DARK SOULS™ II

Much better version than SotFS. No bullshit enemy placement here!
First sequence sucks, you have small ADP levels and there is not so much weapons available. But it becomes much better after Lost Sinner.

The entire last 3rd of the game is terrible

This game is like an abusive girlfriend. You know you should leave her, you know she treats you horribly, but damn she's just so hot. What I mean by that is this game undoubtedly flawed, with a lot of question design choices, but I would be lying if said it wasn't without its good points. You should still play this if you like souls games despite the bad wrap this game has. IF you are a new player though don't EVER make this game your introduction to the series.

This game has the Shrine of Amana. That automatically means it sucks.

Through every painful and annoying thing in this game (trust me there's many) it is still something I would consider a good game. You just won't appreciate it till you're done with it.

This was my first DarkSouls game when i was a kid. I spent a lot of time playing it then, and now, as an adult, i'm glad to see it still holds up. Its a fine way to spend some time. The game has cool armor, awesome swords, and challenges that are fair and fun. I prefer this version over Scholar of the first sin edition for a couple reasons, i recommend doing your own research.

hands down best fromsoft game, ADPcels stay winning

I once got lost hiking up a mountain until I came across a shepherd. I asked him, "How far up are we?" and he answered "Dark Souls II." That's how I realized, I already knew the answer. We were at the peak.

Honestly this game is one of my favorites from the Dark Souls Trilogy, it has its flaws but the hate is undeserved. This game added so many improvements then its predecessor like adding bonfires near boss room without having unnecessary run-backs, being able to power stance weapons (later added into Elden Ring), and being able to reset the area with a bonfire ascetic. Love this game for how different and experimental then later installments of the series. 9.5/10

This game is bad. The only good thing is the main bonfire atmosphere and most of the places. Every mechanic in this game is badly designed or just broken. I seriously cant comprehend how bad this game is. I have beaten the game when it first came out on ps3 but i forgot how shit is this game. Seriously. It should be called Tedious Souls,

Just cause it has a 2 in the Name doesn't mean it's the successor of the first game. It's well enough to be it's stand alone game and I still enjoy it, but it's sadly never comming close to any of the other Souls Games in terms of Quality and game design. 7/10

peaksouls 2 is probably one of the best games ever created. i love all of the unique mechanics, memorable boss fights, and long elevators! i love backing up saves right before the dragon aerie elevator and the iron keep elevator, just so i can ride the elevators over and over again. it's honestly the best part of the game.

love this game for all the right reasons medula best time share ever

This is the definitive version of Dark Souls II for new players. Scholar of The First Sin is basically a hellish version of this game that was released on April 1st (no, I'm not joking). Think of it as the official enemy randomizer for Dark Souls II, because nothing makes any sense. Scholar of The First Sin also includes a different lock-on system that allows your character to attack in any direction even when focused on an enemy. Which is not a good thing for those who are used to lock-on guiding your attacks (referring to the other Souls games). Luckily, this particular version doesn't have that problem. It's not on par with Dark Souls or Dark Souls III in my opinion, but it's still more satisfying to play than most other games due to the progression. My favorite mechanic by far is the bonfire ascetic. Which makes perfect sense in this type of game, and I hope to see a similar mechanic in the future.

PeakSouls,

I went in without any good expectations because everyone downplayed this. But I absolutely loved this game, I had such a blast playing it and would recommend it to everyone that enjoys these kind of games.

After playing through Scholar of the First Sin version of Dark Souls II, I figured I need to play the original too, to experience the different enemy & item placements. Its a bit different, some areas are alot easier here, with less enemies than in SotFS, other areas are actually harder imo, like Dragon Shrine. Still, its Dark Souls, so obviously its a good game that one can easily recommend, either this or SotFS edition.

The thought of playing a Dark Souls game is exciting, but then you play this one and it conditions you to just expect the worst in any situation at any given time. For being such an interesting game mechanics wise, this big pile of FROMSOFTWARE SLOP loves to just throw random bullshit at you making everything you work hard for and time invested into it a joke. Disjointed command grabs that grab you when enemy backs are turned, rooms with so many enemies once the stars align you MIGHT be able to dodge to safety, multiple bosses in a room, poison/bleed/curse cheese, you name something that makes your life miserable its here. This is the start of it all. Would only play if you're just filled with hatred or a massive masochist. Bonus points if you play on MnK. Git gud or die trying.

troll ass game but fun still. original > SotFS

Dark Souls 2 is rewarding, but can be incredibly frustrating to players. If you're used to any other Souls game, this one is out of place. And things could have been patched. Homeward bones do NOT automatically rest you at a bonfire -- you'll have your damaged health and missing estus every time. Even Dark Souls 1 got this right. Weapon ranges are deceptive, seeming to favor enemies. Damage is all over the place and can feel very unpredictable. They tried to implement damage based on what parts of the weapon hits, but because of range/hit box jank, you end up doing wild amounts of damage... sometimes killing enemies you didn't think you could in a single shot, while others that should die don't at all.

