DARK SOULS™ II

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.

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

So far i like and dislike the game for many reasons... The game looks good and is kinda fun.. sometimes..
It would need hella quality of life upgrades to make it better,
1-Remove the health bar chunks getting cut every death...
2-Rebalance some enemy spawns some areas have way too much for way to small spaces...
3-Make us able to drink flask walking...
4-Make it possible to login offline like DS1-3....
Other than these problems i find the game alright.. id say DS3 best DS1 middle DS2 whorst...
Im still gonna play the game cause i payed for it... but as is im not gonna enjoy playing it as much as DS1-3

I'm actually having fun with this version don't get softs please.

Dark Souls 2 is a litmus test if someone is a coward of the Dark Souls series. An unforgettable adventure for sure.

Worst out of the 3 but still better than most games. They really like to gang up on that bussy stay safe

Depending on how "not like the other girls" I feel on a given day, this might my favorite Souls game.

Empty corridors, barely any soul, hideous graphics. I don’t like this game much. It’s the worst dark souls, and I can attest to that

What do'th it say about mine mental state that being dashed against the rocks over and over sootheth mine soul on a day full of stress.

Don't touch this game. I will admit that as video-games go as a whole this game is not bad per se, however as souls games go this game is a big miss. The bosses feel slow but their attacks have so much lead that even if you dodge you can still get hit. You lose health when you die. You need to level your dodge I-frames. These are just some of the features FromSoft tried out and hit a big flop with. 4/10

After nearly a decade since first trying and bouncing off of Dark Souls, I finally got into FromSoft's Soulsborne library for real last year, starting with Bloodborne, then the original Demon's Souls, then taking care of unfinished business with Dark Souls. I was always super curious about Dark Souls II; its reputation preceded it, and yet a handful of friends both IRL and online actually enjoy it. Where would I stand?

Ultimately (aka tl;dr) it's a lesser game than the others—save maybe Demon's Souls—but yes, I did enjoy my time with it.

It's flawed, yes. Odd joystick deadzones make movement and camera controls feel imprecise. Hitboxes can seem a little off. Ripostes, backstabs, and even entering fog walls do not grant invincibility frames. Estus is a slow recharge rather than an instant fill. The adaptability stat is a baffling choice. The world doesn't have a congruent feel like DS1. Level design, for the most part, isn't as strong, including multiple instances where going off the beaten path rewards you with an item... and no way back other than die or homeward bone.

But... There are several neat elements that still make it engaging and a worthwhile experience. The story arc is compelling, with many enjoyable NPCs. There's so many kinds of weapons to play around with, and an easy way to redistribute stat points to try other builds without having to start over. The DLCs—their optional areas notwithstanding—are fantastically designed. And the game itself is rather gorgeous.

Ultimately, yes, I do think DS1 and Bloodborne are superior games that I prefer. But DS2 had many things that compelled me to keep playing despite its flaws, and that's got to count for something.

A masterclass of a game. They have a separate game that is this game + the DLC, called Scholar of the First Sin. Pick that game up if you are wanting to play this.

ya its different. So what. I'd say dont start here though. Play 1 or 3 first.

Write in Youtuber Tyrranicon Dark Souls 2 letsplay, it's 10 years old - watch it.

I bought this game and played more than 800 hours out of it because of Throthgar

God bless you people ! Jesus Christ of Nazareth loves you all !

AMEN

started game, walked around, died, got my first achievement. 10/10 would do again

This may just be a me problem but the controls are real funky and i cant get it to stop displaying the 360 controls

Too much hate on this game? Dunno.
Game is actually fine, but it starts to be boring real quick, at least that was my experience. Maybe, it's because I'm coming from the first game in the series, but Dark Souls 2 doesn't feel like it has purpose.

In the first game we had a narrative, a story I would say. And I saw a soul in Dark Souls 1. Here, I just don't see it. Exploring locations becomes boring and useless. There are some good ideas, but they often get drown by the enemy amount and enemy placement.

I can't call this game unique in any sense, honestly. And it's definitely worse than the first one.
But it's playable and you can have some fun here. So it's a good game. It's just not as good as it could be.

The worst game aside from ninja blade that from software has ever created. its too experimental for its own good and this game is rife with the cruelest design's. As if the first game being known for being hard was all that mattered, Instead of being challenging its just hard for hard sake. the only thing this has going for it is Majula. while this version is better than the Scholar of the First Sin version. both games are just bad at best and horrible at worst.

Even if you're on a souls kick rn, just avoid this one. its just not fun.

Not the best but the hardest fromsoft game

No clear path to the end game. Thank goodness its 2025 and virtual game guides are everywhere!!!

Game play is fine, but the rest of the game is too convoluted.

Base game: Surprisingly enjoyable. Coming from SOTFS it was a breath of fresh air for DS2 which is interesting considering this came out first. It's not the best souls game but it's a pretty good RPG with more stupid mechanics and issues than the other souls games.
Sunken King: Very boring, annoying enemies, okay boss fight. Won't be playing it again.
Ivory King: Tedious, annoying mechanics, horrible area design. Unfun bosses. Won't be playing it again.
Old Iron King: Fume knight is a good boss, everything else I did not enjoy. Very gank-ey.

