Which Souls DLC had the best atmosphere?

[trimin]

Which Souls game DLC had the best atmosphere? I feel like the DLC for the Souls games are always some of their best content because they have a self-contained story in their own little worlds. Whether it was going back in time to ancient Oolacile in Dark Souls or entering the twisted nightmare world created by a dying wish of a Great One in Bloodborne, the DLCs always feel like they're nested really well into the greater world and lore. Each give off their own vibe. Depending on their landscape, architecture, NPCs, and stories, each DLC has a certain distinct atmosphere.

The majesty and tragedy that the ruins of Oolacile holds in Artorias of the Abyss:

Click to shrink...

Complexity in the chambers that hold something deep inside in Crown of the Sunken King:

Click to shrink...

Ashes of a burnt-away kingdom and those left to mourn in Crown of the Old Iron King:

Click to shrink...

A white frozen land long dormant and protected in Crown of the Ivory King:

Click to shrink...

The oppressiveness and malice that haunts those trapped in the dream in The Old Hunters:

Click to shrink...

Coldness of the isolated and abandoned in Ashes of Ariandel:

Click to shrink...

A quiet and lonely beauty that stands still at the edge of time in The Ringed City:

Click to shrink...

 

[galv]

Ashes of Ariandel is gorgeous. Especially when you go into a particular area and it's covered in blood flies.

 

[Manu]

The Old Hunters, by a wide margin. And it gets worse (aka better) the further you get.

 

[Transistor]

Definitely The Old Hunters

 

[Morrigan]

I'd probably pick the Fishing Hamlet in Bloodborne. It oozes with so much Lovecraftian greatness.

Brume Tower is also up there, though. The ashy loneliness is crushing and emblematic of Souls games.

 

[butman]

The Old Hunters. Basically is Bloodborne 1.5

 

[Ferrs]

Old Hunters is basically the most complete package as a DLC and I absolutely love the Research Hall. Can't get much better atmosphere wise with those patients.

Runner up would be DS2 Sunken King, I love the level design and the more fresh artsyle (for a souls game). It feels like Dark Souls x OG Tomb Raider IMO.

Oolacile would be third. Ambient sound in the town is damn good, and so is the area where you fight Arty.

I'd probably pick the Fishing Hamlet in Bloodborne. It oozes with so much Lovecraftian greatness.

Brume Tower is also up there, though. The ashy loneliness is crushing and emblematic of Souls games.

Click to shrink...

Nadalia voice around the Ashen Idols were creepy as fuck IMO. Added a lot to the atmosphere.

 

[jviggy43]

Old hunters. Fishing hamlet was perfection in terms of atmosphere and lore.

 

[Wagram]

I'm going with Sunken King. That pyramid was amazing to traverse. The level design was sublime.

 

[Red Liquorice]

Shulva has great atmosphere and maybe my favourite level design in the whole of DS2.
Old Hunters - for the Fishing Hamlet and Research Hall.
Oolacile is pretty great too.

That is all.

 

[JudgmentJay]

The Old Hunters is my favorite DLC, but I think Artorias of the Abyss has the best atmosphere. Mainly because of its ambient sound design. I love the rustling of the leaves in the Royal Woods, the low rumble in the corrupt wooded area, the soft chime of the little lamps, the distant screams in Oolacile Township, etc.

 

[Zacmortar]

Old Hunters has The Fishing Hamlet

 

[enkaisu]

I really enjoyed Ashes of Ariandel. Loved the winter landscapes and the enemies.

 

[TheCthultist]

Definitely the Old Hunters, particularly once you're past Maria. The final area is exactly the sort of nightmarish escalation that I wanted out of a dlc for Bloodborne.

If Ashes of Ariandel hadn't made me murder so many dogs, again, it probably would be a closer second on my list...

 

[BrunOz]

The Old Hunters, it feels like a slow descent into the abyss, Ludwig then...



and it goes on.

 

[Deleted member 864]

The Old Hunters is great, I love the atmosphere in the Fishing Hamlet.

 

[Nocturnowl]

Specifically atmosphere? the fishing hamlet takes this, I got chills stepping out the clock tower into that windswept stormy village.

Runner up can go to Brume Tower surprisingly, what seemed like the most samey of the DS2 DLC (I thought it was basically gonna be Iron Keep 2.0) actually did a lot for itself with the towering verticality, the snow like ash, the various mechanisms and such.

