Dark Souls III: The Ringed City

It's only fitting that this final expansion, perhaps the final piece of content in this game universe, would push visual and difficulty boundaries. These are perhaps two standards that Dark Souls games are best known for. Right out of the gate, Dark Souls III: The Ringed City drops players into a bleakly beautiful world filled with layers of crumbling ruins, making for a cleverly constructed descent down frightening precipices and rooms tumbled askew. These memorable locations, bathed in a blood-red sun, can capture your gaze for long moments as you drink them in, imagining their provenance and long history.

But you'd best not get caught looking at them too long, because they harbor some of the toughest creatures yet encountered in a Dark Souls game. You'll need to formulate fresh tactics for each -- such as the vicious angels, who deal devastating blows from afar, and the bloated Harald Legion Knights, whose powerful scimitar strikes must be quickly dodged while you slowly whittle down their huge health bars. It's the new bosses, though, that represent the greatest threat -- and the promise of greatest satisfaction once defeated. The story -- presented largely via enigmatic bits of nonplayer character babble -- is still as convoluted as ever and likely only to be comprehended by the series' most devoted followers. It's not always clear where you need to go, what you should do next, or even what it all means. But even this shortcoming won't stop RPG fans who appreciate a good challenge from having a blast with this concluding chapter to Dark Souls III.