Dark Souls II

Dark Souls II

Cover artwork depicting the game's protagonist
Developer(s) FromSoftware
Publisher(s)

Bandai Namco Games

  • JP FromSoftware
Director(s) Tomohiro Shibuya
Yui Tanimura
Producer(s) Masanori Takeuchi
Designer(s) Naotoshi Zin
Programmer(s) Yoshitaka Suzuki
Artist(s) Keiichiro Ogawa
Composer(s) Motoi Sakuraba
Yuka Kitamura
Series Souls
Platform(s) PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, Xbox One
Release date(s)
Genre(s) Action role-playing
Mode(s) Single-player, multiplayer

Dark Souls II (ダークソウルII Dāku Sōru Tsū) is an action role-playing video game developed by FromSoftware and published by Bandai Namco Games. The third game in the Souls series, Dark Souls II was released for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360.

Although both are set in the same world, there is no direct story connection between Dark Souls and Dark Souls II.[4] The game uses dedicated multiplayer servers.[4] Taking place in the world of Drangleic, the game features both player versus environment (PvE) and player versus player (PvP) play, in addition to having some co-op components. As in the earlier games in the series, it again features challenging gameplay, but with a more powerful graphics engine and more advanced AI system.

After some initial delays, the game was released worldwide in March 2014, with the Microsoft Windows version being released on April 24, 2014.[3][5] An updated version of the game, Dark Souls II: Scholar of the First Sin, was released in April 2015. The title is a compilation of the original game and its downloadable content, and also encompasses a remastered port of the game for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Windows with upgraded graphics, expanded online multiplayer capacity, and other various changes. A sequel, Dark Souls III, was released in 2016.

Gameplay

Gameplay from Crown of the Ivory King (trailer)

Dark Souls II retains similar mechanics from its predecessors in the Souls series. Being known for its unforgiving difficulty, both bosses and standard enemies have the potential to kill the player in only a few hits.[6] Unskillful play is punished severely by most enemies, opportunities for recovering health are limited, and as in Demon's Souls, each time upon death, the player's maximum health is reduced (to a certain lower limit) until the player expends a rare item to reverse it. The game uses a form of joint currency called "souls", which are used as both experience points for leveling up and as "money" for purchasing items from shops. Upon death, the player's entire collection of souls are dropped; the player can recover their dropped souls by returning to the spot where they died, but if they die before picking them up, the souls are permanently lost.

Multiplayer in Dark Souls II is the same format as its predecessors; players have the choice between co-operative play in the form of being "summoned" into another player's game world, or player-versus-player through "invading" other worlds. Both forms of multiplayer occur pseudo-randomly, although matchmaking formulas are used to pair characters at similar levels together.

Dark Souls II allows the game's difficulty to be adjusted by mechanics built into the game. The game designers placed powerful items early in the game allowing newer players higher basic damage and defense than they would normally have at that point. For more experienced players, the designers placed higher skill cap items early that do more damage if executed correctly.[6] Other penalties, such as the health reduction on death, can be significantly reduced with certain items. This allows the player to set the game's difficulty based on their experiences with the game, rather than through a menu option.[6]

Similar to other games in the series, Dark Souls II features a New Game Plus mode. The initial replay is named "NG+", with subsequent replays named "NG++" and continuing until "NG+7" is reached. With each replay the player will retain their levels, souls, and most items.[7]

Plot

The story of Dark Souls II begins with a human who is to become a Hollow, a zombie-like being, after dying. To break this, the undead travels to the fallen kingdom of Drangleic and is tasked by the Emerald Herald with obtaining four Great Souls from other powerful undead. Once obtained, the Emerald Herald directs the undead to "Seek the King" in the capital. After fighting through the remains of the royal guards, the player encounters the Queen Nashandra, who reveals that the king failed in his duty and fled his kingdom long ago. She asks the protagonist to slay the king and bring his signet ring to her.

Near the end of the Queen's quest, the player learns that the ruin of the kingdom was in fact caused by Nashandra. She came to the king and deceived him into launching an ill fated invasion across the sea into the lands of the Giants. She coveted their souls and sought to steal their power. Though the raid succeeded in stealing the Giant's power, the Ashen Mist Heart, the Giants retaliated. Invading Drangleic, the Giants eventually destroyed the kingdom. With his kingdom in ruins, the king discovered Nashandra's true purpose and locked himself inside the Undead Crypt.

