Dark Souls II Review

Dark Souls never felt like a videogame, at least, not to me. It felt like an experience removed from the usual trappings, tropes and conventions found in other genres and instead felt like another life – one where even something as innocent as a treasure chest could chew your face off. Whether this was FromSoftware’s intention or not, I’ll never know. What’s clear is that Dark Souls II doesn’t just feel like another life, it feels like living hundreds of them; in more ways than one.

Forget about all the paranoia surrounding FromSoftware’s statements about making Dark Souls II more accessible; this is still a series very much about progress through death - lots and lots of death. You’ll not only be living hundreds of lives through continual punishment and lack of knowing what’s around every corner, you’ll also feel like you’ve lived for a century when you finally reach the end of your adventure in Drangleic (DSII’s new setting), because this highly anticipated sequel is massive.

Unlike its predecessor though, this new adventure starts you off on a more even keel with the world’s inhabitants (there’s no boss to topple five minutes into the tutorial this time). Once you’ve chosen your class and been given a rundown of why you’re here by three comically ugly witches; you get a choice. Head straight to Majula – DSII’s new Firelink Shrine – or stick around and learn some basic mechanics with some very fragmented school lessons.

The Undead Asylum was, in truth, too difficult to be a tutorial for the first Souls, but FromSoftware’s new attempt to make the opening hours of Dark Souls II more accessible have fallen a little flat. Fog gates punctuate numerous locations in the opening area, which teach you the fundamental basics of how not to die in five seconds, and while it succeeds in doing so, the method of presentation leaves a great deal to be desired, not least because it feels very shoehorned in.

This is optional though, so you can pretend it doesn’t exist and move on to the real adventure. Continuing the tradition of presenting a narrative that, at face value has little substance, DSII presents you with one objective, to kill King Vendrick – the monarch of Drangleic who has disappeared after the undead curse has spread throughout the kingdom. To reach him, you need to light four Primal Bonfires scattered throughout the land so you can access his domain: Drangleic Castle.

Your guide on this journey is the Emerald Maiden. Reminiscent of the Maiden in Black from Demons’ Souls, the fair lady presents you with the three biggest changes of DSII. Levelling up your character – previously done at any bonfire – now takes place by talking with the Maiden, and bonfires can now be warped between from the get go. Drangleic, like Lordran, is a seamless world connected by tunnels, forests and sewers, yet, the above changes have made the feeling of discovery feel ever so slightly diminished. Backtracking has now been eliminated – a good thing – but because of this, the structure of DSII feels more familiar to Demons’ as it does to Dark Souls.

However, this is a moot point if you’ve never played a Souls game before, and whether you prefer the new direction is going to be largely down to personal preference rather than objectivity. What’s more important is the overhaul of how the health system now functions. Instead of the old system that simply saw you go hollow and unable to summon friends for co-op, death in DSII now results in a gradual reduction of your health bar, until it reaches the minimum of 50 percent. Not only does the change make survival that much more difficult, it means there’s a very real incentive to trying not to die and savouring each and every Human Effigy (the item used to restore humanity).

Combat – while feeling slowed down from previous entries – still feels as weighty as ever. Great swords still cause mini earthquakes with each swing and sorcery is much more flamboyant than before. Your frequent deaths never feel unfair or due to poor mechanics either – if you die, it’s your own damn fault. The early bosses this time around are far easier than say, the Capra Demon or Gaping Dragon from DS, but considering the astronomical increase in how many there are to defeat, the reduction in difficulty in the early stages is a welcome change to help less hardcore players want to attempt victory just one more time.

In continuing with the streamlined nature of the sequel, upgrading weapons and joining covenants – which are akin to guilds that offer unique rewards and gameplay – have been simplified on a large scale. Buffing your gear – outside of unique items – now only requires that you have one material to get started, so no more getting stuck with a bunch of pointy things that do nothing more than scratch undead skin. Furthermore, there are now several covenants available in the opening hours of the game, and with their perks being clearly defined, there’s no reason not to sign up to any that take your fancy.

At around 50 hours for a first playthrough, the amount of content you’re gifted for the normal retail price of a console title is, with no exaggeration, staggering. Without taking into account the presence of hidden areas, optional bosses and post-game content, the amount of time you can sink into exploring Drangleic is more than commendable, and even more remarkable is how FromSoftware have managed to keep you interested from start to finish with imaginative level design, atmospheric music and crippling anxiety (screw you, Shaded Woods).

There are no doubts that critics and gamers alike are going to have preferences on which Souls title is the superior experience, and if an edge had to be given to one over the other, then Dark Souls would take this guy’s vote. But calling Dark Souls II only marginally inferior to its predecessor is hardly an insult. This is still a true gem of entertainment in its own right, and not giving it even a glimpse means depriving yourself of the true swan song of the last console generation. Revel in your continued death, because the reward is well worth the anguish.