Dark Souls II: Scholar of the First Sin - PlayStation 4

Ah Dark Souls II, I have heard many things about this game before I actually played it; mostly rumblings about how it isn't as good as Dark Souls I but it's still a good game blah blah blah.Let me just say that the first ten hours I spent with this game were BRUTAL. I had completed Dark Souls I and Bloodborne by the time I played this game so you can say I know what I'm doing. Regardless, I had my ass handed to me way more times than I thought was fair. In fact, if you had asked me my thoughts on Dark Souls II during those first ten hours I would've sung a different tune. I would've said it was a harder game than Dark Souls I, but for all the wrong reasons. I'm not saying that now.Having made my peace with hours 1-10 and spending about 30 more in the game I can say the adventure is grand and fantastic.First off, I must say I commend the developers for not simply rehashing every single thing about Dark Souls I for this game. Yes, some of the core principles are there (it IS a Dark Souls game after all) but the developers chose to mix things up a little bit for this entry. The biggest change is Hollowing and Reverse Hollowing. I'm sure everyone at this point knows about the penalty for death when not human: your max health decreases with a floor of half max health. To reverse this (heh) you reverse hollow back to human. You regain your skin, you regain your max health. Simple.However, reverse hollowing is different here. For one, there are no humanities in the game. Instead reverse hollowing is done by using a human effigy: little items found throughout the world and found in some shops. That's it. Moving on.Another notable difference is the estus flask. You start the game with one estus flask. The only way to get more is to find estus flask shards and return them to a woman with a truly amazing name (Emerald Herald, awesome). Each shard grants you one additional flask. Truly, I really like this idea. You can find consumable health recovery items throughout the game so having one flask is no big deal once you find your groove. I like the idea of working for something that refills every time you rest at a bonfire. Major kudos to the developers for this.One minor complaint I have for this game is that the number of areas seems a bit arbitrary. I can't say for sure but I think they made a bunch of areas just so they can say it's a bigger game than DS1. However, a few of these areas are transitory. You run through them in like ten minutes and then you never see them again. No real exploration, just move from point A to point B. I think some of those areas don't even have a bonfire (I could be wrong about this so please keep the pitchfork poking at a minimum).Another complaint is that the boss designs are a bit lazy. Sure, there are some really cool bosses (I'll never forget the Demon Frog and you won't either) but a majority of the bosses are humanoid creatures with roughly the same attacks. One boss even looks exactly like Ornstein! He may even have had the same move set as Ornstein....I don't remember. It's not Ornstein though so no spoilers here.These complaints aside, the game that we are presented with is another great game in the series and an excellent followup to the first Dark Souls. Is it a worse game than Dark Souls? Well....I think I would rate Dark Souls higher, yes, but I must give considerable credit to Dark Souls II for not simply rehashing the first game. They dared to try a few new things. Some of them worked and some of them didn't. The point is you aren't getting an exact same experience with DS2. It's different enough to be its own game and that's a great thing.This game is absolutely worth playing by anyone who is a fan of the Souls series and by anyone who wants a challenge and is sick of the new age style of gaming where everything is progressed through cutscenes and an obnoxious amount of storytelling. Like, the original Legend of Zelda, you are dropped in this big world and told to go exploring. There is a story here but you must discover it on your own.It should be noted, however, that I think the opening cinematics for this game are longer than the combined total of cinematics for Dark Souls I. I'm not sure of this but it may be true..........Oh! If I have persuaded you to buy this game, I offer you one bit of advice: Dark Souls II has this extra stat for leveling up called Adaptability. On the level up screen it is denoted as ADP near the bottom of the stat list. IT IS IMPERATIVE THAT YOU GET THIS STAT TO AT LEAST 20 EARLY ON IN THE GAME. The game won't tell you this but it speeds up your characters animations for everything. And by everything I mean estus flask drinking (among others but this is vital). I imagine my first ten hours with this game wouldn't have been nearly as rough if I had known about Adaptability.LEVEL ADAPTABILITY UP TO 20. I promise you won't regret it.Okay! Huzzah! Yay! Review is over, so good day!

