Dark Souls II

 PC
User Score
7.2

Mixed or average reviews- based on 3117 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1,992 out of 3117
  2. Mixed: 521 out of 3117
  3. Negative: 604 out of 3117
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  1. Nemeziz
    Apr 27, 2014
    5
    I've never done this before, but Dark Souls 2 deserves creating an account and submitting a review.

    I'm not going to address the technical issues the pc port is facing, or the quality of ingame graphics. It's a separate problem and I hope Namco Bandai will face some consequences of their false advertisement/bate and switch tactics. Dark Souls 2 is not a Souls game. It's as simple as    I've never done this before, but Dark Souls 2 deserves creating an account and submitting a review.

    I'm not going to address the technical issues the pc port is facing, or the quality of ingame graphics. It's a separate problem and I hope Namco Bandai will face some consequences of their false advertisement/bate and switch tactics.

    Dark Souls 2 is not a Souls game. It's as simple as that. It's missing everything that made the previous games so special. Starting with the controls, combat mechanics, loot system, game world, boss fights and ending with the difficulty level. It's all gone. Replaced with mechanics that try to "innovate"and remain similar to the previous game at the same time.

    The controls feel clunky and unresponsive. The character seems "heavy" and the movement is sluggish. Where in previous games the overall rules applied to both the player and the enemies. In Dark Souls 2 there's a different set of rules (stamina, poise, movement etc) for the player and the monsters. Some will have infinite stamina and spam heavy attacks to no end. Other's will "track" your movement in the middle of their attack animation. We're talking about spinning 360 degrees while "channeling" their attack. Some will even go as far as to reset the attack animation and hit you when they should be recovering from their last attack.

    The world design is inconsistent and seems out of place. One minute you're fighting a boss in a giant mill just to take the elevator up to the iron keep. The problem is - there's no keep above the mill. Level design is poor at best and the multitude of bon fires makes little sense. In some cases you'll have 4 of them in an area the size of Undead Asylum. You'll find yourself fighting 4 of the most powerful demons in the land to overcome a bit of rubble blocking the way in the forest...

    Instead of creating interesting enemies From decided to toss a bunch of mobs at you to make up what they lack in design with numbers. The difficulty doesn't come from good design choices but cheap gimmicks. Enemies attacking you through doors or a gate. Bosses with adds during the fight, bosses that "multiply" during the fight. It's all based on cheesy gimmicks. Even the fights that suppose to resemble if not imitate boss fights from the previous game are simply boring.

    Deaths feel cheap. It feels like the game is trolling you by not following it's own rules. The concept of having to die in order to get loot has no place in a Souls game.

    Overall the game is a huge disappointment.

    It's got as much in common with previous Souls games as Resident Evil 6 has with the original Resident Evil ;)

    An average imitation at best.    … Expand
  2. Power_Gamer
    Apr 28, 2014
    7
    I made this account just for this game. Pre ordered it 2 months before release. For the first four days I couldn't even start it due to White Screen of Death (crash during startup).

    Now the game has been fixed.

    Gameplay wise this is a great game. But the company's false advertising (graphics, lighting etc) forces me to keep my score down.

    7/10
  3. JacobCleveland
    Apr 28, 2014
    5
    I am re-doing my review since the patch today making the game actually PLAYABLE. Plus, I had to wait for 3 days after i pre-ordered the game 3 months ago just to run it properly. The keyboard and mouse controls are alright once you get used to them. The binding is really difficult to do, and the camera is clunky. The menu's still have Xbox 360 controller buttons instead of actual PCI am re-doing my review since the patch today making the game actually PLAYABLE. Plus, I had to wait for 3 days after i pre-ordered the game 3 months ago just to run it properly. The keyboard and mouse controls are alright once you get used to them. The binding is really difficult to do, and the camera is clunky. The menu's still have Xbox 360 controller buttons instead of actual PC key-binds which is ridiculous. They said it would be a decent port, but it's barely better than the consoles. The only thing great about the game that's different is the graphics and fps which is improved from consoles. If you wish to play this with a controller, it's worth it more than 360 or PS3. HOWEVER, I SHOULDN'T BE FORCED TO PLAY ON A CONTROLLER. If a game is released on a PC, I expect, no I demand that the controls are actually worth using. I didn't buy Dark Souls II on PC to play it with a controller.… Expand
  4. janne808
    Apr 28, 2014
    5
    Post-patch review: The game lacks the vision and the stellar game design from the first Dark Souls game. What you're left with is a mediocre hack and slash action romp that looks at times like a PS2 game.

    Claims made about Dark Souls 2 being developed for the PC natively have turned out to be another marketing gimmick and a bold faced lie. Not a grain of critique was spent on the gaming    Post-patch review: The game lacks the vision and the stellar game design from the first Dark Souls game. What you're left with is a mediocre hack and slash action romp that looks at times like a PS2 game.

    Claims made about Dark Souls 2 being developed for the PC natively have turned out to be another marketing gimmick and a bold faced lie. Not a grain of critique was spent on the gaming press about the obvious bad keyboard and mouse controls, that on top of everything else, have almost a half a second delay on every action you take. Xbox controller icons are left in place from the Xbox, proving that the game is just another quick console port. Nowhere it is explained, that you need a controller to properly play the title on PC, which makes sense from a marketing perspective. It should be made clear, that the PC gamer will have to put another 20 euros towards the title in the form of a Xbox controller, but it isn't.

    Don't believe the fan-boy hype. This is not a PC game, but a bad console port of a game which is overshadowed by the brilliance of the original Dark Souls.    … Expand
  5. dabro90
    Apr 29, 2014
    7
    This game would be a solid 10/10 if the PC port wasn't broken. I had to go through various forums and plenty methods to even run the game, which is unforgettable for a 50€ release. Huge amount of people still cant get it to run, I was lucky to get it resolved.

