History VideoGame / DarkSoulsII

* EldritchLocation: Drangleic does not make sense if it's to be viewed as a location in the real world, which is most notable in a few areas. Things Betwixt is apparently underground and accessible by a whirlpool, but when you get out, you see that it is on the surface, and far smaller than its inside proportions would allow. Going through a tunnel will take you from a verdant forest to a rainy mountainrange, and taking the elevator up from the top of a tower will take you to the top of a volcano that was not visible from the ground. If you were to make a complete map of every area in the game, several areas would overlay each other and be in the same location. This is, of course, all intentional, adding to the strange feeling present throughout.

* MindScrew: At one point in the game, the Bearer of the Curse reaches the top of a tall tower, takes an elevator up, and ends up at the surface of a lake of lava stretching as far as the eye can see in all directions.

* AllThereInTheManual: The official game guide confirms a number of lore facts hinted at in the game itself, most notably that [[spoiler:[[BigBad Queen Nashandra]] is a reborn fragment of Manus from ''Videogame/DarkSouls''.]]

** ''Videogame/DarkSoulsIII'' ultimately confirms that [[spoiler:whichever ending the Bearer chose, the Fire was eventually linked by someone and the cycle continued]].

** Practically ''every'' boss has NPC summon signs now, often two of them. While this does increase the boss's health, having someone to draw their attention away from you is often worth it, especially given this game's prevalence of [[DuelBoss Duel Bosses]] compared to the first game's giant monsters.

** Also in ''Scholar of the First Sin'', the staircase leading to the Ancient Dragon is filled with multiple Dragon Knights that won't attack you on sight, save for one as a Red Phantom. Hit just one, however, and you'll have the whole pack hounding you. The same Dragon Knights are scattered all throughout the level, usually next to a Drakekeeper. Fight the Drakekeeper head-on and they will ignore you. Run away from the Drakekeeper, however, and they will begin chasing and attacking you; [[JustifiedTrope justified]] as the Dragon Remnants covenant is all about honorable dueling, so running away is anathema to them.

* BossBattle: Just like the first ''Videogame/DarkSouls'' and ''Videogame/DemonsSouls'' before it, ''Dark Souls II'' is host to an enormous amount of boss fights.

* ChainmailBikini: The Desert Sorceress Set.

* CuttingOffTheBranches: Averted. [[spoiler:The game suggests in the EternalRecurrence of the Undead Curse, Ages of Fire have given way to Ages of the Dark, only for the next cycle to in turn rekindle the flames and begin a new Age of Fire]]. In short, the two ''VideoGame/DarkSouls'' endings ''both happened'', eventually.

* GameOfTheYearEdition: The ''Scholar of the First Sin'' retail release for UsefulNotes/PlayStation3 and UsefulNotes/XBox360, a compilation of the main game, the 1.10 ExpansionPack patch, and the three DLC.

* KaizoTrap: Unlike ''Videogame/DarkSouls'', the game only registers a boss' defeat once the entire death animation, victory text and potential allied phantoms are gone, meaning it's possible to get caught up in a boss' post-mortem attack (like the Royal Rat Authority's poison pool or the Duke Dear Freja's minion spiders), forcing you to fight them all over again. [[spoiler:Also, Vengarl's body will attack you in the primal bonfire room after you killed the Duke's Dear Freja.]]
* KillerRabbit

** [[Videogame/DarkSouls The Basilisks]] make a return, with the same appearance and [[TakenForGranite petrification abilities]]. [[FromBadToWorse And there are variations now.]]

** The first time the player meets Benhart of Jugo, his way forward is blocked and he is, as he puts it, "[[Videogame/DarkSouls in quite a pickle]]".

* NoFlowInCGI: [[AvertedTrope Averted]]. The 12 minute debut has the duster covers on the {{Player Character}}s armor flow with a surprising degree of fluidity, likely because of the new game engine. Hell, some think that the constant breeze in Majula was put in just to show this off. Even just ''swinging weapons'' generates visible wind effects (most easily observed by swinging a weapon around Straid).

** The Crestfallen Warrior returns yet again, ''still'' voiced by the same actor, although this time he has a name (Saulden) and a meaningful gameplay purpose (keeper of the Way of Blue covenant). [[spoiler: And he even stops being so depressed once enough [=NPCs=] come live in Majula !)]]

* SequelEscalation: The world is twice as large as ''Videogame/DarkSouls'', the bosses are even more horrifying, and equipment has stricter stat requirements.

** The first time you encounter Chloanne, she will say "Perhaps we'll meet again, if we live that long." This is a reference to Maria's quote after meeting [[PlayerCharacter Alucard]] for the first time in VideoGame/CastlevaniaSymphonyOfTheNight - "Perhaps we'll meet again, if you live that long."

* UpdatedRerelease: ''Scholar of the First Sin'' for UsefulNotes/PlayStation4, UsefulNotes/XboxOne, and [=DirectX 11 PCs=]. It includes the 1.10 ExpansionPack update patch, the 3 DLC episodes, remastered graphics, remixed levels, and improved multiplayer capabilities (6 players max).

* DropTheHammer: In standard hammer and great hammer categories. One example is the Gyrm Great Hammer, which is an ''anvil'' chained together on a heavy stick.

** You have to hunt down and kill the four ancient and powerful Great Ones and embrace their souls[[note]]or accumulate 1 million Soul Memory, with another million added on every NewGamePlus cycle[[/note]] in order to unlock a door that lets you get around [[http://i.imgur.com/rdqnmgu.jpg this single fallen pillar blocking your path]]. Anyone could easily climb over that thing in real life, but sadly in the game you can't jump that high. Nor can any of the [[{{BFS}} ridiculously]] enormous [[DropTheHammer weapons]] you could potentially be wielding simply finish what nature started and smash it to rubble, clearing the path for you.

* EvilVsEvil: [[spoiler:Mild Mannered Pate and Creighton the Wanderer.]] The former is a treasure hunter with [[ChronicBackstabbingDisorder a backstabbing streak]], while the latter is a SerialKiller bent on {{revenge}}.

* PuzzleBoss: The Executioner's Chariot has two ways to defeat it. One way is to perform a CorridorCubbyholeRun until you reach a lever, which you pull to lower the gate and send the chariot and rider crashing into it. Then you can kill the horse. The other is to take your time whittling down its health until it's too weak to make the jump across the pit in the boss arena. Once it misses and the horse is trying to hang on, you can hit it so that it falls.