Gameranx: "Character statistics and a leaked video of Dark Souls 2's network beta test has been leaked ahead of its release on the PS3."
Dark Souls 2 remains a divisive entry in the landmark RPG franchise, but Hidetaka Miyazaki believes it led to the success of Elden Ring.
DS2 was fine. While there was a bit of recycling assets or ideas for bosses, it was a bigger more open Dark Souls. The Fume knight boss is one of the hardest bosses in the series until Sekiro and Elden Ring were released.
The problem with Dark Souls 2 was the same problem when a different director takes over for a sequel to an outstanding movie. It typically (there are exceptions) doesn’t have the feel and vision of the previous movie.
I wouldn’t say Dark Souls 2 is terrible. Had Dark Souls 1 never been a thing and we got this, I think it would have been praised more. The problem is it didn’t have the Miyazaki touch to it and felt pretty derivative. The soundtrack is a banger though.
I like DS 2, might even be my favorite of the 3. But it's a hard sell, there's so many obscure things you need to do to make it an enjoyable experience. So always find it hard to recommend, but it is worth the trouble.
TheGamer writes, "Some weapons resist the test of time."
The Nerd Stash: “Whether you’re here to gloat about your victories or to see what the fuss is about, we present to you the hardest bosses in the Souls series.”
i thought DS was perfect i love difficult, rewarding games.
after like a year i stil only got to lvl 350.
Definitely faster paced but im still on the fence on whether or not that is good or bad as i don't want it to feel arcady. The graphics seem to have a boost and i love that the mp seemed to be flawless and no significant frame rate drops.
I better get into the beta!!!!! in N.A.
No reason to get next gen consoles with Dark Souls 2 coming out.
This looks incredible!!. The graphical enhancements look to be pretty significant from the first Dark Souls game. The enemies look far more detailed and their animations and attacks are more complex. I think this looks like it has the potential to be better than the first DS. The enemies and bosses were some of the best things about both Demon and Dark Souls and this has definitely upped the ante. I am looking forward to seeing more of this.
Edit: I am so glad that Motoi Sakuraba is back composing for Dark Souls 2. I was worried at first that they would get someone else to compose since it looked at first like they wanted to change the overall feel of the game but I am now happy to know that is not the case. The music from the boss fight was beautiful and I can't wait to hear more.
Watching some of these videos totally brings my confidence up in the series. It has the atmosphere of demon souls and seems like its smooth like demon souls too while keeping the combat and openness of dark souls (though I still like the nexus a lot). A lot of small things that I like too, such as seeing which item comes next in your hot button and the return of healing items on top of flasks. Menus look better too. Magic is heading back toward the better Demon soul system (just no mana bar). Boss seem to be though about again not only cool looking but it'll take brains and stratagy to win (like demon souls) instead of the hit and run of dark souls
I truly exited for this. Both Demon and Dark Souls were amazing in gameplay, story, level and moster design. This really seems like the happy marriage of both games.