(Yes, they did that.)įromSoftware has used the Crown Trilogy as a chance to really toy with environments, and their efforts on Ivory stand as the most impressive yet. Thankfully, you won't be slipping and sliding across the ice, but the blizzard also makes certain enemies invisible-in an effect identical to the transparent enemies in the Shaded Woods-which can cause some major problems, especially when said enemy is a boss. Ivory King takes a different approach, and drops the player into a castle-contained snowstorm that lowers visibility, freezes over treasure chests and doors, and blocks off paths with impassible snow boulders. The original Dark Souls had The Painted World, but its snow-kissed environments didn't slow your progress any more than running across grass or rock would. While the "ice level" stands as one of the oldest traditions in video games, it's rarely been used in Souls. Just wait a week, and some kind person will explain it all via the magic of YouTube. If you're expecting Ivory to act as a Rosetta Stone for the game's cryptic storyline, you may walk away a bit disappointed, but-come on-this is Dark Souls we're talking about. And, just like with its predecessors, you can't always rely on prior Souls knowledge, since this content tries its hardest to place you in situations you've never seen before.
If you've been worried FromSoftware would run out of steam with Crown of the Ivory King, the final chunk of Dark Souls 2 content, allow me to allay your fears: As with the last two volumes of the trilogy, Ivory features the same thoughtful design, environmental puzzles, and harrowing enemy encounters you've come to expect. If you love Dark Souls 2, both Crown of the Sunken King and Crown of the Old Iron King contain some of the greatest fights and most memorable moments of the series-an amazing feat for so-called "optional" content. With the Crown trilogy, developer FromSoftware made it their mission to deliver entirely new experiences to the Dark Souls crowd, while actively addressing some common criticisms of the core game.
Just as the first two installments of the Souls series upended the conventional wisdom of gaming, Dark Souls 2 proved DLC didn't have to be an afterthought designed to fleece fans 10 to 15 dollars at a time. Of course, my attitude would be different if add-on content strove for ambition, but, outside of some rare exceptions, it's typically engineered to deliver an extra helping of the same experience to players still hungry for more. I've never been the biggest fan of DLC-when I'm done with a game, I'm typically done with a game.