DARK SOULS™ II: Scholar of the First Sin

Hello, you probably dont know me. but let me tell you my story.

I heard about Dark souls 2 as a pretty bad game, even shit some would say. But i gave it a chance, i tried it, i played it and i thought "Man, why would i play this game that tries so hard to be hard for no reason other than its a souls game"

but i pushed on, i beat bosses, the only good thing about the game being Aldia and his sexy voice telling me "Young hollow do you have what it takes?"
And im just thinking "Fuck Aldia, for you, imma do it"

And i do it, i fight and win, beat the base game and that Brume tower DLC, thinking that the DLC has some nice potential but who the fuck decided that the last boss should have 4 statues that rappidly heal him, honest to god we should find the director and burn his house down for that.

So anyways, here i was, back 2 months after tossing Dark souls 2 into my Steam library, recently however i tried playing it again and went for the cold ass dlc.
It was nice at first, new enemies, oh wait only 3 new enemies? wait no, theres 6 new enemies, 2 of which are annoying? thats a good record for Dark souls 2, and then for some reason, why dont we re-use old bosses as regular enemies? Genious idea, burn that guys house again

So anyways. the reason im here is beacuse i reached Horse fuck valley

enough said

gg

bring back Uncle Zaki

absolute garbage.
doesn't even have key mapping for PC and couldn't use my PS4 controller in game either. (even tried using DS4)

all of the playtime you see me play is me trying to figure out how to even play it.
oh and by the way, the game will always be in minimized mode and you will need 3rd party apps like Borderless Gaming to make it maximized. (at least thats how it was for me).

dont waste money on this trash. I wish i could refund it but its been more than 2 weeks since i bought it.

I know you guys hate this game
but I played it in 2025 and it’s still a masterpiece <3

the world design 100/10
varied weapons In different ways 10/10
boss fight 8/10
hitbox -10/10 xDD

its an enjoyable game that’s worth a try *_^

Although often clunky and weighed down by some middling new mechanics, Dark Souls II more than makes up for it with its sprawling world, memorable boss encounters, diverse enemies, and deep, rewarding lore to uncover. While it introduces enough fresh ideas to keep the series moving forward (and occasionally backward...), it largely sticks to the trusted template of its predecessors. If you felt at home in Lordran, don’t hesitate to step into Drangleic.

I fist played Dark Souls 2 when I was 9 and it was my introduction to the Souls series, after 10 years I got it for "free" to see if my PC could run it and just to try to actually beat it. Now I bought it on steam and I am in the process of beating it for the 2 time. It's my favourite dark souls and one I come back to play often. I recomend this if you like the challange and is willing to play a "hard"game. When playing dont compare it to the souls series, think of it as just what it is, A GAME.

Remember to have fun and not take a dark souls game so seriously!

review for Dark Souls II on PC with keyboard and mouse after now just beating the game at level 205 with 102 hours played:

Absolutely fantastic. Amazing character progression, graphics, and boss designs (Wayyyyy more bosses than dark souls 1). The changed invasion system makes it so there is always an element of danger. At first I hated this, by the end I loved it. The addition of attributes giving more than 1 stat also feels really good.

Areas to improve:
Showing any keyboard keybinds in the UI: It just shows xbox controls in the UI no matter what you do. Half the functions of the UI like "Show item info" and "Help" I never knew what keybind it was, so I couldn't even press those buttons. I focused my build to limit the amount of time I spent in the menus due to this.
The UI once you rebind something: It just doesn't change, the UI will still show random xbox controls for something mapped to PC controls
The default binds provided for keyboard and mouse: The default binds are so bad to the point that I was attempting to refund my first hour in. The only thing that saved this game from refund was my steam auth being on an old phone that wasn't charged
Keybinds not being able to be bound to more than 1 output: In darksouls 1 and elden ring, both the "back" buttons and target lock buttons could both be bound to "Q". This isn't possible for dark souls 2 as it only lets you choose between target lock OR back, no two buttons
Disable Double Click bug: by default, the game allows for double clicking for light vs strong attacks. This introduces about a 200ms delay to guarding and attacking which is awful. You can disable this in the keybinds and remove the delay, but there is a bug that requires you do this every single time you launch the game.

You know what would really hit the spot in a game like this? I really hope that next time they do a game like this, they increase the mob density cause that would really hit the spot. You know what else, making a map that similar to a poisonous swamp butttt instead of a swamp, its a desert and they have poisonous mist along with poison jars that gatekeep your entry to every new sub area in that location. I really love jumping puzzles as well so I think that'd would be an amazing addition to an already difficult game. Otherwise 10/10 experience would get combusted on by some random "where my hug at" sewer man again and lose my 20k souls.

A huge warning this is not the game you think it is, It's not "fun" at all. It's not fair It's not git gud it just shit.

Honestly one of the most frustrating games I have ever played. Worth every second I put into it!

As other reviews will attest this game isn't what most people make it out to be. Still, I find it difficult to give a glowing review, but also difficult to give it a terrible review. The game has issues with enemy placement, certain boss fights/designs, and combat that generally does not feel as good as DS1 or 3, yet it also has pretty interesting lore, some of the most beautiful environments in the series, and the majority of the areas are well thought out and varied. Because of those points and many more, my feelings toward the game teeter back and forth each time I play it, but even though I ultimately tell myself "I won't be playing this one again" after completing it, I find myself going through it again each time I replay the series and still having fun more often than not.

I do ultimately agree that it is the worst in the series, but it is still a good (sometimes great) souls game overall. If DS1 & 3 are 4.5-5 star games, I'd say DS2 is ~4 stars. So maybe being the worst in a series of essentially perfect titles isn't actually that bad... I'd decide for yourself though, pick it up on a sale if nothing else and give it a shot.

