A second review in a week? Someones working hard.
Dark Souls 2 Review
Dark Souls 2 is the much anticipated sequel to From Software’s game Dark Souls. it was released in North America on the Xbox 360 and PS3 on March 11th, and on PC April 25th. The series as a whole is renowned for its difficulty, and this installment lives up to that standard set by it’s predecessors.
DS2 takes place many years after the events of the first game, with most of the events having faded into legend. The curse of the Undead is still around, and once again you are one of those afflicted by it. After losing everything you hold dear, you travel to the land of Drangleic, where it is rumored a cure to your curse can be found. Being a video game, and a Souls game at that, there are plenty of terrible things that want nothing more than to see you dead that stand between you and this fabled cure.
The game play itself is very similar to previous titles in the series, with a third-person point of view and a variety of weapons and spells to do combat with, and a variety of armor and shields offering different defensive stats to protect your frail undead body. There have been some changes to how some of the stats works, with several new ones being implemented, like cursing and petrification being separated, or stamina and carrying capacity being split into 2 different skills.
Boss fights once again play a large role in your journey. With even more of them throughout the game than the original, and the option to fight them again so long as you have a certain item on you, you should be able to easily get your fill of boss fights. You will be fighting a wide array of these bastards across Drangleic, ranging from the usual large and angry knight to awe inspiring dragons, and each will offer you an even greater challenge than the last. From does a good job of setting the player up for these fights with their first boss, whose introduction alone will unease even veteran players.
Visually, this game could use another layer of polish. Most of the time it will look decent enough for most people to play through without complaint, but at times you wondering to yourself if this game was released in 2014, or 2008.
It does not sit well with me.
That being said, some areas of the game are downright gorgeous, and the overall art style of the game is pleasant to say the least.
Pretty. Shame about all of the dragons though.
Enemy design ranges from generic to wishing you didn’t have to brutally bludgeon this thing with a mace. As for weapons and armor, you will find is similar to the first in that you’ll have the practical, down-to-earth sets early in the game, and as you progress you’ll end up with your crazy ass fantasy armor and curved sword larger than you are made out of dragon hatred that reminds you that you are playing with in a setting where magic is fairly normal and there are god damned elephant men trying to beat you to death. A good few armor sets from the original Dark Souls make it back into this game, so if you if at any time you wish to relive the good old days, you’ll have several armors to choose from.
Fuck wizards.
Multiplayer once again plays a large role in the game. As with DS1, you are given a number of way that you can either help or hinder fellow players. Many of these options can be accessed through the different covenants in the game, and this time around most of them actually work and serve a purpose. A major change to invasions is that you can still be invaded while hollow, though there is much less of a chance of it happening to a hollow than someone who isn’t. As in every other multiplayer game, connection can be a bit of a problem at times. On occasion you can find yourself punching a foe who appears to be frozen solid one second, only to seemingly teleport 50 feet away with your opponent near death and poisoned. As pleasant as that single example might sound, you must remember that nine times out of ten you will be the one dying and full of poison. Or getting backstabbed. Or being mutilated by the arcane forces flowing out of your opponents hands while you assumed you were safe. While these events can be annoying at times, you will be able to find many matches where the connection will be fine and you only have yourself to blame for your inevitable death.
In the end, the game itself does have a decent amount of flaws to it, but as with Dark Souls you will find yourself loving every second you spend playing it. There is just something satisfying about going up against all of the evils this terrible, decayed world can throw at you and coming out the other side bloodied, but still standing that many other franchises can’t capture that makes Dark Souls one of the better games released in the past decade.
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