Dark Souls II - Review Roundup

Myrthos

Myrthos

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Those sure are some high scores...
 
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Well I skimmed over a few ones. Will stop now to avoid the spoilers.

Finally they are talking about the exploration and Discovery and things sound pretty good.

A lot seem to be agreeing to (from Gamespot):
THE GOOD
Fantastic sense of discovery
Lots of tweaks to the Dark Souls formula that make exploration and combat consistently rewarding
Online features make the adventure even more unpredictable
Tons of cool, creepy, challenging bosses
Gives you minimal guidance and trusts you to triumph on your own terms
THE BAD
Flat lighting makes some areas look too washed out

P.S. Seems the allegations for the visual downgrade on the consoles held some water after all. At least there will be no Blighttown for them this time round.


Now to hide in a hole for a month+ to avoid the spoilers ;)
 
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We'll see. Having the mainstream media praise it kinda fills me with trepidation tbh ;)

Still I'll elect to be cautiously optimistic because the couple of them I've read sound like actual fans and targeted exactly the areas I wanted to hear about...
 
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Well, it's become sort of mainstream in that it's quite hip to play it as it's so "hardcore" ;)

One positive aspect of that is that it might pave the way for similarly challenging combat in future big budget RPGs.

A game like Skyrim could benefit a lot from having a more balanced power progression, for instance.
 
Also, bear in mind this is 9/10 played OFFLINE. The multiplayer is the best bit! :D

I ended up playing Dark Souls 1 like a PVP build sandbox.
 
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DArtagnan said:
A game like Skyrim could benefit a lot from having a more balanced power progression, for instance.
Click to expand...

Or one could install Requiem ;) Still planning to with the new gfx card...
 
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JonNik said:
Or one could install Requiem ;) Still planning to with the new gfx card…
Click to expand...

Unfortunately, Requiem doesn't change the fact that the game is a complete joke in terms of challenge.

It makes the start of the game much, much harder - but it doesn't fix the inherently broken power curve, unfortunately. It ends up being a joke all too soon :(

Also, it's still far from finished and is the result of a huge amount of work.

We need the actual developers to implement mechanics that are satisfying.

If the mainstream is starting to adapt to this kind of challenge structure, we might see more of the same stuff from the big boys.

Well, one can hope :)
 
I agree of course. As we have discussed the TES modders are brilliant but the core mechanics need to be handled and balanced by the creators.

I am not sure that we will see this kind of balance taken to massive sandbox Sim-RPGs with an established fanbase as TES. I don't think that it is what said fanbase would appreciate. But perhaps more Mainstream developers (or rather their bosses) may come to the conclusion that extreme handholding and streamlining may not be an utter necessity to make their games a commercial success...

That would indeed be something.
 
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JonNik said:
I agree of course. As we have discussed the TES modders are brilliant but the core mechanics need to be handled and balanced by the creators.

I am not sure that we will see this kind of balance taken to massive sandbox Sim-RPGs with an established fanbase as TES. I don't think that it is what said fanbase would appreciate. But perhaps more Mainstream developers (or rather their bosses) may come to the conclusion that extreme handholding and streamlining may not be an utter necessity to make their games a commercial success…

That would indeed be something.
Click to expand...

Oh, there aren't many guarentees in this world - but I don't think the fanbase is as closeminded as you seem to suggest.

Things change and trends shift.

Obviously, only time will tell - and I suppose this thread isn't the ideal place to dream about the future of TES ;)
 
Indeed apologies for the derailment :)
 
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maybe now after a third critic acclaim other designers would try to learn something from it

PS: TES sux.
 
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Audience input from: http://www.metacritic.com/game/xbox-360/dark-souls-ii/user-reviews

. One thing I didn't like was enemies now de-spawn after a certain 10 kills, more or less because it kind of limits you how far your soul level can go on first play through, and although I was not a farmer in any of the other soul games, it just feels like gamers have less say on the matter….
Click to expand...

From: http://www.metacritic.com/game/playstation-3/dark-souls-ii/user-reviews
i think souls series is the best series ever made(even more then ME series),
Click to expand...

I think Dark Souls II is a great name for Best 2014 RPG or maybe even GOTY
Click to expand...

Seriously? Better than (no mobrespawns) ME series, is a masterpiece and is GOTY already?
Thank you, I'm not buying, but instead am going to replay ME series right now.
 
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DArtagnan said:
Well, it's become sort of mainstream in that it's quite hip to play it as it's so "hardcore" ;)
Click to expand...

There is lot of "hipster" element going on with the press reviews. Some of these people will complain and cry if other games are hard but are fine with Dark Souls...

PS: Don't get me wrong, I don't have anything against Dark souls but rather the press people trying to be "cool" ...
 
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lostforever said:
There is lot of "hipster" element going on with the press reviews. Some of these people will complain and cry if other games are hard but are fine with Dark Souls…

PS: Don't get me wrong, I don't have anything against Dark souls but rather the press people trying to be "cool" …
Click to expand...

I suppose it's because the game isn't actually that hard - it's just challenging in a way that demands your attention.

I quite like that, because I have no interest in hard for the sake of hard, and creating something that's impossible or nearly so is very easy.

Creating something that's a real but fair challenge represents quite a bit more design and balance work.

People tend to confuse the ability to master a computer game with something that's actually important - so I suppose it's the perfect title to support your fantasy of being something special, as the game really does seem very harsh until you learn the patterns of the AI and the intricacies of the systems, at which point it becomes quite doable and arguably easy.

Unlike, say, something like Ninja Gaiden which takes skill on a very different level to master. Something the mainstream audience could never achieve. Even so, it's still nothing but a computer game.

The multiplayer component of DS is a different story, obviously, but all MP games are challenging simply by their nature.
 
from those scores looks like this will be my goty
witcher 3 not really looking into it and dragon age not really even considering it :))
although lords of the fallen is the underdog, also hellraid could threaten it :p
 
For those with a legitimate interest in the game that feel put off by the counter limiting the respawns (and avoid the actual reviews from fear of spoilers):

There are items that you will be able to burn in a bonfire that will not only restart respawns but will make the enemies on the area harder. And not by just a simple HP/DMG adjustment apparently but with alternative AI routines and move sets it is said….

So there it is your "easy" and "hard" mode implemented ingame ;)
 
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JonNik said:
There are items that you will be able to burn in a bonfire that will not only restart respawns but will make the enemies on the area harder. And not by just a simple HP/DMG adjustment apparently but with alternative AI routines and move sets it is said….
Click to expand...

Ooh, sounds tasty!

JonNik said:
So there it is your "easy" and "hard" mode implemented ingame ;)
Click to expand...

The way you described it made it sound more like "normal" and "harder", unless you were actually talking about the respawns stopping? That would surely be a kind of easy "mode".

What this leaves me wondering is, can it happen before you even beat the boss in the area? Cause if I would just be messing around, upgrading gear or whatever, and resting at bonfires, it would really suck if all enemies disappeared before I even moved for the boss.

Hmm, I guess this would really depend a lot on the level design and the placement of bonfires. Might not be a problem at all.

Of course, not having to beat every enemy in the boss path would surely be nice if you were to die for the n'th time.
 
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