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. SpongyTwinkies
    Aug 10, 2014
    7
    I decided to revise my review of Crown of the Sunken King after playing it through. Dark Souls 2 had really disappointed me. I played it through to completion and one NG+, but too many problems and bad design choices turned me off from a game series that I really enjoy. The DLC is better but still plagued by problems.

    The maps are better layed out, the creatures populating the area    I decided to revise my review of Crown of the Sunken King after playing it through. Dark Souls 2 had really disappointed me. I played it through to completion and one NG+, but too many problems and bad design choices turned me off from a game series that I really enjoy. The DLC is better but still plagued by problems.

    The maps are better layed out, the creatures populating the area better help characterize the world and mood, tying into a background story, and are mostly fun to battle, and there are some secrets and items worth taking some risks for. It's challenging, but not always just for the sake of being difficult.

    But there are still problems with the DLC. Mostly useless bonfires are hidden around the map (but at least they are more difficult to get to instead of appearing too often and too soon). The enemy AI can be - well - weird; it might decide to target someone in a party that could be in the back of the room while more immediate threats are ignored. And the controls don't always behave, especially when you need them to be responsive or respond correctly. Also, the story is a bit lackluster, most likely because the base games story wasn't well developed to begin with.

    What bothers me most is when the story and design lack, the game compensates by sometimes throwing spastic enemies with nearly hyper-aggro, unreasonable attack behaviors, or they gank. The enemies don't always play by the same rules the gamer is held to, either, such as when a Razorback Nightcrawler does no damage to a charging foe but deals plenty out to you. Or an enemy seems to have nearly endless stamina. That's cheap and a cover for poor or lazy high-level design.

    Crown of the Sunken King is better than the base game, Dark Souls II, which the game really needed. But the game still doesn't deliver a solid experience like the previous two titles.    … Expand
  2. ThinkSamich
    Aug 4, 2014
    6
    150 hours Demons Souls
    400 hours Dark Souls (cross platform)
    80 hours Dark Souls 2 I cannot stand behind this DLC, it has too much of the "recycled" feel to it. As many other reviewers have added the majority of the trash mobs are just uninspired. There is a large section much like Lost Izalith that serves no other purpose than "filler" content. 2/3 boss fights are unoriginal to the    150 hours Demons Souls
    400 hours Dark Souls (cross platform)
    80 hours Dark Souls 2

    I cannot stand behind this DLC, it has too much of the "recycled" feel to it. As many other reviewers have added the majority of the trash mobs are just uninspired. There is a large section much like Lost Izalith that serves no other purpose than "filler" content. 2/3 boss fights are unoriginal to the point where they actually reuse major assets from the core game. At one point in the DLC you traverse a hive where the NPCs within all break your armor, I feel like this was a terrible idea. The PC version of Dark Souls 2 already had major issues with decreased weapon durability, so this was kind of a slap in the face for us. I think it was just something nobody was willing to deal with so soon. "Too soon, etc etc"

    The mage boss fight is unremarkable in every way, the AI is lazy and weak, if not for the ability to summon additional things to attack you it would be completely trivial. It's unfortunate From has to fall back on this multiple enemy boss fight strategy so often, because they rarely do it right. Dark Lurker was probably the only great multiple enemy fight in all of Dark Souls 2.

    The NPC red phantom invasion in the DLC appears to have unlimited stamina, attunement slots, and a casting speed that is through the roof. He just has unlimited everything, it's not exactly anything new or remarkable, the AI is not improved, you can still walk it through doorways and use the same exploits to your advantage. Which is fine I guess, I wasn't exactly expecting improved AI, but I feel like this kind of blatant stat padding is a step in the wrong direction for From. This method of increasing difficulty will eventually cross the threshold from hard to "unfair", which is exactly what this game doesn't need.