    Apart from that, game is great so far.
  6. cafebabe
    Apr 27, 2014
    6
    This game is not much fun anymore. It's either input lag or the unfair packs like the Three Sentinels. I don't like to summon people to beat the game, but this one leaves me no other choice - unlike DS1. And that makes me sad and angry. The input lag is annoying as hell. You block at 100% stamina and simple enemies slay through it. The game feels stable, but the fights don't feel balanced.This game is not much fun anymore. It's either input lag or the unfair packs like the Three Sentinels. I don't like to summon people to beat the game, but this one leaves me no other choice - unlike DS1. And that makes me sad and angry. The input lag is annoying as hell. You block at 100% stamina and simple enemies slay through it. The game feels stable, but the fights don't feel balanced. It just so frustrating. I know, the game is ment to be hard. I beat DS1 several times. But this one is has not the same feeling. I'm always feeling like being cheated by the engine.

    Another big issue is the bad durability of weapons. Having a favorite weapon for PvE is almost impossible, because durability is soooo low. I always find myself fighting mobs with my favorite, leveled weapon until they vanish (after 10 - 15 kills) so I can reach a boss with this weapon. And why the hell, don't enemies do damage to themself in close ranges?!!

    Another big issue is PvP. Too often, the lagging decides who the winner is. Lagstabs, teleports and taking damage after having dodged ten meters away becomes the norm. And you can call yourself lucky not to meet a hacker, because the PC platform is already infested with them. The game has no cheat countermeasures in place. (Why not make the client verify actions on both ends, compare them and just quit the duel when the comparison is negative?) It comes down to use a dashcam (record the PvP matches) and report the hackers to Steam along with a YouTube video.

    The overall map design feels less creative than in DS1. The zones are more separated so there is not that experience anymore, that you can look from one end of the world to the other. I liked that flavor of DS1 very much and it added to the atmosphere. In DS1 the zones felt like they really belong together.

    I hope, FromSoftware will deploy some patches to address the input lag and the PvP lagging. Right now, after 40 hours into the game, I'll take a longer break and wait for patches.    … Expand
  7. Sohae
    Apr 26, 2014
    7
    Terrible launch, can't even start the game.
    PC gamers were waiting for a "special" release, but not of this kind ... However, to pre-order and take money, there's no bug.
  8. ninja666
    May 4, 2014
    5
    I'd reviewed the game once, but since then I've managed to play it a bit more and managed to get further. I didn't beat it, but I played for 12 hours total before quitting. I'm still disappointed by how the game turned out and only gets one point more this time, but I want to review it once more from scratch because I want to make the review better, more comprehensible and I want to expandI'd reviewed the game once, but since then I've managed to play it a bit more and managed to get further. I didn't beat it, but I played for 12 hours total before quitting. I'm still disappointed by how the game turned out and only gets one point more this time, but I want to review it once more from scratch because I want to make the review better, more comprehensible and I want to expand it a little.

    The game, as a sequel to Dark Souls, feels disappointing. It was stripped down of everything that made Dark Souls 1 good and went through major changes that, for the most part, are changes for the worse. But, let's start with the pros first.

    Some of the mechanics are executed far better than in the former game. I really liked the presence of Human Effigies as a cure to hollowing instead of "liquid" and "soft" humanity that could be acquired pretty quickly, but also could be lost by one fatal mistake. In Dark Souls 2, when you die you lose your human form, but you can reverse the hollowing with ease - you don't even have to go back to the bonfire; you can do it immediately.

    Another thing is that the locations are far larger than they were in Dark Souls 1 so there's a lot more to explore. They are branched too, so very often you can get to the boss by many ways. Plus, some of the locations are truly breathtaking and atmospheric. I'm especially talking about No-man's Wharf and Harvest Valley with astonishing view on the humongous and abstract windmill. This is, unfortunately, too little to make me enjoy the game and give it a higher score, as numerous flaws overshadowed every good aspect the game had.

    Now for the flaws.

    Let's start with the key element and core of every Souls game - the combat system. In Dark Souls 1, the combat was very precise. The slow pace of battles and well-made-but-not-perfect animations made you "feel" the weight of the equipment, making it a major part of making up tactics against an enemy and your playstyle in general. When you wanted to be a knight armed to the teeth, fighting with a sword bigger than yourself, it was obvious that you had to sacrifice mobility for it, while choosing a leather armor and a scimitar was the exact opposite. In Dark Souls 2 it doesn't matter - every piece of the equipment feels super-light and the only thing indicating you actually travel heavy is the rolling speed - and it feels very forced.

    The difficulty - another key element of the Souls series, and something it is always proud of. Dark Souls 1 was really unique in this aspect - it was hard and punishing, but very fair at the same time; you always knew what you did wrong and could learn from your mistakes. Dark Souls 2 is nothing like that. After a few deaths you start to notice that most of them weren't your fault, but the game's. The difficulty was amped up just for the sake of being hard, while forgetting to add fairness along the way. You often die from being outnumbered by groups enemies that "aggro" all at the same and stunlock you to death or cheap tricks, like mummies in Lost Bastille that can explode and get back on their feet as many times as they want. There's also tracking of your moves present in the enemy AI - they spin around following you during every second of their attack animation, giving you next to no chance to dodge. And to make things even more "exciting", your character's movements are now clunky and awkward - he gets tired really quickly and can't dodge properly.

