BLACK SOULS II Reviews

Good game which improves on what the first game did well. You need the patch to play the full game and the game is probably best played blind. If you aren't interested in "those scenes", you can disable it at the start of the game - story is longer than the first game but more detailed. The first game doesn't focus a lot on the story but it is very strong in the second game. Tone wise the second game's story is "it's so over" so it gets darker than the first game - music is good like the first game. Some songs return but most of the music in game is new - combat has more depth than the first game so the player is stronger with the game made harder to account for it. Options in combat are very diverse compared to the first game so there is more to experiment with. There is a trade off with the harder game though as more grinding or time spent researching is required compared to the first game - art got a big improvement from the first game. Characters look better and you can tell when enemies got a unique drawn design. The art has a clear style that looks good despite it not being super detailed

I'm going to find Alice. Genuinely one of the most misunderstood series of all time, the game is a reflection of yourself and your relationship with fictional characters. If you are going into this wanting to be a monster and making the game seem like the only thing it has to offer is the really bad parts of it then good you deserve everything you have coming for you.

This game fried my pattern recognition so bad. Whenever someone or something mentions a word like Alice, Red Hood, or any fairy tale, I just freeze right then and there. Any sighting of a blonde, blue-eyed girl takes me right back. Still, 10/10 game, would be getting traumatized again.

On paper, this should be just as good as the first game. But I have 2 gamebreaking issues with it: 1) A lot of the coolest items/spells appear to be locked behind collectibles, needing 50 to buy them. I got ~15 hours in, and have like 15 out of 50. 2) The best part of the first game, and the first half of this game is the character interactions. But nothing tells you that if you don't go a very specific way quickly enough, all of the characters die. So now I am 15 hours into the game and I am just finding corpses of the cool characters. I was even taking note of where to go back to later in the game when I was stronger, but now none of it really matters because they are all dead. I only found out later that the only way to stop this is by either getting lucky that you go to the right place, or have some kind of precognition that the entire game is going to get ♥♥♥♥♥♥ up if you don't do this very specific thing ahead of time. Overall, the game is fun, but I am not playing another 15 hours just to find out that there is some other ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ trigger that is going to brick my game in a different way. 10/10

Black souls 2 and it's series has a very special place in my heart. Even if it is classified as a H-game, it's completely optional and very preventable. This alongside all of the memorable characters and their each unique story lines makes this one of my top 5 games ever.

The unfortunate thing about games like this is that the positive reviews are full of people who see no wrong and the negative reviews are just negative for the...well, the obvious reasons. Coming from a more neutral view, if the basic premise of the game interests you, I'd recommend it. It's a very interesting game, and coming from someone who doesn't really like these turn-based JRPG games, the combat is pretty fun and well crafted. The difficulty curve is perfect, and for the most part every weapon is viable. The bosses are very fun, too. It was genuinely satisfying to beat them, and trying out different loadouts for the more difficult ones to see what works. My two favorite things about this game were the characters and the exploration, though those things kind of go hand in hand. Getting to a new area and exploring was never boring, which was kind of what I expected (I REALLY don't like JRPGs). Also the area themes are all really good, so that helps. As for the characters, they were all interesting and...eccentric? Idk the right word, they had defined personalities I guess. None of them were boring. I do wish there was more interaction beyond just "here's money, give me buffs", though. The rough translation sets some of them back at times, too. The main character also has a personality. He starts off as a stereotypical self insert, but he kind of gets a personality of his own over the span of the story, if that makes sense. It was cool to watch happen. For things I didn't like as much, while I said earlier the difficulty was great, after you complete the game you're given the opportunity to loop back to the beginning, kind of like a new game plus. Each loop you retain all your skills and items and levels, so you kind of just plow through. This game has a surprising amount of content, so each loop you're definitely finding something new or some place you haven't explored, but after a couple loops the game just becomes a breeze. There's an endgame area where you have to grind quite a lot because the enemies are so tough, and grinding in any game is never fun. I also mentioned the translation earlier. It's not horrible, you can understand all the important stuff, but there were a couple places where I had to just scratch my head and reread the same line five times over. If you played the first game, really it's just more of the same but just less braindead combat and an actual story. One definite improvement over the first is the art style, which is saying something because I did not think the art in the first game was bad. It's just such a distinct artstyle that's so strangely appealing. It's definitely a game you should pick up if the main premise interests you. If it doesn't interest you, then I wouldn't recommend it. The gameplay probably isn't gonna be enough to win you over. And if you don't like rape then don't play the rape game idk what to tell you.

