Finally “finished” it. I was nearing the end. Had a fabulous map spanning zip line network that could take me from coast to coast and literally across the peaks of the mountain range.
There was a point where I realised I was just delivering continuously across the map because I didn’t want it to end and weirdly, that was the signal that it was time to push for the finish.
This series is a lot of things. A surprising amount of action this time round, stealth, adventure, even a cozy game at times imo. But for me it’s most glorious in its traversal and traversal networks. Not just the brilliant way it turned walking into gameplay but in the road building, monorails and most excitingly the zip lines that depend on unspoken collaboration with other players. The wick was turned way up on this for DS2 I think.
The whole thing to me is the most exciting use of the online space in gaming since Demons Souls.
I won’t spoil it but I loved the ending. It was surprisingly punchy and equally surprisingly filled to the brim with laugh out loud humour. In fact there were more than a few genuinely laugh out loud moments in the entire game.
I’ll pop back in on the semi regular to finish off tasks and just be in this world that I’ve fallen in love with again, but really I’m done. At least until whatever comes next. It’s my game of the year if not of the last couple of years.
