Dark Souls II: Problems with the Second Game
I began my Souls journey many a moons ago in 2011 after the release of the original Dark Souls, playing on a friends PS3 and watching them toil and struggle with what was a new formidable experience. Just over a decade later and I've made serious leeway into Fromsoft's renaissance repertoire, completing Demon Souls, Dark Souls 1, Elden Ring, Sekiro, Bloodborne, and now Dark Souls 2. The experience itself has been hit or miss, but I'm afraid I've already played the best effort that they've put forth in Elden Ring, and with each title that go and black from a chronologically retroactive standpoint, they just don't feel good. While I am glad I played Dark Souls 2 and eventually will play 3, I let out an audible "this sucks man" too many times to warrant a higher rating.
The good of DS2 as I'll abbreviate it begins with Fromsoft's legendary level design. Scale isn't the same as it was in the first Dark Souls game, which felt more top to bottom filled with locations and interesting happenings, but rather a more level oriented approach like Demon Souls had. You have your hub world in Majula, which has one of the most beautiful ambient themes you'll find in a video game, but outside of that you're travelling via bonfire or mysterious teleportation to areas far outside the reaches of your central hub. These areas weren't all sunshine and rainbows (The Lost Bastille, The Gutter etc) but were varied and quite seperate from one another in atmosphere and vibe. I liked the Land of the Fallen Giants as an initial area as it felt distinctly Dark Souls with its luscious greenery and decayed medieval architecture. As the game goes on you get more fantasy with the Dragon's Aerie, Shrine of Amala, and DLC areas. It's this intricacy and care that Fromsoft puts into creating its levels that are always a captivating part of their games, and with DS2 this was no different.
I once again was a fan of the enemy/boss design throughout the game from an artistic standpoint. The way these enemies are designed to fit in with the mysteriously rich lore of the series as well as their degree of difficulty is pretty dang cool. Though I had issues with a large number of boss battles in this game (more to come later,) I enjoyed a few of the one on one battles I had with humanoid bosses... that much like the last DLC boss from DS1 felt like a true duel of skill and vigor.
Where I start to depart from liking Dark Souls 2 is when I actually sit back and ponder about the "Dark Souls" elements of the game, aka the stuff that sends your brain into a fritz upon contact. The first issue I had with DS2 that I rectified almost immediately was the forced HP % Cutoff on death as a part of the hollowing. I understand that hollowing is a key piece of Dark Souls lore and a major aspect of the first game, but I think they did it well enough in DS1 in that it just gated you off from some content like NPC Summons. I didn't love it, but I guess that was a compromise I just said "yeah okay" with, much better than the HP Halving of Demon Souls upon death. Unlike Demon Souls though, Dark Souls 2 doesn't alleviate your HP issues when you kill the area boss, but rather if you burn an item. The issue with this concept is the eternal "phoenix down" conundrum, you'll be dying quiiiiiite a bit (it's a Fromsoft game after all,) so what is the best time to burn your human effigy? You can make a list of rules for yourself to use it after a certain % of HP Loss but man, there were times where I'd die over and over again in runbacks to a boss or item and DID NOT want to mess with that. If you want to disregard my review because I used a script that removed this mechanic, then feel free, but I liked to call it "DS1 Mode" and it saved my remaining enjoyment for the game.
Souls games have a notoriety for being "difficult" and wherein does that difficulty lie? In my experience its usually not with the bosses, who do prove to be an issue from time to time (and especially as the series ages,) but rather in the frustrating set of hallways, crevaces, paths, and ramps one must conquer on route ot their next bonfire or boss are absolutely brutal. There were a few moments where I was in genuine disbelief, particularly in the Sunken King DLC's first forray into the tower and then also in the area that houses the Smelter Demon. I get there being a reason to punish the player for playing in a manner that is overtly aggressive and non-patient but man... having to patiently wait through encounters one by one by one by one forever to get to a boss who may kill you in two hits because of some errant mistake you made all to have to do it again is simply bad design.
Speaking of getting hit, another one of my chief complaints... why are i-frames in a roll tied to a stat??? I was shocked when I attempted to roll out of combat against an enemy early in the game, leading me to frustratingly google "does rolling suck in DS2" only to be met with commenters providing the answer: it's tied to your adaptability stat. This is just puzzling, and I'm quite confused as to why it's even a mechanic at all? it feels like a pointless stat to level just to get your character to feel slightly good moving in a series where rolling is as important as it is. Combat otherwise was... okay, I went my typical strength build and didn't have too hard of a time against normal enemies or bosses but there were some moments of frustration later on in the game (those crystal porcupine enemies in the Ivory King dlc for example.) I had a +10 Great Club and Broadsword, and I liked having to swap them for certain encounters. Humanoid bosses that I had to react fast against, I'd use my quick sword... for larger bosses and world enemies, my great club. That was neat. What wasn't neat was when I was fighting a few bosses (Sunken King DLC especially) and was slapped with a hastened weapon degredation mechanic... literally why? Why reveal this to the player midway through a fight? I had a backup weapon but because the series doesn't allow for pausing, I'd perish trying to make the quick inventory swap in between boss moves. Other issues I had with combat include not being able to move while using estus flasks (and the general length of doing so,) and the upgraded difficulty in summoning NPC's (felt a little too high of an HP buff to bosses.)
In all, Dark Souls 2 was simply one of the games I've beaten. I'd recommend it to any Souls player who is making their way through Fromsoft's catalog but wouldn't necessarily advise series newcomers to jump straight to it.
