Dark Souls II

 Xbox 360
User Score
7.9

Generally favorable reviews- based on 1317 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 976 out of 1317
  2. Mixed: 153 out of 1317
  3. Negative: 188 out of 1317
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  1. sabaothkelly
    Jul 30, 2020
    0
    Dark Souls 1? Masterpiece.
    Light Souls 2? What a PIECE of TVRD, ¡seriously!? There are too many enemies and bosses doing ♥♥♥♥ that is just just random, absurd or jank. Honestly, it's just barely above "Lords of the Fallen" trash mechanics.
    Dark Souls 3? Amazing.
  2. SolaireBR
    Nov 11, 2019
    0
    Its "ok" if its yours first game, but terrible if you think about dark souls 1 and 3, ds2 is a disapointtment
  3. BlackIronYangus
    Jul 1, 2014
    3
    Dark Souls was and is my favorite game of all time, so when I heard about the sequel I was ecstatic. At first I loved the game and adored the changes they made from the original, but slowly I started to see the cracks. The bosses were mostly boringly easy (compared to the original) and seemed dull and generic. Most of the bosses could be circled around and stabbed while they ineptlyDark Souls was and is my favorite game of all time, so when I heard about the sequel I was ecstatic. At first I loved the game and adored the changes they made from the original, but slowly I started to see the cracks. The bosses were mostly boringly easy (compared to the original) and seemed dull and generic. Most of the bosses could be circled around and stabbed while they ineptly attempted to hit you, and the bosses that weren't easy were stupidly hard. For example, there is an optional boss in the game called the Ancient Dragon. This is the worst boss in the game. He kills you in one hit with a fire attack that covers most of the battle area. To attack him you must bait a specific attack of his and then sprint at him only to poke his feet, taking about one sixty-fourth of his health away, and then sprint back and hope he doesn't hit you with his fire. That is to get one or two hits. Now, I'd be fine with this if it was a completely optional boss that was made to be practically impossible, but this boss drops an item you need to kill another optional boss who otherwise has stupidly high defenses.
    Overall, the game's main problem is that it's Dark Souls 2. If it was a game from another company with another title, I'd be great. But altogether it falls far short of its predecessor. It lacks the same reasonable challenge that Dark Souls 1 had. The areas and enemies in the original were diverse and strange, but the enemies in Dark Souls 2 were all boring and just seemed like re-skinned versions of the same old thing. This game was a major disappointment to me, and should disappoint anyone who played and loved the original.

    TL;DR: Not nearly as good as the first one.    … Expand
  4. Gerdygerk
    Sep 4, 2014
    1
    Difficulty and poor controls/ game play make me a very unsatisfied buyer. Games should be fun and no mind-numbing exercise in frustration. Shame on you Namco. I want my money back.
  5. Jhonyteixeira
    Apr 18, 2017
    0
    Is one Big **** souls 3,Dark souls 1,Demon Souls art games!!But the Two...weak very **** Bosses,Easy dificult,This no dark souls thisis **** souls 2!!!!
  6. Raslu
    Mar 5, 2020
    0
    Worst game in the series by far. What a waste of 40$. Slow, clunky and unresponsive. I hate this game for wasting my time. The RNG will make you pull your hair out. Enemies are screwed and combat just isn't as good as in DS1 and 3 where it feels hard but fair. You feel overwhelmed all the time and its super frustrating! Almost all enemies knock you down or run you over with no effort. IWorst game in the series by far. What a waste of 40$. Slow, clunky and unresponsive. I hate this game for wasting my time. The RNG will make you pull your hair out. Enemies are screwed and combat just isn't as good as in DS1 and 3 where it feels hard but fair. You feel overwhelmed all the time and its super frustrating! Almost all enemies knock you down or run you over with no effort. I get sick thinking of my experience.… Expand
  7. FartsGetMeHigh
    Apr 2, 2014
    4
    DS1 was has an environment where you don’t matter to anyone or anything. It is a game where loneliness, melancholy, meaninglessness, and suffering are life - being spiritually undead…is your Life. To search for meaning in this world, to find hope in Dark Souls was made utterly impossible and in such a vacuum the immense battle challenges that were the game became your true source ofDS1 was has an environment where you don’t matter to anyone or anything. It is a game where loneliness, melancholy, meaninglessness, and suffering are life - being spiritually undead…is your Life. To search for meaning in this world, to find hope in Dark Souls was made utterly impossible and in such a vacuum the immense battle challenges that were the game became your true source of happiness (see: Camus - “Myth of Sisyphus”). The combination of atmosphere, high quality battle mechanics, and extreme difficulty combine to make a once in a gaming lifetime experience.

    Dark Souls 2, on the other hand, fails from the get-go. The opening movie, for instance, tries to be vague but just comes off as stupid. The first interaction with the witches tries to be eerie but is forced and awkward. Even the tutorial embarrasses the Dark Souls name: it’s an unnecessarily long chore of “here’s a move, go try it on some dude.” Then, you just jump into the game and just start killing stuff with a lack of meaning that doesn’t mean anything - I legitimately found myself frequently zoning out mid-fight during the first few hours, something that never happened is DS1.

