Dark Souls II

At last, I have been able to play and beat a Souls game properly. Demon's Souls's community was minor during the period I went through that, and I played Dark Souls entirely offline. Now, having bought part II from Steam, the online experience only became better and better.

Dark Souls II is every bit as good as it's predecessors, as all three have a lengthy journey, require a ton of patience, are notoriously difficult and continue to be diversive with regards to the overall lore, content and cool extra's such as NG+.

I was happy to acknowledge myself that the game was bigger than I thought, because at one point, the list showing all the different area's seemed to be complete, until that list grew further, allowing me to scroll down.

My first death was only after having played for 6 hours already, defeating presumably the first boss The Last Giant, and afterwards underestimating a grab move made by one of the two trolls at Things Betwixt. Soon after, the amount of deaths didn't matter anymore. I knew that Dark Souls was truly starting once again.

People have complained about poor graphics and some boss rehashes, but I easily disagree with both. Effective atmosphere was still to be found either when using dark or light colors, or when looking at distances to see nearby locations. And seeing these particular bosses return is only praiseworthy, for they were memorable enough to alter and re-enter here.

I seemed to make efficient use of the traditional writing/reading and summoning features, and as I was about to finally start invading, I got invaded numerous times at a new area I just discovered, which was both excruciating and entertaining, keeping me occupied for atleast 45 minutes before approaching the boss.

The world of Drangleic is yet another subtle one when speaking of the overall lore and the vague connections it has with the previous title. There are many area's, of which a few look marvelous, such as Majula, Dragon Aerie and Heide's Tower of Flame.

And before I knew it, I went through countless ordeals of venturing into dark unexplored and diversive areas, where many dangers await at every corner and turn. Covenants and NPC's return to help you with small support at first, but both eventually become crucial allies towards thwarting invaders, demons and bosses.

Dark Souls II is worthwhile to play if you enjoyed the others, and I wasn't dissapointed by pretty much anything, although many fans I have seen online have been, especially when speaking of PvP and a few broken tactics, of which both can easily become fixed in future patches.

From Software recently got bought out by Kadokawa Corporation, who published amongst other products and brands several titles developed by Grasshopper Manufacture and Suda51. From Software has also apparently been busy with another game called Project Beast, which recently got leaked and seems to be an exclusive Playstation 4 game.

And with recent similar looking game announcements such as Lords of the Fallen and Deep Down, it seems that the modern Action RPG genre is here to stay for a while longer. If you are craving for an old fashioned, simplistic yet devilish difficult adventure, alongside brilliant online gaming, Dark Souls II is a splendid choice alongside it's much acclaimed brethren.

Rating: 8.5