Dark Souls II: Scholar of the First Sin

 PC
User Score
7.5

Generally favorable reviews- based on 751 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 487 out of 751
  2. Mixed: 164 out of 751
  3. Negative: 100 out of 751

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  1. Eyean
    Aug 5, 2023
    7
    This game really lived up to the whole "this game is the hardest thing ever" marketing that surrounds the Dark Souls franchise. The amount of awfully designed areas and bosses is impressive. That being said, the core gameplay and amazing DLC's do somewhat redeem it.
  2. da_one23
    May 8, 2023
    5
    **** this piece of **** dog**** goofy ah piece of trash utter garbage cringe ah hoeless mother ****ing game. great game i reccomend.
  3. crablebable
    Feb 19, 2023
    7
    Dark Souls II feels like the twilight zone of dark souls games. This game never comes close to the highs of the other two souls games, with a different approach to level design and extremely underwhelming bosses. Some people will complain about enemy placements and level design, but I found that it made for an interesting challenge in how you approach certain areas, with this in mind, aDark Souls II feels like the twilight zone of dark souls games. This game never comes close to the highs of the other two souls games, with a different approach to level design and extremely underwhelming bosses. Some people will complain about enemy placements and level design, but I found that it made for an interesting challenge in how you approach certain areas, with this in mind, a new mechanic which drains your max hp each time you die seemed to discourage me from experimenting a lot of the time, which is something that I greatly disliked. When it comes to bosses, it feels as if they went with quantity over quality and many of them feel underwhelming and extremely easy, there are very few times where I felt I needed to think when fighting something when simply circling around mindlessly was the best approach for 90% of them. On top of this certain character attributes such as ADP completely skews with the balance of the bosses from player to player, and its unclear that such a stat is vital to upgrading in order to make the game feel "normal". Overall I appreciate what the game does with it's story, taking it in a very unique direction from 1 & 3, but its issues shine through to an unbearable degree that are hard to ignore. By itself it is a "good" game but compared to the other masterpieces fromsoft has put out it stands out and not for the better.… Expand
  4. botardi
    Jan 1, 2023
    7
    dark souls was appraised for it's fair and rough difficulty, putting you through a difficult challenge that is truly rewarding when beaten
    dark souls II is hard because the gameplay is much more limited, and very frustrating, as you're not fighting the hard bosses, but the more-than-supposed punishing mechanics that make those bosses so goddamn hard, killing the satisfaction of slaying a    dark souls was appraised for it's fair and rough difficulty, putting you through a difficult challenge that is truly rewarding when beaten
    dark souls II is hard because the gameplay is much more limited, and very frustrating, as you're not fighting the hard bosses, but the more-than-supposed punishing mechanics that make those bosses so goddamn hard, killing the satisfaction of slaying a boss and replacing it with relief sometimes
    still, this game shines on many other aspects, as the world is greatly built (not the level design) and the variety of playstyles is even bigger than on the first one    … Expand
  5. Top1saraya_
    Dec 29, 2022
    6
    ---------------------
    / My score - 6 /
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  6. maluigario
    Dec 5, 2022
    6
    The least consequential Dark Souls game of the franchise and its spin-offs. It's an okay game, still worth playing once maybe if you like the franchise. It does a lot of what its predecessor and sequel did, but worse: worse combat, worse controls, worse boss design, worse level design, worse music, worse characters, worse lore. This game essentially exists to show that the cycle of linkingThe least consequential Dark Souls game of the franchise and its spin-offs. It's an okay game, still worth playing once maybe if you like the franchise. It does a lot of what its predecessor and sequel did, but worse: worse combat, worse controls, worse boss design, worse level design, worse music, worse characters, worse lore. This game essentially exists to show that the cycle of linking the fire from game 1 is indeed an unbreakable cycle and that humanity tries again and again to perpetuate or break it. Dark Souls 1 sets the story up better, and Dark Souls 3 concludes it better, and both of them have much cleaner visuals, much better environments, and much smoother combat. It's also the hardest one to get all the achievements for, as my 450 hours of game time should attest to compared to 1 & 3; it's the one I liked the least and the one I was forced to play the longest to keep my record of 100% all the FromSoft games.… Expand
  7. Crimson9
    Nov 28, 2022
    6
    Dark Souls II is generally a step back from Dark Souls 1. Some quality of life considerations have been made here such as more linearity and fast travel, and this takes away from its predecessors feeling of adventure and loneliness. Combat has not changed too much, but it somehow seems like a step back. It is far clunkier than the previous game, and the hitboxes are awful. The game alsoDark Souls II is generally a step back from Dark Souls 1. Some quality of life considerations have been made here such as more linearity and fast travel, and this takes away from its predecessors feeling of adventure and loneliness. Combat has not changed too much, but it somehow seems like a step back. It is far clunkier than the previous game, and the hitboxes are awful. The game also takes Souls in a meme direction, where difficulty becomes more about traps and hidden enemies that bash you in a slapstick moment rather than about managing resources and carefully fighting enemies.

    The game still nails the atmosphere though, and the story here is actually really good. Somehow it is also the best Souls game in terms of role playing and build variety.    … Expand
  8. DavidBondy
    Oct 24, 2022
    5
    I cannot recommend this game at all. Scholar is just unfun. Encounters throw waves upon waves of enemies at you, and while it is a valid skill for a game to check in a player, the overuse of this is nothing short of frustrating. Dark Souls, by contrast, rarely throws large quantities of enemies at you, making the few times that does happen feel like an actual check of my skills ratherI cannot recommend this game at all. Scholar is just unfun. Encounters throw waves upon waves of enemies at you, and while it is a valid skill for a game to check in a player, the overuse of this is nothing short of frustrating. Dark Souls, by contrast, rarely throws large quantities of enemies at you, making the few times that does happen feel like an actual check of my skills rather than a frustrating way of making the game harder. The game also has significant issues with hitboxes. That being said, Scholar has some things going for it. It's visual style is superb, and I like many of the locations I encountered. Majula is my favorite hub area of any Souls game by far. It is such a gorgeous place and feels like a comfy respite from the dark, dangerous world.

