Dark Souls II: Crown of the Sunken King

 PC
User Score
7.4

Mixed or average reviews- based on 210 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 139 out of 210
  2. Mixed: 34 out of 210
  3. Negative: 37 out of 210

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  1. derpyyy
    Jul 22, 2014
    4
    Conclusion first: would not recommend unless cheap or fan/supporter

    Finished DLC solo (no coop) in NG4+ in about 4 hours including dieing a few times and finding secrets + killing all mobs on the way. (and admittedly wasting a few lifegems due to sparse and hidden bonfires) . I would say the length was okay if the whole thing was more memorable but it's simply not. Most of the    Conclusion first: would not recommend unless cheap or fan/supporter

    Finished DLC solo (no coop) in NG4+ in about 4 hours including dieing a few times and finding secrets + killing all mobs on the way. (and admittedly wasting a few lifegems due to sparse and hidden bonfires) . I would say the length was okay if the whole thing was more memorable but it's simply not.

    Most of the enemies feel like you killed them before somewhere else in the game.

    Enemy type SPOILERS ahead:

    3 New Bosses:

    1 of which is a nashandra clone with a somewhat different moveset casting typical hexes which you have probably seen at this point

    another one being simply 3 "red phantom NPCs" at the same time (they arent red but have the same behavior)

    and the dragon which i guess is actually the only real new boss and who is a good challenge due to his lack of blind spots and his tendency to fly even when in melee (can you please stop running away dragon? just attack me its fine >_>)

    new weapons are mostly! not gamebreaking good (which is a PLUS!) in fact they are mostly! low average except for their movesets (and a shield which has some potential but there are other options for shield) There is also 1 weapon that stands out but to early to say. 2 new spells are mishmash copies of existing spells and the other one is kinda troll but not really useful outside of that.

    The areas look bland for the most part except for the initial overview (with the DS2 typical you can go everywhere u can see) and the graphics are underwhelming overall in the new areas (a LOT of cement hallways and repeating structures with nothing to them) Come on FROM you guys have shown you can do better! An "sunken" King and you interpret it as Bunker :(

    All of the new trash mobs are uninspired (a new number of dead NPC using various weapons like the undead at the start of the game... and a few guys who look like red phantoms and act like them with the only special thing about them being that they fat roll.. LOL NPCs using fat roll)

    The fight that stood out to me the most was a special red phantom with ridiculous amounts of hp and a never ending stamina bar of pure pyromancy spam.    … Expand
  2. sonarctica
    Aug 26, 2014
    4
    One of the worst DLC's I've ever played... just no please stop

    "must be 150 characters long" fine
    ///////////////////////////////////////////////////
  3. kozzy420
    Jul 24, 2014
    0
    Some of the worst DLC ever, go take notes from Obsidian on how to do DLC. New Vegas had epic DLC (especially Old World Blues) and Mask of The Betrayer for NWN2. Now that is how you do DLC or an expansion!

    This right here is 3 hours of lazy crap. Go buy Divinity or Wasteland 2 instead, MUCH better rpg's.
  4. pabloe168
    Sep 6, 2014
    4
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I had hopes for this DLC but Fromsoftware did not listen to the community in regards of the flaws of Dark Souls 2 Vanilla.

    1) First of all the artificial difficulty makes some of the bosses in this DLC beyond annoying. If you plan to beat this DLC on NG+ then prepare to cheese some of them because that is what the game is pushing you to do.

    If you are a Faith build with melee forget it. You will have to cheese with magic or wait for good players to aid you.

    FS Didn't learn that more enemies on a single battle does not make the game more interesting nor winning mroe rewarding. This is one of the keystones that FS failed to replicate in DS2. Many other bosses in Demon Souls and Dark Souls defeated the player by the means of intimidation caused by the atmosphere and immersion in the plot.
    The game fails to give a feeling of reward by making the fights with the bosses broken and unfair. It's just annoying.

    2) The added value to the plot and lore is minuscule. In DS the DLC gave significant content that was bound to the main plot. It added value, characters and information about other things in the game.
    CoSK barely adds anything worth the hassle if you are interested in the story.

    3) POISE
    That was just not fun. The ridiculous amount of poise most of the enemies in the dlc have, drives one to cheese and use cheap tactics. Face it you will blow a soul vessel if you are the kind that doesn't look at guides before you do an area. If not you will have to be extremely patient since not only parrying is not good now, but also stunning your foes. Every small battle will take its time until you reach frustration if you die several times. That is a cheap way to demand patience from players.    … Expand

Awards & Rankings

45
#45 Best PC Game of 2014

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
82

Generally favorable reviews - based on 19 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 17 out of 19
  2. Mixed: 2 out of 19
  3. Negative: 0 out of 19
  1. Pelit (Finland)
    Oct 25, 2014
    90
    Satisfying add-on to a great game, with interesting bosses. [Oct 2014]
  2. CD-Action
    Oct 22, 2014
    60
    It looks like Crown of the Sunken Kings was developed by interns, as it misses many elements that made Dark Souls II an exceptional game. [10/2014, p.66]
  3. Hyper Magazine
    Sep 14, 2014
    80
    Manages to capture the rewarding highs and terrifying lows that define the souls series. [Issue#253, p.68]
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