

Dark Souls dropped boulders and bosses on your head before you could get your bearings, but Dark Souls 2 has a gentler starting area, where threats are obvious and instructions are spelled out on tombstones.

True to the brief, this is still a tough, often brutal role-playing game that requires intense concentration and persistence, but it sets about its business with more equanimity. Working under new directors, the developers of Dark Souls 2 have tried to bridge that gap while remaining faithful to the series' strange heart. But while it was more successful than its predecessor Demon's Souls, many people still found it too intimidating. From Software's Dark Souls was a masterpiece with a deceptively hope-filled heart - celebrated for its bitterness and hostility and still played today because of its extraordinary world design, sublime combat and enigmatic systems.