Zones are also very strange... you move from one to the next, but they just feel slapped together.

sure, it's a different Dev from the other games. But come on.... you made a game meant to be representative of the series, never properly patched in quality-of-life stuff, and said Go. It's a recommend, but with a heavy grain of salt.

Buy this rather than SoTFS, it's genuinely just better, less ganks and more enemies are where they were meant to be rather than a game sold as a "definitive" version just to make people realise ds2 vanilla is better so they have to buy 2 copies of the game

Doesn't deserve the hate that it receives, still a very fun installation of the souls series.

Fair warning, this game was my introduction to souls likes so this review might be a tad biassed.

Dark Souls II is a good bit different from it's two brothers DSI and DSIII.

While it does away with a good bit of the clunkiness and akward progression of DSI, it by far isn't as smooth as it's younger brother DSIII.
Yet it has expanded a lot on DSI and added a lot of really cool features, like powerstancing or resetting single areas and gearing them up a NG tier. Also DSII has a lot of replayability as the NG+ mechanic adds new items and modifies and expands some bossfights.

However DSII isn't exactly a perfect game and has a lot of quirks that can make it difficult to get into, like for example adp (do yourself a favor and play this game with the wiki at hand), or teh lingering hitboxes of some bosses.

All in all it is a game worth a play, which however requires a bit of guidance and patience.

FromSoftware’s Dark Souls 2 had the unenviable task of following up one of the greatest action RPGs of all time which it failed

Great game. Easily more consistent then the first game, if not perfect.

a wonderful game which is oft maligned for some reason. i dont really care enough to sit through hours of video essays shitting on it, as i have now played the game and made my own mind up.

the opening few hours of the game are rocky, but once i got out of no mans wharf i was having a great time. combat is exciting, exploration is fun, and the different vistas are super nice to travel around. theres also a great number of fun NPCs to run into, im sure some of which have quests.

the game has a few undeniable downsides:
- losing some HP bar as a punishment for dying. stupid.
- some of the most dog ass runbacks of all time
- having to level a stat to make dodge-rolling into an actual mechanic.
- no mans wharf
- some absolutely horseshit hitboxes
but looking past that stuff gets you a very tight and fun game with wide open player options and unique questlines and stories. i didnt do everything in this game, i have had one playthrough, and i almost took 60 hours to beat it. cant argue with that.

i still prefer ds1

will update this once i've played the SOTFS version (who knows when that'll be...)

Back when a man and his magic mace could solo the verse

10 hours in, and i hate it. Do me a solid and just buy ds 3 or play other souls like games

amazing game a bit janky but its old so it makes sense

Dark Souls II is not merely a game—it is a cathedral of suffering, a baroque tapestry woven with the threads of despair and triumph, a magnum opus that lesser minds might dare to call 'flawed.' To play it is to sip from the chalice of peak fiction, a vintage so refined it leaves the palate of modern gaming parched for anything remotely comparable. The clunky elegance of its world design? A deliberate stroke of genius, like a cubist painting smeared across the canvas of Lordran’s legacy. The hitboxes, you say, are imperfect? Nay, they are a philosophical challenge, a reminder that life itself is a dodge roll through an indifferent universe.

I chortled—yes, chortled—as I parried the Fume Knight with the grace of a Victorian dandy, my soul enriched by every bonfire’s flicker. The Shrine of Amana? A sonnet in blue, penned by a sadist poet. This is not a game for the faint of heart or the feeble of spirit; it is a pilgrimage for those who understand that true art lies in the grind. Five stars, for I have gazed into the abyss, and it offered me a +10 greatsword.

What can i say that hasn't already been said. This is one of the best games ever made- ignore the haters who dump on ds2! it's my favorite Fromsoft game, and the idiosyncracies that people complain about are what make it feel so special!

I didn't write this. my partner did. They have good taste tho.

Changed PC
Lost all characters
Created a new one
Wanted to do PvP with a friend
Opened cheat engine
Added 400 Old Iron King's souls
Realized I went too far
Panicc
Edited soul memory to match that of my friend
Got softbanned
Never got to play with or heard from him again
Miss you Andrea

10/10 would do it all over again

(The game is good, best of the series imo (yeah come at me I don't care I really think that), but as I always say: all souls games can be excellent or terrible Souls games but all of them are always average Videogames.)

