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. 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
  2. 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
  3. 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
  4. 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
  5. thatpower
    Apr 16, 2021
    6
    Dark Souls 1 with better graphics and 10 times more cancer. Still an enjoyable game.
  6. 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
  7. 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
  8. 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
  9. proprosmert01
    Jan 7, 2022
    6
    A spoiled and lightweight version of a great game, but nevertheless quite interesting
  10. Top1saraya_
    Dec 29, 2022
    6
    ---------------------
    / My score - 6 /
    ---------------------
  11. 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.
  12. 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
  13. 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
  14. 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
  15. 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
  16. 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.
  17. 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.
  18. 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.
  19. 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
  20. 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
  21. 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.
  22. 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.
  23. 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"
  24. madterps
    Oct 8, 2020
    4
    Dark Souls 2 is a crappy version of DS1 and DS3. I have enjoyed the two other installments immensely, those two games were tough but fair and you can make minor progress, this one not so much. I'll tell you why:

    1. The weapons constantly have a meter, it's worse when you play on PC because of the framerate, the weapon keeps going to break soon unless you carry around repair powder    Dark Souls 2 is a crappy version of DS1 and DS3. I have enjoyed the two other installments immensely, those two games were tough but fair and you can make minor progress, this one not so much. I'll tell you why:

    1. The weapons constantly have a meter, it's worse when you play on PC because of the framerate, the weapon keeps going to break soon unless you carry around repair powder everywhere and repair powder are not infinite either until you get to the end of the game, which is utterly ridiculous and you have to farm souls to make sure you carry around enough. There never seem to be a problem with DS1 and DS3, the game will also constantly tells you that the weapon is at risk, which is not as much of an issue in DS1 and DS3. Imagine looking for a bonfire to reset your weapon meter, or getting stuck in a boss fight with a broken weapon while you're trying to swap or god forbid you made it to the boss without .
    2. Auto aim sucks as it constantly jumps around enemies, especially if you are getting attacked by a group. The damn camera goes berserk at inopportune time but you need that aim assist in order to shoot at enemies with your magic or else you pull out your binocular and sometimes it's a pain to switch back and forth, not sure why my version did not work properly when I played it with a PS4 controller on the PC. It's a chore at times to switch between sniping and regular combat when you press on the left pad and it does not switch at all and you're stuck trying to block with your shield when you have your bow equipped instead.
    3. You have to research adaptability in order to upgrade it or else your Estus flask use is crap unless you don't move, or you try to run away and then heal, but that does not work with faster enemies that have so much stamina and that is something that does not happen in DS1. Your stamina doesn't regen that quickly even with the Chloranthy Ring. Life gem is also limited until you spent like 10000 souls at a merchants shop, you have to research the Internet for that. Hell, you start off with two, count them two Estus flasks and a limited amount of life gem. DS1 was never that unforgiving.
    4. Parry and control mechanics are different than DS1 and DS3, granted I should have played DS2 before DS3, but I kind of played DS3 and DS1 before I played DS2. Shooting arrow is now tied to R2 for some reason instead of R1.
    5. The bosses are kind of forgettable, alot of them are rehashes from DS1. Old Dragonslayer is an exact copy of Ornstein in DS1.
    6. This game loves to gank you out of nowhere, enter a new room or area and six soldiers, etc will gang up on you, there is no indication either. Never had as much problem with DS1, maybe at the top of the Undead Parish, and those were weak enemies at the beginning of the game, DS1 seems to be fine, as you can draw them out carefully if you know that you are not close.
    7. Shield absolutely sucks, be prepared to take damage unless you upgrade your strength to about 30 to use a great shield with 100% physical damage. Really, 30 strength for a shield??? DS1 and DS3 never had problems with this.
    8. Hollowing sucks, unless you use the ring that only allows hollowing to go down to 75% of your max health. Hollowing here appearance wise is so much worse than DS1 and DS3 too, you'll turn into an ugly skeleton rather than having ugly marks all over your face.    … Expand
  25. Kamamura
    Apr 5, 2015
    4
    I was initially quite excited by the game until I found out the game is basically broken.

    If you do not run it on 30 fps, many things will be broken because the developers tie gameplay mechanics to frames, not to real time. Therefore: - weapons degrade faster - enemies move faster - some controls (guardbreak) do not work The only solution is to cap the game to the unaccpetable    I was initially quite excited by the game until I found out the game is basically broken.