I dont personally enjoy it but i know a handful of people who say its the greatest souls game, I disagree, you may like it, im only gonna 100% it because i wanna 100% all the fromsoft games on steam and demon souls/bloodborne

ppl who talk shit on this game are lying to you its superior to the first in so many ways, think with your own mind instead of what the internet has told you. form your own conclusions. play a great game with a strong narrative about identity and the self :)

Just a worse version of original DS2. The game was always a husk with a bunch of bosses to fill the empty space, but SOTFS is just as unbalanced and all they did was add more enemies to make the game hard.
"Our game is so difficult, we just made it harder, because we're dark souls. Welcome to fweakin dark souls". Cringe. They literally have an achievement "This is le Dark Souls, YOU DIED FOR THE FIRST TIME 😎".
The worst game in the franchise. Always has been, always will be.

about 50% enjoyable. 30% very enjoyable. 20% disappointment, despair, rage, misery, suffering, psychological torture. 8.5/10

I’d like to start this review by addressing the stigma attached to this game. When other games are rough around the edges, they’re flawed masterpieces but when it’s Dark Souls II, it’s the “black sheep of the franchise”. Much of the critique of this game is not objective but instead is the result of a consensus which emerged around the game’s launch as a result of how it differs from its predecessor. Pseudo-intellectual youtubers would make long and verbose videos decrying DS2 as a horribly irredeemable game and to this day people will trip over themselves thinking of more and more extreme hyperbolic ways of describing how bad the bad game is. As an example, just the other day I saw a post from a Twitch streamer with a sizeable audience stating how he finally beat DS2 and that he “hated every minute of it”... Really? Even the Lost Bastille? No Man’s Wharf? BRUME TOWER? Just imagine being the one person in your friend group who thought the bad game wasn’t in fact bad, how embarrassing would that be? (a glimpse into the mind of a normie) All of this is to say, much of the hatred for this game is memetic and a good review of this game needs to address this.

Entering Majula for the first time was a truly special moment as it’s just such an intoxicatingly beautiful area. That first vista upon exiting the Things Betwixt is like a painting in the tonalist style with a strong emphasis on the horizon, seemingly reaching out towards the infinite. Pure aesthetic maestria. It also has a relaxing and yet delightfully mysterious soundtrack too. To this day, this is the best hub area Fromsoft has made none of the others even come close. In the distance, ruins can be seen sinking into the sea. Just like in the first game, you are in a fallen world, afflicted with the undead curse and already losing your memories, not entirely certain even why you’ve arrived in Drangleic. The story of this game is told in a more direct manner than its predecessor from the opening cutscene alone, and I don’t think this is a bad thing at all, just different. The story to me also feels more personal than the other two souls games. Your character follows in the footsteps of the last monarch who sought to break the undead curse and as you progress through the world of Drangleic, learning the roots of the world, you are questioned: what is it that you truly want? Also throughout your journey, you come across others who bear the curse, some of which you can even bring back to Majula which I think is an awesome feature. You get to see the curse from their perspective through their dialogue and questlines, further adding to the deeply personal nature of this game’s story.

One of the more controversial changes in this game is the overhaul of the stats system, and I for one like the changes made, even the addition of the much maligned adaptability. There are no longer any useless stats like resistance and there are more important stats to level compared to DS1 but this isn’t an issue because the game is designed with this in mind and gives you an ample amount of souls to work with. Another superb addition this game made is the ability to finally be able to respec your character’s stats. To go along with this addition, smithing upgrades were made much more common than the first game, making you able to max out multiple weapons in a single playthrough in case you do change your build. I also really liked the major change made to the humanity system, with your health bar downsizing upon every death until you revert it by using humanity. The resource management of humanity in this game is satisfying and I like that there’s now an actual impetus to using it now besides summons. The coolest innovation this game made though was the creation of an item which allows you to accelerate a location’s new game plus cycle and even rechallenge bosses.

The level design of DS2 does not disappoint. The game starts off very strong with the Forest of the Fallen Giant’s which is able to be spotted a distance away from Majula. It’s a really stellar area with memorable encounters, creative shortcuts, cool bosses, and it also as an early location serves as a great primer for the worldbuilding of the game. My favourite area in the base game is the Gutter. It resides directly below Majula and it is absolutely horrifying. The main gimmick of the area is that it’s extremely dark and you’re expected to slowly navigate it lighting sconces with a torch along the way, slowly making your way to the end only to realise that it goes even deeper… The fact that it’s just right below comfy Majula makes its existence all the more disquieting. The game’s three DLCs exhibit some of the best level design in the franchise. From having to make your way through to the icy heart of the city of Eleum Loyce to melt all of the ice, expanding opportunities for exploration throughout the city, to navigating between the ruins of two gigantic ziggurats in the city of Shulva, and to descending carefully down Brume Tower before turning on the tower’s elevators to explore even more of it. Exploration in the DLCs is viscerally satisfying and the art direction in them is some of Fromsoft’s absolute best.

This game has some very memorable boss encounters. Getting to fight Ornstein solo is really awesome and the fact that you can do it right at the beginning of the game provides a nice challenge. The executioner’s chariot is also to this day my favourite gimmick fight that Fromsoft has ever made. The pure spectacle of the Looking Glass Knight fight is amazing and the fight also has a very unique mechanic where the boss is able to summon an NPC or potentially even a real player using its shield as a portal. Like with level design, the DLCs also have the very best boss encounters the game has to offer. The Crown of the Sunken King offers one of the best mage bosses in the franchise along with one of the franchise’s best dragon fights. The gimmick of the Aava fight in the Crown of the Ivory King DLC is cool and the Burnt Ivory King fight feels like proto-Radahn. The two main bosses of the Crown of the Old Iron King, Fume Knight and Sir Alonne provide the biggest challenges in the game and are easily my two favourite bosses in the game. Each DLC also added areas designed around co-op which I think is a neat addition and provide an insane challenge for those looking to complete them solo and without summons.

