The ‘Souls' franchise has gone from strength to strength since the original title, Demon's Souls, was released in Japan back in early 2009. Initially there were no plans to release the game outside of Japan, but thanks positive sales and review scores, it was eventually released all over the world.

The first piece of Dark Souls II DLC delivered a lot of what we love about the series. It featured complex environments, unpredictable enemies, and vicious boss fights. Compared to Crown of the Old Iron King, however, part one just feels like a warm up.

The bonfires in Dark Souls have always been special and yet our relationship to them can be fragile: although freed of their role in levelling up in the sequel, finding and lighting them is still something of a moment to savour, a chance to breathe.

As the last major release without a next-gen version plan, Dark Souls II stands in the position as the standard bearer for the last hurrah of the Xbox 360 and PS3. Let's just take a second to reflect on the trends and aspirations that have been emphasised within the gaming industry over the last...

As the player base over the past decade has widened considerably, difficulty has shrunk, perhaps with the notion to not alienate any potential fans. More players equates to more buyers, after all. Yet in recent years there's been a revival of those games that skew difficulty upwards.

Dark Souls II drops you into a world, after a little bit of set up and then lets you loose. There is a point to the game, there is an end game, but there is no real guidance of how to get there. This isn't a linear story driven experience, there aren't any real corridor mechanics, nothing like that.

Dark Souls, Demon's Souls… these are games I fell in love with the moment I played them. So much character they had! Beautifully depressing, their every environment conveying a kind of poetic sadness, set in worlds of decaying kingdoms, fallen heroes and dreams gone dark.

Tons of bosses to fight; challenging and fun; A beautifully grim; somber world; New Game+ and invasions offer serious replay value; Tons of builds to use; tactics to follow

The easily frustrated need not apply; Controls feel a bit ‘loose' at times

Firstly, I know you've probably bought this and played it, or at least played most of it. I said in the Crown of the Sunken King review, the score here means little in terms of your buying decision. S

Eleum Loyce is beautiful; New incentives to explore; A fine end to the series

Difficulty is even more extreme; Some enemies seem almost unfair; No more Dark Souls 2

Feels very much like dark souls 1. Best thing in this dlc is Sir Alonne. You can't miss this epic boss fight with probably one of the best soundtracks for a boss battle.

For much of my playthrough, I kept thinking that if I had to choose one of the 'Souls' titles to play or recommend, it would be 'Dark Souls.' And yet 'Dark Souls II' was clearly meant to entertain the veteran 'Souls' player with a depth beyond its predecessor.