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Toward the end of Crown of the Sunken King, the first in a trilogy of downloadable episodes for From Software's brooding, melancholic sequel to Dark Souls, you find a ladder that leads up to a temple roof. Climb the ladder and exit through a crumbling doorway and you're presented with a widescreen view of Sanctum City, the underground metropolis in which much of this chapter takes place. The cave walls, slick and iridescent, echo with the sound of rushing water, while stalactites drip overhead like so many swords of Damocles. Across the way you can pick out the first bonfire you lit in this area: the original and therefore dearest point of safety in what is an unflinchingly hostile place. On my first visit to the roof I lit two torches left on the balcony and paused to wonder at just how far I'd come. It was a welcome moment of respite in an otherwise jitter-filled two hours of exploration and confrontation. After a few moments I noticed a message on the ground left by another player. A memo of encouragement, perhaps, or an offer of advice or even trickery: you never can tell in Dark Souls. I opened the message. It read, simply: 'Pointless?'
The typical Dark Souls player is not, perhaps, best known for an appreciation of landscaping - although From Software's artists consistently display a talent for scene-setting. Indeed, the game itself inspires a kind of hysteria in its player: you are a drowning man, thrashing about for some new weapon or item which might save you as the ghouls and monsters seek to drag you under. Not much to time stand around admiring the view when you're scrambling and fleeing. Crown of the Sunken King is no different: a new chapter for those players who have completed the game once, twice or maybe even more times. Indeed, from the ferocious dinosaurs that pad about its vast underground lake to the traumatising ordeal of its final boss, Sinh the Slumbering Dragon, this is unusually challenging stuff. All the more reason to pause and savour the view from time to time.
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