Dark Souls II is a polarizing entry in FromSoftware’s acclaimed Souls series. While it retains the challenging combat and intricate level design the franchise is known for, it lacks the soul, both figuratively and literally, that made its predecessor and successors so beloved. The absence of series creator Hidetaka Miyazaki is keenly felt, as Dark Souls II struggles to capture the magic that defines the series.

The most glaring issue is its tonal and structural departure from the rest of the Souls games. Drangleic, the game’s setting, feels disjointed compared to the tightly interconnected worlds of Dark Souls and Dark Souls III. The level transitions are often nonsensical, breaking immersion and making the world feel like a collection of disconnected zones rather than a cohesive, lived-in land.

Combat, while familiar, suffers from pacing and balance issues. Movement feels sluggish and less precise, making encounters frustrating for reasons that feel artificial rather than genuinely challenging. The enemy placement frequently prioritizes quantity over quality, leading to moments that feel unfair rather than rewarding.

The story, always a subtle and interpretive aspect of the series, also falters here. While Dark Souls II touches on intriguing themes of cycles and forgotten kingdoms, its narrative feels less compelling and lacks the emotional resonance found in other entries. Characters and NPCs, often a highlight of the series, feel underdeveloped or forgettable, with few leaving a lasting impact.

Even visually, Dark Souls II feels like a step backward. Despite its ambitious lighting engine (which was ultimately toned down in the final release), the environments lack the haunting beauty and intricate detail of other Souls games. Areas like Heide’s Tower of Flame and the Iron Keep, while visually striking in isolation, often feel disconnected and lack the atmospheric cohesion the series is known for.

That’s not to say Dark Souls II is without merit. The game’s willingness to experiment with new ideas, such as the increased focus on adaptability stats and new multiplayer mechanics, is commendable, even if the execution is divisive. Some boss fights, like the Fume Knight and Sir Alonne in the DLC, are genuinely memorable and rank among the series’ best.

Ultimately, Dark Souls II feels like a misstep in an otherwise exceptional series. It’s a game that tries to carry the weight of the Souls legacy but stumbles under the pressure, delivering an experience that feels hollow compared to the brilliance of Dark Souls and Dark Souls III.

For newcomers, Dark Souls II might still provide a challenging and rewarding adventure. But for fans of the series, its deviations from the formula and the lack of Miyazaki’s guiding hand make it a frustrating outlier in a franchise that typically achieves greatness.

Ahhh, Dark Souls II. A perfeita definição de ódio vs amor. Ao mesmo tempo que esse jogo pode ser incrível, pode ser horrível. É o primeiro dark souls que nos apresenta a explicação do porquê podemos morrer quantas vezes quisermos no jogo e "não afetar na história". Apesar da direção não ter incluido Miyazaki, o jogo conseguiu correr bem em termos de lore, mesmo que as vezes seja visto separado dos demais, até Miyazaki o ama (Considerando as referências no Dark Souls III, dirigido por tal).
Se você for alguém que não se importa em regressão de mecânicas, sugiro começar pelo Dark Souls que mais vos agrada, mas se você for alguém que não se atrai ao saber que perderá mecânicas do primeiro jogo no segundo, jogue o II primeiro e definitivamente sentirá um carinho por esse jogo.

Janky mechanics but once you gather a good amount of Human Effigies youll be alright

i didnt like the game at first then i went back and played it to give it another chance and this game is actually fun

Critically reviled as the worst Dark Souls, I must unfortunately beg to differ. This game slaps.

It's a good game with good ideas, but sometimes things are shit and some attacks have terrible hitboxes.
The ADP stat doesn't help at all with this if you don't watch a guide and some bosses are too easy or the difficulty only radicates from "they are just 10 enemies attacking at the same time, git gud"

Despite the fact that I've played it the least of the 3, and got into it the most recently, I have decided that Dark Souls 2 is my favorite of the trilogy. It provides the most freedom on repeat playthroughs, the most charmingly complex mechanics, and the best balance between linear and convoluted level designs.

So far so good. Loving the game and the bosses were a bit boring in the beginning but at the game went on the bosses ended up being more fun than I expected. Adds better variety to the game than DS1, along with the level designs of the game being better and brighter. Love the views from the game, cant forget the shadows. Always remember the BLT and the Implication. ALSO ALSO if you complain about ADP you need to git gud.

really enjoy this game, tho it feels like its actively trying to annoy you at times. still a lot better than people say it is

The run backs are diabolical only way to describe it. on top of that it doesn't tell you at all where you need to go

I'd rate it 5.9 out of 10

At first, I didn't like this game, but for some reason you keep wanting to come back and experience it all over again. The world is very beautiful and this game stands out the most in all of dark souls + elden ring + whatever because of how controversial it can be. Yet, it introduced some mechanics that were forgotten after not only by original authors, but by any souls-like out there, which makes this game even more unique. Must-buy if you are a souls fan.

