Dark Souls II

Synopsis

Dark Souls II employs minimalist storytelling, with historical events often implicit or left to player interpretation. Most story is conveyed through dialogue, item flavor text, and world design. The story begins with a human cursed to become a Hollow after dying. To break the curse, the undead travels to Drangleic and is tasked by the Emerald Herald to obtain four Great Souls from powerful undead.

After obtaining them, the Herald directs the undead to seek the King in the capital. The player encounters Queen Nashandra, who says King Vendrick failed and fled long ago, asking the protagonist to slay him. Near the quest's end, the player learns Nashandra caused the kingdom's ruin by deceiving the king into invading the giants' lands to steal their power. Though the raid succeeded, the giants retaliated and destroyed Drangleic.

The king discovered Nashandra's true purpose and locked himself in the Undead Crypt to protect the kingdom's power and secrets. The Emerald Herald reveals Nashandra is a fragment of Manus, the final boss of the Artorias of the Abyss expansion in Dark Souls. She asks the protagonist to put Nashandra to rest and link the fire. The protagonist kills Nashandra and sits on the Throne of Want, with the decision to link the fire or let it die left ambiguous.

Development

Dark Souls II was announced at the Spike Video Game Awards on December 7, 2012. Hidetaka Miyazaki acted as supervisor, while Tomohiro Shibuya and Yui Tanimura directed the game. Gameplay mechanics are similar to its predecessor, with Shibuya stating he had no intention of changing the controls. The game features a new world with many weapons.

Covenants from the original Dark Souls reappear, made easier to understand and more accessible. The world is roughly the same size as in Dark Souls, with richer content density and more freedom in progression, and the beginning is more accessible to newcomers. Tanimura explained that no easy mode was planned because challenge and difficulty are core elements. The development team used a more powerful graphics engine.

New challenges were added, and a more advanced AI system allows enemies to react to a wider range of player actions. In September 2013, Tanimura announced a delay of the PC version to ensure it was optimal. Bandai Namco Games producer Takeshi Miyazoe originally stated in December 2013 that he did not expect DLC, but in January 2014 he said there was potential and fan feedback was key. On June 4, 2014, FromSoftware announced a trilogy of DLC collectively called The Lost Crowns.

Crown of the Sunken King released on July 22, 2014; Crown of the Old Iron King on August 26, 2014; and Crown of the Ivory King on September 30, 2014 after a delay.

Reception

Dark Souls II was widely praised by critics, earning universal acclaim on Metacritic. Reviewers highlighted its story, atmosphere, visuals, and environmental design, though some found fault with the boss quality, combat mechanics, and higher difficulty, feeling it fell short next to earlier entries like Dark Souls and Demon's Souls. Famitsu gave it 37 out of 40, with four reviewers scoring it 9, 10, 9, and 9. IGN's Marty Sliva awarded a 9 out of 10, calling it a smart, massive, and rewarding sequel packed with deep systems and tense encounters, though he noted the death penalty made the game nearly unplayable.

Game Informer's Daniel Tack gave it 9.75 out of 10, describing it as an epic adventure with wondrous environments and terrifying foes. Polygon's Phil Kollar also gave a 9 out of 10, praising the ambition, notorious difficulty, and sense of triumph, and mentioned his character died 235 times before finishing. The game won Game of the Year at the 2014 Golden Joystick Awards and received nominations at The Game Awards 2014 for Game of the Year, Best Role Playing Game, and Best Online Experience.

Some fans consider it the black sheep of the Dark Souls series. Within weeks of release, it shipped over a million copies in the United States and Europe, and after a year, worldwide sales exceeded 2.5 million copies.