At this point in Dark Souls II’s life cycle, one would expect the game the start pushing against its limitations. A three part installment of downloadable content, itself already complimenting a 60+ hour investment, should have run its well of ideas dry by the final episode. Crown of the Ivory King dismisses this notion, respectfully twisting Dark Souls’ revered formula until it’s refined enough new ways to challenge its audience. Paired with Crown of the Sunken King and Crown of the Old Iron King, it’s enough to wish From Software could extend Dark Souls II’s life with interminable rounds of additional content.
Snow levels have a qualified reverence in gaming culture. From Icicle Inn to Phendrana Drifts to Cool Cool Mountain, snow levels function as a wintery vacation from aesthetic norms. Ivory King obliges its icy intentions by not only adjusting its audio and visual ornamentation, but also working surreal frozen horrors into the fabric of its systems. Crystalline enemies shift their weaponry on-the-fly. Frozen chunks of ice block pathways, awaiting a way to be thawed. A piercing snowstorm dominates exposes surfaces until the player can calm the air. Everywhere you turn, Ivory King is ready and waiting with contextually appropriate challenges.
With Ivory King, I got the feeling that From Software had a little fun with traditional enemy encounters. In Dark Souls II, invasions by AI characters served as perceptibly random opportunities to throw the player a curve ball. In Ivory King, the ball curves so hard it nearly incapacitates the hitter. At one point I saw an invasion warning cascade across the bottom of the screen, but couldn’t figure out where my aggressor was – until he appeared out of thin air and backstabbed me. A subsequent attempt revealed the invader’s mobile concealment inside of a wooden barrel, which was so outrageously stupid I felt more amused than duped. In fact, every one of Ivory King’s invasions feel primed to pray upon the player’s expectations. With so much of Dark Souls II in the rearview, it’s not enough that they feel mortally challenging. They need something extra, and Ivory King smiles and delivers with explicitly deceptive intentions.
Ivory King also marked something of a turning point for my relationship with Dark Souls II. The enormity of Dark Souls II’s environments often left me hesitant to explore them completely. I didn’t know where they would begin or where they would end, and it wouldn’t be until subsequent play-throughs that I would risk exploring them completely. The compartmentalized nature of downloadable content meant that Ivory King were finite in nature, meaning the risk of getting lost and losing my will were greatly reduced. Dark Souls II is intensely threatening as a giant world, but less imposing when viewed as a collection of levels. As I made my way through Ivory King’s Frozen Eleum Loyce’s twisting branches, I felt greater comfort and control in finding every odd and end. Nothing actually changed, other than the way I interpreted the content.
From a design standpoint, Ivory King keeps up with its peers. Quelling the snowstorm serves as a gimmick for a couple of hours, but not a smokescreen masking Frozen Eleum Loyce’s ultimate intentions. Benign beggars that used to be huddled up for warmth suddenly attack without provocation. Huge golems thaw and activate upon absorbing nearby souls. Frozen hedgehogs serve as menacing packs of deadly bonesaws. Ivory King is even content to toss out a couple bosses from Dark Souls II as normal enemies; what used to be a measured challenge is rendered little other than a preamble in Ivory King.
Ivory King’s ultimate commitment to deception lies with its handful of new boss encounters. Without revealing the grimy details, Ivory King not only specializes in multiple simultaneous aggressors, but also throws the player a bone by allowing them to recruit additional helpers. If you can plow through Frozen Eleum Loyce’s dark corners and liberate their existence, they’ll join in for a veritable battle royal between good and evil. Combined with summoning normal AI or human players, Ivory King’s titular finale is quite a show.
At $10, it’s tough not to recommend content of this caliber. Making my way through to the end took eight hours of my time, and that’s not including my unresolved trek through the Frigid Outskirts (itself an extreme version of Dark Souls II’s Shaded Woods). Ivory King and its brethren are enough to make me wonder how far From Software could push Dark Souls II if they were challenged in constantly coming up with new content, but what if Ivory King is actually the edge of the abyss? If it’s everything they’ve got, it’s going out on top.