One of the best things about the first Dark Souls is how interconnected the world is and how if you see some place off in the distance that looks cool, you’ll most likely end up going there at some point. When I completed the first areas of DS2, I thought the world of Drangleic would be like the first Dark Souls in this regard. From Majula, you are able to see off in the distance the Forest of the Fallen Giants, Heide, and the Shaded Woods; but for most of the game, you won’t be getting scenic vistas of future areas to explore. Even worse than this, as you are exploring the world, the world does not feel at all believable and that is because it isn’t. The Iron Keep shouldn’t be on top of Earthen Peak and the Dragon Aerie shouldn’t be behind Aldia’s Keep and adjacent to Drangleic Castle and the Doors of Pharros. This is a big problem as it kills immersion and it’s especially jarring going from such a cohesive world like Lordran to the mess that is Drangleic. It’s like the developers just made a bunch of cool areas and slapped them together and went “just trust me bro”, it really is that bad and is indicative of the development hell the game went through. There are other areas in which the development hell shows. Had Yui Tanimura been made lead developer much earlier and the base game shared the same quality as the DLC, Dark Souls 2 could have gone from being a very good yet extremely flawed game to ascending to the heights that the other two Dark Souls games did.

Setting and Story
Dark Souls II takes place in Drangleic, a kingdom plagued by the curse of the undead. While its story is not as directly connected to Dark Souls I, it builds on similar themes of despair and the cyclical nature of the world. The game’s lore is deeper and more fragmented, encouraging players to piece together its mysteries through exploration and dialogue.

Gameplay and Combat Enhancements
One major change is the addition of the Adaptability stat, which affects agility and invincibility frames during rolls. This change initially frustrated some players, but mastering it brings a rewarding sense of progression. Combat feels slightly slower but more deliberate, and weapon variety has been significantly expanded with dual-wielding and power stance mechanics, allowing for more complex combinations.

The New Game Plus (NG+) mode is another highlight, adding new enemy placements and changes that make subsequent playthroughs feel fresh and challenging. Bosses in Dark Souls II are numerous, with fights like The Pursuer, The Lost Sinner, and Sir Alonne being particularly memorable. Some bosses, however, feel repetitive, like the Royal Rat Authority, which is essentially a larger version of a standard enemy.

Level Design and World Structure
The world design, while not as interconnected as Dark Souls I, features sprawling environments that are visually diverse, from the eerie Lost Bastille to the majestic Drangleic Castle. Fast travel between bonfires is available from the start, which, while convenient, reduces the sense of connection between areas.

Multiplayer Improvements
The multiplayer mechanics are smoother, and the covenant system is more balanced, providing diverse ways to interact with other players. PvP is especially vibrant, with arenas dedicated to dueling and covenants that encourage both cooperation and competition.

Unpopular opinion but Dark Souls 2 is my favorite game in series.

Even though DS2 always gets ranked as the worst souls game
I keep coming back to it
There is something special with this game

I had heard a lot of negative rumors about this game, and out of curiosity, I decided to experience it for myself. From the very first moment, I realized that the rumors weren’t exaggerated—the game was disappointing in several aspects, especially when compared to the first installment. The map design? A complete disaster! You’ll feel like you’re wandering through a maze with no exit, aimlessly lost, as if the game is deliberately trying to drive you insane.

But amidst all the chaos, there was one saving grace: Shanalotte. She wasn’t just another character in the game—she was the soul that breathed life into this dull world. Her words, her presence, even the way she looked at you carried an unbreakable determination, as if she was saying: "Don’t give up, keep fighting!" She was a beacon of light in an otherwise disappointing experience, and every time I thought about quitting, she pushed me forward.

Honestly, if it weren’t for her, I wouldn’t have bothered finishing the game. All my love and loyalty to Shanalotte! ❤️

Overhated, underrated, but redeemed with time. YES, you should play this game

My review will be about SOTFS version only, as I didn’t play the OG DS2 fully and cannot compare them. I know that some fans weren’t satisfied with the update, but I saw zero issues with it both on PC and PS. Contrary to that, I found this game one of the best-optimized I’ve played – it performed with 60 FPS even on the worst laptop I had while being a poor student, and it’s the brightest and prettiest in the series after DS3. I’ve never encountered any bugs, glitches or FPS drops, this game ran perfectly ten years ago and still does now when I replayed it in 2025. So from the technical standpoint, DS2 is a gem. The other aspects of it though? Deserves the longer description.

It still boggles my mind what a hate-train this game got simply due to being not the direct successor of DS1 style. But ironically to me, the reasons DS1 hardcore stans dislike DS2 are actually the ones that elevate this game for me. DS2 is really unique in comparison to both DS1 and DS3, and I’m not going to lie, it did its rights and wrongs while trying to be original and new. And still this is one of my most replayed games which I enjoyed a lot. Here’s why.

1) The visual and sound design of DS2 SOTFS is amazing. Yes, there are lots of other stunning areas aside from Majula, forget the memes as they deceived you. The look on my face in 2015 when I firstly saw Dragon Aerie, Drangleic’s castle, Brume’s Tower entrance, Eleum Loyce and many other areas should have been studied. Visually the game aged incredibly well and it still gives me such an eyegasm to go through it. The details about DS2 sound design always made me happy too, because I am weak to this crap. Bow’s string drawing, sounds of different spells casted, going up ladders, stepping sounds in different landscapes, and damn the soundtrack. Once you learn the game so that it doesn’t stress you out anymore, playing it becomes almost a meditative experience to me just because how freaking beautiful it is all around.

