This is the first Souls game I've ever beaten. I've previously started Demons Souls and DS1, and if you want to count it, the indie game Mortal Shell. At the time of writing this review I'm now close to beating Bloodborne I believe. I don't know that there's any particular reason this was the one I was able to finish. I know DS2 has a pretty divisive reputation. I guess my only hot take in that regard is that I don't see that much of a difference between it and other souls games. Thing with this series to me is that I'm so close to being hooked and finding it to be one of my favorite franchises. But every time I engage with any of these games, they leave me wishing they were just a little bit more than they are. I get about halfway through and just stop because it doesn't feel like I'm missing anything despite them seemingly being made for me.
I mentioned in my Superman 64 review of all places that I've been craving less cookie cutter game design crutches seen across the industry, referring even to games I've thoroughly enjoyed my time with. I've got a soft spot for games that aren't so streamlined, games that some might call inaccessible. I had a great time with Virtual Hydlide on the Saturn to give you an idea of how sick and twisted my taste has become. Which is to say, the more I get into this series the more I appreciate what they're doing as far as structure and game systems.
There's a lot of aspects I COULD complain about and say well this thing makes the game artificially harder than it really is Referring to stuff like losing max HP on death and not getting items back on death, or the occasional obnoxiously long run back to a boss room some fights have. If the game was truly confident in its difficulty it so obnoxiously boasts in one of its only cutscenes, it wouldn't have to rely on stuff like this. There was definitely times where if I'd just sucked it up and risked losing some items I'd have gotten past a boss much faster. But at the end of the day, this stuff is all just friction that adds to the overall experience as it's presented. And a few snags aside...I'd consider DS2 to be one of the easier RPG's I've played. (Heck I was stuck at an endgame Final Fantasy X boss and was so exhausted by how frustrating that game was becoming that I ended up getting 100% achievements in DS2 before I touched FFX again)
My true problem with this game and so far, the series in general...Is the beyond minimalistic approach to music, atmosphere, and storytelling. If these games gave me anything to chew on I'd be absolutely in love with them. 95% of the game being literally silent beyond your own footsteps gets so dreadfully boring really fast. I understand fans will defend the decision because it's supposed to feel desolate and hopeless and lonely, that's just the kind of world it is. And I understand it makes what few songs are there REALLY stand out more than they would otherwise. But I just really don't buy that the presence of music would inherently ruin the mood. Somber, depressing, and subtle music can be written. The no music route just blankets the entire dark souls universe in a thick layer of literal nothing and makes it REALLY hard for me to care about the world and lore they're barely attempting to tell me about anyway. Of course too much music wouldn't be great either but the inverse is also true. If complete silence was used in very intentional moments it would be felt so much more. But used for almost the entire game (and series) you become numb to it. Silence and minimalism in the soundtrack is a powerful tool but if it's the only trick you pull for 6 huge games you've overused it. Something like the Arbiter's Grounds theme from Twilight Princess would add so much just dropped into almost any location in the series. Or Misty Menace from Donkey Kong country...Because the series about the funny monkeys trying to get their bananas back on the SNES cared more about invoking a strikingly ominous and melancholic aesthetic for its world than Dark Souls. When we have beautiful pieces that make you truly attached to a location like the hub Majula's theme...It's a shame to me they instead waste almost the entirety of the soundtrack on largely samey boss themes that rarely invoke the somber, hopeless tone I really wish they tapped into more considering it's clearly what they want to go for in this universe.
And beyond that, the sound design also fails. Drangleic castle is one of the most awesome locations I've experienced in a video game in quite a while. A dark, monochromatic, massive castle with a raging storm happening around it. The harsh environmental sounds of a rainstorm could have easily replaced the need for music here. And yet you can barely even hear the rain. I get what they're going for with the lack of music even if I don't agree. But there's no excuse for the actual environment to be almost equally as silent. And funny thing is this was also a deliberate choice. They kick up the rainstorm sounds during the Looking Glass Knight boss. They feel the need to prop up the bosses over EVERYTHING else by making everything else as lame as possible even if it doesn't make sense whatsoever. The rain making proper rain sounds outside of the boss room wouldn't ruin the pretentious minimalist aesthetic they insist every game in this series needs.
