It's not bad, per say, but compared to the first half it really shows how much rushed or out of ideas Vigil was.
The end of the game was designed that way. I don't want to give out any spoilers for people that haven't gotten that far yet, but it was never meant to be as big as the first two areas. I can't think of a single thing that was cut from the last two zones.
Definitely not out of ideas, and just like DS1, a lot of things ultimately didn't make it. Those things were decided very early on. Nothing really in the latter half where we said "NM, let's just cut this way down in size/scope" or anything like that.
The problem with it is it's unnecessary chore work and fetch quests to artificially extend the game length so they can say it's 3 times DS1's length or whatever. Why do I have to do all that just to get the guy up? His sole job is to accept challenges. So I have to go out of my way to prove myself to the guy I'm supposed to kill to prove myself to another person. Ridiculous.
That isn't true at all. There is a massive difference between asking you to put on the mask and find the pieces (DS1) compared to having to do 2 or 3 entirely new dungeons. That isn't filler at all. Creating a dungeon takes months of work. Creating a "put on this mask and find these special pieces" does not. While you could definitely argue that they are necessary steps, they definitely aren't filler. Filler is something done easily to pad the game length... creating all new dungeons, creatures, bosses, etc... that is not done easily.
The great action games make style WORTH SOMETHING, not just visual flair. And I'm not talking about style meters but actual combat efficiency. DS2 does not do this.
This is also false. Doing delay chains, aerial hits, and just-frames actually inflict far more damage than X,X,X,X dodge, X,X,X,X... etc. Charge moves have power ratings (light, medium, heavy), and just frames are instant access to the heavy power rating (which causes staggers, launches some enemies off their feet). You don't even need to purchase advanced training to access the just frames. True, there is no ranking system for switching between combos and using as many unique attacks as you can (ala DMC/Bayo), but you are absolutely rewarded for being efficient.
It may be just for flash, but I'm ok with that. It really is an Action RPG/Adventure after all, that's why I said it may have the best combat in it's genre, I don't see it as an action game.
This helps to bring up a good point: DS2 was never meant to be in the combat game genre. DMC/Bayo and even NG/GOW are not action-adventure (re: Zelda) games. They are combat games. The DS series is basically violent-Zelda with more involved combat (and even more RPG mechanics in DS2). We worked on enhancing the combat in DS2 specifically for the fans. You have more freedom, creativity, and we reward efficiency, but it's still an action-rpg (or rpg-action).
If we wanted to make an actual game in the combat genre, things would be way different... but that would come at the cost of the whole adventure angle.
