When confused as to where I should go and faced with sheer drops on all sides, I assumed the game was teaching me to 'take the plunge,' as the developer messages say-only, not every surface can be dropped onto safely. Utilizing it so heavily in this expansion teaches bad habits. Permanent, developer-wrought messages tell you when and where you can safely fall, but the expansion's reliance on dropping is unintuitive in a series where falling traditionally has been punished. Having said that, The Ringed City's level design fails to impress in other ways. Their conspicuous absence reinforces that the terrain is as much your adversary as any twisted monstrosity. That vertiginous sensation works well, especially in areas mostly devoid of enemies.

There were times, such as standing at the tip of a narrow outcropping of rock and looking down and out at buildings jutting out from the sides of cliffs, when my stomach did flips. Entering the first zone, you progress by dropping down cliffs and ledges onto mounds of ash and following any paths that unravel from there. The Ringed City plays with verticality better than any previous SoulsBorne area.

Dark souls 3 ringed city black dragon