I touched upon this briefly in my introduction, but one of the elements that really sets apart Dark Souls from other video games is the responsibility it gifts the player. As the community says so fondly, there is “no hand-holding.” It is up to the player to create their build, implement it successfully, and traverse the world correctly. It is up to the player to piece together the lore through deciphering purposefully confusing dialogue from npcs and item descriptions with words the average English speaker would not recognize (unless you discover VaatiVidya early). It is up to the player to find the great souls, not up to the accessibility of some map. And so, a Dark Souls game very much becomes exactly what you make of it but you must follow its rules. In Dark Souls, some players might (through exploring) find weapons like the Zweihander in DS1 or the Greatsword in DS2 and possess early on a tank to take them through the game. Others might run through the game so nonchalantly that they only find a mail breaker and soon find it impossible to beat a boss. In Dark Souls 2, upon going straight from Majula into the Forest of the Fallen Giants at the start, very few usable weapons are to be found (except for the pre-Scholar of the First Sin version where a Heide Knight drops a lightning damage sword). I know when I started, I chose the warrior class, as was customary in DSI and had nothing but a broken straight sword for what felt like forever. I found the run up the stairs to the Crestfallen’s Retreat bonfire where one hollow is throwing firebombs, another is firing arrows, and even another is looking to stab you nearly impossible with my low dps. It was only upon going up on the ridge just before to find the shortsword that the run became feasible (at least for my skills at the moment). Now, that shortsword on the ridge by the first firebomb throwing hollow soldier encountered is a relatively easy find. But Dark Souls 2 is littered with these instances. If one doesn’t progressively seek out every item they can and clear every area, the game will be looking to punish you. For instance, upon making it to the Ruin Sentinel boss fight (by way of the Pursuer), it is potentially possible to have a +3 basic weapon. This would surely take some scavenging and maybe even luck from drops, but it would help immensely for this first gank boss fight. Now, if the player happened to explode the barrel opening the path to Steady Hand McDuff, one would gain access to some large titanite shards and begin to trivialize the fight. It is entirely up to the player. One becomes responsible for his or her successes and/or failures and this curse of freedom is prevalent in Dark Souls II from the beginning to the end. This essential theme is not overlooked. 

 

                    But here, I will concede that the gameplay of Dark Souls II is noticeably clunky and poorly designed. Again, I reiterate that my point in this piece is to argue against those who claim that the game does not follow the themes of the series, rather than argue against the undeniable issues that resulted from the messy creation process. Dark Souls II gameplay is extraordinarily different from Dark Souls I. When I began, it was even more jarring than when I began the transition to Dark Souls III with its 15 foot rolls and paper shields. It took at least until the Pursuer until I began to understand its differing rhythm. But the Dark Souls gameplay themes remained the same. One dies through the making of a mistake, they are given a chance to cancel the mistake and obtain their bloodstain by not making it twice and therefore the player is forced to constantly learn the movesets of enemies, the layout of the world and essentially hone their skills. Another gameplay necessity is the usage of bonfires. In the Dark Souls franchise another theme is that one starts at a bonfire, journeys for what feels like days progressing through the level  looking for another, until that all too familiar moment of elation arrives. Dark Souls II follows these themes, albeit simple, and implements them as gameplay without true hiccup. As an example, I will describe my progression through the inner segment of Drangleic Castle. In a moment of courage, I beat the Dragonrider Gank and successfully rested at another bonfire. I inspected the elevator that will eventually take me to the Embedded and the Singer and began traversing up the ladder and to the golem to be powered by the enemies and activate the elevator. I continued on until I arrived in the great hall with the Undead Chariot (my first run was in Scholar of the First Sin) and the Old Knights two-handing either ultra greatswords or great hammers. After successfully clearing them, I was devoured by the mimic up the stairs (I really hope I wasn’t the only one). I was carrying around 30K souls (because I had died to the manikins several times), which was a great deal for me, and all of those were now sitting there precariously. I had not made it the shortcut past the gargoyle, the Alonne Knight Captain and the Desert Sorceresses. So, I had to begin the run from the start, up the long ladder, past the manikins, and to the Old Knights. But in my eagerness and lack of care to put on a Ring of Life Protection, I was smashed ingloriously by the two great hammer Old Knights. Dark Souls II gameplay worked exactly as intended. I did not follow the rule of checking if the chest is safe, so I lost everything, and then I confirmed that that loss should remain when I died to the enemies that I told the game I had already mastered. Yes, I concede that the Old Knight has bad hitboxes. Yes, DSII’s only 8 direction rolling mechanic perhaps worked against me when I tried to I-Frame the attacks. But I cannot blame these mechanics, however poorly created, when I was supposed to absolutely be accustomed to them. I broke the rules of having patience, not running through areas, and treating every enemy as if he is Fume Knight tier. 

 

                    Dark Souls II is sometimes hard for the complete wrong reasons. Bad hitboxes as I already stated, clunky controls, Agility (which I find as ludicrous as the firmest Dark Souls II hater) and other elements have poisoned the game and kept it from being as great as it could have been. But, the Dark Souls themes, the core reasons why we enjoy the games as much as we do, remain the same. The difficulty remains the same. In Dark Souls games, the beginning to the middle of the game is always the hardest. A rhythm isn’t found, perhaps you haven’t truly figured out your build yet, and you were probably fat-rolling at some point (yes, there are some viable builds, don’t invade me Havel Monster). But onwards, you may die a lot, but you will understand why and the game’s true intentions are found. With Fume Knight, Sir Alonne, Elana, and more of the impeccably made boss fights, you will know what mistakes you made. Rage may cloud your judgement, but you know that that roll was ill-timed or you shouldn’t have chugged Estus in the boss’s face. In the beginning, you aren’t quite sure. I see the issue with Dark Souls II is that that period is longer than normal. But once that moment is met, the game shines as it was meant to. This constant eye of difficulty, be it from misunderstanding at first until when it will inevitably be your own fault, give the Dark Souls games their best quality - the sense of accomplishment. As I stated before, that run with the broken straight sword to the Crestfallen’s Retreat was brutal. I hadn’t a clue how the enemies worked and I hadn’t looked around enough. But the moment when I went back there (to complete Giant Memories) was a moment of odd nostalgia. I return to this place where I almost gave up on the game (everyone has a moment and its especially present in one of their first souls games) and I not only have the gear and stats to obliterate these enemies like Gough did Kalameet, but I know that I could put away my Curved Dragon Greatsword, remove my +5 Lost Sinner garb, and I could beat any enemy there with my bare fists (no Vanquisher's Seal) and it would be a cake walk. Or an even more surreal moment, when I fought Fume Knight in my second playthrough. This time I used no shield and I-framed everything and instead of losing to him 50 or so times, I claimed his soul in a mere one try. And this is the most rewarding, when one experiences all of these stresses and discomforts and watching them come to fruition in finally Gitting Gud. In all seriousness, the Dark Souls experience speaks to the human phenomenon of perseverance and the eventual sense of pride at knowing that so hard-fought success is entirely your own. Dark Souls II does not betray the mold. 

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                    For a final time, I remind my readers that I am in full acceptance that Dark Souls II is not a perfect game. Its production was blighted from the start (no Miyazaki rip) and this led to a host of issues that can only be tied to poor design. But, Dark Souls II deserves more respect from the community because it follows the themes we asked for and love and it performed them admirably. Allow it to be the outcast of the series for its undeniable production issues for the series demands the best. But perhaps allow it to stand in jolly cooperation with Dark Souls I and Dark Souls III for being a great souls game. Thank you for your time and continue to… Bearer Seek Lest!