    It is worth noting that Scholar is also significantly different from the original Dark Souls 2. I have not played the original, but from what I've heard, I'd recommend playing that instead. It still has some issues with convenience and bugs, but the major issue of enemy placement and encounter design is fixed. Do not take my word for this, instead read what people have said about the original Dark Souls 2. Consider Scholar an optional hard mode.    … Expand
  9. Danvie
    Oct 5, 2022
    6
    Очень затянутая игра, с хуёвым левел дизайном, когда вместо честных боёв 1 на 1 или 2 на 1, на тебя вечно устраивают засады минимум 5 на 1, копирайты боссов в своей же собственной игре и хуже атмосфера, нелинейность, чем у первой части.Очень затянутая игра, с хуёвым левел дизайном, когда вместо честных боёв 1 на 1 или 2 на 1, на тебя вечно устраивают засады минимум 5 на 1, копирайты боссов в своей же собственной игре и хуже атмосфера, нелинейность, чем у первой части.
  10. DORAN42069
    Mar 13, 2022
    5
    game smells like "kakish"game smells like "kakish"game smells like "kakish"game smells like "kakish"game smells like "kakish"game smells like "kakish"game smells like "kakish"
  11. proprosmert01
    Jan 7, 2022
    6
    A spoiled and lightweight version of a great game, but nevertheless quite interesting
  12. Vzhik
    Dec 7, 2021
    7
    Итак.. Не знаю почему ничего не написал ранее... Наверно потому что и так всё понятно - лучшая игра трилогии. :-)
    Да, хоть она и была у меня первой в серии, но я возвращался в неё и после Bloodborne, и после Demon's Souls с Dark Souls 3. Прошел еще на PS3 и PS4, в отличии от...
    Отличнейший визуальный стиль. Это главное в играх, что б глазу было приятно а душе комфортно. Нелинейный мир.    Итак.. Не знаю почему ничего не написал ранее... Наверно потому что и так всё понятно - лучшая игра трилогии. :-)
    Да, хоть она и была у меня первой в серии, но я возвращался в неё и после Bloodborne, и после Demon's Souls с Dark Souls 3. Прошел еще на PS3 и PS4, в отличии от...
    Отличнейший визуальный стиль. Это главное в играх, что б глазу было приятно а душе комфортно.
    Нелинейный мир. Как прекрасно искать, заблудиться, не знать куда идти.. а потом найти новый проход. Как прекрасно когда начинаешь прохождение и еще не знаешь куда пойдешь.
    Самая лучшая магия в серии. А люблю играть магами. Тут прям со старта посох и вперед. Далее прогрессии очень адекватная - новые заклинания, новые посохи.. Разные навороты и буст урона, и отвлекающие, защитные.
    Отличные арены боссы. Как интересно пробовать убить Преследователя баллистой, Увидеть невидимого Аву и ломать голову что это такое, удивиться наполнению воды у Гибкого часового, случайно узнать что Алчного Демона можно отравить кувшинами рядом, узнав что пауки на Фрее отгоняются факелом и можно пройти проще, когда не получается пройти Дымного, одеть шлем, отключив первую фазу, и пройти почти сразу, случайно в компании на Сере Аллоне увидеть как он делает себе сепуку... Офигеть от яда на Мите и случайно найти мельницу..
    Прекрасные локи. Как офигенно после душного Дранглика очутиться в умопомрачительном Храме Аманы.. С песнями, безмятежностью..
    Самое лучшее разнообразие тактик и подходов, построения перса и методик прохождения.
    Ну и конечно Маджула...
    Это все первое прохождение. А сейчас? Сейчас самое лучшее вторжение за синего - когда кидает на всю игру и не знаешь куда попадешь.
    Но объективно, конечно, игра не без недостатков. Прекрасно помню ощущение, что игра пустышка и бросить бы её нафиг, но это относится к любой серии DS.
    Но оценка такая же как и для остальных частей серии 7/10 .    … Expand
  13. dislove
    Nov 9, 2021
    7
    Ordinary locations with a large number of identical enemies, a very large number of bosses, but most of them are similar and easy, an incomprehensible balance of characteristics and levels
  14. Geralt123
    Oct 20, 2021
    6
    DS2 can't keep up with DS1 and DS3. It is clearly visible that the project leader in charge was not Miyazaki. The person in charge didn't know what Souls games are about and what he was doing.

    It is certainly not a bad game, it is an ok game. But I would say it is only 70% of DS1 in terms of quality and atmosphere. Here are the CONs: - Graphics are WORSE than DS Remastered. Art    DS2 can't keep up with DS1 and DS3. It is clearly visible that the project leader in charge was not Miyazaki. The person in charge didn't know what Souls games are about and what he was doing.

    It is certainly not a bad game, it is an ok game. But I would say it is only 70% of DS1 in terms of quality and atmosphere.

    Here are the CONs:

    - Graphics are WORSE than DS Remastered. Art style is not as good, there are texture repetitions, forests look extremely ugly like in a 2003 game. Lighting is extremely flat and simple due to the graphics downgrade.
    - Atmosphere not as dark as in DS1/3. Scenery and lighting is quite bright, so maybe it would be better for Barby and the 7 princesses
    - Enemy tracking is insane. The enemy can alter his hit until the last microsecond, he tracks you. It is very annoying because you have to wait until the last moment when dodging
    - Embarassing dialogues: They tried to copy the somewhat surrealistic and depressed dialogues from DS1, but failed
    - Samey bosses: Almost all bosses have similar attack pattens: some swings, a charge attack. The feel
    very samey in contrast to the very individual bosses in DS1/3
    - Keyboard layout: the changed he key assignments to absoluetely horrible keys so have fun when picking up an item, moving your hand to the Enter key each time, pretty annoying