I began my Souls journey many a moons ago in 2011 after the release of the original Dark Souls, playing on a friends PS3 and watching them toil and struggle with what was a new formidable experience. Just over a decade later and I've made serious leeway into Fromsoft's renaissance repertoire, completing Demon Souls, Dark Souls 1, Elden Ring, Sekiro, Bloodborne, and now Dark Souls 2. The experience itself has been hit or miss, but I'm afraid I've already played the best effort that they've put forth in Elden Ring, and with each title that go and black from a chronologically retroactive standpoint, they just don't feel good. While I am glad I played Dark Souls 2 and eventually will play 3, I let out an audible "this sucks man" too many times to warrant a higher rating.
The good of DS2 as I'll abbreviate it begins with Fromsoft's legendary level design. Scale isn't the same as it was in the first Dark Souls game, which felt more top to bottom filled with locations and interesting happenings, but rather a more level oriented approach like Demon Souls had. You have your hub world in Majula, which has one of the most beautiful ambient themes you'll find in a video game, but outside of that you're travelling via bonfire or mysterious teleportation to areas far outside the reaches of your central hub. These areas weren't all sunshine and rainbows (The Lost Bastille, The Gutter etc) but were varied and quite seperate from one another in atmosphere and vibe. I liked the Land of the Fallen Giants as an initial area as it felt distinctly Dark Souls with its luscious greenery and decayed medieval architecture. As the game goes on you get more fantasy with the Dragon's Aerie, Shrine of Amala, and DLC areas. It's this intricacy and care that Fromsoft puts into creating its levels that are always a captivating part of their games, and with DS2 this was no different.
I once again was a fan of the enemy/boss design throughout the game from an artistic standpoint. The way these enemies are designed to fit in with the mysteriously rich lore of the series as well as their degree of difficulty is pretty dang cool. Though I had issues with a large number of boss battles in this game (more to come later,) I enjoyed a few of the one on one battles I had with humanoid bosses... that much like the last DLC boss from DS1 felt like a true duel of skill and vigor.
Where I start to depart from liking Dark Souls 2 is when I actually sit back and ponder about the "Dark Souls" elements of the game, aka the stuff that sends your brain into a fritz upon contact. The first issue I had with DS2 that I rectified almost immediately was the forced HP % Cutoff on death as a part of the hollowing. I understand that hollowing is a key piece of Dark Souls lore and a major aspect of the first game, but I think they did it well enough in DS1 in that it just gated you off from some content like NPC Summons. I didn't love it, but I guess that was a compromise I just said "yeah okay" with, much better than the HP Halving of Demon Souls upon death. Unlike Demon Souls though, Dark Souls 2 doesn't alleviate your HP issues when you kill the area boss, but rather if you burn an item. The issue with this concept is the eternal "phoenix down" conundrum, you'll be dying quiiiiiite a bit (it's a Fromsoft game after all,) so what is the best time to burn your human effigy? You can make a list of rules for yourself to use it after a certain % of HP Loss but man, there were times where I'd die over and over again in runbacks to a boss or item and DID NOT want to mess with that. If you want to disregard my review because I used a script that removed this mechanic, then feel free, but I liked to call it "DS1 Mode" and it saved my remaining enjoyment for the game.
Souls games have a notoriety for being "difficult" and wherein does that difficulty lie? In my experience its usually not with the bosses, who do prove to be an issue from time to time (and especially as the series ages,) but rather in the frustrating set of hallways, crevaces, paths, and ramps one must conquer on route ot their next bonfire or boss are absolutely brutal. There were a few moments where I was in genuine disbelief, particularly in the Sunken King DLC's first forray into the tower and then also in the area that houses the Smelter Demon. I get there being a reason to punish the player for playing in a manner that is overtly aggressive and non-patient but man... having to patiently wait through encounters one by one by one by one forever to get to a boss who may kill you in two hits because of some errant mistake you made all to have to do it again is simply bad design.
Speaking of getting hit, another one of my chief complaints... why are i-frames in a roll tied to a stat??? I was shocked when I attempted to roll out of combat against an enemy early in the game, leading me to frustratingly google "does rolling suck in DS2" only to be met with commenters providing the answer: it's tied to your adaptability stat. This is just puzzling, and I'm quite confused as to why it's even a mechanic at all? it feels like a pointless stat to level just to get your character to feel slightly good moving in a series where rolling is as important as it is. Combat otherwise was... okay, I went my typical strength build and didn't have too hard of a time against normal enemies or bosses but there were some moments of frustration later on in the game (those crystal porcupine enemies in the Ivory King dlc for example.) I had a +10 Great Club and Broadsword, and I liked having to swap them for certain encounters. Humanoid bosses that I had to react fast against, I'd use my quick sword... for larger bosses and world enemies, my great club. That was neat. What wasn't neat was when I was fighting a few bosses (Sunken King DLC especially) and was slapped with a hastened weapon degredation mechanic... literally why? Why reveal this to the player midway through a fight? I had a backup weapon but because the series doesn't allow for pausing, I'd perish trying to make the quick inventory swap in between boss moves. Other issues I had with combat include not being able to move while using estus flasks (and the general length of doing so,) and the upgraded difficulty in summoning NPC's (felt a little too high of an HP buff to bosses.)
In all, Dark Souls 2 was simply one of the games I've beaten. I'd recommend it to any Souls player who is making their way through Fromsoft's catalog but wouldn't necessarily advise series newcomers to jump straight to it.