5 things you need to know about Dark Souls 2

Dark Souls 2

The original Dark Souls is considered to be one of the toughest, most punishing, most frustrating games of the modern age.  Nevertheless, the game has a passionate fanbase, and they’re counting the days until the sequel hits store shelves.  A new video has been released, containing twelve minutes of gameplay footage, and it teaches you five things you all potential players need to know about Dark Souls 2.  Read on for all the details.

The video was put together by Playstation Access, and is narrated by the always entertaining and always British duo of Rob and Nate.  Rob recently returned from a trip to Namco, where he got to play Dark Souls 2, and the experience taught him some valuable lessons.  He came back with five things every player needs to know before starting their Dark Souls 2 adventure.  Knowing these five things will still result in you dying an uncountable number of times, but you’ll be at least be mentally prepared.  Those five things are as follows…

  1. Anything in the game can kill you. Seriously, you will die a lot in Dark Souls 2.  A LOT.  Even regular grunt level enemies can kick your sorry ass if you’re unprepared.  Every battle has to be handled with patience, strategy, and a healthy amount of fear.  As Rob puts it, “there is no shame in running.”
  2. Weapon choice is vital.  Make sure the weapon you’re carrying is appropriate for the battle at hand.  A huge sword that does lots of damage might work well against a slow, lumbering opponent.  But the long recovery time between strikes will leave you open to attacks from quicker enemies.  In other games, this liability might be manageable.  But in Dark Souls 2, it’s deadly.
  3. Getting behind enemies is always a good idea.  Most opponents in Dark Souls 2 are vulnerable to attack from behind, especially if the attack comes undetected.  So sneaking up behind enemies not only leaves them unguarded, but also opens up the option to unleash powerful attacks that do massive amounts of damage.
  4. Mirror Knight.  You will hate Mirror Knight.  The mere utterance of his name will make you quake with fear.  He will make you want to throw your controller so hard that it circles the Earth and smacks you in the back of the head, knocking you unconscious.  Mirror Knight is a boss so powerful that it took the game’s own team at Namco 30 attempts to defeat him.  Yes, he’s that bad.
  5. Choose your class carefully.  There are numerous classes to choose from in Dark Souls 2, from sword and board musclemen, to ethereal sorcerers.  Each have their own strengths and weaknesses, so choose a class that best suits for play style.  No one class is better than another, and each will eventually get you stuck in seemingly hopeless situations.  But choosing the class you’re most comfortable with will help keep those situations to a minimum.

Check out the full twelve minutes of gameplay below.

Now does that look… uhhhhhh, fun… or what?  Developed by From Software, and set to be published by Namco-Bandai, Dark Souls 2 will be released this March 11th in North America, March 13th in Japan, and pretty much everywhere else in the world on March 14th.


About the Author: (@Joe_of_the_Dead) Lead Editor, Writer

Joe was born in a time of war. A console war. Two electronic titans were locked in a heated battle for the living rooms of America. Which titans, you ask? Well, the Fairchild Channel F and the Atari 2600 of course. You see, Joe is old. So many of his favorite games tend to be on the older side as well. But that hasn’t stopped him from developing unhealthy obsessions with such modern franchises as Halo and Mass Effect. Just don’t tell him how long it’s been since the original Metroid was released. His aging heart can’t take the shock.

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