Dark Souls 2

Can't sleep, partly because I tweaked my damn neck a bit weight lifting, and partly because I probably shouldn't have had that nap between thesis training group sessions. Anyway~ DS2!

My opinions:

Finally got around to beating it, between classes, studying, thesis training groups, etc. Logged just over 60 hours, but quite a few have been spent exploring non-essential paths.

Worth the purchase? Yes. If its not critical that you play it NOW, wait for PC version because I'm fairly certain it will look a lot better. Graphics have taken a bit of a hit from Dark Souls 1, nothing glaring, but that palette is very.. muted. Hard to describe. Souls games have always been rather muted, but this is in a way where a lot of the time even the darkness of the game isn't as rich. Nothing major and the game can still be absolutely GORGEOUS, but still..

Did I enjoy it? Hell yes. Was it hard.. ehhhhh… sometimes. Sometimes it was just like "really? this is a souls game?". I have my gripes. Trash enemy encounters seemed slightly less threatening. This could be simply because I've improved as a player since DS1, or is maybe a reflection of Fromsoft trying to appeal to more people. I don't know. Is that to say the entire game is that way? No. I most definitely died more than once to trash in some areas. Some traps were really, really good and caused a few "oh shit oh shit oh shit" moments. Others, meh.

Bosses. So many. One of my larger complains about the game. There were so damn many fog gates this time around. Some for absolutely no discernible reason. To the point where its like, ok, boss, bonfire, or pointless foggate? hmmm. Only way to know was to be human and see if there were summon signs around. Some boss fights were pretty effin' difficult, some were a freakin' joke. But almost none had the same epic feel I got from most of the DS1 bosses. Honestly, the only bossfight I really finished and was like "holy crap.. that was nuts" was the damn Royal Rat Vanguard. FML that fight is a nightmare without AOE spells. Did that shit purely with a halberd and shield and lots of running and running and running for like 15 minutes. That felt epic. Final boss? Snooze. Don't get me wrong, final boss was definitely dangerous, but no real panic inducing moments.

So, it has its ups and downs.

Pros:

More cohesive story than DS1. Still pretty open for interpretation, but they give us more this time around.
HUGE. Much larger playable world this time around.
Still challenging.
Plenty of ways to make the game HARDER if needed, either by area (bonfire aescetic), by covenant (Champions), or by New Game +.
Lots of lore bits scattered about through items and dialogue, similar to previous Souls games.

Cons:

Bigger world, but doesn't seem as interconnected as DS1. Very few 'multiple paths' to the same location.
Slight drop in graphics
Less variety in enemies. Didn't really encounter casters at ALL til toward the end.
This is something I need to look into, because it could be due to Adaptability stat. Dodging doesn't seem as effective. Not sure if invincibility frames increase with AGI from Adaptability or what, but I definitely got hit a lot while rolling where in DS1 I wouldn't have. Not sure.
Balance. For a game that should provide a pretty even challenge for all skill paths chosen, in most cases it felt like magic AOE/Ranged would destroy most enemies and being an up-close melee type turned into nightmare situations. I played Swordsman, which is meant to use dual weapons, but I quickly switched to shield/weapon because 2x weapons was a severe disadvantage with the hit to evasion.
Covenants do not feel as robust as DS1. Less of them with less variety of covenant goals and benefits.
Despawning enemies. UGH! D: After killing enemies in an area so many times (about 12, I think) they just disappear. No farming items/souls in an area anymore unless you want to use a bonfire aescetic and bring em back harder. But even then, they're only there for a limited number of kills and you'd have to make the area harder still.

Overall, very good game. 60+ hours (I haven't spent that much time on a non-MMO in YEARS) logged so far and more to come between pvp and New Game + / making other builds. Plus, gotta shoot for that trophy for not dying once during the entire game.. riight.

Other weird issues I had personally. I still haven't gotten the hang of parrying. Sucked at it in DS1, still suck at it. I don't know. Getting hit, when obviously way outside of enemy attack/hit box. Like, seriously, standing damn near behind an enemy at its side and its straight front attack somehow hitting me. Backstabbing seems a bit less worthwhile, not because it does less damage, but because getting behind enemies seems a lot more difficult if not damn near impossible sometimes. They'll just turn so quick most of the time.

Oh, and I'm Asula_Mur on PSN, I believe. Or Asulamur. I don't know XD

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