Winner: Dark Souls II
Writeup by Robert Steinman:
"It's a testament to the design sensibilities at From Software that, even when playing it mildly safe with the latest installment, Dark Souls II stands out as our Action RPG of the year. The franchise's measured and precise combat made a pretty stellar return last March, tasking players with overcoming a dark and fantastical world teeming with danger and malice. Players were quick to find new strategies and tactics made possible by additional weapon and spell options, and the environments require a great deal of exploration to fully suss out each and every secret. But perhaps the real advancement came with the return of dedicated servers that will, hopefully, keep players coming back to Drangleic for years to come. Dark Souls II demands your attention and commitment in a way few games can possibly match, and you'd do well to take the plunge and accept the fate of a cursed undead."
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.
Via Diablo’s global director of community Adam Fletcher, Blizzard is introducing new measures to improve the quality of season launches in the future. Across both Diablo 4 and the aging Diablo 3, fans of Blizzard’s games should all benefit.
If they didn't let the cellphone guy touch the 3rd one in first place, they wouldn't have to dance around like clowns trying to make money.
We've been asking for less "boring" seasons... "boring"... not "buggy"... same ol' rehashed content just a different color is not working.
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.
