It seems that great beauty comes with an equally great price: Dark Souls 3 looks so good that some PCs just can't seem to handle it.
PC players took to Reddit and Steam to report the problem that crashes the game around the first bonfire or when they reach the Firelink Shrine. And the issue doesn't just happen once, but over and over, keeping players from progressing any further through the game.
PC Gamer figured out a fix, though, as well as what causes the issue, and it has everything to do with just how good the graphics in Dark Souls 3 really are: some PC graphics cards just can't handle the bonfire's lighting when From's beautiful wavy cloth outfit is close to it.
"As far as I can tell - and there's some speculation involved - the graphics drivers hit an issue when a bonfire's lighting meets From's beautiful flowing cloth," writes Angus Morrison for PC Gamer. "I'm using a GeForce 780Ti on drivers 364.72 and the crashes happen at Firelink, the High Wall and at the Cliffside bonfire in the Undead Settlement, but only when I'm wearing the clothy carb of a caster or flamboyant swordsman. Something with dangly bits, basically."
To stop the crashes, Morrison recommends that players set their lighting to low. He also promises that doing so doesn't affect the overall graphics and look of the game. But there's one caveat: players must change this setting every time they start the game, because Dark Souls 3 doesn't currently save the lighting setting after the game shuts down.
Bandai Namco is aware of the problem, and has acknowledged it on Twitter, urging players to submit reports of crashes to its Dark Souls 3 support team.
@utanapishtim198 Hey! Please contact our support team. Thanks! https://t.co/qC60nOtTXr
— Bandai Namco US (@BandaiNamcoUS) April 12, 2016
Until this issue gets resolved, though, PC players just need to remember to keep their lighting settings on low and remember to do that every time they boot up the game. It's not a perfect fix, but it will allow them to keep playing, and that's what's important, right?
Dark Souls 3 is available now on PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.
