April Edition Live Magazine - April 2014 Issue. | Page 72

review

Dark Souls II
The first Dark Souls was (and still
is) nothing short of a phenomenon.
More than simply “the hardest game
ever”, it was a rewarding game that
addicted and challenged gamers of
all experience levels. Hidetaka Miyazaki announced ‘Dark Souls II’
at the Spike Video Game Awards in
December 2012, and went on to say
that the game would be just as unforgiving as Demon Souls and Dark
Souls, but would be more accessible
and also have multiplayer gameplay.
After much anticipation, Dark Souls
II has finally released. While I was
initially concerned that the game
being “more accessible” meant that
the game would have a drastically
reduced difficulty, I’m happy to say
that Dark Souls II is just as merciless
as the previous Souls games while
being the best possible sequel it

wanderer, cursed with undeath. Being Hollow is a degenerative state,
while it might seem like immortality at first, in actuality it means that
both the victim’s body and mind will
rot, until all that is left is a mindless
zombie, consumed by madness and
constantly pursuing souls to devour.
It is a terrifying fate that should befall
no one.
At the beginning of the game, the
player is introduced to the Firekeepers, a group of strange old women
that aid the player in creating their
character’s appearance and starting class. If you are new to the Souls
games, I would recommend exploring Things Betwixt (the beginning
area) and learning the game’s various controls. Once the player has
reached the end of Things Betwixt,
they can go wherever they wish. Be

Scrolls V: Skyrim, the leveling up
system may seem complicated, but
upon learning what each stat does,
players should have no problem
matching their character builds to
their play style.
Visually, Dark Souls II looks a great
deal better than Demon Souls and
Dark Souls, whilst still retaining that
undeniable Dark Souls look. There
is also (in my personal opinion)
much more variety in the environments and in the game’s monsters/
enemies. I found that in Dark Souls,
the beginning of the game was populated by innumerable zombies and
the occasional knight, the latter of
which had their faces covered up
by helmets. While this helped the
towering knights feel menacing, I’m
glad that there are creatures with
more personality and variety in their

“VISUALLY, DARK SOULS II LOOKS A GREAT DEAL BETTER THAN DEMON SOULS AND
DARK SOULS, WHILST STILL RETAINING THAT UNDENIABLE DARK SOULS LOOK.”
could be. It looks better, plays better,
and has more of a story than Demon
Souls and Dark Souls. Get ready to
be punished all over again gamers,
Souls is back.
Set in the same world as Dark Souls
(though thousands of years apart),
players are once again cast as a

warned, nowhere is friendly, and
death lurks around every corner.
This is what Dark Souls is all about.
Defeating enemies in Dark Souls
II allows you to harvest their souls,
which are used both to level up and
also as currency in the game. Compared to other RPGs like The Elder

visual design present in Dark souls
II. Early cave trolls in the game
wander about their lairs, blinking,
breathing, drooling and moving
about. This might sound rather pedestrian compared to other games,
but it certainly shakes up the feeling of entering room after room in
Dark Souls, only to find yet another

knight standing perfectly still, blocking the only route to go.
I only take issue with a few of Dark
Souls II’s features, as there are
a few things that feel like a step
backward. For one thing, you can
only level up via one Firekeeper at
Majula, the coastal village. In Dark
Souls, players were able to level up
at any bonfire, yet in Dark Souls II,
this is only available through one
particular character in one particular
area. Sure, we now have the benefit of quick travel from the beginning of the game (without the need
to upgrade bonfires), but it does feel
strange to only be able to level up
in Majula.
Another feature that I disagree with
was how the multiplayer was executed. There is no constant multiplayer, and instead multiplayer ends
after you help (or are helped) with
the defeat of a boss. After playing

the game online, the longest you
will play with other people is a few
minutes. It’s only my personal opinion, but I would have liked to two
players to be able to stay together
for as long as they wish, maybe
at the cost of a reduction in sould
earned from defeating enemies. For
the record, the way that multiplayer
has been handled in a much more
“ Dark Souls II way” than the mode
I had been yearning for. It would
have been nice though, what’s that
saying... “misery loves company”?
Dark Souls II takes the brilliant
gameplay, story and atmosphere
from previous Souls games and
manages to both shake them up
and improve upon them. The definitive Souls game, Dark Souls II is
an instant classic which will provide
many hours of entertainment and is
well worth a purchase.

Written by Nick Getley

www.stickytriggerentertainment.com

9/10
PROS
•
•
•

Still challenging, but more
accessible than previous
games
Looks fantastic
Multiplayer!

CONS
•

None