Dark Souls II: Scholar of the First Sin

 PlayStation 4
User Score
7.7

Generally favorable reviews- based on 1451 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1,013 out of 1451
  2. Mixed: 281 out of 1451
  3. Negative: 157 out of 1451
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  1. 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.
  2. alexaxa
    May 22, 2016
    7
    Only "Souls" game i did not finished. Something was missing but i can't find exactly why... Bosses seemed less epic, level design was not as good as DS/DeS/BB...
  3. drevil99
    May 12, 2015
    7
    Overall it's a good addition to the Souls series

    Good - Huuuuuge world! It would still be huge even if they didn't include all 3 DLCs - you rarely get invaded by other players in your first play through, that is before you reach Soul Level 150 - PvP and covenants can be fun, I enjoyed dueling other players on the bridge - great coop feature in this game, there usually are summons    Overall it's a good addition to the Souls series

    Good
    - Huuuuuge world! It would still be huge even if they didn't include all 3 DLCs
    - you rarely get invaded by other players in your first play through, that is before you reach Soul Level 150
    - PvP and covenants can be fun, I enjoyed dueling other players on the bridge
    - great coop feature in this game, there usually are summons available when you need them
    - you have just as much, if not more customization options compared to DS1.
    - no framerate issue (I hear this is a problem in PS3 version)

    Bad:
    - invasions can get annoying later in the game, as they happen often, even in hollow form, and therefore feel forced. Personally I started to play offline in NG+
    - the controls are clunky when compared DS1 and Demon Souls. For example there seems to be some awkward pause from the time you press L1 to block to the time you actually start moving
    - there are some really bad lag issues in PvP
    - no balance in PvP as game strongly encourages certain builds, spell casters and those who wield quick small weapons have the advantage; having a tank who wields an ultra great-sword is a definite nono

    Ugly
    - I am not impressed by the graphics. When DS1 came to PS3, it was ahead of it's time in terms of visuals
    - The atmosphere of dark melancholy that DS1 had, just seems to be missing in DS2, nor does it have that feeling of terror from Demon Souls. I can't quite explain it.    … Expand
  4. dubloon7
    Jan 14, 2016
    7
    Dark Souls 2: SOTFS is a decent, and not great attempt at Souls gaming. The vanilla version on the PS3 is MUCH better, than this slightly modified attempt.

    The added DLC areas were a nice addition to the vanilla but MUCH more difficult than the remainder of the initial game: bosses were a joke, forcing the single-player to rely on MP, which is a total let down on the PS4 as you HAVE to    Dark Souls 2: SOTFS is a decent, and not great attempt at Souls gaming. The vanilla version on the PS3 is MUCH better, than this slightly modified attempt.

    The added DLC areas were a nice addition to the vanilla but MUCH more difficult than the remainder of the initial game: bosses were a joke, forcing the single-player to rely on MP, which is a total let down on the PS4 as you HAVE to pay for PS+ to play online to do this alone. Don't get me worong here, in my single playthru (NG) i tackled these areas around SL 150+ and still way too difficult. It was nice but fighting bosses became tiring and I was eager just to get the playing over with.

    Visuals: on my 32" LED HDTV i saw NO DIFFERENCE b/w the PS3 and PS4 version.
    Audio: Same as the vanilla PS3 version
    Controls: SAME
    Qualtiy: 7/10 for being a souls attempt game, but not enough *UMPF to keep me going.

