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PS4 players with a penchant for dying over and over again will already know and love Bloodborne. And be aware of how the rock-solid, gothic-styled action game stands tall alongside Batman Arkham Knight, The Witcher 3 and Metal Gear Solid 5 as one of this year's best.
Good news, then, that acclaimed director Hidetaka Miyazaki has returned to the series that spawned its unique brand of controller-breaking challenge.
Dark Souls 3 has Bloodborne's faster combat and bleak feel, but there's also a lot that's the same too, and it's just as joyfully tough and surprising as we'd hoped for.
Combat is faster, more varied - but still Dark Souls
Bloodborne's shield-less, pistol-toting combat lent itself to a more offensive, pressing style than what we're used to. Thankfully, the careful and more considered combat we expect from a Dark Souls game is here, but it's certainly a little different.
It's unmistakably faster-paced, too. Now there are nippier, quicker enemies to match your speedier movement, with a similar leap in finesse from what we saw between Dark Souls 2 and Bloodborne. Going all out will see you suffer, though - you still need to raise your shield, check your corners for hidden foes, and circle round lumbering giants to exploit their blind spots.
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Your character will now lean more into specific roles, determining what you can do in combat. One has a weapon in both hands for a powerful forward lunge that left us momentarily wide open to attack, and another gains a temporary buff by letting out a powerful roar - similar to the Dragon Shouts in Skyrim. It's the perfect prelude to wailing down strikes upon an enemy.
Magic is more of a thing now compared to Bloodborne, forcing players to make the spilt-second decision to hold a shield or throw powerful lightning spears - which are perfect for armoured knights if you can throw one in time. In short, there's now more ways to choose how to die.
It's the end of the world as we know it
The Dark Souls games make you feel like sword-wielding archaeologists, exploring haunted, long abandoned kingdoms after an unspoken catastrophe countless years ago.
Bloodborne was different, with world-ending monsters spilling onto its gothic streets all around you, giving it a sense of urgency and dread knowing you're in the middle of doomsday.
Dark Souls 3 looks to take a leaf from that playbook, as you step into a world teetering on the end of days, its skies tinged with a bleak, apocalyptic yellow and tormented citizens praying on cobbled streets for salvation.
Lore wise, it retains connections to the previous games in the usual obtuse and mysterious storytelling - courtyards filled with knights strewn with spears hinting at a recent skirmish, and a chance to read epitaphs that tease how the game ties together with previous games, both momentary distractions from the bleak world all around you.
A compelling, sprawling interconnected world
One of the biggest disappointments between the first and second Dark Souls games was its world. The first had seemingly disparate areas all naturally interconnecting, weaving back and forth in surprising ways the more you explored the game.
The second, meanwhile, was a central hub that forked off in linear branches, cumulating in a boss that saw you jump back to the beginning and start anew. It lacked the intimacy in exploration that made the first game so memorable. But thankfully, Dark Souls 3 is a return to form.
The one area we explored had many detours and offshoots, keys to open hidden dungeons with secret bosses, and shortcuts that backed out into opening locations you swore weren't there before. Even if you make a beeline onward you're forced to reconsider your approach, with a powerful dragon suddenly appearing to torch the route ahead, requiring careful timing as you cross its path.
The feeling that there's something you've yet to see, in a corner you've somehow overlooked, is what makes these games so alluring - and that's very much present in Dark Souls 3.
Yep, Dark Souls still isn't easy
While Dark Souls 3 comes with new tricks and combat and a faster, more nimble feel, it shouldn't be mistaken for being an easier ride. This game is still a trickster, ramping up the difficulty as we got closer to the boss's lair, with surprises at every turn.
Rooms of seemingly benign enemies suddenly attack if you don't quickly kill their shrieking leader. Hollowed zombies crawl over walls when you turn your back to gang up on you.
Our favourite was encountering a rooftop filled with easy-enough foes... only for one to suddenly morph into a huge, unspeakable monstrosity - with its spindling, tar-like limbs shooting out left and right, requiring deft dodges to avoid.
It's a considerable challenge. And one topped off by mesmerising dancing boss that, in another Bloodborne-inspired twist, became much tougher in its second act - producing another sword-wielding limb that swiftly cut us down with its vast, swirling arcs.
We didn't last long at that point - and the thought of avoiding everything we encountered on the way there yet again made our stomach drop. That's the Dark Souls we know and love - and we can't wait to go through it all over again.
Dark Souls 3 is available on PS4, Xbox One and PC from April 2016.
