Dark Souls II - Initial Impressions

Originally published June, 2014.

First and foremost, if you are on the fence about purchasing this game and have been a fan of the previous "Souls" games, do not wait to pick it up. Now is the best time to play it while people are putting guides and walkthroughs up on the internet and official word hasn't been spread far and wide to people. It also helps you when you're invaded because you actually have a fighting chance against your invaders while they're still just as new as you.

The only reason you might want to wait is if you are debating on getting the PC version of Dark Souls II. Right now, the PS3 has definitely the inferior version with an inconsistent frame-rate and long load times. If you only have consoles, get 360. If not, with the PC version allowing for easier access to data, some genius modder out there will be able to adjust frame-rates and load times on their own and make an unofficial patch if necessary.

But back on the subject of the game. Dark Souls II is a game worth playing for all the same reasons that make Demon's Souls and Dark Souls great. In my opinion, I don't think it achieves as many of these reasons as well as its predecessors, but it still manages to hold my interest just as well. My early opinion was far less forgiving as the numerous impactful changes to core gameplay mechanics—that had even been in the games since Demon's Souls—made the game far less familiar to me. I kept asking "If it wasn't broke, why'd they fix it?" After clearing a major portion of the game and getting at least toward the home stretch, I've grown to accept and adapt to the changes while still disagreeing with some of them.

Before I break down anything any further about what I like, what I don't like, what I didn't like but grew to like, any anything in between, I'd like to mention that I still haven't finished the game yet. I don't intend on giving away spoilers and will occasionally stay cryptic in the spirit of what the game wants. Also, this a more amateurish view to the experience as I've mostly just been playing the game without digging for treasure, or grinding, or mastering the combat. I've also only been playing a melee focused character with no magic affinity and limited range ability, so filter that into my opinion. Finally, that's all this document is: my opinions as a player. The developers know far better than I their reasons for making the game the way they did and I'm in no position to dispute it.

The Characters

Never has there been a more chatty crowd of characters in a "Souls" game. A majority of the characters you encounter have a lot to say with cycles of dialogue that can circle around, allowing you to pick up a line you may have accidentally skipped before. For once, you won't have to replay the entire game just to hear what the one NPC said you about the whereabouts of a ring. This rule isn't true for all bits of dialogue or characters, but it's nice to have it function better. There are also a lot of characters in this game. I'm not sure if it's more than Dark Souls, but it certainly feels that way, which is fine with me since there is a lot of good voice acting in the game with some very quirky characters.

Just be aware: there will be several instances where an item will be given, or a vender will become available for shopping only after every dialogue option has been exhausted. It forces you to talk to all the characters and get a little more involved in their stories and the stories of the world, which is good. It's not quite the cryptic way it was in Demon's Souls that made every sentence weigh a bit more in its value, but what they have to say is usually interesting in its own way.

The World and Lore

While it's nice to have so many characters to help fill in the lore and story of the world, the world of Dark Souls II is not as interesting as its predecessors'. Lordan, Boleteria, and their outlying lands seemed more interesting than Dranleic (not sure I'm even spelling it right) and its neighboring areas. Even one of the characters says something about how so many kingdoms have come and gone that a name is almost pointless. I tend to agree as I find myself caring a little less about its name or its lore for that matter.

It starts out interesting enough with the flashy CG introduction. While mysterious and ominous enough to grab my curiosity, it lacks the epic foreshadowing of the previous game with legendary heroes who fought against dragons and ushered in a new age only to drift into darkness and obscurity—letting the player know that he or she was going to have to fight these heroes or whatever remained at some point because they wouldn't have disappeared without something terrible happening to them. Nonetheless, the game pulls you in with cryptic talk and legendary tales and soon enough you've met the right people to learn your basic goals of the game.

Unfortunately, I feel like it was still done better in Dark Souls in how they handed you your goals. When you first talk to an NPC, he tells you of the Undead Curse and the Chosen Undead who must ring the bell of awakening to receive a revelation on how to restore the kingdom. When you hear all this crap, you don't know what it means, so whatever. Then you arrive in Lodran and some solemn knight tells you there are two bells of awakening and where. Then you explore and happen across them eventually and ring them. Stuff happens, you have to explore some more. You meet some people who continue talking about the undead curse or legends and various old heroes to tie back into the main story and lore while still driving you forward. Finally, after you've reached the midpoint of the game, the true goal is revealed to you with an alternative option available if you take the necessary steps and you have your motivation to finish the quest.

