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The curse is real; now prepare to die over and over

Masochistic is a word often associated with the Souls games. Though they’re known to be incredibly difficult for anyone who may be new to the series, they’ve become only mildly challenging for veterans. However, Dark Souls II is no pushover, proving to be difficult as soon as the journey begins. Even in the most basic tutorial area, players will find death waiting for them. Whether you fall into a hole you overlooked or walk past an enemy who is able to catch up to you for an easy backstab, Dark Souls II isn’t afraid to kill you mercilessly. Although the game never feels cheap, it always finds a way to lure me into a well sprung trap in which I am ill-prepared for. Difficulty isn’t the only thing in which the Souls franchise is known for though, and Dark Souls II gives us another beautifully crafted world that’s perfectly ripe for exploration with rippling lore waiting to be uncovered and dissected.

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Let's try not to die (too often).

If you plan to venture through the lands of Dark Souls II, you’d best be prepared with the reflexes of a tiger and the survival skills of a Cub Scout troop leader. The adventure won’t be easy, but it can be made bearable with a few tips and tricks from the grandmaster himself (which is me, if you didn’t know). Throughout this gratuitously grandiose guide, I’ll be giving a few tips based on the environment and exploration, combat, items and item management, and online portions of the game, so grab a nice blanket and get comfortable, because this is going to be one hell of a ride!

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After 3 hours with the Dark Souls II beta, Nick and Chris offer up their thoughts and observations.

Though we all know the next holiday approaching is Halloween, for Nick and Chris, Saturday night was more like Christmas Eve. Starting at midnight Sunday morning, Namco Bandai opened up the first play session for the Dark Souls II beta and the duo got a chance to check out a portion of the game for 3 full hours. While there's quite a bit of coverage from the event forthcoming, this first tidbit is a discussion between the two about their time in the game and the things that they observed and experienced.

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