    So they failed in many departments. It is still ok, but please buy it on sale for max. 10 Euros.    … Expand
  15. L140
    Jun 16, 2021
    6
    Плюсы:
    +Левелдизайн
    +Разнообразие рабочих билдов +хорошее пвп Минусы: -Однотипность мобов. Как вы думаете, следующий моб будет рыцарем? или рыцарем? а может быть рыцарем? -хуевые и безыдейные боссы, кроме дымного рыцаря -вся сложность в том что тебя просто хуярят толпой -музыка мне не понравилась    Плюсы:
    +Левелдизайн
    +Разнообразие рабочих билдов
    +хорошее пвп
    Минусы:
    -Однотипность мобов. Как вы думаете, следующий моб будет рыцарем? или рыцарем? а может быть рыцарем?
    -хуевые и безыдейные боссы, кроме дымного рыцаря
    -вся сложность в том что тебя просто хуярят толпой
    -музыка мне не понравилась
  16. FRIST_008
    Jun 14, 2021
    7
    Наверное самая бодрая часть серии соулс, которая получает заслуженные 7 балов, за геймплей и графику соответствуенно.
  17. ppytry
    May 19, 2021
    7
    Многие ругают эту часть знаменитого сериала за частые баги в игре.Да,есть такое скажу я вам но это же не критично! К тому же компания FROM software извинилась за это и подарила каждому кто купил эту игру большое DLC "Crown of the Sunken King" совершенно бесплатно!!! Как итог игра в целом весьма хорошая получилась,окружающий живой мир оставил очень положительные эмоции.Лично я игрой доволенМногие ругают эту часть знаменитого сериала за частые баги в игре.Да,есть такое скажу я вам но это же не критично! К тому же компания FROM software извинилась за это и подарила каждому кто купил эту игру большое DLC "Crown of the Sunken King" совершенно бесплатно!!! Как итог игра в целом весьма хорошая получилась,окружающий живой мир оставил очень положительные эмоции.Лично я игрой доволен и советую ее тем кому этот жанр нравится.Теперь собственно что в нутри коллекционного издания "Маджула" Красивая железная коробка в нутри которой сама игра на диске,красочный артбук,литографии и саундтрек на CD.Все очень красиво и по привлекательной цене у Озона.… Expand
  18. Jenkip
    May 6, 2021
    7
    Ну, что сказать, Миядзаки пришёл, и сделал всё немного лучше чем было в оригинале. Игра стала сложнее (хотя, всё ещё самая лёгкая часть серии). И в целом ощущения более приятные (хотя баланас всё ещё убитый, ага, бесконечные (99) хилки)

    7/10.    Ну, что сказать, Миядзаки пришёл, и сделал всё немного лучше чем было в оригинале. Игра стала сложнее (хотя, всё ещё самая лёгкая часть серии). И в целом ощущения более приятные (хотя баланас всё ещё убитый, ага, бесконечные (99) хилки)

    7/10.
  19. GabriMH19
    Apr 21, 2021
    7
    Tenia muchas ganas de seguir descubriendo la saga Dark Souls. Anteriormente había conseguido completar la tercera entrega de la saga y la verdad que me dejo con muchas ganas de seguir conociendo mas acerca de la saga Dark Souls. Asique también decidí completar Dark Souls II y la verdad que estoy bastante contento con el resultado. De oídas siempre había escuchado que Dark Souls II era elTenia muchas ganas de seguir descubriendo la saga Dark Souls. Anteriormente había conseguido completar la tercera entrega de la saga y la verdad que me dejo con muchas ganas de seguir conociendo mas acerca de la saga Dark Souls. Asique también decidí completar Dark Souls II y la verdad que estoy bastante contento con el resultado. De oídas siempre había escuchado que Dark Souls II era el hermano feo de la saga y que en su día no tuvo una buena acogida por gran parte del publico. Pero después de pasarme esta entrega denominada Scholar Of The First Sin que en si es una versión mejorada y adaptada de la entrega he de decir que estoy bastante satisfecho. Creo también que no llega a estar a la altura de Dark Souls III pero en si no es una mala entrega. Si es verdad que la dificultad no esta tan bien medida y en muchas ocasiones es demasiado sencilla. Pero sigue contando con una buena historia, unas buenas mecánicas y una apta jugabilidad que son los pilares inconfundibles de la propia saga. Pero si que entiendo que puede pecar de no ser tan imaginativo o de descuidar algunas aspectos del juego. Creo que un contenido mas medido y pulido hubiera podido aportar mas y convertirlo en mejor juego. Pero en si me parece una gran entrega y una opción muy recomendada si quieres disfrutar de un desafío a lo Dark Souls. Muy recomendado.… Expand
  20. thatpower
    Apr 16, 2021
    6
    Dark Souls 1 with better graphics and 10 times more cancer. Still an enjoyable game.
  21. UncleEd
    Mar 19, 2021
    6
    Demon’s Souls is one of my favorite games ever and Dark Souls was a great game too. Dark Souls II feels like it did not quite get why people love Souls series in the first place. It is true that Souls games are usually praised for its notorious difficulty, especially for the reason Demon’s Souls came out at a time most games started to become extremely easy. But for the fans of the series,Demon’s Souls is one of my favorite games ever and Dark Souls was a great game too. Dark Souls II feels like it did not quite get why people love Souls series in the first place. It is true that Souls games are usually praised for its notorious difficulty, especially for the reason Demon’s Souls came out at a time most games started to become extremely easy. But for the fans of the series, it was the rewarding challenge, not the difficulty. If you are challenged with a fair difficulty, where you know it’s your own fault when die, you will feel much more rewarded when you finally overcome that challenge.

    Dark Souls II went the opposite direction. It’s full of horrible enemy placement and multiple enemies ambushing you. Three or four melee enemies swinging their weapons and at the same time ranged enemies shooting at you from a distance. Yes, you could still come up with strategies such as patiently waiting for the right moment where no enemy started its attack animation so you can get an opportunity to hit. Talking about hits, there are several issues with it, absent in the previous Souls games. Even the weaker enemies seem to have an almost never-ending stamina where they swing again and again and at the same time chasing your character. Hitbox is horrible and you will often not understand why you did not hit or how the enemy was able to hit you.

