It’s official! The Dark Souls release has begun. Many of you are hungering for information like a Hollow for souls, so let’s (mostly) cut right to it. FextraLife was able to get pre-release copies of the game so we could bring you the official review from the biggest and best Souls community in the world. We’re not going to explain new features. If you’re here you’ve likely devoured that already. Nope. This is a review by fans for fans. This review is with gratitude for the great community that we’ve had the pleasure to be a part of. With that in mind, we interviewed ourselves with the questions below to reflect what we feel is on everyone’s mind. But remember, if this doesn’t satisfy your ravenous desire for Dark Souls II info, the Wiki and Forums surely will!
Let’s start off superficial. The developers have said that they made a new engine for Dark Souls II. How does it look?
Fex: The new graphics look good. I am not into the Souls series for graphics and anyone expecting FFXIII graphics here will be disappointed, but they hold up well. The new animations are fluid and they, thankfully, toned down the wind. I do not like the new gestures though, they seem… corny instead of stoic. Overall a positive change.
Emergence: New engine looks updated, and feels familiar. The lighting improvements are perhaps the biggest change, especially torchlight. Otherwise, it is very much a familiar souls game to me.
Cas: The graphic engine looks slightly worse than Dark Souls IMO.
Skarekrow13: There’s a lot to love with many small details now popping out. There’s a lot more life in the world with clothes being able to move, and grass swaying gently. I’ve even found some head gear with a jaunty plume to show off (it’s EXTREMELY jaunty for the record). This movement and “life” is a great contrast to all the death by the way. Lighting effects really pop with realistic (and sometimes creepy) shadows haunting lit areas. Textures are different than Dark Souls and while I think many will call it a major upgrade the fact remains it feels slightly different. So there’s a chance it won’t be universally loved. Much of the world is brighter in lighting and color palette than Dark Souls, which again could be a change not everyone is thrilled with. But mark my words, when you finally find true darkness it will only be that much more impressive. Wait ’til you see the lighting effects then. *insert evil laughter here*
There’s been a lot of discussion about changes in mechanics such as; enemies no longer respawning indefinitely, critical attack changes, optional “hard modes,” finite Human Effigies, warping etc. Double question FTW, what’s been your experience with these changes and how has it effected the game?
Emergence: It still is too soon to diagnose what the long term effects of the tweaks are, but at the onset they do not dramatically alter the experience. There are some new mechanics and considerations to get used to, but the core of the game is still familiar enough to someone experienced in the series. It hasn’t taken long to assimilate the changes into my gameplay paradigm.
Cas: Honestly I think From has done a great job. You don’t really notice them. The game is hard. You die a lot. I don’t feel bad when enemies don’t respawn. It feels like Dark Souls. I don’t notice them at all.
Skarekrow13: I haven’t had the chance to go hands on with all the changes (such as the “hard mode” items/covenant) but I’ve definitely noticed some. The enemies not spawning indefinitely feels like the biggest potential problem for me. I can see it having an impact on PvP mostly. With PvE I’ve ran into only one situation so far where I killed enemies enough times to stop spawning again and that’s a hub area I spent a lot of time on. I’ve found myself revisiting areas a good deal once I find new items or achieve certain things and so far this mechanic has been mostly irrelevant. We’ll have to see more over time. The critical attack changes are a mixed bag. The backstab replacement is a blessing in my opinion. While they’re not exactly troublesome to land on AI enemies the positioning needed feels a little tighter than Dark Souls. Additionally, you need to be aware of who else is around and other enemies can now punish you during the animation. Overall I think it’s more logical and dependent on risk/reward. Parrying on the other hand seems to be one huge headache. At least for me. I was never an expert before but I’ve had substantial difficulty with timing. Practice will help but I can see this not being much a part of my arsenal any more. Other changes like diminishing health upon death feels mostly familiar (I started with Demon’s Souls) and it adds a lot tension after awhile. As for Effigies, I haven’t had any shortage of them for the story line. I don’t have quite enough where I’d be popping them like candy during a PvP match but if I need the boost for a boss or something there’s no hesitation in using one. For me it’s been very well balanced. Healing items can be a mixed bag. I seem to cycle through feast and famine. I’ve actually run out of lifegems and my one or two Estus swigs are a hard fall back option. On the flip side I just found a corpse in one of my latest ventures with a stack of 20 lifegems. I suppose that could be a red flag for what’s to come. Warping feels like Demon’s Souls to me. I admit I warp a good deal but I also walk around a lot. There’s enough little secrets and side areas so far where I revisit things a good deal and walking is often the best option for exploring. I’m finding lots of shortcuts and alternate routes as well that tie everything back together. Warping is a thing I can see hurting the experience for some players from an atmosphere point but personally I feel like the world is very well connected. I can’t rule out that any of these will rear an ugly head for sure but so far any worries about these changes have been alleviated for me.
