Dark Souls II (PC) Review

By SirLink 20.05.2014

Review for Dark Souls II on PC

Having previously conquered the kingdom of Boletaria in Demon's Souls and the kingdom of Lordran in Dark Souls, Cubed3 finally arrived in Drangleic, the world in which Dark Souls II takes place. While the game is also available on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, this review is based on the PC version. Its predecessor received massive praise from Cubed3, calling it "one of the best and most rewarding RPGs of the last generation". Expectations for the sequel were naturally very high, and while From Software has delivered another outstanding action RPG, it doesn't quite reach the brilliance of the original Dark Souls.

"Long ago, in a walled off land, far to the north,
A great king built a great kingdom.
I believe they called it Drangleic.
Perhaps you're familiar.
No, how could you be.
But one day, you will stand before its decrepit gate.
Without really knowing why…"


This part of the prologue perfectly sets the tone for the adventure that awaits the cursed Hollows who dare to step into the kingdom of Drangleic. The storytelling once again favours a more indirect approach, with cut-scenes that are typically only used to introduce major bosses and plenty of lore to dig up by talking to NPCs and reading item descriptions.

It's not just this aspect where Dark Souls stays true to its roots, either. Some attempts at rebalancing the series work better than others, but at its core, it still offers a lengthy journey through a relatively open world, with many dangerous enemies, bosses and environmental hazards to overcome.

Screenshot for Dark Souls II on PC

Some changes to the formula have been made in this instalment, some of which are actually reminiscent of Demon's Souls. First off, each death now affects the overall maximum HP again, but instead of dropping to 50% instantly, it will gradually drop all the way down to 50%, or 75% with a specific ring equipped. This makes deaths bring more of a consequence with them, even when few souls - that could be lost upon dying consecutively without making it back to the bloodstain - are involved. Human effigies can be consumed to both regain all lost maximum HP and enable the summoning of helpful phantoms.

A change that doesn't work as well is how the crucial Estus Flasks are handled. Only one of them is in the protagonist's possession at the start and any additional flasks have to be found throughout the world, as opposed to having a minimum of five at each bonfire, with the option to gain more by kindling it. The feeling of discovering one is great - imagine finding a full heart container in a random chest in The Legend of Zelda - but it actually makes the early areas more difficult than some later ones, simply because of a lack of Estus Flasks to keep oneself alive. There are newly added Lifegems to mitigate this, but they don't get refilled at a bonfire and only restore HP very slowly. It's not a huge deal, but the approach of its predecessor simply worked better, and it could have been avoided by having a higher initial amount of flasks, perhaps three to five.

The same could be said about how levelling up can no longer be done at any bonfire. Instead, a specific NPC has to be visited in the hub area called Majula. Again, it's not a big issue, partially because it's possible to teleport between bonfires from the start, but it feels like the developers tried to pander to fans of Demon's Souls with this change, as it had the Nexus that served a similar function. What has improved with each successive game, though, is the weapon upgrade system. It still works largely the same, but required materials have been even more streamlined to a single material type, instead of one for each special kind of upgrade tree, such as Raw or Magic. These are now called infusions and only require a single, albeit rarer, stone to apply the effect to a weapon, regardless of its overall upgrade level.

Screenshot for Dark Souls II on PC

Some avid fans of the series may be experienced and skilled enough by now to have an easier time than others. Luckily, there are two good ways to make the game harder, if so desired. Joining a covenant available right away in Majula will make all enemies more powerful and also prevent the use of online co-operative play. Additionally, a specific consumable item can be used at a bonfire to increase its intensity, essentially permanently raising the difficulty of the area tied to the affected bonfire by one level, from the standard to New Game+ and so on. This can also be handy to farm bosses and enemies that aren't spawning anymore or get early access to some - but not all - things that are only available in higher New Game+ playthroughs.

Those who fancied changing up their play style without much hassle in past games will be very pleased by the addition of Soul Vessels, several of which can be obtained in a single playthrough. This item allows the reallocation of all gained levels and makes it possible to completely change the build of a character. For example, a character purely focused on close combat could quickly become a deadly magic user, attacking foes with powerful spells from afar.

Screenshot for Dark Souls II on PC

Drangleic offers many different areas that are full of secrets and have to be conquered in order to reach the area bosses. The overall boss variety isn't quite as good as in Dark Souls, but there are still several of them that stand out. Jolly co-operation with others is still as fun as ever and it's even easier to summon help for a tough fight, as the new human effigies can be consumed directly in front of the boss fog gate, instead of only at bonfires, to turn human.

There are several covenants that can be joined, and most of them are geared towards 'Player versus Player' combat. The only covenant that's for co-operative play is the Heirs of the Sun covenant, the name of which should sound familiar to fans of the previous game. The addition of being able to change character builds and the massive variety of spells - including the new Hexes - make 'Player versus Player' combat more appealing than ever before.

Screenshot for Dark Souls II on PC

Cubed3 Rating

9/10
Rated 9 out of 10

Exceptional - Gold Award

Rated 9 out of 10

Ultimately, Dark Souls II adds a lot of new features to the formula, but can't quite manage to match the brilliance of the original Dark Souls. What it does provide, though, is still a challenging and highly entertaining journey through the desolate world of Drangleic, one that is most definitely worth experiencing for fans of the genre. With this likely being the last game in the series to also appear on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, it's certainly exciting to think about the future of the franchise and what From Software could achieve on newer hardware, along with all the lessons learned from this game.

Developer

From Software

Publisher

Namco Bandai

Genre

Real Time RPG

Players

1

C3 Score

Rated $score out of 10  9/10

Reader Score

Rated $score out of 10  0 (0 Votes)

European release date Out now   North America release date Out now   Japan release date Out now   Australian release date Out now   

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