Which Souls DLC had the best atmosphere?

[Quacktion]

A tie between Old Hunters and Ringed City. Both did stuff that made me go "wow!" out loud, legit added a lot to the experience. Artorias would be third place I guess but gameplay wise it could have been bigger. The rest is like eeeh ok, its more game, there's some neat stuff in those but nothing really comes close to these two really.

 

[Ferrs]

Those pictures look so good, I really should get to playing that DLC one day. All the talk of how small it is just deterred me. I especially like that third picture.

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Ariandel is short but the level design is very good (just talking about level design/routes, I like it more than Ringed City, the latter is more meaty though).
It reminds me of Ivory King , just in a smaller scale.

 

[galv]

Those pictures look so good, I really should get to playing that DLC one day. All the talk of how small it is just deterred me. I especially like that third picture.

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People complaining it was small wrongly compared it to The Old Hunters which was a collection of 3 DLCs for Bloodborne.

Ashes of Ariandel to fully explore is a good 3-4 hours and The Ringed City is another 5-7. Put them together and you have a solid chunk of game that features some of FromSoft's greatest boss designs and level designs as well as some fascinating lore implications that I absolutely love.

 

[dat boi]

Artorias of the Abyss tied with Old Hunters

Gonna have to check out Ashes of Ariandel based on this thread

 

[trimin]

I'd love to learn more about these lore implications. I've only played the Ringed City and really enjoyed it. I'll have to find time to play Ariandel

 

[Deleted member 31817]

Those pictures look so good, I really should get to playing that DLC one day. All the talk of how small it is just deterred me. I especially like that third picture.

Click to shrink...

Well if it makes you feel better the final boss adds a few hours ;)

 

[Ferrs]

People complaining it was small wrongly compared it to The Old Hunters which was a collection of 3 DLCs for Bloodborne.

Ashes of Ariandel to fully explore is a good 3-4 hours and The Ringed City is another 5-7. Put them together and you have a solid chunk of game that features some of FromSoft's greatest boss designs and level designs as well as some fascinating lore implications that I absolutely love.

Click to shrink...

Old Hunters was 2 DLCs together, although we don't fully know the extend of it. There's stuff in the base game from the DLC, and also vanilla canned content on it (the prison area for example, it even has the old canned warp chairs in the dats). Seems like the Hunter Nightmare was started after the game.

 

[trimin]

Well if it makes you feel better the final boss adds a few hours ;)

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I've spoiled it for myself but yeah looking forward to it. Seems a real honorable fight. No really though, she looks awesome.

 

[DaciaJC]

The Old Hunters, aesthetically. And Artorias of the Abyss by virtue of its ambience, as JudgmentJay mentioned above.

 

[StarPhlox]

I think Old Hunters is the best and Ashes of Ariandel is by quite a margin the worst. To be fair the only one I haven't played yet is Artorias of the Abyss but I'll get to it with the Switch Dark Souls soon.

 

[trimin]

I too have yet to play Artorias DLC even though Dark Souls is one of my favorite games of all time (#3). Don't know why I never got around to playing it. I will be playing the Remaster and hope they kept that part 100% intact (if not some new stuff).

 

[trimin]

Wanted to check in with everybody and see what they think of DLCs now and their atmosphere. Also added a poll.

 

[Rangerx]

Crown of the Sunken king is my personal favourite. I loved that area.

 

[Morrigan]

*ponders the poll*, "Hmm, I'm torn between Fishing Hamlet and Brume Tower"

*scrolls down, sees my own avatar, sees dates*

...Oh. lol

 

[trimin]

I keep thinking about The Ringed City. There is a calmness to some of the scenery, when you're just standing over everything and taking it all in. It really captures the stillness that is the end of time.

Spoiler: Spoilers for some later parts in Ringed City:

 

[Masagiwa]

Old Hunters was really special. Shulva from Sunken King was pretty good too.

 

[Hu3]

Old hunters or ringed city can't chose between those two.

 

[GonzoCR]

Crown of the Sunken King gave me dread in a way the other DLCs didn't. Going further and further into the temple, desperately looking for a bonfire, is one of the tensest experiences I've had in a Souls game. Second place would probably be Old Hunters, though only because of Research Hall and Fishing Hamlet, the first area didn't really do that much for me.

 

[Mocha]

Ashes of Ariandel for me, I just wish it was longer.

Ring city next for having the best final boss battle.

After that definitely old hunters because of how much content it had.

 

[trimin]

Haven't played Sunken King (at least not much, really should get back to it). But from the looks of it, it really reminds me of the older Tomb Raider games.

 

[Bathory]

Old Hunters is not only the best atmosphere From Software has ever done, is also the best DLC they ever done and probably the greatest DLC of all time.

 

[trimin]

I need to go back and replay Old Hunters
I feel like I've forgotten how great the atmosphere really is. I remember how clever research hall was and it's definitely really scary. And the hamlet was a master class in visual storytelling. But I also just prefer the ruined beauty of the Dark Souls world. Bloodborne is great but it can be too gross and grimey for me.

 

[Clay]

Old Hunters is probably my favorite DLC ever.

BUT if we're talking purely about atmosphere I'd say the DS3 DLC was a little better in that one respect. Old Hunters really didn't feel that different tonally until the last area, and I'd argue that even that section didn't feel THAT different then areas like Byrgenworth.

Ashes of Ariendal felt really unique, it had a sort of brutal feel that I didn't get from any zone in the main game.

 

[Slick Butter]

Some have multiple sections... I have to give it to The Ringed City overall, but Fishing Hamlet in The Old Hunters is definitely my favorite section of all their DLCs. I love all three parts of the Ringed City, especially the end where Gael is. Artorias of the Abyss is also amazing, the Oolacile Township having partly collapsed into the abyss below is really cool.

 

[barley]

Old Hunters & Ringed City are tied in my book!

 

[GiantEnemyCrab]

Of course, Era's darling wins...

But the question is actually difficult to answer because the quality of all DLCs is so great.

That includes DS2: For example, I really loved going down that temple in Shulva in Crown of the Sunken King DLC and hearing that eerie singing voice.

 

[Slick Butter]

Of course, Era's darling wins...

But the question is actually difficult to answer because the quality of all DLCs is so great.

That includes DS2: For example, I really loved going down that temple in Shulva in Crown of the Sunken King DLC and hearing that eerie singing voice.

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Yes. All of the DLCs are fantastic. The only one I don't think very highly of is Crown of the Old Iron King. But it's not terrible either.

 

[Deleted member 49319]

Voted the Old Hunters.
I'm going through Ashes of Ariandel for the first time though. I'm liking it more than the base game, maybe because it feels like a Fishing Hamlet lite.

 

[SweetJohnnyCage]

I clicked on Ringed City without realizing you included Bloodborne. Old Hunters is in a league of its own.

 

[SunBroDave]

Sunken King is the best zone ever in a Souls game. Change my mind.

 

[trimin]

Hmm I hope these votes are only focusing on atmosphere and not the quality and content of the whole DLC lol