Dark Souls 2 is not a bad game by any means. In fact, I’d argue that it’s one of the best out there. However, this feeling is not shared by some people in the Dark Souls community, and I’m going to try and figure out why that is, while also providing evidence to the contrary, that not only Dark Souls 2 is a great game, but an amazing Dark Souls game.
Some Are Not Fond Of Changes
Let’s acknowledge the elephant in the room and get it out of the way first. Some don’t like change, and that’s perfectly fine, especially when the stuff that’s being changed sacrifices something that is integral to a brand or a franchise. This is what a lot of players felt with Drangleic.
The interconnectivity of the world was no longer present. Instead of having a seemingly vast playground with different paths and shortcuts connected to each other in unexpected ways, we have Majula, an area that serves as the main hub from which the player can explore. The levels are pretty linear, and while they do sprawl in different directions, each area feels independent from each other.
One common critique is how you take an elevator at the top of a tower in Earthen Peak, only to take you up to a massive castle sunken in lava, as if you’ve been transported to the core of the planet. That’s a far cry from the levels like Anor Londo, from which you could see the Duke’s Archives. Or how you can see Blight Town from Firelink Shrine.
This makes the world feel like it’s complete and a whole. Dark Souls 2 gets around this by telling the player that time is convoluted, wrapped in and of itself in Drangleic. Hell, you don’t arrive in Drangleic as much as you fall into it from a lake. The intro sequence serves to tell you that space and time don’t have to make sense in this kingdom.
In that aspect, it’s a matter of preference. While I loved the interconnectivity of the original Dark Souls and how it made the world feel larger than what it was, it was also a breath of fresh air to be able to wrap between bonfires from the beginning, rather than halfway through the game.
Sacrifices Needed To Be Made
A few other changes made to the game are more on the mechanical side. The controls felt different. There was variety in the execution animations when parrying or stabbing an enemy from the back that depended on the weapon you were holding. This was one of the few changes that were praised by the community.
One that was more of a mixed bag was the fact that poise was no longer as important as it was in the original. In the first Dark Souls, you could sacrifice mobility and speed by wearing stronger armor and having more poise, meaning that you’d be less likely to get staggered by an enemy. Dark Souls 2 is less reliant on the armor to calculate the poise of your character, making it feel more inconsistent compared to its predecessor.
Then there are the bosses. A point that comes across quite often is the fact that bosses in Dark Souls 2 are less imaginative than the ones in the original. Many have claimed that most bosses in the sequel are just “dudes in armor.” And that’s true considering how the original had some great bosses like Quelaag, Seath the Scaleless, and the Great Grey Wolf Sif.
However, I would argue that even if the bosses felt a bit monotonous in terms of design, they aren’t in terms of gameplay. I’d say that the combat in Dark Souls games is at its best when you’re fighting at giant versions of your own character. Just remember the Soul of Cinder battle in Dark Souls 3, or fighting a version of Ornstein in Dark Souls 2, or even Gwyn in the original. Moments like this are when Dark Souls is at its peak in terms of tension and tests the abilities you’ve learned throughout the game.
Was It Easier?
Now, let’s talk about the learning curve. I have something to admit, and it’s that I finished Dark Souls 2 before I finished Dark Souls 1. So I may be a little biased. I did play Dark Souls 1 until the halfway point right after Ornstein and Smough and then left it, a couple of years later I bought Dark Souls 2 and played in its entirety in a matter of days. Does this mean Dark Souls 2 is easier than the first? Not necessarily.
While I do think the experience was smoother in the beginning because I had learned several lessons from the original, I’d say the level of challenge remained the same. The enemies were just as tough, and the bosses were equally punishing.
What I did notice, however, was a very low level of cheapness to the encounters. In the first game, no matter how good your knowledge is of the main mechanics is, there’s always going to be a surprise sneak attack that you couldn’t have seen it coming even while being cautious, or you’d be trapped in a place where the only thing you can do to get ahead is to cheese your way through. Blight Town is the area where this occurs the most often, but the entire game is based on this premise.
Dark Souls Had Its Flaws
There’s still a lot of cheap tricks in Dark Souls 3 and Bloodborne, for example, but I think both of those games balanced it out in a better way, to the point where said moments were not too frequent nor too dangerous, letting you learn from whatever mistake you may have made without having to die and restart the section.
Dark Souls 2 instead replaces these mimics (pun intended) with the challenge of crowd control, and while a lot of people have argued that this was a step back in the combat, and that Dark Souls is not meant to be played with more than one enemy attacking you, I’d like to say that you don’t always have to lock on your enemies. In fact, the game throws you a few curves, testing your ability to pick up on the fact that sometimes you’re better off freestyling it. Fight your way through without locking, and you’ll find that crowd control becomes so much easier and manageable.
Dark Souls 2 Tried To Improve
Let’s also remember that Dark Souls 2 has a lot more variety in terms of weapons, builds, and fashion sense. Not to mention that NG+ is superb. And while the consensus is that is not as good as the first, I’d argue that it improved on a lot of things, all while carrying the risk of alienating some of its audience that had grown attached to what they think a Dark Souls game should have, which is exactly what happened.
It introduced the ability to consume several souls at once. It also brought a change of pace in between bonfires with the life gems, covenants were deeper, and it expanded on the lore in its own way.
I know that lifegems is as controversial as the wrapping between bonfires from the beginning. But the level design of Dark Souls 2, since it’s not as complex as its predecessor’s, calls for a different method of healing. And notice how it doesn’t just replenish the player’s health in one shrug, but rather it slowly builds, making the moments in which you had to heal more challenging as you’d have to avoid taking damage while it regenerated.
To me, it was a bold move to add another healing method besides the Estus Flask, and one that paid off with that game. It all depends on the general feeling the designers want you to have while exploring an area. It’s their way of pacing the action without taking control away from the player. This is the main reason why the blood vials in Bloodborne are so easy to come by, considering the action is way more fast-paced than other FromSoftware games. Or consider how Dark Souls 3 takes a step back towards the original idea but giving you the option to sacrifice the Ashen Estus Flask.
Conclusion
While Dark Souls 2 had its flaws, I wouldn’t go as far as to say that it was a bad sequel, let alone a bad game. It just didn’t meet the expectations set forward by an audience that had their jaws dropped in terms of level design and gameplay. And I think that’s a risk that every company in the gaming industry should be able to take. Otherwise, we’d be stuck with the same games over and over again and having to pay full price for them.
To this day, Dark Souls 2 has remained in my heart as one of the best games of all time. And I know not everyone will agree with me, I’m fine with that, all I ask my readers is to pick up their favorite Souls game and play it again. Appreciate the aspects they love about them while waiting excitingly for whatever FromSoftware has in store.
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