ARK 2has recently been pushed back once again into 2025, but that hasn’t stopped the excitement over the sequel to the massively successful survival franchise. While fans had the remasteredARK: Survival Ascendedto keep them busy until the full release ofARK 2, not much has been shown about the mysterious sequel aside from a handful of trailers.ARK 2aims to take the franchise in a new direction with a great focus on a detailed story, but some of these changes seem at odds with what madeARK: Survival Evolvedso successful in the first place.
Despite offering fans plenty ofnew features and improvements,ARK: Survival Ascendedreceived less-than-stellar reviews online. WhileSurvival Ascended’s enhanced graphics, modding support, and quality-of-life features sounded great on paper,it was plagued with performance issues and microtransactions that overshadowedmost of these improvements. Despite the issues with the remake, there’s still plenty of reason to be excited aboutARK 2, although one feature still seems out of place for the franchise.
ARK 2’s Souls-Like Combat Is A Weird Choice
Strange Inspirations For A Survival Crafting Game
According to the developers on the officialARKwebsite, “ARK 2 draws heavily from Souls-like action for its human-scale combat; an emphasis on dodges, blocks, light and heavy attacks, combos, and player-reflex skills.” While this provides a general idea as to howARK 2plans to implement the idea of souls-like combat into its newest release,it’s difficult to imagine how these mechanics would work in a survival game likeARK. Another confusing aspect is how this combat system is designed exclusively for human-scale combat, with no mention of these mechanics being a primary feature for players fighting dinosaurs, which is more in line with the souls-like experience.
10 Best Dinosaurs To Tame Early In Ark: Survival Ascended
Taming dinosaurs is the most important component of Ark: Survival Ascended, and a handful of creatures are best suited for the early hours of a save.
The idea of adding souls-like combat toARKis a further deviation from the iconic gameplay of the sci-fi dinosaur franchise, alongside its heavier story focus, causing reasonable concern that it may be going too far from the original series. While souls-like combat has worked for other titles in the past when fighting larger monsters,other elements from theDark Soulsseries and its spin-offs don’t fit in with the themes or existing combat of theARKfranchise. Most notably, some of the best boss encounters in souls-like games are those against humanoid enemies, which would leave behind the iconic dinosaurs that are essential to theARKexperience.
Monster Hunter & Horizon Are Better Inspirations
Taking Notes From Great Dinosaur Fighting Games
While it’s true that the iconicDark Soulsseries and the more recentElden Ringhave their share of incredibly cinematic dragon-themed boss battles,there are better inspirations for a varied monster-focused survival game likeARK 2. TheMonster HunterandHorizonfranchises are both fantastic examples of howARK’s dinosaur combat can be incredibly engaging while offering a cool spectacle to behold.
Thankfully for fans,ARK 2has improvements in store to make fighting the game’s hulking dinosaurs more immersive, with attacks causing visceral damage that results in various physical reactions from enemies depending on the deadliness of an attack.
Horizon: Zero Dawn’s robotic dinosaurs feature several weak points and different ways to take down enemies, slowly damaging them over time while disabling parts of their bodies that change the flow of combat.This would be a fantastic way to makeARK 2’s combat more engaging, with enemies being injured or changing their fighting style depending on their damage level, becoming more ferocious the closer they get to death.
The varied movements from theMonster Hunterfranchisewould also make for a much better addition toARK 2,making each dinosaur type have a more distinct combat feel compared to the rest, requiring players to learn their movements to survive, albeit much simpler ones. While it’s unlikelyARK 2will have dinosaur-fighting combat systems with as much detail as these two titles, there’s still plenty of room for inspiration that could take it to the next level.
ARK 2 Combat Details Are Still A Mystery
Teasing Players With Vague Gameplay Details
Based on the souls-like description, there’s some idea of the direction the developers are taking, whichhopefully means the developers will incorporate the world-building and precise hitboxes thatARK 2could certainly benefit from emulating. Despite some information already being revealed forARK 2’s future combat, much of it is still up to the imaginations of players for the time being.
While the details of the sequel are still hazy, many ofARK 2’smechanical systems are being completely overhauled for the sequel, with fans being able to relive their first experiences with the iconic survival game. After yet another delay that pushesARK 2’srelease into 2025, the developers are likely learning from the failures andsuccess ofARK: Survival Ascendedin an attempt to help in transitioning theARKseries into its new future.
Source:ARK
ARK: Survival Evolved
Developed and published by Studio Wildcard, ARK: Survival Evolved is an indie survival game in which players find themselves stranded on an island and forced to craft shelter and hunt animals to survive. As players progress, they will be able to tame wildlife, including an array of dinosaurs, which they can use to help them battle against threats and other players.
