Dark Souls 2 Reviews

[ELDRIIN]

DS2 37,974 Positive 4,857 Negative 79,528 all Time Peak.
DS2 SOTFS 87,295 Positive 16,054 Negative 12,106 all time peak

POSTED: JUNE 13
STEAM KEY
I was excited to see what all the fuss was about with this game after hearing all the negativity, turns out it's actually very good and potentially my favourite game of the trilogy.

Highly recommend

Recent review.



Dark Souls 2 was good. It was a solid stand-alone game. But within the series that it was developed in, DS2 has become the most controversial, and there are many reasons for this.

Most fans played the first game, and coming from DS1, the movement felt different, weapons didn’t have the same weight, health and stamina didn’t regenerate and deplete at the same rate, enemies and bosses weren’t as unique, and levels were no longer cohesive. For some, this wasn’t a grievance, but I’m certain most fans were disappointed that the second game in the series barely resembled the first. DS2 also had the most notorious hitboxes in the Soulsborne series. Something looks like it’s going to miss, and it lands anyway. This felt really, really bad for some people.

Why then, did I say Dark Souls 2 was a good game?

Because it was a good game. The gameplay was still fun, and some areas and bosses were both interesting and challenging, retaining their uniqueness without sacrificing on entertainment. I can’t say this for the entire game, but the enemy just above (Sir Alonne) stands as one of these incredible bosses that shows where DS2 can peak as a game.

And then there’s the PvP. I think it’s uncontested that DS2 has the best PvP between these three games. DS1 PvP suffered from netcode that allowed instant teleporting backstabs, and DS3 PvP has devolved into a rolling R1 gankfest where sorceries and miracles go to die. In DS2 PvP, anything is possible, and anything is viable. Especially with the introduction of the Soul Vessel, a player can tweak their build until they see fit.

From a review of all souls games ranked.



Seeing those stats on PC/Steam alone does not scream worst Dark souls in the series.



I will say it again, Dark Souls 2 Was Elden Ring of back then, will always remain the best. Best gameplay, best dark graphics, best PVP until Elden Ring, amazing soundtrack, amazing dark story, and best city HUB. It does NOT deserve its current hate.

[spy]

I understand you very well. You can't explain this to some people. They can't see the special things in this game. stop dealing with them. They will criticize Elden ring after the game that will be released after Elden ring and they will bury it underground.

[ELDRIIN]

Originally posted by spy:

I understand you very well. You can't explain this to some people. They can't see the special things in this game. stop dealing with them. They will criticize Elden ring after the game that will be released after Elden ring and they will bury it underground.

Exactly thank you.

[0C72]

"Best PVP until Elden Ring"
Dude what. ER's PvP is OP anime weapon skill spam with infinite rolling. It objectively has the worst PvP out of any souls game. DS2 has the best, DS3 is ER's with more room for skill expression, and DS1 is just fun

Otherwise yeah, it's a great game. Even the people who think it's the weakest due to personal reasons will often acknowledge that it's still better than 90% of the games out there

[2weak]

Discussing this stuff is always kinda pointless because it's so subjective, Dark Souls 2 is my favourite; it just has some intangible aura/vibe to it that I don't quite get from the other games in the series, granted I do love all of them except for DS3.

[ELDRIIN]

Originally posted by Paralytikus:

Discussing this stuff is always kinda pointless because it's so subjective, Dark Souls 2 is my favourite; it just has some intangible aura/vibe to it that I don't quite get from the other games in the series, granted I do love all of them except for DS3. :er_wave:

Why dont you like DS3?

[2weak]

As for the detractors, Domo3000 has a bunch of great videos on YouTube detailing how almost all of the complaints people have about DS2 are also present in other Souls games, including DS3. It'd be great if people who don't enjoy the game could just.. say that, instead of being like this MauLer dude and state everything that he dislikes about the game as being "objectively poor design", even if it might also be something that is found in other games in the franchise.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PFVi2supol4

[2weak]

Originally posted by 🅴🅻🅳🆁🅸🅸🅽:

Originally posted by Paralytikus:

Discussing this stuff is always kinda pointless because it's so subjective, Dark Souls 2 is my favourite; it just has some intangible aura/vibe to it that I don't quite get from the other games in the series, granted I do love all of them except for DS3.

Why dont you like DS3?

I played it enough to get the 100% on PS4, so I guess it can't be that bad I've tried going back to it and I just don't have any fun. That's really all I can say, it's just not a fun game for me anymore.

[ELDRIIN]

Look, im no fanboy, and im not trying to be that guy..im a gamer, and im a sucker for Deep gameplay/depth. I Platinum demon souls remake 3 times, happily, 100% Dark Souls 2, and Elden ring. I tried so hard to enjoy Dark souls 1, but i didnt beat it, i respect it, understand why its so loved, but im a realist, im not blinded by purity or because its the first one or the one which made Fromsoftware blow up, the game was clunky, didn’t enjoy the combat as much, and was too linear. I got far but never beat ds1 nor prob never will, unless a remake is made.

When Dark souls 2 came out, it had much better graphics, semi open world, much smoother and tighter gameplay/animations, better combat, soundtrack, story etc, I was hooked! Till this day, one of the most memorable games of all time for me. Loved how deep the secrets were, going back after beating the game to that secret hidden door to get the kings armor, those hard to get weapons/armor/trinkets by beating the game without dying, using bonfires etc.

So much to do, so many secrets to uncover, so many covenants to lvl up in and get rewards, best pvp in all souls games, its just so amazing.

Elden Ring is the very best yes…but DS2 still holds a special place in my heart, miss those days man.