    Dodging is also more difficult, thanks to the introduction of a new stat called adaptability. Unless you invest in it (which you definitely should, but that will also prevent you from investing in combat skills), you will not be able to dodge. Same goes for estus flask and unless you increase your adaptability, using an estus flask takes forever.

    Boss fights, a very important aspect of Souls series, are unfortunately not very memorable. Your main frustration, however, will be getting to a boss fight, not the boss fights themselves. As if the game wants to make up for this design flaw, enemies despawn for good after killing them a dozen times. Enough grinding can make any area of the game a piece of cake. But the grinding will definitely hurt your overall enjoyment.

    Is there anything good about Dark Souls II? Yes, there are quite a few novel ideas. It can be fun to play with different builds. Power stancing with dual weapons can be fun. Mejula is one of the best hubs in any Souls game. Overall atmosphere can be quite good at times, despite the fact the level design is not very clever (another strong aspect of Souls series abandoned in Dark Souls II).

    Demon’s Souls was a masterpiece. Dark Souls was a spectacular game with some flaws. Dark Souls II introduces some good, but minor (not core) ideas. It also betrays the most important principles that make a Souls game special.    … Expand
  22. TasteThePainbow
    Feb 2, 2021
    5
    Will scratch the Souls itch if you're a series vet looking for more, but ultimately does not deserve the venerable Dark Souls name.

    I'll preface by saying that I've only payed SotFS, not the original DS2, so some of my criticism may not apply to the original. I'll be referring to SotFS as simply "DS2" for most of this review unless otherwise stated. The sad fact of the matter is that    Will scratch the Souls itch if you're a series vet looking for more, but ultimately does not deserve the venerable Dark Souls name.

    I'll preface by saying that I've only payed SotFS, not the original DS2, so some of my criticism may not apply to the original. I'll be referring to SotFS as simply "DS2" for most of this review unless otherwise stated.

    The sad fact of the matter is that when comparing DS2 to 1 or 3, DS2 does everything either worse, or at least in a lazier, dumbed-down way. Controlling your character is clunky, thanks in no small part to the snap-point directional controls that essentially turn your analog joystick into an eight-way digital pad. You cannot fine-tune your movements due to this, which makes the platforming areas hair-pullingly frustrating. Mario 64 did better 3D movement than this almost 20 years before this game was released. If you are playing on Steam, this can be somewhat fixed with Steam controller settings, but you shouldn't have to bother. (Google steam dark souls 2 controller fix)

    DS2's combat will have you calling bull in several ways. You will get hit by attacks that were way off and you will miss attacks despite being locked-on. You have to level-up your ability to be invulnerable during a dodge, which begins at a nearly-useless level. The invulnerable-dodge-roll is such a huge part of Souls and Bloodborne gameplay that for it to require leveling to use effectively is a mind-boggling decision. Doing this leveling will help with avoiding some of those aforementioned attacks, but the rest are just bad hitboxes where an enemy's weapon is a few feet wider than it looks. Enemies that are low-to-the-ground will be stupidly hard to hit with certain weapons, even if you're locked on. Large weapons like ultra-greatswords and great hammers, must be manually aimed despite being locked-on. I see what they were trying to do with that, allowing you to correct the swing since those weapons have longer animations, but it doesn't work well and just tracking the locked-on target like in DS1 and 3 is so much better.

    The souls series is known for difficulty, but more so in DS2 than the other ones did the writers and designers REVEL in the difficulty. The three fire-keepers at the beginning laugh about how much dying you're going to do and then the designers made areas and bosses harder in lazy ways, most notably just throwing lots of enemies around. DS1 and 3 have their gank-squad moments, of course, but fewer and at least in more interesting ways. DS2 also punishes death much more harshly, making you lose a little max health each time you die and keeping you available to be invaded by NPC's and other players if you're online. It's for this reason that I recommend playing DS2 offline unless you're specifically looking for PVP, otherwise the same player will likely keep invading you over and over while you're just trying to get through an area in peace.

    Lastly, the world and NPC's of DS2 are just shallower than the others. DS1 is deservedly renowned for its interconnected world where places you've been and will go to can be seen in their proper spots in the distance. DS3 does something similar but a bit shallower, but DS2 takes the cake with its different areas haphazardly placed after each other. The most egregious example of this is when you go up the elevator at the top of a giant windmill tower and exit to find a castle in a lake of fire, none of which could be seen from the tower below but should have been clearly visible. If there were more startling examples like this then they could have gone with a topsy-turvy dream-world angle, but as it is it just comes off as they put areas wherever they could to finish the game as quick as possible. NPC's are likewise shallower where once an NPC goes to the hub area to be a merchant, they're there forever. The won't pop in and out like in 1 and 3 with their own agendas, they exist to serve YOU and only YOU.

    The few things I like about DS2 are its use of color, and its expanded dual-wield weapon system. I look back fondly on the blues and whites of Heide's Tower, the glowing green of Black Gulch, and the golden coast of Majula. The dual-wield system was replaced by weapon skills in DS3, but I'd love to see it fleshed out in a game that doesn't suck.

