Dark Souls II Review

OK, this review will be something of a pretty BIG undertaking as its based on a game I still haven't finished yet and it may take me some time to actually do so! However, I have decided to do a review of the game anyway and that game is of course the sequel to one of the greatest action role games of all time: Dark Souls.

However given how good that the original game was, how does Dark Souls II stack up??? Well, let's find out! Oh, and by the way just to say the version I am playing is of course the Scholar of the First Sin release that is available on the PS4 and was released in 2015.

And I will quickly mention a little about the story but not too much, so I won't bother with a spoilers warning as such.

So, here we go...

STORY 

So, the story is fairly similar to the original Dark Souls, where the playable character is a human who is undead and cursed to never die and eventually become hollow, a zombie like being with no memories or purpose. So, in order to break the curse, the undead travels to the kingdom of Drangleic and is tasked by the Emerald Herald to obtain four Great Souls from powerful Old Ones whose names are forgotten and forbidden. And its from here that the undead starts their long and incredibly dangerous journey in their battle to claim the four Great Souls to end the undead curse.

THOUGHTS

As a sequel to the original, Dark Souls II had alot to live up to but thankfully the game makers, Namco Bandai were more than up to the task this time round as DSII while it doesn't quite scale the heights of the original, its still an excellent, entertaining and gripping sequel with plenty of new features and enemies to deal with.  The game itself also sees many different changes over the original but it does still follow pretty much the same forumla but it definitely has its own look and unique feel all the same. The game also appears to rack up the difficulty level from the original as it is filled with more bosses and even more enemies!  

GAMEPLAY BASICS
 
As for the gameplay it follows pretty much the same patterns of the original Dark Souls with the third person perspective approach and similar move set such as running, jumping, walking the usual stuff (no shimmying though!) however there are one or two changes still in terms of the controls than before. However one addition to the game is that there are certain areas where the character can use rope zip lines to traverse between different high up areas. 

The player's HUD is similar also with their health bar and endurance bar on the top left although the inventory has been given a bit of an overhaul with items positioned in a more boxed grid, which makes selecting items a bit easier. Then there is the stats screen that shows attributes such as your strength, endurance, vigour (which has replaced vitality to upgrade your health points, or HP) and what level your character is at. This is also where you can level up these stats, which now has to be done through one of non-playable characters (NPC) in the game, Emerald Herald, who is based in an area known as Majula.

Majula is in fact the central hub of the game itself where the character can come back to rest and upgrade their stats, equipment via the local blacksmiths and deal with other merchants. It also leads off to other nearby areas, which again shows how the game is quite well connected similarly to the original Dark Souls.   

The player can also make the choice of character like before and select the character's gender, build and class of character e.g. warrior, knight, sorcerer, cleric or pyromancer and similar to the first game each character has their own different characteristics but more on that soon.

HEALTH AND WEAPONS RISKS

Dark Souls II also sees it set the difficulty level a bit higher when it comes to your player's weapons and health this time round because weapons can break much easier than in the previous game where most weapons didn't break at all! Your weapons however can be repaired by one of the blacksmiths in the game or if your weapon is almost broken you can return to the bonfire and it will automatically restore your weapon for you. Also if the player dies then their health bar will reduce a little each time they do, which can be reverse but only if the player uses certain items in the game. The player again though can replenish their health by drinking Estus flasks (which featured in the original DS also) and additionally they can use a new item called life gems to do the same, which they can do when you are on the move.

HOLLOW VS HUMAN 
 
In terms of the hollowing and humanity process, things are also a little different this time because when you go hollow, as I said above you will lose a little of your health every time you die, however the game uses a new item called a human effigy to restore your player's humanity. The advantage here is that when your player's humanity is restored you can completely restore their health bar but you need to be wary that the process will repeat of them losing their health bar fractionally when they die and become hollow.  However there are also other items in the game that can reduce the amount of health you lose.

RINGS

This brings me onto the rings in the game, which feature a large variety that are spread throughout the game that can be bought via merchants or discovered in wooden boxes or treasure chests during their travels. The rings will have various abilities such as increasing your stamina, your life bar, defenses and resistances to certain things and later on enhanced versions of these rings can be found also that are +1, +2 and +3 in strength. Another improvement in the game sees the player now being able to use four rings at once rather than just the two in the original game, which is a big bonus in itself and a welcome upgrade.

TORCHES

A new addition to the game this time is the use of torches, which come in hand frequently as there are a number of dark or dimly lit areas to be found here. The player can either light their torch at a bonfire or light it from one another flamed source and it can also act as a key gameplay mechanic when fighting bosses. The torches can generally last a good length of time in the game and can be relit at any time time. However the main downside to using a torch in the game means that you are sacrificing your shield when moving through certain areas, leaving more at risk to enemy attacks.

WEAPONS

Not surprisingly in the game there is a huge selection of weapons to choose from which can be picked up either from the fallen dead or enemies or can be purchased from merchants and blacksmiths.

