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. 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
  2. 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.
  3. 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
  4. Alsmir
    Aug 25, 2014
    7
    Short version: decent, fun game, has a lot to offer but it also has some major flaws.

    I haven't really spend that much time with DS 1, since I got quite disappointed that RPG elements were marginal and it was mostly action game. I've got convinced by one of my friends to try out DS 2. He claimed that DS 2 got vastly improved compared to DS 1 and I should give it a shot. This time I was    Short version: decent, fun game, has a lot to offer but it also has some major flaws.

    I haven't really spend that much time with DS 1, since I got quite disappointed that RPG elements were marginal and it was mostly action game.
    I've got convinced by one of my friends to try out DS 2. He claimed that DS 2 got vastly improved compared to DS 1 and I should give it a shot. This time I was well aware that I'm going after action title and my expectations were lowered so in theory nothing should go wrong.

    Unfortunately the beginnings were far from great. Any PC user that tried playing DS knows how badly ported it was. I honestly couldn't believe that in that area not much have changed. You don't need mouse fix anymore and the game is playable on keyboard+mouse combo, BUT you better think about binding your regular and strong attacks to keys. Some special attacks (guard break, jumping attack) just refuse to work if you use LMB/RMB + forward. They do work for forward + (insert some binding, like "R" key).

    Rough start, eh? All the in-game cues point you to controller bindings, so you better get ready to memorize what binding is "X", "Y", "RT" etc.
    On top of that tutorial once again only covers most basic elements of the game. If you want to learn anything more complex - get ready to spend hours reading guides and DS 2 wiki.

    This time I just got over it and started enjoying the game. The game can be challenging and bring a lot of fun. I'm enjoyin it but I want to mention some of the issues I've had with this game so far. Don't get me wrong: I'm not trying to discourage players from buying it, but rather warn them what problems they might encounter. If those problems won't bother them then by all means get the game and enjoy it.

    Lets get to the issues that piss me off the most:
    1. PvP
    I love PvP, but to be precise, balanced and fair PvP. DS 2 has a potential to offer that if lag could be fixed or matchmaker reworked.
    But what if you're not in the mood for PvP? What if you're a complete newbie that just wants to complete PvE content?
    Suck it. No other way of avoiding PvP unless you go offline and give up your ability to summon players for co-op. In your first playthrough you will get clubbed over and over again by players with PvP focused characters. Expect to get invaded in the middle of a fight, when you're low on hp and/or spell uses just to be 1 hit and loose humanity. Expect to get invaded by more than one player if you visit ceratain areas.

    Matchmaker itself is designed in a way that will mostly punish new players. Your power level is decided by how many souls have you spent so far. Basically if you buy a new spell/armor/weapon just to test it, even if it turns out that it sucks and you'll never use it again, game decides that your character just got stronger.
    PvPers that only get the essential items for their build will get even more advantage over you.

    Anyway, you just have to live with it, so what else might ruin your day? Lets see:

    - Level design. I've never encountered in any other game so many moments where I felt the game developers added some elements just to troll me. I get it - you need to be carefull all the time to survive, but a sudden hole filled with poison, all the lava pits, cliffs etc. Too many times I had to discover that blocking some attack will still knock me back far enough to fall into water and die. And of course there's also a lovely bridge with a hole in the middle of it and all those ledges where you are almost sure that you can make the jump only to die.

    Moreover I fell like most of the areas are quite boring and there are hardly any memorable boss fights but that's just my opinion.

    Another issue I've discovered when I decided to play evenly on two characters: pure caster and pure melee. Well, the balance sucks, sucks really bad. There are maybe a couple of areas where I was feeling more comfortable on my melee character rather than on my caster. It gets even more obvious if you use co-op for fighting bosses. On a caster you just stand back and nuke with hard hitting spells, while melee blocks, dodges, rolls only to get 2s window for hitting the enemy and repeat.
    Face it, in PvE caster has easier life.

