Many modern stories illustrate the apocalyptic era, or the post-modern fall of man. However, few (effectively) cause the actual downfall. The first Dark Souls established what happened after the curse had inflicted Lordran. As we move into its sequel, Bandai Namco made it their goal to not just follow up the Soulsborne formula, but shake it up. In 2012, it was released, with the mastermind behind the original, Hidetaka Miyazaki, being willingly demoted to the supervisor position due to the main project at the time being Bloodborne. With Yui Tanimura being at the helm. But to deduce why there is such a divide between this game within the fandom, we must look into the Combat, Story, and art style.
The second Dark Souls keeps the main elements of the original’s control really faithfully. However, two of my main arguments against this game are its level and the title’s bosses. Unlike its predecessor’s level layout, which consisted of a three-tiered system, players can follow one of these paths until they hit a wall. Dark Souls 2 just kind of drops players into certain levels without any explanation of how they got there and where they lie within the map. The bosses are a common state of debate amongst players. Because of how many there are, some feel Tanimura took the “quantity over quality” approach to designing them. Another big problem is the adaptability stat. This allocates how large your player’s hit box is. Meaning the lower the stat, the tighter the frames are. Probably the biggest problem is the number of traps there are throughout the game and the enemy placement. This just felt unfair, and makes me think that Tanimura never truly understood the difficulty of Soulsborne. The first game mastered hits fair to hard ratio. This title is inconsistent, with a lot of the “easy” bosses being in horrible arenas or cheap ADS spawns. I do feel there are a few great bosses, and obviously, some of the designs on offer are otherworldly.
A deleted user of the r/Darksouls2 subreddit feels the game is awkward amidst combat. “Combat feels like you are slicing through butter, but not in a satisfying way.” They continue by stating, “When you swing your weapon, the blade doesn’t feel as if it hits anything. I think the other basic mechanics are kind of clunky, too.”
Dark Souls 2 records the journey of the Bearer of the Curse, who travels to the ruined kingdom of Drangleic to find a cure for the Undead Curse. The kingdom fell due to King Vendrick’s actions, which included a war with the giants and marriage to the malevolent Nashandra, who sought to steal their power. After defeating great souls and Queen Nashandra, the player learns Vendrick sought a way to break the cycle of the First Flame, but Nashandra intended to usurp it for herself. The story is an absolute masterpiece, with the inherent callbacks to the original game’s story while also establishing probably one of my favorite archetypes in fantasy, the politics and diplomacy between countries. Tanimura operates the plot of the four kingdoms in such a perfect way, with the slow decline of each, within their own ways. For me, it hits a good note since I’ve always loved learning about the pre-Babylonian exile, when the southern kingdoms invaded Judah.
Admin of the Quora Soulbourne page, Sam Cope, believes Dark Souls 2’s story is irrelevant in comparison to the other titles in the trilogy. “It’s important in the sense that it illustrates a theme of the series. They refute this point by also saying, “but it’s not important in the sense that the things and events in it don’t really have much impact on the events of 3.”
Visually, this game is quite polarizing, especially with the character design and lighting. Firstly, the lighting in the game is god-awful. Everything feels too dark, and when they brighten things up, the asset work lacks, so it’s headache-inducing. I know it’s supposed to be a mechanic, but Miyazaki did a better job with the torch mechanics in Bloodborne. However, a lot of the exterior level design is awe-inspiring. Don’t get me started on the boss, their super uniqueness, and the increase of humanoid enemies, just makes me all warm inside.
A game journalist known as Euphoric Ending believes they are some of the best in the series. “ I was told this game had [Bad Visuals].” They also say, “Mate, this is beautiful…”
Overall, Dark Souls 2 is a flawed masterpiece that boasts many great ideas, but is marred by a significant amount of negative content. Even though I view it as a horrible Soulsborne title, it’s not a horrible game. Fromsoftware has made some efforts in re-releasing the game under the Scholar of the First Sin, which is an expansion and rehashing of its vanilla counterpart. Despite that, its legacy will forever be shrouded as the study of a common curse.