Dark Souls 2 builds on and improves everything that made Dark Souls great, in addition to learning from Dark Souls' shortcomings. One of the biggest improvements that From Soft has done is the rework of how online works. No longer do you have to wait around a summoning sign until you nearly die of old age, just to be greeted by a failed summon. No longer do you have to spend countless hours in frustration as your invasions fail to trigger. No longer will your friendships be broken as you can't indulge in jolly cooperation.

Since GF- *COUGH*. Ahem, excuse me. Since, GFW-*COUUUGH*. Let's try that again, shall we? Since GFW- GFW.... GFW... GFWL is now gone and is rotting in the depths of hell, the online is now based on Steamworks, which has its pros and cons. Steamworks does not rely on peer to peer connections, so you will find it very easy to see summoning signs, get invaded, and invade. HOWEVER! As it relies on Steam's servers, you will find yourself playing alone whenever the servers are under ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ maintenance, or when they're offline completely.

Although they fixed the online portion of the game, I personally find the game lacking in a couple of ways, mainly the story. I found Dark Souls' story very engaging, so much that I honestly didn't mind playing the story over and over again. I always learned something new, and the characters were memorable. I can't say the same about the story in Dark Souls 2. It's amazing the first playthrough, but then it just feels half-assed and uninteresting after that. I can't bear to play through the story again; at this point the only thing that engages me in the game is PvP, which is my next point.

Dark Souls 2's PVP is like a kinder surprise. It's great until you get to the core, then that satisfaction may or may not turn into disappointment depending on what you get. (jesus christ that was ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ horrible I should kill myself for that) It can be the most fun experience you can have in the franchise, or it can be bad. Disgustingly bad. It honestly depends on you and what you're expecting out of it. From Soft has already released a balance patch that nerfed a couple of things alongside bug fixes, but I can't help but see the same build being used over and over and over again. What happened to originality?

All in all, I think Dark Souls 2 does a good job of being a Dark Souls sequel. While the story may be a bit lackluster, the game still ends up being fun. It has the challenge, it has the online play we all love and most importantly, it feels like a Dark Souls game.

8.5/10

Dark Souls 2 builds on and improves everything that made Dark Souls great, in addition to learning from Dark Souls' shortcomings. One of the biggest improvements that From Soft has done is the rework of how online works. No longer do you have to wait around a summoning sign until you nearly die of old age, just to be greeted by a failed summon. No longer do you have to spend countless hours in frustration as your invasions fail to trigger. No longer will your friendships be broken as you can't indulge in jolly cooperation. Since GF- *COUGH*. Ahem, excuse me. Since, GFW-*COUUUGH*. Let's try that again, shall we? Since GFW- GFW.... GFW... GFWL is now gone and is rotting in the depths of hell, the online is now based on Steamworks, which has its pros and cons. Steamworks does not rely on peer to peer connections, so you will find it very easy to see summoning signs, get invaded, and invade. HOWEVER! As it relies on Steam's servers, you will find yourself playing alone whenever the servers are under FUCKING maintenance, or when they're offline completely. Although they fixed the online portion of the game, I personally find the game lacking in a couple of ways, mainly the story. I found Dark Souls' story very engaging, so much that I honestly didn't mind playing the story over and over again. I always learned something new, and the characters were memorable. I can't say the same about the story in Dark Souls 2. It's amazing the first playthrough, but then it just feels half-assed and uninteresting after that. I can't bear to play through the story again; at this point the only thing that engages me in the game is PvP, which is my next point. Dark Souls 2's PVP is like a kinder surprise. It's great until you get to the core, then that satisfaction may or may not turn into disappointment depending on what you get. (jesus christ that was fucking horrible I should kill myself for that) It can be the most fun experience you can have in the franchise, or it can be bad. Disgustingly bad. It honestly depends on you and what you're expecting out of it. From Soft has already released a balance patch that nerfed a couple of things alongside bug fixes, but I can't help but see the same build being used over and over and over again. What happened to originality? All in all, I think Dark Souls 2 does a good job of being a Dark Souls sequel. While the story may be a bit lackluster, the game still ends up being fun. It has the challenge, it has the online play we all love and most importantly, it feels like a Dark Souls game. 8.5/10