Dark Souls 2 - solid well-rounded rpg or just loved for the difficulty?

LisaFlexy22

I've never played any of the Dark Souls games or Demon's Souls.  I'm seeing a lot of really positive reviews for Dark Souls 2 though and am curious about the game.  With any of the others in this series all I ever have heard people talk about was how hard it is, and how awesome it feels to finally beat great challenges.  That's cool and all, but I'm wondering does Dark Souls 2 have a lot of meat to it and substance?  Is it a full fledged RPG with story, character progression, exploration, etc?  Or is it just an action rpg that is wildly popular because "it's hard"?

 

Interested in some feedback on this I've thought of picking it up.

tom_gore

If you have a decent gaming PC, I suggest you get the first Dark Souls, which you can buy for pennies now. Mod it with DSFix, higher res textures and any other mods for your taste.

Then wait until 25th of April to get the PC version of DS2.

 

They're great games. Nobody would put up with a difficult game if it was total crap to play. These games send you away raging after your 14th try at a boss, only to inevitably pull you back after you've calmed down.

 

And the feeling when you finally succeed. Let me tell you bro. No other games today offer that kind of exaltment.

tom_gore

And to answer your actual question - Yes they have a story, but it's not shoved to your face. You need to piece it together yourself from bits of dialogue, item descriptions and cutscenes.

The progression is one of the best for any RPG I've played.

There's more discovery than most other RPGs today, but you'll really have to work for some of those.

 

handlewithcare

I am interested in the game cause you can summon players to help you and its a good idea game.

you are let loose no hand holding and you must figure it out but the first one I sold I did not understand it.

I don't like being stuck in the same are for long times,you must gather souls and level your gear and xp.

I hoped that this one would be not so hard but I heard dark souls one levelled to 176 so the game will last you long.

I love you long time,the girl said.

Kaijin2k3

I haven't played DS2, but I did play Dark Souls and Demons' Souls. So I'd imagine they're completely comparable.

There is a lot to character progression, but it comes off as simple at first. It's completely stat driven, not level driven. There are no skills, but there are spells you can buy. And it's not a loot grinder, as the loot you'll ultimately want is obtained through special means or in specific locations. 

If you take a peek at the various character build guides online, you'll see most of them revolve around increasing key attributes to maximize the effect of one of those weapons. Though I'd recommend just going in without the use of any of them first.

On a note, at the beginning of the games you select a class. This is completely meaningless outside your starting items and stats, as you can progress in any way you want.

In terms of exploration, you can proceed with any area you want in any order. While there are set paths to the areas it's in your interest to explore. While there is no journal to you that screams "HEY, THIS IS A SIDEQUEST," there ARE a few side quests in the game that you can only find by exploring the area.

A story is there, but it is not shoved in your face. If you choose to not really pay attention to it, you'll miss it completely. I wouldn't say the story is amazing, but I like it that's not constantly thrown at you.

With all of that, I second the recommendation above to pick up the first Dark Souls, as its price of entry is waaaay lower. Definitely pick up DSFix if you get the PC version, and make sure you have a good controller.

 

(If you do pick up the first, a tip for you: when you get out the tutorial area, there'll be a very obvious path up a small incline; it leads to a graveyard with skeletons. You can go there first if you'd like, but I'd highly NOT recommend that. Instead, look for stairs leading down and follow that path instead)

Sovrath

Originally posted by LisaFlexy22

I've never played any of the Dark Souls games or Demon's Souls.  I'm seeing a lot of really positive reviews for Dark Souls 2 though and am curious about the game.  With any of the others in this series all I ever have heard people talk about was how hard it is, and how awesome it feels to finally beat great challenges.  That's cool and all, but I'm wondering does Dark Souls 2 have a lot of meat to it and substance?  Is it a full fledged RPG with story, character progression, exploration, etc?  Or is it just an action rpg that is wildly popular because "it's hard"?

 

Interested in some feedback on this I've thought of picking it up.

What I loved about Dark Souls?

that it was all a complete mystery. Just a bit of a set up and I was dumped in a place and I had to make my way, discover things.

Is the character progression "good"? Is  the story good? Not sure and didn't really care. I loved the mystery to the whole thing.

I can't say if Dark Souls II has this or not but I hope it does and aim to find out.

Flyte27

I think it is very open ended like old MMORPGs.  It is also a lot like old JRPGs where you could wander around a large map.  It doesn't have much dialogue and sometimes it's lost in translation.  The graphics are really nice and the combat is unique.  I think most people like it because it's hard though.  That's why I like it.