    Now, the atmosphere. Dark Souls 2 lacks certain peculiarity Demon's Souls and Dark Souls 1 had, giving you generic Dark Fantasy stuff in the veins of Gothic series. Now, it wouldn't be too bad if it had any soul (pun not intended) - despite what I've stated above, almost all locations feel bland and uninspired. Most of the them are either a forest, a castle or something trying too hard to mimic a location from the first game. Literally, none of these made any impression on me, aside from boredom. Another thing is - why are you even in Drangleic. You don't have any purpose of being there, aside from looking for alleged cure for the curse, which you are told right at the beginning, doesn't exist.

    The level design in this game is absolutely terrible. Aside from the blandness, the locations' arrangement in the world map makes no sense or logic whatsoever. The creators went for Demon Souls-esque hub world with the central point being Majula. It's not a bad thing, if executed properly, but in this game, the locations feel very disconnected. They are always preceeded either a tunnel or a cave and there's no smooth transition between them.

    Concluding - Dark Souls II is a pretty average game with many technical difficulties and quirky, badly executed mechanics, that may be good for die-hard fans of the series, but for an average gamer, who likes challenging games, it's too unbalanced and badly-made to be enjoyed. Hence only a 5/10.    … Expand
  9. dlopatnikov
    Feb 8, 2015
    7
    Demon's souls was better. Dark souls was better. But somehow everyone thinks this game is the real deal. I don't know. I don't like the direction the series is going. But who am I to judge.
  10. kobriks
    Jul 9, 2014
    5
    Huge disappointment. I didn't finish the game. It was nothing like first 2 games, only soul DS II has is in its title. I couldn't believe how plain and empty world felt. Not even a single memorable location in 25h of gameplay, non-existing plot (not like it was good in DS I but at least you had idea of what you are doing), boring repetitive enemies and very poorly made boss fights (screwHuge disappointment. I didn't finish the game. It was nothing like first 2 games, only soul DS II has is in its title. I couldn't believe how plain and empty world felt. Not even a single memorable location in 25h of gameplay, non-existing plot (not like it was good in DS I but at least you had idea of what you are doing), boring repetitive enemies and very poorly made boss fights (screw creativity! Let’s make one average boss and make player fight 5 of them at once! That will be 5 times more fun!). 25h from which I enjoyed maybe 2-3 hours. I'll better just finish ng+5 in DS I.… Expand
  11. suneater
    May 9, 2014
    7
    There's a lot to say about this game so I broke it down into three catagories: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly. Skip to the bottom for a synopsis.

    The Good: +DaS2 is still huge. There is a lot to explore and there's plenty of hidden areas with tough bosses. +A larger, more open game world. +More character interaction. Much of the lore is fleshed out via NPCs as you journey through    There's a lot to say about this game so I broke it down into three catagories: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly. Skip to the bottom for a synopsis.

    The Good:
    +DaS2 is still huge. There is a lot to explore and there's plenty of hidden areas with tough bosses.
    +A larger, more open game world.
    +More character interaction. Much of the lore is fleshed out via NPCs as you journey through the game, with characters having more to say (and more to sell).
    +Better networking and better co-op. A new ring essentially makes your summon sign only visible to your friends.
    +More accessible covenants. While most covenants in DaS you had to jump through hoops just to find, overall DaS2's covenants are easy to join and more enjoyable to level.
    +Dual wielding is greatly improved. Power stancing lets you swing both your weapons in new combos.
    +Magic is greatly expanded and includes a new catagory for Hexes.
    +Greatly improved NG+ experience. Bosses drop new items, new enemies spawn in special areas, and some bosses gain new mechanics.

    The Bad (huge problems that will [probably] never change):
    -Terrible map design. Most levels are very simplistic, with some even being a straight corridor from beginning to the token boss.
    -Heavily unbalanced covenant rank-up requirements. Heirs of the Sun's 30 sunlight medals can be achieved in a few hours for max rank, while BoB & Blue Sentinel's 500 kills requires NG+ or nonstop victories in the arena (losses count as -1 rank points... why?).
    -Overabundance of forgettable, humanoid bosses. Some are recycled later in the game (or later playthroughs) as normal mobs or bosses. Many bosses have similar attack patterns and fall apart when you circle strafe and roll.
    -Swarms of enemies everywhere. While DaS focused on intense 1v1 fights, there were occasional cannon fodder slaughterfests. DaS 2 will regularly throw multiple heavily armored & long-reaching (polearms, ultra greatswords) enemies at you.
    -Parrying and riposting are harder to perform and less rewarding. Even if you manage to riposte, you can now be damaged while riposting by the swarms of enemies in DaS 2.
    -Overabundance of healing items and consumables. There's no reason to start as a Cleric because of 3 different purchasable lifegems (HoT consumable), 12 Estus Flask+5s (easily attained on first playthrough), and 8 other consumables that restore spells or cure statuses on top of healing you.
    -Terrible plot and story telling. The last few levels (and especially the ending cutscene) make no sense and it feels like the devs just wanted to add "cool" stuff to pad the game.

    The Ugly (nitpicking and balance problems):
    *Iframes have been removed from backstabs, ripostes, using fog gates, doors, and other environmental actions.
    *Roll iframes & estus flask drinking speed are tied to a stat.
    *No pyromancer starting class. You have to get roughly through one-quarter of the game to find your first flame and pyromancy and its very easy to miss.
    *Tons of balance issues with both PvE & PvP. Near the end of the first playthrough magic becomes very powerful, even in PvE. In PvP most spells worth using in PvP will kill you in 1 or 2 hits even with strong magic defense.
    *No un-cracked Red/Blue Eye Orbs and cracked orbs aren't sold by NPCs until NG+.
    *Changes to equip load mean everyone is some kind of hybrid class, doing normal rolls while wearing full Havels with a cloud of Persuers- err, i mean Affinity over them while waving a flaming katana around.
    *Cheaters are currently a huge issue on the PC version. You can now be invaded while Hollow and not being human is a big HP handicap, meaning you will run into cheaters much more often than in DaS.