2) Level design may be flawed… But this game actually teaches you to use other means of fighting against one sword to bonk through entire game (yep DS1, I’m looking at you). Trust me: once you actually notice the bow’s existence and that lil thing called 'Yearn' spell, the main complaining topic about DS2 oversaturation with enemies will disappear. Believe it or not, but even the infamous Amana Shrine becomes perfectly walkable once you’ll understand that the game rewards slower pacing, attention to your surroundings and bow’s usage. The arrows are cheap as hell too. The game also features tons of different spells, weapons and variety in playing. Forget the club and zweihander just for a second. BE CREATIVE. The game will only reward you for it. And in case you wonder what is there to know about the game's hidden gems of playstyle, check out Otzdarva's No Hit Run YT videos.

3) DS2 doesn’t limit you in trying something new. The upgrade materials are a sea you can drown in. Upgrade almost whatever weapon you want, you are even given more than enough soul vessels to experiment with your build and rearrange your perks several times in one game.

4) Fashion souls. No need to elaborate. Also the best character’s creation menu. My female character finally looks pretty for once.

5) The game introduces so much stuff that is simply absent from DS3. I loved gems, all the little consumables, the concept of spices, invisible bums dropping stones to exchange with the crow. Never used bonfire’s aesthetics though but appreciate the effort!

6) LOVED how NG+ actually changes the enemies’ position, adds new phantoms, gives you mimics instead of some chests that can literally give you a heart attack, and just keeps you on guard even though you’ve beaten the game. Never understood why wouldn’t DS3 try the same thing later.

7) Also appreciate how many varied locations DS2 has, even though it kind of became its own problem in the process of development (some parts were rushed and not polished enough, we all know Iron Keep’s sad story). The bosses of almost all of these areas are not great to put it mildly lol… But the actual levels are creative and focus-required as hell. DLCs also redeemed all of the main game’s past sins, as all three of them had both greatly designed arenas and one of the most iconic bosses in the entire series.

To sum it all up: basically the title. DS2 was clowned upon for being too different from DS1, even though underneath there always was an ambitious, probably a tiny bity overblown, but genuinely good game that still looks stunning and performs flawlessly after all these years. I still come back to it from time-to-time, and each time it grows on me even more. Thankfully, as time goes by more people begin to appreciate its forgotten glory.

Leveling up ADP is a non-issue because souls are incredibly abundant in this game compared to the other games in this franchise. You’ll get to 25 ADP fairly quickly. You can also buy unlimited life gems, de-spawn enemies eventually, fast travel anywhere— actually, this game really isn’t all that difficult compared to the first game. I found this one to be less frustrating than DS1, which was unexpected. Maybe the DLC is where all the bad game design choices lie?

Dark Souls 2 is a mediocre game brought down further by the comparisons it draws by being part of the souls series. The systems that punish you for dying are much too punishing, and only make your deaths more frequent for a compounding effect. The multiplayer is a mess with the matchmaking system being poorly designed, and never being safe from invasions even after clearing an area. Animations are poor, and when it makes certain attacks difficult to dodge or block it becomes a glaring issue.

Although 2 is absolutely my least favorite in the series, each time I play it I get the feeling "It's not THAT bad", and enjoy it a little more. However, had it not been the sequel to the first one, I'm not sure I would have stuck with it long enough to beat it in the first place.

In it's defense, it does have one of the more dedicated communities of any game in the series, with many returning to play it yearly even now. It's worth a try, but I would say if you don't actually like, don't really feel bad about refunding it.

Base Game: 6.9/10

DLC: 7.4/10

Man oh man where to begin with this one. Looking at this as just a game, this is not a bad game; it's pretty decent honestly. But if you were to look at this game from a FromSoftware perspective (I haven't played all of them but I've played 3 others besides this one (Sekiro, ER, DS1)), it's not very good. While it has some interesting ideas that it added to this game from DS1, it also has a lot of "interesting" ideas that probably should have had a second look through.

In terms of atmosphere, I didn't really care for this one compared to DS1. I felt the theme and chilling atmosphere of DS1 was more appealing and matched the game very well, while this game I felt it was sort of all over the place in terms of consistency. The bosses for this game were also pretty lacking, some of the movesets were super basic and repetitive (Ancient Dragon I'm looking at you). I'd say Darklurker was probably one of my favorites in the base but a pain in the ass to setup the 1st time, while Fume Knight was probably my favorite boss of the entire game. I felt they had some really cool movesets and were the most challenging of the bosses in the game.

The areas in this game were such a pain in the ass to get through let me tell you. They really tried to frustrate me (also Royal Rat Authority can DIRL) with some of the areas, and I felt there were some spots they tried to emphasize platforming a little too much (which is to say imo, the worst mechanic in these games). I can get behind some pain in the ass stuff, but poison spitting statues while my max HP goes down anytime I die was certainly not an enjoyable mechanic.

The DLC I will say had some of the coolest areas and bosses for sure, Old Iron King was my personal favorite. I will say I only bothered with the Frigid Outskirts 2 times because I was close to finishing this game and just didn't have it in me to go through that garbage area (so rip that optional boss). But I feel they really upped their game in general for the DLC, had a lot more fun and got wowed by some of the places and ideas that were done for these areas.

I think this game is a decent-to-good game, but as a souls like game, it's hard to recommend to someone. I definitely wouldn't tell someone to play this as their first souls like game either, but if you're like me and feel the need to play the full souls series from FromSoftware after finally getting into these styles of games, it's not as bad as everyone makes it sound.

8.5/10
I must say that DS2 has its own unique and fascinating charm that sets it apart from the traditional Souls series; but on the other hand it also has some very cringe-worthy and disgusting gameplay mechanics. But all in all, flawed as it is, it's still a good game (in some ways).

