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8/11/2019 Dark Souls II - GameBasin.com

1/11

Dark Souls II

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IntroductionFirst,therewas'Demon'sSouls'onthePS3,thentherewas'DarkSouls'onthePS3

and360.Butbefore'DarkSoulsII,''DarkSouls'receivedbothaDLCexpansionandaPCversion.

The longawaitedPCversion includedthe 'PreparetoDie'DLCatabargainprice,sowhatcould

possiblygowrong?Alot,asitturnsout.Notonlydidthegameneedausermodjusttoescapethe

720presolution,itwasalsobuiltonthewretchedandnowdefunctWindowsLiveplatform.Fast

forwardto2014andthePCversionof 'DarkSoulsII'arrivesameresixweeksafterthelastgen

consoleversions.Thegamehasalreadybeenvettedbyfansontheconsoles,butdidBandaiNamco

andFromSoftwarelearnfromtheirearlierPCmistakes?TheGameItself:OurReviewer'sTakeNote:

Fordetailsspecific to thePCversion,see the 'PCVersionNotes'at thebottomof thissection.

Havingnow

poured

some

200

300

hours

in

the

three

'Souls'

titles,

Ican

easily

name

myself

abig

fanoftheseries,andyetstillbeawarethatthereareechelonsoffanswhohavedonethingsinthe

gamesthat Iwould findcrazyandamazing.Naturally, Ibeganmyplaythroughwithanongoing

worrythatthegamewouldnotmeasureuptoitspredecessorandwouldbelessrefinedwithout

theextratimetoreceivepostreleasefixesthatthefirsttwogameshad.Ultimately,whatIhave

foundisaslightlydiminishedtitleinacertainimportantrespect,andyetmuchimprovedinanother.

Onceagainyouplaytheroleofcursedbeinginalandofcursedbeings.Thatcursebearsitselfit

outinthatthoughyoudiemany,manytimes,youwillalwaysriseagain.Thelearnthroughdeath,

strivethroughdeath,faceseeminglyinsurmountabledeathanddespairistheseries,istheseries

mostshoutedcharacteristic,and it'sevenmoretrue ifthedeathofNPCSandbosses inagiven

playthroughis

factored

in.

(Even

favorite

in

level

enemies

can

eventually

be

dispatched

in

this

new

game.)Forthefirsttimethough,theseriesreallychallengedmetolive.Thatis,tobecomealive,

achievable through precious items or by assisting others online.


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The beginning of 'Dark Souls 2' is where the game stumbles for me. Extra cutscenes and a

halfheartedtutorialgivewaytothegame'shubareabeforelettingtheplayerworktowardsthe

firstboss.Atthispointinthegamewithslightgearandabilities,deathisaroundeverycorner,but

Ifoundthetensiontobe littleoffthemark.Thosemomentswheresimpleenemiesneedtobe

carefullyorartfullynegotiatedsomewhatlackasmemorableadesignasinthetwopasttitles.Two

factorsplayanimportantroleinthisdiffusedexperience.In'DarkSouls,'themomentyougetthe

abilitytofasttravel,thegamechanges.Itlosesmuchofits3DMetroidvaniainterlockingdesign,

anddefeatingabossoftenmeanshittingadeadend.Thisaddsthebenefitoflessbacktrackingand

timeswhere itseemstheplayerhasseveralcompletelydifferentpathstotry.Still,thesenseof

discoveryandadventure,whereanythingcouldbearoundthenextbend, isslightlyhurtbythis

change. Italsoplayshellwithexpectations for rampingdifficulty.When thathappens in 'Dark

Souls,'theplayerhasalreadyprogressedthroughmuchofthegameandlikelyhasawelldefined

playstyleandcharacter.Incontrast,'DarkSoulII'givestheplayertheabilitytoteleportrightafter

the tutorial area.

Inapossiblyrelatedchange,itfelttomeasthough90%oftheenemieshadaneasilyexploitable

tether.Most

enemies

encountered

in

levels

are

more

concerned

with

staying

at

their

certain

spot

thanwithfightingtheplayer.Anyrangedweaponcan(eventually)killsuchaenemy.Thereareeven

bossesthatcanbechippedtoalmostdeathatrange.Onemightarguethatthegamethenjust

supportsrangedcombatasoneofseveralcombatorprogressionstyles,butitalsopreyedheavily

uponasenseofcaution.Ifthebeginningofthegamemademeundulyparanoid,imaginingthat

eachenemyviewedthroughthebinocularswasaonehittirelessdestroyer,thenmiddleofthe

gamemademetrulyappreciatelife.Therearepenaltiesforbeingdead,suchasareducedhealth

bar(uptoa'Demon'sSouls'like50%)butthebaragainstmostformsofonlineisworseinthisgame