    Dark Souls 2 isn't much of an honest sequel to Dark Souls; Being more akin to a numbered Final Fantasy sequel, with the only connection between the two being some equipment & spell names as far as I can tell. While it will win tons of GOTY awards, it also has a ton of issues that need to be addressed before it will be remembered as fondly as its predecessor. DaS 2 is definitely worth playing, but it feels like a rushed cash-in made by a B-Team who were told how a Souls game should be made (and then went and did their own thing anyway). Hopefully FromSoft's next Souls game has some actual soul to it... Otherwise we might just end up with another Armored Core situation with a new half-assed sequel being pooped out every few years.    … Expand
  12. Retro-Sapien
    May 7, 2014
    7
    While a good, solid game in its own right, "Dark Souls II" is ultimately somewhat of a step backward from its predecessor.

    The change in directors is evident in the form of a weaker plot, inconsistent world-building, lack of variety in enemies, and aggravating changes in combat mechanics (such as increased enemy tracking) which come off more as difficulty for difficulty's sake rather    While a good, solid game in its own right, "Dark Souls II" is ultimately somewhat of a step backward from its predecessor.

    The change in directors is evident in the form of a weaker plot, inconsistent world-building, lack of variety in enemies, and aggravating changes in combat mechanics (such as increased enemy tracking) which come off more as difficulty for difficulty's sake rather than to offer a rewarding challenge to players. In addition, while not necessarily a problem the apparent downgrade in graphics and lighting may come as a slight disappointment to fans.

    Overall, "Dark Souls II" is a flawed, yet serviceable entry in the "Souls" series, and the aforementioned issues are possibly just growing pains from the change in direction that will hopefully be ironed out in future installments.    … Expand
  13. rAMZA
    Apr 25, 2017
    7
    Realy boring combat just hit and roll hit and roll, ill give it a 7 because it is still a good score, could have more difficulty options and a hc mode if character dies then its the end of it.
  14. Mattacus
    Apr 3, 2015
    5
    Want a pithy summary? How about "phoned in"? Or maybe "sloppy hitboxes"? No, no, no, I got it: "unfair." Aye, that's the one. I can get past the **** appearance. Not only does it not look as good as advertised, it doesn't even look as good as the first one (forget the **** textures and lifeless environments, but who thought green zombies was a good idea?). But I can let all that go if theWant a pithy summary? How about "phoned in"? Or maybe "sloppy hitboxes"? No, no, no, I got it: "unfair." Aye, that's the one. I can get past the **** appearance. Not only does it not look as good as advertised, it doesn't even look as good as the first one (forget the **** textures and lifeless environments, but who thought green zombies was a good idea?). But I can let all that go if the game is good.

    But it isn't. It tries. It has the basic appearance of Dark Souls but not the...soul. When you are behind (and several in-game feet away from) a forward-thrusting spear-wielder, you shouldn't be taking damage. And it's **** like that, dying when your character is in an apparently safe space, that turns this from an educational exercise in patience, tactics, and the adrenaline rush of long-sought success -- into a cheap-ass dice roll, more akin to angry birds than either Souls game.    … Expand
  15. kingzardoz
    Mar 17, 2015
    5
    Only reason I'm writing this review is because Bloodborne is coming out and I was thinking about how bad Dark Souls 2 was, hoping that Bloodborne is better. I preordered this game on steam and didn't have all the PC problems people were talking about but still never finished the game because I got so bored. I played Demon Souls and Dark Souls and it becomes very obvious after an hour inOnly reason I'm writing this review is because Bloodborne is coming out and I was thinking about how bad Dark Souls 2 was, hoping that Bloodborne is better. I preordered this game on steam and didn't have all the PC problems people were talking about but still never finished the game because I got so bored. I played Demon Souls and Dark Souls and it becomes very obvious after an hour in this game that it was made by the B-team. The world and enemies are so boring, I can't think of one interesting or memorable location or enemy. A good game director will have an idea or be inspired to make something, From's B-team were just on auto-pilot, recycling content and pumping out a product with zero soul. The Demon and Dark Souls environments and enemies would tell an unspoken story, you would get a sense of history and purpose from the world and its inhabitants, Dark Souls II lacks any of that depth. Hopefully Bloodborne brings the Miyazaki brand back up to the standards everybody expects.… Expand
  16. Dziver
    May 26, 2014
    7
    Read further to see my comparison between DS1 and DS2. However, first I must say that I find it funny how everyone is being so honest now. When DS1 came out it was only praised, praised and praised. It was like a fad to praise it. In reality it wasn't much better or worse than DS2.

    Looking at how DS2 compares to DS1: + No GFWL + Connecting to others works very smoothly and summoning    Read further to see my comparison between DS1 and DS2. However, first I must say that I find it funny how everyone is being so honest now. When DS1 came out it was only praised, praised and praised. It was like a fad to praise it. In reality it wasn't much better or worse than DS2.