    The other "red phantom" NPC encounter is a boss fight, where you face three NPCs. Enjoy dodging a dragon tooth wielder whose attack animations skip frames. This fight was cheese through and through, and it really made me wonder where From was going with it. Is this satire for the direction the series is heading? I feel like this type of thing is exactly what these developers do not want.

    The last fight is a dragon, and I refuse to spoil it. It's a well done fight, at times it feels like the hitbox on the tail suffers from the same issues that the Last Giant had, but that just may all be in my head. Otherwise it's a wonderful fight, and easily the only worthwhile boss in the DLC.

    Level architecture is satisfying, often impressive to me. I enjoyed exploring much more than I did fighting anything in the DLC (except the dragon). There are a few neat weapons added with the DLC, I was satisfied with the loot choices, even if a piece or two did feel gimmicky. I want to leave this bit somewhat vague, because nobody likes spoiled loot.

    All in all I just found this DLC mostly unremarkable. There is a little bit of awesome sprinkled over a whole lot of filler/reused material. I was left unsatisfied with the mage fight, mostly from a mechanics standpoint, but also in a little of every other way. I do not like what From did with the NPC phantoms in this DLC, it's a step in the wrong direction. I also do not like how this DLC has been broken into 3 parts, I feel it would stand much stronger as a whole. I probably wouldn't judge these throwaway bosses in the first section so harshly if I still had half a dozen more to fight later on. I am left feeling that the split of the DLC into three parts wasn't the original idea, because this section (part 1) feels more like a teaser or demo with introductory or "warm up" bosses than anything else.

