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The Devil May Cry 3 of Dark Souls games.
My personal favorite of the trilogy and one of my favorite games of all time. While it fails to re-create the immersive exploration of the original Dark Souls it makes up for it with much more refined and fluid combat mechanics that pairs perfectly with an incredible roster of boss fights.
The structure of the games overworld is a large departure from previous games. Instead of an open, explorable world where you were just dropped in had freedom of what order you wanted to approach things in DS3 is a linear series of somewhat open areas. There is still a sense of exploration, but it's given more in bite-sized chunks. Because of this the tension and immersion of the exploration from the original is completely gone, especially since you are now able to teleport to (the very abundant) bonfires in the game. Even with this being the case there is still some fun exploration in the game and a number of well-designed shortcuts you can find. It doesn't come anywhere close to the highs of DS1's overworld but it is still lightyears ahead of DS2's series of linear hallways filled with gank fights.
In an inverse of the original Dark Souls, the cornerstone of this game is its combat encounters. The game is much faster paced than the previous two but not quite as fast as Bloodborne or more traditional action games. Mechanically it's still as simple and straightforward as the previous titles, revolving around 4 core options: light attack, heavy attack, block and an evasive roll. New to this equation is the introduction of weapon arts, essentially special moves with unique properties unique to each weapon in the game. While not earth shattering, it does add a bit of variety especially with specific weapons getting very over the top and unique special moves. My two favorite weapons in the whole series (Wolf Knight's Greatsword and Friede's Great Scythe) are great examples of this both having fun and unique weapon arts that serve different functions and are useful in different scenarios.
Because of the fastened pace, parrying and staggering enemies is now much more important than previous entries. With this in mind the developers made parrying a much more consistent and satisfying mechanic to use and also rewarding staggers even more with a powerful riposte attack that used to be exclusive to parry's and backstabs. With all of these changes, and because of how fluid and responsive the game feels and controls, the game is incredibly satisfying to play even if it is still mechanically on the simple side.
After the disaster of DS2 I would be remiss to not compliment the incredibly refined hitboxes in this game. On more than one occasion I was really impressed by my character just barely jumping over an attack or how close a weapon model got to me without hitting. It's clear A LOT of work went into the hitboxes which is something people may not notice casually playing.
The only major negative with the games combat I feel is worth mentioning is the heavy attacks. Heavy attacks feel a bit too underpowered compared to previous titles, even when fully charged. This sticks out especially with how much faster this game is making it harder to land them safely, limiting their overall usefulness to weapons with greatly extended range on their heavy attacks. How big this problem is varies by weapon and build but it feels like it affects every variant to some extent from the multiple builds/ weapons I used through my playthroughs.
To further compliment this great combat system is a roster of the best boss fights in the series (or any game series for that matter). When taking into account the DLC there are 31 boss fights in the game, with only a single fight (Deacons of the Deep) being underwhelming. The other 30 range from good to some of the most satisfying fights I've ever played in an action game. Particular highlights are The Nameless King, The Abyss Watchers, Prince Lothric, Sister Friede and Darkeater Midir. I personally made it to NG+4 just to replay some of these fights again, them being that mechanically satisfying with some great spectacle and (normally) and incredible OST to match.
On the topic of music, this is also probably the best soundtrack in the series, one I have listened fully through casually from start to finish as background music while working or relaxing. Almost every track stands out in its own way. Where DS1 had incredible music but not much of it and DS2 had a ton of music but only a single track was memorable, DS3 has many more and varied tracks on offer that reach and sometimes even surpass DS1's OST.
Visually, the game is also great, very aesthetically pleasing with great art direction. Enemy designs are also unique and varied, not carrying over many designs from previous games giving the game its own unique visual appearance. What surprised me most replaying it now so long after it launched is how well the texture work holds up, especially compared to more recent releases.
Story and lore wise DS3 is once again my favorite in the series. I love the concept of ash in Dark Souls and your character's goal and motivation as well as the state the world has been left in after thousands of years of sacrifice perpetuating an age that should have ended long ago. Where DS1 was the beginning of the end DS3 is the end of the end. The lore behind the Abyss Watchers and the Nameless King is some of the best in the series and just makes the world feel larger and adds context for the story of DS1. Even stuff falsely labeled as "just fan-service" like a small section of Anor Londo returning is a highlight. In DS1 we were introduced to the bastard crossbreed of man and dragon, who were banished out of shame to another plane of existence to keep up the appearance and purity of Anor Londo. Now one of these bastard crossbreeds, Yorshka, is the only being left in Anor Londo that is remotely sane, human-esque as well as the only remaining living remnant of Gwyn 's legacy. It's really great world building and shows how far that kingdom truly has fallen. The game is bursting with similar lore tidbits and implications that are really well considered and help expand the world established in DS1.
The netcode, while far from perfect, feels at least more stable than the previous two games. This was the first game I didn't mind engaging with the PVP and even had some fun with it while I finished maxing out every covenant in the game. If you don't like PVP or invasions, it's once again opt-in like DS1 needing to be embered (equivalent to unhollowing in DS1) to be able to be invaded. Covenants are another system that also saw some improvement. While it's still vague what each does and offers without having to look it up online you can now join and be a member of all of them at the same time with no penalty so leveling them and gaining their rewards is far easier and less finicky. The defensive PVP covenants are also a really great addition and a lot of fun to engage with.
Just like DS1 the DLC for this game is once again some of the best content in it. The Painted World, while a bit on the short side, has a lot of interesting lore and ends with one of the best boss fights in the series (Sister Friede). The Ringed City is incredible from start to finish and has TWO of the best fights in the entire series (Darkeater Midir and Slave Knight Gael). Unlike previous games in the series, however, there is no "definitive edition" that bundles all the DLC together with the main game on steam at a discounted price. Because of this you'll have to purchase them separately, and even now years later they are quite expensive. I would say wait until a Steam sale to get them or on console you can find "Dark Souls 3: The Fire Fades" edition for under $20 that bundles everything on the disc.
An amazing title. While not as groundbreaking or well-rounded as the original, what this game does well, it does really, really well.