In a lot of ways I've finally reckoned with Dark Souls II. I think I was clouded by my adoration of Dark Souls and found my first playthrough of Dark Souls II back in 2014 to be somehow antithetical to what I loved so much about the first. Lack of intertwined and intricate level design, sturdy animation, the feeling of descending, and the feeling of a previously lived-in world.
It felt "artificially difficult", as if what the devs and director of this game thought fans loved was only the difficulty. Surrounded by enemies constantly, shoddy hit detection and boxes, constant environmental hazards, and many multi-enemy bosses. In ways I still have issues with these aspects, but the hitboxes and enemy tracking are one of the most egregious issues I have. There are also plenty of areas in the game that I ultimately felt were just tedious exercises, the primary offenders being Shrine of Amana and Frigid Outskirts. No joy, fun, or catharsis are to be found in these areas. They feel as if they weren't playtested at all. If I'm ever to play this again I will never touch Frigid Outskirts again. Other issues are things like ADP, which maybe they were trying to give an out for shield users? Useless, annoying stat in the end.
What I like, and sometimes even love about Dark Souls II, are the visuals, enemy designs, and more than anything: the DLC expansions. These are easily the best parts of the game. Fume Knight and Sinh are series-best fights unlike nearly any of the base game fights. The levels feel more intricately designs and bring genuine awe, something missing from much of the base game outside Dragon Aerie or Drangleic Castle.
To sum up my scatterbrained thoughts: what I used to think was a pretty bad game, I know think is a decent game. I still think it is the weakest entry in From's catalogue after their revamped change from Demon's Souls.
It felt "artificially difficult", as if what the devs and director of this game thought fans loved was only the difficulty. Surrounded by enemies constantly, shoddy hit detection and boxes, constant environmental hazards, and many multi-enemy bosses. In ways I still have issues with these aspects, but the hitboxes and enemy tracking are one of the most egregious issues I have. There are also plenty of areas in the game that I ultimately felt were just tedious exercises, the primary offenders being Shrine of Amana and Frigid Outskirts. No joy, fun, or catharsis are to be found in these areas. They feel as if they weren't playtested at all. If I'm ever to play this again I will never touch Frigid Outskirts again. Other issues are things like ADP, which maybe they were trying to give an out for shield users? Useless, annoying stat in the end.
What I like, and sometimes even love about Dark Souls II, are the visuals, enemy designs, and more than anything: the DLC expansions. These are easily the best parts of the game. Fume Knight and Sinh are series-best fights unlike nearly any of the base game fights. The levels feel more intricately designs and bring genuine awe, something missing from much of the base game outside Dragon Aerie or Drangleic Castle.
To sum up my scatterbrained thoughts: what I used to think was a pretty bad game, I know think is a decent game. I still think it is the weakest entry in From's catalogue after their revamped change from Demon's Souls.