Dark Souls II: Crown of the Ivory King Critic Reviews

Crown of the Ivory King’s snow-swept ramparts are an exemplary example of intricate, looping level design. This third and final release wraps up the most consistent set of DLC I’ve played since Fallout: New Vegas.

The lethal and regal presence of the king's phantomlike tigers makes for a welcome change of pace.

Crown of the Ivory King is exhausting, but at the end of it all, the predominant emotion swelling inside of us was sadness. We wanted more: one more boss fight, one more tucked-away room – not because the DLC is lacking, but because we didn’t want to leave.

Setting aside, enemies are less inventive than the ones found in Old Iron King.

Dark Souls II desperately needed Ivory King's detailed frozen wasteland.

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.

With well-conceived bosses, an exciting new snow setting, and a shiny new crown to put on your mantel, Crown of the Ivory King helps expand the Dark Souls II fiction into great territories.

It features the same focus on new experiences and terrifying boss fights as the past two Crown installments, tucked into a setting that's atypical for a Souls game. Once you tie the bow on Dark Souls 2, the only thing left to do is start counting down the days until Bloodborne.

It's familiar, but Crown of the Ivory King is still another gorgeous five-hour helping of Dark Souls 2. Cherish it—it’s your last.

While my challenge seeking heart and likely inexhaustible patience were hoping for our reward to be a secret new area, an Ultimate Boss or heck, a minor change to the ambiguous ending to Dark Souls II’s main story, Crown of the Ivory King was not just a delicious (and at times bitter) cake to go through, but it also provided me with a cherry top that was clear interpretation of what our player character was able to ultimately accomplish.

This trilogy ends with a bang and represents an expansion textbook for one of the best games of the year. We are not fans of DLCs, but if the quality is this, they are welcome.

Still not quite essential, but the best of the three downloads and an effective final chapter for the most successfully difficult video game of the modern era.