with sinking structures. Julie Muncy of Wired called the Ringed City "beautiful, strange, and mysterious" and wrote, "I've never been anywhere quite like this before". The first required boss in the city comes in the form of an enemy that is sometimes randomly replaced by a player seeking PvP combat. Some critics saw this as a positive move to increase player versus player activity and heighten the pack's longevity, while others thought it was a "throwaway" confrontation that felt "out of place". The final fight of The Ringed City is against a character named Gael, who was introduced in the previous content pack. Reception Dark Souls III: The Ringed City received a "generally favorable" reception, according to review aggregator Metacritic. Several critics saw The Ringed City as a fitting end to the Dark Souls series. Writing for IGN, Chloi Rad said the pack has "found a way to revisit the past without a cheap reliance on nostalgia, wrapping up the story of Dark Souls in a way that will be satisfying for fans who enjoy digging into the rich lore the series has been building for the last few years." Daniel Starkey of GameSpot thought the pack ended too quickly but praised its locations, themes and enemies. Push Square'''s Ben Tarrant wrote, "It's a meaty installment and a welcome deviation from the practices seen in Ashes of Ariandel, while still interlocking with and continuing the complex narrative." Jeffrey Matulef of Eurogamer especially lauded the pack's boss fights, and Steven T. Wright of Rolling Stone appreciated its difficulty. In a more lukewarm review, James Davenport of PC Gamer wrote, "Gorgeous but empty, challenging but not always fair, The Ringed City is a weak reflection of the series' best traits." William Hughes of The A.V. Club called The Ringed City's locations beautiful and lush but thought the Souls'' formula was growing stale. References Video game downloadable content 2017 video games Action role-playing video games FromSoftware games Bandai Namco games Fantasy video games PlayStation 4 games Video games developed in Japan Video games featuring protagonists of selectable gender Video games set in castles Windows games Xbox One games Soulslike video games Dark fantasy video games Dark Souls