Dark Souls II: Are you ready to be hollow again?

[W8taminute]

Dark Souls II review
As played on the XBOX360
Total playing time as of the writing of this review = 1H10M


Last year I had the pleasure of being introduced to a game called Dark Souls.  An rpg type game unlike any other I've tried before.  I took a liking to it almost immediately and when I heard that Dark Souls II was available for pre-order I rushed to my nearest video game monger and plopped down 5 bucks to reserve a copy.  Yesterday Dark Souls 2 was released in North America.  (The game will release in Europe this Friday)

I rushed out the door that day and got my Black Armor copy being held for me.  The Black Armor copy has some additional weapons and armor that is not included in the base game.  So here are my initial impressions.

This game plays very much like the first installment did.  Veterans of Dark Souls will immediately be able to play Dark Souls 2 and feel right at home.  Those who have not tried Dark Souls before will be gently eased into the game before meeting gruesome death after death Dark Souls style.  Dark Souls does not come with a tutorial on how to play but the initial 40 minutes or so of play time allows you to explore the world of Dark Souls without facing too many dangers at first.  There are a few enemies to kill once you get past a certain point which I will not spoil for you here.  Those enemies however should be no problem for a veteran and only a moderate challenge for a newcomer. 

The story is well done so far and it has you starting out as a cursed being who falls into a realm where being hollow/undead is a life where you thirst after souls in order to thrive.  When you wake up in this world you are unarmed and unarmored and you will notice that there are some small creatures that look very tempting.  I would advise not fighting them though at this point.  You will die as I did and unlock an achievement called 'This is Dark Souls', which by the way brought a big grin to my face.  If you're a veteran of Dark Souls you'll understand why.  ;)

Character creation offers a bit more options to tweak than the first version gave but you're still kind of limited in what you are going to look like.  What you can do now though is customize your hair, eye, skin, and beard color.  You can also adjust your body style and face somewhat like you can do in Skyrim.  You can even choose a name for yourself.  There are some new classes to choose from now too.  The class I chose was the 'Warrior' who is slightly stronger than a Knight but not as intelligent.  There are also magic users and stealthy classes to choose from if that is what you prefer. 

I avoided some nasty looking beasts and proceeded to a city area of the world, the first major stop in this game.  The visuals are gorgeous even on a last gen console.  The world in Dark Souls II is quite different visually than the world in Dark Souls.  By accident I discovered a hidden path which lead me to a heavily forested area and it is here where I stopped playing.  There are quite a few enemies of unknown strength here and I needed to take a break anyway.  So I decided to write up this review while I catch my breath.

If you've never played Dark Souls before you don't have to worry about not understanding what's happening in Dark Souls II.  The two games may play similarly but the environment and story are completely different from each other.  Dark Souls II in my opinion is a worthy last gen game for that last hurrah before completely entering the new generation of console goodness.  I highly recommend this game.

[Grimnirsson]

May your many deaths be quick and not too painful :)

I suppose I'll start as a Knight again as I did in DS1.

[W8taminute]

May your many deaths be quick and not too painful :)

Most of my deaths so far have been quick and painless.  There is one creature you have the option of fighting a little after the beginning who will make sure your death is slow and very painful however.  Wait until you see him!   :)

I suppose I'll start as a Knight again as I did in DS1.

I thought about being a Knight again as well but the new Warrior class intrigued me.  I hope he fits my style of play.

[Grimnirsson]

I played in the tutorial area for an hour or so yesterday but somehow the Knight didn't feel right. Today in the office I thought about it and I think I will start as a Cleric slowly working to make him a Mystic Knight or in my personal DS2 story a Knights Templar. I decided to be Hugues de Payns, the first Grand Master of the Templars. He's now in that cursed and desperate land although he thought he would certainly end up in heaven after death...big mistake it seems, he's a hollow now in what seems to be hell. But he's still a man of faith and a soldier of The Order, so he will bring salvation to the lost souls and creatures in the kingdom of Drangleic...by putting them out of their unholy misery ;)

Yeah, I think that's my story for this journey.

What about yours? :)

[W8taminute]

That sounds awesome Grim!  I'm going to have to think about who my character is and what his story is but you've inspired me!

[Yskonyn]

I started as a Knight too, but I find myself too short on stamina to hit even a three slash combo after one dodge.
The Sword master looks and sounds very cool. I think he might fit my 'stamina heavy' style more. DS1 I always played with Sword and Shield though, so I am not entirely sure yet.
But the Knight does feel a bit clunky, in my hands at least. :)

What a magnificent intro movie the game has btw! Truely epic and sets the grim mood for the game perfectly. I just LOVE the style and world of the Souls games.