    If you enjoy Demons Souls and Dark Souls 1, AVOID this game as it's the worst of the 3, and the entirety of it loses its steam halfway thru.    … Expand
  5. SemenTheGreat
    Jul 29, 2016
    7
    I don't really know where I stand on this game. While I think it's good, it has quite a few obvious flaws. While Dark Souls 2 offers the best pvp in the series, and good dual-wielding mechanics, it fall short everywhere else compared to other games in the series. The combat feels clunky and unresponsive, dodging is an absolute pain due to the games questionable hit boxes, level design isI don't really know where I stand on this game. While I think it's good, it has quite a few obvious flaws. While Dark Souls 2 offers the best pvp in the series, and good dual-wielding mechanics, it fall short everywhere else compared to other games in the series. The combat feels clunky and unresponsive, dodging is an absolute pain due to the games questionable hit boxes, level design is very straight forward. There are some bosses in the game that really stands out, like the looking glass knight and fume knight, but the game relies too heavily on ganks to simulate some kind of boss difficulty. A part from that, I can't really dislike the game. I had a blast playing it.… Expand
  6. BlakDak666
    Mar 9, 2017
    7
    Dark Souls 2: Scholar of The First Sin is a solid and good Souls game. As fan of Souls series and playing all but Demon Souls, this is easily the weakest Souls game. The remastered and updated version fixed only a bit of what went wrong with original version and had a few problems that still came through that desperately needed fixing more. Combat against players can result in poor laggingDark Souls 2: Scholar of The First Sin is a solid and good Souls game. As fan of Souls series and playing all but Demon Souls, this is easily the weakest Souls game. The remastered and updated version fixed only a bit of what went wrong with original version and had a few problems that still came through that desperately needed fixing more. Combat against players can result in poor lagging and poor hit boxes, resulting in frustrating situations that could put off most players. The boss roster is over saturated with generic bosses and while a few good ones exist, there are just a sheer size of bad or mediocre ones to blanket it almost entirely. The game's base was decent overall, but with the well done Crown DLCs added in it brings up the experience to not make it as generic. It's hard to give this score because I do like Dark Souls 2, but it soaked in plenty of problems that were only partially fixed by the SoTS version.… Expand
  7. Kamikazeshocki
    Aug 10, 2017
    7
    This is still a good game, yet I can't understand why it received those scores in comparison to all other Soulsborne games. I loved DS1, 3 and especially Bloodborne and their addons I have Platinum Trophy in the latter 2 of them and 200 hours in each title. Except for DS2.
    Reasons:
    - Level design is mediocre - Bosses are mediocre - When it came out it looked somehow worse than DS1 -    This is still a good game, yet I can't understand why it received those scores in comparison to all other Soulsborne games. I loved DS1, 3 and especially Bloodborne and their addons I have Platinum Trophy in the latter 2 of them and 200 hours in each title. Except for DS2.
    Reasons:
    - Level design is mediocre
    - Bosses are mediocre
    - When it came out it looked somehow worse than DS1
    - In summary it is often boring and tedious.

    You can really tell that Miyazaki did not direct this game. The core DS mechanics are there so it all "works pretty good" yet the DS flair is almost gone. I only completed this game for the sake of completing it. To my shame I did not even want to start the DLC allthough I heard it's way better than the main game. Some people think DS 2 is good because they focus on online PVP and are spending too much time dueling/doin builds. To me Dark Souls is not about that, that is just an extra feature. Though i consistently enjoy the seamless multiplayer invading stuff.