Because Demon's Souls for PS3 is not on Steam, I will use Dark Souls II as a vessel to review it instead.
Released in 2009, Demon's Souls had all odds set against it. Serving as Michael Miyazaki IV's first directive notion in FromSoft, DS sprouted out of creative ideas and inexperience. The game was simply too hard, and people weren't ready to get good when the game was approaching release, which led to less than favorable reactions when the game was demo showcased at the Tokyo Game Show a bit before launch. The game's initial sales were disappointing, and the game struggled to find an audience as Japanese gamers at the time were not fans of hard games with mechanics like fat rolling and i frames. Thankfully, Miyazaki Michael Winslow made a career-saving decision to put out a patch that removed the shoes and socks of some characters, which led the game to surge in popularity and release in North America. If not for the feet patch, this game would have never succeeded, and with it, Dark Souls II would have never entered production. Unfortunately, Demon's Souls will never leave the PS3 and the remake looks like it just blew in from stupid town... The hardships of being a FromSoft fan.
As for Dark Souls II, since I should probably review it too... If Demon's Souls is the 'Whole Lotta Red' of gaming, Dark Souls II is the 'I AM MUSIC' of gaming. People hate it now, but every day it gets more and more appealing compared to modern titles in the same field. In the same way people warmed up to Demon's Souls gameplay design, I predict this game will be honored sometime in the future as well.

game couldve been good, if it wasnt plagued with bad game design. the entirety of the game feels like those enemy spam levels in mario maker, it just doesnt make sense. shrine of amana is also the absolute worst area in any of the soulsborne games. i replayed this game to 100% it and it is dreadful, not the most difficult 100% of the soulsgames but the one youll enjoy the least. gameplay wise the only improvements to og ds1 are the 60fps, bonfire teleports and a different jump button.

it is a charming and wondeful game, but the pc port is absolutely poor.

Definite improvement from DS1. Much friendlier setup, huge map, and variety of enemies. Definitely not DS3 or Elden Ring, this game favors quantity over quality, and whereas DS1 is "too hard lol" in the stupid sense, this one over-corrected on the easy side. Still fun to play, even more than DS1. I have no idea why DS1 would be praised in such high regard and somehow this one would be considered "the worst in the series." Not true by a long shot.

Not worth it at all, the only way I found to get some joy is to play it side by side with Pallytime's Hiro Playthrough and see someone suffer with me, but the game by itself is not really enjoyable. Difficult for the sake of being dificult and annoying, broken on purpose. The other darksouls are all very enjoyable, not this one.

I love Dark Souls II, I have to say that I personally prefer this vanilla version. I would recommend that it is probably a better idea to play this version first, and then after finishing this, you should play SoTFS version.

Dark Souls II is a f**king amazing game. It stands tall beside its peers as not only an amazing game but also an absolutely incredible Souls game, and no DS2 slander will be tolerated.
One day I will elaborate on this.

Wrong one you have to get the "Scholar of the first sin" edition which is also on steam for the real DSII experience

very bad sequel to dark souls, very good sequel to demon's souls.

Dark Souls II is ‘bad’ like Shrek 2 is ‘bad’ – it’s actually quite good, just nowhere near as good as its meisterstück predecessor.

Yes, the criticism directed at the intractable and, ironically, soulless design choices is justified, but to the perseverance of those that enjoy these games: they are comically appreciated, and no obstacle to the fun to be had.

This version is way better. It has less ganks, less annoying NPC invasions, no forlorn, you obtain all DLC keys instantly, and better NPC questline placements. Negatives are: price tag, less online players and lack of an armor/weapon set or two.

As for DS2, the game itself, it kinda sucks but hey, play it enough and it will grow on you. It has nice variety of weapons/armors/spells and I hear pvp is good.

Game works fine along with online features on Linux without any configuration.

I'll let this clip do the talking for me.
https://outplayed.tv/dark-souls-ii/G4av4N
Link expires by march 1st 2026 and im not going to update it

It's not bad but, get the Scholar version.

The morning it is sad,
The morning so beautiful.
The Sunshine it is sad,
The Shunshine no friend of mine.
You awake, It is day.

Buy Scholar of the First Sin, don't waste your time with this.

Sotfs is a definitive upgrade over whatever this game was back in Vanilla no matter what the rest of the community cry about Sotfs, It's not gankier, enemies are most of the time the same just in other places. If SOTFS didn't change some areas, they would be empty, you will see empty areas playing this many times.

Don't buy this unless you're achievement hunting or want to mod the game, unfortunately, some of the best mods are made for Vanilla and never got updated.

Game sucks.

Seriously, it is big fat ass and I'd liken it to a 10hour CBT sesh.

The level design is boring, confusing, annoying, frustrating, confusing again. I cannot overstate how confusing advancing through the game is. NOTHING is intuitive. The whole game feels like a long Sen's Fortress which is exhausting and quickly turns into a slog. It such a giant step down from DS1 and I'd rather play the latter half of DS1 100 times than play DS2 ever again.