thanseries'past.OnlywhenIcameupontheareafeaturedinthebetadidIrealizethatIwaspast

lamentingthecomparativequalityofthegames'beginnings.Thatmaybeinpartduetotheonline

features.Beyondthesometimehelpfulandamusingmessagesanddeathstainsofotherplayers


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online, the ability to summon friendly phantoms and to take part in the many invading

phantom/covenant tasks is so much more accessible now, thanks to an improved online

infrastructure.In'DarkSouls,'collectingSunlightMedalsforhelpingplayerswassuchachore,and

italwaysseemedliketherewereonlyafewplacesatagiventimewhereitwasevenpossible.You

had todrop your summon sign and then prettymuch set the controllerdown.Maybe in ten

minutesyouwouldberewardedbygettingtheoneplayerwhorunsinandinstantlyissmashedby

aboss.Likewise,grindingforsouls(grindinginanygameisattheleastregrettable)wasrequired

asthegameworeone.In'DarkSoulsII,'IfeltlikeIcouldhopintoanothergameatalmostanytime.

Wanttocheckoutaboss?Hop intoanothergameandfacehim.Needsouls?Hop intoanother

gameandgetthem.NeedtobecomealivesoyoucansummonalliesorplayoneofthemanyPvP

options?Forgetusingapreciouseffigy,juststarthoppingintoothergames.Eventually,youbecome

humanandrackuploadsofsoulswhileenjoyingalivedisplayofothersplayers'abilitiesandfailings.

Oncealive,Ibecameextremelycautious,embracingthechallengetostayaliveaslongaspossible.

Iwouldevenbypassnewbonfires,pushingmyweapons'durabilitytotheextremeinanattempt

toclearareaswithoutadeath(ortheaccompanyingrestart.)Evenso,therearesomanybosses,

andthe

difficulty

levels

for

bosses

and

for

some

areas

varies

so

much

that

it

wasn't

always

practical

formetobealive.Inonearea,Iwentfrombeingaliveandcarryingatonofsoulstoahalfhealth

barsoquickly,IpulledthenetworkcableoutofthePS3(thishasn'tnecessaryonthePCasofyet).

Itstilltookmefewmoredeaths,butthenIwasabletofocusontakingsomerevenge.Bythepoint

thatIbecamecomfortablewithmyrashlychosencharacterbuild,abilities,andonlineplay,thereal

shiftinthegamebecamemorevisible.Whatthegamelacksinqualityismakesupforinquantity.

Thisappliestobossesaswell.Anicequantity,oftenwithseveralavailabletofightatatime,but

lacking much of the flair of the previous titles.


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Asforgameplayissues,muchliketheprecedingtitles,thereweretimeswhenIwouldcueupattack

commandsinawaywheretheinputfeltdelayedorunresponsive.Thesetimeswererareenough

(asusual)thatitwashardtodelineatebetweenanissuewiththegameorwiththeplayer.There

werealsoafewmomentsofteleportingenemiesinonlineplaythatwererareenoughtomakeme

gladthattheyweresoinfrequent.IusedaneffigyearlyinthegameonlytofindlaterthatIhad

becomehollowwhilestillatfullhealthandwithoutdying.Theplungingattackwasmuchharder

than I recall in the lastgame,but theoverallchangesandadditions to thecombatsystemare

welcome.PCVersionNotesReplaying 'DarkSouls II' from scratchon thePChasdone little to

changemyopinionongame.Itstilllackstheamazinginterlockingnatureandmemorablebosses

of the firsthalfof 'DarkSouls'whileprovidingagreateramountofcontent,anddeeper,more

varied systems. There have been small things (both good and bad) that I missed on my PS3

playthroughonlytofindonthePC.PlayingtheprereleasePCversionmeantplayingwithavery

smallonlinecommunity,butwiththelatestfixesand"calibrations."Evenwithallofthetechnical

changesmentioned in this review, thegame stillplays verymuchas itdidon thePS3.MyPC

playthrough was quite vanilla. No external tweaks or Black Armor items. I used a wired 360

controller,and

the

game

controlled

almost

exactly

as

expected

with

aslight

difference

in

the

targetingsystem.Thegamedoessupportkeyboardcontrolsandsomewhatbizarrelythesecontrols

areenabledevenwhenusingacontroller,whichwasakeyinatleastonecatassisteddeathinNo

Man'sWharf.There isanentire submenudedicated tokeyboard keybindingsalongwith the

controlsoptioncommonwiththeconsoleversions,whichmeansverylimitedcontrollerremapping.