Confronting the Emerald Herald one final time, she states that Nashandra is a fragment of Manus, holder of the Dark Soul. She asks the protagonist to put Nashandra to rest and link the fire. At the same time Aldia, the king's brother, is trying to help the protagonist understand that there might be another way, a way out of the cycle of light and dark.

The downloadable content Special Edition slightly changes the ending. The player is instead given a choice, the player can either link the fire, restarting the Age of Fire, and repeating the cycle; or the player can walk away, as they have now collected the four crowns, and can resist the effects of Hollowing, and follow their own, unknown path, beyond light or dark, effectively ending the cycle.

Development and release

Launch event in San Francisco

Dark Souls II was announced at the Spike Video Game Awards on December 7, 2012.[8][9] Hidetaka Miyazaki, who served as director on the two earlier games in the series, Demon's Souls and Dark Souls,[10] acted as a supervisor, while the game was directed by Tomohiro Shibuya and Yui Tanimura.[10]

Dark Souls II features gameplay mechanics similar to its predecessor; Shibuya stated that he had no intention of changing the controls. The game features a whole new world, with many weapons that are used to fight the monsters in the game.[11] Covenants, a feature in the original Dark Souls, that allowed the player to align with different factions, make a reappearance, though easier to understand and more accessible.[11] The game world is roughly the same size as in Dark Souls, though content density is much richer, and gives players more freedom in how to progress, with the beginning of the game more accessible to newcomers.[12] The game retains the challenging gameplay known to the original, as Tanimura, explained: "We do not plan on having an Easy Mode since we are creating this game with a thought that challenge and difficulty are core elements of the game."[13]

The development team utilized a more powerful graphics engine for the sequel.[14] New challenges, adding to the series' documented difficulty level, were also added.[14][15] The game features a more advanced AI system, that allows enemies to react to a wider range of actions by the player.[15]

On September 19, 2013, an announcement regarding the delay of the PC version was made by the game's director Yui Tanimura. He explained that the delay was necessary to ensure an optimal version of Dark Souls II on PC.[16]

Bandai Namco producer Takeshi Miyazoe originally stated in December 2013 that he did not expect there to be downloadable content (DLC) for Dark Souls II. Despite that, in an interview in January 2014, he said that there is definitely potential for DLC for Dark Souls II and that fan feedback is key.[17] On June 4, 2014, FromSoftware announced a trilogy of DLC collectively known as "The Lost Crowns". The first of these, titled Crown of the Sunken King, was released on July 22, 2014.[18] The second, Crown of the Old Iron King, was released on August 26, 2014. The final DLC, Crown of the Ivory King, was slated to be released on September 24, 2014, but was delayed until September 30, 2014 due to unknown reasons. It was then released a day early (September 29) on PC, and a day later (October 1) on PS3.

Scholar of the First Sin edition

On November 25, 2014, Bandai Namco Games announced an updated version of the game, Dark Souls II: Scholar of the First Sin, which was released on April 1, 2015 for PC, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360, along with PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. On all platforms, the game is a compilation of Dark Souls II and its three DLC campaigns. On PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, Scholar of the First Sin also features remastered visuals with more advanced lighting effects, running at 1080p resolution at 60 frames per second on consoles. The re-release also makes changes to the game itself; enemy positions and behaviors have been revised, and the game also supports up to six players in multiplayer scenarios.[19] Its release coincided with patch version 1.10, which was also released for existing versions of the game on February 5, 2015, which included improvements to online play, the addition of the titular Scholar of the First Sin NPC, performance improvements, and adjustments to items and covenants among other changes,[20][21] but didn't fix a long-standing FPS dependent weapon degradation bug, which was fixed for some time by a fan-made unofficial patch.[22]

The existing PC version of Dark Souls II received the 1.10 patch at no charge; the remastered Scholar of the First Sin edition must be purchased separately, but is available at a discount to existing Dark Souls II owners. The remastered version uses DirectX 11 instead of 9, and save data from the original version is incompatible with it.[20][23][24][25]

Reception

Reception
Aggregate score
AggregatorScore
Metacritic(PC) 91/100[26]
(PS3) 91/100[27]
(X360) 91/100[28][±]
Review scores
PublicationScore
CVG10/10[29]
Edge9/10[30]
Eurogamer9/10 (Italy)[31]
9/10 (Portugal)[32]
10/10 (Spain)[33]
9/10 (UK)[34]
Famitsu37/40[35]
Game Informer9.75/10[36]
Game Revolution[37]
GamesMaster96%[38]
GameSpot9/10[39]
GamesTM9/10[40]
IGN9/10[41]
Joystiq[42]
OPM (UK)9/10[43]
OPM (AU)9/10[44]
Play90%[45]
Polygon9/10[46]
VideoGamer.com10/10[47]
Digital Spy[48]
Metro GameCentral9/10[49]
The Escapist[50]
Awards
PublicationAward
Golden Joystick Award,[51]
4Players,[52] Empire,[53]
Eurogamer,[54] Sky Magazine[55]		Game of the Year
GameTrailers[56]Best Role-Playing Game
Golden Joystick Award[57]Best Gaming Moment (Nomination)