I was sick of the super mixed opinions of this game so I thought I would just play it for myself to see if it was any good

The game was a lot better than I thought it was going to be considering how much people hate on it

If you want to play this game I would recommend that you:

- Level adaptability to 30 ish because it will give you the i-frames equivalent to about a light roll in the other dark souls games

- And get the ring of binding as early as you can so that when you are fully hollowed your health caps at 75% instead of 50%

Doing these things made the experience feel a lot better for me

This to me is the pinnacle of storytelling in the Dark Souls franchise. As the player character, we face countless challenges without knowing why, with our purpose being called in question at every turn. This world is unforgiving and cruel yet you endure, so seek strength and the rest will follow. And don't you dare go hollow.

Underrated, not as bad as everyone says. looking at what others said, i was intimidated to play this, but i gave it a shot anyway, and its soo good! sure, its a bit short ageist the others, but its still good, i enjoyed it

no puedes perderte los dark souls, buenisimos, ocupas aprenderte los patrones de todo, hasta de tu respiracion para poder pasarlo.

Very bad PC port and terrible control scheme for KB/Mouse that cannot be changed, control promts are also for some reason for Xbox controller instead of KB/Mouse. Also doesnt have resolutions higher than 1980x1080(may be lower).

Stay away and don't support terrible PC ports.

Perhaps you've seen it, maybe in a dream. A murky, forgotten land. A place where souls may mend your ailing mind. You will lose everything... ... once Branded. The symbol of the curse. An augur of darkness. Your past. Your future. Your very light. None will have meaning, and you won't even care. By then, you'll be something other than human. A thing that feeds on souls. A Hollow. Long ago, in a walled off land, far to the north, a great king built a great kingdom. I believe they called it Drangleic. Perhaps you're familiar. No, how could you be. But one day, you will stand before its decrepit gate. Without really knowing why... Like a moth drawn to a flame. Your wings will burn in anguish. Time after time. For that is your fate. The fate of the cursed.

7/10

It's not a bad game in itself (not to compare it to ds1 and ds3) the story is ok nothing special in my opinion, the hitboxes that you have to level up are a bit boring. The runbacks in this version were ok compared to the things I saw in SOTFS.

The boss fights in this game are ok, for some bosses if you don't have a build hex, pyromancy or miracle you will suffer a bit (especially the dlcs), the best boss fight (in my opinion) is Looking Glass.

(Questlines are easy to follow)

If you think that 100% this version of the game is almost so that there is no difference in the locations of the items, the biggest difference is in the positions of the enemies between the two games.

If you've been avoiding playing ds2 I would recommend you to go through it at least once because it's not THAT bad a game as they say, and if you don't want to suffer so much then get the vanilla version of the game.

If Steam Input didn't exist this'd be a hard pass, but thankfully it does!

Very good game :)

Well I waited till I finished the game recently to add a comment on this game, Honestly this game didn't come up to my expectations... but it's still a souls game so I decided to play it, overall it's not a "BAD" game but it's nothing like the other souls games or at least DS1 & DS3; the graphics I'll give it a 6/10 though it's an old game the mechanics not so well but it's still better than DS1 definitely, the main thing about this game is the whole game in total like it doesn't give the souls vibe to me and the story and the NPC's part of speech and communications are just different and kinda annoying because it shifts too much and the story is idk just like I said doesn't give the souls vibe and also the songs & the environment is just different; in conclusion it's definitely the last one in the ranking of my souls games experience and I'll give it a 6.5/10.

Lost my save file because of a Windows update corrupting my PC. Turns out it doesn't have cloud save. I'm only learning this now.

Dark Souls 2 is Dark Souls 2 so it's great. I did play Scholar first though and I enjoy the enemy placement more there than here since I feel it gives you more options overall on how to tackle each area so if you want to minimize combat it's possible once you realize how the aggro works and differs in each version.

The one caveat is that if you are a real fan of the genre you need to play both and you should play this game first so you can enjoy and better be able to take advantage of the new options Scholar offers in relations to this OG PS3/360 version. One thing to note that Scholar with the lighting engine mod plus texture mods does look nicer (not only that you can tweak each area to your liking and save your settings which is great) than this version but the plus for vanilla is that you don't really need to bother with torches for this one since the game never gets anywhere near as dark as Scholar where the torch or a light spell (haven't used it myself but I mean dark souls 1 had it gotta be here too right?) is basically mandatory in certain areas/locations.

I would be remiss not to mention that Keyboard and Mouse controls don't feel quite as smooth here and the camera seems to fight you a bit more in vanilla than it does in Scholar once everything is properly set up (both games have that annoying bug that you got to disable double click every time you start the game, that default is horrible and I can't fathom anyone playing with it enabled) but if you are on a gamepad I would think they control around the same. I basically need to lock on more in this version than in Scholar where I basically just use the mouse to free aim everywhere.

Another difference is that Scholar may throw more at you but they also added more summon signs so even if you are solo you can get an ai pal to help you out with some bosses that in vanilla as far as I can tell you got to solo yourself like the gargoyles.

Overall It's nice we got got two versions of the same game to enjoy and that's all folks!

Go get them souls!