    I don't want to sound melodramatic, but at times I felt like I was watching a good series die. It really seems like the fans are being milked with mostly mediocre content.    … Expand
  3. X-fushion
    Aug 18, 2014
    6
    Buy this if you are a Souls hardcore fan, if not you aren't missing much.
    Aesthetically speaking the DLC is good, great environments, enemies design, atmosphere, etc. the level design of Shulva, the new setting is good, it contains switches, and small puzzles.
    ¿What's the downside? Is way to short, at least to me the playthrough only lasted 3 hours, ok I skiped an optional boss but it    Buy this if you are a Souls hardcore fan, if not you aren't missing much.
    Aesthetically speaking the DLC is good, great environments, enemies design, atmosphere, etc. the level design of Shulva, the new setting is good, it contains switches, and small puzzles.
    ¿What's the downside? Is way to short, at least to me the playthrough only lasted 3 hours, ok I skiped an optional boss but it only added 20 minutes to the overall experience.
    I know that a lot of playtime doesn't necesariy means that a DLC is good, the problem with Sunken king is that is short because the general map of the expansion is small itself, there are 4 areas: shulva, the main hub, dragon sanctum, dragon rest and the cave of the dead, unfortunately the last two (rest and cave) aren't even open areas, they are just boss arenas so there's no exploration at all in these locations, and the other two remaining areas (sanctum and shulva) aren't that big to begin with, I think that the lost bastille is bigger than the whole DLC map and that's a letdown. Like I said the areas are well designed but you'll be blasting through them not because they are very easy or linear because they aren't large at all.
    Also the Boss battles are a bit dissapoiting there are only 3 of them and you face the mandatory bosses literally at the end of the DLC when you are done with one you face the next one right away. Sure those bosses are well design but I felt that setting and ending really anti-climatic.
    And the optional Boss just sucks, is no diferent from a NPC battle.
    And lastly I hope the next 2 DLC's of the crown trilogy really step up in terms of content because the first chapter while not bad, it wasn't great or memorable it just was OK.    … Expand
  4. DeusXCom
    Jul 28, 2014
    7
    While the value of 10€ for just about 3 additional hours of DS2 gameplay in one new location might be very questionable (should have been the price for the full trilogy) and some of it's content is kinda lacking (3 lazy bosses, lots of samey grey/green corridors, not much new story here and no new dialog npcs whatsoever.) It's still a very nice addition to the original DS2, that I enjoyedWhile the value of 10€ for just about 3 additional hours of DS2 gameplay in one new location might be very questionable (should have been the price for the full trilogy) and some of it's content is kinda lacking (3 lazy bosses, lots of samey grey/green corridors, not much new story here and no new dialog npcs whatsoever.) It's still a very nice addition to the original DS2, that I enjoyed playing through. Complex level design full of environmental puzzles, few nice surprises (ghost knights) and decent amount of challenge in places. The fight with 3 npcs might have been a lazy boss design, but still pretty challenging, especially in solo. Elana felt weak and boring no matter how many times i tried and the final fight with the dragon was a standard Souls-Dragon battle experience, not much new here, but not bad. On the bright side, the highlight of this DLC for me was the fight with Jester Thomas, which introduced nice addition of gestures for npc invaders, so enjoy his mocking gestures after he fries you to death during his pyro barbecue party. Even friendly npc phantoms are now bowing to you after a good boss fight if they survive. In terms of online play, this place was packed, I have been invaded about 10 times just before reaching the second bonfire, so get ready. Most Souls fans should be happy with this little DLC addition, but don't expect anything like Artorias DLC for the original DS, in terms of story, setting, or epic boss battles, Crown of the Sunken King doesn't come even close, but it's still well worth playing through and raises the anticipation for another two parts of the trilogy. 7/10… Expand
  5. Makaveli
    Aug 8, 2014
    6
    figured I would review this DLC even though I beat it the first day it came out.
    When Dark Souls 2 came out I gave the game a perfect score, I later changed my mind about that after a few playthroughs realizing that the game is still a good game but noticed how lazy the game was compared to the first game.
    The DLC is an improvement from the main game, the level design is a lot better    figured I would review this DLC even though I beat it the first day it came out.
    When Dark Souls 2 came out I gave the game a perfect score, I later changed my mind about that after a few playthroughs realizing that the game is still a good game but noticed how lazy the game was compared to the first game.
    The DLC is an improvement from the main game, the level design is a lot better than anything we see in the main game. The bosses were not very good in my opinion, we basically got two reskinned bosses and a final boss that a lot of people like but I just thought it was annoying to fight and boring.
    There is new weapons, spells and armors but the DLC as a whole felt lacking to me. They added more lore but also didn't answer any questions from the main game that a lot of people were hoping for..
    The enemies are ok but nothing really innovative.
    I did like that NPC phantoms will now use gestures if you summon them or if you get invaded by this certain invader he will mock you. I really liked that.
    The DLC is not on the same level as AoTA at all, but I'm hoping that when all 3 DLCs release that we will get something on par with that DLC..

    The DLC is ok, but you are not missing much if you decide not to get it. I was on NG+++ and I gimped myself for the play through and beat it in about 2 hours solo. However I went back and explored and got all the items that I missed which added another hour and a half.
    So the dlc took me 3 hours and 1/2 to completely finish, with all the items.. Mind you I was lucky and enemies dropped rare items for me without having to farm for them.    … Expand
  6. Acidworm
    Aug 6, 2014
    6
    Played through the DLC now on 3 different characters. I have never played Demon Souls but I am very familiar with Dark Souls 1 and 2.

    This DLC thankfully is not so linear like the rest of the game is. It is nice to unlock shortcuts, which is something I really missed in the rest of DS2 as it was done so well in DS1. This helps give it more atmosphere. Unfortunately the textures are very    Played through the DLC now on 3 different characters. I have never played Demon Souls but I am very familiar with Dark Souls 1 and 2.

    This DLC thankfully is not so linear like the rest of the game is. It is nice to unlock shortcuts, which is something I really missed in the rest of DS2 as it was done so well in DS1. This helps give it more atmosphere. Unfortunately the textures are very bland and dreary looking, and just repeat. They could have done more here. The map is more complex, with a vertical nature to cover, which is a nice change up. I enjoy all the switches as well giving it a bit of a puzzle nature.