Dark Souls II received critical acclaim. Aggregating review website Metacritic gave the Xbox 360 version 91/100 based on 30 reviews,[28] the PlayStation 3 version 91/100 based on 69 reviews[27] and the Microsoft Windows version 91/100 based on 36 reviews.[26] Reviews for Dark Souls II praised the increase in difficulty, atmosphere, and visuals in the game, seeing it as a large improvement over the first two installments in the series. German magazine M! Games gave it a 90% fresh rating, with their reviewer stating that it took him more than 60 hours to complete.[58] Famitsu reviewed the game with four reviewers giving their opinions, who gave it 9/10/9/9, bringing the total score to 37/40.[35]

IGN's critic Marty Silva gave the game a score of 9/10: "Dark Souls II is a smart, massive, and incredibly rewarding sequel. It’s crammed with deep systems, tense encounters, and enough clever multiplayer and New Game Plus elements to make me want to restart the second I saw the end credits. Not all of the tweaks and additions worked out for the best, the penalty for dying made the game almost unplayable but with such great enemies and levels to fight and explore, Dark Souls II made 60 hours of pain and agony so much fun they flew by in a heartbeat."[41] Daniel Tack of Game Informer gave the game a 9.75 out of 10, stating: "Dark Souls II is an epic adventure from start to finish packed with wondrous environments, imaginative and terrifying foes, and the continual adrenaline-apprehension rush of passing through each fog gate make this title a must-play."[36] Polygon's Phil Kollar also gave it a 9/10, and similarly praised the ambition displayed by the team in creating such a vast RPG universe for the player to explore, the notorious difficulty, and the sense of triumph that comes with eventually defeating the game; he notes that his character died 235 times before completing it.[46]

Despite the almost universal praise, the game was criticized by some reviewers for aspects relating to its unyielding difficulty. In an "alternative take" review, as a newcomer to the series Justin Haywald of GameSpot gave the game a 5/10, claiming that it "too often sacrifices fun, replaces it with tedium, and tries to defend that choice by calling it a challenge."[59] The game was also criticized by the veteran players of the series for being a step backwards from its predecessors. Eric Kain of Forbes described that the flaw of Dark Souls II is that it "fails in almost every way not only to live up to the games that came before it, but to find and establish its own identity".[60]

As of March 2014, the game had shipped 1.2 million copies within the United States and Europe; and according to a 2014 Bandai Namco financial report, the game also sold very well in Brazil.[61][62] As of April 2015, the game has sold over 2.5 million copies worldwide.[63] At the 2014 Golden Joystick Awards, the largest video game award show with over nine million votes cast, Dark Souls II won the 2014 Game of the Year award.[51]

