Areas of complete darkness are far more prevalent in Dark Souls II because the designers wanted to force users to choose between protection in the form of a weapon or shield and visibility in the form of a torch.
Though an open-world game in the sense that players can generally choose where they want to go at any time, the connected environments tend to be serpentine and full of locked areas that eventually spit gamers out where they started.
Players also lose all of their acquired souls whenever they die and can only retrieve them by returning to the location of their death without dying again. Souls are hard-won but easily lost in Dark Souls II, thanks to strong enemies who capitalize on any mistake, and giant, brutal bosses who can kill in a variety of ways and break from attack patterns at unexpected times.
As always, the souls of fallen enemies serve as both the in-game currency and the only means of levelling, forcing gamers to choose between improving their character and purchasing vital items. Players create a character and allocate stats into a variety of base skills, then head off into a dark and incredibly dangerous world in hopes of ending the suffering of their cursed protagonist. From Software's critically acclaimed and enigmatic action RPG series returns with improved graphics and sound and a greater focus on Covenants and online interactions in Dark Souls II.