    I can't recommend this game for everyone or DS fans. You might wanna rent it first or get it cheap.    … Expand
  8. Ruzaky
    Aug 6, 2020
    7
    I Love Ds 1 and Bloodborne and even some time after release i learn to love ds 3. But Ds 2 is just worst out of other Fromsoftware games. You can really see that something happened during development. Levels feels unfinished, enemy placement even in this new version seems odd. Movement is strange. But even like that its good game. Just much worse then other
  9. Manzanetti
    Aug 10, 2020
    7
    Didn't play the vanilla version, but came here after having completed DS:R, DS3, Bloodborne and Sekiro. Felt like the worst from FROM, uninspired, but with some cool mechanics. Enjoyed it overall, but doesn't keep up with it's brothers.
  10. FuriousAegon
    Mar 28, 2022
    7
    After revisiting and finally completing this game with all DLC’s , I must say that I’ve was wrong about this game, this game is not trash.It is the worst FromSoft game since Demons Soul’s, but it is not a bad game.
    Of course there a lot of obvious minuses in this game such as THE WORST HITBOXES I HAVE EVER SEEN IN MY ENTIRE LIFE ; Graphics ; a lot of filler-trash bosses (Skeleton Lords,    After revisiting and finally completing this game with all DLC’s , I must say that I’ve was wrong about this game, this game is not trash.It is the worst FromSoft game since Demons Soul’s, but it is not a bad game.
    Of course there a lot of obvious minuses in this game such as THE WORST HITBOXES I HAVE EVER SEEN IN MY ENTIRE LIFE ; Graphics ; a lot of filler-trash bosses (Skeleton Lords, Magus and congregation, Covetous Demon, Royal Rat Vanguard and Royal Rat Authority and such ) ; really strange Lore that can be barely connected with other Dark Souls games ; in most locations there’s a awful level-design.
    But there things that I’ve enjoyed in this game like DLC bosses ( Fume Knight, Sir Allone, Burnt Ivory King ) are the best bosses in the game.Some locations of the game are really good like- Aldias Keep, Brume Tower, Frozen Eleum Loyce, Dragon Shrine, Majula, Drangleic Castle.Also I really enjoyed the Memories Of Giants thing in this game, when u teleport to the past and you see the war between Vendricks Army and Giants, you witness the actual fights between giants and knights of Drangleic.Also there a few bosses that are really challenging for example: Red and Blue Smelter Demons, Fume Kinght, Sir Allone, Darklurker, Ancient Dragon and Ivory King.Some are just good like Pursuer,Velstadt and Ornstein.These bosses are «Diamonds in this Bunch of sh*t called Dark Souls 2 bosses»
    DLC’s are good, except Crown of the Sunken King, I didn’t enjoyed it at all, I didn’t enjoyed all bosses and locations are trash in this DLC.But Crown of Ivory/Iron King really impressed me with good locations and really good bosses ( except Blue Smelter Demon ).
    In the end I must say that this game is worth playing for fans of FromSoft, but people who just enjoyed DS3 or Bloodborne , in most cases wouldn’t like this game, in my first visit to this game I didn’t like and dropped it , in the second I didn’t like it and dropped it; in the third I’ve got a motivation to complete the last FromSoft game since DeS and fight Fume Knight and Allone, and I kinda liked it.
    7/10    … Expand
  11. kekseD
    Mar 13, 2020
    7
    Главные минусы игры это дебильные хитбоксы и скорость игры, она очень медленная
  12. Svetlendrius
    Jul 30, 2022
    7
    Вторая часть отличной серии хардкорных игр в сеттинге темного фэнтези, которая в чем-то уступает первой части, а в чем-то превосходит.
    Игра всё также наполнена отличной боевкой, сеттингом и замечательным саундтреком. Однако в некоторых аспектах игра отличается от первой части.
    Потеряла игра в аспектах лора и проработки дизайна и уникальности боссов, несмотря на то, что их много    Вторая часть отличной серии хардкорных игр в сеттинге темного фэнтези, которая в чем-то уступает первой части, а в чем-то превосходит.
    Игра всё также наполнена отличной боевкой, сеттингом и замечательным саундтреком. Однако в некоторых аспектах игра отличается от первой части.
    Потеряла игра в аспектах лора и проработки дизайна и уникальности боссов, несмотря на то, что их много большинство представляют собой несколько противников гуманоидов, Также негативными аспектами игры показались добавление механики потери максимального хп при смерти и более низкая общая сложность.
    Некоторые аспекты связанные с балансом, искусственным усложнение стали лучше, например расположение и принцип работы костров стал намного лучше. Также боевка стала немного быстрее и бодрее в прохождении из-за меньшего количества душных локаций.
    В итоге игра по сравнению с первой частью потеряла некоторые хорошие моменты, но в то же время стала более удобной и интуитивной в прохождении.    … Expand
  13. Ginger_Avenger
    Jan 5, 2023
    7
    (Note: this is the only version I tried - I don't have the earlier PS3 version and I didn't do any of the DLC.) Tried DS 1 and 2 concurrently; beat this one, still have yet to finish DS1. It seems hard to speak of one without mentioning the other. Still, DS1 had a flawless first half, then dipped massively for me. DS2, on the other hand had flaws all over, but I found the controls, combat,(Note: this is the only version I tried - I don't have the earlier PS3 version and I didn't do any of the DLC.) Tried DS 1 and 2 concurrently; beat this one, still have yet to finish DS1. It seems hard to speak of one without mentioning the other. Still, DS1 had a flawless first half, then dipped massively for me. DS2, on the other hand had flaws all over, but I found the controls, combat, and levels to be more enjoyable overall. Everyone has their preferences, right? Both DS 1 and 2 have jank and gank, but, for whatever reason, I enjoyed this one enough to keep playing, whereas I have no desire to pick up DS1 again and try and finish the last few areas (after Anor Londo).… Expand
  14. chernandez31
    Feb 22, 2022
    7
