Dark Souls II Review

Made largely without Hidetaka Miyazaki, Dark Souls II is the entry the fanbase argues about, and both sides have a case. In mechanical terms it is the most accommodating of the trilogy: power stancing, a huge and genuinely viable weapon list, the best build variety FromSoftware has offered, and a New Game Plus that moves enemies around instead of just inflating their numbers. Adaptability gating your invincibility frames was a mistake that punished anyone who had not read a wiki, and the habit of answering difficulty with four enemies in one corridor is the laziest thing the studio has done.

The world is the real loss. Lordran folded in on itself; Drangleic is a hub with spokes, and the elevator from a windmill up to a lava castle is a joke that will never die. Yet the atmosphere is unusually melancholic, the Scholar of the First Sin edition repairs much of the lighting, and Majula is the finest hub in the series.