Covenant. She shows up in the Firelinke Shrine at a certain point–I’m never sure when. You can summon her for certain fights, but all things have to line up. If you align yourself with Rosaria, Sirris will get piss at you and refuse to have anything else to do with you.
I love that about this game, by the way. The fact that there are warring factions. You have to choose a side, wihch adds a degree of…not realness. It’s not real, by far, but…tension? I don’t know how to put it exactly, but it ups the stakes. And had I known that it could happen, it probably wouldn’t have affected me as much.
Two times, she calls on you to help her in her world. Which I love! I love being summoned by her and being a black phantom. Well, not black because they can’t do black, apparently, but that’s what they’re called. By the way, what is it with Japanese games not doing true black? In Monster Hunter games, you can’t make your Palicos actual black.
Anyway, once it’s against someone from the second game, which is interesting. The second time is more tragic. It’s her grandfather, someone who invades you in your world. He’s with the Mound-Maker coverant, which is someone who can help or hurt you when they invade you. You can also call him into your world at a certain point to fight him–or he’ll help you. Who knows?
Helping her put her grandfather out of his misery is such a moment of pathos. She’s so resigned as she does it, and it truly feels like a mercy. Then, afterwards, she thanks you and says she’s in your debt/service. I love summoning her though she’s not the best of summons. She’s just the best herself. I love her armor–and Yuria’s, too.
3. Siegward of Catarina. I know I’ve talked trash about the Onion Knights before. I have to say, I love Siegward. Yes, he’s a doofus who gets in trouble and yes, he’s always needing you to help him out, but two things.
One, he makes Estus Soup. Granted, it’s never when I need to be healed, but it’s still a nice touch. Two, he joins you in the fight with Yhorm the Giant. I can’t tell you how amazing it is. You have to get his questline done correctly, of course, and it’s not easy to get every step in the right order. If you do it right, though, then you are treated with a cutscene as soon as you step into Yhorm’s boss arena.
The camera pans to the left and there’s Siegward with his onion armor, his storm ruler on his shoulder. He points it at Yhorm and monologues, then becomes a fucking badass. It’s a great fight, though more spectacle than actual difficult fight. Siegward shows his mettle in the fight, and it’s such a set piece.
4. Eygon of Carim. He’s the protectorof Irina, the wannabe fire keeper. He has a delicious voice and a big fuck-off hammer. And an even bigger shield. And heavy armor. he’s basically the Havel of this game in terms of equipment. You can summon him for two bosses, and after that, he dies because his quest has been fulfilled. You get his armor and weapon (and shield, I think), and then…
This is something I did not learn until I’d played through the game many, many, MANY times. If you buy all the dark miracles from her AND Eygon is dead, she will ask you to kill her. You can’t unless you have on the Morne’s Gauntlets. Then, she’ll think you’re Eygon and you can kill her. It’s a very bleak ending for her–and you’re the one who has to administer it to her.
If you do this while Eygon is alive, he will whisp her away from Firelink Shrine, and then you can fight him. I don’t like to do that because I want him for the Dragonslayer Armour fight, and if you use him for that, he will die naturally afterwards.
His questline isn’t very long or detailed, but it’s enough to make him a favorite in my heart. Plus his voice. It’s just great.
5. Greirat of the Undead Settlement. He’s a thief who is in jail when you meet him. He asks you to do a simple thing for him in the beginning that ends up being something you can’t do. He comes back to the Firelink Shrine, and you can send him out to prowl for goods three times. The first time, he’ll come back with a few new things. The second time, there’s something you have to do in order for him to come back unscathed. The third time, he’s dead no matter what you do.
he’s got a terrific voice as well. There isn’t much to his questline, but he’s just a comforting prescence in the Flink Shrine.
These are the top five NPCs of Dark Souls III according to me. I’ll tackle Elden Ring in the next post.