    Nope, don’t listen to those who think it’s cool saying this is the best one in the series. It’s pretty damn good, but not great. Too inferior in many aspects to the other entries in the Fromsoftware games.
  15. Taulf
    Feb 24, 2022
    7
    Eu gosto bastante de todos os jogos da from , dark souls 2 sofreu bastante criticas dos fans mas pra mim ele está no mesmo nivel que os outros jogos da from ele é muito divertido , mas ele é um jogo muito bom também e o multiplayer dele pra mim é um dos melhores que tivemos na saga souls!!
  16. BobsityJonesity
    Aug 20, 2022
    7
    A pretty good game that suffers from some really strange mechanical and design flaws which drag down what could have been a better game than the original. The game is bloated with bosses with a notable decrease in quality. Level design is near unbearable in certain places and makes the game downright unfun at moments. Even the DLCs are a noticeable decrease in quality compared to theA pretty good game that suffers from some really strange mechanical and design flaws which drag down what could have been a better game than the original. The game is bloated with bosses with a notable decrease in quality. Level design is near unbearable in certain places and makes the game downright unfun at moments. Even the DLCs are a noticeable decrease in quality compared to the originals, despite them still being some of the better moments of the game. The main thing that keeps dark souls 2 from being a worse game is the fact that it is built on an already sturdy foundation that the original dark laid out.… Expand
  17. m3ny0
    Oct 14, 2022
    7
    Eu comecei Dark Souls 2 com muita expectativa. Lembro que já sabia da fama dele ser o pior da trilogia, e até já estava com o 3 na prateleira, mas, ainda assim, era algo que eu tinha que testar por mim mesmo.
    Bem, não foi lá essas coisas, mas não foi de completo ruim também.
    A atmosfera e história confusa do primeiro jogo continuam, mas algumas coisas chatas foram adicionadas. A primeira    Eu comecei Dark Souls 2 com muita expectativa. Lembro que já sabia da fama dele ser o pior da trilogia, e até já estava com o 3 na prateleira, mas, ainda assim, era algo que eu tinha que testar por mim mesmo.
    Bem, não foi lá essas coisas, mas não foi de completo ruim também.
    A atmosfera e história confusa do primeiro jogo continuam, mas algumas coisas chatas foram adicionadas. A primeira delas é o estado de decaimento (ou hollow) em que você perde uma parte da sua vida depois que morre (e continua perdendo se continuar morrendo). Não é nem preciso dizer o quão ruim isso é, mas, além da clara desvantagem que você irá ter por ter menos vida, isso também bloqueia o uso das funções online que o jogo disponibiliza. Então, não basta dificultar, você ainda precisa lidar com os problemas sozinho.
    Outra questão é seu elixir de cura (estus flask), que tem o maior tempo de uso em toda franquia. Inclusive é uma piada recorrente como seu personagem leva todo o tempo do mundo para apreciar o drink. Certas mecânicas como as tochas, que agora são limitadas por tempo, podem parecer horríveis no começo, mas logo não fazem tanta diferença. Para comparação, no final do jogo eu tinha mais de doze horas de uso da tocha livres.
    O jogo é bonito, os inimigos são meio chatos na maioria, e eu particularmente não gostei de nenhum além dos outros, mas é algo aceitável. Os personagens não jogáveis são interessantes, em sua maioria. Tem gente muito chata no meio, mas nada que um pequeno homicídio culposo sem a intenção de matar não resolva.
    No geral eu gostei da aventura, salvo um ponto específico que eu iriei comentar mais abaixo, e acho que foi tempo bem gasto.
    Lembro de começar o jogo e ficar horas chateado por não ter uma arma descente. Acontece que o meu personagem começou com uma espada quebrada, e você não ganha uma espada até muito depois da cidade principal, e isso me deixou muito preocupado por muito tempo, especificamente por conta da fama de sempre ter um inimigo na próxima esquina. Eventualmente eu comprei um machado que usei a maior parte do jogo, até trocar por um espadão e, logo depois de eu descobrir da sua existência, uma PICARETA.
    Sim, minha arma principal era uma picareta. Reforçada sem temperos.
    Minha roupa era uma bonita da qual eu gostei da combinação de atributos: torso e calças do Looking Glass Knight, máscara do Lost Sinner e braçadeiras que me davam uma pequena chance de acerto crítico. Fashion Souls o possível.
    Tudo muito bem, muito bom, até chegar ao ponto que prolongou o tempo de término desse jogo em quase um ano: para efetivamente zerar o jogo você precisar jogar ele inteiramente TRÊS VEZES.
    Não uma, não duas, três vezes. Inteiro.
    Além disso, também há umas certas magias que requerem você interagir online cerca de cinquenta vezes.
    Eu só interagi efetivamente online uma vez. Um cara apareceu no meu mundo enquanto eu havia deixado o jogo aberto para jantar, quando eu voltei havia um monte de brilhos de moeda ao meu redor e uma arma legal. Muito obrigado, estranho.
    Para ir contra essa interação excessiva, que inclui tanto ajudar pessoas quanto matar as pessoas invadindo seus mundos, você pode simplesmente matar certos inimigos um quintilhão de vezes e esperar que eles tenham o item necessário para trocar pela tal magia.
    Sinceramente, zerar Dark Souls não é difícil, é chato e demorado.    … Expand
  18. AdoMobA
    Mar 18, 2023
    7
    Pros
    - solid weapon variety
    - robust build variety - most interesting NG+ changes the series ever had - one of the clearer overall stories within the series Cons - clunky if you don´t know about the DEX stat (seriously read up on it if you are about to play this game) - even knowing about DEX some of the hitboxes are outright bad - the worst overall boss design within the series    Pros
    - solid weapon variety
    - robust build variety
    - most interesting NG+ changes the series ever had
    - one of the clearer overall stories within the series

