Dark Souls 2, sequel to Dark Souls the spiritual successor to Demon's Souls and arguably one of the most anticipated games of 2014. Does it live up to the hype? Is it just as hard as Dark Souls? Has it been streamlined to cater to the average gamer? Let's find out.
As far as gameplay goes Dark Souls 2 has remained largely the same. The mechanics behind the inventory system, equipping items and weapons, and attuning magic are exactly the same as Dark Souls, with the major changes to gameplay coming from how you level up, and the way that hitboxes and invincibility frames have been removed. Instead of leveling up at bonfires, you have to speak with an NPC called the Emerald Herald in order to level up, similar to the Maiden in Black from Demon's Souls. On that note leveling up seems a bit easier this time around, as it costs less souls to advance from level to level. One positive change is how invincibility frames have been made smaller when dodging attacks. You really do have to have perfect timing in order to avoid attacks rather than just exploiting your dodge roll's invincibility frame. Smaller improvements and tweaks have been implemented as well in order to provide a similar yet more expanded experience. Resistance has been changed into Adaptability a stat which determines how quickly you recover health, movement speed, and resistances to status ailments such as poison or petrification. But aside from the removal of a certain stat, and the addition of two stats [Vitality, and Adaptability.] the biggest change and improvement to the gameplay is the fact that it is possible to play through the game with any build which wasn't possible in the previous Souls games. Want to play only using sorceries? Go for it. Want to use bows exclusively? Its all you. Want to dual wield great swords or great hammers? Good luck. Any and all play styles are now viable which can lead to some very entertaining battles against enemies and even other players as you see what kind of build they have. . In addition enemies will stop spawning if you've killed them a certain number of times making exploration easier, but also making item farming harder. If you've killed all of a certain enemy in order to make an item drop but need more, you'll need a Bonfire Acoustic, an item that will make the enemies and area boss reappear, but they will be much stronger. The game rewards you for taking on harder challenges and persevering despite your constant deaths, which ties in well with the theme of the game.
From a technical perspective, smaller changes have been made. Cloth physics for capes have been improved so capes move like they're actually made of cloth. While characters still won't move their lips while talking, there are subtle improvements made to the way your character moves. After a long fight your character will be breathing harder than normal for example. The particle effects for sorceries, miracles, pyromancies and hexes look much better than they did in Dark Souls, with flames moving realistically and lightning looking and sounding like actual lightning. Enemies are capable of more advanced behavior like pretending to be dead corpses so that as you step through what you thought was an empty area, you'll be flooded with dozens of different enemies for thinking you were safe. However there are some issues, thankfully all of which can be patched later on save one. Enemy hitboxes can be inconsistent at times, your weapon will clearly strike an enemy but will do no damage. Thankfully this doesn't seem to happen very often and at least for me only occurred in the starting areas for the game, the only times where it does happen frequently are with smaller enemies like dogs, rats, or titanite lizards. The other issue that sadly cannot be patched is the inability to pause the game. I've said this before in regards to Demon's Souls and Dark Souls, but there are times during a long boss fight or during long treks without a bonfire, that players may need to take a break while playing. While the lack of being able to pause may add tension, it also becomes frustrating when you need to stop playing for a second, but don't want to lose progress whether its due to a boss or because you just don't want to lose any progress you've made because of a hidden enemy
The world of Drangleic feels much different than that of Lordran and Boletaria, a much darker world with an atmosphere of foreboding and terror. Areas like the Lost Bastille, the Shaded Woods, and the Black Gulch are both beautiful to behold, but also make you more and more wary as you venture deeper into these locations. Enemy types are much more varied and inclusive to each specific area they're found in rather than in Dark Souls which had a much smaller world and as such a smaller roster of enemies. In Dark Souls you had a sewer, a forest, a city, a old town, an archive, an asylum, and a crypt. In Dark Souls 2 you have a town, a forest, a fort, a bastille, an underground prison, a shaded forest, lost ruins, and a desert cavern just to name a few. And each of these locations is full of enemies, NPCs, artifacts, secret weapons, secrets in general, and are so varied and unique that they're just fun to run around in just to find every single thing.
The lore like in Demon's Souls and Dark Souls is one the player has to discover for themselves while the story is told to the player fairly early on. Discover the origins of the curse and find a way to cure yourself of it. The lore of Drangleic and indeed the inner workings of the Souls universe is up to the player to discover on their own by talking with NPCs, looking at the enemies in each area, how characters interact with each other, and even through the locations in the game. Every single thing of note and even subtle things like why there is a giant hole in the ceiling of a cavern where you fight a boss, is there to allow the player to come up with their own theories on why certain things happen or have happened in the game. The lore seems much more accessible and since it doesn't necessarily tie into anything from the first game, if you're new to the Souls series, you won't need a recap to understand anything that happens in Dark Souls 2. The theme of Dark Souls 2, like the original, is persevering despite impossible odds. You are an Undead, a person who dies over and over again, whether due to sickness, being killed by another person, or being eaten alive by a demon, but you will always revive because of the curse. It is up to whether you will try again and again, determined to break the curse by defeating that one boss, or just giving up because you can't handle dying anymore. By losing hope and quitting, effectively going Hollow as its called in the game. Perseverence is rewarded, but the cycle continues just as the Darksign shows us. An endless cycle.
The best thing I can say about Dark Souls 2 though, and why it may be the most popular game out right now, is because Dark Souls 2 is more accessible than Dark Souls or Demon's Souls. The game has been made so that new players will have an easier time playing the game, while at the same time not alienating older fans of the games. Instead of streamlining the game and making it dumbed down to cater to a wider audience, Dark Souls 2 instead elevates newcomers to come to its level, it no longer brutally punishes new players like in the first two games, it welcomes new players with open arms. Has it lived up to the hype? I think so. From Software have managed to create a sequel that doesn't rip away features, but instead have added tweaks to make the original game even greater. There are still flaws present, such as recycling certain bosses [ Royal Rat Authority=Sif. Scorpioness Najaka= Quelagg]and some inaccurate hitboxes, but the flaws don't take away from the feeling of the game. With all of that said, I feel like I can recommend Dark Souls 2 to anyone, hardcore or casual gamers, RPG fans or no. As such, the game earns a perfect score from me. Dark Souls 2 is the definition of perfect sequel, improving on everything, adding new gameplay elements, ironing out flaws, and expanding on everything that made the original great.
4/4
Red Vulture out.
