The hardest game ever made has a sequel. The team at C.O.G. played it and DIED. Check out impressions, screenshots and video inside!
Dark Souls. The name of the game alone strikes fear into the hearts of stalwart gamers across the world. An absolutely punishing experience that on more than one occasion induced fits of controller throwing rage in my living room. It was AWESOME. The team at From Software is back at it again with Dark Souls II and if you thought they might go easy this round you would be mistaken. They are prepared to take you on another frustrating yet immensely rewarding journey. As I sat down with a couple members of the From Software and Namco Bandai team at the recently passed E3 one of them warned me simply with this – Shawn, this game is hard as shit. You might wanna call your mama and say goodbye because you might not make it out alive.
As difficult and frustrating as it is, people should consider reliving the Dark Souls 2 experience, especially because of what's coming to the game.
Many of those who hate Dark Souls II hate it because it's not Dark Souls. The same people love Dark Souls III because it isn't Dark Souls II.
And so many of the issues at the centre of common complaints about DS2 are present in DS3 and sometimes even DS1. The hatred and bile spewed over this perfectly decent game is ludicrous.
I don’t think it’s a terrible game, but like a movie sequel by a different director, for me, it does NOT capture any of the “magic” felt from the Miyazaki entries. Boss battles don’t feel epic, environments don’t have the same sense of awe, the enemy variety isn’t particularly interesting, the art direction just feels bland, about the only thing I can give it praise for is some of the music.
Now, again, this is only how I feel about it, so I’m not trying to invalidate his you feel about the game, but it is the worst entry in the series due to those factors and it’s the least re-visited entry, for me.
Is it decent as a game on its own? Sure. But in comparison to the Miyazaki entries, it does not stack up and I believe that’s where many were disappointed with it.
You can also play it in VR flawlessly on PC & controller with the LukeRoss mod so… another reason to jump back in with extra immersion.
The controls felt very clunky to me, I tried playing it after beating Darksouls 3 and it didn’t feel fluid, obviously the hit detection is less superior for been an older game.
The Smelter Demon is a bombastic boss design that bolsters Dark Souls 2's roster with an experience that updates an older fight's form to function.
Man, I dunno about that. In fact, most boss fights in Dark Souls 2 were forgettable.
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.
... in Dark Souls. It's hard, but FAIR, not frustrating.
Great game.
Hahaha... you're a better man than I!
Well to be fair I don't really controller throw anymore but I've definitely walked away in frustration a few times!
Never wanted to throw my controller while playing demon Souls or Dark Souls. Just makes you try harder and think smarter.
"In an effort to make a punishing game even more punishing though the team decided to make the backstab more of a gamble. It can miss and the consequences can be absolutely devastating."
I really don't like the sound of that.
Dark Souls has never been about gambling and x% to crit. It's purely about skill and technique. To be arbitrarily rewarded for a backstab, yet then I die, respawn, and backstab the exact same enemy at the exact same location, I now instead miss and get killed. That completely goes against everything Dark Souls is.
O well, guess I'll never be backstabbing in DSII.
Still absolutely pumped for this game.