Dark Souls II

In light of the recently released Dark Souls III, I sat to take a look back and review my time with Dark Souls II. In general, at least till now, every Souls game was a great game and in a league of its own. So when I say Dark Souls II was disappointing, it’s still better than most of what the media offers. And that is the case, DS II was disappointing to some extent; its biggest flaw was the lack of vision.

I said in my review of DS One that the game is a masterpiece; like a great painting, every detail, small or large made sense for both gameplay and narrative. In DS II that isn’t the case; it’s like looking at a phenomenal painting with great details, but some of the details makes no sense. 

When it comes to level design, DS II had some really good levels, even amazing levels but nothing compared to its predecessor, even at large the world is mostly disconnected, unlike DS One; you have to use bonfires to reach most levels. This removed the feel of living breathing world where you can walk travel from beginning to end. 

Even with enemy placements and combinations, DS One was amazingly creative and studied with that aspect. Some enemies clearly held certain positions in the level to present their character at first; so when you see a Black Knight for the first time with his back to you, you rush for a back-stab, little did you know that that motherfucker will kick the living shit out of you, and even chase you, if you decide to run, TO THE END OF THE LEVEL. That sort of great, creative and memorable aspect was missing from DS II.

The bosses are one of the best most satisfying aspects of the Souls series as a whole. The bosses in DS II didn’t lack in numbers, nor design, both visual and gameplay. Most are not that memorable, and they lack, maybe this is a bit of nitpick, an image as a legion, also unlike DS One.

One of the worst aspects of DS II is in the balancing, which highly affected the PVP. The huge arsenal of weapons may be varied, but not balanced. The case ranges also to spells, pyromancies...etc.

In anticipation to DS III, I hope that Dark Souls II was the lowest point in the series’s history. All and all the game is a must, but don’t expect to get the unmatched quality of DS One. What you will get is a sequel that lacks the vision of lead game designer, which is the case here. Now...Ohh DS III finished downloa...