    If you do not run it on 30 fps, many things will be broken because the developers tie gameplay mechanics to frames, not to real time. Therefore:

    - weapons degrade faster
    - enemies move faster
    - some controls (guardbreak) do not work

    The only solution is to cap the game to the unaccpetable 30fps. Hello, developers, I am not buying the game on PC only to cripple it afterwards.

    In its current state, the game cannot be recommended for purchase.    … Expand
  26. Captain_Chaos
    Jun 22, 2016
    4
    My first unfortunate brush with the Dark Souls series, and one that almost turned me off it for good. The controls in this PC version are terrible. I felt consistently hamstringed and useless, and relied heavily on my friends to carry me through the game. And frankly, I dislike several of the series' core mechanics, most notably the invasion system. The idea of a game where someone canMy first unfortunate brush with the Dark Souls series, and one that almost turned me off it for good. The controls in this PC version are terrible. I felt consistently hamstringed and useless, and relied heavily on my friends to carry me through the game. And frankly, I dislike several of the series' core mechanics, most notably the invasion system. The idea of a game where someone can come into your story and deliberately **** you over is completely asinine to me. I felt underpowered and underwhelmed through out this game and honestly, I'm amazed I even bothered to buy Dark Souls III after this. Do yourself favor and skip this game.… Expand
  27. KoKop0
    Aug 16, 2020
    4
    literally unplayable on PC without patches and I can't even use my controller the game doesn't even start up if I have gamepad plugged in... very poor port to PC and unforgivable cash grab for dark souls fans using PC.... Im stuck playing with keyboard and mouse and 30FPS

    I love dark souls games and I wish I could just play the game as I want to but after many tries it just won't    literally unplayable on PC without patches and I can't even use my controller the game doesn't even start up if I have gamepad plugged in... very poor port to PC and unforgivable cash grab for dark souls fans using PC.... Im stuck playing with keyboard and mouse and 30FPS

    I love dark souls games and I wish I could just play the game as I want to but after many tries it just won't work... Im very disappointed and sad!    … Expand
  28. AngryBaneling
    Aug 26, 2019
    4
    "You will stand at its decrepit gate without ever really knowing why." - An old lady from the opening cinematic of Dark Souls 2.

    Basically, she's telling you how your time will be spent in DS2. You will do things without knowing why. You will kill bosses without knowing why. You will read pointless, unrelated information on boss souls without any world-building. You will seek, seek    "You will stand at its decrepit gate without ever really knowing why." - An old lady from the opening cinematic of Dark Souls 2.

    Basically, she's telling you how your time will be spent in DS2. You will do things without knowing why. You will kill bosses without knowing why. You will read pointless, unrelated information on boss souls without any world-building. You will seek, seek souls for an endgame boss fight without knowing why. You will do most of the things you do in other Dark Souls game, but only you won't ever really know why you're doing it in this game. It's devoid of lore completely. Nothing is connected and everything feels like an afterthought.

    The gameplay is fantastic but what good is that when the world itself is so depressingly empty? Watch a couple of Vaatividya videos about DS2 lore and move on. This game is an endless Arcade Mode, nothing else. If you enjoy that sort of thing then this is for you.    … Expand
  29. Chalkbrood
    Dec 3, 2019
    4
    Dark Souls 1 is my favourite game. Demon Souls and DS3 are pretty fun too. Bloodborne is great. So why is DS2 so miserable in comparison?
    Because it only does one thing right and it drops several things that made Dark Souls 1 so playable
    The one thing it does better is the inclusion of making it so that any point you put in any stat increases your health, saving you from feeling bad by    Dark Souls 1 is my favourite game. Demon Souls and DS3 are pretty fun too. Bloodborne is great. So why is DS2 so miserable in comparison?
    Because it only does one thing right and it drops several things that made Dark Souls 1 so playable
    The one thing it does better is the inclusion of making it so that any point you put in any stat increases your health, saving you from feeling bad by dropping levels in the most boring stat to ever exist
    the things it does bad is everything else, this was handled by a different director than every previously mentioned game, so I think he just made this game thinking that what made Dark Souls 1 a success was that you died a lot
    while I can see how you could get that impression if you didn't care, I'm baffled as to the approach taken by a professional who was hired to deal with this game
    enemies are spammier and more plentiful, platforms are thinner, you have to return to the hub to level up which requires two loading screens each time you want to do that and boy are they not fast
    the pacing is off too, very near to the start of the game you're introduced to an area with only one enemy type, you gain an absurd amount of levels in the mid game and you can basically play three builds at once, the bosses are so easy I couldn't even tell I was at the final boss, etc etc etc

    it still sort of plays like dark souls so in that sense I can't say it's truly awful but seriously just never play this, every alternative you've heard of is better    … Expand
  30. DavidJB
    Jul 22, 2020
    4
    PREFACE:

    My initial score for DS2 would be about 4.5. Now because of the cashgrab and poor upgrade from the original, I score SotFS as 4. I played DS1 much after release and it blew my mind. I had bought the original DS2 afterwards and found the control absolutely untenable for PC so I didn't played. I decided to come back to it after DS3 because below the surface it seems that a lot    PREFACE:

    My initial score for DS2 would be about 4.5. Now because of the cashgrab and poor upgrade from the original, I score SotFS as 4.