What's worse is if you're not directly standing in it, the rain makes no sound at all. Even if you're functionally standing under a canopy the entire already downplayed and weak sounds just go away (As do the actual rain visuals). So many other games get so much mileage out of rainstorms to invoke such a variety of moods. But souls goes out of its way to invoke nothing, therefore I feel nothing. And not in the way it wants me to feel it. It's just boring, plain, borderline unfinished. Furthering the horrid sound design, so much as falling 2 inches while standing in the rain, will play an obnoxiously loud SPLASH stock sound effect that sounds like you threw a boulder into a swimming pool. Like dude I just hopped up some slightly damp stairs and THAT'S what you choose to cartoonishly exagerrate?
Sorry this has gone so long with me basically just complaining about the music and sound effects but my only other major complaint is story which I don't have much to say on. Because there's not much there. Again I know a LOT of people love souls lore but I honestly don't get it. Maybe with more exposure to the series I'll change my mind on this but so far I find not only the storytelling dreadful, but the actual lore itself more boring than a middle school history lesson. Conceptually I like seeing the war through the dead giant's memories. Otherwise I get nothing out of the narrative. Even then it just raises questions as to why all the giants seem to have died off after you literally see them win the war given the NPC's they put against them are no match. Saw some people interpret this scene as a bit of a time loop, you the player are the one who went and slew their leader and crippled their forces? Idk man if we're gonna jump the shark with a time loop, and the intro is just gonna be the devs laughing about how much you're gonna die in this super elite gamers only challenging game, we may as well have some actual fun with the story. But it's just a bunch of nothing characters exposition dumping on you about uninteresting things that happened ages ago. My understanding of the story is probably completely wrong and I'm most definitely forgetting what plank of wood #7 mentioned after I talked to him for a 5th time, but I genuinely can't pretend I care. No other franchise would get away with having such a nothing ending. Practically on par with classic NES games and their black screen YOU WIN roll credits endings.
This review is ultimately a positive one. I enjoyed a LOT about DS2, and finally beating a souls game (Let alone getting 100% on apparently the worst one) has opened the flood gates to me wanting more. After finishing DS2 I tried some other games I was interested in. But I immediately felt the itch for gameplay untouched by streamlined modern conventions that DS2 satisfied. I didn't bother with bloodborne and elden ring for so long because I already had 3 other souls games I'd started and dropped and felt absolutely nothing towards. But once I'm done with bloodborne, DS3 and Elden ring are definitely on the table now.
I really hope at least one of these games truly captures me with awe. This is so close to being a perfect 5 star and yet leaves me feeling nothing at all. And despite this being the "worst" one, I'd be surprised if the elements I wish were better here are any different in Fromsoft's other works. Definitely curious if I'll end up saying DS2 is the worst one like many others. If it's truly all up from here I'm quite excited.
I mentioned in my Superman 64 review of all places that I've been craving less cookie cutter game design crutches seen across the industry, referring even to games I've thoroughly enjoyed my time with. I've got a soft spot for games that aren't so streamlined, games that some might call inaccessible. I had a great time with Virtual Hydlide on the Saturn to give you an idea of how sick and twisted my taste has become. Which is to say, the more I get into this series the more I appreciate what they're doing as far as structure and game systems.
There's a lot of aspects I COULD complain about and say well this thing makes the game artificially harder than it really is Referring to stuff like losing max HP on death and not getting items back on death, or the occasional obnoxiously long run back to a boss room some fights have. If the game was truly confident in its difficulty it so obnoxiously boasts in one of its only cutscenes, it wouldn't have to rely on stuff like this. There was definitely times where if I'd just sucked it up and risked losing some items I'd have gotten past a boss much faster. But at the end of the day, this stuff is all just friction that adds to the overall experience as it's presented. And a few snags aside...I'd consider DS2 to be one of the easier RPG's I've played. (Heck I was stuck at an endgame Final Fantasy X boss and was so exhausted by how frustrating that game was becoming that I ended up getting 100% achievements in DS2 before I touched FFX again)
My true problem with this game and so far, the series in general...Is the beyond minimalistic approach to music, atmosphere, and storytelling. If these games gave me anything to chew on I'd be absolutely in love with them. 95% of the game being literally silent beyond your own footsteps gets so dreadfully boring really fast. I understand fans will defend the decision because it's supposed to feel desolate and hopeless and lonely, that's just the kind of world it is. And I understand it makes what few songs are there REALLY stand out more than they would otherwise. But I just really don't buy that the presence of music would inherently ruin the mood. Somber, depressing, and subtle music can be written. The no music route just blankets the entire dark souls universe in a thick layer of literal nothing and makes it REALLY hard for me to care about the world and lore they're barely attempting to tell me about anyway. Of course too much music wouldn't be great either but the inverse is also true. If complete silence was used in very intentional moments it would be felt so much more. But used for almost the entire game (and series) you become numb to it. Silence and minimalism in the soundtrack is a powerful tool but if it's the only trick you pull for 6 huge games you've overused it. Something like the Arbiter's Grounds theme from Twilight Princess would add so much just dropped into almost any location in the series. Or Misty Menace from Donkey Kong country...Because the series about the funny monkeys trying to get their bananas back on the SNES cared more about invoking a strikingly ominous and melancholic aesthetic for its world than Dark Souls. When we have beautiful pieces that make you truly attached to a location like the hub Majula's theme...It's a shame to me they instead waste almost the entirety of the soundtrack on largely samey boss themes that rarely invoke the somber, hopeless tone I really wish they tapped into more considering it's clearly what they want to go for in this universe.
