Dark Souls II: The Lost Crowns
Dark Souls II: The Lost Crowns
Dark Souls II: The Lost Crowns DLC Trilogy brings three harrowing new chapters of dangerous Dark Souls II gameplay, taking players through entirely original areas to face a slew of unknown enemies, overcome diabolic challenges, and defeat fearsome bosses.
Crown of the Sunken King, the first chapter in the trilogy, sends players on a journey to reclaim the crowns that Drangleic’s King Vendrick once owned. Crown of the Sunken King features an entirely different world within the Dark Souls II universe, where stepped pyramids span a vast underground cavern. It is said that one of the ancient crowns lay buried deep within these dark caverns; but surely such a valued item cannot sit unguarded. Players that seek adversity and glory will be rewarded with a crown that holds the strength of lords from times long past.
Dark Souls II The Lost Crowns DLC Trilogy
is an action RPG video game, set in an open world environment. The third game in series, Dark Souls II was developed for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 by From Software, which also published the game in Japan, while Namco Bandai Games published the game in other regions.
Dark Souls II was announced at the Spike Video Game Awards on December 7, 2012.] Hidetaka Miyazaki, who served as director on the two earlier games in the series, Demon's Souls and Dark Souls,acted as a supervisor, while the game was directed by Tomohiro Shibuya and Yui Tanimura.] Although set in the same world, Miyazaki stated there is no direct story connection between Dark Souls and Dark Souls II. The game uses dedicated multiplayer servers.
Taking place in the world of Drangleic, the game features both player versus environment (PvE) and player versus player (PvP) play, in addition to having some co-op components. As in the earlier games in the series, it once again features challenging gameplay, yet features a more powerful graphics engine, and a more advanced AI system.
After some initial delays, the game had its official launch in North America on March 11, 2014.The initial reviews were all positive for the game on all 3 platforms.
Gameplay
To begin the game, players customize the gender and physical features of their character in addition to choosing a gift and a starting class, which determines their starting statistics and equipment. From a third-person perspective, players explore a continuous, open world, where they are confronted by a hostile environment with unrelenting enemies and bosses. As enemies are defeated, souls are accumulated, which can be used as either currency or experience points, with players scaling up various attributes to reflect a certain style of play.
The player moves through the world, advancing into different areas, each with opponents of ever-increasing difficulty. Throughout the course, players can save their progress by lighting "bonfires", at which they can also rest to renew their health and magic, as well as repairing damage to their weapons. Resting at the bonfire also resets enemies. When a player is defeated, they "die", losing all of the souls in the possession, returning to the last bonfire they were at. When the player wakes up at the last bonfire not only have they lost all their souls, but they are no longer human (called being "hollow"), and their maximum hit points have been decreased. The player has the opportunity to retrieve those lost souls, if they can advance to the spot where they were lost, without dying. As souls are accumulated, the player has the choice to either trade them in to increase one of more than a dozen attributes (e.g. strength — to increase the damage they inflict, or vigor — to increase their maximum amount of hit points they can take), or to use them to purchase items, equipment or weapons. A third option, as you progress in the game, is to use souls (usually in combination with another acquired item) to upgrade weapons and armor. The end of each section of gameplay consists of battling a boss — a much more powerful character.
In the early stages of the game, once a player becomes hollow there are only two ways for them to regain their humanity: to use a "human effigy", or to be summoned into another player's world and assist them in conquering a boss. There are several advantages to being human, with the main one being the capability to summon other players into your world, discussed below.
Multiplayer features heavily in Dark Souls II. Players can call up to two players to join them, in order to help them through a level and/or to battle a boss. As a player, you can put down a "sign", which other players can activate, calling you into their "world". You may only call other players into your world if you are in human form, although you may be summoned in either human or hollow mode. Players can also participate in player versus player (PvP) gameplay, by either invading other players' games, or by leaving a dark spirit summoning sign. There are specific areas set aside for dueling, with neither player being penalized for defeat. While random invasions still occur, many are part of belonging to a particular covenant. Several areas, mostly for covenants (groups the player can join), also include being summoned as a "gray spirit" to defend or invade the specific region for specific rewards and progression within that covenant. For example, the player can join the Bell Keepers covenant, to defend the in-game regions of Belfry Luna or Sol. Upon joining the covenant, the player receives a ring that will automatically summon the player to defend the bell in the latter areas from other players who attempt to ring them. Every covenant receives a covenant-specific ring, which all have their own covenant-related effect, usually a way to summon each other or keep track of PvP kills for the covenant.
One major difference from the original Dark Souls, is that enemies do not respawn indefinitely; after they are defeated a set number of times, they disappear for the remainder of the current playthrough. They can be respawned using a certain item at a bonfire, though this increases difficulty akin to New Game+ mode. This allows players to eventually advance through trial and error. On the other hand, this places strict limits on how much a player can farm for souls and equipment during the first play-through. The other major difference is the player's maximum HP are reduced upon each death, until their maximum HP reaches 50% of the full health bar. This can only be overcome by a player regaining their humanity.
Magic plays a major role of gameplay, with many enemies and bosses being weak to particular forms of damage, such as lightning or fire, either from magical weapons or spells. Both require the player to have a certain skill levels, such as a minimum intelligence to cast a spells or strength to wield a sword, as well as considering the overall weight of the player's equipment set.
Plot
The story revolves around an undead (also called "hollow") traveler trying to find a cure for the curse of undeath, who is branded with the Darksign much like the player character of the previous game. While not directly linked to its predecessor story-wise, both games are set in the same world. The story takes place in the land of Drangleic, full of souls to help the undead regain their humanity while fighting the curse of the undead.
The general story follows the cursed Undead, who is drawn to Drangleic. Once there, he meets various characters who've also been drawn to Drangleic to collect souls to hold off the curse, which slowly erases the cursed's memories. Upon arriving in Drangleic by a portal of souls, the Undead meets the Fire Keepers, who give vague information about the curse the player is suffering. The player continues on to Majula, and meets the Emerald Herald who urges the player to collect souls to save himself from the curse, including the Four Grand Souls. The reasons for this are slowly revealed, with the implication that the curse, the Kindling of the Flame, and the ascension of Drangleic are part of a cycle. The kingdom of Drangleic rose during the rule of King Vendrick. Some time later, a woman named Nashandra appeared with threats of an invasion from the Giants across the sea. King Vendrick traveled there, slew the Giants and married Nashandra, after which he used the defeated Giants to build Drangleic Castle. However, his new Queen Regent, Nashandra, was born of a shard of the Father of the Abyss (implied to be Manus, the Father of the Abyss, from the original Dark Souls), and she tricked Vendrick into continuing his experiments with controlling souls. After he discovers this manipulation, King Vendrick abandons his throne and goes into exile.
After defeating the holders of the Four Great Souls, the player gains access to Drangleic Castle, where he finds King Vendrick (who has become Undead). After collecting the King's Ring, the player gains access to the Dragon Shrine and the last living Dragon, who gives more vague information about the continuation of the cycle, due to fate and want, and gives the player the ability to access the memory of the dead Giants. Within the memories, the player relives some of the events of the war with the Giants. The player defeats the giant lord in a memory, which gives them access to the Throne of Want. Within the Throne, the player finds the Emerald Herald, who tells the player she was created by both man and Dragons, in an attempt to escape the cycle. The plan failed, and Nashandra is within the Throne, attempting to corrupt the Shrine of the First Flame to gain the power of the primal flame. After defeating Nashandra, the player sits down on the Throne, while the Herald describes the player's choice to either link the Fire once more or abandon it and usher in another age of dark, either way continuing the cycle.