    Cons
    - clunky if you don´t know about the DEX stat (seriously read up on it if you are about to play this game)
    - even knowing about DEX some of the hitboxes are outright bad
    - the worst overall boss design within the series (over reliance on ganks)
    - map design is less inspired than its predecessor

    As hated as Dark Souls II seems to be in the community, the game is a fine example of an underrated entry within a fantastic franchise. Bunch of the design choices are quite polarizing (the DEX stat, every attribute giving health, the healing system) or outright bad (some of the boss design, hitboxes, overall gankiness of the entire game). However, I genuinely feel like I was undersold on the game which delivers an experience worth it´s asking price. Funny how all the horror stories I heard before playing it made me expect a complete mess, but in the end I got an all right experience. Not as good as the first or third entry but decent by my account. Funny how being underhyped can make you enjoy seemingly mediocre games.    … Expand
  19. SoldierOfGod
    Feb 28, 2023
    7
    I played this game right after playing Dark Souls I Remastered, Demon's Souls and Bloodborne. I prefer to start with the pros:

    PROS Clunky combat (everybody hates it but I like it, it is more realistic) More complex abilities and stats system CONS -The game feels very sober. In dark souls 1 every scenario makes the player feel what the game want the player to feel. Every scenario    I played this game right after playing Dark Souls I Remastered, Demon's Souls and Bloodborne. I prefer to start with the pros:

    PROS
    Clunky combat (everybody hates it but I like it, it is more realistic)
    More complex abilities and stats system

    CONS
    -The game feels very sober. In dark souls 1 every scenario makes the player feel what the game want the player to feel. Every scenario is a form of art and you can "read" the lore in it. On the other hand, in Dark Souls 2 the scenarios are very generic and makes you feel that they are premodeled.
    -The bosses are very similar to each other. About 40% of the bosses are a big man with a shield and a sword. Also, they got no essence and most of times are very easy.
    -Although the bosses use to be easy, the path to the bosses are unfair sometimes. Sometimes the game just set A LOT of enemies and the agro irange is very very big.

    As a game is a 7/10, as a dark souls 4/10    … Expand
  20. ootinii
    Apr 20, 2015
    6
    Let me just say first that I'm a huge fan of From Software's games. This game has a lot of positive things, the frame rate is incredible, graphics and lighting are a definite improvement, the game seems to perform very well in most aspects. This leads me to my major problem with this new release.

    The feel. This updated release of DS just feels clunky. In particular, character movement.    Let me just say first that I'm a huge fan of From Software's games. This game has a lot of positive things, the frame rate is incredible, graphics and lighting are a definite improvement, the game seems to perform very well in most aspects. This leads me to my major problem with this new release.