And beyond that, the sound design also fails. Drangleic castle is one of the most awesome locations I've experienced in a video game in quite a while. A dark, monochromatic, massive castle with a raging storm happening around it. The harsh environmental sounds of a rainstorm could have easily replaced the need for music here. And yet you can barely even hear the rain. I get what they're going for with the lack of music even if I don't agree. But there's no excuse for the actual environment to be almost equally as silent. And funny thing is this was also a deliberate choice. They kick up the rainstorm sounds during the Looking Glass Knight boss. They feel the need to prop up the bosses over EVERYTHING else by making everything else as lame as possible even if it doesn't make sense whatsoever. The rain making proper rain sounds outside of the boss room wouldn't ruin the pretentious minimalist aesthetic they insist every game in this series needs.
What's worse is if you're not directly standing in it, the rain makes no sound at all. Even if you're functionally standing under a canopy the entire already downplayed and weak sounds just go away (As do the actual rain visuals). So many other games get so much mileage out of rainstorms to invoke such a variety of moods. But souls goes out of its way to invoke nothing, therefore I feel nothing. And not in the way it wants me to feel it. It's just boring, plain, borderline unfinished. Furthering the horrid sound design, so much as falling 2 inches while standing in the rain, will play an obnoxiously loud SPLASH stock sound effect that sounds like you threw a boulder into a swimming pool. Like dude I just hopped up some slightly damp stairs and THAT'S what you choose to cartoonishly exagerrate?
Sorry this has gone so long with me basically just complaining about the music and sound effects but my only other major complaint is story which I don't have much to say on. Because there's not much there. Again I know a LOT of people love souls lore but I honestly don't get it. Maybe with more exposure to the series I'll change my mind on this but so far I find not only the storytelling dreadful, but the actual lore itself more boring than a middle school history lesson. Conceptually I like seeing the war through the dead giant's memories. Otherwise I get nothing out of the narrative. Even then it just raises questions as to why all the giants seem to have died off after you literally see them win the war given the NPC's they put against them are no match. Saw some people interpret this scene as a bit of a time loop, you the player are the one who went and slew their leader and crippled their forces? Idk man if we're gonna jump the shark with a time loop, and the intro is just gonna be the devs laughing about how much you're gonna die in this super elite gamers only challenging game, we may as well have some actual fun with the story. But it's just a bunch of nothing characters exposition dumping on you about uninteresting things that happened ages ago. My understanding of the story is probably completely wrong and I'm most definitely forgetting what plank of wood #7 mentioned after I talked to him for a 5th time, but I genuinely can't pretend I care. No other franchise would get away with having such a nothing ending. Practically on par with classic NES games and their black screen YOU WIN roll credits endings.
This review is ultimately a positive one. I enjoyed a LOT about DS2, and finally beating a souls game (Let alone getting 100% on apparently the worst one) has opened the flood gates to me wanting more. After finishing DS2 I tried some other games I was interested in. But I immediately felt the itch for gameplay untouched by streamlined modern conventions that DS2 satisfied. I didn't bother with bloodborne and elden ring for so long because I already had 3 other souls games I'd started and dropped and felt absolutely nothing towards. But once I'm done with bloodborne, DS3 and Elden ring are definitely on the table now.
I really hope at least one of these games truly captures me with awe. This is so close to being a perfect 5 star and yet leaves me feeling nothing at all. And despite this being the "worst" one, I'd be surprised if the elements I wish were better here are any different in Fromsoft's other works. Definitely curious if I'll end up saying DS2 is the worst one like many others. If it's truly all up from here I'm quite excited.