DoctorWelch

This is why I still hold Halo 2 as being the best game in the series simply because of the multiplayer and what it did for online games on console. Yes, games like Battlefield and Call of Duty were already out on the PC before Halo 2 was on the console, but without Halo 2 I don't think the 360 would have been such a forward thinking platform centered around online games. Halo 2 laid the groundwork for what Halo 3, Call of Duty, and Gears of War did on the coming generation. It was basically the sole reason for the existence of Xbox Live.

Also, I think Halo 2 had the better gameplay overall. Halo 3 was still really great, but it was the tipping point where things started to get saturated with a little too much garbage that didnt need to be there. Eventually we end up with games like Reach and Halo 4 which are just so unbalanced and chaotic to the point of not being fun.

The Halo story is just a decent science fiction story and nothing more. The games always looked awesome, had interesting worlds, and really great music, but the overall narrative was never anything spectacular. I do remember Halo 2's story being nonsensical to the point where I kind of zoned out, but I could probably say that of every game but the first one. Overall I think the first game is judged on its story, and the preceding games should be judged by their multiplayer. By that mark I would still hold Halo 2 as king in the franchise.

This is why I FUCKING LOVE DARK SOULS II. I feel like they made everything viable. Everything from bows, to hand to hand, to dexterity, to strength, to sorcery, to miracles, literally everything seems like a viable way to play this game now and I'll probably play through it doing all of the above. Original Dark Souls was amazing for the ways it improved the world and the mechanics, but it was a bit lacking on balance. First it was Pyromancy that was way overpowered, and then everyone figured out that Sorcery was the definitive way to go. As you said, bows were a joke, and hand to hand was something cute that they included. Now I really feel like they made any and all play styles viable and I'm super excited to try tuns of different runs.

Greatsword not only looks fucking awesome, but it hits like a truck. It is also really good for PvP as well. It may be slow but if you time your attacks right there is simply no way your opponent can handle more than a few hits. Hopefully later on in the game I won't regret going strength and using a slow weapon. It's been decent so far but I'm kind of scared what the future might hold for me. I have been dumping a lot of points into vitality as well because I want to be able to withstand anything while also rolling around like a speedy little bastard.

I'm sad I haven't found any good katanas in the early game. In Dark Souls you could get the uchigatana really early on by killing the first shop keeper and it was so fast that it was a great weapon even late game. I would usually use it with my sorcery builds and just make it scale with Int and murder the shit out of things. Not sure if that's viable this time though.

@fredchuckdave: Demon's Souls is in no way easier than Dark Souls, if anything it is harder. Even if you compare going Royal in Demon's Souls with going Sorcery user in Dark Souls (the two hardest hitting, easiest ways to get through both those games) Demon's Souls is much more unforgiving and magic is less effective than in Dark Souls. The fact that you can basically kill every single boss in under 5 magic hits in Dark Souls and get one of the best katanas in the game from killing the first shopkeeper basically sets you on a path to roll through Dark Souls laughing as you murder everything in your path before it can even so much as touch you.

Demon's Souls late game has much more terrifying normal enemies that can really devastate the smallest of mistakes. Being the first game in the series, they had yet to really balance the way all the mechanics worked and some of those bosses (I'm looking at you Armor Spider) are just complete assholes if you get unlucky rng.

Yeah, same thing just happened to me and I just quit and reloaded and now its not grey out anymore.

@bnutz2k: I agree with you and most of his complaints seem very childish. As soon as I read the one about conflating vitality and vigor I knew he was reaching just to be a troll.

I think the game is great and the changes are very minor ones that don't let people exploit enemies like the old games let you. Less frames of invulnerability, slower shield lifting, more penalty for losing all stamina from a block, slower/less health regen, etc. Also, Dark Souls was just as open as Dark Souls II. Those who have played a decent amount of the souls games know there are plenty of strategies to go "the wrong way" early to get a better sword, more souls, etc such as getting an early Grave Lords Sword or BNH.

