Dark Souls II Preview

A punishing three hour visit to Namco Bandai in London for a look at the yet to be released Dark Souls II, developed by From Software, has left me with an itch I cannot currently scratch. I want to play Dark Souls II.  Let me explain something right off the bat: I’m not a very skilled Dark Souls player. I am, however, a very stubborn DS fan. I find the exploration in From Software’s masochistic, dark fantasy RPG to be something of a holy grail for anyone looking for a real feeling of discovering something unexplored. In this regard, Dark Souls II doesn’t disappoint.

My playthrough took place over the opening hours of, what will be, the full title and gave off a sense of awe, wonder, and excitement that I haven’t felt in a long time. My first steps into the land of Drangleic, the new area your undead avatar will get to consistently perish in, were ones of overriding reverence. Running on the PS3, this game looks fantastic. Looking similar to its previous iteration, yet managing to smooth out the kinks in animation, with fewer jagged edges, and a more full colour palette. Gone is the overall grey tone and in its place, wonderful vistas of an eternal setting sun, a vibrantly lush green forest and a colossal white tower.

I initially found myself in an area known as ‘Things Betwixt’, a much more familiar DS area, with a dark, misty overtone and streaks of light beaming through the cracks in the cavern walls, teasing what’s to come. With several basic tutorials - completely skippable for any veterans out there - and a couple of very nasty surprises, if you’re brave enough to venture too close to some of the locals, it’s a fittingly bleak opening to a game that promises death, and lots of it.  

After leaving the starting area things got interesting. Arriving in Majula, a place you’ll want to get to know well, I was greeted with a few of the Souls series’ trademark vague and depressing NPCs. One very familiar voice from the previous title seems to appear in this area, but I’ll leave that for you to find. Majula is home to what appears to be an eternal sunset. The orange sky really manages to set the sombre tone of this area. The interesting part of this zone is how it acts like the Firelink Shrine did in DS. Many branching paths lead to and from this place, meaning you must explore every avenue to find the best place to start. I really like this design choice and am glad they stuck with this idea. Allowing newcomers to explore and try new avenues, after becoming frustrated with another, really helps to make what can be a disheartening experience, an accessible one.

I managed to find myself in the lush, green environs of The Forest Of Giants; I’m told it was once a great fort now fallen to nature, and was immediately met with enemies. The first thing I noticed was the class I had chosen - swordsman, one of eight available at the time of playing - felt very nimble and light on his feet in comparison to anything in the original DS. The animations seemed to really focus on being precise and managing to get behind your enemy. After spending some time watching and working out potential foes’ attack patterns, I found myself in a much better position to deal damage to enemies.

This all feels like a step forward with combat. The issue with the previous title, for me, was that at times it felt unfair and not as tight as it should. This all appears, in part, due to the ever fantastic enemy design. In the three hours I played for, I experienced at least ten differing enemy types and they all had their own variations. This leads to on-the-fly changing of tactics which constantly kept me on my toes.

After meeting a group of enemies for the first time came the inevitable: death. Followed by the ever familiar ‘You Died’. This showed off a new mechanic and one that is possibly the single most important new change: the new life bar. Once you die you lose 10% of your overall HP, up to 50%. This brings a new level to the punishment given out by death. Now not only is it extremely annoying to start over from the last bonfire you rested at, but it’s harder. I found this frustrating but with further play I’m sure it will be something avoidable.

The last area I managed to visit was Heide’s Tower of Flame, a white tower dominating the skyline with what appear to be burning windows at the very peak. I also fought some larger, slower enemies that taught me the real meaning of learning attack patterns and being slow and methodical. Determined to get to some sort of boss character for this preview, I did the cheeky thing and ran past quite a few slow enemies until I reached the ‘Dragonrider’. Entering an area with this large, red armour-clad boss character had me wondering just how much harder this game can get. With no walls, and a significant drop to certain death, just staying alive long enough to attack is an issue in itself.

Overall I found myself very impressed by my time with Dark Souls II. The new health mechanic, while frustrating, didn’t manage to impact the gameplay too much. The controls felt tighter and the game looks fantastic. The real excitement for me though was that the joy of exploration has not been lost. With fantastic looking new areas to explore, and be horribly murdered in, I can’t wait to pick the game up.

I’d like to leave you with this. My three hours came to an end and I dropped out of the game, back to the main screen. Straight away my Namco minder shot over to do something very important. He picked up the controller, hit continue and headed over to the monument on the hill of Majula. 44 Deaths. In three hours. And I’m still excited to play this game more. Take from that what you will.