Dark Souls 2: in to the dark

Introduction:

The best thing about Dark Souls II is the fact that not much has changed since the original Dark Souls that came out in 2011. We continue to follow a storyline where we have to light a flame in order for the world not to be taken over by darkness. It is every bit as good as its former Dark Souls, but has much more; With all the choices of weapons, spells, and armour they still gave us the option to praise the sun.

Gameplay:

I had an amazing time playing Dark Souls II with the option of single player and either invading or summoning others; there was never a time where I was bored. On average it’ll take around 50+ hours to finish this action packed game, depending on whether you have a lot of experience or not you might be able to finish the game within 20 hours. The great thing about Dark Souls II is that we get the option to go through the tutorial, or run straight through the tutorial area. Regardless of how hard the game really is, you tend to always be able to make it to the next area.

The developer From Software integrated new features; these can range from no longer having to use humanities at bonfires, to losing a portion of your health every time you die until you use a human effigy (the new humanities). They’ve also implemented options of making the game more difficult by joining the Company of Champions covenant near the main bonfire, and we now also have a death counter where we can see how many times all Dark Souls II players have died.

Playing Dark Souls II bosses and enemies were still familiar to me and gave me a déja vu feeling. The idea of learning all the bosses and enemies move sets once again really intrigued me; this is probably because I had over 300 hours of time played on Dark Souls.

The new PVP combat system will most likely be a major reason many fans buy this game. With the idea of being invaded or invading others dressed as an onion (Siegmeyer of Catarina) or being a dragon will probably make many laugh or scared during PVP. The developer also integrated many new covenants with 5 of the 9 being dedicated to PVP.

Those who buy Dark Souls II will be very happy to find out there’s 80+ spells, over hundreds of weapons, and many different armour sets you can wear. Most importantly there’s 40+ bosses in total. This gives you hundreds of hours worth of game time collecting all items, weapons, spells, and killing all bosses.

The Verdict

Dark Souls II released March 11, 2014 stands out from many other games. The idea of finishing the game and replaying it on a harder level might not intrigue those who aren’t very big fans of the series. But those who enjoy the series will very much enjoy Dark Souls II and experience tons of nostalgia, the new PVP arenas and combat system will cause many to dedicate hours upon hours into the game. I personally won’t forget playing this game at all and will most likely continue to put time into it. 9.6/10

Written by Jason Vukelaj