I think the game is prettier, better menus, NPCs explain basically everything you need to know in the game, and they also changed some minor things in the mechanics that simply make it a better game with less cheesy ways to get through it. I skipped the entire first area and went straight to the Anor Londo looking area and beat the two bosses before I even found the "first area." Dark Souls is a hard game if you aren't careful, deliberate, and intelligent about your actions and soul use. The healing changes and animation changes mean you actually have to be good at the game. You can't be sloppy and then just quickly use 4 estus flasks while cheesing enemies to death with ridiculous invulnerable animations.

The only complaints I've seen so far is that people are just not used to the small changes that make it harder to survive and more penalizing when you screw up. Yet, that's basically the entire point of the combat in the game and they've improved all of those things to require more planning and deliberation. The health items seem to be something of a last resort. If you can't deal with only a few estus flasks, stop leaving yourself vulnerable and getting hit so much. If you're upset with poise break, stop getting greedy with your attacks. There's no reason you need to hit any enemy more than once per opening if you don't don't have the stamina to deal with the incoming attacks.

The last thing I'll say is the respawning enemies is barely even a consideration unless you are running through the same area over 20 times. I've probably run the first area of the game at least 10-15 times and have yet to see a single enemy disappear. The number one rule in Dark Souls is "Don't carry around souls," so if you are spending your souls without dying and losing them you should be more than fine considering how few souls it takes to level up in this game. That's the thing, they have made the combat more deliberate and taken out much of the cheesy bull shit in the last game, but they have compensated for that with how quickly you can level which allows you to equip heavier armor and use better swords much earlier in the game.

Yes, there are some definite changes that need getting used to, but I think it is all for the better. I am loving this game as much if not more than Dark Souls and I think change is a good thing. I would have been extremely disappointed if they left everything exactly the same as in Dark Souls. That game was my favorite game of the last 5 years or so, but that doesn't mean it was perfect. They made some great, interesting changes and it makes the experience similar but also new in a fantastic way. If there's anything playing a Souls game should teach you it's that sometimes you need to adjust your play style to the game mechanics rather than trying to force the game to play how you believe it should play.

Edit: A few other things. The only complaint I have is that you don't level up at the bonfires anymore. The fact that you can warp from any bonfire means there is no reason to have to travel back to her every time you want to level because it is essentially the same thing with two extra load screens added in. I hated that you couldn't just warp to all the bonfires in the last game because sometimes it was so arbitrary which ones you could and couldn't warp to. The warp makes traversing the parts of the game that you are done with much better...in that you don't have to do it at all.

Also, people complaining about the weapon durability are basically just complaining that weapon durability didn't mean anything in the first game and now it actually means something. Resting at a bonfire replenishes it so it's just one more system you have to take into account. I really don't see how you can complain that the last game had broken, pointless systems that they now made robust, balanced, and interesting in order to make a more complex game.

I'm so fucking pumped, you have no idea. I'm really just excited to see what seems to be the best way to play as I go through the game. I'm excited to try to figure out the most effective way to tackle certain areas and if they've changed the way you build characters dramatically or not. I have not been this excited for a game in a long long while.

Man, so many of the quotes are business jargon bullshit. Nintendo has many problems, but if they focus on a few main ones I think they could do themselves a lot of good. By main problems I mean:

1. Gimmicks

2. Brand Confusion

3. Understanding the Internet

Think of it this way. If Nintendo stopped messing with stupid gimmicks that drive away third parties while adding very little value to the games themselves, stopped confusing the market with their console names (Wii, Wii U, 3DS, 2DS), and created an online infrastructure similar to even what the 360 while potentially catering to small developers like the PS4 and Steam try to do, they might actually turn this ship around. However, it makes sense after the Wii and DS that they think gimmicks are the way to go, but the market has clearly changed and Nintendo needs to be able to change with it if they want to survive.