The story never quite filters out of what the characters are talking about in Dark Souls, but in Dark Souls II there is only one character who discusses it with you and what she has to say doesn't do much to enlighten or motivate. All the characters are more self-centered in their own activities, which is fine because I like to see characterization in games, but the lore of the world suffers as a result.

As for the physical world itself, it's also a bit lacking, in my opinion. There are some initial areas that are creatively crafted and cool-looking, but it there are plenty of other places that have some muddy, blurry, and bland textures or designs. That's a shame because the "Souls" games have always had a strong artistic vision; Dark Souls never stopped surprising me with its variety and creativity. There are some levels that just don't look good or are boring, one of which I spent A LOT of time in. Even the enemies of these areas were not different enough from each other to add a little interest to the levels. When I finally got to the more interesting places, as miserable as they were, it was a welcomed change.

Finally, the world of Dark Souls II is massive. The distance the player travels between places has been greatly increased. The actual levels themselves are not always very big—some are mere pit-stops—but there are a lot of places to see in Dark Souls II and it will take you a while to do so. I've even gotten lost or stuck because I'd forgotten about yet another path I'd opened a long time ago. It makes the fact that fast-travelling is given to you right away because having to run from bonfire to bonfire, like the first half of the original Dark Souls, would take so much longer. As a result, the interconnectivity of the world diminishes a bit. Paths manage to come back around at times, but the map of the land is more like a series of vines growing outward and occasionally intersecting with each other instead of the vines growing inward into a ball with multiple areas leading to others.

The Combat

I loved the combat of Demon's Souls. Dark Souls took that combat and tweaked with some new moves, different weapon animations, and mechanics for spells, while keeping its fundamentals intact. Dark Souls II keeps the changes from its predecessor, but tweaks the fundamentals for a new formula. In my opinion, the tweaks are not for the better. It outright angered me at times as I learned the new mechanics in frustrating scenarios. I had to remind myself that I had the same experience in Demon's Souls and that learning the new mechanics what an intentional desire from the developers for the Dark Souls II experience.

Unfortunately, the changes they made have bigger echoes than just what you character can do, but how enemies behave and essentially how the entire game functions. In a nutshell, everything is slower. Items take much longer to use and put away than ever before, your Estus flask does not refill your health as quickly, and many actions tied to the stamina bar lead to openings that might as well be epitaphs on your grave.

Everything your character does, from drinking an Estus Flask to rolling, is slower. Rolling, while still requiring precise timing, is even stricter here. The quick roll that was so useful has been slowed down enough to replace the medium-speed dodge of the previous games. While still faster that the heavy roll, the timing still feels too strict for it to matter, so being a tank with a slow dodge seemed like a more functional choice.

Some of these changes are fine as they force the player to be more mindful of when to use items and when to roll versus blocking. My main problem with it is how the rest of the game was changed to balance these adjustments: many of the enemies in the game are easier. They still can kill you very easily and I have died countless times, but they're actions are easier to read and exploit than in previous games. It's very common for you to fight something that is slow and lumbering in its attacks to allow you time to recover for the next onslaught. To raise the difficulty a bit, the developers force you to face more enemies at once than ever before. Several big encounters have just been hordes of enemies that swarm and overtake you, because if they were alone, it would be far too easy.

Bosses have also been easy. I like that there are so many of them in this game, as I'm always excited for more boss encounters, but so far there have only been three out of the 15+ I've fought that gave me significant trouble. One was due to the fact that it was not a one on one match. The other two were because they were the of the small handful of bosses that weren't timid or weak enough for you to play in the way every other boss and enemy was designed in this game. Had they been in Dark Souls or Demon's Souls, they would have fit in better and I'd have been better prepared. They might as well have been bosses from different games in how their aggressive behavior didn't give you room to recover. They were both infuriating and exciting experiences because that was what I wanted from the boss fights. I won't go into detail, but there are some one-trick-pony bosses out there that just pissed me off in their simplicity. After having to endure bosses like those of the Artorias of the Abyss DLC, I was disappointed to find some of the bosses so easy.

There are plenty of other little things I could nitpick, but I figure I've said enough already. It's taken me a fair amount of time to completely warm up to Dark Souls II: about 15 hours. I'm an avid fan of Dark Souls and Demon's Souls so I'm biased in my affinity to the previous games and their styles, which makes it hard for me to accept some of the changes to the combat I already loved. However, there are still some cool creatures, characters, and environments to discover along your journey. The art design, while sub-par in certain areas, still manages to shine brightly when it shines. Overall, the game still manages to be fun after I gave it a chance, though I still maintain my disagreements. I will likely be playing it again and again to better understand it's intricacies and, who knows, I may eventually come to think it's better than the others.