    I leave DS2 wondering if anyone would still be talking about it today if it weren't part of the Dark Souls series. If it were its own game with its own title from some other developer, would anyone give it a second play-through? Whenever I get bored of DS1 and 3, I know I'm more likely to just play something else than fire up DS2. The frustration just outweighs the fun to be had.    … Expand
  23. Ridleymain
    Dec 27, 2020
    5
    Unlike the rest of the souls games, this game is just plain frustrating. Most of the bosses are low quality, but I do think there are a few good ones. Also the areas are just littered with enemies just to gank you. It can be fun, but it's definitely my least favorite game in the series.
  24. elolugo
    Nov 18, 2020
    5
    Good game, it has all that the first game had and more. But i think it went too far with the "don't guide the player, let him explore"

    30% of the time i had to google what an item does or where to go, and then i ask myself: What is the point of the game not telling you if you have to google instead

    Recommended only if you liked dark souls 1 and have too much time to spare
  25. FromTheBonfire
    May 31, 2020
    7
    The weakest of the series, but still a game above average no doubt. Miyazaki, we missed you in this one.
  26. Dudraug
    Apr 2, 2019
    7
    It is not so epic as dark souls 3, it is not so prefect as dark souls 1, it is not so beautiful as bloodborne but it's still good game.
  27. RainbowDenix
    Jan 24, 2019
    6
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. DS2 стала для меня первой игрой в этой жопораздирабщей серии,сразу же скажу,что процентов 95 игры я прошёл в коопе вместе с другом(может поэтому я не ощутил того самого Дарк солса) и вот что я заметил последние года эдак 3,игру принято бешено хвалить и рассказывать какая она распрекрасная и самое удивительное в этом,что когда игра вышла в 2014 году большинство фанатов предыдущей части нещадно её опускали и тут встаёт вопрос почему так,неужто переиздание и DLC к игре вышли такими великолепными,что игра вдруг превратилась чуть ли не в шедевр?
    Вот сейчас я расскажу как я вижу её на данный момент.

    Начнём с минусов:

    -Атаки врагов самонаводятся.
    -Хитбоксы атак невероятно кривые.
    -Большинтсво врагов и боссов в игре это гигантские рыцари.
    -Разработчики не очень понимают, что сложно, а что банально неудобно. Взрывающиеся камикадзе, двумя «бабахами» ломающие всю вашу экипировку и заставляющие плестись назад к кузнецу, только действуют на нервы. Костры, спрятанные в тайниках за совершенно обычными с виду стенами, вынуждают или обращаться к подсказкам, или самостоятельно тыкаться носом в каждый кирпичик, как в каком-нибудь Wolfenstein 3D.
    -Не ждите целостного мира. DS2 злоупотребляет лифтами.Причем лифтами волшебными.Я конечно понимаю что мы путешествуем по большой стране,но переходы выполнены слишком грубо.
    -Некоторые локации ужасны.
    -Графика плохая.
    -Из NPC получились плохие соратники.
    -При написании саундтрека муза видимо прошла мимо Мотоя Сакураба. Хотя отличные треки всё же есть,но увы их не так уж много.
    -Не весь лор интересно изучать.
    -Почти все из трёх DLC недотягивают даже до того чтобы назвать их хорошими,чуть побробней:
    -Crown of the Sunken King:скучное монотонное длс,с абсолютно неинтересной локацией
    -Crown of the Old Iron King уже что-то получше,как минимум с точки зрения дизайна локации,2 босса Сыр Алонн и Дымный рыцарь довольно интересные и запоминающиеся.Итог длс неплохое
    -Crown of the Ivory King самое лучшее длс с точки зрения красоты,хотя местами кривое и бесящее.Боссы ну Аава довольно интересный,но когда их 2 это нихрена не весело,Сгоревший Король Слоновой Кости сложный и интересный и вправду удовлетворяет.Итог длс хорошее(чисто за визуал и лор)

    Ну а теперь плюсы:

    -Красивые локации и панорамы.
    -Локаций много и большинство из них удивительны и разнообразны.
    -Несмотря на скудный дизайн боссов с ними интересно сражаться(но не всегда)
    -Иногда длс радуют
    -Пвп интересное если не считать бэкстебов через 5 секунд после уклонения
    -Игра бросает вызов игроку и это самое лучшее что в ней есть.

    Итоги:игра нивкоем случае не ужасна,но и хорошей её назвать.    … Expand
  28. Sunykamey
    Jun 13, 2018
    5
    This is a game about learning your environment and the enemies (patterns) within. Having a horrible hit detection is unacceptable, period. Also due to the change to the enemies spawn the maps feel much more crowded and in a bad way.
  29. Cech
    May 16, 2017
    7
    Продолжение серии соулс под порядковым номером 3

    Почитав многие обзоры, у меня складывается ощущение, что существует много людей, которым эта часть ДС нравится больше, чем первая. Нет, у этой игры большое количество минусов Техническая часть Лучше: в отличии от 1ой части можно запустить без бубна и плясок. Но у неё проблемы с разрешением.. при его номинальном Full HD система    Продолжение серии соулс под порядковым номером 3

    Почитав многие обзоры, у меня складывается ощущение, что существует много людей, которым эта часть ДС нравится больше, чем первая. Нет, у этой игры большое количество минусов

    Техническая часть
    Лучше: в отличии от 1ой части можно запустить без бубна и плясок. Но у неё проблемы с разрешением.. при его номинальном Full HD система воспринимает его как HD, отсюда все иконки рабочего стола и окна разлетаются туда, где им не место. Также у неё проблемы с запоминанием графических настроек

    Графика
    Для ремастера в 2015 году средне. На дальних дистанциях от пейзажей могут вытечь глаза, но.. это рост относительно ДС 1
    UPD. DLC Ivory King делали другие люди и глаза не вытекают от фона

    Сюжет
    В первой части его нет, тут можно даже проследить, но нет

    Мультиплеер/Ко-оп
    Из-за "относительной старости" игры я не ощутил этот экспириенс в ДС 1, тут это было здорово, особенно когда оставил знак призыва и помогал человеку, общение через жесты забавно и очень атмосферно

    Главная проблема игры - это самокопирование

    Боссы
    Нужен больший уровень прокачки, отсюда рост сложности, но уникальности в боссфайте 0 - десяток одинаковых боссов - большое разочарование, но бо'льшая проблема - это 90% копирование боссов из ДС 1
    UPD. DLC делали другие люди (2), тут хоть сложный босс есть Сэр Алонн

    Локации
    Что-то новое в плане локаций игра не превнесла, и, опять же, самокопирование. НО.. локации имеют ещё большую проблему.. ДС 1 был почти цельным миром с парой ответвлений, здесь же это куча ответвлений, без цельности. За прохождение ни разу не было ВАУ эффекта от шортката, возвращение в некоторые места в ДС 1 просто разрывало шаблоны, а тут куча срезов, которыми вы даже не воспользуетесь.. Очередной перебор с анусами подземелий, но тут хоть с наличием света проще. Одно радует - перемещение между кострами есть изначально и вам не нужно бегать 30 часов для получения такой возможности.