    Oh, the story is almost non-existant, but I really don't mind it.

    To be honest, I've expected more. We deserve the proper support for mouse+keyboard and some aspects of the game require serious polishing. On the other hand, if you can live with all the problems I mentioned above, you're up for a great experience and many, many hours of fun.    … Expand
  5. 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
  6. captainkane
    Jun 28, 2014
    7
    I love Dark Souls. I sorta like Dark Souls 2. See the difference? Dark Souls 2 is redundant-a shameless copycat of its predecessors. But if it's not broke don't fix it. Right? Wrong. In many ways, DS2 is a step backwards. It lacks Demon Souls' originality and Dark Souls' exceptional mechanics. This series has become Bandai Namco's new cash cow. I firmly believe the series would've beenI love Dark Souls. I sorta like Dark Souls 2. See the difference? Dark Souls 2 is redundant-a shameless copycat of its predecessors. But if it's not broke don't fix it. Right? Wrong. In many ways, DS2 is a step backwards. It lacks Demon Souls' originality and Dark Souls' exceptional mechanics. This series has become Bandai Namco's new cash cow. I firmly believe the series would've been better off as a cult hit. Unfortunately, the things that made it so great will diminish as the developer strives to appeal to a larger audience.

    In Dark Souls, death was the player's fault. The mechanics were too tight and the hit boxes too precise for people to blame anything else. Enemies and bosses scaled appropriately as the game progressed. Players know after a few brutalizing deaths they aren't ready for an area or opponent. Some bosses were remarkedly difficult, but players will vanquish them after preparation. This isn't the case with DS2. It's difficult for the wrong reasons. According to some avid gamers I know, the game is full of "cheap deaths" with its "janky hit boxes" and stupid, over-the-top bosses.

    A few of the bosses were ripped directly from Dark Souls. They look similar. Players fight them in the same environments. Heck, those bosses even have identical move sets. It's lazy and disappointing. But I find something even more irritating. Many boss fights require players to engage multiple foes. So players must fight 2 or more huge bosses or a boss surrounded by hordes of trash mobs simultaneously.
    And it gets worse. Enemies kill players in 3 or less hits. Even at level 120 with heavy armor, my character feels incredibly weak. And bosses one 1 hit kill her easily. A single hit to a shield can drain all stamina. Such low survivability makes it difficult to learn boss animations. This design screams co-op, which is unfortunate. I never felt compelled to summon allies in Dark Souls, but in DS2 I'm constantly summoning. There are tons of bosses too. An epic fight is around every corner. It's frustrating an. The odds are so stacked against the players, the designers apparently forgot the difference between challenging and unreasonable. It reminds of me of NInja Gaiden 2, and I hated that game.

    Janky hit boxes is an understatement. I've dropped greatswords on lesser foes with perfect precision. No damage. I've rolled well beyond the reach of enemy. Lost 80% of my health. My character has been killed by enemies AFTER they've died. Yes. Enemies in the death animations will still kill players. My character has even been pulled into enemy swords from 5 feet away-like a tractor beam. DS2 lacks the mechanic proficiency of its older siblings. I've resorted to ranged combat and greatswords as a result. Both these weapons keep enemies well out of reach. Pure melee builds can have an especially difficult time in this game. There are myriad of other combat related problems. So to sum it up: Dark Souls 2 feels unbalanced.

    Graphically, DS2 is OK. Other than 1080p and 60 frames, I don't see improvement over the original. In fact, some environments look downright awful. Nothing feels as ominous as the previous DS. I LOVE the level design in Dark Souls. It's gritty and desolate. All the areas were connected somehow. So exploration was key. Not in DS2. The ability to warp between bonfires from the start takes away the exploration that DS fans adore so much. When players are stuck in a challenging area, they must fight it out. Emerging victorious is the award. Not in DS2. Area too difficult? Just warp away... Also, there are dozens of bonfires. Kill 6 enemies, bonfire. Kill 4 more, bonfire.