Alongwithvisualdifferencesdetailedbelow,thePCversionfeaturesblazingloadspeeds,andthat's

withoutanSSD.Oftenthegame'sloadingscreenitemdescriptionsjustblurby,makingtheinitial

loadandbonfireteleportingloadtimesonlyafractionofthePS3version.Alsoworthnoting,Iwas

not troubledby any specialDRM constraints. Atonepointduringmyplaythrough, the Steam

serversdecidedtoafewminutebreak.Thegameinformedme,muchlikeitdoesonthePS3,that

I was disconnected from the online features (messages, invasions, etc.) and would need to


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reconnecttoenablethosefeatures.Likewise,thegame'stitlescreenexhibitsthesamebehavior

asontheconsoles,waitingfortheplayertopressstartbeforecheckingfornewonlinecalibrations

andallowingtheplayertostartanewgame,load,quit,oradjustvideooptions.(Videooptionsare

also accessible via the ingame menu.) The Video: Sizing Up the Picture

ThemovefromlastgenconsoletothePChaspaidsomeexcellentdividendswithregardstothe

visuals,andyetfromamoreobjectivestandpointcouldbeconsideredlessthanideal.(Justtryto

forgetabouttheearlydemoshots.)UnlikethelacklusterPCportofthelastgame,'DarkSoulsII'

onthePCoffersbothafullarrayofsupportedresolutionsaswellassomescalablePCvisualoptions.

(My playthrough was mostly at 2560 x 1440 except for some time spent at 1920 on a TV.)


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Alongwithavastlysuperiorrenderedresolution,theframerateisalsoverysolidthoughsubjectto

motionblureffects.The zoneby zonehitchingcommon to thePS3version isgone.Equallyas

importantastheseimprovementsisthepresenceofhigherresolutiontextures,whichisamajor

upgradeforthecharacters(thereshouldreallybeanupclosemodelviewer),butalsohelpspretty

upmanystructurestovaryingdegrees.Improvedshadowdepthanddrawdistancealsoareeasy

tonoticeandenjoyasmanyfaroffdetailsnowresolvethemselvesproperly.TheUIscaleswellwith

theresolutionmaintaining itsfidelitywithoutartifacts.Withsuch improvement, includinggood

stockAA,onemightaskwhywoulddescribe thePC'svisualsas less than ideal.Thatwouldbe


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becausethatgameremainsalastgenproductwithseverallastgenvisualissues.Mydescription

ofthePS3'svisualsremainsmainlyaccurateevenwiththeimprovements:"Andhere'swherethe

quantity focus hurts the most. I expected lots of ugly textures, seams, light leaks, reskinned

characters,items,andobjects.Ialsoexpectedthattheartdesignwouldtrumpmostthesetypical

gameconcerns.Sadly,thequalityofthegame'svisualsreallywanders.Thereareafewimpressive

vistas,reveals,andinterestingdesignsforbossesandcharacters.Mostlythough,thegameisastep

downfromitspredecessorwhenitcomestovisualfidelityandartdesign.Itoftenexhibitseven

lesssizzlethanthe'DarkSouls'expansion.""Thetextureresolutiononmanyofthebackgrounds,

(thoughgreatlyimprovedonthePC),makesforthekindunsightlinesstosuggestthenotionofanti

demomaterial.Muchofthegame'sUIelementsandenemysetarerecycledfromtheprevious

game,andoveralltheartstylecanfeelimitativeandlessinspiredandpolishedthanpastefforts.

Thenewtorchmechanicwhilesometimesfunmeansentireroomsoflowlightthattypicallyonly

receive a point light after being cleared out. "While running through complicated areas both

quicklyandslow,thereweremanymomentswhenholesintheworld,missinggeometryfaces,or

othersimilar

environmental

artifacts

became

visible

or

noticeable.

These

issues

did

not

affect

play,

andneverwherebadenoughtofillthescreen.Theyareonlyglaringwhenspecificallysearching

for them." For example:


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AllofthesepointshurtthePCversion,it'sthislastonethatisthemostilluminatingastothecause.

Inspiteofthebigstepupinhardware,'DarkSoulsII'remainsagamebuiltforthelastgenplatforms.

Theunsightlygeometrythatmakesupmuchoftheenvironmentsremainsinplace.Whileatthe

same time, the game continues to load, unload, andocclude thePS3/360worthyworldwith

PS3/360constraints.Whilemostplayersarefinewiththegame'sdesignremainingfaithfultothe

consoleversions(i.e.keepingtheworldthesamesize,withthesamenumberofenemies,objects,

etc.),thePCversionwindsupstickwiththesameoftenuglygeometryandoverallamountofworld

loaded limitations. The Audio: Rating the Sound


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I'mahugefanofthePS3'ssoundcapabilities,anddon'talwaysfindthePCversionofagametobe

anobviousimprovement.Nevertheless,itseemsliketheaudiosamplingofthePCversion'saudio

assetsareofahigherquality.Overall,thesounddesign,whilesimilar,isabitsmootheronthePC.

