FromSotware’s Dark Souls game series isn’t just another game franchise. After all, it takes something to have a whole new genre of games being named after its name. Thanks to the thrill and challenge of Dark Souls game, it gave birth to the Souls-like genre of game,
As much as the main games of the series manage to keep the players intrigued, the DLCs and expansions are equally exciting. They offer a great amount of challenge and difficulty in terms of the levels that one has to cross in order to complete them.
6. Dark Souls 2: Crown of the Ivory King
Dark Souls 2: Crown of the Ivory King was the final of the DLC trilogy to the 2014 Dark Souls 2. The DLC takes players to a massive castle characterized by extreme winter weather. The content of this DLC was highly praised for its interconnected environments as well as new bosses.
Several players also criticized it for its banal and washed-out visuals. Similarly, the Frigid Outskirts quickly gained traction as being one of the game’s most frustrating locations. What makes this DLC a tough one is its two bosses, one of which appears at the midway point and the other towards the end.
5. Dark Souls 2: Crown Of The Iron King
Preceding Dark Souls 2: Crown of the Ivory King was Dark Souls 2: Crown Of The Iron King, the second DLC of the Dark Souls 2 trilogy. This second DLC had a strong narrative taking place at Brume Tower, which is located atop a massive structure overlooking a scorched landscape.
The Crown of the Iron King DLC is remembered by its fans for featuring more difficulty than its visual beauty. Some even consider this one to be the hardest part of Dark Souls 2.
The DLC thoughtfully utilizes smelter wedges and forces players to contend with a litany of status afflictions, making it especially unforgiving. It ends in the Iron Passage area, which is famous for its obnoxious layout and unbelievable level of challenge.
4. Dark Souls 2: Crown of the Sunken King
Crown of the Sunken King was the first DLC released for Dark Souls 2, which is set in a great subterranean stone city that harbors corridors. These corridors double up on themselves. Besides it has mazes that further multiply into more mazes. All this makes it easy to get lost in the Sanctum City of Shulva along with its surrounding areas.
Navigating catacombs and caverns in Dark Souls 2 can become a little stale, thus the Crown of the Sunken King DLC feels like a return to the design philosophies which in essence made the first Dark Souls so memorable.
3. Dark Souls 3: Ashes of Ariandel
Dark Souls 3’s first DLC was Ashes of Ariandel, which takes place in the doomed otherworld named Ariandel. The world is beset by a rot that can only be burned away by a selected champion. Slave Knight Gael recruits the player, who is then transported to Ariandel to reignite a flame that could possibly salvage whatever is left on its land.
The tundra location can be tough to navigate especially for newer players. The boss battle against Sister Friede is what makes this DLC one of the toughest ones. Sister Friede is also considered to be one of the most grueling multiphase encounters in Dark Souls history.
2. Dark Souls: Artorias of the Abyss
Knight Artorias has a major role to play in the Dark Souls’ Lordran. However, he does not appear in the base game. He makes an appearance in one of the major fights of the game’s Artorias of the Abyss DLC.
This one takes the players to an abyss-corrupted town of Oolacile, wherein they must beat the once-proud Knight of Gwyn. They must then venture into a black gulch for a boss battle to fight Manus, who is the Father of the Abyss. This boss fight is more climactic than the unhappy end of the main game.
1. Dark Souls 3: The Ringed City
Dark Souls 3: The Ringed City takes place following the events of the Ashes of Ariandel DLC. The players get to follow Slave Knight Gael to the Ringed City. This new city happens to be a cyclopean megastructure that has been built at the very edge of the world. Here, the players must find Filanore and battle against Gael. Filanore is the protector of the city and Gael has been corrupted by the power of the Dark Soul.
The Ringed City is clearly the most ambitious Dark Souls DLC. It is known to be one of the toughest DLCs not only in the franchise but also in the entire Souls-like genre. The Ringed City DLC ends the series with one of the most memorable boss encounters in the history of FromSoftware.
