Dark Souls II Review
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Given Dark Souls II dropped both the original's light/dark dichotomy and its interconnected world structure, it allowed itself to be far more varied in locations, and now ranges from Gothic castles sinking into the lava, to underground pirates' dens, to thick, overgrown forts. In other words, the game makes full use of classic fantasy iconography while also presenting its own twists. Unfortunately, the environmental art isn't always as consistent as it could be: when the game is at its best it looks far better than either of its predecessors, but spotting tiled textures, flat lighting or similar oversights is easier than it should be, and there's at least one location that looks like it never got a much-needed art pass before release. And yes, the elephant in the room here is that, even at its best, the game never looks like it did during its first pre-release outings. I don't know about the whys and hows, which might well be legitimate, but a bit more honesty in marketing and communication would have been appreciated on part of both Namco Bandai and From Software. Luckily, the armor sets and weapons present the same kind of consistency and variety we've grown to expect of the series, with most of them looking practical without being bogged by historical accuracy, and all of them sharing a certain design sensibility that allows even the most absurd ones (like, for example, a statue wielded like a sword thanks to a tacked-on hilt) to feel like they belong in the world. Equally deserving of praise are the enemy designs and models, as they stand up to the high standards the series has established.
If I had to point out something that generally doesn't live up to the original's standards it would be the game music. Only a few themes are genuinely memorable, and quite a few of them end up feeling same-y, despite only being used for bosses. Perhaps I'd be more favorable if the OST didn't include one of my least favorite themes in the series, the one used for the Ruin Sentinels and Smelter Demon battles. Memorable, yes, though perhaps not in the way that was intended by the composer. Given I'm covering the game's sound department, I might as well say that sound effects tend to be slightly grungy and lo-fi, but despite that do a great job setting the mood. Perhaps it's just a symptom of the Stockholm syndrome that developed during the countless hours I spent with Demon's and Dark Souls but I now consider them to be part of the series' identity.
PC or Console?
Before writing my conclusions, I'll break from the act of reviewing to offer a bit of advice: if you can choose between all the versions of the game, I'd suggest grabbing the PC one. While I can't provide first-hand feedback, all early reports point to an extremely competent port this time around, and the PlayStation 3 version I played had quite a few minor-but-annoying technical hiccups, including a somewhat erratic framerate, long loading times and dialogue and menus that would occasionally take a while to pop up. By no means was it unplayable, but I'd be willing to bet the PC version will offer an overall superior experience, and a nicer-looking one to boot.
Conclusions
I have extremely conflicted feelings on Dark Souls II. On one hand I'm disappointed it's different from Dark Souls, given I greatly loved that title, but on the other hand I'm also disappointed it's not different enough, and while I feel it's more fun than the original, I also feel it's a slightly lesser experience. It's also ironic that the game director Hidetaka Miyazaki (and much of the staff, if the credits are to be believed) was replaced to bring new, fresh ideas, considering the game feels like a bridge between Dark and Demon's Souls, with less of an identity of its own. I can't, however, blame Tomohiro Shibuya and Yui Tanimura for not messing with the formula too much, considering how well-received the original was, and how much more aggressively Namco seems to have marketed the title.
And, let's be honest, who else offers this kind of experience? Dark Souls II stands tall on the shoulder of giants, but that shouldn't invalidate its accomplishments, and shouldn't stop me from saying it's an excellent game. Not to mention that, without Dark Souls II, Xbox 360 and PC players would only have one Souls title to play with, and that would be a bit of a shame, wouldn't it?