    Only one decent boss to be found here and unfortunately the placement of the bosses is poor but I won't elaborate as I don't want to spoil it. The developers really need to stop designing bosses with adds. Adds can be good when they are tasteful but not when they are just thrown in to make the fight harder and it feels so lazily designed. For one fight in particular the NPCs you can summon just stink and are nothing but a hindrance. That fight as well is a really boring, and annoying fight to do solo, so good luck finding other players to summon.

    The regular enemies are a bit on the lame side, as they are easy to dodge and their difficulty comes from high health, and poise, as well as attacking you in groups rather than having interesting mechanics. There are some interesting enemies here but the most common one is as I described.

    One of my biggest issues with the DLC is all the poison damage that enemies do and there is an area like Black Gulch littered with enemies and statues. I was hoping we'd be done with all the poison shooting statues after Black Gulch. Poison damage is cool to mix in once in a while but they rely on it too heavily here, and it just makes things annoying.

    There are also no NPCs or merchants to interact with in the DLC, just some NPCs to summon for the bosses. Hopefully they will add this into the future DLCs.

    As a whole the DLC is a success as the level design is decent, and a bit different from the rest of the game. One boss is also really good even if the other 2 are a disappointment. For $10 it is worth the money, although I hope they can improve with the other DLCs to be released in the future.    … Expand
  7. Sakkaku
    Sep 8, 2014
    7
    Far from perfect. It's a Souls sequel/clone with more boss battles. Based off of Dark Souls but rather lacking in the atmosphere/story dept, the fixes in the combat system makes up for it's shortfalls.
  8. SolidCenturio
    Jan 28, 2017
    7
    Crown of the Sunken King is set in an underground city far below the Black Gulch, tainted by a toxic mist that killed almost all of its inhabitants except for the Sunken King's loyal warriors, who guard their kingdom's most sacred treasure with an otherworldly resolve. The player is tasked with traversing the Mayan-inspired architecture of Shulva, the Sanctum City, and uncover the secretCrown of the Sunken King is set in an underground city far below the Black Gulch, tainted by a toxic mist that killed almost all of its inhabitants except for the Sunken King's loyal warriors, who guard their kingdom's most sacred treasure with an otherworldly resolve. The player is tasked with traversing the Mayan-inspired architecture of Shulva, the Sanctum City, and uncover the secret that wiped out their civilization.

    Crown of the Iron King is a return to form in some ways, since its level design, enemy placement, and location of items closely resembles that of the first game. The Sanctum City is built like a maze, where platforms could go up and down, and an area could be reached from multiple entrances. Shulva is littered with valuable ores and rare treasures hidden in plain sight, where the only way to reach them is to navigate winding walkways and perilous paths; those familiar with the design of Oolacile Township will see the comparison with the city of Shulva.

    Compared to Brume Tower and Frozen Eleum Loyce, Shulva features more unique enemies who extend their roles beyond the grunt and the occasional caster: the Sanctum Soldiers has very high poise, uses longbows and poison arrows at long range, and could emit poison mist from their bodies; the spirit-like Sanctum Knights cannot be harmed by any form of attack, unless the player finds a statue associated with the knight and destroys it, rendering the invincible enemy vulnerable once again. There are also the Corrosive Egg Insects who could create a cloud of corrosive acid, and prefers to fight in a group - a common trait shared by all of the enemies in this DLC.

    Lore-wise, this DLC is my favorite of the Lost Crowns trilogy. Shulva, the Sanctum City is an interesting place, because the ancient people who resided there built the city around their sacred treasure. It shows us a glimpse of life before the kingdom of Drangleic, when people used to have all of these crazy ideas, and worship anything that is bigger than them.

    Overall, a good DLC that features a lot of content.

    And there you have it.    … Expand
  9. ManHoof
    Jul 29, 2023
    6
    Not a bad DLC. Interesting locations to explore. Also good, surprisingly for this part, bosses.

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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