    Looking at how DS2 compares to DS1:
    + No GFWL
    + Connecting to others works very smoothly and summoning signs appear very fast. Level doesn't also matter anymore, only the total amount of souls you have collected(google "soul memory" to find out more).
    + Stats make more sense now. DS1 had very hard diminishing returns after 40 points. DS2 still has them, but they're not as apparent and have more stages.
    + Runs very well and has real PC options. No need for 3rd party fixes anymore.
    +/- No unpredictable "**** you" moments, it's all about skill.
    +/- You can't miss any NPC interactions anymore and there are no hidden quests.
    +/- Leaving covenants doesn't have any kind of a penalty or cost.
    +/- Really many things from DS1 have been recycled, like most(if not all) weapons, spells, and enemy movesets.
    +/- Textures are way better than in DS1, but the game still looks a bit dated.
    +/- Mouse and keyboard support is better than in DS1, but it could still use some work.
    - 360 controllers have strange deadzones.
    - Very many things in the game are frame rate dependent. This includes equipment wear, invulnerability time during dodge rolls, attacks of some enemies, and other things. i.e. At 60fps your equipment wears twice as fast as at 30fps.
    - Environment and lore are much less interesting than in DS1.
    - Boss fights are not as memorable.
    - Music is really average.
    - World doesn't make sense anymore. It can rain on other side of a door and be sunny on the other. Also, if you look at 3D model of the whole world, different areas overlap each other. I personally don't really care about this, but in DS1 everything was consistent and I know many players liked it.    … Expand
  17. cylentstorm
    Jan 16, 2015
    7
    Well, if you're familiar with From Software or the at least the first Dark Souls, this is more of the same, but in a slightly more polished package.

    If you're thinking about diving in for the first time, allow me to suggest trying before buying, because this is most definitely a niche game. The Dark Souls games are both praised and cursed because of their brutal and unforgiving level of    Well, if you're familiar with From Software or the at least the first Dark Souls, this is more of the same, but in a slightly more polished package.

    If you're thinking about diving in for the first time, allow me to suggest trying before buying, because this is most definitely a niche game. The Dark Souls games are both praised and cursed because of their brutal and unforgiving level of difficulty. Basically, any enemy that you face poses a deadly threat, especially for low-level characters and inexperienced players. They are definitely unique among action RPGs for that, if nothing else. The settings and overall style are interesting despite borrowing heavily from typical dark fantasy lore. The controls and combat mechanics are stiff but predictable, and actually deep and nuanced if you take the time to feel them out. Music is sparse, yet atmospheric, sound effects are solid, visuals are stylized and moody, but nothing spectacular. Menus are clunky at best, and do little to help ease one into the complicated systems that govern character development and outfitting. The game world holds many secrets but suffers from the same linear trappings as most action/adventure titles. The "multiplayer" component is...one of the many reasons that I recommend a trial run before you commit.

    Simply put: if punishing challenge and archaic game design aren't an issue for you, then Dark Souls II could be a good way to help satisfy the masochist in you.    … Expand
  18. Llaerrick
    Sep 12, 2014
    6
    post-patches, it's a decent enough game but still doesn't feel as substantial or fulfilling as DS1. for hardcore keyboard users, again the control scheme leaves a lot to be desired. it can still be good fun and the combat can be really challenging (yes, you will die a lot). unfortunately, something still feels missing (not enough soul) in DS2: having chalked up more than 700 hours on DS1,post-patches, it's a decent enough game but still doesn't feel as substantial or fulfilling as DS1. for hardcore keyboard users, again the control scheme leaves a lot to be desired. it can still be good fun and the combat can be really challenging (yes, you will die a lot). unfortunately, something still feels missing (not enough soul) in DS2: having chalked up more than 700 hours on DS1, i find myself beating the game after less than 30 hours and having less desire for further play-throughs (whereas in DS1 i replayed the game so many times with so many different builds)… Expand
  19. Xevon
    Feb 16, 2018
    6
    After playing either Dark Souls or Dark Souls III, Dark Souls II feels foreign, alien, a little weird. Lots of small things have changed and on the surface the game looks prettier, feels smoother, etc. But in time, the cracks begin to show. The project lead Hidetaka Miyazaki was focusing his efforts on Bloodborne and the game suffers for his exclusion, making a number of serious misstepsAfter playing either Dark Souls or Dark Souls III, Dark Souls II feels foreign, alien, a little weird. Lots of small things have changed and on the surface the game looks prettier, feels smoother, etc. But in time, the cracks begin to show. The project lead Hidetaka Miyazaki was focusing his efforts on Bloodborne and the game suffers for his exclusion, making a number of serious missteps and failing to reach the lofty heights of it's predecessor. The re-released version Scholar of the First Sin is perhaps worse with puzzling enemy placements and utterly insane and ludicrous adjustments over the original which disrupt the flow and do nothing to improve the game in any way. Do not believe this critics. This is easily the worst Dark Souls game and pales in comparison to the first and third games. Play Dark Souls, Play Dark Souls III, avoid this at all costs.… Expand
  20. Ravvy
    Aug 11, 2014
    6
    This Game does not focus on any of the things which made Dark Souls great. The background story is lame, the NPC's have no own characteristics and the level design is just bad. The whole game feels from the beginning like it's all about the player instead of the world and other the characters. Because of logically impossible maps, bad boss design and artificial difficulty created byThis Game does not focus on any of the things which made Dark Souls great. The background story is lame, the NPC's have no own characteristics and the level design is just bad. The whole game feels from the beginning like it's all about the player instead of the world and other the characters. Because of logically impossible maps, bad boss design and artificial difficulty created by spamming great ammounts of enemies on the player even in boss fights not much is left from the epicness Hidetaka Miyazaki gave us in the first game.
    One good thing about this game is the better working multiplayer but everything else except some small changes is a huge downgrade to previous Souls Games.

