Sparse" is a fine word."The broadest of strokes" is a fine phrase. Both equally describe what we see and are told come our inaugural eyes-on with Dark Souls II.
It begins with a single trailer teased at the end of this year's Namco Bandai Global Gamers Day event last week. It's little more than a minute long, more snapshot slide given the brevity of the clips: a darkened corridor, a bonfire, a quick death. All in game, powered by a new graphics engine, but looking remarkably similar to what's went before. It entices, with elaboration expected at a dedicated presentation and follow up interview later on at the event. We're comforted that there's more to come.
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.”