Dark Souls II Reviews
More accessible, challenging, and rewarding than its predecessor, this is the Dark Souls sequel PC gamers deserve.
A carefully considered sequel that avoids upsetting existing fans and offers an olive branch to newcomers – but although the PC version is the best it's by a slimmer margin than many would've hoped.
An epic adventure from start to finish packed with wondrous environments, imaginative and terrifying foes, and the continual adrenaline-apprehension rush of passing through each fog gate. These aspects make this title a must-play.
A stellar, challenging experience that borrows from its predecessors while making significant and complicated design changes.
A truly unique experience, but it's not for everybody. You have to be aware of the words you're gonna read more than any others on your screen: "You're Dead".
Review in Italian | Read full review
Dark Souls 2 is From Software's "something for everyone" version of the popular role playing series. Prepare to Die, a little less.
If you had issues with Dark Souls II on console then Dark Souls II PC will not fix them. If you were hoping that this would be the gorgeous next-gen Souls experience we were shown in that first video then, well, it isn't. But if you were holding out to find out just how the PC version of Dark Souls II performs then know, with full confidence, that it is far and away the superior version, and that's without the need to download any sort of fan-made patch. The cycle of death and success has never felt this good.
You'll keep coming back to "Dark Souls II," and should you triumph, your victory is one that will stay with you.
For those willing to invest time into the New Game +, into the covenants and the raiding of other players' worlds, there's far more to uncover than I'll probably ever see. As I said at the beginning, Dark Souls II is a very good game. These have been some of the reasons why as well as some of the reasons why I don't think it's quite as great a game as I'd hoped it would be.
Dark Souls 2 for the PC is a far cleaner port attempt than the first Dark Souls port. The death of Games for Windows Live continues to mean good things for PC gaming, the potential to tweak up the graphics for the technically capable is still on offer, and the whole experience is far more gamer-friendly right from the get-go.
While the difficulty may serve to push some gamers away, Dark Souls 2 manages to be both the most accessible title in the series and a formidable challenge for returning veterans and is without a doubt an experience that should not be missed despite the allure of next-generation consoles.
If Dark Souls II can't even bother to let me experiment, practice, and enjoy at my own leisure, why should I bother with it?
Dark Souls II lives up to the series' reputation for being unrelentingly difficult- but it's worth digging in your heels and spending a lot of time with it. The PC port is just as good, if not better than it's console counterpart, but you're going to want to use a gamepad. Using a keyboard is possible, and there's even a few mods out there to make it more functional and ergonomic, but it's still clunky and unintuitive compared to using a controller.
It's a testament to the series brand as a whole to make an otherwise solid title feel disappointing, but I've come to expect more and I hope they find the right path through the dark in the next sequel.
In many ways Dark Souls 2 is the technical and functional superior of the first game, but it does lack some of the semi-intangible magic of the original like its superlative interconnected world. Nonetheless, an impressive and essential sequel.
From Software this time has almost ticked it off, and the PC community can breathe a half sigh of relief. Dark Souls 2 will certainly not win awards for graphic quality, especially in the eyes of personal computer players, but the most advanced effects, high frame rate and higher resolutions embellish the Drangleic lands in a sensitive way.
Review in Italian | Read full review
The game is as across-the-board demanding as its predecessors, functioning on an ever more grandiose scale, dishing out excruciating beatdowns like Thin Mints at a Girl Scouts cookies sale.
Dark Souls II is an absolute feast of a game, and it will be a long, long time before I'm sated by it.
The journey through Drangleic needs to be experienced. It's a marriage of phenomenal world design and impressively tight mechanics. And then it probably needs to be experienced all over again through New Game +. It's undoubtedly bloody hard work, but that just makes every sliver of success precious. Hurrah for Dark Souls II.