Dark Souls 2 New Game Plus
I've sunk roughly 200 hours into Dark Souls Two so far, and while it's my favorite game of last yr, I'd be lying if I said some parts of FromSoftware's impressive sequel didn't leave me wanting more.
Since the Nighttime Souls games are meant to be replayed and mastered, after reaching the end of part Ii, I wanted zero more than to jump back in and run across what surprises its New Game Plus mode had waiting for me. To be fair, what'south found in the sequel stands as a greater offering than the original Night Souls' —which only fabricated enemies progressively tougher with subsequent playthroughs—only I even so craved something more than: A new claiming that would employ my existing noesis of Drangleic against me. (And aye, I realize information technology'due south a bit selfish to look additional content on elevation of an already beefy 50-hour RPG.)
Last calendar week, I had the gamble to play a portion of the upcoming Scholar of the First Sin port of Dark Souls Ii, and I'thou happy to say what Bandai-Namco had on display essentially gave me exactly what I felt the original version lacked. And the meaningful changes to the original game only underline but how much FromSoftware seems to be playing by an entirely unlike set of rules than everyone else. While nearly would exist content with including all the available DLC, slapping a "Game of the Year Edition" sticker on the box, and calling information technology a day, From has gone the extra mile in making their reworked packet of content admittedly worth a double-dip. And if yous think you've seen everything Night Souls II has to offer, you're in for a pleasant surprise.
While Scholar of the First Sin doesn't add any substantial content or new areas outside of the included DLC trilogy, the main draw for Dark Souls II veterans can be found in the reworked enemy placement. This may not audio like a large modify, just since Souls games emphasize becoming very intimate with specific enemy encounters—similar the Anor Londo archers (*shudder*)—returning players won't be able to cruise through the game they used to know so well. Though Bandai-Namco only showed off 4 of Nighttime Souls II's early on areas, the alterations to these one time-familiar environments had me seriously rethinking my approach. Some of these changes corporeality to From dropping a tough enemy into a fairly piece of cake area: The Forest of the Fallen Giants, for instance, now features ane of those hippo-ogres stomping through the stream at the entrance, and Heide'due south Tower of Flame—one of the least challenging levels in the game—is at present domicile to a massive, red drake that breathes a destructive wave of fire at all who approach.
Scholar of the Beginning Sin has a few more than tricks up their sleeve, though: Thanks to a boost in technology—SotFS runs on DirectX eleven rather than the original DSII's DirectX nine—the country of Drangleic tin throw many more than terrifying creatures directly at your face, and From has definitely taken advantage of this opportunity. The areas I played offered more enemies to fight at once, including ones normally plant in other areas of Dark Souls Two: Heide'southward Belfry of Flame is now littered with Heide Knights, which just attack if you strike first—and so, of course Scholar of the First Sin puts one right in forepart of a treasure breast. Enemies don't just have ability in numbers, though; Scholar also makes them a lot smarter. Before, you lot could blitz past enemies or lure them out as far as their AI leash would let. This time around, enemies tin and will pursue y'all to the ends of the earth, and global producer Atsuo Yoshimura assured me there's ostensibly no limit to how far you lot tin can exist pursued—even through the fog gates that stand between you and an area's boss.
There'south been a bit of confusion almost Scholar of the Starting time Sin, since, as of yesterday, players who already own Night Souls II should accept had their game automatically patched to include some of this new version's features. This free update features a general rebalancing of many elements, improved and rewritten particular descriptions, and a new NPC (presumably with a new quest line), merely you'll demand to purchase Scholar of the First Sin if y'all'd like to accept advantage of the more interesting additions. These include the contradistinct placement and AI of enemies, improved graphics and sound, and 6-player co-op. As expected, From has even so to divulge the finer points of some changes to Scholar: In terms of the expanded co-op, we but know that it won't be limited to specific areas—making me wonder how strange it's going to be to steamroll through Drangleic with v players in tow.
Scholar also improves the graphics of Dark Souls Ii, merely don't wait anything mind-blowing—if anything, the PS4 version I played looked nearly identical to the 60 frames-per-second PC port I've spent so much time with. Really, the modest improvements smoothen in the smaller details; particle effects at present look better, and the lighting feels much more natural, which should please fans who grumbled when From had to scrap their original plans in order to get a consistent frame rate out of the PS3 and Xbox 360 versions. Unfortunately, I didn't have the power to access whatsoever darker areas to see if they looked more like what From showed off in early on Dark Souls Two trailers—I'm really interested in knowing if the Torch volition be an essential item this time effectually.
If annihilation disappointed me about Scholar, it's definitely the loading times. While the PS4 version I played essentially cuts your waiting time in half compared to Dark Souls 2 on PS3 and Xbox 360, this xv-or-so seconds of inactivity when loading or reloading an surface area still feels a little excessive compared to the 5 seconds information technology takes in the PC port of the original DSII—if I had to take a wild gauge, the PC version of Scholar could very well be the superior version of Dark Souls II once again.
We've already seen a few electric current-gen re-releases of games that barely made it out before the Xbox One and PS4 launched, but Scholar of the First Sin makes the most compelling argument for a double-dip I've seen and so far. The technical improvements are a welcome addition, for sure, only I'm psyched to sit down down and play through a remixed version of a game I know so well. Few developers are given the chance to return to and meliorate one-time projects, and I can tell FromSoftware is definitely taking advantage of the incredibly fortunate state of affairs they've institute themselves in. My only promise is that they ane solar day return to the original Night Souls and apply the aforementioned sort of post-mortem knowledge they're implementing in the sequel. But I'm certain that would spell the end of me.
Source: https://www.usgamer.net/articles/dark-souls-ii-scholar-of-the-first-sin-brings-new-game-plus-to-the-next-level
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