    Персонажи
    Колоритные NPC и забавные враги - забудьте, я был влюблён в людей-грибочков, из-за которых я когда-то купил ДС 1. Колоритом ни от боссов, ни от NPC тут и не пахнет, запомнился только Вождь Венгарл, но остальные..

    Ачивменты
    Очень расстроило то, что я не знал, что нужно было обязательно призывать NPC фантомов на бои с боссами для получения пары ачивментов. Ну етить, серьёзно?    … Expand
  30. DariushL
    Apr 28, 2017
    6
    single player review: 6/10
    It manages to be both boring and grippy..
    One good aspect is this game has a TON of contents and areas, but it's uninspired under every aspect and mechanically behind the original. Not a terrible game by any standard, but not brilliant either. Locations are plenty and goes from just pretty to mostly predictable and unoriginal. The genious in the level    single player review: 6/10
    It manages to be both boring and grippy..
    One good aspect is this game has a TON of contents and areas, but it's uninspired under every aspect and mechanically behind the original.
    Not a terrible game by any standard, but not brilliant either.

    Locations are plenty and goes from just pretty to mostly predictable and unoriginal. The genious in the level design of DS1(the connection from the undead parish to firelink shrine through elevator, for example) is nowhere to be found, or its a mere pale attempt of imitating of it.

    Bosses are really the worst in the series with no need for tactic or learning their attack pattern. You will kill many of them at the fist try. And like most NPC are ugly as the environment they inhabit(the colour palette is generally terrible and just too bright/vibrant for a Souls game) and are just scattered around the game with no real buildup to them.
    Enemies animations are terrible, most of the time ridiculous.

    The combat system feels slower than DS1 and just not as responsive; you'll get often swarmed by hordes of brainless, badly animated enemies and fight them in the same way over and over.
    Some design decisions are plain STUPID and BAD. Explosive barrels and poisonous vases(wich you cant recognize from normal barrels/vases)means the first playthrough will put you in situations where what matters is luck and even a perfect fight might get ruined by these objects placement.

    The game isn't bad and somehow still manages to keep you coming back; i wanted to love this... but as it is, it's just average. Also, the worst of all the Souls games.

    6/10    … Expand
  31. newrandomage
    Mar 17, 2017
    5
    Good ideas executed very poorly. I've played all Dark Souls and this is the worst so far, weak areas in terms of design, unmemorable bosses, bad weapon/armor system and the most stupid, unnecessary traps in the entire saga. It's a must if you are interested in Dark Souls mechanics, but you won't want to go back after you finish the game on your first try.
  32. fludziom
    Dec 18, 2016
    6
    Having platinumed the game I think it's trash. Not even closely as good as the original Dark Souls. The atmosphere of the orginal is gone. Replaced by uninspired yellow grayish setting. 90% of the game's locations are deadly boring. In the orginal I loved to parry. In DS2 parry sucks all the way. Enemy placement cheap annoying frustrating. Poor knock off
  33. Lauw
    Aug 22, 2016
    6
    Don't get me wrong i love all Dark souls series but for Dark souls 2: Scholar of the first sin not really, why? one of the biggest problem for me is with the hit boxes, one example when i fought smelter demon. i often successfully dodged all his attack but somehow the game decided it still hit me, i know his sword is big as hell but i still can see clearly which hit that i dodge and whichDon't get me wrong i love all Dark souls series but for Dark souls 2: Scholar of the first sin not really, why? one of the biggest problem for me is with the hit boxes, one example when i fought smelter demon. i often successfully dodged all his attack but somehow the game decided it still hit me, i know his sword is big as hell but i still can see clearly which hit that i dodge and which one is not. my other problem is with the lock on mode, when i lock on the enemy and then i roll tried to hit them but a lot of times it failed. either i hit on the side or behind them and in the end i'm the one who got hit. the lock on mode in this game is a joke. compare with the first the Dark souls, Dark souls 2: Scholar of the first sin kinda sucks.… Expand
  34. Hack
    Apr 29, 2016
    7
    After finishing Dark Souls III I wanted a little more so when I saw Dark Souls II: SotFS up for sale I jumped on it and for the most part I'm glad I did.

    First I want to talk about the port, which is great this time, the complete opposite of Dark Souls I: Prepare To Die on PC which we all know has a laundry list of issues and is only made somewhat playable by DSFix but I'm happy to say    After finishing Dark Souls III I wanted a little more so when I saw Dark Souls II: SotFS up for sale I jumped on it and for the most part I'm glad I did.

    First I want to talk about the port, which is great this time, the complete opposite of Dark Souls I: Prepare To Die on PC which we all know has a laundry list of issues and is only made somewhat playable by DSFix but I'm happy to say that's not the case here, I was getting a locked 60fps throughout on max settings and I didn't have a single technical issue in over 40 hours. The game looks, sounds and runs really nicely.

    Content wise it's a big game with the included DLC, I actually still have two optional bosses left to kill and I've sunk 43 hours into it already so you're getting plenty of bang for your buck (I'd highly recommend shopping around, I picked it up for £9.59). On the whole the game is enjoyable in a Dark Souls sort of way, but there were a few areas that went past "Dark Souls" and just ended up being extremely tedious, not hard or challenging just plain boring and those areas did tarnish the overall game for me a bit, but thankfully there's only a few truly poorly designed areas in the game so in the grand scheme of things it's not too bad.

