Recent reviews by maría

when i installed this game bobby kotick showed up to my house and gave me 10,000 call of duty bucks. i love it!

It’s not fine dining and it looks a bit rough once the tomato starts dripping everywhere, but it’s tasty and very filling; you will certainly be back for more.

While not the “masterstroke” that was and is the original Dark Souls, DS2 is still extremely enjoyable. It provides plenty of the intense dungeon crawling, heavy combat, and intimidating boss encounters that fans of its predecessor are likely to expect. Yes, sometimes these levels and bosses are quite scuffed (looking at you, Rat Authority), but fans of the genre can and should look past this.

Dark Souls 2 debuted in 2014 for PlayStation 3, XBOX 360 and PC (the latter seeing a delayed release). The game went on to receive three pieces of downloadable content (the Crowns Trilogy) which were later bundled with DS2’s 2015 re-release for PlayStation 4, XBOX ONE, and PC (again). This re-released version – Scholar of the First Sin – is the version that I’m reviewing, although I remain much more familiar with the 2014 original.

Along with bundling the main game and all its DLC into one big package, Scholar of the First Sin also came with: improved visuals, new NPCs, expanded multiplayer features, remixed areas and touched up bosses. A really interesting aspect of Scholar’s enemy-remixing is the fact that much tougher enemies have been positioned earlier in the game, as well as certain enemies being moved around due to lore reasons and some mild ret-conning.

While I’m not a fan of *every* change, I do think that many areas have been improved and made more entertaining (Forest of Fallen Giants comes to mind). The new invader NPCs, especially, are bound to keep the journey very fun – for new and long time players alike.

Dark Souls 2 is a great example of what continued support from a development house can do for a troubled launch. If I was reviewing its original incarnation, my opinions would be much harsher in tone; the game ran badly, it looked rough (partially due to its lighting engine seeing a massive downgrade so it could run on 7th gen gaming hardware), and its balance was frankly baffling.

Thankfully, Scholar remedies most of this, and it makes DS2 one of my favorite Souls titles. To this day, I still come back to it just to make wacky new builds and re-experience that sweet early game with some buddies in co-op. The pacing remains fantastic, benefiting from some of the most open-ended design in the Souls-like genre; it’s a title crafted primarily to keep you engaged and smiling ear-to-ear, and I think it meets that goal.

Needless to say, the 2021 Dark Souls 2 experience is much higher in quality and a definite recommend if you enjoyed the original Dark Souls, or 2016’s Dark Souls 3.

Don’t forget to enjoy yourself, but also: wash your hands, and try not to get grease all over your t-shirt.

Videogames sure have come a long way since Pac-Man.

Top down RPG, interesting combat, pretty good game. Don't listen to anybody else, just ignore them and go in blind. It's only 10 bucks ;)