Let's start with its strengths. As we all know, the lead developer of DS2 was not Hidetaka Miyazaki, as he was in charge of developing Bloodborne during that time, so the responsibility of development fell to Yui Tanimura (谷村 唯). Compared to DS1, DS2 has a more balanced and diverse weapon system, and the rather distinctive dual-wielding system allows for more varied gameplay. The map design is not as extensive as DS1, but it is more inclined to a level system design, which is also unique. Especially when you start the second round of the game, you can just parkour to the castle instead of fighting the Four Giants, and only challenge the necessary bosses, and you can pass the game in as little as 2.5 hours if you're faster. At this point you can feel the excellence of its map design, giving the player a variety of choices, many places can be visited or not, it is entirely up to the player to decide. As well, DS2's unique add-fire system also allows the player to collect the vast majority of items in the first round of the game, which adds to the game's playability and richness, and is also a nice design. Speaking of the plot, it's not as full of grandeur and epicness as DS1, but it does sort of add a lot of detail to the overall Dark Souls worldview, better depicting the various plots that come in all shapes and sizes under the DS worldview (mainly by focusing on the portrayal of people). And, compared to the original, Scholar of the First Sin edition optimizes some of the content, which does make it harder in places, but generally makes for a better overall experience, and of course the best part is the three DLCs, which are arguably the most distinctive content designed for this game.

Okay, next it's time to talk about its downsides. First of all the biggest downside of DS2 is that it has a lot of extremely cringe-worthy game design, it's not about difficulty, it's about sheer nastiness that makes the player feel like the producers developed this game with great malice. That alone dissuaded countless new players. Even for many of us who have 100% achievements and have cleared countless rounds of the game, we still feel this disgusting feeling from time to time. It's a feeling unlike Demon's Souls or DS1 or DS3 or Bloodborne or Elden Ring. It doesn't even have anything to do with “difficulty”, it's pure nausea, and it's a feeling of deep malice on the part of the developers, a feeling of wanting to disgust you. So while you're playing DS2, you're attracted to its unique gameplay elements, but you're also disgusted by the nausea that comes your way all the time. This mixed feeling of dissonance is DS2's most “unique” experience. As well, DS2 feels rushed, with a lot of areas lacking in detail, many scenes being forced to drag on in order to fill in the gaps in the game's content, and a plot that doesn't quite work as well as it could have. DS1 and DS3 I could play several rounds of the game in one go, but DS2, after playing the first round, I was a bit reluctant to start the second round, and at best I just quickly get through the second round by parkouring.

All in all, DS2 can be described as a game with very clear strengths and weaknesses. But overall, it's still an excellent piece of work. I'm glad, though, that From Software chose Hidetaka Miyazaki's style as the main tone of the Souls series, and because of that, games like Elden Ring are known all over the world. If the DS2 style had been continued, the Dark Souls series would have been destined to become only niche and never really fit into the wider gaming community market, exposing the series to a wider range of gamers.

I at first despised this game and refused to finish it, I have enjoyed and beaten every other souls game excluding bloodborne. However after playing it day after day initially doing so just to make my purchase worthwhile (I bought it at full price) I have come to genuinely enjoy this game in all its flawed bullshit aspects; it is by far without a doubt my favorite souls game and up there as being one of my favorite games of all time. It's early game is incredibly punishing and unclear to new players but trust me, continue to play and you will love this game despite everything.

a lie will remain a lie...

This was the last Dark souls I played, and I would have given up without the knowledge and experience I got from the other games I played before this one.
This game sadly goes from being challenging to just being frustrating instead. I simply had the feeling of being lost and annoyed, the bosses are often fun but the environment is beyond hostile and goes into simply bad map design.
But the game has some very good areas and the adventure is fun enough to try.

This is a good Dark Souls game. Don't let the haters turn you away. They're mad because they're morons that refuse to accept any form of change.

Patience is a virtue in this title. Yes there are a lot of group fights, but its because you're in a fallen kingdom that's still populated with people and things that happen to enjoy killing you. Don't run past everything and expect to be okay, because you won't. Also people will complain about the boss run back, but then turn around and complain about how enemies despawn after 12 deaths. Even though you can respawn them via covenant in Majula. Sure the multiplayer dlc bosses are horrible, they're optional as hell. Don't fight them or fight them with others as they were intended.

The whole ADP crybaby group seems to forget the numerous amount of souls this game provides to account for the two new attributes. Even then an argument can be made about how NFL players practice taking hits to keep moving, and martial artists practice dodging and diverting impacts to survive a fight. A normal person can't attain those talents innately.

The rest of the complaints I've seen are just short sighted views on game play changes because "it's not dark souls." even though it still is. The only real issues in this game are the hit-boxes, even at max I-frames, the elevator to space lava land, and the combat controls/ directional movement. Which are not really game ruining. This game is fun and added core mechanics and elements that are carried on for the later titles. I'm just tired of people shitting on this game because they can't get their heads out of their asses. Damn, not every game is for everyone. If you don't like it then move on, and if you don't want to match the pace this game demands then that's on you not the devs. That's all, just a defense review since I have played this game on multiple platforms and have enjoyed it every time.

A really great part of the series, and had much more impact than many give it credit for. A lot of lore and world building that lets you really immerse yourself into what is going on.

The whole game is a little janky, and some of the areas can be annoying, but it still makes me smile whenever I return to it. Just get to that 25-26 ADP goal and you'll have a good time! (Also there are some really nice mods out there that improve the graphics quality).

the best dark souls game imo its fun,it has a unique atmosphere.yes the graphics are not the best but with a few mods its great!

Iron keep is single handedly the worst designed and horribly thought out place in any video game ever. Mobs will aggro a million miles away, swing at the speed of light and the worst mechanics ever to implemented in a video game ever. The world would be a better plac without this video game. I spent 3$ on this game and I wish I had not. Love getting stunned when trying to enter boss fights and losing max hp every time I die.

If you are thinking of starting DSII but unsure which version to choose you are looking at the correct page.

