JanteB

Don*`t be fooled by the title. Dark Souls 2 is not in the same league as Demon Souls or Dark Souls 1 – it`s no longer a game of dark beauty and finesse – but rather a wannabe sequel that doesn`t really get the essence of the former games. In Demon and Dark Souls you were never really stuck, as you could always farm more souls and eventually become strong enough to bruteforce your way through. You didn`t have to do it that way, you could clear it with skill or use a combination – the important bit here though– it was up to you. Unfortunately the developers decided to change that, so you can only “farm” monsters for a set number of turns – then they disappear, unless you make the game harder ofc. Unlike the former games where you`d progress a little bit every time and eventually beat the level - Dark Souls 2 robs you of that “triumph” or “revenge kill” – because – reasons. The lock on is worse than ever and if you`re a magic user, the range is set to whatever gets your opponent within striking range, so sometimes it`s 5 meters, other time`s it`s longer or shorter – what a joke. The game seems obsessed with your demise, so much so there`s even a monument that displays the numbers of deaths you`ve suffered so far. If you die a lot, then that`s good – right. If you die twice as much as Demon souls, then this game is twice as good – right? The combat is also severely unbalanced. You either destroy the enemy without a scratch or you`re likely dead – There´s no middle ground in this game. Dark Souls 2 desperately wants to be as cool as the former games, but doesn`t understand what made the former games modern classics. You`ve been warned.

DG 1 is a classic due to great tower balance, fair difficulty and overall good design. For some strange reason the developers decided to "fix" the game, so they fixed something that wasn`t broken in the first place - classic own goal by developers isolated in their ivory tower. You no longer gain interest and you cannot "juggle" enemies. Flying enemies are pretty much gone and the difficulty at higher levels will please masochists, but alienate most fans of DG 1. Be warned if you loved the first DG like I did, this is several steps in the wrong direction