    I found the bosses to be on the whole too easy, the base game bosses especially. I killed every boss in under 5 tries apart from a select few. The DLC bosses are much harder in general though, and the final boss of part II is currently kicking my ass after many tries, he's by far the hardest boss in the game and one of the hardest I've faced in the "Soulsborne" universe. I haven't been using phantoms or summons either, so I imagine if you do get truly stuck using these options will help you out a lot.

    For me it's worth playing if you enjoy these types of games, I actually put it above Dark Souls I purely because of the quality of the port, it was just more enjoyable to play without all the issues, but it's a few pegs behind both Bloodborne and Dark Souls III which is the top of the pile IMO.    … Expand
  35. Silentwalker
    Apr 14, 2016
    6
    Big improvement over the last game, the game runs smoothly and game is fun to play. This is my favourite Dark Souls game out of them all.

    I don't know why people dislike this one, it's the best one I've play so far.
  36. tswizzles
    Oct 25, 2015
    5
    a disgusting milking of the fanbase and moneygrubbing practice. These improvements should have been provided through content updates and patches, only a triple A developer can get away with this kind of nonsense.
  37. Reshish
    Aug 12, 2015
    7
    Just a note that as a PC gamer who does not own (and has no intention of owning) a console control pad, 'A' does not confirm, and 'B' does not take you back in menus. This is a PC game, a lot of effort has gone into making it run well on PCs, don't tarnish that by have Xbox button prompts.
  38. LostAlone
    Apr 14, 2015
    6
    As a huge Souls fan, I'm genuinely sad to see much the game has changed through this expansion. That doesn't make Scholar bad, as such. It's still Dark Souls. But the most obvious changes in this version are almost entirely compounding mistakes and misunderstandings from Dark Souls 2.

    For most players the really obvious changes are to enemy placement and to their AI. In theory that    As a huge Souls fan, I'm genuinely sad to see much the game has changed through this expansion. That doesn't make Scholar bad, as such. It's still Dark Souls. But the most obvious changes in this version are almost entirely compounding mistakes and misunderstandings from Dark Souls 2.

    For most players the really obvious changes are to enemy placement and to their AI. In theory that should be good. The game certainly feels very different when you start playing. But quickly that stops being a good thing. DS2 already suffered from areas over-populated with enemies, and that's become even worse. And you'll handle them the exact same way, by pulling one or two guys at a time and dealing with them in manageable chunks. But now there's more of it and it's just busy work.

    Fighting multiple enemies has never been a strength of the series, but the new AI now makes almost every enemy substantially more aggressive, again, amplifying the existing problem. It's simply not practical to fight against three guys at once, that's just not how the game is really designed to work, but From seem to think that because these kind of fights are very hard they should throw them at you fairly frequently. Longer aggro ranges as well as a good number of additional ranged enemies placed so that they can be hard to spot or hard to reach before you get dog piled makes for a frustrating experience.

    The heritage of the Souls series has always been 'tough but fair'. That spirit feels like it's leaked out of SotFS, like it was designed by people who don't understand that the game needs to be more than just hard. Handling large numbers of enemies is certainly very hard, but it's not especially fun or interesting. It's still Dark Souls. But it's Dark Souls designed to capitalize on it's super-hard image instead of any of the aspects that made the original games so fun and unique.

    Honestly, I'm disappointed. I'll play it, I mean, it's still Dark Souls, but it's very disappointing to see all the worst parts of the game amplified, with all the best parts (like boss fights) being mostly forgotten. Especially if you are a veteran of DS2, the hardest parts of this release will by far by the mobs of enemies, not the spectacular boss fights.    … Expand
  39. Dartflight
    Apr 12, 2015
    7
    I've always been a huge fan of the souls series but this "add on" is not really what i expected.

    For me Demon Souls was great, Dark Souls as well and the prepare to die addition was ok. When finally dark souls 2 came out I played through it in around 30h but I rushed through the very end because I messed up a side quest-line. Anyways, the game took away the need, my need, to play it    I've always been a huge fan of the souls series but this "add on" is not really what i expected.

    For me Demon Souls was great, Dark Souls as well and the prepare to die addition was ok.
    When finally dark souls 2 came out I played through it in around 30h but I rushed through the very end because I messed up a side quest-line.
    Anyways, the game took away the need, my need, to play it again and to start all over because they included an item called "Soul Vessel". It allows you the relocate all your skillpoints!
    In the end, that was the reason why I did not purchase any dlc.

    Now i decided to upgrade my version to the "Scholar of the First sin" one.
    They changed the graphics, the mechanics and the environment.
    I like the design of the game but I am not going to judge the graphics because I just don't care.
    To the mechanics: They changed the backstab and the counter attack. Not the way they are executed but the way they work.You used to be invulnerable while the backstabbing animation is running. Now you take dmg! For me that completely destroys the flow of the game.
    My starting class is always the naked man... So my attributes just allow me to use a dagger at the beginning if im not lvling up. In dark souls 2 the normal version this weapon is enough make your way to the first boss and to kill him. After that I would normally lvl up with a decent amount of souls ( you need souls to lvl your character up).
    But now that i constantly take dmg when i parry and backstab enemies I can't do that anymore.

    To the environment:
    They decided to relocate half of the enemies... I have no idea why, it doesn't make the game harder, it doesn't make the game easier, they just did it.

    To conclude: Its still a good game eventhough you cant backstab and parry your way through it that easily anymore.. :( There is no way in a million years its as good as its prequel.
    The characters are still unique and the voiceacting is gorgeous. But I am not 100% convinced about upgrading when you already own ds2 + dlcs.

    Im well aware that my English lacks but since Im not a native I don't give a *** ;)    … Expand
  40. krispintin
    Apr 7, 2015
    6
    By far the worst game From Software has produced in the "demons,souls,blood" games.