For starters, this game has a lot of good features like;
a cool hub area,
dual-wielding done right,
ton of build variety,
amazing DLC (with remarkable bosses) and
incredible soundtrack
a real-time worldwide death counter
Sir Alonne

however do note that it also has a lot of COOL (!) things like;
an interdimensional elevator that will take you from a windmill to a volcanic keep,
skill point (ADP & AGL) scaled hitboxes which when not leveled enough might result in 50 mt away grab attacks,
your character going through temporal dementia while healing,
a lot of ganking,
Black Gulch,
throwback to PSX era because of the lacking lighting engine

and so on...

Still interested? you are ready for the ride. PtD

* don't mind my low playtime I just couldn't put myself to play again on PC after 4 playthroughs on PS4 (do excuse my casual a*h) *

TLDR: A near-frustrating experience that constantly throws hordes of enemies at you making levels a much greater challenge than the bosses. Smoother combat makes DS2 a better modern experience than DS1.

PROS:

➕Fast travel
➕Generally great balance for builds
➕Much more smoother gameplay than DS1

NEUTRALS:

🔹Can be a big difference in feel from DS1 and DS3
🔹Durability can be punishing, requiring you to swap weapons frequently
🔹Art direction feels more dark fantasy-esque than DS1

CONS:

➖Overly punishing death mechanics (Max HP loss)
➖Constantly swarmed by multiple enemies
➖Enemies tend to be harder than bosses
➖Adaptability stat requires investment to make rolling good again
➖Non-consensual PVP at ANY time, which also contributes to Max HP loss
➖Dual-button functions Ex: parrying when you’re trying to attack

Content (Game world/Narrative) – [7/10]

I don’t feel the game world is as good as DS1.

Gameplay (Mechanics/Difficulty) – [7/10]

Much better than DS1. The combat feels a lot better. You can even aim in first person with a crossbow now! Much less clunky overall and new additions like dual wielding are nice.

Graphics (Quality/Performance) – [6/10]

I thought DS2 looked even better than the DS1 Remastered version.
i9-13900KF | RTX 4090 | 64GB RAM | 1440p @ 240hz | Windows 11 installed on SSD

Audio – [7/10]

Higher than DS1 because I encountered no audio issues and I enjoyed the ambiance of the levels. Everything is eerily quiet and if you listen close enough you can even hear the footsteps of a dozen enemies rushing at you from behind.

Replay Factor (Longevity) – [5/10]

Small improvement over DS1 because you can get (only a few) re-specs.

Final Verdict – [7/10]

Dark Souls 2 (DS2) has always been viewed as the black sheep of the DS family. To me though, I’ve considered it an improvement over DS1 in many ways. It’s still a large departure from the DS1/3 formulas, but I do think it brings some good worthwhile gameplay to the series.

The biggest negative to me in DS2 is more of a culmination of low points that each feed off one another. DS games in general can walk a fine line between fun and frustration. DS2 has a lot of frustrating enemy encounters where you are swarmed by multiple enemies. Frankly, I found the enemies/levels to be much harder than the bosses, which kinda seems backwards to me.
When you die in DS2, there’s a mechanic that you lose a portion of your max HP, thus making your next death come that much quicker. This stacks all the way until you’re around 50% of your max HP. Even non-consensual PVP makes you lose HP. At one point in Heide’s Tower, I was ganked 3x by the same player, the first time right after I used a humanity to restore my HP to max, which dying to PVP immediately negated. I opted to play offline for the majority of my run, because F that. Unfortunately, this did make the game feel a bit lonely.

As for the positives, I feel that the combat is much more smooth than DS1, but obviously still has ways to go before it reaches something like Elden Ring. Still, It's a huge leap in the right direction.
Another thing that makes a huge quality of life difference to me is fast travel. I hated having to trek through levels back and forth with bonfires in DS1. God forbid if I wanted to farm something off an enemy on the other side of the world, I’d have to walk all the way back there.

Overall, I do prefer DS2 over DS1 in perhaps the most important part - combat smoothness. While DS1 might have a more engrossing world (Nothing in DS2 matches the Blighttown or Anor Londo vibes), I think that DS2 takes the crown due to gameplay. Yes there are many times I have been more frustrated with DS2 than DS1, but nothing I’d go so far as to call unfair.

DS1 Review: https://steamcommunity.com/id/Synikx/recommended/570940?snr=1_5_9__402

Recommend? [Y/N]

Yes

You can find my curator page here: https://steamcommunity.com/groups/Synik_GR

i don't think this game is nearly as bad as everyone says it is. yes, it's different from the other souls games, but that's kinda what i like about it.

I don’t think this game deserves anywhere near the amount of bad things said about it, yes it might not be the best in the series and it may be somewhat of an outlier, but it’s still a souls game, and it for sure feels and plays like one, 8/10 will be doing another run in the future :)

i have defeated all main and side boss, has well has the DLC included so i can say this. out of the 3 dark souls games, this game tops them all, not sure why there's hate on the game when, this game is bigger then the other 2 and has unique scenarios, for example you can make it hard on your self when fighting the boss or easy depending if you change the arena up before fighting. there's so much in this game that the other dark souls do not do, for hit box's just level your Adaptability 25/30

This game is a circus, and you play as the clown

Just played for the 4th or 5th time coming back and decided to 100% the game's achievements. I wouldn't wish this upon my worst enemy, but it gave me more insight into the game and the design choices that made themselves apparent now that I've done everything. I was in love, but weirded out on my first playthrough. Stayed up all night at a friend's house and went absolutely ham and loved it. Ive had mixed feelings up until this last experience, and I've come to a final conclusion:

Dark Souls 2 is a miserable pile of shit from a butt. Its a series of frustrating scenarios where the game straight up trolls you, and not in a way that can be simply and/or consistently avoided like in the other titles. It gimps you, then hits you when you're down and laughs at you. Like the game prides itself on putting you at an insurmountable disadvantage because it just has to one-up its predecessor. The mechanics like SM and ADP are there set in stone to punish you for playing the game how you would like, and even when youre spending your precious soul memory on damage stats, they soft cap as soon as you get the requirements for mid game spells and weapons and most have crushingly diminishing returns. Its like the game wants to steer you toward a weak jack of all trades build regardless of your starting class, and punishes you for specializing.