    The feel. This updated release of DS just feels clunky. In particular, character movement. One of the most important things to me when I play a game is how it feels, how responsive are the controls, how smooth is the movement. Unfortunately, the feel of this game is currently not good, not up to par. There is a strange dead zone in the movement when walking forward, and side to side movement is not smooth at all. It feels jerky at best. Moving from Bloodborne to this was pretty much intolerable. I am holding out hope that From will do something to at least make consistent character movement a reality in this remastered DSII, because as it stands currently, it feels like I'm trying to control a character who doesn't want to be controlled, which basically ruins the game's immersion. I look forward to updating this rating back to where it should be in the near future.    … Expand
  21. DinoBeam
    May 5, 2020
    6
    This game has alot of cool aspects to it such as atmosphere and art design, but ends up feeling like a slog. This game feels incredibly long with much less interesting level design than the original Dark Souls. Also, half the time to try to sprint it doesn't register.
  22. TagGamer1122
    Jul 5, 2015
    6
    Absolutely detest this game after playing bloodborne. They gimped the rolling so you need to play with a shield. They now placed enemies in a group so goodbye to soloing and say hello to being attacked from the back. Wanna play as just a dex character? Well too bad! They made it so you need to have some range and archery isn't good enough you'll need magic. The game is everything but fair.Absolutely detest this game after playing bloodborne. They gimped the rolling so you need to play with a shield. They now placed enemies in a group so goodbye to soloing and say hello to being attacked from the back. Wanna play as just a dex character? Well too bad! They made it so you need to have some range and archery isn't good enough you'll need magic. The game is everything but fair. The way they placed enemies makes this game incredibly unbalanced. Oh, you also can't just run to the next area cause they'll follow you and they're fast so you need to fight them. Absolutely detest this game. Not worth your money or your time. Fortunately, I can sell it and only end up losing a minimal amount. if you want a truly fair and faster game, then play bloodborne.… Expand
  23. P100
    Aug 1, 2016
    6
    I have played all the soul series games including demon souls and Bloodborne. Dark souls 2 is by far the worst off the series (in my opinion). It lacks a cirtain atmosfeer and i don't like most of the worlds enviorment. Some of the enviorments i found to be misplaced. Also the magnetic enemys feel out of place for most parts. The bosses i found te be less memorable then in the otherI have played all the soul series games including demon souls and Bloodborne. Dark souls 2 is by far the worst off the series (in my opinion). It lacks a cirtain atmosfeer and i don't like most of the worlds enviorment. Some of the enviorments i found to be misplaced. Also the magnetic enemys feel out of place for most parts. The bosses i found te be less memorable then in the other games. The combat have been improved (it's quicker/faster) same goes for the dodggeing system. Also some.items/machenics (like branch of yore) i found to be most irritating and pointless. I personaly had more fun with all other from software games.… Expand
  24. LordOMO
    Jun 15, 2019
    6
    I have a love/hate relationship with this game. On the one hand i can appreciate it as a massive and atmospheric dark fantasy role playing game, on the other hand i can't overlook its shortcomings (some being imherent to the dark souls series and some affecting specifically this game in the series).
    At its best you get the pure Dark Souls experience: mystic medieval castles with hidden    I have a love/hate relationship with this game. On the one hand i can appreciate it as a massive and atmospheric dark fantasy role playing game, on the other hand i can't overlook its shortcomings (some being imherent to the dark souls series and some affecting specifically this game in the series).
    At its best you get the pure Dark Souls experience: mystic medieval castles with hidden paths, challenging enemies and a large set of tools to overcome the challenges on the way. But to get there you have to deal with clumsy controls and huge variances in quality which effects visuals sound and unfortunately also gameplay. I've put many hours into the game but always have to deal with frustration along the way to get to the good parts (especially the DLC areas are 10/10 high quality but its a chore to get there). Here are all my gripes with the game:
    - controls suck. Especially in the beginning of the game everything feels bad because you actually have to level up a stat that improves your dodges. But even later on there are issues with the targeting system and with inputs seemingly not being read. Also movement in general feels clunky
    - some of the level design and enemies are very questionable (e.g. enemies that can snipe you from the other side of the map, or levels with blocked paths that you can never open)
    - graphics and sound have some very bad moments. Sound design often feels fake as in "oh yeah this is a footstep soundeffect" rather than actually feeling real. And while the visuals can be stunning in some parts despite geometry and vegetation being on the lower end (especially the castles look great), other areas are just plain ugly, e.g everything looking flat and greyish without any interesting details.
    - there is an overabundance of items and weapons in this game with little differentiation between them. I'd much rather have less but more unique stuff than a lot of junk (e.g. 10 different healing items) cluttering my inventory
    - some enemies and bosses are very forgetable    … Expand
  25. dangyosabyss
    Apr 11, 2020
    6
    A decent game but one that comes across as someone elses version of what a DS game should be. It feels like a secondary teams version of the first game. It has the worst level design in the whole series, the least imaginative bosses and the worst soundtrack (though it is still decent). Not a bad game but definitely the worst Dark Souls game. Some of the enemy layouts and areas are justA decent game but one that comes across as someone elses version of what a DS game should be. It feels like a secondary teams version of the first game. It has the worst level design in the whole series, the least imaginative bosses and the worst soundtrack (though it is still decent). Not a bad game but definitely the worst Dark Souls game. Some of the enemy layouts and areas are just trolling. Overall this is the Dark Souls you get after youve beaten the others and BB and Sekiro.… Expand
  26. Ange5205
    May 16, 2021
    6
    Dark Souls 2 es el ultimo en mi lista del mejor al peor Souls, el problema con este es que lo senti muchisimo mas sencillo que el 1, 3 o hasta el Demon Souls, hay muy pocos escenarios con buen detalle como lo pueden ser Majula que el fondo las estructuras y el diseño del mar se ven espectaculares, pero la mayoría del juego solo entraremos a salas donde no hay casi nada que le de vida, sonDark Souls 2 es el ultimo en mi lista del mejor al peor Souls, el problema con este es que lo senti muchisimo mas sencillo que el 1, 3 o hasta el Demon Souls, hay muy pocos escenarios con buen detalle como lo pueden ser Majula que el fondo las estructuras y el diseño del mar se ven espectaculares, pero la mayoría del juego solo entraremos a salas donde no hay casi nada que le de vida, son salas vacias con quizas algun jarron o silla por ahi sin nada que te detenga un instante a admirar la dedicación del equipo desarrollador, sin mencionar el interconectado de niveles que es fatal, los que ya jugaron el juego sabrán perfectamente porque, hay muy pocos jefes que de verdad son desafiantes, y el tracking de los enemigos que te ven a 2km de distancia y no se detendran de perseguirte por mas que te alejes. Claro donde hay cosas malas tambien hay una que otra buena y es por eso que no le doy una nota mas baja, debido al uso de los stats como la implementación de un stat que afecte directamente tus frames de invulnerabilidad al rodar y la velocidad de tomarte un frasco de estus, que puede ser bien implementando en un próximo juego de From Software.… Expand
  27. Cafe_8bits
    Apr 5, 2020
    6
    Dark Souls 2 its a good game, and i had fun playing it single and multiplayer. But still its the worst Souls game in the franchise, its game design has many flaws that i think are sins to the souls formula, like artificial difficulty enhancement, and some changes in the enemies patterns to easy the experience for some players. (Like make enemies disappear if you kill them 12 times)
    The    Dark Souls 2 its a good game, and i had fun playing it single and multiplayer. But still its the worst Souls game in the franchise, its game design has many flaws that i think are sins to the souls formula, like artificial difficulty enhancement, and some changes in the enemies patterns to easy the experience for some players. (Like make enemies disappear if you kill them 12 times)
    The atmosphere and plot of this game are great, one of the best of the series for me, but in the end its design flaws took the best ot the experience for me.
    The multiplayer works very well, with few exceptions, and adds too much into the game.    … Expand
  28. joel_tdl
    Jan 25, 2022
    6
    Peor que DS1