Sequel

Dark Souls III was released in Japan in March 2016, and worldwide in April 2016.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Hillier, Brenna (September 19, 2013). "Dark Souls 2 PS3, Xbox 360 release date set, PC to follow; special editions detailed". VG247. Retrieved October 8, 2013.
  2. ↑ Serrels, Mark (September 19, 2013). "Dark Souls II Has An Australian Release Date (And A New Trailer And A Collector's Edition...)". Kotaku. Retrieved October 8, 2013.
  3. 1 2 Karmali, Luke (2014-03-06). "Dark Souls 2 PC Release Date Announced". IGN. Retrieved 2016-03-11.
  4. 1 2 Gifford, Kevin (December 19, 2012). "Dark Souls 2 developer: If Dark Souls was set in the North Pole, this one would be in the South Pole". Polygon. Retrieved December 19, 2012.
  5. ↑ "'Titanfall' And 'Dark Souls II' Both Launch March 11th". Forbes. Archived from the original on May 24, 2014. Retrieved May 23, 2014.
  6. 1 2 3 "Extra Credits - The True Genius of Dark Souls II - How to Approach Game Difficulty". YouTube. 2014-11-26. Retrieved 2016-03-11.
  7. ↑ Bedford, John (7 April 2014). "Dark Souls 2 - New Game Plus, preparation, differences, boss drops". Eurogamer. Retrieved 25 February 2016. When you restart the game, you'll keep hold of all the levels you acquired in the first playthrough - as well as all of your items and souls - but you'll lose your keys and your Fragrant Branches of Yore
  8. ↑ Clements, Ryan (December 7, 2012). "Dark Souls II Announced". IGN. Retrieved December 9, 2012.
  9. ↑ Kain, Erik (December 8, 2012). "'Dark Souls 2' Announced At VGA 2012 - Coming To Xbox 360, PS3 And PC". Forbes. Retrieved December 9, 2012.
  10. 1 2 "Dark Souls 2 a direct sequel to first title, may not make 2013". VG247. December 15, 2012. Retrieved December 16, 2012.
  11. 1 2 Edge Staff (January 29, 2013). "Dark Souls II: Shibuya on the gameworld, awkwardness and accessibility". Edge. Retrieved March 30, 2013.
  12. ↑ "Dark Souls 2 will be more accessible for series newcomers, may include vehicles".
  13. ↑ Kain, Erik. "No Easy Mode Allowed: An Interview With 'Dark Souls II' Director Yui Tanimura, Plus New Screenshots". Forbes.
  14. 1 2 "Dark Souls 2 Gameplay Reveal - 12 Minute Demo - IGN Video". Ign.com. 2013-04-10. Retrieved 2016-03-11.
  15. 1 2 Roberts, David (2014-09-11). "Official Xbox Magazine | GamesRadar". Oxm.co.uk. Retrieved 2016-03-11.
  16. ↑ Robinson, Martin (2013-09-19). "Dark Souls 2 out on March 14, PC version to follow •". Eurogamer.net. Retrieved 2016-03-11.
  17. ↑ Houghton, David (2014-09-11). "Xbox Games, News & Reviews | GamesRadar". Totalxbox.com. Retrieved 2016-03-11.
  18. ↑ "Dark Souls 2 could have DLC after all, depending on fan feedback". Joystiq.com. 2014-02-01. Retrieved 2016-03-11.
  19. ↑ "Dark Souls II: Scholar of the First Sin Brings "New Game Plus" to the Next Level". USGamer. Retrieved 22 April 2015.
  20. 1 2 "Massive Dark Souls 2 patch introduces the Scholar of the First Sin Feb. 5". Polygon. Retrieved 9 April 2015.
  21. ↑ "Dark Souls 2 next-gen will run at 60fps/1080p". Eurogamer. Retrieved 22 April 2015.
  22. ↑ Klepek, Patrick. "Annoying Dark Souls 2 Glitch Has Gone Unfixed For Nearly A Year". Kotaku. There’s no excuse for the durability bug to be part of Scholar of the First Sin. It’s not limited to the PC version, either. The PlayStation 4 and Xbox One versions run at 60 frames-per-second. FromSoftware and Bandai Namco have not yet responded to my request for comment. You might not be surprised to learn that fans have decided to rescue the game again, however. DS2fix removes the durability bug from the game, in addition to addressing a few other issues.
  23. ↑ "Dark Souls 2: Scholar of the First Sin is out". PC Gamer. Retrieved 9 April 2015.
  24. ↑ "Dark Souls II PC owners will have to buy again to get all of Scholar of the First Sin upgrades". MCV. Retrieved 26 November 2014.
  25. ↑ "Dark Souls II Coming to Xbox One, PS4 Next Year". IGN. Retrieved 25 November 2014.
  26. 1 2 "Dark Souls II for PC Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved April 25, 2014.
  27. 1 2 "Dark Souls II for PlayStation 3 Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved March 11, 2014.