    So what's good? The co-op is great. I absolutely love teaming up with players to clear an area. It's a fun way to learn new strategies. This doesn't mean the game gets easier. Even in co-op, death is frequent. Unfortunately, in some areas, co-op is not allowed. There are several bosses that players must face solo. And yes, there are multiple opponents to fight. And yes, one hit deaths still apply. And yes, some are recycled bosses from the original DS.

    However, PVP has been unplayable. Lag. Lag. Laaaaaaaaag. Enough said.

    The leveling system is roughly the same, although the roles of some stats are still unclear. Plenty of weapons. Plenty of stuff to kill. Enemies are smarter. At least that hasn't changed for the worst.

    The verdict? Dark Souls 2 is still a better game than most new releases. Actually, it's a great game. However, the series is meant to be challenging, and too often, DS2 is just annoying. Dying feels cheap because the penalties for small missteps are extraordinarily harsh, unlike its predecessor. The janky mechanics coupled with bland level design equate to an average experience. Additionally, DS2 is focused more on boss battles than exploration. And bosses like the Executioner's Chariot are just absurd. The game is still worth owning. But for people new to the series, start with the original Dark Souls.    … Expand
  7. 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
  8. Jonathan117
    Jun 5, 2014
    7
    As a hardcore follower of the series (Played & Completed Demon's Souls & Dark Souls numerous times; I can say that I am far from dissapointed with the latest installment in the series. BUY THE GAME. It is the definition of happiness :)
  9. Squeze
    Sep 18, 2014
    7
    I had great expectations on this game so I might be a little upset when writing this.
    Basically this game is the same as Dark Souls II, but someway worse.
    Why? It's a lot easier!! 1) Since the very beginning you can travel around bonfires you discovered and this is a MASSIVE help as I find myself dying a lot on the first one especially when travelling to reach a safe bonfire and spend    I had great expectations on this game so I might be a little upset when writing this.
    Basically this game is the same as Dark Souls II, but someway worse.
    Why? It's a lot easier!!
    1) Since the very beginning you can travel around bonfires you discovered and this is a MASSIVE help as I find myself dying a lot on the first one especially when travelling to reach a safe bonfire and spend my souls.
    2) You will farm thousands of items to heal you, I finished the game with more than 50 healing items that really makes the estus flask not that vital anymore.
    3) There are 30+ bosses but 80% of them are so easy that you can beat em by yourself without any help! Probably if you are good some of them wont even hit you once.
    Is true, you can choose the champions path and do all by yourself and solve part of this problem, but still some bosses are almost silly (and I played without any magic or fire stuff and without following any guide)

    Pvp is decent but finite to few areas, and what is really lacking is the old style random invasion by random guy that wants to steal your souls, I played almost 50 hrs in this game and I have not been invaded once!! Not a single time!!.

    Would I recommend it? Yes, still it's a very good game with a unique dark atmosphere and still is harder than most of the games around, but the first was better.

    Pros
    + Larger map and more areas
    + Nice atmosphere as usual
    + Many bosses
    Cons
    -...but most of them quite weak
    -Basically easier than dark souls I and the difficulty is the SOUL of this game :)