Minor spoiler: was anyone able to interact with the Knight sitting next to the tree where the undead mob roams about the pit where you leave the forrest and enter the fortress in the forrest of the fallen area (I believe it is called?)?

And a question about the spellcasters? How do you prepare for a run? With the spells having only limited use (at least at first; perhaps they grow in uses later?) it seems you are also dependent on weapons, true?
Is it possible to create a healing Cleric with item heal back-up?

[Grimnirsson]

What a magnificent intro movie the game has btw! Truely epic and sets the grim mood for the game perfectly. I just LOVE the style and world of the Souls games.

My feelings exactly :) I have watched the intro several times because of the perfect mood of despair and feeling lost. That melting face of the women before he could even touch her...just the intro movie to this game is better than many other games out there ;)

Minor spoiler: was anyone able to interact with the Knight sitting next to the tree where the undead mob roams about the pit where you leave the forrest and enter the fortress in the forrest of the fallen area (I believe it is called?)?

No and I don't want to attack him. Since in the Souls games you can often attack and kill these NPCs realising later that it was a bad idea, I will let him sit there :)

And a question about the spellcasters? How do you prepare for a run? With the spells having only limited use (at least at first; perhaps they grow in uses later?) it seems you are also dependent on weapons, true?

You mean the Sorcerer. Yes, these characters of course need some weapon, because in the beginning the 30 Soul Arrows won't last that long. But a Sorcerer has it easier in the beginning because of the ranged attacks.

Is it possible to create a healing Cleric with item heal back-up?

It's possible and not a bad idea either. The Cleric with Healing Wares could explore the world in the early stages without much problems a lot further than any other class since he would have 1 Estus Flask (after speaking with the Emerald Herald), 20 Life Gems, 3 Radiant Lifegem, 1 Old Radiant Lifegem and 3 Healing Spells.

My Cleric has the Petrified Something as a gift, because as a Cleric he was intrigued by the mystery around it.

Looking forward to sharing stories and tips in this thread here :)

Praise the Sun!

[Gusington]

Sorry to barge in here. I tried out the original Dark Souls on PC and after about 62 minutes of getting my arse handed to me, gave up in frustration. Seeing the rave reviews everywhere makes me really want to try again. Any suggestions? Sorry for the semi OT.

[Yskonyn]

Take a Warrior. (Sword and Shield is the way to go for beginners)
Take your time and do not rush.
Learn to Block in time (be sure to equip a shield with the highest physical damage Block at first, perferably as close to 100 as you can get)
Learn to Riposte (fend off an attack by waving with a shield or weapon in time so the enemy staggers and you follow up with a quick attack that crits)
Do NOT rush.
Stay in the tutorial area to practise and keep All your items on respawn (DS2) or stay in the Undead Burg (DS1) until you are proficient with your weapons and defense moves.
Farm Souls in the mean time.
Take your time.
Take your time and most importantly;
Take your time. :D


I have restarted as a Swordman. I like his quick moves! Found out that the plunge attack only works when taking one of the swords in two hands. Actually makes sense.
Blocking is hard with a two hander though, impossible when dual-wielding.

I also found the big ass beast in Betwixt next to the old Fire Keepers' hut. O_O

[Gusington]

^Did you play on PC? Once I reinstall I see that it is recommended to install the DSfix:

http://www.nexusmods.com/darksouls/mods/19/?

[Yskonyn]

What do you guys think of the symbolism in the game?
I believe the 'story' can be explained in different ways.
What do you think the Fire symbolises? What about the link between time, being Hollow and having Humanity. What does the journey you undertake mean? Why do you do it?

I think the intro movie of 2 sheds some light on things if you played DS1.
While its not definitive, my theory is that you play a human being who is on the brink of death, his journey the dangerous Path to Paradise and every time you become Hollow you loose more grip on your Flame of life.
The bonfires symbolise your link with Humanity, life force. And every time you heal or upgrade you are one step closer to the Ultimate form of Humanity; revival.
Ultimately its a story about the schism between Living and (if you give up) dying, or -when you finish the game- still dying, but with a peaceful soul instead of a tormented restless one.

Gus, no I play on X360. Be sure to use a gamepad if you play on PC!