  28. 1 2 "Dark Souls II for Xbox 360 Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved March 11, 2014.
  29. ↑ "Dark Souls 2 review - CVG". Web.archive.org. 2014-11-28. Archived from the original on November 28, 2014. Retrieved 2016-03-11.
  30. ↑ "Dark Souls II review | Edge Online". Web.archive.org. 2014-03-15. Archived from the original on March 15, 2014. Retrieved 2016-03-11.
  31. ↑ "Dark Souls II - review •". Eurogamer.it. 2014-03-11. Retrieved 2016-03-11.
  32. ↑ "Dark Souls 2 - Anрlise • Página 1 •". Eurogamer.pt. 2012-01-20. Retrieved 2016-03-11.
  33. ↑ "Análisis de Dark Souls 2 •". Eurogamer.es. 2012-01-20. Retrieved 2016-03-11.
  34. ↑ Bramwell, Tom (2014-03-11). "Dark Souls 2 review •". Eurogamer.net. Retrieved 2016-03-11.
  35. 1 2 Antony Seeto, Damian (March 5, 2014). "Famitsu’s Dark Souls 2 Review Scores Big". Just Push Start. Retrieved March 5, 2014.
  36. 1 2 Tack, Daniel (March 10, 2014). "Praise the Fun - Dark Souls II". Game Informer. Retrieved March 10, 2014.
  37. ↑ "Dark Souls II Review". Gamerevolution.com. 2014-04-24. Retrieved 2016-03-11.
  38. ↑ GamesMaster, May 2014, page 55
  39. ↑ by Kevin VanOrd on March 10, 2014 (2014-03-10). "Dark Souls II Review". GameSpot. Retrieved 2016-03-11.
  40. ↑ "Dark Souls 2 review | Videogames Magazine - gamesTM - Official Website". Web.archive.org. Archived from the original on March 15, 2014. Retrieved 2016-03-11.
  41. 1 2 Sliva, Marty (March 10, 2014). "Dark Souls 2 Review". IGN. Retrieved March 10, 2014.
  42. ↑ Kubba, Sinan (March 14, 2014). "Dark Souls 2 review: Death becomes you". Joystiq. Retrieved March 14, 2014.
  43. ↑ "Dark Souls 2 PS3 review - Things to do in Drangleic when you're undead - Page 2 of 2 | Official PlayStation Magazine". Web.archive.org. 2014-03-13. Archived from the original on March 13, 2014. Retrieved 2016-03-11.
  44. ↑ Playstation Official Magazine Australia, April 2014, page 74
  45. ↑ "Dark Souls 2 Review | PLAY Magazine". Play-mag.co.uk. Retrieved 2016-03-11.
  46. 1 2 Kollar, Philip (March 11, 2014). "Dark Souls 2 Review: Not the End". Polygon. Retrieved March 11, 2014.
  47. ↑ "Dark Souls 2 Review". VideoGamer.com. 2014-03-11. Retrieved 2016-03-11.
  48. ↑ Dransfield, Ian (2014-03-11). "Dark Souls 2 review (PS3): Hardcore, heart-pounding action". Digitalspy.co.uk. Retrieved 2016-03-11.
  49. ↑ "Dark Souls II review – prepare to obsess | Metro News". Metro.co.uk. 2014-03-11. Retrieved 2016-03-11.
  50. ↑ "Dark Souls II Review - Dark Souls Refined | Reviews | The Escapist". Escapistmagazine.com. 2014-03-11. Retrieved 2016-03-11.
  51. 1 2 "Golden Joystick Awards: Winners Announced". Future plc. 2014-10-28. Retrieved 2016-03-11.
  52. ↑ "Spiele des Jahres 2014". 4Players.de. Retrieved 2016-03-11.
  53. ↑ James Dyer (2015-10-09). "The 10 Best Games Of The Year, Feature | Movies - Empire". Empireonline.com. us. Retrieved 2016-03-11.
  54. ↑ "I migliori giochi del 2014, secondo la redazione - articolo •". Eurogamer.it. 2015-01-01. Retrieved 2016-03-11.
  55. ↑ "I migliori videogiochi del 2014". Archived from the original on July 28, 2015. Retrieved September 3, 2015.
  56. ↑ "Best Role-Playing | GameTrailers Best of 2014 Awards Video Gallery". GameTrailers.com. 2014-12-27. Retrieved 2016-03-11.
  57. ↑ McDonald, James. "Golden Joystick 2014 Awards Nominee's Revealed". Lzygmrs.com. Retrieved 2016-03-11.
  58. ↑ Haas, Pete. "Dark Souls 2 Review Says It's The Hardest Action RPG In The World". Gaming Blend. Retrieved March 11, 2014.
  59. ↑ Haywald, Justin (2014-05-11). "Dark Souls II Review". GameSpot. Retrieved 2016-03-11.
  60. ↑ "'Dark Souls II' Final Review: The Trouble With Sequels". Forbes.com. 2014-04-26. Retrieved 2016-03-11.
  61. ↑ May 8, 2014, Financial Highlights for the Fiscal Year Ended March 2014, NAMCO BANDAI Holdings Inc.
  62. ↑ May 7, 2014, Dark Souls II Ships 1.2 Million In U.S. And Europe, Siliconera
  63. ↑ "Dark Souls II Sold Over 2.5 Million Units, Dragon Ball Xenoverse Breaks 2 Million". Siliconera. 2015-04-15. Retrieved 2016-03-11.

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