Jesus Christ

Honestly I view it as easier than Dark Souls Remastered (And original), Dark Souls 3, and Elden Ring. However, it is honestly a really good game. It's easy to miss important areas, or hidden bosses, hidden items, etc... Which gives you the need to explore the areas fully. So definitely give it a shot if you're a Soulsborne fan. Highly recommended.

great game 9/10 not as great as 1 but better than 3

every one who says this game sucks is a pussy

The true irony of Dark Souls II is that it is not, in fact, a 'Dark Souls' game, and shouldn't be judged as such.

What am I on about? Simple, really: DS II is, in fact, far more of an homage to King's Field and Demon's Souls than it is a proper sequel to Dark Souls 1 (DS3 fills that role far better).

Is this game janky and half-baked? Very much so, yes.

Is it a bad game? That depends: As a Dark Souls sequel? Yes, unfortunately.

As a tribute to Dark Souls' aforementioned predecessors (which, by the by, are the main inspirations 'for' Dark Souls)? Not at all. In fact, when judged as such, it is actually a rather 'good' game, filled with a surprising number of innovative mechanics, both PVP and PVE related, that would have made the Demon's Souls sequel that we'll never see a masterpiece of gameplay in the early 2000's.

In many ways (barring a few missteps such as 'adaptability' and the rightly-infamous 'soul counter'), Dark Souls II is mechanically-superior to its immediate predecessor, as it offers new and improved takes on old ideas such as dual-wielding, and implements a degree of environmental-interactivity that both Dark Souls 1 and Dark Souls 3 lack (hitting locked doors in order to lure enemies into opening them from within, and tricking strong enemy NPC's into collapsing walls with hidden treasure and pathways for you, for example).

World design and overall layout is creative and thoughtfully put together. Majula, the most popular hub of all souls games for a reason, serves as a perfect focal point for the chosen undead's journey: providing outwardly branching pathways that lead to all areas of the game, giving the player freedom to explore at one's leisure that DS1 and 3 do not feature. Of course, not 'all' of the areas outside of Majula are winners (frigid outskirts and the gutter... @#$% those areas, honestly), but many, such as Shulva the sanctum city in 'Crown of the sunken King' (my personal favorite of the DLC areas), were clearly crafted with passion and attention to detail in mind.

Boss fights, unfortunately, are easily Dark Souls II's most glaring weakness, as they mostly amount to cheap gang-up fights (Elana the squalid Queen and the 'Throne watcher and throne defender-duo' as prime examples), though some, such as the Fume Knight (Crown of the Old Iron King DLC), are genuinely well-designed bosses that challenge you. Others, however, are the epitome of 'artificial difficulty' (Aeva the King's pet in the 'Crown of the Ivory King' DLC for example, even 'with' the item that allows you to see through her invisibility). In fact, some of the NPC invaders are more of a challenge than certain of the bosses (Covetous Demon)...

Items found in-world vary by exploitative-cheesiness (soul gems), but nothing is useless. Multiplayer items are cleverly dispersed through different parts of the game world and the same is true of base items such as throwing knives, of which there is a nice variety of types (poison, fire, lighting, magic) that weren't present in Dark Souls 1, and the same goes for arrows as well. Bonfire ascetics, one of the more controversial items, resets the area you are in to a NG+ state, which effects 'everything', including whatever boss is in the area. The dislike for this item is not something I agree with, as it provides a nice option for those who want to farm an area, while being challenged by tougher enemies as an offset for the attempt.

Overall sound design is effectively on-par with DS1's, though a few nice little variances are a welcome addition.

The 'fashion souls' aspect, nicely enough, is at its peak in DS2, and anyone who disagrees can go take a running jump down the pit that leads to the gutter in Majula.

All in all, this is the only Dark Souls game that made sincere attempts to innovate and experiment with the DS formula, though with varying degrees of success. Still, it deserves credit for at last 'trying', unlike DS3...

Final rating is 6/10 as a Dark Souls game, and 8.5/10 as a clear tribute to both Demon's Souls and King's Field.

Having completed a 100% run of both DS2 Scholar and the original game, I want to leave a review with my complete feelings on both versions.
I did enjoy playing DarkSouls 2, and the original release was the first DarkSouls game I ever played, on the Xbox 360, probably around 2016.
I have to say that I did not completely hate the original version, nor do I hate scholar, but I cannot really recommend that anyone who does not completely love DarkSouls play this one, it is a very poor introduction to this franchise/genera
I also can see where people are coming from when they say that scholar ruined this game, though I find myself disagreeing.
I think that scholar improved this game in many ways, however I think that much of the game's original intent was lost with the sweeping changes

TL;DR: Skip DS2 unless you love souls games, play scholar if you play DS2