Over the next two weeks, Dark Souls veteran Rich Stanton will be documenting his thoughts and experiences as he plays through the game. Join him as he enters Drangleic for the first time...
DAY TWO: THE ENDLESS KNIGHTS
Refreshed and eager, I've barely pressed start on the title screen and already I'm feeling much better about Dark Souls II. One bad boss does not a bad game make, and now I've got an Estus flask and can level up I'm stoked to start exploring.
Majula is your kind of home base for Dark Souls II, and it's where you have to go to talk to the Oirish Emerald Herald. She's a bit of a bore, to be honest, with none of the mystery of the Maiden in Black and a wearying line in saying “more souls, bigger souls” – but she also has an exceptionally cute voice so I'm going to give her a pass.
More displeasing is the great flatness of Majula itself – Firelink was a miniature labyrinth with all sorts of hidden nooks and crannies, whereas this is a kind of plain with a few tents and houses. There are corners, and items to be found, and a mansion to explore (I found the key in the Forest of the Giants castle) – but I'm not quite feeling it yet. Amazing 'peaceful' music though.
The biggest difference between Majula and Firelink is that you can go where you want from the latter. Sure, heading down to New Londo Ruins right at the start might be a bad idea, but it's entirely possible – here, though, many of the alternate paths leading out of Majula are blocked off, waiting for a key or a special item. It's exactly the kind of design that the original Dark Souls trumped.
One plus note though: the Crestfallen warrior is back! Great to see you again mate, how's things? He's still a depressing old mope, offering up hints while whining about this or that, and seems to have more dialogue than in the previous games – but it's nice to see a concrete link, albeit a small one. All we need now's Patches.
My second day was spent largely preparing for the adventure ahead. I used the souls acquired from the Last of the Giants to level up, unlocked the Majula blacksmith and mansion (super-useful items downstairs!), and tried out a few weapons – having picked the dual-wielding hunter class, with high dexterity, I'm going to upgrade the scimitar for now and keep a broadsword for emergencies.
One thing I adore about Dark Souls II – the bow mechanics are so much improved over the original. At first they're a little difficult to finangle, but soon enough you're arching with the best of them – and, given my already-high dexterity, I think specialising in bows may actually be a viable PvP option this time around.
Tomorrow, it's time to hunt down the Pursuer.
DAY ONE: AN UNEASY BEGINING...
Dark Souls is my favourite game ever. So much so that, aside from a 20 minute hands-on, I studiously avoided every possible detail about the sequel until that magical disc was in my hands. My PS3's been waiting for this moment, and so have I.
My first impressions of Dark Souls II are not good, and it's nothing to do with the mandatory install or PS3 system update. The original's epic but mysterious opening has been replaced by a gummy old lady, mouthing threats and making little sense. In the opening area, before acquiring any weapons, I discover the first threat – a kind of cyclops monster that looks straight out of the EDF playbook. Things are looking grim, and not because it just back-slammed me to death.
Thankfully things soon improve. I work through to the equivalent of Firelink Shrine, Majula, and promptly head off in a random direction – making the crucial mistake, I'll later learn, of omitting to speak to the Emerald Herald. She gives you an Estus Flask and lets you level up.
Instead I head into the Forests of the Giants and beyond, relying on a limited stock of lifegems and thinking 'ooh this is a bit tough isn't it.' It is. The attack patterns of Dark Souls II's enemies are familiar, but this time around there's a much greater emphasis on group combat – you'll often unavoidably aggro two or three enemies at the same time. The combination of this and the new hollowing mechanic, whereby your health bar reduces a little with each death, soon has me at half a life bar and close to IRL hollowing.
But I'm made of sterner stuff; after all, am I not the conqueror of Lordran? Two hours, three bottles of beer and around twenty deaths later I've reached my very first boss: the Last of the Giants.
This solidifies my feeling of uneasiness about Dark Souls II. It's not that this boss fight is bad – in fact it's super-tough, because the dude's one-shotting me and his limbs seem to do AOE damage that constantly fools me with its impact zones. I'm dying a lot. I can forgive these things. But the design... man.
There's a quote from Masanori Waragai in the Dark Souls Design Works book that did the rounds, about something Hidetaki Miyazaki said to him with regards to the design of the undead dragons in that game:
'I submitted a design draft that depicted a dragon swarming with maggots and other gross things. Miyazaki handed it back to me saying “This isn't dignified. Don't rely on the gross factor to portray an undead dragon. Can't you instead try to convey the deep sorrow of a magnificent beast doomed to a slow and possibly endless descent into ruin?”'
The Last of the Giants, when you think about, has a similar kind of theme to the undead dragon. But this design is like a big papier-mache doll, with axes and swords stuck in its back and a giant wooden pole through its stomach. Halfway through the fight, it pulls off its own arm to attack you.
It does not feel, to me, like an elegant or refined design. As it finally falls to my blade, I feel the wrong kind of sorrow. Has Fromsoft got it wrong? I'm feeling uneasy. But I'm not giving up yet, not by a long shot.
Rich Stanton is a freelance writer and Dark Souls fanatic, taking his first steps in Drangleic. Check him out on IGN or Twitter.
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