 

[TheBaldwin]

Eventjough DS2 is my least favourite, crown of the iron keep just had something to it that i loved. Legitimate great piece of dlc

Old hunters and artorias dlcs are still the goat gameplay

 

[Aurongel]

Old Hunters for the Fishing Hamlet alone.

When you first arrive there it seems so quaint and out of place but you quickly realize it's the staging ground for something unimaginably beautiful/horrific.

 

[hydrophilic attack]

I'm going to go against the grain and say Crown of the Sunken King. I loved Shulva's atmosphere, the beautiful vistas, the haunted halls and the wounded dragon guarding it all

 

[Phonomezer]

Dark Souls III DLC is amazingly atmospheric, they did a great job.

The build up and descent through Oolacile is great as well.

 

[Ferrs]

I'm going to go against the grain and say Crown of the Sunken King. I loved Shulva's atmosphere, the beautiful vistas, the haunted halls and the wounded dragon guarding it all

Click to shrink...

The first view after stepping out of the cave

good shit.

 

[Tiopes]

Old Hunters. You go to some absolutely fucked up places and understand better why all that happened in the places you visit in the base game. It's too good.

 

[Gorgosh]

If you exclude Bloodborne (which would win) I guess it would be Ringed City for me. Mainly because of the final fight, which was a perfect way to end a series.

Spoiler: Final Boss Spoiler

 

[trimin]

Dark Souls III DLC is amazingly atmospheric, they did a great job.

The build up and descent through Oolacile is great as well.

Click to shrink...

If you exclude Bloodborne (which would win) I guess it would be Ringed City for me. Mainly because of the final fight, which was a perfect way to end a series.

Click to shrink...

Dark Souls 3 The Ringed City for me. Loved the aesthetic and it's my fav. from all the dlcs they have made

Click to shrink...

Yeah I really like the tranquil feeling of the Ringed City when you get to it. It's such a pretty place and you really get to see the ins and outs of the city. You go from above, taking in the grand vista, then below and down into the streets. Then you get to the swamp and make your way up a cliff side while a dragon hounds you. Up the crypt and then up to to top of the city again. It creates a whole lot of memorable moments.

 

[KiLAM]

Dark Souls 3 The Ringed City for me. Loved the aesthetic and it's my fav. from all the dlcs they have made

 

[z1yin9c]

I only played Bloodborne, the old hunters is sublime.... I want to play the other games. DS remastered doesn't look so hot..... I don't know ... I was thinking that I will be excited for a ps4 version demon's souls. But right now, if there was a demon's sous ps4 version, it would have to be better than the DS remastered to make me excited.

 

[Kill3r7]

The Old Hunters.

 

[Palette Swap]

I loved the Ringed City for how many things it brought together.

 

[Mr. Poolman]

Crown of the Iron Keep from DS2.

 

[Isee]

Dark Souls 2: Crown of the Sunken King (The first one)
Good level design, awesome visuals and many surprises. Loved it.

 

[Pascal]

The Old Hunters. The Research Hall might be the single most fucked-up level in any game I have played. I actually got pretty emotional as I was going through it, because of the sheer hopelessness of it all. And it all culminated in my favorite boss fight of all time. The Fishing Hamlet was a fucking oppressive nightmare as well, but I think I prefer the atmosphere of the Research Hall.

Crown of the Sunken King was pretty great as well. It had some excellent sound design once you entered Shulva.

 

[BossAttack]

Old Hunters then Ringed City.

 

[Deleted member 3017]

The Fishing Hamlet in Bloodborne: The Old Hunters is possibly the single most atmospheric location in the entire Dark Souls / Bloodborne catalog.

 

[Rommaz]

The Research Hall is the best in terms of Atmosphere. Finally stepping outside and seeing that tree and the flowers is just the icing in the cake on an incredibly unsettling area.

 

[Carn]

Old Hunters / Artorias for me.

 

[Memento]

The Old Hunters by a country mile

 

[Chettlar]

I know this sounds like a cop out, but they're all really different, though some are stronger more often I suppose.

Bloodborne just overflows with atmosphere. It's almost claustrophobic. The game just utterly buries you in it's world. I love it.

Demon's Souls has a lot of seams that show, and it's a bit helter skelter. It's the smallest game, and the separated worlds make it easier to see it as a "game" with "levels" rather than a real world. However, the levels are very well executed, especially in art and sound, and they really sell it. It's the most macabre feeling, even compared to Bloodborne, which is more creepy.

