With discourse about the best version of Dark Souls II undergoing a small revival following a series of quite bad Youtube video essays, I decided to return to the original version of Dark Souls II for the first time since I first played it. Not only that, I played patch 1.00 with no DLC, whereas the first time I played it was post-Aldia patch, with all DLC. This is Dark Souls II in the raw.
And you know what? Pretty good! Probably a 7/10 rather than the 8/10 I'm giving it here, but the final patch with DLC is an 8/10 for me so there we go.
It's such an oddity of a game. The engine feels completely different to all other Souls titles. The physics are completely bizarre, game-feel is far floatier and clunkier, and the animations are far less accomplished. So many things in this game work completely differently to the others: fog gate, lever, door etc. animations have a couple of seconds where you're vulnerable to attacks, almost all healing occurs over time (even Estus, though it is faster than alternatives), ripostes are just strange, fall damage is done like any other damage type rather than as a percentage, i-frames are tied to a stat! I could go on.
This is not to mention all the strange experimental ideas that never returned, chief among them the new additions in NG+ cycles (and I'm not just talking about better rings here) and the Bonfire Aesthetics which allowed a player who's not really into the whole NG+ thing, such as myself, to appreciate these new additions.
While I could talk about the weirdness and flaws all day, I ultimately love Dark Souls II for these elements. It is completely unique within Souls, and for this reason I find myself returning to it quite frequently. It may not be the best in the Souls series, and in fact might be the worst, but the series as a whole is stronger for the variety it brings.
As for which is the best version, I think I have to go Scholar, though a few areas in the original are better for enemy placement.
And you know what? Pretty good! Probably a 7/10 rather than the 8/10 I'm giving it here, but the final patch with DLC is an 8/10 for me so there we go.
It's such an oddity of a game. The engine feels completely different to all other Souls titles. The physics are completely bizarre, game-feel is far floatier and clunkier, and the animations are far less accomplished. So many things in this game work completely differently to the others: fog gate, lever, door etc. animations have a couple of seconds where you're vulnerable to attacks, almost all healing occurs over time (even Estus, though it is faster than alternatives), ripostes are just strange, fall damage is done like any other damage type rather than as a percentage, i-frames are tied to a stat! I could go on.
This is not to mention all the strange experimental ideas that never returned, chief among them the new additions in NG+ cycles (and I'm not just talking about better rings here) and the Bonfire Aesthetics which allowed a player who's not really into the whole NG+ thing, such as myself, to appreciate these new additions.
While I could talk about the weirdness and flaws all day, I ultimately love Dark Souls II for these elements. It is completely unique within Souls, and for this reason I find myself returning to it quite frequently. It may not be the best in the Souls series, and in fact might be the worst, but the series as a whole is stronger for the variety it brings.
As for which is the best version, I think I have to go Scholar, though a few areas in the original are better for enemy placement.