So, the game features all sorts of melee weapons such as swords, knives, maces, axes, spears, bows and crossbows that can be upgraded throughout the game by blacksmiths who enhance them with the use of different materials such as titanite shards, chunks, slabs and specific types of stone and embers that create various effects such as magic, fire or lightning or just increase the overall power of the weapons attacks. There is also a big selection of shields that the player can access that range in all different sizes and materials.

There are also other weapons in the game such as firebombs, which you can toss at enemies from a short distance that will explode on impact, throwing knives, which can be well...thrown at enemies! One thing about the throwing knives is that you can purchase ones that are covered with poision that can kill enemies quicker. In fact this reminds me that poison has a more potent effect this time round in the game as you die quicker if you are poisoned but it can be cured through poison moss. 

As for sorcerers they will have access to their own abilities that involve using a staff (or catalyst) to unleash their magic attacks and pyromancers can use a flame glove to launch their fire attacks and all of these attacks have various effects. I think however the miracle spells performed by clerics require no staff or other device, so they are performed purely by the character themselves. 

GAME STATS, MELEE, MAGIC, PYROMANCY & FAITH 

Moving onto the game stats, this is where the game's depth really come into play as this is where it really depends on your choice of character and what characteristics they have and again things are very similar here in Dark Souls II. And as an example a melee character, who wields powerful swords and shields will upgrade their strength, endurance and their vigour (which is a new stat, which essentially increases your health bar) and adaptability (helps to maintain their poise in combat situations) to improve their performance throughout the game.

However when it comes to other characters such as a sorcerer, you may depend less on strength and endurance and more on intelligence and attunement where intelligence is used to cast spells and attunement to gain more slots to use different spells at once. As for pyromancy, intelligence wouldn't be a factor to use this but they can use another stat called dexterity that will improve their ability to cast faster although I'm not too sure how fast they cast in DSII as I haven't play as a pyromancer yet!
Clerics can probably have similar stats to melee characters with the exception of their key stat which is Faith that is used to cast their spells, which are known in the game as "miracles".

So basically in the game the stats remain much the same with the exception of two new stats of vigour (raises your health bar) and adaptability (increases your poise ability in combat i.e. so you won't stagger when attacked aswell as your agility in combat). Vitality however undergoes the main change here in the game, which no longer governs the player's health but more their equipment load and defense.    

COMBAT

The combat system again is pretty similar to the original game where the player takes on enemies either in free flow or they can lock on to a single enemy.  The combat mechanics feature similar attacks such as the typical forward combo attacks but you can also parry your enemies (involves shield bashing them as they are about to strike and counter-attacking them). The backstab however that featured in the original game is now replaced with a critical combo chain attack but you can still backstab with certain weapons such as spears. You also have the option to perform a strong attack that inflicts more damage on enemies and there is options for a running attack, which has a similar potent effect.  

As for sorcery and pyromancy the attacks are very similar to the first Dark Souls only the casting speed for sorcerers is much faster than before although pyromancy appears to have only moderately been improved (I think!). You can also upgrade your casting speed via your stats as you progress with your intelligence and attunement but there are also rings that you can acquire than shorten the casting time. The same should go for pyromancers here I think but having not played as a pyro character yet I'm not sure of this myself nor of the clerics abilities in this regard as I haven't played as those characters myself.  

ENEMIES, BOSSES AND NPCs

This time round the game features alot more enemies per area, which can range from the weaker enemies up to stronger ones. Of course alot of the enemies that featured in the original reappear here such as hollows in various forms, skeletons, rats, mimics (the creatures that disguise themselves as a treasure chest) basilisks (the big frog-like creatures that can "curse" you with their gas). However there are of course plenty of new enemies that range from the weakest type such as infantry hollow soldiers to armoured knights (with katanas no less!) but there are a vast array of enemies here for sure that will not leave stuck for a challenge as they can become very challenging as the game progresses! 

The game also features a much larger selection of bosses than in the previous game where this time round there are 41 bosses in total (which includes the bosses from the DLC content for the game). This is way more than any other Souls game and the bosses are in different forms such as giants, knights, sentinels, dragons, hyrbid creatures and of course demons!  Again the bosses vary in difficulty with some of them being quite easy whereas others are infruiatingly difficult but hey it is of course Dark Souls, so you have to expect that.  There are very few bosses however that can regenerate their health in the game but I believe there is one in the DLC, the Fume Knight (often reputed as the toughest boss in the whole game!) who can do so unless you kill off certain enemies before you enter this fight.

Then we have the NPCs the in the game (non-playable characters) who you can either interact with for trading and selling items or in the case of Emerald Herald, upgrade your stats with. There are other NPCs that you can also summon to help you fight in most boss fights (but not always!) who often prove very useful in battle and at times you can summon two of them for one fight but you need to be in human form before you can do this. However there also other NPCs that are enemies and invade you throughout the game, who are after your souls or humanity. In the first Souls game you were only invaded when you were in human form but here they can invade you in either a hollow or human state.