[Grimnirsson]

Gus,

the game is only frustrating if you don't respect it as a totally different game experience, expecting a normal action rpg or something and playing it like the games you are used to. It is not an easy game, but it is not the superduper hyper difficult monster some people say it is - but it is an absolutely unforgiving game. If you take your time and you don't make serious mistakes you'll be fine...but if you make a mistake, the game will punish you instantly. There is no other game like this (or these, since it's a game series) and you will not find such a game experience elsewhere (except in one of the other Souls games).

And play it with a pad as was already said - you need absolute control and a certain merging with your in-game character, your hands must become the hands of your character in the game. This is not possible with the mouse point & click controls of a PC game imo.

If you have a console, play it on that on the big HDTV and enjoy a game experience like no other. :)

[Jarhead0331]

I simply cannot get the game to run on my PC no matter what I try or do. I know it is a GFWL problem, but I just can't get past the problem. Reinstalling the GFWL client does not seem to help. Very annoying.

[Hiimori]

We spent the entire weekend with Dark Souls 2, I played almost 6 hours with my first character, then decided to start all over again...

In DS1, I started with Sorcerer Lucius, who was great in the beginning (the soul arrows were really cool because they allowed me to keep my distance from the enemies in the Undead Burg), but he began to fail during mid-game when the Soul arrows became to weak, but I didn't manage to find better spells. After 25 hours, I dropped him and started all over again with a Ranger. The DEX character with bow and poison arrows plus Lightning spear worked perfectly for me and he became really badass.

So in DS2, my natural choice was the Bandit (since there isn't a Ranger class anymore) because he has high DEX, starts equipped with a bow and didn't waste any points on INT (which I don't need anyway because I avoid magic since Lucius' failure in DS1).

As a backstory, I built a former Roman senator who became a Haruspex, a reader of entrails. The plan was to kill my enemies with bow and axe and then to read their entrails afterwards, so I named him Haruspex. Here's a picture of him:



Then, I did many stupid things. First, I wasted all my arrows. I shot the first three of my 20 arrows inside the witches' hut. Then I tried to kill the fat Cyclops in the tutorial area with my bow, brought him down to 10% and then became cocky and decided to finish him with my axe. Result: I died. Then I died again. Then I used up several of my 10 Lifegems.

I then got my first Estus Flask, did some farming and then, when I finally reached the Forest of Giants, I didn't have any arrows left, I didn't have any lifegems left, and I had only 1 Estus Flask, so I never reached the next bonfire. I was so horribly out of supply that I didn't know how to continue.

The Bandit's stats where cool (high vitality, high dex), but since my initial plan was to start with a bow (and I played the first 6 hours without a single arrow), and didn't have any chance to heal myself more than once, I wasn't very happy with him.

The next day, I started all over again. This time, I did something very bizarre. I didn't take the bandit again, despite the fact that I will most certainly go for a strong DEX build again, but took the class which is considered to be the worst and most useless one: the Explorer. I simply didn't want to run out of supply again. And in DS2, it's all about your starting options, you can develop any class into any direction.

We had watched the Tudors Season 2 this evening, so I decided to go for Sir Thomas More this time, who had just died on the scaffold. After being executed by orders of Henry VIII, he was sent to the Limbo. Surprised that he didn't reach neither hell, heaven, nor purgatory, he now has to fight his way through the underworld as an Undead, trying the reclaim his soul.



I chose the Explorer because he has a ton of starting items, like healing items, Prism stones, a secret key, poison cure etc. In addition, I gave him the healing kit as a starting gift. By now, I'm about 5 hours into the game with him, I advanced far into the Forest of Giants, got the key for the Smith, and have 32 Lifegems as well as some stronger healing potions and 2 Estus.

His attack stats are crappy (but he has high resistances as well as a surprisingly strong armor), so I'm currently raising his STR and DEX. In the beginning, he's only equipped with a dagger, which is also quite difficult (but fits to my fast and mobile playing style). But by now, my stats are high enough, so I just switched to a short sword. I feel much safer and more comfortable with him than with the Bandit, and I think the Explorer is quite cool. I especially like his weird outfit.

I think starting with a ton of equipment instead of perfect stats is a legitimate alternative in DS. The Bandit's stats were much better, but they were worthless without arrows and without any healing options. Now Sir Thomas More will fight his way through the Tartarus!

[Jarhead0331]

OMG. I finally got it to work. Funny how Games for Windows doesn't really work with windows. Go figure.

EDIT: Damn it! Now its crashing after the intro video. Well, at least I know its not a GFWLive problem. What a piece of garbage. I probably won't even like the game.