The further I progressed, however, the more I came to terms with the quirks. That different take on world traversal was just the first of many Dark Souls II changes that would break things I loved about the first game. Here, the game knows you can instantly return to past locations at any time, and as a result, its areas often come off more as separate stages. Dark Souls was about a journey with no one point of safety, with Lordran designed to be one large, interconnected sandbox where players were expected to constantly hoof it from one place to another. To help facilitate that change, Dark Souls II opens up the ability to warp from bonfire to bonfire right from the start, and the effect of that decision is major. Leveling is done here, as opposed to at each individual bonfire merchants and trainers will gather in Majula as you find them, much as they did in Demon's Souls' Nexus. Whereas Dark Souls' first location, Firelink Shrine, was a destination but not a home base, Majula serves as the major hub for your progress and development. After completing the initial tutorial area, you arrive in the small coastal village of Majula. One example of this is evident right from the start.

Instead, it almost seems as if the team moved forward by also looking to the past, bringing back aspects from Demon's Souls that had previously been lost. I had assumed I'd find more of its predecessor, adorned with an extra round of polish and a bigger overall world.

Well, Dark Souls II isn't what I was expecting.

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