GRAPHICS AND MUSIC

As for the graphics, well the original version of Dark Souls II was released in 2014 but it was given a remastered update in 2015 when they released Scholar of the First Sin, which featured revamped graphics, some additional enemies and also all the DLC content. As for the graphics, going by the Scholar version, they look terrific and the game's environments look stunning and rich with detail. The character models also look pretty good albeit there are more sophisticated looking ones by today's standards and the character's mouths don't appear to move when they talk! But overall the graphics for the game are very impressive and Scholar of the First Sin saw a big upgrade in DSII's visuals.


As for the music, well its another fine score, which is again composed by Motoi Sakuraba with contributions by Yuka Kitmura and its filled with some great passages of music, which can be dramatic, suspenseful and even at times with poignant, such as the "Majula" theme which is the main hub of the game where the character rests.

In fact I think Dark Souls II's score while it might not hit the epic emotional heights of Dark Souls III, it is a more diverse sounding one and there plenty of highlights in there. And such examples include Fume Knight, Skeleton Lords, Vendrick, Old Dragonslayer, Ancient Dragon and the best of all is Sir Alonne's theme, which is easily one of the best tracks in the entire Souls series.  

FLAWS

As for flaws...yeah Dark Souls II does have some.


For starters the game insists on continuing its increase in difficulty over its predecessor, which can make things quite frustrating at times. Now, this isn't necessarily a big problem in itself but there are times in the game where you are swarmed by standard enemies some of whom are actually way tougher than the actual boss they are protecting that you go on to fight! So, there is a quite a bit of inconsistency in the difficulty level here as you get really tough standard enemies and at times dead easy bosses! However sometimes you do get both but the difficulty of the game certainly isn't always that balanced.

Another issue is to do with the NPC invaders, who to put it bluntly are a major pain in the ass! Now there are some invaders in the game that are tougher than others but when you are trying to simply work your way through an area and you get invaded AND get killed in the process, it becomes VERY annoying pretty quickly! And there is no doubt that the game makers stepped up the number of invasions (which are completely random of course!) that occur in the game, making things that bit more infuriating.

Then there is the issue to do with certain items and their limited availability such as the titanite shards, which are very useful for upgrading your weapons and armour. Now in the original Dark Souls, you can simply buy these in unlimited supply from certain blacksmiths but in DSII they only have a limited supply! And in order to get an unlimited supply you need to kill off certain bosses, which can be very time consuming not to mention very difficult! So, the whole process of acquiring things such as titante shards is also a pain although certain enemies do drop them in the game and you can find them in certain areas and chests but their limited availability is still an issue.

Another problem is to do with how your weapons, shields and weapons can break much easier than in the original Dark Souls after so much fighting. Now the bonfire does reset your weapon's damage but if it breaks you then have to pay a blacksmith to fix them. Now, this does make things a little more realistic I guess but it can also be a pest when you are trying to fight your way past a big number enemies but to be fair you do have a large amount of weapons at your disposal, so you can always select another one but if its your most trusted weapon then its still a nuisance.

And I cannot forget to mention the problem that existed in the original Dark Souls with the action of drinking from your Estus flask to recover your health being too slow is STILL a problem here in the sequel! Yep, when you are in mid combat fighting a big boss that is killing you when you want to recover your health, the action of drinking from your Estus flask is still TOO SLOW! So, this means you end up getting murdered more times than not in a fight as a result! In fact for this I have coined my own phrase (which I should try and patent!) which is "Estus Murder" where drinking from your flask too slowly gets you killed!  However, perhaps they kind of addressed this issue by introducing life gems into the game, which the player can also use to restore their health and can do it on the move, which is an improvement over your pathetically slow Estus flask drinking.

And this brings me onto another issue in the game to do with the Estus flask upgrades as here you need to try and locate what is called Estus shards in order to increase the number of Estus flasks you have at your disposal. So, this means you need to locate these shards throughout the game as they are hidden in different areas, which can also be a pain and early on if you only have a couple of Estus flasks its a pain in the ass but to be fair the life gems also help with your health are more accessible.

Last of all is an issue to do with how enemies progressively stop re-spawning unlike in the original Dark Souls where all enemies respawned in all areas when you rest at your bonfire. Now, this is something of a blessing but also a problem as it makes life easier when you want to get through certain areas and the enemies stop respawning so much but it can also limit the amount of souls you can "farm" in order to upgrade or purchase items. So, its kind of double-edged sword that the game has handed you, its good you have to deal with lesser enemies the more times you redo an area but its also annoying you cannot farm for souls as much when they stop respawning.

Anyway that's it for the flaws.

SUM UP

So, to sum up, Dark Souls II is an excellent sequel to the original and it offers plenty of new features, weapons and upgrades that are all welcome additions aswell as challenging enemies that can provide for a satisfying experience when you have finally defeated them. However it has to be said that it doesn't quite reach the dizzying heights of its predecessor due to some frustrating issues with gameplay and the game makers blatant attempts to make things more difficult at times is also an issue not to mention the level of difficulty can be a bit inconsistent.

However despite any of its issues, Dark Souls II is still a very worthy sequel to one of the greatest games of all time and one that will keep you entertained (and frustrated!) for hours on end.

Right, so that its for my exhaustive review of Dark Souls II and I will be back again sometime with another post.

So, till then its bye for now!