    After playing through the other games this one just feels awful and mediocre at best. The environments lack detail, the geography has no connection (area transitions are terrible). The story is even more vague than previous games and incredibly generic and lame once you understand it. Bosses are    By far the worst game From Software has produced in the "demons,souls,blood" games.

    After playing through the other games this one just feels awful and mediocre at best.

    The environments lack detail, the geography has no connection (area transitions are terrible).

    The story is even more vague than previous games and incredibly generic and lame once you understand it.

    Bosses are probably the biggest let down, very few are original and are mostly just reposts/reskins of previous bosses.
    for some reason in this game they are no more complex or difficult than strafing around them in circles and blocking, the hit boxes on many attacks are very strange so rolling is usually riskier, but even then the bosses can mostly be beaten on the first try with ease. The only idea of difficulty they add is by just adding mobs to the fights which really doesn't fix the fact that none of the bosses on their own are even remotely tough.

    Mobs are tougher than the bosses.

    to cut it short it blows my mind that people think this is a good souls game, let alone a good game.    … Expand
  41. Blackdragon666
    Apr 4, 2015
    6
    The game is still a buggy mess when the framerate goes over 30 FPS. I don't understand how dare they charge anything from this update. They basically just added more mobs to f#!k you over and sweetfx.
  42. ThinkSamich
    Apr 3, 2015
    5
    Ehh.... Scholar of the First Sin starts off strong with better performance and some enemy placement that seems to make a bit more sense. Veterans of the series will be happy to find out the Heide Knights have found their way home and even seem to have gained some missing AI. Also, torches are finally necessary in some spots. For a moment, you start to feel as if this is the product weEhh.... Scholar of the First Sin starts off strong with better performance and some enemy placement that seems to make a bit more sense. Veterans of the series will be happy to find out the Heide Knights have found their way home and even seem to have gained some missing AI. Also, torches are finally necessary in some spots. For a moment, you start to feel as if this is the product we should have received during the original release, and From has come back to right all their wrongs.

    Unfortunately this "refinish" fails to take fight after the first few hours of the game. Some of the new enemy placement compliments the game, but a lot of it seems completely arbitrary, it left me saying to myself "what is this guy doing here, he doesn't fit here..." That's not the worst of it though, someone decided they would add in several more petrified statues to block your path, this probably doesn't seem like a big deal at first, but you soon realize all this does is cut your exploration options in half and leave you with a very strict path to follow early in the game.

    Finally, From decided to actually give us the Pursuer they promised from early game development. He's the same old guy though, just decides to pop in at the worst of times. Good luck fighting him with archers bearing down on you, and packs of dogs at your heels. This screams cheese, I don't think it's what anyone wanted from the fight.

    Verdict: This is still the formula I as a fan do not want the series taking. I firmly believe you should not "spice up" old encounters by dropping in 4-6 lesser enemies to stunlock me to death. For that reason the new pursuer feels cheap, as does quite a bit of the arbitrary NPC shuffling you guys did. Possibly the biggest disgrace here is deciding all of this was worth $50, even as a standalone it should have taken place of the $40 product at the very least. Players with existing copies of the game should have gotten this content for free, they should not be punished over the limitations a strict publisher caused the original game to suffer. I assume bundling the DLCs with this refinish is From's way of strategically circumventing that though.

    The majority of what you get with this product can and should have been pushed through with content patches. Players have been complaining about the hitboxes on the last giant since week one, so it's nice to know that From has finally responded by adjusting them and charging for the bug fix. While we're talking about what players shouldn't be charged for, they should not be paying for the lighting that was intended to be featured with the original product. The only thing that From could justify charging for at this point is the graphical upgrade, but even that is debatable after the massive downgrade the game suffered during the original launch. What can you do though? The bad decisions of From Software do not even surprise me anymore.    … Expand
  43. Masterhummel
    Apr 2, 2015
    7
    The pricing policy aside, Scholar of the First Sin sucesfully attempts to fix some of the originals shortcomings like uninspired enemy placement, simple ai and behavior. For the most part, it succeeds. The new placement probably won't challenge veteran players too much but the slightly altered encounters will be very enjoyable for the regular player.

    So, why just a seven you may ask?    The pricing policy aside, Scholar of the First Sin sucesfully attempts to fix some of the originals shortcomings like uninspired enemy placement, simple ai and behavior. For the most part, it succeeds. The new placement probably won't challenge veteran players too much but the slightly altered encounters will be very enjoyable for the regular player.

    So, why just a seven you may ask? It's because of the graphical sidegrade. While it is true that certain areas or encounters in the game look much better now (especially dark areas where a torch now is a viable option), there overhelming majority of the exterior just looks... off. Sometimes it even looks like you just loaded some low-effort SweetFX config. Colors are burned, shadows have the wrong saturation, textures are far too bright and washed out. Majula for example is so bright, you feel like you're on the surface of the moon (not kidding). I'm not really sure what to make of this, but it makes the game look far worse then the Original in some areas.    … Expand

Awards & Rankings

76
#76 Best PC Game of 2015
29
#29 Most Discussed PC Game of 2015
87
#87 Most Shared PC Game of 2015

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
79

Generally favorable reviews - based on 8 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 6 out of 8
  2. Mixed: 2 out of 8
  3. Negative: 0 out of 8
  1. RPG Fan
    Feb 20, 2017
    72
    Dark Souls II: Scholar of the First Sin offers only minor tweaks to serious gameplay issues of the original game. Nonetheless, it still remains a wholly enjoyable online experience, just don't expect much from the singleplayer experience.
    Read full review
  2. CD-Action
    Jun 29, 2015
    95
    It’s a freaking masterpiece! Do yourself a favor and experience it if you haven’t done it yet. [06/2015, p.68]
  3. Games.cz
    May 4, 2015
    80
    A pleasant combination of revised version of Dark Souls II with excellent DLCs offers a brutal difficulty and a fantastic atmosphere - even more intense than ever. Although the Scholar of the First Sin is not a purchase for everyone, if you try you will not be disappointed.
    Read full review
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