    I played DS1 much after release and it blew my mind. I had bought the original DS2 afterwards and found the control absolutely untenable for PC so I didn't played. I decided to come back to it after DS3 because below the surface it seems that a lot of people were praising the game. I fixed my control and decided to finish the game: this is my critic. For the record, I'm not playing any PVP (only if I'm invaded), and no mods. I spoke with all NPCs I could meet, did all quests I could find, and explored every area I found (except for some subareas which I deemed worthless and the DLCs) while not using a wiki, except for 1-2 very minor thing (like being stuck in the middle of nowhere in order to check what the Blacksmith is selling back in Majula, etc.). The only "help" I really got is that there is a fire Longsword somewhere and I went to find it, and how to get the Chloranty Ring (which to be honest, was where I already was at anyway). I didn't really do the DLC(s) because at that point I had no fun.

    Also, I realized after writing this that two Youtubers made much better criticism than me regarding this. I therefore suggest looking at MauLer (very long) series on it, and also Matthewmatosis video on the subject.

    SUMMARY:
    Control, animation & movement: D (Horrible in general, my worst criticism)
    Level Design: B- (Some awesome areas (most of the end game, Cardinal Tower for early games), some insanely bad areas (all the others?), some filler areas and futile encounters cannot make this higher)
    Art Design: B+ (Solid music, visual concept, atmosphere, etc. Story a bit too cryptic even for a Souls game and graphics are vastly outdated)
    Gameplay: C- (Good core concept, i.e. Dark Souls, plagued by horrible decisions and unnecessary changes)

    Overall: C- or 4/10 (Not recommended, but with a solid remaster that fixes some metrics, animation, controls, etc. it could rise up to a B or 6/10 and would be recommended). I cannot understand objectively how this has such a high score. However, I can understand why some people like the game, and the game is not complete garbage.

    CONTROL, ANIMATION & MOVEMENT
    - Terrible computer controls, known issues, known delay
    - Weird movement and responsiveness
    - Attacked while in animation such as opening doors/chests, entering mists, performing criticals. For me this remove the control from the player and punish him.
    - Bugged catch-roll and hitbox all around (e.g. being hit while in the back of an enemy)
    - Weird weapon movement and "weight"

    LEVEL DESIGN
    + Amazing environment design and level architecture. The implementation and the encounter design does not render justice to it
    - Terrible exploration design with too many gotchas (ambush), dead-ends, useless items, difficult and boring (generally either copy-pasted or because they are monster spam) encounters, etc. that steal the fun out of exploring
    - Long sequence of bad bonfire placement. Sometimes you have two bonfire (almost) within view distance, at other time you have 25+ monsters, buildings, loops, etc. to cross to get to another one (e.g. Wharf). Generally this create more of the previous point.
    - Petrified statue blocking your way. Easy to get past them, but rarely was a positive gamechanger. It just, again, stopped exploration.

    GAMEPLAY
    + Stats are more useful (although I don't like the change to dodge and a stat related to it), more builds
    + I read that NG+ is adding and changing content. I think this is clerver to give more content for the players who manage it.
    - Boss and monster design is horrible and boring for multiple reasons. It is plagued with "big guy in armor", copy-paste, "difficult encounter" consisting mostly of many monsters at the same time (including bosses) which the control and lock-on (i.e. base Dark Souls mechanic) all doesn't support well
    - Bunch of changes that, to me, are not good (just as useless armor, invasion while hollowed, dodge frame changes, parry changes, etc.) and sometimes frustrating
    - Everything feels slow and sluggish

    ART DESIGN
    + Good music, okay sound (but in combat it's not good, it feels like hitting a sack of potato)
    + Amazing atmosphere and environment (the seacoast theme was good)
    - Even at release, graphics were outdated
    - Didn't understand most of the story even if I tried (without wiki, that is), and it's all around not engaging, especially the stream of 3 last bosses that are all "literally whos". The world building in general is weird and the level design makes no sense.    … Expand
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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.
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  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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