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Dark Souls II

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Dark Souls II
Official cover artwork depicting the game's protagonist[4]
Developer(s)From Software
Director(s)Tomohiro Shibuya
Yui Tanimura
Composer(s)Motoi Sakuraba
Yuka Kitamura
EngineHavok
Platform(s)PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Microsoft Windows
ReleasePlayStation 3, Xbox 360
Microsoft Windows
April 25, 2014[3]
Genre(s)Action role-playing
Mode(s)Single-player, multiplayer

Dark Souls II (ダークソウルII,, Dāku Souru Tsu−) is an action role-playing video game set in an open world environment. Like its predecessor, Dark Souls, Dark Souls II is known for its deliberatly unforgiving gameplay. Dark Souls II was developed for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 by From Software. From Software published the game in Japan, while Namco Bandai Games published the game in other regions.

Dark Souls II was announced at Spike Video Game Awards on December 7, 2012.[5][6] Hidetaka Miyazaki, who served as director on Demon's Souls and Dark Souls,[7] acted as a supervisor, while the game was directed by Tomohiro Shibuya and Yui Tanimura.[7] Miyazaki stated there will be no direct story connection between Dark Souls and Dark Souls II, though they are set in the same world.[8] The game uses dedicated multiplayer servers.[8]

Gameplay

Players customize the gender and physical features of their character in addition to choosing a starting class, which determine the statistics and equipment that the player begins with, and a starting gift. From a third-person perspective, players explore a continuous, open world. Players are confronted by a persistently hostile environment with unrelenting enemies and bosses – death is a central theme. As enemies are defeated, souls are accumulated, acting as both currency and experience points.

Multiplayer features heavily in Dark Souls II. Up to two players can join a third to proceed through the game up to defeating a boss, and there are two different co-op summoning sign items. The White Sign Soapstone and the Small White Sign Soapstone. The White Sign Soapstone summons a player. The Small White Sign Soapstone is used to summon a player for a much shorter time compared to the White Sign Soapstone. Players can join other multiplayer games in human form, and players who want to participate in player versus player (PvP) gameplay can also leave dark spirit summoning signs. Specific areas also allow for dueling, with neither player being penalized for a defeat. Several areas, mostly for covenants, also include being summoned as a "gray spirit" to defend or invade the specific region for specific rewards and progression within the covenant. For example, the player can join the Bell Keepers covenant, to defend the in-game region of Belfry Luna or Sol. Upon joining the covenant, the player receives a ring that will automatically summon the player to defend the bell in the latter areas from other players who attempt to ring them. Every covenant receives a covenant-specific ring, which all have their own covenant-related effect, usually a way to summon each other or keep track of PvP kills for the covenant.

One major difference in difficulty is that enemies do not respawn indefinitely; after they are defeated a set number of times, they disappear. They can be respawned using a certain item at a bonfire, though this increases difficulty akin to New Game+ mode. This allows players to eventually advance through trial and error. On the other hand, this places strict limits on how much a player can farm for souls and equipment during the first play-through. Another counter-balance is the fact that the player's maximum HP is reduced on every death until it reaches 50% of the full health bar, though this is regained when the player regains their humanity, through use of an item.

Plot

The story revolves around a cursed undead character trying to find a cure for their curse.[9] It is emotional and involved in the fashion of Demon's Souls' story. The game's director has mentioned that the sequel is not directly linked to its predecessor story-wise, although they are set in the same world. The director also stated that the concept of time will factor into the story. The story takes place in the land of Drangleic, full of souls to help undead maintain their humanity while fighting the curse of the undead.[10]

While seemingly vague to those who only follow the basic progression of things, the general story follows the cursed Undead, who is drawn to Drangleic by a compulsion. Within, he meets various characters who've also been drawn to Drangleic to collect souls to hold off the curse, which slowly erases the cursed's memories. Upon arriving in Drangleic by a portal of souls, the Undead meets the Fire Keepers, who give vague information about the curse the player is suffering. The player then arrives in Majula, and meets a herald who urges the player to collect souls to save himself from the curse, including the Four Grand Souls. The reasons for this are slowly revealed, with the implication that the curse, the Kindling of the Flame, and the ascension of Drangleic are part of a cycle. The kingdom of Drangleic rose, under the rule of King Vendrick, who slew the four Great Old Ones, and used their souls to build the kingdom. Afterwards, a woman appeared with threats of an invasion from the Giants across the sea. King Vendrick traveled there and slew the Giants, and made the woman his Queen, using the defeated Giants to build Drangleic Castle. However, his new Queen Regent, Nashandra, was born of a shard of the Father of the Abyss(implied to be Manus, the Father of the Abyss from Dark Souls), and she tricked Vendrick into continuing his experiments with controlling souls, eventually leading to his death.