    Fromsoftware Team B! If anyone of you is reading this, I just wanna tell you you are doing things wrong.    … Expand
  21. xcolxmustardx
    Oct 27, 2014
    6
    Very disappointing. Gameplay is the same as the original Dark Souls, with small changes that don't really work to well. Infinite Life-gems make it so you don't have to conserve your healing potions at all. The PVP systems are poorly thought out and much more of a grind than they were in the original, which makes it way less enjoyable. (especially the Brotherhood of Blood.) They decidedVery disappointing. Gameplay is the same as the original Dark Souls, with small changes that don't really work to well. Infinite Life-gems make it so you don't have to conserve your healing potions at all. The PVP systems are poorly thought out and much more of a grind than they were in the original, which makes it way less enjoyable. (especially the Brotherhood of Blood.) They decided to sacrifice the story in this game for lore which makes it extremely boring and uninvolved. The world design (While beautiful) is poorly thought out, and doesn't intersect and build on itself the way the original Dark Souls did... (I'm looking at you "Shrine of Winter") I wasn't blown away by the difficulty, or by the puzzles, or challenging level designs the way I was with DKS1, (Sen's Fortress, Lost Izalith, Tomb of Giants, The Abyss, New Londo Ruins) and i found it annoying that the game decided to offer several different paths of travel, instead of guiding me to the areas that it wanted (In the early game) based on difficulty.
    Deciding to have someone else direct this game seriously hurt it's quality.
    I'm going back to the Undead Parish.    … Expand
  22. Robpants
    Mar 26, 2015
    6
    Comparing to the previous Dark Souls and Demon's Souls games, there are improvements and downgrades. Dark Souls II fixes some often annoying aspects of the other games, while removing large chunks of enjoyability and cohesion.

    To begin, the environment and atmosphere of the game is virtually gone. In Dark Souls, the game truly makes you feel as if you are alone in this undead journey,    Comparing to the previous Dark Souls and Demon's Souls games, there are improvements and downgrades. Dark Souls II fixes some often annoying aspects of the other games, while removing large chunks of enjoyability and cohesion.

    To begin, the environment and atmosphere of the game is virtually gone. In Dark Souls, the game truly makes you feel as if you are alone in this undead journey, which is a good feeling. It matches the game's atmosphere. Dark Souls II somehow has removed that dark and lonely atmosphere and in it's place is a bland, unenthusiastic attempt to appeal to more audiences. It feels more like any other game off the shelf, which is not what you expect from a Dark Souls game.

    Some would say the graphics in DS2 were updated from DS, and in some cases that is true. But for the most part the difference is negligible for a game that came out 3 years later. And going back to the atmosphere, the graphics style of DS2 is just boring, almost cartoon-ish in a game that is supposed to make you feel alone and undead.

    The game play mechanics have been revised in many ways from previous games. The jump command is now more easily attainable, combat has been refined, somewhat. But as many other reviewers have noted, the combat feels unfair. In previous games, the combat was difficult, but fair and so rewarding when you overcome an obstacle. In DS2, the enemies seem designed to do nothing but infuriate the player. Enemies will rotate incredibly to strike you with a slow attack that you should have easily dodged. Often you will be faced with waves of annoying enemies in place of a few well designed, challenging enemies.

    Level design is nicely varied, moving from poisonous ravines to molten strongholds and everywhere in between. However as others have pointed out, some of the level connections don't quite make sense.

    The story can be tough to follow at times, and is no where near as engaging as DS and Demon's Souls.

    Overall Dark Souls II brings some innovation to the party, but falls short on nearly everything else. It's the kind of game that you play if you enjoy the classic RPG experiences of leveling up, finding and equipping interesting gear, and fighting with powerful weapons and spells. But all of that alone does not make a good game.    … Expand
  23. tsmasher1000
    Dec 16, 2015
    7
    Imagine my excitement when I heard that there was a sequel coming to the absolutely fantastic game, Dark Souls! However, I was disappointed by the game overall. To me, the graphics didn't matter so much as the gameplay. The reason why Dark Souls was such a unique and fun experience was because Dark Souls, while inflicted with terrible graphics (which is not a big deal to me), had insanelyImagine my excitement when I heard that there was a sequel coming to the absolutely fantastic game, Dark Souls! However, I was disappointed by the game overall. To me, the graphics didn't matter so much as the gameplay. The reason why Dark Souls was such a unique and fun experience was because Dark Souls, while inflicted with terrible graphics (which is not a big deal to me), had insanely good gameplay. All of the enemies felt unique, special, and had interesting designs. Going back to Dark Souls 2, this is where it ultimately fails. The enemies are usually of linear design, and do not feel unique or interesting. Most of the enemies (which are knights) play relatively similar with no interesting variances. This is also not to mention the fact that the game seems to punish you for trying and experimenting different builds and seeing how to play the game. When you are killed, you lose maximum HP, something I felt was very annoying. It felt like I was limited to what I could experiment and it was annoying because in such a difficult game where simply bad footing will kill you, you will end up losing a lot of health and would be forced to use human effigies (which was annoying after a while). Another thing that felt punishing was that when one died too many times, the enemies would just vanish as though the developers were giving you a free pass. Again, it felt punishing because it was as though the developers didn't want you to have the challenge because you couldn't do it after a certain number of times. Those features added very little to the game and were not enjoyable. Overall, Dark Souls 2 was a disappointment that could have been a better game. Though it has better graphics, it feels like a cheaper imitation of its predecessors and had the potential to be much more than that.… Expand
  24. zoodle
    Oct 25, 2020
    5
    Under the impression of Dark Souls 1, I bought the second and third parts of the trilogy. But when I started playing it, I immediately did not like the controls and character animations, after playing more, I realized that I did not like this game at all, in comparison with the first part it was some horror, I did not like the gameplay too much and I immediately returned it after playingUnder the impression of Dark Souls 1, I bought the second and third parts of the trilogy. But when I started playing it, I immediately did not like the controls and character animations, after playing more, I realized that I did not like this game at all, in comparison with the first part it was some horror, I did not like the gameplay too much and I immediately returned it after playing something about 1.8 hours.… Expand
  25. F3T1W
    Aug 27, 2021
    5
    The worst Souls Like from Soft'ov, the atmosphere of DS is very imaginary, but the action is of high quality
  26. DarisW
    May 11, 2022
    7
    The only souls game I'm not eager to replay. I have some favourite moments in it, don't get me wrong, but there is a lot poor designed bosses and locations, and mobs are all over place sometimes. Also adaptability is complete bs. But I was invested in lore. It'll be great to read DS2 comic or something like that one day. +1 point for the cute cat in Majula
  27. skrik
    Apr 27, 2014
    5
    Don't listen to the people who tell you to skip the bad reviews on this game. The game really does have issues unfortunately. I am a big fan of Deamon souls and DS 1 but the change of director for DS 2 really makes the game feel different. It's not about the game being hard... Its way easier than the two previous ones except for some oddly unbalanced parts of the game.
    No the real issue    Don't listen to the people who tell you to skip the bad reviews on this game. The game really does have issues unfortunately. I am a big fan of Deamon souls and DS 1 but the change of director for DS 2 really makes the game feel different. It's not about the game being hard... Its way easier than the two previous ones except for some oddly unbalanced parts of the game.
    No the real issue is that the game feels super lazy. Most of the ennemies are just ports from the previous games. Same for the items. It feels like playing Dark souls 1 again but with less interesting levels and monsters! Deamon Soul and Dark souls 1 had amazing ambiance and strange creatures, impressive bosses... Dark souls 2 throws at you nothing but zombie kind of humans and knights for hours. Even the bosses are just knights, with stronger attacks. Where the heck are my giant swamp things, blobs wearing shields and spears, giant fire breathing spiders ???
    The game feels horribly uninspired and I found myself bored playing it while it just threw at me hordes of the same, basic ennemies again and again ( counting on numbers to make it difficult instead of making the ennemies themselves interesting to fight).

