Dark Souls II lives up to the series' reputation for being unrelentingly difficult- but it's worth digging in your heels and spending a lot of time with it. The PC port is just as good, if not better than it's console counterpart, but you're going to want to use a gamepad. Using a keyboard is possible, and there's even a few mods out there to make it more functional and ergonomic, but it's still clunky and unintuitive compared to using a controller.

Dark Souls 3 is going to be the most accessible game in the series, while still maintaining the brutal levels of difficulty and reliance on skill. If this is the end of the Dark Souls series, then they've chosen the perfect time to bow out.

From Software's amazing streak continues with Dark Souls III, which amounts to the finest game in the series.

I can't say I ever really had fun playing Dark Souls III once I was immersed. It was something to be endured more than something to be enjoyed. But I do believe there is a future in the game where that pleasure would come. I just didn't get there in time for this review. I am unwilling to be overly forgiving of its flaws, but do recognize the community that surrounds the game make up greatly for the pitfalls of the game itself. In most games there is a simple pleasure of success that accompanies them. The payoff for Dark Souls isn't guaranteed, but goes somewhat deeper than that. It feels a little more like genuine accomplishment, found in small does along the way and promised in large measure when you finally find yourself skilled at this wonderfully unique little corner of the gaming world.