After defeating the Four Grand Souls, the player gains access to Drangleic Castle, finding King Vendrick, now an Undead, and collects his Kings Ring, gaining access to the Dragon Shrine and the last living Dragon, who again gives vague information about the continuation of the cycle, due to fate and want, and gives the player the ability to access the memory of the dead Giants. Within the memories, the player relives some of the events of the war with the Giants, gaining access to the Throne of Want. Within the Throne, the player finds the Emerald Herald, who tells the player she was created by both man and Dragons to escape the cycle, but that the plan failed, and that Nashandra is within the Throne, attempting to corrupt the Shrine of the First Flame to gain the power of the primal flame. After defeating Nashandra, the player sits down on the Throne, while the Herald describes that it is up to the player to either link the Fire once more and continue the cycle, or abandon it.

Development

Dark Souls II features gameplay mechanics similar to its predecessor; co-director Tomohiro Shibuya has stated that he has no intention of changing the controls. The game features a whole new world with many weapons that are used to fight the monsters within the game. It has also been noted that the player can create a character.[9] Covenants, a feature in Dark Souls that allowed the player to align with different factions, are making a reappearance, though they will be easier to understand and more accessible.[9] The game world is going to be roughly the same size as Dark Souls though content density will be much richer and will also give players more freedom in how to progress,[11] with the beginning of the game made more accessible to newcomers.[12] Tanimura also confirmed that the game will retain the challenging gameplay known to the original: "We do not plan on having an Easy Mode since we are creating this game with a thought that challenge and difficulty are core elements of the game.”[13]

The development team has cited utilizing a more powerful graphics engine for the sequel that is currently being showcased in gameplay trailers.[14] New challenges, adding to the series' documented difficulty level, have also been shown.[14][15] The game will feature a more advanced AI system that allows enemies to react to a wider range of actions by the player.[15]

On September 19, 2013, an announcement regarding the delay of the PC version was made by the game's director Yui Tanimura. He explained that the delay was necessary to ensure an optimal version of Dark Souls II on PC.[16]

Producer Takeshi Miyazoe stated in December that he did not expect there to be DLC for Dark Souls II, but that position seems to have been reconsidered according to a recent interview with Official Xbox Magazine.[17]

Reception

Dark Souls II received universal critical acclaim. Aggregating review websites GameRankings and Metacritic gave the Xbox 360 version 90.47% and 92/100[18][20] and the PlayStation 3 version 88.88% and 90/100.[19][21]

Reviews for Dark Souls II have praised the increase in difficulty, atmosphere and visuals in the game, seeing it as a large improvement even over the first two installments in the series. The German magazine M! Games gave it a 90% fresh rating, with the reviewer stating that it took him upwards of 60 hours to complete.[33] In a behind-the-scenes video released on 26 February, Peter Serafinowicz, cast as the voice actor for Pate, states that in his 30 years of playing video games, he has never played anything better.[34] Famitsu magazine reviewed the game with four reviewers giving their opinions, who gave it 9/10/9/9, bringing the total score to 37/40.[22]

IGN gave the game a 9/10, with critic Marty Silva saying: "Dark Souls II is a smart, massive, and incredibly rewarding sequel. It’s crammed with deep systems, tense encounters, and enough clever multiplayer and New Game Plus elements to make me want to restart the second I saw the end credits. Not all of the tweaks and additions worked out for the best, the penalty for dying made the game almost unplayable but with such great enemies and levels to fight and explore, Dark Souls II made 60 hours of pain and agony so much fun they flew by in a heartbeat."[24] Game Informer's Daniel Tack released a review, giving the game a score of 9.75 out of 10, stating: "Dark Souls II is an epic adventure from start to finish packed with wondrous environments, imaginative and terrifying foes, and the continual adrenaline-apprehension rush of passing through each fog gate make this title a must-play."[23] Polygon's Phil Kollar also gave it a 9/10, and similarly praised the ambition displayed by the team in creating such a vast RPG universe for the player to explore, the notorious difficulty and sense of triumph that comes with eventually defeating the game; he notes that he died 235 times before completing it.[27]