I am well aware that a general portion of souls fans rank this title last in the series. I will admit that this game stumbled out of the gate upon its original release but I have to say they have worked to retool it for a better experience with Scholar of the First Sin. In my personal opinion I think the game would actually have more value if Dark Souls had extended beyond a 3 title to like 4 or maybe 5. I say that because Dark Souls likes to be vague in a way that makes us try to fill in the pieces for explanations to the dealings of the world we are in. With that point made, I think Dark Souls 2 may seem the most vague in the series as the 1st had the luxury of setting the story and the 3rd on the conclusion.With the release of Dark Souls 3 and some returning to areas from Dark Souls (1) in it, I feel that isolated Dark Souls 2 more in story. For some reason it seems like Dark Souls 2 is on some sort of off beaten path not hammering on the central point of either rekindling the flame or not like DS 1 or 3. Still I think what is needed is time and interacting with all available NPCs to see the effect of the "fire-linking curse" on humanity. I personally got drawn in seeing that it was a old Herald Fire Keeper that drawn us & many like us in a time like vortex to set things right. I get that feeling of near to no hope left as the young Herald Fire Keeper interacts with our player not sure if we will be the one to resolve the dire situation the world is in. She seems almost hopeless as each player character arriving to her has exhausted her as so many have answered the call but no one has yet succeeded.So a lot of people take time writing massive reviews so I don't want to keep you on an unending review. In short for story you will get the most out of it if you explore, read up on items and find all NPC's you can exhausting their dialogue. Now lets talk about play in general. I know this may not be the best description of controls but I felt the controls where the most "tank-like" for this series then the rest. Overall I felt my character moved slower compared to my others in the Dark Souls series and blows I threw or took impacted me more noticeably as well.I am a little mixed on the humanoid enemy topic but the main take away is that thought has to be taken before engagement and exploration. Remember we are a weak soul our selves at the start of the game and we must fight our way to the pinnacle. One thing I can say is this game will knock Pride off so try to never let yourself get over confident. Just example for me is that I have personally struggled with terrain and have had more deaths from falling or getting knocked off ledges then deaths by enemies. Also that does make me want to say if I have any major complaint for sure is the fact that you do roll after every jump and if you are not aiming for a wall on a jump, you could be rolling off to your death.I like the option to up grade armor besides weapons and personally I like the way magic/miracles/ect are done better here then like in DS 3 with the FP bar. Don't get me wrong I like the other Dark Souls and 3 is my personal favorite to team with my friends on but DS 2 actually has more content. There are so many more bosses to fight here but I will say I find myself playing mostly alone on DS 2 so in the area of cooperative play I can't give the game a lot of praise. Most people I run with on souls games finds teaming easier on DS 3 then 2.So to sum up the game is challenging in its own right, has many classic RPG elements and loads of content. With the game being re-polished on PS 4 with all of the DLC content I think it deserves a 5 star. I suggest checking out videos if for some reason you feel unsure about getting this game to see what you think. Honestly it does feel like a transition game style wise in fighting from DS to DS 3. That comment might sound negative but what game series have you not seen some forms of alteration in gaming mechanics harking all the way back from 8 bit to 16 bit games? If you are a fan of the souls series I don't think you will be disappointed with this game. Thank you for reading this review and keep on gaming!

Gameplay: Not much to say. The enemies are fierce and will kill you over and over again. But you'll get stronger and kill them back, and sometimes nab some of their goodies. :) The graphics have been improved, and clothes have a flutter to them in the wind. Because this is the "Scholar of the First Sin" edition, expect MANY enemies being in places you don't remember from before, and being more relentless and fierce than you remember, and this will be on your FIRST play-through. Bosses are as difficult as ever; you have to really be skillful to navigate your way through every battle you face.Lore: You're trying to find a way to save a dying world, but it's made plainly bare that no matter what you do, it can't be saved. You take the throne (Considered equivalent to Rekindling the First Flame), or, leave it (Considered equivalent to ushering in the dark). One choice you made will inevitably undone by someone else making the other choice.Maybe the only real triumph is that you had more fun journeying to your destination rather than the satisfaction of the destination itself. But still, credit where credit is due. In terms of narrative, this game sets up a possible hope for bridging light and dark, which will be eventually culminate in the events of the next game.If Baldur is not your thing, or maybe wanted a break from Skyrim, or Diablo, or even DOTA, this campy masterpiece will certainly sate your addiction for exciting adventures, tense battles, and uncovering hidden treasures.