Luckily the rest of Crown of the Sunken King does much better and more interesting things in terms of level design. It's certainly designed for co-op, but it's also a short Black Gulch-like gauntlet that doesn't really mirror the qualities of the DLC's level design, doesn't include its best enemies, and ends with the worst boss encounter in the Crown of the Sunken King, a challenging but cheap fight against three enemies that I wouldn't recommend soloing to anyone (it's possible, but it makes for a fairly tedious battle). There's something frankly puzzling about From Software and Namco Bandai's decision to use this area to showcase the DLC to players that are on the fence. While in the PR blitz that preceded the release of the DLC this was touted as a full-fledged alternative challenging route, it's actually a fairly small piece of the DLC, and unfortunately one of its least appealing areas.
Aside from the obvious ability to play in co-op and PvP with and against players that possess equipment and items from the DLC, it's also possible to place a summon sign in the starting area and get summoned to help in a side area called Cave of the Dead, and even obtain some DLC-exclusive items from doing so. That's not to say that players that don't own the DLC can't get a taste of it. Compared to the seamless integration of Artorias of the Abyss it feels like a step back, but it has the benefit of being slightly less arcane and more easily accessible for players that are in the middle of their playthrough, or want to make a new character for the DLC. While all the content of the DLC has been included in the recent patch for the game, to open the door that bars the access to Shulva you'll need a Dragon Talon key that's unavailable in the main game and gets automatically added to the inventory of the DLC owners. Just as hinted by the message on the monument in Majula, Shulva, the meat and potatoes of the DLC, can be accessed from the Primal Bonfire in the Black Gulch, located immediately after the Rotten boss fight. Level design The Crown of the Sunken King DLC adds a new area, the Sanctum City of Shulva, and a minor story event to the main game. Coming only a few months after the release of the vanilla game, Crown of the Sunken King doesn't just have to stand on its own merits, but also demonstrate that these DLCs are meaningful additions to the game in the same way Artorias of the Abyss was for Dark Souls, and not fluff for the completionists and the compulsive buyers.
Introduction Crown of the Sunken King is the first of three planned pieces of downloadable content for Dark Souls II, which aim to further enrich the already big action-RPG from From Software with more areas, enemies, bosses, items and spells.
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