    A big disappointment for anyone looking for a true sequel to the master pieces the other souls games were.    … Expand
  28. Gzhindra
    Jun 17, 2014
    6
    Dark Souls 2 in not by any mean a bad game. To sum up, it is what happen when you give a great license with well though mechanics to someone lacking visions and understanding of what made Dark Soul 1 such a great game. The basis are good but the game designer should have heeded the moto "If it works don't try and fix it".

    Dark Souls 1 had a well thought and overall coherently made    Dark Souls 2 in not by any mean a bad game. To sum up, it is what happen when you give a great license with well though mechanics to someone lacking visions and understanding of what made Dark Soul 1 such a great game. The basis are good but the game designer should have heeded the moto "If it works don't try and fix it".

    Dark Souls 1 had a well thought and overall coherently made world. In Darks Souls 2 it is more like a patchwork of environments that hardly fit together without any logic. The game lacks terribly in atmosphere. The story was not the forte of Dark Souls 1 but there was a sense of purpose. There is no such thing in Dark Souls 2 as it has become only a beat them all with stats and upgradeable equipment. It is still fun to toy with but we lost something.

    There are at least to main game mechanics mistakes. The game has been casualized with a limited amount of respawn by enemies. If getting through an area is too difficult for you, you shouldn't worry as you can kill one enemy at a time, respawn them and after a while they simply won't be here anymore making you passing dead easy. They did this to prevent farming but they could have simply limited the number of souls and equipement one enemy can provide instead of doing this. The other broken mechanic is the weapon durability. It is base on frame rate. The higher your framerate the fastest your going to break your weapons. This mechanics is not only stupid, it is tedious and brings nothing good to the game, not even challenge.

    It was already the case with Dark Souls 1 but:
    - it lack a pause button which is not acceptable. People can have urgencies in their lives and while it understandable in PVP it isn't in PVE.
    - Online is forced on the player whether you like it or not
    - No return to Windows option in the menu.    … Expand
  29. Honesth0mbre
    Apr 29, 2014
    6
    All in all Darksouls II feels like a heartfelt but misguided homage to the series, rather than an entry in it. It is an enjoyable game with glaring flaws in its design philosophies and polish. The developers have made the fatal error of confusing obtuse and irrational mechanics for challenge and the result is a game that is difficult in all the wrong ways. These flaws keep it fromAll in all Darksouls II feels like a heartfelt but misguided homage to the series, rather than an entry in it. It is an enjoyable game with glaring flaws in its design philosophies and polish. The developers have made the fatal error of confusing obtuse and irrational mechanics for challenge and the result is a game that is difficult in all the wrong ways. These flaws keep it from greatness, but the source material the game is built from is simply too good for it to be crap. I will elaborate below, but if you are the type to be insulted by the notion of a controller being used to play a PC game…well I think you might do yourself a favour and just avoid this game for now…

    I own demon's souls (PS3) and darks souls 1 (PC, modded to glory). I beat both several times, I dance with wolves! Sif, I really wish there had been another way buddy, better you than me though :( And fundamentally this is a very interesting game in what it tries to accomplish as a sequel instead of a spiritual successor. The goal here is the tried and true sequel creed of “bigger, badder, more badass”, From Software has been explicit about this from the get-go but the usual hype train might have been boarded by some unfortunates swept up by said hype. Any souls game will rip you to shreds if you expect a mainstream action game, be prepared to die. Many, many, many times.