[Edgarek]

Saying DS1 linear is a hot take.
There so much ways, that you can take from beginning, especially if you have thief key. \
I seriously recommend to you replay it, as a standard heavy knight with shield.

[Crypto Gamer]

I think DS2 is very divisive.

I prefer DS1 even tough it has much less stuff.

But all souls game have brain dead combat AI and flying enemies often have issues.
+some of them are scripted to do some stuff.

"Investigate nearby arrow hit" AI response seems to be the same in Elden Ring as on my PS3 Demon Souls 2009 on RPCS3 emulator.

Exact same AI response.

+enemy can often be baited into killzones in all souls games.....
or they walk into it like morons.

So it is true that DS2 got hated for things other games do as well.





+DS2 use a different engine than the other games so it also "feels" different.

Many things are different like damage calculations.

Fall damage is flat so early game even little fall can kill you.

So dark souls 2 fall damage jokes.



Even tough DS2 did many things right and innovated many things.

+it has some features which often cause issues because they are different then in the previous games.

Eg.the manual aim for the slower weapons,many ppl roll and miss their hit due to that and blame DS2 controls.Even tough it has more options as you manually decide where to hit.
(game does not explain this well).


Dark souls 2 had the best NG+content.

bonfire astetic should have been in later games.

You can power stance many weapon types.

All weapon upgrade paths are viable.
+you have many weapon +also get ton of upgrade materials so easier to experment.

That said scaling is too weak and letters often"lie" especially when you infuse them.

+scaling is flat and not based on weapon damage unlike DS1,3.......

And weapoon buff dmg is not flat but based on weapon dmg unlike DS1,3

So completely different.


And there are some extremely broken stuff in DS2.

Heide Knight seems to have a windup that deals dmg before you get visually hit.
Sometimes you kill an enemy and still take damage like that parasitic spider.

Spider boss laser attack has very weak hitboxes.

Both DS1 and DS2 has many way to go.
In DS2 you can bypass most of the content by just having enough souls.
In DS1 you can use masterkey.(some ppl never been in the Depths).

DS3 is linear.

Yes DS2 has the best PVP as many options are viable but it also the least played.......

DS2 has many boss fights which are just a bunch of mobs put together.

DS2 removed the iconic go through the fog gate I-frames.



DS2 also got unfair hate for some of its zones like the blizzard frozen reindder area,or the Gank squad.
As they are desgined for multiple players.

Still Imo Coop zones were stupid and should have been scaled down.

Blizzard should have been heavily toned down.

And 3 minute run backs are not fan.......


I do not mind Agility mechanics in DS2 but it should have been very clearly stated what it does.
Same for ADP.

So likely in early life cycle of DS2 many things were misunderstood eg.you use 5 I-frame rolls and get hit by anything so game has broken hitboxes.


So in short Dark souls 2 did not have that good first impression.

Dark souls 3 took many things From DS1 including many familiar charaters like Andre.
So they played it safe and basically used Bloodborne's faster paced gameplay.

[ELDRIIN]

Originally posted by Edgarek:

Saying DS1 linear is a hot take.
There so much ways, that you can take from beginning, especially if you have thief key. \
I seriously recommend to you replay it, as a standard heavy knight with shield.

I deciced after 100% Elden Ring DLC, im going to play Dark souls 1 remaster and 100% that, then 2 again then 3.

[indigo]

Saying DS1 is "clunky" while praising DS2's combat is just... LMAO

Whenever I try to play DS2, I feel like there's a constant half a second input lag and I have to compensate A LOT when trying to dodge or move, the timings feel not at all on sync with the enemies' movement/animations. Not to mention, the game's notorious artificial difficulty that removes enemies after killing them a certain amount of times kinda feels like a pity system that doesn't make you better at the game. I got stuck at Heide's (because why tf is this an early game area lol???) and just when I was getting the hang of enemy timings, they just disappeared... I feel like I'm not getting better at the game, but the game is like "yeah you suck buddy here lemme help you out" and it just lets me proceed like it feels bad for me lmfao

[AarkNoa]

Well, you can always respawn enemies and make them stronger by joining the Champions covenenant and don't fret, if you leave the covenant they don't stay that strong

on a sidenote; I always kill everything in between me and fog doors no matter the amount of tries I need and to be honest I never ran out of enemy spawns, because let's face it as much as I like DS2, the bosses are pretty much push-overs, except a select few

[Edgarek]

Originally posted by indigo:

Saying DS1 is "clunky" while praising DS2's combat is just... LMAO

Whenever I try to play DS2, I feel like there's a constant half a second input lag and I have to compensate A LOT when trying to dodge or move, the timings feel not at all on sync with the enemies' movement/animations. Not to mention, the game's notorious artificial difficulty that removes enemies after killing them a certain amount of times kinda feels like a pity system that doesn't make you better at the game. I got stuck at Heide's (because why tf is this an early game area lol???) and just when I was getting the hang of enemy timings, they just disappeared... I feel like I'm not getting better at the game, but the game is like "yeah you suck buddy here lemme help you out" and it just lets me proceed like it feels bad for me :Sadclot: lmfao

Heide Tower is supposed to be as third area for newbies, after clearing Forest of Fallen Giants and small part of Lost Bastille.
Or first one, if you experienced player, who knows about +40% bonus blunt damage against armored targets. Basic mace +1-3 from blacksmith destroyes all enemies here and staggers heide knights with heavy attacks.

[0C72]

Heide's can be cleared without visiting any other areas first. The big knight guys are incredibly slow and can be easily dealt with with low ADP, and you don't have to fight any Heide Knights until you beat the boss
If your "timing" is off level ADP some more, you start out with pitiful iframes. Also, all FromSoft games dodge on key release, not press