Dark Souls II has finally come to us after the long wait for the sequel, with a new world, new weaponry, classes and enemies, the sequel looks to expand an already amazing series. But Dark Souls, like it’s predecessor Demon Souls, is mostly known for it’s insane difficulty and rewarding gameplay.

Dark Souls II is a 2014 action RPG, it is developed by From Soft and published by Namco Bandai Games. The console version is available on Playstation 3 and Xbox 360.

There are classes a many in Dark Souls II.

Dark Souls is back and returning with it is the brutal challenges, rewarding gameplay, and an outrageous amount of death tolls. One of the most fascinating things about the Souls’ franchise (including Demon Souls), is the insane level of difficulty. Even the stupidest of moves could have you killed and starting off at your last save point. The amount of frustration and anger this brought, is why so many love the series. In Dark Souls II the same beloved elements return, but admittedly things seem a bit dialed down compared to the previous titles. Rather this was due to the welcome of new players, or due to experience with the past entries remains to be seen.

Sick of getting screwed over? Joining a covenant might help.

THE GOOD: One thing beyond the frustrating, but fun difficulty that’s so great about Dark Souls is it’s amazing world and lore. While the original series had a bit of a story, it wasn’t really expanded upon much, however in Dark Souls II, the story has been made clear. You play a cursed human who must head to Drangleic in order to break the curse. There he is tasked with the duty of finding the king of Drangleic and must defeat him. Bonfires are once again one of the only saving graces for players in terms of rest and relaxation, they also return as save points.

Creatures of all shapes and sizes.

The action is basically the same, with weapon and armor upgrades being optional with the help of titanite shards and the like. Souls are once again used as currency, you use souls to level up your character, buy weapons, and more. The signature trial and error gameplay is back, and even the dumbest of moves can and will kill you. So Dark Souls II is always keeping you on your toes, and making you watch your every step. Enemies will be everywhere, high, low, and even playing possum. There’s a new OST in the game, once again composed by series composer Motoi Sakuraba and it’s done beautifully.

Don’t let grounded enemies fool you.

THE BAD: Though the frustrating gameplay is still there, it felt a bit dumbed down compared to Demon Souls and Dark Souls I. And the worst part about this is that it’s kind of noticed upon the first few hours of gameplay, which is kind of disappointing.  There’s an ability to channel up the difficulty by joining a specific covenant, but considering the history of the franchise this is a bit ridiculous. A game that prides itself on challenge shouldn’t have an option to make things more challenging on the first playthrough, it’s challenge should be throughout every playthrough.

The character creation screen.

OVERALL THOUGHTS: Dark Souls II brings back the challenging, yet rewarding gameplay, however difficulty felt a bit dumbed down. There’s an option to make the game ore difficult, but having this option in a series that prides itself on challenge and death is pretty questionable. Still the fantastic score, open world, and awesome lore is enough to keep even the most critical of Dark Souls fans happy.