Dark Souls 2
Dark Souls 2 naturally has a lot in common with the prior one. It takes place in the same world, though an indeterminate amount of time later. This seems to assume that the First Flame was rekindled at the end of DS, though you could argue that the other outcome might be valid as well. While Dark Souls presented a world on an inevitable downward spiral, the sequel repaints this same setting as one of unavoidable, fated cycles.
DS offered a history starting with the First Flame and the Lord Souls taken from it, giving all indications the flames would eventually die and the world fall to darkness. DS 2 strongly indicates the Flame has been rekindled many times over since then, and the Lord Souls collected and passed on some number of times. Certain boss souls reference their origins, and some bosses show obvious influence from bosses of the previous game. And the ending of DS 2 is even more ambiguous as far as what happens after other than the implication the cycle will occur again at some point, with the fading Flame and the curse of undeath.
I can sort of appreciate that from a narrative standpoint (especially for a video game that allows "new game plus" play). At the same time, the whole cycle of fate thing makes for a pretty dull motivation for an adventurer and I'm the sort who craves some denouement and epilogue that explains what happens to the characters I've met/played over the course of the game. So I feel these games could do a better job in the story department.
Sitting back, I find the way the lore of the games manages to feel so rich and deep while being so sparce fascinating. Most NPCs seem to have fewer than a couple dozen lines to contribute to the story, yet some of them seem quite interesting. Item descriptions offer the primary insights into background of the regions and monsters, while really only being a few sentences each. So much in the setting is alluded to without being stated. Basically every existing bit of lore in the game manages to raise questions. That's a fine line to tread, but I would say it feels more like the game designers chose not to share more rather than they didn't know.
The NPCs are less prone to going hollow and attacking you later, though some of them sort of disappear after you reach the end of their stories, living their fates uncertain. I really wanted to be able to save Lucatiel.
The game still plays well. Having bonfire-to-bonfire fast travel from the get go does really change the atmosphere from the first. It's convenient, but does take a little of the awe of discovery of shortcuts out of the equation. In general, the world feels a bit more open and spread out rather than being an intricate knotwork of levels. Difficulty works about the same - new opponents can seem crushingly difficult, but later can seem easy just because you've worked out their tactics. I think I died less overall than the first one, perhaps due to caution and experience. I only saw one or two invaders on my first playthrough, except in a few covenant-protected areas which I ended up going offline to get through because 2-on-1 fights with mobs as well suuuuck. I did a fair bit of coop summoning and being summoned for boss fights, which was generally enjoyable, if brief.
Overall, a reasonably solid play experience. I'm not sure if I'll maintain interest through a NG+ playthrough, though.
DS offered a history starting with the First Flame and the Lord Souls taken from it, giving all indications the flames would eventually die and the world fall to darkness. DS 2 strongly indicates the Flame has been rekindled many times over since then, and the Lord Souls collected and passed on some number of times. Certain boss souls reference their origins, and some bosses show obvious influence from bosses of the previous game. And the ending of DS 2 is even more ambiguous as far as what happens after other than the implication the cycle will occur again at some point, with the fading Flame and the curse of undeath.
I can sort of appreciate that from a narrative standpoint (especially for a video game that allows "new game plus" play). At the same time, the whole cycle of fate thing makes for a pretty dull motivation for an adventurer and I'm the sort who craves some denouement and epilogue that explains what happens to the characters I've met/played over the course of the game. So I feel these games could do a better job in the story department.
Sitting back, I find the way the lore of the games manages to feel so rich and deep while being so sparce fascinating. Most NPCs seem to have fewer than a couple dozen lines to contribute to the story, yet some of them seem quite interesting. Item descriptions offer the primary insights into background of the regions and monsters, while really only being a few sentences each. So much in the setting is alluded to without being stated. Basically every existing bit of lore in the game manages to raise questions. That's a fine line to tread, but I would say it feels more like the game designers chose not to share more rather than they didn't know.
The NPCs are less prone to going hollow and attacking you later, though some of them sort of disappear after you reach the end of their stories, living their fates uncertain. I really wanted to be able to save Lucatiel.
The game still plays well. Having bonfire-to-bonfire fast travel from the get go does really change the atmosphere from the first. It's convenient, but does take a little of the awe of discovery of shortcuts out of the equation. In general, the world feels a bit more open and spread out rather than being an intricate knotwork of levels. Difficulty works about the same - new opponents can seem crushingly difficult, but later can seem easy just because you've worked out their tactics. I think I died less overall than the first one, perhaps due to caution and experience. I only saw one or two invaders on my first playthrough, except in a few covenant-protected areas which I ended up going offline to get through because 2-on-1 fights with mobs as well suuuuck. I did a fair bit of coop summoning and being summoned for boss fights, which was generally enjoyable, if brief.
Overall, a reasonably solid play experience. I'm not sure if I'll maintain interest through a NG+ playthrough, though.
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