References

  1. ^ a b c Hillier, Brenna (September 19, 2013). "Dark Souls 2 PS3, Xbox 360 release date set, PC to follow; special editions detailed". VG24/7. Retrieved October 8, 2013.
  2. ^ Serrels, Mark (September 19, 2013). "Dark Souls II Has An Australian Release Date (And A New Trailer And A Collector's Edition...)". Kotaku. Retrieved October 8, 2013.
  3. ^ Duwell, Ron (March 3, 2014). "Dark Souls 2 PC release date". TechnoBuffalo.
  4. ^ Kain, Erik (April 11, 2013). "'Dark Souls II' Box Art Revealed, Games For Windows Live Still A Mystery". Forbes. Retrieved April 12, 2013. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  5. ^ Clements, Ryan (December 7, 2012). "Dark Souls II Announced". IGN. Retrieved December 9, 2012.
  6. ^ Kain, Erik (December 8, 2012). "'Dark Souls 2' Announced At VGA 2012 - Coming To Xbox 360, PS3 And PC". Forbes. Retrieved December 9, 2012. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  7. ^ a b "Dark Souls 2 a direct sequel to first title, may not make 2013". VG247. December 15, 2012. Retrieved December 16, 2012.
  8. ^ a b Gifford, Kevin (December 19, 2012). "Dark Souls 2 developer: If Dark Souls was set in the North Pole, this one would be in the South Pole". Polygon. Retrieved December 19, 2012. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  9. ^ a b c Edge Staff (January 29, 2013). "Dark Souls II: Shibuya on the gameworld, awkwardness and accessibility". Edge. Retrieved March 30, 2013. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  10. ^ "Dark Souls 2: eight things you need to know".
  11. ^ "Dark Souls II World Size Is The Same as Predecessor".
  12. ^ "Dark Souls 2 will be more accessible for series newcomers, may include vehicles".
  13. ^ "No Easy Mode Allowed: An Interview With 'Dark Souls II' Director Yui Tanimura, Plus New Screenshots".
  14. ^ a b "Dark Souls 2 Gameplay Reveal - 12 Minute Demo".
  15. ^ a b "Twice shy: seven ways Dark Souls 2 is tougher than Dark Souls".
  16. ^ "Eurogamer interview, Tokyo Game Show".
  17. ^ "Dark Souls 2 could have DLC after all, depending on fan feedback".
  18. ^ a b "Dark Souls II for Xbox 360". GameRankings. Retrieved March 11, 2014.
  19. ^ a b "Dark Souls II for PlayStation 3". GameRankings. Retrieved March 11, 2014.
  20. ^ a b "Dark Souls II for Xbox 360 Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved March 11, 2014.
  21. ^ a b "Dark Souls II for PlayStation 3 Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved March 11, 2014.
  22. ^ a b Antony Seeto, Damian (March 5, 2014). "Famitsu's Dark Souls 2 Review Scores Big". Just Push Start. Retrieved March 11, 2014.
  23. ^ a b Tack, Daniel (March 10, 2014). "Praise the Fun - Dark Souls II". Game Informer. Retrieved March 11, 2014.
  24. ^ a b Sliva, Marty (March 10, 2014). "Dark Souls 2 Review". IGN. Retrieved March 11, 2014.
  25. ^ Kubba, Sinan (March 14, 2014). "Dark Souls 2 review: Death becomes you". Joystiq. Retrieved March 21, 2014.
  26. ^ http://www.computerandvideogames.com/452420/dark-souls-2-review/
  27. ^ a b Kollar, Philip (March 11, 2014). "Dark Souls 2 Review: Not the End". Polygon. Retrieved March 11, 2014.
  28. ^ http://www.gamespot.com/reviews/dark-souls-2-review/1900-6415691/
  29. ^ http://www.egmnow.com/articles/reviews/egm-review-dark-souls-ii/#
  30. ^ http://www.gamesradar.com/dark-souls-2-review/
  31. ^ http://www.destructoid.com/review-dark-souls-ii-270684.phtml
  32. ^ http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/editorials/reviews/11097-Dark-Souls-II-Review-Dark-Souls-Refined
  33. ^ Haas, Pete. "Dark Souls 2 Review Says It's The Hardest Action RPG In The World". Gaming Blend. Retrieved March 11, 2014.
  34. ^ McDonald, Tim (February 26, 2014). "Dark Souls 2 devs detail their Dark Intentions in this video". Inc Gamers. Retrieved March 11, 2014.
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