Dark Souls II was released last month for those that play the game on the console, sadly enough the PC gamers have to wait a longer: the game launches for the PC on the 25th of April. While the PC gamers are waiting on their version, there of course are a few questions that everyone wants to be answered. Will the game look way better than the console versions and will the game actually be playable without a mouse this time?
To answer the first question if the PC version of Dark Souls II look better than the console version, the answer is yes. Dark Souls II runs on a higher resolution than it does on the console version of the game, so it will look better in a way. The game also has a higher frame rate compared to the console versions, if your PC isn’t a toaster at least. Instead of 30 frames per second, the PC version will be able to run smoothly on 60 frames per second. It is suspected that the games frame rate is locked at 60 frames per second, as it doesn’t get any higher than that.
There is something graphic related that I am a bit sad about that it isn’t in the PC version. In the pre-release videos of Dark Souls II that the developers showed last year, there was a very fancy lightning model that didn’t get implemented in the console version of the game. I was hoping that it would appear in the PC version, but sadly enough it didn’t the PC version as well. Everyone that as looking forward to these fancy graphics that they witnessed in the pre-release videos, might be a little disappointed just as I am since it would’ve been a real treat to play the game with even better graphics.
Another thing that saddens me about not having the lightning in the PC version, besides from giving the game a darker atmosphere, is that it made the game easier in some way. The field of view with the pre-release lightning system was a lot smaller than it is in the released version, and this made interesting to walk around with a torch. This torch would replace your shield, so you could trade protection for sight, thus making it easier to spot enemies but making you weaker. Maybe it is just me, but I would’ve really liked to see this in the game.
Something that was an absolute horror in the original Dark Souls was mouse and keyboard control: it was one of the worst ports from console to PC ever. The mouse pointer stayed in your screen all the time and just moving your character around felt like an impossible task, if you didn’t install a fix for the controls it was just an unplayable game. Luckily this has changed in Dark Souls II and thus the controls for the PC feel a lot more natural. There is still a downside of using the keyboard and mouse, as you will still be shown the Xbox Controller layout on the screen. This isn’t a major problem as you will get used to what buttons you have to use quite quickly, but it is something the developers could’ve put some effort into.
It definitely is a way better port than the original Dark Souls game was for the PC, but there are still a few things that could get tweaked. I am pretty sure the Souls franchise community will take matters into its own hands and add even higher resolution texture packs and more small tweaks to make it an even better game.