Whenitcomestoaudio,thegameisterriblyeffectiveatwhatitsetsouttodo.Whetherit'sthe

limiteduseofmusicorthejingleofchainsofaenemyhiddenbehindasecretdoorortheterrible

voiceofariledandformerlyfriendlyNPC,thesounddesignbendsnearlyeveryruleinaneffortto

subtlybuildtension,andthiswithamostlyrecycledsetofsoundeffects.Rarelyeveringamesare

the surroundsengaged to simultaneously fooland inform theplayer,and 'DarkSouls II'never

relentsonthisaudioassault.Letalargeenemychaseyou,andyou'llfindthattheirloudstepshave

justtherightbreakbetweentocastdoubtsabouttheircontinuedpursuit...untilyouturnaround.

Be it desperate, crazy, or sanguine, voice acting for the NPCs retains an exaggerated quality.

Somehow,whencombinedwith the limitedandoftenperfunctoryconversation loops, (key for

extractingstorydetails)theresultjustseemsevenmoreperfectlysuitedforthisinstallmentthan

thelast.ReplayFactorHavingonlyprogressedtotheBelfryGargoyles/Skeleton LordsonthePC,

it'shard

to

reassess

my

original

feelings

towards

the

game's

replay

value.

Despite

seeking

anew

playstyle,inmyhasteIneverthelessgravitatedtowardsweaponsandtechniquesthatworkedon

thePS3.Releasingsoclosetogether,thosewhohavealreadypoured100+hoursintotheconsole

versionsmaynotfindthePC improvementsworththeeffortofstartingoveragain.Thenagain,

anyonewhotrulygetsintothegamewilllikelybefinewithaPCreplayandmayevenrelishit.As

obsessivelyreplayedasthe'Souls'gameshavebeenforplayersinthepast,thisnewgameoffersa

greaterquantityandvarietyofcontent,withaspectsappropriatetoallkindsofplayers.Youcan

ferretouteachhiddenchest(thatonechestIdestroyednolongerhauntsmenow),orplungeinto

NewGame+.Youcantakeonadifferentmagicdisciplinewithanewcharacter,oruseoneofthe

fewrespecitems.Youcanrankupincovenantsandfightplayersineitheryourregionorallover

theworld.Thereareevenitemsandoptionsformakinganyplaythroughfeaturetougherenemies.

Withtheonlineworkingsowell,it'sfeasibletowhileawayhoursinotherpeople'sgames.Youcan

dedicateslaveslotswithcharacterswhoonlyplayonline,orpursueyourperfectbuildallonyour

lonesome. HD Bonus Content: Any Exclusive Goodies in There?


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ThePCversionIplayedthroughlackedallthedigitalgoodiesthatappeartobebundledwiththe

retailversion.Theseitemsincludethe'BlackArmor'weaponspack,digitalsoundtrack,anddigital

comicbook.Thescoregivenhereappliestothoseitems.OnefeaturethatIwouldhavereallyliked

toseeisSteamCloud,butfornowitseemssavesareboundtoeachlocalsystem.FinalThoughts

Formuchofmyplaythrough,IkeptthinkingthatifIhadtochooseoneofthe'Souls'titlestoplay

orrecommend,itwouldbe'DarkSouls.'Andyet'DarkSoulsII'wasclearlymeanttoentertainthe

veteran 'Souls'playerwithadepthbeyonditspredecessor.Thoughpartsofthegamefeellikea

poorrehash,everythingthatmaketheseriesthrilling,challenging,andenjoyableisherealongwith


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revampedonlineoptionsthatdaretotempteventhemostsolitaryplayer.Huntingdown items,

NPCs,bosses,areas,shortcuts Igorgedmyselfonitall,andcontinuedtimeonboththePS3and

PChasyettosatiatemydesireforthegame'sparticularkindofhurt.Detractorsoftheseries(those

thathaveactuallyplayedatitle)canbecomfortableoptingout,buteveryoneelseshouldseethat

death isonly thebeginning, thepreparationnecessary to live.Whiledisappointed that thePC

versionretainsthegeometryandvisualleaksofthelastgenPS3,thetextureupgradesandother

visualimprovementsmakeforamuchmoreappealingvisualexperience,whilethequickloading

timesfeelluxuriousafterplayingontheconsole.Andallofthisupgradecomesinasolidpackage

withouttheneedingcommunitymods.Ifyou'vebeenwaitingforthePCversion,waitnolonger,

the best version of 'Dark Souls II' (by far) begins here.

PC Game CD Keys

EAGamesCDKeyhttp://www.gamebasin.com/publisher/ea.html

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SLGGamesCDKeyhttp://www.gamebasin.com/pcgames/slggame.html

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