    JUGABILIDAD: Inicialmente es torpe a más no poder; con una estructura de movimientos pesada y lenta, pero por suerte en este titulo tenemos un atributo que, al mejorarlo, mejora notoriamente la jugabilidad. Llegado un punto habremos mejorado lo suficiente como para tener un juego fluido, ágil y rápido, y habiendo yo elegido potenciar la Destreza, esto era indispensable.    Peor que DS1

    JUGABILIDAD:
    Inicialmente es torpe a más no poder; con una estructura de movimientos pesada y lenta, pero por suerte en este titulo tenemos un atributo que, al mejorarlo, mejora notoriamente la jugabilidad. Llegado un punto habremos mejorado lo suficiente como para tener un juego fluido, ágil y rápido, y habiendo yo elegido potenciar la Destreza, esto era indispensable.
    En ésta nueva entrega no tenemos la ya famosa dificultad artificial llevada a cabo por problemas en la cámara (que de hecho funciona bien, y no se "atora" como en DS1), y carece también de los típicos agujeros discretos que no puedes ver sino hasta que caes y mueres en ellos, lo cual es un acierto. Pero, sí que agrega dificultad artificial de otra forma: decenas de enemigos apostados juntos en un área pequeña, más otros tantos que disparan desde zonas altas.

    La conexión de escenarios tampoco está tan bien lograda como en su antecesor, de hecho es un poco "rara", y el fallido intento de simular un juego de mundo abierto más bien hace que sea poco intuitivo el qué hacer y dónde hacerlo.
    Los jefes no son tan injustos como en el titulo previo, pero tampoco son buenos. De hecho no hubo uno solo que me sorprendiera o me quitara el aliento a causa de la sensación de enfrentarlo, son poco interesantes y relativamente más sencillos.

    ¿Las invasiones? molestas, como siempre.

    GRÁFICOS:
    Con la cinemática inicial pensé que estaba ante un titulo a la altura, es buenísima. Tristemente no hay nada de eso en el juego. Y no hablo solamente de los escenarios en sí (que realmente no esperaba nada de un titulo de FS), pero es que no hay cinemáticas suficientes, ni siquiera todo los jefes tienen una, y los pocos que sí son mas bien decepcionantes. Una dirección de arte totalmente desperdiciada. Una pena.

    SONIDO:
    A diferencia de Dark, Demon's y Bloodborne, éste es muy plano, bajo e igualmente decepcionante. No hubo una sola pieza que, para mi, sea digna de mención. La banda sonora es pobre, así como el trabajo de voces, y los efectos especiales son mas molestos que otra cosa.
    Junto con la triste dirección de arte, Dark Souls 2 SOTFS es un trabajo audiovisual poco mas que desdichado.

    INNOVACIÓN:
    El sistema de antorchas me pareció bastante novedoso, pero se ve muy desperdiciado y limitado. No quita que sea un buen cambio a lo que se nos tiene acostumbrados. La inclusión de la adaptabilidad también es digna de mención y, como ya mencioné, se agradece mucho a la hora de jugar.
    Fuera de eso... otro Souls copy-paste. Para mal.    … Expand
  29. Zero4747
    Jun 17, 2020
    6
    Dark Souls 2 is worse than Dark Souls 1 in many ways. Level design, lore, weapons, story, world design, controls, enemy design, hitboxes. Stamina recharges slowly even with rings and items that improve it. Pvp and pve is slower. The game throws hoardes of enemies at you. Many enemies have way more poise than they need to. Boss designs are worse. Most of them are regular giant knights withDark Souls 2 is worse than Dark Souls 1 in many ways. Level design, lore, weapons, story, world design, controls, enemy design, hitboxes. Stamina recharges slowly even with rings and items that improve it. Pvp and pve is slower. The game throws hoardes of enemies at you. Many enemies have way more poise than they need to. Boss designs are worse. Most of them are regular giant knights with weapons. The looking glass knight is by far the greatest boss in the game. However the game makes a few improvements graphically and i like the ability to replay bosses and reset areas.… Expand
  30. Arya977
    Dec 31, 2020
    6
    Gameplay............Mediocre
    Graphics..............Mediocre
    Score....................Good
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Awards & Rankings

14
#14 Best PS4 Game of 2015
24
#24 Most Discussed PS4 Game of 2015
36
#36 Most Shared PS4 Game of 2015

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
87

Generally favorable reviews - based on 42 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 40 out of 42
  2. Mixed: 2 out of 42
  3. Negative: 0 out of 42
  1. Gaming Nexus
    Jun 23, 2015
    90
    Whether you're new to Dark Souls II or played it on older consoles, Scholar of the First Sin is worth revisiting. This PlayStation 4 collection features the original game, along with the three expansion packs.
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  2. The Digital Fix
    Jun 5, 2015
    90
    Going backwards from Bloodborne feels almost archaic, and it takes some time to settle into that once familiar gameplay. However Dark Souls II: Scholar of the First Sin offers the chance to revisit that still fantastic and familiar world with a slight twist to proceedings and a respectable face lift.
    Read full review
  3. GameOver.gr
    Jun 2, 2015
    100
    The changes have made this edition slightly more difficult, but the core of the game remains true to the superb game design of the original.
    Read full review
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