Wanna use spells? Chaos Fireball and WotG were too easy to acquire in 1, lets make the player beat the game 2 and a half times or win 500 janky ass PVP fights in order to get them now. Genius nerf by B-Team. And many of these hard earned spells are ridiculously bad or useless. 90% of the sorceries are like a 5 second cast time spell that has an effect similar to something you would see at a water park with similar damage until you get 50 INT and 3 rings to amp the damage. And I don't mean like Homeward useless, I mean literally there is never a single reason to ever buy or use this spell in any scenario ever due to poor design or aggressively weak effects that also never hit anything. Favorite moment was launching an 80,000 soul "climax" at Fume Knight for a whopping 300 damage. Out fucking standing.


The NPCs all go about talking about you being a strong chosen one who is destined to fight against the curse, when you are a fucking bozo clown disaster magnet who has to run through a trial of the steamiest horseshit encounters designed by people who hate you and want you to quit. It's like they got the designers of the Bed of Chaos and had them make a whole ass game with that "fuck you for even trying" vibe. Surprise enemy gangbangs throughout the entire game and well into the DLCs, Pharros Puzzles that give you a puddle of water, multiple instances of doors that lead to dead ends or sheer drops, or ladders that end prematurely and crash you into acid vases, you walk 10 feet in any direction and the game has a gag at your expense waiting for you.

The game simultaneously tries and doesn't try to take itself seriously. Bland puke green and gray environments with level design that doesn't make sense and lore that is wholeheartedly derivative of DS1. Like they just can't stop themselves from copy pasting bosses just so they can point at it and go "ooo look remember Ornstein? Remember the Gargoyles? Remember Red Smelter Demon?" btw the 4 Lord's Souls are all actually the end bosses from ds1 with one of them being Gwyn for some reason and all the original ones are uhhhhh *looks at Ornstein* dudes in armor. I used to like ds2 for its silliness, but upon retrospect, all the stuff that wasn't ripped off from ds1 is clearly random ass spitball ideas that have no depth whatsoever. The amount of work that went into making that goofy ass tree that does nothing in the middle of nowhere and red crystal lizards that only exist to troll you probably would have been better spent on hiring a fucking design leader or someone who can do more than just stick them in random ass places throughout the game.
It's all a cheap rotten circus and it turns you into the clown for making the mistake of giving it a chance. Fuck you B-team and fuck this ass blast of a game.

This is the artist peak of dark souls games. While gameplay is a little unpolished compared to recent titles, it is still a very enjoyable experience years later.

I recommend to all the people trying to platinum this game to have someone they love close to them while trying, because sometimes the voices will tell you to do a jump

Great game,, some interesting levels but its really fun

If you're like me and are a Souls fan but haven't played this one yet, try it. I'm enjoying it. It's different, not necessarily worse. Having to level up ADP is dumb but you level up faster than other Souls games so it's not too bad.

Well, I just beat the Burnt Ivory King and finished the main game + the DLC's and there is quite a lot to say. TL;DR People should get over themselves hating this game, cause it's not as terrible as people say, but there are a lot of terrible game designs that don't make me enjoy it as much as DS1.

Bad: Runbacks in these games are absolutely horrendous, while some bosses are within spitting distance from the bonfire. The consistency is just really weird. A few bosses are just reskins or they just make two of them cause sure why not? While some are a bit gimmicky while not necessarily terrible. The quantity of enemies within one area does not equal challenging, they just become annoying roadblocks to progression, even if you kill them enough times to despawn. And finally what I think is the worst thing that Dark Souls II has done is lowering your max HP each time you die. Uhhhh excuse me??? This is a franchise infamous for the single fact that you will die over and over again, and now you actively PUNISH ME for doing something that is guarantee to happen? No other Soulsborne game has that feature.

Good: I love the worldbuilding. Much more grand and ambitious, but at the cost of removing the interconnectivity that DS1 is memorable for, which isn't a bad thing. I loved the different boss designs, the enemy designs, and the lore was interesting. NPC's are also solid, and the lockstone and torch mechanic, while a bit gimmicky, were fun to utilize when needed, and I like the expansion of ring slots from 2 to 4.

I would give the game an 8/10, maybe a bit more, maybe a bit less, but it certainly shouldn't receive sooo much hate. Be constructive and analyze what *really* deserves the criticism in this game and what doesn't. Good luck Bearer of the Curse, try tongue but hole

> Come back years later to a game you loved
> Create a brand new character and start over fresh
> First ever invader is cosplaying Henry of Skalitz from KCD
> Greets me before fighting -> oh hell yeah gentleman rules are on
> Last hit each other at the same time in glorious duel
> That's the good stuff, love this community
> Further ahead, get invaded 5 times in a row by the same full-PvP-geared-twink-guy
> Invader Bro goes straight into attacking and emote spams after winning
> Finally get a victory on the guy
> Instantly receive a friend request and got called a cheater

Oh Darks Souls 2, never change...
Henry invader, you were awesome! Hope we see each other again sometime

Dark Souls 2 SotFS is a very fun game with occasional moments of jank and hostile level design. Power-stancing has light and heavy attacks which is notably absent in elden ring. The DLC is definitely the highlight in bosses and level design alike; Eleum Loyce has become one of my favorite levels in the souls series and Shulva's verticality and how plays with it via environmental gimmicks is sick.

