I finally got around to playing Dark Souls 2: Scholar of the First Sin after it had been sitting in my Steam list for years. I didn't plan on going through a New Game+, so I decided to follow a walkthrough to make sure I didn't miss anything important on the first run. I'll say this...the game doesn't lack for areas or content. I felt like I did a lot less backtracking in this one compared to the first game. Part of that probably had to do with the guide. I got really tired of seeing the same areas over and over in the first DS since I didn't have a clue where to go playing blind the first time. Following the guide actually made it more enjoyable for that reason, the scenery stayed fresh as did the enemies and I still managed to chalk up 70 hours of gameplay between the DLC and grinding.
The combat is still very good. If anything it felt just a smidge easier (Although the Cyclops Hippo guys early on are a bit unforgiving and turn a bit too fast for their size imo). Past that the difficulty felt pretty balanced aside from a few bosses. Loved all the gear options and the wider array of spells, pyros, miracles, and hexes (Although I was pretty much a STR build so I didn't cast much). The plot is still nothing to write home about, but at the very least it wasn't completely obscured in runes and bullshit quite like the first was. I shouldn't have to be a mind reader to understand what the history and story is, tea leaves shouldn't be required. A little digging or some detective work is fine, but the main plot shouldn't be so cryptic that I need to Wiki what the hell actually happened. Fortunately there wasn't as much of that in this version, it seemed like talking with NPCs repeatedly divulged much of the lore to some extent. The sounds (Wouldn't call it music) and atmosphere are still pretty damn spooky, excellent work there.
Overall I'd give it a "B/B-" as far as an Action RPG. As heavy and rewarding as the combat is, I still get the feeling that the game is a bit too repetitious which hurts the overall enjoyment. I felt the same way about the first Dark Souls. A critic on GameSpot described DS2 as such: "too often sacrifices fun, replaces it with tedium, and tries to defend that choice by calling it a challenge." That's exactly how I've felt about both games, although a bit less so with the second. It's nice having a challenging game that you don't just one shot everything, but at the same time how often are you sitting there beating your head against a boss or a dungeon and wasting hours at a time? Had to teleport back to the bonfire multiple times in the Gutter because it was so dark and the floor would give out causing you to fall somewhere you couldn't climb up from. Were it possible to buy a simple torch it wouldn't have been such an issue, but after the fourth or fifth time having to teleport back to the top I was ready to move to the next area. That's not challenging, that's just tedious.
Plot/Characters: (D) - Still better than the first story wise, but it was still pretty bare bones and uninspired. There weren't really any memorable NPCs imo. How am I supposed to praise the sun when I'm the only member of the Sun Bro covenant?!
Graphics: (B-) - I rank this based on when the game came out. There was nothing really wrong with the graphics, they seemed no different than the original game which was released 3 years prior. Since they didn't really move the needle from the previous game this felt reasonable.
Sound: (B+) - Sometimes the minimalist approach works, and given the dark atmosphere of DS the lack of big bombastic tunes or a distracting soundtrack works in it's favor. The game would actually lose something I think if it had a sprawling soundtrack.
Gameplay: (A) - This is where DS always shines. I wouldn't say all the AI is well balanced, or that every animation is perfectly smooth, or every hitbox is completely succinct, but it's pretty close. The combat is just enjoyable, and the myriad of weapons and spell options adds to it.
Entertainment: (B+) - The game was pretty fun. It felt like an improvement in some ways over the original as mentioned. Still a bit tedious in parts.
Replay Value: (B-) - If I hadn't done a guided walkthrough I probably would be interested in going through NG+ and maybe playing with a spell casting build, but as it stands the only achievements I'm missing are a few spells, hexes, and miracles to complete everything. As such I don't really feel the need to get the rest and I'll be moving on. I made a New Year's resolution this year that I would replay less old games and work through more of my Steam backlog.
Overall: B/B-