    77/100    … Expand
  10. 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.
  11. leaveit
    May 22, 2014
    7
    Better port, worse game than Dark Souls 1. Performance is really quite incredible and the game can even run on my $200 laptop with integrated graphics. I have not yet failed a connection. Input seems fine. All the problems with the above seem to have been patched as of this review. As for the game itself, I'm displeased with some of the design choices. First and foremost, the weaponBetter port, worse game than Dark Souls 1. Performance is really quite incredible and the game can even run on my $200 laptop with integrated graphics. I have not yet failed a connection. Input seems fine. All the problems with the above seem to have been patched as of this review. As for the game itself, I'm displeased with some of the design choices. First and foremost, the weapon durability is absurd. If you slash a man armed with nothing more than cloth 60 times with a sharp knife, the knife will not break, yet this is exactly what happens in this game. Whereas item durability was more of a long-term problem in Dark Souls 1, you will find your items getting close to breaking after killing 10 or so enemies without returning to a bonfire. There are items that slow degradation, of course... But only by up to 50%. Secondly, the soul memory limit for coop is incredibly annoying and, halfway through the game when bosses start dropping 50,000+ souls (the limit), helping one or two of a party with a boss could boot the last person out of range in soul memory. This is effective for game balance, but what is the point of balancing a PvE experience? The fights are no more difficult than they were to begin with anyway. Quite annoying. Poise is awful in this game, and most weapons can easily attain poise break in a short chain or with a strong attack, so the modus operandi is rolling, and yet rolling is slower and with fewer invincibility frames than in DS 1. At the same time, shields with 100% physical resist have higher requirements and are found later in the game. In other words, they made it more likely that you're going to be hit and take damage. The defense values also make pretty little sense, as you can achieve outstandingly high damage reductions early on in the game by DS 1 standards, and yet you can still be killed in two or three hits.

    Overall, the game design is much more slack, and it is superior from a technical standpoint compared to DS 1.    … Expand
  12. kinom
    May 2, 2014
    7
    Not a bad game. It can be a little...er, wonky, on PC, but still an enjoyable game. I'm not sure how many play through's I'll do (it can be an unforgiving brute of a game) but but certainly more than one.
  13. pongkrit03
    May 25, 2014
    7
    This is my revised review without playing DS1 before . At my first time play through, I gave this game 0 out of 10 because of terrible port. I almost ditched this game but on a second thought, I gave it another try by overlooking bad port and poor graphic. This time I really enjoyed the game. I spent 100 hours+ with this game, played it till the end and still want to play more so I wouldThis is my revised review without playing DS1 before . At my first time play through, I gave this game 0 out of 10 because of terrible port. I almost ditched this game but on a second thought, I gave it another try by overlooking bad port and poor graphic. This time I really enjoyed the game. I spent 100 hours+ with this game, played it till the end and still want to play more so I would like you guys to read my review first, you will understand why this game has a lot of lovers and haters at the same time, and whether this game suits your taste or not.

    Let me start with the bad port first. As many negative reviewers said, this game has a abysmal console port EVER !. If you have controller, you will not have the issue. Nevertheless, if you have only keyboard + mouse, You will have to spend 1-2 hours learning how to play with keyboard. Even after you know how to do every moveset, you still have a delay. Anyway, you still can play this game with keyboard + mouse. Me too struggled at first but now totally fine.

    Second, the Graphic is unacceptable if you compare to PC RPG game nowadays. So even without keyboard issue, this game cannot get perfect score. No zooming to the face when you talk to NPC, NPC mouth is shut. Character creation is bare bone. Begining cinematic is a lie. You will not see cinematic like that again in the game. The only cinematics left are seen when you fight a boss, which most of them are mediocre.

    Third, there is a very little story in this game, or I could say this game has no story at all, no quest or whatever. You just have to put yourself through the end of the game, that's it. This game is pretty much like a hack&slash game if you ask me.

    However, even with these very poor features, this game still has its huge merit, that is THE CHARISMA of the game. or in another word, THE CHALLENGE, which is very unique if it is compared with most RPG games in the market. EVERY TIME YOU DIE, THE GAME WILL PUNISH YOU, this concept adds the unique tense that I never had before in other games. Every death will decrease your maximum HP 5 - 10% per time and If you die again before getting to the spot that you just died, you will lose all your souls accumulated, which can be a huge loss since you have to use souls to up your lv and spend stuffs. Of course, you cannot save your game. This rule will force you focus on the game and be cautious to every corner, traps and enemy. "I must survive ! I must not die" these are what you will chanting in your mind while playing the game. There are checkpoints (bonfire) available though, however many times checkpoints are far from each other, so if you die along the way, you will have to run from the start again.