Fex: The game is more accessible and, from my perspective, easier. This is my third time around on release Souls series though, so I may have the upper hand in terms of where to go look for what. I found running past enemies is really easy, for example, and my dirty tactics of making enemies fall off ledges keep working wonders! – I have not tried the optional hard mode, I imagine if there’s no tangible reward for it then there’s little point to its existence besides bragging rights that I am not fond of. Overall, however, it’s a whole new world to explore, unlock and document, and more importantly share with others. The discovery and help factor of the Souls series is here and that will be what keeps this game at the top of all of our lists.
Similar to last question, there’s been a lot of tweaks with the combat systems which has always been a hallmark of Souls games. How has that felt so far?
Cas: The combat feels slower. More like Demon’s Souls. There are still mechanics I don’t understand like adaption and how that works. Enemies seem to stagger me easier and not stagger as easily and recover faster. Makes it more challenging (and frustrating at times), but I think they’ve manage to improve the AI by doing so.
Skarekrow13: For me combat feels better than ever. Enemy AI has had the biggest impact on that. With a lot of creatures the old “draw one out at a time with a bow” method is going to be disastrous (it still works with some). The swarm of that one’s buddies will make you reach for the close quarters weapon pretty fast. Other enemies are pretty AI deprived. There’s one area where my favorite thing is tricking one creature type into smacking exploding barrels. The AI isn’t perfect but it’s improved and varies enough where enemies really feel more unique. Weapon variety has been increased with a few really slick additions and the new two handing and dual wielding options feel like natural additions. Boss fights have been intense pretty often. I can’t say that the tried and true method of “Big Creature for Big Fight” is gone, but so far there’s been a lot of evidence of boss fight subtleties that make for a lot of fun. Small spoiler here, but something simple like noticeably rising water levels while you try to work your way past a boss can have a very real mental impact on the fight. There’s only so much that can be changed without making an entirely new game and I gotta admit that the combat is going to be quite familiar for any fan of the series. The things that have changed seem to be mere additions to what we’ve come to love.
Fex: I’m in two minds about the Soulvessel and the removal of permanent consequence. I do however see radical changes to stat mechanics that would necessitate this token. I am mostly curious about the NG+ lock and how it will affect online interactions, very eager to see what our community comes up with in terms of setting levels and zones.
Emergence: The combat tweaks such as the changes to crits, dual wielding have opened up some new options for players, and in other ways have necessitated adjustments. However, few things were dramatically changed and that keeps the combat very familiar.
What are your overall impressions of the game?
Skarekrow13: We had a lot of communication going on trying to get a few things going for launch and I was asked this question pretty soon after my copy of the game arrived. At that time I said I thought it had the potential to be the best one of the series. I still feel that way after a lot more hours in. There’s so much going on that I feel lost more often than I would have thought possible and that’s exactly what I wanted in this game. I’ve been on board almost universally with the changes and the total of the parts seems spot on. I’ve had some of the highest adrenaline moments in my gaming life and I don’t know if I’m even half through the first cycle yet. I’ll temper this glowing recommendation a notch or three with the disclaimer that, as of this being written, I haven’t been able to play online at all. I like some of the new covenant ideas and none of the mechanics I’ve learned about make me cringe. However, PvP is completely dependent on the human element and the jury is still out on that. For me, the offline game is well worth the price of admission (paid for by my wife as a late Christmas present, thanks Gorgeous). I suppose the worst possible scenario is that the online portion is so terrible I just pull the plug and explore. I don’t think that’ll be necessary though. Maybe my covenant mates and I will even see you shortly. Be careful though, you may not see us all right away. *insert evil laugh again*
Fex: I like it. It’s fun. I want to play more. I’m excited to be sharing this launch with everyone and editing the wiki and having the everyday players be the ones who discover, explain and are the main protagonists of launch. There’s over 2000 people on the site this very instant, and they are all excited and sharing information. That tells me the game has stayed true to its roots and will deliver the engagement we all seek from it.
