militantfreudian

I only played the second one on the 360 and I thought it was very good, mainly because of the storyline, characters and quest design. The story was perhaps the best I played in any fantasy role-playing game. The combat on the other hand was the game's weakest aspect; it certainly wasn't as tactical as advertised. Sadly, the combat system in The Witcher 3 seems largely unchanged from the previous one, so I'm not sure if I'll be getting it at launch (probably not, actually).

@quid_pro_bono: Yep, I thought it was neat how you can damage individual limbs and they react to it. I actually felt the same way about Vicar Amelia; I didn't hate the fight initially, but once I learned how to fight her, it became one of my favorites.

I enjoyed the Chalice Dungeons quite a bit, but I really hope that's not the case. If they decide to add something to them, I hope it's a boss gauntlet or something like that.

I can't say that I'm looking forward to fighting the Watchdog in the Defiled Dungeon. While learning the Abhorrent Beast's moveset and trying dodge around him was a lot of fun, the Watchdog seems to have a lot more health, and the ability to easily one-hit kill you. I didn't enjoy bosses like Rom or the Undead Giant (the one with flails), because all I did was bait his attack, hit him once, then back off, so I hope this one doesn't boil down to just that.

I chose the Hunter Axe as my starting weapon and I used it for the majority of the game. It's one of the most versatile weapons in the game, and can deal a good amount of damage too. It might sound hyperbolic, but it's probably the best weapon I've used in any game. Interestingly enough, I ended up experimenting and upgrading more weapons in this game than I did in the previous two Dark Souls games. Ever since I got it, the Blade of Mercy has been my back-up weapon. The thing has like a 10-hit combo, which can come in handy when dealing with a single enemy with a lot of HP.

So I, uh, killed the Capra Demon in two hits. I walked up the stairs, did a two-handed jumping attack, and the game decided to count that as both, a jumping attack and a plunging attack. I did -- and I remember distinctly -- 1001 damage to his HP. I hit him again, and that was that. If I remember correctly, I was using the BKS (which did extra damage to demons) and I went through a part of New Londo, so I was probably over-leveled.

The most difficult boss, for me, was Manus. He was so aggressive, and for some reason I didn't use the pendant. He took me 5 tries, but at first, he seemed kind of impossible. I defeated more than half the bosses by the first or second try, but no one boss jumps out to me as the easiest.

I have to say, I'm impressed. I thought, at best, the loading times will be reduced by 5 to 10 seconds. From what I've played however, it took 20 seconds to load me into Hemwick Charnel Lane, and when I died, it took only 12 seconds. I didn't notice any reduction in the loading times when going back to the Hunter's Dream; it still takes 10 seconds or so.

I personally didn't find the first area of the Nightmare of Mensis to be that hard, especially since the grey beasts can be parried quite easily. However, the bridge leading to the giant brain reminds me of the ramp with the archers in Anor Londo, except worse. The brain enemies were indeed the worst; they drop really good gems though. Overall, the game was so much fun, that I rarely, if ever, got frustrated.

Since this is a venting thread, I thought I might as well mention that it can get a bit annoying how a lot (certainly too many) threads end up one way or another becoming a Bloodborne vs. Dark Souls vs. Dark Souls II debate.

I've finished the game today with the "true" ending. I'm actually surprised that the Gehrman fight lived up to my lofty expectations. It's, in my opinion, one of the best-designed and most fun boss fights in the series. I really, really liked the music; it started a bit too melodramatic but got much better shortly. I felt bad for killing him, to be honest.

Also, the Moon Presence fight was much better than I expected. It ended up being one of the easier boss fights in the game, but I had very few blood vials after defeating Gehrman, so it was really intense. The music did a good job of increasing the tension and making [him/her/it?] seem intimidating.

I thought that these two boss fights complement the game mechanics extremely well.

Okay, I just voted and this is nuts! 4 percent thought Rom was the best boss in the game.

@mattschwabby: Alternatively, you can try the first Dark Souls if you have a half-decent PC or haven't sold your last-gen console. It may not look as good as Dark Souls II from a technical standpoint, but generally speaking, the areas have more personality in my opinion. The world feels more lived in, and similar to Bloodborne, flows somewhat more naturally. That said, some of the later game areas in Dark Souls II are visually impressive. Anyway, if you're interested in Dark Souls, this video should give you an overall view of the areas (area spoilers, obviously):