Dark Souls' atmosphere isn't the heaviest or darkest but it's exactly what it needs. I love it. I think the world being like it is and the commitment to no bonfires is a make or break decision. It either forces you to accept the world as a real place, and if so it will just suck you in, or you'll see it as an annoyance in a "game" that "developers" should have fixed, in which case it will just serve to kick you out. For it to be a positive you have to be willing to get immersed. Sometimes that means accepting a little inconvenience. The trip out of blight town is something I'll never forget, even though when I go back now it's pretty simple. Blighttown is really where this game came into it's own for me, in the experience, and very much in the atmosphere.

Darl Souls 3 has atmosphere, but a lot of it was weak for me. I think having levels like DS1 but having them be so clearly disjointed kind of exposes places as more like states than real places. Bloodborne is linear in the same way technically, but the more consistent setting, and the better transition design disguises this. Dark Souls 3 has neither the brilliant level connections of DS1 nor the well diguised well transitioned levels of Bloodborne. It does have a lot of really good interconnected levels though. It just got me in its atmosphere less, and that atmosphere disapated on subsequent playthroughs more quickly than Bloodborne or DS1 did. There were some excellent places though. I remember being fully enveloped in smoldering lake, especially because I was way low level at that point. The difficulty probably drew me in more there. Some other places too.

The Ringed City DLC wiped the floor with the vanilla game though for me, in atmosphere. It's so much more focused and cohesive. Area transitions are natural and make sense. The art manages to vary without feeling too sudden or out of place. The higher concentration of voiced characters also helps a lot I think.

Dark Souls 2's flat lighting and linear level design, combined with the constant erratic change in location, harms it so much it's almost impossible for me to get immersed.

In the vanilla game, I was probably immersed in the Bastille and Undead Crypt. That's mainly it.

The DLCs had me the whole way, though as far as real thick atmosphere Iron and Ivory crown DLCs kinda wither. Shulva, however, is just so good with it's atmosphere. I utterly loved it. I make sure to play through every time I make a character pretty much. Ivory and Iron King's themselves were pretty atmospheric though. Cannot deny.

 

[AzureFlame]

The Old Hunters.

 

[ZangBa]

Talking strictly atmosphere, I guess I'll go with DS2's 1st and 3rd DLC as the strongest, although the 2nd is no slacker. I don't think it gets more oppressive than the Frozen Outskirts. DS3's 2nd DLC is pretty strong, too. Old Hunter's final area is strong, but the rest is a bit bland, first area especially is just a reused area. DS1 is alright but eh, just doesn't compare outside of its bosses.

 

[HeatKnuckle]

Research Hall's green glow on windy dark wood stairways is one of my favorite things to look at.

 

[KillLaCam]

Old Hunters just because of the Research Hall and Fishing Hamlet

 

[Pascal]

Research Hall's green glow on windy dark wood stairways is one of my favorite things to look at.

Click to shrink...

Soooo good.

 

[Deleted member 15497]

Ringed City.
The whole concept of the place was amazing.

 

[luciddre4m]

This is a tough one. Artorias of the Abyss will always hold a special place in my heart for being the best story ever told in a video game, but I wouldn't necessarily say it has the best atmosphere. The Old Hunters is an obvious frontrunner for being so robust and drenched in tragedy, but I also loved the DLC in Dark Souls 2 (particularly the Iron King) and 3 for many reasons.

I think the best atmosphere belongs to the Ringed City. It's literally the culmination of the series, and the visual representation of the convergence of all the lands in the world is almost unrivaled by any other area in any of these games. Also, the reveal of the beautiful city of Londor reminded me of Anor Londo cinematic from the first game. Finally, the depiction of the apocalypse and the final battle with Gael was one of my favorite moments in Souls.

 

[Vigamox]

As others have said, definitely Old Hunters for me. Research Hall gave me Tower of Latria vibes, and the Fishing Hamlet was just desolately gorgeous. The lore and sort of vague idea you had of what was happening in those locations really elevated the atmosphere above the other Souls' DLC I feel.

 

[Kainé]

Old hunters. It's just the perfect DLC.

 

[zephyrcian]

The Old Hunters and it's not even close. I'd put it up there with Blood & Wine and The Frozen Wilds, which are two of the other best expansions I've played.

 

[The Archon]

The Ringed City and Oolacile in the past are the best IMO

 

[trimin]

Ashes of Ariandel is gorgeous. Especially when you go into a particular area and it's covered in blood flies.

Click to shrink...

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.