Emergence: Overall this game feels very much like a Souls game and is an outstanding game that was worth the wait, but it does stand out to me as a departure. It’s very much more serious to me than Dark and Demon’s; I have yet to really get a sense of that playful whimsy that was present in some measure in prior installments. It’s a huge world to explore and that’s brilliant for long term value, although it lacks a little bit of cohesion between the worlds. I’m still waiting for those lore bits that link them all up, for now I kind of feel like I’m just quantam leaping into other lands setting things right. There is a lot of depth to discover and for me and my stat head leanings, I’ll be digging into theoretics for a long while. Can’t really ask for much more than that!
Cas: I haven’t played long. It’s early and the multiplayer has been buggy, but I will say I predict it will be hailed as better than Dark Souls I. The covenant options are too strong. The world is so big and there is so much to do. If they can get the online working without issues. I will probably be saying there is no better game anywhere. I hope I get to say that…
How did you die the first time? (warning, some small spoilers)
Fex: Input lag meets cliff. Dark Souls II: Prepare to Gravity.
Emergence: First death was about 20 minutes into Forest of Fallen Giants. I got swarmed by one of the game’s trademark ambushes by hollow infantry while climbing a ladder. At least it wasn’t a ledge dive!
Cas: The very first time I died I ran forward from the starting area and it bugged and I died.
Skarekrow13: I must have wanted the “This is Dark Souls” trophy pretty bad because if I wasn’t such an explorer my first death would have been about 30 seconds into having control of the character. As you may have read, you come to in a stone gazebo of sorts (great for picnics, live music or ice cream socials). I took the time to search the grass and cliffs in this area which delayed my first death a few minutes. This is the biggest spoiler I’ve got for you so be warned. Anyway, you immediately come to a small area in which some cats run around and hide and come up to you to see what’s up. I (naturally) felt the need to punch one. I almost had him too before his five buddies got me. So yeah, I died to the cats before I even got a chance to name myself. Bonus death: I died again fighting an optional enemy (no spoiler, no spoiler, no spoiler). This was still before I could name myself.
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9 responses to “Dark Souls II: A FextraLife Review”
Had to be made. HAD to be made.
My first death was outside in the first area. Below the waterfall, there’s a glowie sitting on a cliff. I tapped B (xbox), expecting a jump, and instead I plummeted to my death.
This is Dark Souls
Yup, my first death was sadly trying to use the new jump button for the first time in the tutorial. I immediately changed it back to classic controls and haven’t regretted it since.
Good read to help me pull through the last day of waiting!
Damn, was expecting a Giant Dad monster.
Guess it’s either a PC exclusive or DLC.
Cas’ exclusively one-liner contributions to this remind me of Nick Offerman’s character in Parks & Recreation: “Fishing relaxes me. It’s like yoga, except I still get to kill something.”
Guys.
I have to say it. I just have to.
…I like the first one better. WAY BETTER. Not saying that 2 is bad or anything, of course. It’s still better than everything else released lately, but something’s off. I’m liking it like I liked the first.
How dare you! Lol, I can see there being a lot of room for different opinions. There’s no doubt there’s a different vibe to it than the first
I know what you mean Pierre. It’s a different game in many aspects and to me the Demon’s Souls vibe is slightly less than before. Either way, it’s an excellent game and head and shoulders above any competition.
This is how I felt too until about halfway through or further. It felt very linear to me, I didn’t like the imprecise movement, sluggish action, etc, but after that point, I realized just how massive, varied, and almost TOO open world it really is. I thought an optional boss was the final boss and got lost so many times near the end of my first playthrough. I’m not ready to say I like it more than the original, but there is just SO much content, and it has so much going for it, and it’s only been a week. I won’t be surprised if I end up loving DS2 more.