SINGAPORE — Dark Souls II requires all your wits, reflexes and skills just to survive — and this is what makes it such a rewarding experience.

Dark Souls II is an action role-playing game that is the sequel to the highly-lauded Dark Souls. Unlike some action games where button mashing works, Dark Souls II requires well-thought-out strategy, or you will be faced with death.

Dying is common in Dark Souls II and each time you die you will return as an Undead, with each death reducing your maximum health by a fraction.

It is easy to get discouraged by such an intense challenge. The game left me swinging between soul-crushing depression and heights of exhilaration when I figured out how to beat it.

Even small things such as finding a place to heal or using a Human Effigy — used to revive your undead self — felt like a gasp of fresh air.

The first time I stepped into the world of Dark Souls II, I did not take it seriously enough. I laughed at the name of the town of Majula — your home base, of sorts — when it came into view.

I gleefully attacked the first pigs I ran into. Rookie mistake: I soon died at the trotters of my porcine foe — the game teaches you lessons hard and fast.

While some gamers can be lured by cascading drops of candy, the reward you get when getting past a boss in Dark Souls II is sweeter. It is an uncompromising look at how difficult games can be, while making the reward just addictive enough that you will want to keep trying over and over again.

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