Destructoid: "Conflicting statements on how the game's story will be told."
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.
And it will happen in the future when he doesn’t touch them as he is planning on.
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 beat them all with my fists and no hits were taken. What do you mean you don't believe me? I used a guitar hero controller!!!
All the bosses are only from Dark Souls. No Bloodborne, Sekiro, Elden Ring, or Demon Souls
I think this has to do with the different outlooks of Tanimura-san and Shibuya-san.
I've heard joked on multiple occasions that Tanimura-san is basically Miyazaki-san in another form. My personal joke is that Tanimura-san can safely replace him because Miyazaki-san "hated himself" so much that he made Demon's Souls and Dark Souls for himself, as a punishment; Tanimura-san just hates everyone else, so the end result is the same.
Obviously he seems like a cool guy, but the way he talks it basically gives the impression that he dislikes when people complain about games being too hard (which I also dislike).
On the other hand, Shibuya-san seems to be somewhat the opposite, and he very much prefers the more streamlined approach rather than the esoteric one preferred by Tanimura-san and Miyazaki-san before him. So for me, following the Dark Souls fandom, there was a long time where Shibuya-san was the one talking to the press a lot and that made past fans nervous, but when Tanimura-san started doing a fair amount of interviews it became clear that this is more a case of the team not all agreeing with each other.
That can work to a game's favor, and smooth off the rough edges of a design that had a strong core but needed to back off somewhat, but it can also work to its detriment if they spend the whole time fighting each other for creative control.