[h3]This is the best way for me to finally let some of my personal thoughts about this series after 100+ hours of total playtime and, more specifically, in regard to this title albeit with a short format, be public, so here we are Edit: I originally bought both titles on DLsite[/h3] [i]"Prudence keeps life safe, but does not often make it happy."[/i] (Mental Ward - SEN 0) [b]BLACKSOULS is a series that you're not really supposed to know about; once you actually get to it, it's like being transported into Dante's Inferno and its 9 layers[/b] * [u][i]Welcome to Hell[/i][/u] (Quote from the Crash Chamber - SEN 0) Layer 1 - Limbo— you may already feel separated from the crowd, and God, literally, or metaphorically - depending on your own religious beliefs. You have a minimal degree of awareness of what you will experience. [b]"All in a cruel manner, horrible enough for God to sneer."[/b] Layer 2 - Lust— By then, you are either hooked by the scenes, or seemingly, more innocently; the game world and lore; but is one really better or worse than the other? [i]The outside world is in a miserable state. Maddened mobs and people turned beasts... The balance is crumbling apart, and those with power dictate what's right. And yet, that is still somewhat better than this world.[/i] - Red Hood Layer 3 - Gluttony— in which you forget what got you here in the first place, continuing on your exploration and possible enjoyment of this troubled world. Is that all, or is there more than meets the eye? "It feels as if you're plunging your ###### into sticky mud." (Lutwidge Town - Dead Beggar) Layer 4 - Greed— progress must be made, sacrifices must be made, perhaps even taking your own life over and over again just to gain more power. Does your own self matter anymore? Or did something else take control? Black Soul x1 Raises all parameters, but lowers SEN. Layer 5 - Wrath— Where is Alice? Layer 6 - Heresy— The world and universe themselves, is there anything to their existence that is to be taken seriously at all? - Any fragments of sense of duty whatsoever to be had for it to begin with? [i]All night long, you enjoyed the feast on the altar[/i] (Lizard Bill - last scene) Layer 7 - Violence— Time is not factored in, things happen, and you just wish to explore all of your options. You are an undead after all. [strike]You're free. I mean it. If you don't like someone, feel free to kill them. If there's a girl you want, feel free to take her by f%rce (Fairy Leaf - Black Souls)[/strike] Layer 8 - Fraud (*Malebolge*)— Voluntarily so, involuntarily so. Your consciousness is forever tainted, your soul blacker than before. But was any of it truly your fault? Or is another holding the strings? I have no memories of killing them. This is wrong. My memory has been replaced. And yet, they still deeply stain my memories. Droplets of blood scattered across beautiful, flushed female skin. Echoes of piercing screams. - Grimm Layer 9 - Treachery— Distraction. A truly treacherous world is no small threat to a mind as confused as it is pleasure-seeking. Cruelty to the undeserved is more than guaranteed. "Grimm, why?" - Red Hood Layer 10 - дf╚xbq· .... Yes; I am talking to you, the reader; and thankfully i am not Leaf, (or am i?). I do hope you have finished and enjoyed both games of the series already, before reading my review, if not, well; yeah, it's all quite mad, I know, but we should also both know what the Cheshire Cat once said. From this point onwards, the next shorter, extra text, will take a more personal tone, preferably with words you will find yourself tied to as much as they would me. That's my only wish. So enjoy. I am in no way used to writing, I wrote all of this overnight, with a degree of care equal to my love for this series. I hope I have made something that matters to another, who may very well be you. I will be taking for granted you have finished both games. The BLACKSOULS series is in no way for the faint of heart, especially if you are one to dig deep; curiosity killed the cat after all. And indeed it did, also, get to me; if it also touched your soul, and in the game's terms, "made it black"; you have both my full sympathy and understanding, even more so if its themes are still roaming your mind. Also of Black Souls 2, DLC3, I decided not to include, as I personally refused to risk spoiling to any curious readers. I can't make this lengthy for obvious reasons, but ultimately, art is made by people, for people. If you have any fatalistic or overall negative views of life and existence, it's no more than a stream of black going through you, let time pass. Remember who you are, and carve your own path in life, nothing else is more objective and matters more. [i]The year's at the spring, and day's at the morn; morning's at seven; the hillside's dew-pearled; the lark's on the wing; the snail's on the thorn: God's in xxx heaven⸻All's right with the world.[/i]

I'm going to Alice. ...Where is Alice? Please, Alice. Appear before me and tear me asunder. Let me see your eyes as I expire. The ingenuity and brilliance on display in the game's story and worldbuilding is rivaled only by Library of Ruina in my humble opinion, with it even surpassing in many aspects such as the literary inspiration complexity and style of storytelling. This is also one of the most mechanically complex RPGMaker games ever made, maximizing (in many ways quite literally) the game's engine to create gameplay strategies that allow even psychopaths at SL1 to beat the entire game at Difficulty 9. It's not lost on me how satisfying storytelling using a soulslike medium can be, and Toro maximizes this genre to create a dynamic story that creates new events and context even after multiple replays. The sanity system is also such an awesome revision of the sin system from BS1 from a thematic, story, and gameplay perspective with how much it impacts the world around you. Madness in Wonderland, who would have thought? Black Souls II is a masterpiece and one of the best games I have ever played. 10/10. Patch required.

This game was fantastic, 100% just like the first. I don't care for any of the H-scenes or whatever, however. The story is that unlike anything else you could see, it's enough to make a grown man cry it's simply fantastic, Toro made a truly WONDERful game, and I loved every part of it. Art, great. Theme, fantastic. Characters, amazing. Setting, the depiction of wonderland is simply wonderful Music, top notch Overall this game is still an H-game, it is not appropriate for many, yet somehow, it all just ties more and more into the story, great game, 10/10

only good part about the game was the intense gay sex with lindamea