    The main problem with Dark Souls II is ironically that it has accomplished what it set out to do. But in the wrong ways more often than not. The new design team I fear, has misunderstood the proverbial 'Soul' of the Souls series. It is not in fact about difficulty but about the ambiance and immersion provided by a cruel and merciless world. What drives the Souls games is that the brutal difficulty is a cog in the wheel of a machine that spins out a tale summed up as follows: This world hates you, everything in this world hates you and wants to kill you. You are no more important than everything that hates you, and die just as easily as the animate things that hate you. Hate is the single most important part here, you hate the bosses and want to laugh over their dissolving corpses after countless violent deaths at their hands or more grotesque appendages. This is the source of the emotional payoff that has made the souls game's such instant smash hits. You felt things when playing these games, had emotional investment in your own stories. The lore was interesting but the anaemic plot was best ignored in favour of weaving your own tale.

    The thing is that, as I said before, Dark Souls II just doesn't "get it." Yes it is an enjoyable and punishing action RPG. But the punishment comes from poorly conceived and/or implemented sources.
    -weapons degrade very rapidly and repairs are frustrated by the rarity of materials that require them. In a similar vein, you lose maximum health upon every death and the rare item that restores your health is too rare for a game in which you are supposed to die countless times. The logic of having to face a monster you couldn’t beat with an ever diminishing chance of success upon successive tries is just baffling. Monsters killed you in previous Souls because you were not good enough, now it might just be that you don’t have the HP to survive any of their auto aim attacks.
    -enemies are on turn tables until they strike. I can deal with this mechanically since perfectly timed dodges are one of the mainstays of my beloved monster hunter series. But it just ruins the immersion for a giant armoured tortoise knight to just rotate whilst tracking my character. All the while looking frozen in its striking pose until it suddenly attacks the second I stop my futile strafing.
    - you cannot aim properly with magic unless you lock on, and your mobility in crippled to fatal levels when you do. There is a reason most playthroughs involve a shield people.
    - Drangleic is not a country but a series of independent zones. The variety on offer is actually very pleasant but geographically it just makes no sense...AT ALL. Again, an immersion killer.
    My biggest problem with Dark Souls II is how it handled its core promise of Darkness and the influence this would have had on enemy encounters. The now infamous PS3 demo was a harrowing and thrilling exercise in one on one combat where you had to make the choice of being able to reliably see your aggressor or reliably defend against his crushing blows. Apparently the lighting combined with the particle effects were too taxing for the primary systems (PS3 and Xbox). It was too late at that point, the promise had been made and release was looming. I think they went the mob route to try and create a new source of tension. Fact is, the Soul's games are one on one games, you're too clunky and easily tired (stamina mechanics) to deal with a zerg rush of enemies.    … Expand
  30. owen445x
    Jun 7, 2014
    7
    I really want to give this game more than a 7, but I can't after playing demon souls and dark souls.

    Demon souls was awesome and Dark souls took everything good from the first and made it even better in my opinion. I have over 160 hours on each game so I feel like I have a good grasp on each game. Then I get dark souls 2 and the graphics are stunning! But, so many new features were    I really want to give this game more than a 7, but I can't after playing demon souls and dark souls.

    Demon souls was awesome and Dark souls took everything good from the first and made it even better in my opinion. I have over 160 hours on each game so I feel like I have a good grasp on each game.

    Then I get dark souls 2 and the graphics are stunning! But, so many new features were added that weren't needed.

    Dark souls was all about learning from death. If you keep dying from a mob, then you are doing something wrong and you need to perfect your form in order to progress. Dark souls 2 adds more mobs to make each scenario difficult, but why add the health bar penalty each time you die.. like dying was bad enough and having to fight all the trash mobs over to get your original souls back.

    I agree the durability system was flawed in Dark Souls 1 and only served as an annoyance or an additional task to repair your equipment at the bon fire. But, this new durability system sucks in dark souls 2. I like to stick to my preferred weapon, but now I have to carry 3 -5 other weapons since each mob takes a good percentage of the weapon durability down. I would have made the durability of the weapon degrade if you were using it improperly. For example, using a large sword in a tight hallway. If you hit the walls, it should damage the sword since your using it incorrectly. This would make you switch to a spear or something where you can thrust in tight spaces.

    I also don't care for the new spawn system. After clearing an area X amount of times, the mobs won't spawn so you can't farm them like you could in Dark Souls 1. First of all, dark souls 1 made it where you became a pro from having to clear out trash mobs each time you stopped at a camp fire to rest. In dark souls 2, If I find a part that's hard.. I just farm the area till the mobs disappear. I can see where this is a conveyance, but overall it detracts from the experience in my opinion. It's like the developers crammed each area with tons of mobs expecting you to just farm them till they no longer spawn. In dark souls 1 each area was populated properly and this allowed you to go long distances before resting at a camp spot.

    Overall, I think the game is going to be ok. But, for new players.. I would highly recommend dark souls 1 of the sequel.    … Expand
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Awards & Rankings

2
#2 Best PC Game of 2014
8
#8 Most Discussed PC Game of 2014
12
#12 Most Shared PC Game of 2014

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
91

Universal acclaim - based on 36 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 36 out of 36
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 36
  3. Negative: 0 out of 36
  1. CD-Action
    Jul 23, 2014
    95
    This game’s playability puts to shame everything that’s been released for the new generation of consoles. [06/2014, p.54]
  2. PC PowerPlay
    Jun 6, 2014
    90
    The definitive Dark Souls II experience, the latest entry to The Souls series shines on the PC. [June 2014, p.50]
  3. Riot Pixels
    Jun 5, 2014
    80
    If you’re a fan of hardcore games, try Dark Souls 2. It is not as memorable as its predecessor, and yet it is still a phenomenal experience.
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