    Game Mechanic is also very awesome. I blamed it in my first review but that was because of my inexperience. This game when you click attack button, it means you just committed the attack, you cannot cancel it and you will be vulnerable at that time. This force you to play more carefully. Most of enemies in the game can be defeated only by skill not by your lv or equipment. You just need to understand its attack-pattern, dodge and attack at the right time. Boss's fights are so epic and super excited. I still remember how hard when I fought will Last Giant, the first boss and Pursuer, the second boss first time. I spent more than 2 hours to beat them. I died a lot, many times I made mistakes just when I was about to finished them off ( wanna cry). I even almost gave up. However, after I defeated them, I felt very satisfied. The feeling that you conquer the game on your own perseverance will emerge.To me, there is no game giving the winning feeling as big as this one.

    Multiplayer, another thing that I must mention no matter what. This game has a VERY GOOD MULTIPLAYER, which I've never expected from RPG games. PVE, you can summon your friends to help you fight or can go to help in your friend's world. Thus, if you feel like the game is too hard, you can summon help anytime. More importantly, PVP IS THE BEAST, fighting the others is very fun. A lot of weapon have its own moveset, making the fight very diverse. There is no best weapon nor best armor in the game. Moreover, you can invade the other's world forcefully by using items, ambush poor guy while he is busy with his monsters, or be invaded yourself, or even become a helper who helps newbie fight with invader. However, for me, in a high lv 200+, the game will start to be less fun in PVP since everyone will use the same style due to the stat soft cap and soul mem matching is unreasonable.

    In sum, I have a lot of fun with this game but I cannot give perfect score because those bad aspects. So here is my quick brief review

    IF YOU WANT THE GAME WITH AN AMAZING GRAPHIC, EXCELLENT STORY that has various of choices and memorable NPC. This game is absolutely ์NOT for you.

    However, IF YOU WANT A INTENSE CHALLENGING GAMEPLAY and GREAT PVP, this game is a must try !. I hope DLC will come soon :>    … Expand
  14. 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.
  15. 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.
  16. 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
  17. gustvatems
    Apr 27, 2014
    7
    Sigh. These people CLEARLY don't know how to make reviews. The port is bad and it's an instant zero out of ten. I agree that the port is pretty bad and it has some issues like crashing sometimes, so I wouldn't recommend buying the game yet if you don't want to risk it. But the level design is in my opinion better than the original Dark Souls, the graphics are better, the mechanics areSigh. These people CLEARLY don't know how to make reviews. The port is bad and it's an instant zero out of ten. I agree that the port is pretty bad and it has some issues like crashing sometimes, so I wouldn't recommend buying the game yet if you don't want to risk it. But the level design is in my opinion better than the original Dark Souls, the graphics are better, the mechanics are pretty much the same, the bosses and enemy design are awesome. That is enough to give it at least a 6/10, the gameplay stays pretty much the same as in Dark Souls, and it's still as hard as ever, a bit cheap some times but that doesn't happen often. The dialogue is great and so is the voice acting, and the lore is there like in the prequels. I would give this game a 7/10 right now, if they fix their port a solid 9/10.… Expand
  18. Freaksy
    May 23, 2014
    7
    The atmosphere and gameplay is great. But the grind, oh the hours of grind... Because of this grind you won't be able to start over with a new hero because you killed the same creatures like 1000 times before.
  19. 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
  20. ItsFrootLoops
    May 27, 2014
    7
    Yes, this game was more brutal than the first and while I almost threw my pad out of the window I still had fun. The games graphics seem a lot better on the PC version and it is a very nice looking game, the world and combat seems a lot more improved since the first and I had a good time playing this game
  21. Lyther
    May 17, 2014
    7
    Dark Souls 2 is a good game, but it's disappointing in comparison to the first Dark Souls. This game had a different director than the previous Souls games and it really shows. Some comparisons:

    - The writing in the first game was intriguing. The first game had you start at an asylum for the undead at the "end of the world," and next you're told to ring the bells of awakening. The    Dark Souls 2 is a good game, but it's disappointing in comparison to the first Dark Souls. This game had a different director than the previous Souls games and it really shows. Some comparisons:

    - The writing in the first game was intriguing. The first game had you start at an asylum for the undead at the "end of the world," and next you're told to ring the bells of awakening. The writing for the second game isn't just bad in comparison, it's flat out bad. The second game starts with you being laughed at by old ladies, and then a NPC tells you to collect souls to break your curse. As souls are currency dropped by enemies, the plot amounts to "go kill things." The writing doesn't get much better. On a related note, there are no memorable NPCs this time around.

    - Level design has also taken a step backwards. Levels are no longer interconnected like in the first game. It often feels as though the game has levels stitched end-to-end without regard for theme or geometry. This is probably why you can fast-travel from the start.. Given this, it's not a surprise that floor plans have also been simplified. To its credit, the game is still loaded with secret areas to be found.

    - Combat is probably a bit worse. Hitboxes are definitely worse, combos and ripostes are less satisfying, and enemies now spin and attack in ways that violate physical intuition. On the plus side, there are a lot of new weapons, more equipment slots, and a new type of magic.

    - Leveling up now requires you to sit through two bonfire warps and some awful dialogue.

    Dark Souls 2 is saved by the fact that the previous Souls games provided a very solid foundation. The combat system, combined with the bonfire system and tough enemies creates an engaging and addictive experience. And Dark Souls 2 does provide a lot of new, difficult content. Unfortunately, uninspired writing, subpar world design, and some questionable game mechanics make for a game that's almost entirely devoid of the "magic" the first game had.    … Expand
  22. maxim1996
    Jul 10, 2014
    7
    Dark souls 2 at the bottom line was an over-hyped game that doesn't deserve all the high scores that many reviewers gave it, but in the same time the game doesn't deserve all the extremely low scores that some users gave it. Dark souls 2 is an improvement over the disaster port that was dark souls 1 that was literally unplayable on PC. One of the first issues that bothered me with thisDark souls 2 at the bottom line was an over-hyped game that doesn't deserve all the high scores that many reviewers gave it, but in the same time the game doesn't deserve all the extremely low scores that some users gave it. Dark souls 2 is an improvement over the disaster port that was dark souls 1 that was literally unplayable on PC. One of the first issues that bothered me with this game is the promise of the developers to make an original PC game and then port it to the consoles. During the first dark souls game play videos we saw a much more impressive graphical game that had a beautiful lightning engine, but unfortunately all we got in the final product is a slightly improved graphical version dark souls 1. Dark souls 2 in its core is all about over coming challenges and getting rewarded for it. Dark souls 2 is a game that is challenging, but can be easily exploited in many ways to make it easier. For example when you die in dark souls 2 your are revived as a hollowed undead that looses a part of his total health bar. The more you die the more health