DARK SOULS II

Dark Souls II is FromSoftware's direct follow-up to the 2011 game that defined a genre. Players control the Bearer of the Curse, an undead protagonist seeking to break or understand their condition by traveling through the cursed kingdom of Drangleic. The series' signature combination of obscure storytelling, punishing combat and high emotional reward returns intact, with several mechanical refinements and expansions that distinguish this entry from its predecessor.

The gameplay refinements run through the entire combat system. New motion-capture animations replace the somewhat stiff first-game movement with more fluid attacks, parries, and dodges. Dual-wielding is added as a viable build option for the first time in the series, with paired weapons unlocking specific combat techniques. Character customization extends across weapons and armor with deeper tailoring options for player style, more starting classes and a balanced progression system that fixed several of the original's quirks.

The world itself is built around the developer's mandate to assault the player's senses. Auditory hallucinations, vertigo, acrophobia and other phobia-tuned environmental design recur throughout the campaign, each used to make exploration feel uneasy in a different way. The bestiary leans into FromSoftware's distinctive imagination, and multiplayer received a significant update for both cooperative and competitive play. Note that online servers for Dark Souls II were shut down on March 31, 2024 — multiplayer functionality is no longer available for new sessions on this version.