Compared to the catalog of From Software titles I’ve previously written about, Dark Souls 2 (2014) is the oddest one of them all. Firstly, it’s unsurprisingly different due to its change of director. Whereas every other title from Demon’s Souls to Elden Ring was helmed by the legendary director Hideteka Miyazaki, this entry was taken upon by Tomohiro Shibuya and Yui Tanimura.
So far with my time in the game, it’s undoubtedly one of the hardest of the bunch. Compared to the titles since Bloodborne, the controls feel stiffer, and the hitboxes (the area around each character and enemy model where damage can be taken) are insanely unpredictable. It’s insanely fun of course and super challenging, but the level of fairness is a rollercoaster and it has been feeling more and more like a chore to get through.
The game also takes more and more from Dark Souls’ predecessor, Demon’s Souls more than one would think: Only being able to level up through an NPC in a hub area, healing options in the form of common drops from enemies, and an emphasis on fast traveling across disjointed areas instead of traversing a fully connected world. That last aspect doesn’t do what this game has to offer any justice, and after beating a boss or reaching the dead end of an area, I’m forced to take my souls back to the hub over and over leveling up instead of taking what I learned about tricky enemies and locations to make my way back safely.
This design is too common now in the age of fast-travel heavy games, and while it’s a more toned-down attempt, it’s a shame how exploitative it can feel, especially when the areas feel as or even more detailed and explorable than the first game despite my frustrations.
Not knowing where to go or do is also more of an issue since you will be traveling to different worlds not connected to the main hub, whereas it was slightly less of an underlying issue in the previous game.