REVIEW: Dark Souls II (PS3)

I've been waiting a looong time for this game. In fact, I think I'd had the damn thing preordered on Amazon for well over a year before it finally landed in my desperate hands. And now, after finishing the sequel to one of my favourite games of all time, I have the same feeling all over again... a hollowness, an emptiness, that I know no other game will satisfy until they (hopefully) release the next edition of this dark fantasy RPG. The first game in this series, Demon's Souls, was a complete surprise for me when I picked it up along with my PS3 all those years back, I had grabbed it on a recommendation for it being one of the best exclusive titles on Sony's platform. I was blown away and instantly addicted to it's hard and dismal gothic-fantasy world, which was unlike anything I'd every played, save for the overtones of Shadow of the Colossus, my all-time favourite video game. When they announced a "spiritual successor" I was overjoyed and Dark Souls did not disappoint. While initially I was unsure about the changes from Demon's Souls (like the move to an "interconnected open world" and the whole rejiggering of many things) eventually I came to love this new game every bit as much as the first; more in some areas and less in others. Like everyone else, I eagerly awaited the announcement of 'Dragon's Souls' or something like that and when they instead announced a direct sequel I was both excited and nervous at the same time. Please From Software... don't f**k it up!!

Upon loading up Dark Souls 2 you are instantly taken back to that dark fantasy world from the first game, only this time hundreds or thousands of years into the future, where kingdoms of men have risen and fallen since the escapades of your first character; but the dismal cycle of death and rebirth continues unabated. You are yet again an undead ( or 'hollow') out of a quest to rid yourself, and perhaps mankind, of "the curse", only this time through it might not be as simple and straightforward as that. Initial comments from the game's new director about making the story "more accessible" seem to be unfounded, as if anything the actual lore is even more shrouded in mystery and interpretation this time. The actual direction to take and what to do in Dark Souls 2 is more easily signposted this time around though, as there are more characters to steer you in the right direction, and more freedom in which order you tackle areas. A lot of this freedom to travel and explore is facilitated by an almost-return to Demon's Souls's "hub structure", and you are given the ability to fast-travel from the very start; allowing you to return to the central point of 'Majula', the only place you can level your character up, reset stats, increase potency of healing items etc.

Freedom is the main theme of Dark Souls 2's design choices as you now also have more slots for weapons, armour and useable items on your belt. You also have more options in terms of healing, either by using fixed 'Estus Flasks' from the previous game or by using consumable items similar to Demon's Souls. Indeed, you even have the freedom to play around with the "new game plus" option by burning 'bonfire aesthetics' and resetting all the baddies, bosses and items in an area in the same what you would do with a complete second play through of the game! Obviously, because it's a From Software game, a lot of these things are not fully explained by the game, leaving you to find out for yourself or online in guides, but the fact this is all here makes the game extremely enjoyable and customisable. I took advantage of all these things during my first play through, and re-specced my character half-way through into a "Dark Knight", hurling hexes at foes, using dark-infused weapons, and reaching top-tier in a covenant designed to explore The Abyss. Next time, I'm going to spec my character for dexterity and faith and make a halberd wielding temple knight (although disappointingly there are no divine weapons this time 'round), and it's this complete ownership over both your character and over how you play the game that makes it so enjoyable, addictive and endlessly replayable.

The world of Dark Souls 2 is very well designed, and there is a good variety of locales, enemies and bosses this time 'round. While there is some (intentional) reuse of things from the first Dark Souls early on, there is very little reuse of assetsfrom early to late game this time, unlike the latter half of the first game, which the creators admit was rushed. Here you get the sense they had a good plan for the development of the game and saw it right through to the end, with a particularly strong second half leading some some spectacular final areas. Bosses are all challenging and pose their own strategies and tactics to overcome, which is also helped this time with a more robust multiplayer system, meaning it's very easy to summon assistance if you get stuck (although due to the idiocy of some players I often overcame the most difficult bosses solo). Music is top-knotch, graphics are much improved in terms of frame rate and special effects, although I didn't find the art direction to be quite as good as either of the first two games, it's still leagues above most other fantasy RPGs! All-in-all a very worthy sequel and while I would like to talk all day about the many features that are exemplary and the many secrets and unlockable events that happen, I would much rather just say: go play this game.

Thus begins the long drawn-out wait for another in the 'Souls games, hopefully made more bearable with some DLC to tide me over (the game checks for DLC on start-up so I'm hoping it's a hint of things to come)...