Namco Bandai releases a four minute opening cinematic for Dark Souls 3 showcasing a number of characters and giant monsters that players will cross paths with.

Coming off of a very successful launch of the PlayStation 4 exclusive Bloodborne last year, FromSoftware is getting ready to release the third and potentially final entry in the popular Dark Souls franchise in April. After showing off some gameplay of the newly designed Thieft class last week, Namco Bandai has just released the opening cinematic to Dark Souls 3 which reveals even more terrifying bosses the player will undoubtedly go up against.

The impressive CG trailer opens with a gloomy shot of what appears to be the broken kingdom of Lothric and a group of wanderers heading north according to the narrator. From there, the ominous trailer goes on to quickly show a number of boss style characters including the ooze-like Aldrich Saint of the Deep, warriors from Farron's Undead Legion, and the towering Yhorm the Giant.

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The cinematic closes out with a message that the Unkindled will rise, something fans will be aware of as a reference to the player character as Namco Bandai previously confirmed that players will awaken in an area known as the Untended Graves as an Unkindled. It's quite possible that being Unkindled in Dark Souls 3 is something similar to players having been hollowed upon death in the previous two games and needing to find a way to reverse that state once more.

Fans of FromSoftware's PlayStation 4 exclusive Bloodborne will be happy to note that the developer managed to incorporate certain elements from that game into Dark Souls 3. Combat proved to be one of the biggest reasons why Hidetaka Miyazaki decided to return to the Souls franchise as the limitations of battle styles and magic in Bloodborne made him realize that these things could be easily added in a new Souls game. Based on the most recent trailer, it certainly appears that the team really took that belief to heart in designing not only the boss battles, but also the weapons and armor players will gain access to.

For a game so close to release, there's still a lot that players don't know about the experience. Thanks to a recent interview, Miyazaki did confirm that certain elements from past games like fast travel and better weapon durability would be making it into Dark Souls 3, and the team is working on bringing back certain mechanics that improved the experience while removing those that just didn't work well. Here's hoping FromSoftware finds that balance between forgiving and challenging that Souls fans crave.

Are you looking forward to the third and potential final Dark Souls entry? What sorts of innovations are you hoping the team bring to the table this time around? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

Dark Souls 3 is set for launch on April 12, 2016 for Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC.

Source: Namco Bandai YouTube