#We've seen this occurance many times before .
We get a sequel to a great game that tries so hard to meet the high expactation the 1st installment raised that it tripps, falls and breaks it's FACE . LITERALLY .
What i loved about DARK SOULS was the fact that it was as the name suggested DARK and gloomy and the athmosphere of desperation, depravity and ultimate demize was all over it, every time you reached a white light barrier it made you question wheter or not you are good enough to proceed or if you should stay and get stronger. Also the game made me go back to a more innocent times in my life. The story was told in such a brilliant way it made you feel like you actually discovered something that no one has discovered before. The story revealed slowly before you a world of wounder and adventure that appeared only when you reveal the mist of darkness covering it by passing through all the ordeals set before you by this horrific land. There was that feeling of discovery every time you passed a corber for the first time or when you stumbled upon something (a ring or sword or some piece of armor) by accident that proved to be invaluable for your future struggles. There was adventure and wounder all over the game and scenary so grand you wanted to just stay on some balcony for a few seconds to admire this binary world of magic. I loved that feeling that i got every time i killed a boss and i dreaded the feeling of failure that came with every death, but i knew that dieing was caused by my own incompetence and because i screwed up somehow... like accidentally rolling off a high ledge or failing a parry or not seeing an enemy get the drop on you from the side. ** Deep sigh of nostalgia **.
Well ... forget that part this new game has no shadows lurking and hardships to conquer. it's easier shinier and sunnier than you can hope for there are birds chirping and monsters die in 2-3 hits. AI's get stuck on a crate or in some invisible wall . And most of the times you die are because of the developing team's brain farts. You will find yourself often getting hit by an attack that passes so far from you it's absurd. At some points i started thinking monsters can weild the FORCE and that's why their seemingly ineffective attacks landed a devastating blow . Bosses hit you because the attack that they made is supposed to hit you no matter what. You could be anywhere do anything and still get hit or slashed or pushed or shot even when it seems impossible. Object range is really messed up. The textures say the wall ended but for some reason you still can't pass. Rolling under a half open grate is impossible you need to wait till it opens fully even though there is more than enough nothingness for you to pass you think you are walking on solid stone but woops guess what that's a ghost stone you fell to your death stick to the middle of pass not to the sides.
Some of the game mechanics make you wounder WHY? WHAT COULD POSSIBLY CAUSE YOU TO BELIEVE THIS WAS A GOOD IDEA? Weapons none of the other equipment only your weaponst more specifically melee weapons break so easily that you feel someone was playing a prank on your character and made your swords out of aluminum foil. You need to change swords halfway through a zone or even a third of the way because you killed 8-10 mobs and your weapon is at 15% durability even though most of the mobs you killed with parry or backstab (1 hit). I understand clearly that in the 1st game durability was a nuisance that you delt with easily and no one was concerned about so... reduce the items maximum durability make them more fragile. OR make repairing at bonfire reduce the total durability and require you to pay some large amount of souls to raise it back to it's original state ONLY from a blacksmith BUT FOR GODS SAKE needing to constantly worry about hitting is tiring . And if some boss fight drags on you need to change weapons in the middle of the fight ... that's ridiculous. Some other game mechanics that used to work and didnt need any touching now work less effectively like the target lock . Before target lock would move your camera toward your target with speed matching your reaction speed . NOT NOW , now the camera turns to a target behind you so slow that your enemy has the time to get right in your face, passing a distance of 50-80 feet(~25 meters) while walking slowly with a shield raized . Fighting multiple enemies is a battle with the camera controlls to stay on target because lock on is not so much a lock as kinda like - prefferably if possible look at that one ... if you can ... please.... i beg you dont switch ..... i got hit you *(!@^%!&@ camera.
Boss fights have been dummed down a lot. Bosses have some basic moves they keep repeating and in 1-2 fights you know exactly what follows what and where to be not to get hit and which attacks will hit you no matter what you do so you may as well get as close as you can and use a flask so you cal live through the absurdity.
Now that i practically shat all over the game let me say this : THE GAME IS ACTUALLY GOOD. Problem is it's FAR WORSE than DARK SOULS . We practically got the Dragon Age 2 to our Dragon Age . Or if i were to me more specific the game feels like it should've been the 1st coz the previous is better in everything if i had to go with another analogy i'd go with IF this game is Mass Effect than the previous one was Mass Effect 2 OR WAAAY better.
Now not to be unjust i'll give credit to the new director. GOOD CALL on the death punishment . Because previously most of us didnt really care if we die on a boss coz we usually just spend our souls before the fight so we dont really lose much . Now IF you die you lose a portion of your health that can only be recharged by using an effigy which arent easy to get unless you spend your souls on them and even if you do there isnt an infinite amount of them available. That said there are some things that are also worth mentioning like the block lock mechanic that was missing before . it's kinda tireing to hold a button pressed for hours at a time always blocking so now you can just lock that block and move past a bridge blocking all archer attacks without straining your fingers .Also good call on the FINITE amounts of titanite in blacksmiths it was pretty grind favorin g before with almost all titanite sold at blacksmith . We could just grind for 2h and enchant a basic item at +10 and this pass most of the game easy . Good call on trying to fix the useless durability system bad call on failing miserably to do so by making it impossible to concentrate on a fight without that little voice in your head popping every time you hit calling to you "Durability...Durability ... Check the Durablilty". Good Call on the more weapon and item slots . Bad call on making me fill them with the same items coz of durability. Good Call on healing items ... which is also a bad call on healing items now if you grind long enough you dont need to work for flasks you just buy enough healings to last you as long as you need.
Now that i said all good there is to say let's get to the port since this is after all a review for the PC version .
DO NOT GET THE PC VERSION . OR if you do get yourself a controller , or asign all camera controlls to buttons on your keyboard, because as common for console developers making a PC port is a huge challenge they cant seem to overcome . And this one although not AS broken is still broken , mouse controlls will practically drive you nuts in 5 minutes and cause you to either break your mouse or commit suicide . How did they ever decide it's a good call to put 2 different attacks on the same button it's almost as if those people have never played a PC game in their lives so they can comprehend what needs to be done .
Now IF you still wish to play the game keep in mind it's a good game but if you were expecting a worthy successor to the 1st game you'll be very disappointed as was I. The game falls short on most aspects that made the previous game such a great experience for me , again NOT saying it's a bad game altogether it's just not what it should've been . And i cant understand why it's getting SUCH overrated high scores when it's clearly not the game we wanted.
it feels kinda like the slightly prettier but dumber and kinda slow sister of the girl you like.