you loose until you drop to 50% of your total health. To reverse this process you must use a rare item that is called human effigy, but you can easily avoid all of this by wearing the ring of life protection that not only protects you from turning hollowed, but also saves all of your souls that you will loose when dying. And to use the ring again you just need to pay 3000 souls to repair it(not a large amount of souls). Dark souls 2 pvp in the bottom line is just broken. The poor connection causes awkward situations in which you might do a direct hit only to see how your enemy ignores your attack and back stabs you from behind. On the other hand their is a large variety of pvp engagements. There is a large verity of pvp covenants that you can join to experience your pvp from a different perspective. Dark souls 2 doesn't treat you like a child, you can kill who ever you want to kill and bear the consequences. Dark souls 2 lacks 1 huge key element that the previous 2 games did, interesting bosses. Most of the bosses in dark souls 2 are your typical RPG bosses. For the most part the only way the game manages to make the boss battles more difficult is by adding a couple of more enemies on your screen that you cant follow because of the poor lock on system in the game like the Ruin sentinels or the twin dragon riders. In those fights you always find yourself fighting the camera more than the actual bosses. The other way dark souls 2 makes difficult bosses is by adding just annoying abilities or raising the boss health stats to ridiculous levels like old king Vendrick that is just boring to fight with or the Royal Rat authority that can break your armor instantly with its toxic liquid. On the other hand there are a couple of fun bosses like the Smelter Demon or the Pursuer that can give you a fun and a challenging fight . The plot of the game sadly falls apart. The amount of unknown mystery and the amount of unanswered questions in the game give you the impression that the developers were just too lazy to write a proper story for the game and just decided to cover everything with "mystery". When you reach the end of the game and face Nashandra that we know very little about her true story and reasons for her hostility to you (honestly we know almost nothing about who she even is). After a very boring and a slow fight in which if you are a ranged character you might find this the easiest boss in the game while every melee character will probably get cursed by her curse fog that is around her. After you finish her off you go to the throne room to sit on the throne because? And then you pretty much hear the following message that tells you that no matter what you choose it will result in the same cycle that was in dark souls 1 or in other words the whole game was pointless from the start to finish. For me this killed dark souls. From that very moment I stopped taking a game seriously and just continued to play to finish my build to find myself quitting the moment I finished building it. I wont even bother to discuss the rest of the characters of the game because they became pointless the moment I reached the end of the game. In conclusion dark souls 2 might be a challenging game that you might find fun if you like challenges, but you cant take it seriously because of the almost none existing story(lore does not count if your actual plot does not exist). I believe that dark souls game is still a pretty good game despite all the flaws in the game because when dark souls 2 does it right. IT does it perfectly right and it leaves you with a satisfaction that will stay with you for a long time.… Expand
  23. Cech
    May 16, 2017
    7
    Продолжение серии соулс под порядковым номером 3