I believe that this game is so underrated, The story is not that good I agree. But the environment, the bosses, the enemies, it all feels great and makes an amazing atmosphere. The bosses are so many in this game literally every area has at least 1 boss and 1 mini boss so you won't get bored easy. If you consider it as the first souls like game it's an amazing game but if you think of it as a soulsborn then sorry but you'll be disappointed. As a soulsborn I'd rate it a solid 6.8/10 but as the father of the souls-like genre its easily a 9/10. Give it a try.

Honest Review for Dark Souls 2 after beating every boss and 100% the game

1. The Experience
Ds2 environments are genuinely nice to look at, the weather impacts the total vibe very nicely Drangleic Castle particularly and Heids Tower of Flame. Other than that most of the game is mostly unfun a straight or c u r v y line, every dungeon is designed nicely until reaching the next area. mostly every path follows: c u r v y line towards a boss, long ass elevator, the actual area that makes no sense to the environment before (LOOKING AT YOU DRAGON AERIE AND IRON KEEP). Most levels straight up show to a direct path to the boss to the next area and you dont have to play the game, at all, if you do you can either go through very bull shit level design either walking through grass in which just has a hole with no hint at all, having the difficult curve depending if you do it or not. If you do run straight to the boss, every single encounter will be ass unless you do run the classical mace and rapier cheese, question is, is dark souls 2 softs or dark souls 2 rapier and mace edition? It doesnt make a for good level design, zero reason for natural progression in a curve for the basic player who isnt trying to do everything, another thing is the well shitted upon agility stat, the Smelter Demon isnt even that hard, just level ADPT, why does combat that feels not ass unlocked after going so far into the game? This mean you cannot try out that cool weapon you found because you dont have 50 adpt, its not fun to explore because you cant use it or else the whole experience fighting enemies and bosses will just feel like shit. I understand the appeal of magic in this game after going through it with a melee weapon and spells in the following NG++++ to 100% the game, its night and day, you cant deal with adpt being a problem if you just avoid the probleml, so why bother do anything else, it make more sense than just melee. WHICH sucks because the melee system is actually really fun and cool, weapons are cool, dual wielding is cool, but its ass because you cant because most of you stats are into ADPT so why bother, use mace and rapier, the game is unfun to progress through because of the games design. The DLC on the other hand, are nice unless you havent leveled to a point where you are far past the end of the base game, the damage dealt the the sunken king DLC enemies are just extremely high, and thats running a havel monster build I used for that DLC, The Ivory King DLC was actually fun as a love letter towards how much people just run through the game, progress to make things reasonable, its a love letter to how most people played the game, running through everything. Brume Tower DLC was probably my favourite DLC, because of the boss battles i had the most fun, Alonne was the first boss in the game where i had to focus, it was fun and even more fun to use his gear in NG+. The Fume Knight on the other hand was not as interesting, i blame mostly to my build and level as it lasted 6 hits from the glorious guts greatsword lightning and sunlight blade. Despite that was is a big hitter is just finding and inserting the r o d, and reigniting the entire facility, absolutely fantastic. Note I did Brume Tower, Ivory, and Sunken last.

2. Getting achievements
This was the worst experience ive had 100% a game, someone in their god damn mind thought it was a good idea to lock some spells AFTER 500 PVP WINS, WHY in general WHO WOULD GRIND 500 KILLS. Thank god they did add other ways of unlocking said spells..... BY BEATING THE GAME 4 TIMES. On the other hand the other spells that you cannot unlock this way is through shit ass drop rates. the berserker man in the belfry sol was not bad, BUT SUN LIGHT METALS ARE GENUINELY THE MOST WORST FARM EVER. WHY THE FUCK ARE THE DROP RATES ABYSMAL. 100% the game was learning how poorly designed the level design was, how much content didn't matter, boss completely skippable and irrelevant, ENTIRE LEVELS irrelevant because the boss is in a C U R V Y LINE.

2.5:
I SWEAR 50% of most enemies moves set are locked in NG+ beyond, ive seen MORE interesting combat in my NG++++ run than THE ENTIRE EXPERIENCE.

3. Final Note

Ds2 is a mixing pot of design because of its very poor production, from the cut content uncovered by the community this game had such cool concepts and designed that where stitched together in a incohesive mess that has random PEAK design in characters, yet such ass designs in combat and level design. the combat idea for the systems are SO FUCKING COOL but at the same time progression is cucked by AGILITY so good old mace and rapier and no other weapon. I would not recommend this game and im uninstalling after getting all the achievements and this review.

This game is like the good the good and the fugly. The first good is that the ironn keep is a really good area. The vareity of enemies and the ultimate struvcture of the levelk desgin makes it a fun ride trying to cleave through your foes. The 9587324095763498576349857634298576324985763249857y6324o85634985632498576324985763485634298564329856342986534986513249865932184 knights per square inch of acre make it a managble order to overcome the area. The shrine of alana is another quality area. The more enimies of screen the better. But I feel as though the covetous demon was too overtuned. Maybe dile down the diffculty of that particular foe a bit and you have a good game on your hands. I also tpyed gg 47622384632 times when the boss was jsut two of another enemy. Thats my favorute type of boss. The more years go by the more I realized the fire giant and godskin duo would fit into this wide world like a glove, and a lot oof years have gone by.

The most divisive in the series, but personally I really enjoyed this game. I never experienced its launch so I cannot relate to other souls fans.

Personally, it is better than ds1. 10/10 a work of art and a love letter to dark souls fans

game fucking blows dick base game was somewhat fun like 3 areas are good looking and the rest look like my uncles dark black pit of a asshole enemy placement is god awful base game bosses are hella easy then dlc is just straight fucking rape fume knight has some shitty ass hitboxes moans in my fucking ear like hes pontiff or sum horny 30 middle age dad ready to suck and fuck people that say this game is peak are actual retards

edit:sir alonne made up for it. But i will say the game is good just can be a pain in the ass sometimes