3/5 ★ – RoseFNV's review of Dark Souls II: Crown of the Sunken King.
Still contains your average DS2 Problem with poor hitboxes and overwhelming enemies that swarm you but for what it's worth this is probably the most consistent in quality a segment of DS2 has been, and it's mostly consistently fine. The level design here is probably my favorite part, as it takes advantage of branching and confusing pathways that can be Difficult to navigate but fairly satisfying once you fully realize how to get around. There's a lot of secrets here too, which makes the act of exploration more fun than it would be otherwise, and luckily the enemies here aren't as annoying to deal with as the rest of the Enemies that overwhelm you in the other DLCs, so running around and ignoring them isn't a major Difficulty like last time.
As expected this DLC nails stuff like atmosphere, visual design and storytelling even if I think the slight moments of music during bosses aren't as memorable as some of the other music in DS2. Speaking of bosses they are unfortunately just kind of okay. I ignored the coop area mostly but I did try the boss there and that fight is lame, just a trio gank where 3 what are essentially invaders just run at you in a shitty arena. Sinh is a entertaining fight but suffers from some Poorly telegraphed moves and an inconsistency over whether you can even hit him or not since if he's feeling like it he'll just keep flying in the air instead of staying on the ground, which is kinda annoying. Still though the boss isn't like the ancient dragon and actually has a respectable health pool and a varied moveset in a gorgeous arena. It's a solid fight overall, not one I think I'll revisit but it works well enough. Elaina is also fine, the thing where she spawns allies is annoying but whether it's the skeletons or Velstadt it's never too irritating to deal with and can very easily be managed. Not a difficult fight but Once again engaging and fun to go through. Not much to say about her.
So yeah, it's okay. A nice surprise after the Previous DLC was mostly miserable. Will finish the ivory king DLC soon, which is currently my least Favorite DLC and the main reason I dropped the game in the first place.