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

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

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

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

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

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

    Главная проблема игры - это самокопирование

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

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

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

    Ачивменты
    Очень расстроило то, что я не знал, что нужно было обязательно призывать NPC фантомов на бои с боссами для получения пары ачивментов. Ну етить, серьёзно?    … Expand
  24. perric
    Oct 21, 2015
    7
    So don't get me wrong, I really did enjoy this game, but after playing it first on ps3 and beating it, then playing and beating it on PC I have some real problems. Most of my issues are similar to everyone else's, how the whole experience just feels kinda phoned in by the team. The bizarre way the world is connected, the nonsensical story that is just weird for the sake of it instead ofSo don't get me wrong, I really did enjoy this game, but after playing it first on ps3 and beating it, then playing and beating it on PC I have some real problems. Most of my issues are similar to everyone else's, how the whole experience just feels kinda phoned in by the team. The bizarre way the world is connected, the nonsensical story that is just weird for the sake of it instead of having any actual depth, the shoddy hit detection, etc.

    Game **** runs AMAZINGLY good though and looks great. Shame they never fixed the durability bug    … Expand
  25. 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
  26. thomaddox4
    Sep 21, 2017
    7
    It's been said a million times before, but this is indeed the worst of the Souls series. It's really a shame that they decided to make a direct sequel instead of another successor like Dark Souls was to Demon's Souls, because on its own this game is a good one. Not great, but good. It gets a lot of things right: combat is slower paced (and in fact the whole game is slower paced), but thisIt's been said a million times before, but this is indeed the worst of the Souls series. It's really a shame that they decided to make a direct sequel instead of another successor like Dark Souls was to Demon's Souls, because on its own this game is a good one. Not great, but good. It gets a lot of things right: combat is slower paced (and in fact the whole game is slower paced), but this isn't necessarily a bad thing, and it can be just as good if not better to play than the original. Dual Wielding was also implemented the best as it has ever been, and many level concepts are extremely creative and cool. However, that's where the good things end. The world design, the best part of Dark Souls 1, is completely gone: the game has 4 linear paths at the start, and then just one path after those. There are no more interconnections, and the devs gave in to the people who whined about Dark Souls 1 being too hard, and now there's fast travel from the start of the game, probably a reason why they didn't bother with actual world design. Partially as a result of the fast travel taking you between very different areas on a whim, and partially because the feel of the game is very different from Dark Souls 1, the atmosphere also doesn't compare to 1 in the slightest. The game also has more artificial difficulty than the first, with traps that sometimes can't be predicted and learned from, more enemy spamming, and despite this the game is still a lot easier than 1, even for people who play this first as I did. The bosses are also massively disappointing, with almost all of them being incredibly easy, and an incredible reduction in variety: At least half the bosses in the game are humanoid forms with big and imposing armor and weapons. The story is also a step down, with references to the first game that often feel out of place and a troubled dev cycle that made them largely unable to focus and flesh out their original ideas. All in all, it was a solid effort by the B team, and a decent game that's still worth playing, but it was doomed from the start: a sequel made for a game that clearly was never meant to have one, made by different and less experienced people, and it shows throughout the game that the developers didn't really understand what made dark souls 1 great. They very obviously just listened to everyone who hyped up the difficulty without understanding that it was only talked about for the difficulty by people who didn't really appreciate it, and that's a real shame.… Expand
  27. unicyan
    Jul 25, 2018
    7
    Dark Souls had balance in it's physics and rules. Let me give you examples:

    In this game walls don't block enemy attacks, some enemies have infinite stamina, most enemies are faster than you, your hit-box is too big, your stamina drains really fast, every time you die you lose max HP unless you use human effigies which are few in the game, most of the time enemies just pile up on you,    Dark Souls had balance in it's physics and rules. Let me give you examples:

    In this game walls don't block enemy attacks, some enemies have infinite stamina, most enemies are faster than you, your hit-box is too big, your stamina drains really fast, every time you die you lose max HP unless you use human effigies which are few in the game, most of the time enemies just pile up on you, when an enemy falls your lock on system makes you follow him/her too,controls are unresponsive sometimes, etc.

    The UI is really bad, the lore is weird, the world design is not good, dialogues are sometimes long and boring. It's a good RPG but compared to Dark Souls it's really bad    … Expand
  28. PanMrkvicka
    Feb 11, 2020
    7
    Dark souls 2 is weird. You play it and it feels nothing like a souls game but it feels like souls game as well and you dont know what to think. Some bosses are pretty interesting and great but theres also plenty of them which suck. The game design of areas is not good as well most of the time, convoluted places with copypasted enemies.
  29. Yiordanu
    Sep 9, 2023
    7
    A great video game, but a mediocre Dark Souls. Coming from the previous titles by FromSoftware, this game is the one that strays the furthest from the characteristic Dark Souls formula. It has rather poor level design with some areas that feel completely senseless, bosses that aren't as demanding, but in terms of gameplay, it remains a quite enjoyable game with a variety of builds and waysA great video game, but a mediocre Dark Souls. Coming from the previous titles by FromSoftware, this game is the one that strays the furthest from the characteristic Dark Souls formula. It has rather poor level design with some areas that feel completely senseless, bosses that aren't as demanding, but in terms of gameplay, it remains a quite enjoyable game with a variety of builds and ways to play.

    In summary, a very good game, but as a Dark Souls title, it falls short, especially when compared to the company's other titles.    … Expand
  30. Mazma
    Dec 25, 2020
    7
    Il peggiore della saga, ma comunque molto valido, difficile si, macchinoso anche.
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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

All reviews »
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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