    The idea was to make this game more “accessible” to the general public but that was exactly what made Dark Souls great . Game devo’s need to learn that sometimes, a great piece of art and massive appreciation are mutually exclusive entities. Frankly, it’s embarrassing to see what the new creative directors have done (Instead of Hidetaka Miyazaki, it is Tomohiro Shibuya and Yui Tanimura a move almost assuredly motivated by profits). If you add a laugh track to “The Wire” or redo the Mona Lisa with cell shading, you alter something that was very integral to the experience - this is what happened here.

    Anyways: if you still play the game, which I quit after five hours, here are my tips:

    1. Put the game as dim as you are willing: it makes the game much more atmospheric, as well as more difficult but if you prefer ease over a quality atmosphere, you shouldn’t be playing this game in the first place.

    2. When you sense you are falling into a vortex of masochism, take a break to A. Stretch B. Walk around and C. Take ten deep slow breaths.

    3. Continually remind yourself that when you fail, it is your fault and not the game's.    … Expand
  8. hedworm
    Sep 24, 2014
    3
    In no way does this game deserve a 92. It is an emotionless, dry world where everything feels plastic. The game lacks emphasis on basic details that make a computerized world feel real. Character and enemy movements are limp, lifeless and clunky beyond playability. Combat mechanics are actually poor, and feel unimportant somehow. Plus.. dodging/blocking attacks is NOT possible to do amidstIn no way does this game deserve a 92. It is an emotionless, dry world where everything feels plastic. The game lacks emphasis on basic details that make a computerized world feel real. Character and enemy movements are limp, lifeless and clunky beyond playability. Combat mechanics are actually poor, and feel unimportant somehow. Plus.. dodging/blocking attacks is NOT possible to do amidst a flurry of attacks. you just get beaten to a pulp if you take more than 1 few hits. Tiny piglets take 50 swings to kill. The user interface and inventory system is cluttered, and badly disorganized. Facial details and graphics look like they are from 15 years ago, and that is not an exaggeration. I played the first Dark Souls two times through... in a row. With this game Im finding myself wanting to uninstall after 2 hours in. Dark Souls 1 was one of the best games I have ever played. This one misses the mark completely. Another failed sequel added to the list. Don't waste your money on this, unless you enjoy dying by falling off 15 foot drops, and getting beaten to death with no ability to roll or block. Its a dry world with nothing to offer except immense false hopes.… Expand
  9. Winterspark
    Dec 28, 2014
    2
    I get it, its supposed to be tough and challenging. But there is a difference between tough and challenging and something that becomes dull and repetitive having to try the same thing over and over again. If I wanted dull, repetitive and challenging I would go to work.
  10. Chowda
    May 5, 2014
    2
    Update on the Update: Final Review

    I am giving a final score of 2. I don't play online and I don't look at Wiki's, I enjoy the challenge of figuring everything out on my own. I spent two hours trying to figure out a way to stop poison from flowing into an area. Fireball didn't work, and my +10 Flame sword did not work........but my torch did. Just plain stupid....fire is fire, if I    Update on the Update: Final Review

    I am giving a final score of 2.

    I don't play online and I don't look at Wiki's, I enjoy the challenge of figuring everything out on my own. I spent two hours trying to figure out a way to stop poison from flowing into an area. Fireball didn't work, and my +10 Flame sword did not work........but my torch did. Just plain stupid....fire is fire, if I can light it with my torch I should be able to light it with my fireball.

    Bad graphics and fire/magic animations are brutal.
    Poor hit detection, I get hit and lose most of my health but no sound or controller "rumble".
    Visually I do not get hit, but I lose health. Full stamina button delays, especially on Estus flasks.
    Some buttons flow and can "stack" but others do not.
    Inventory animations looks like an early 90s RPG (Dark Souls Inventory Screen was perfect).
    Balance issues, you have to be so powerful to beat bosses that the regular enemies are too easy.
    Emerald Herald repeats herself every time, take away from immersion.
    I subtracted a whole point for having to chase down Crystal Lizards, having them cornered but still unable to hit them with certain weapons.
    Having to warp back to the Emerald Herald is a waste of time...I am over level 125....so over 125 warps and 125 times...seek greater souls.
    After playing single player, I wanted to play on-line......I did not have privileges. Apparently need Xbox Live Gold....
    Too much crap I will never use. I finally figure out the secret passage (or die 15 times trying to make a jump) to a chest and there is nothing useful inside....at least in Dark Souls the majority of the items you found were useful.

    Like I said in my original review, if another company tried to ripoff the Dark Souls formula, this is what it would be.

    Ongoing Sarcastic Comments:
    I actually warped to the Drangelic Wal-Mart. Believe it or not but their plastic toy weapons last longer than my +10 Blacksteel Katana.
    Drangleic, where magical fire from enemies burn you and only you. Friends of enemies get a little warmer but no damage.
    Emerald Herald "I'll tell you what buddy, I'll stop repeating myself when you collect the right souls. I don't care if I have to repeart myself 130 times. And I am not going to tell you where to go either, all I know is there is a forest down there and..........tell you what, I'll meet you at the castle, what castle you say? Well I am not going to tell you that."
    Job Posting for Covenant: We are the hardest covenant and will make your life a living hell. But don't worry, you will be well rewarded with stuff you already have!
    Straid (Voiced by Kingseeker Fampt) "I'll tell you what, you give me those souls from the bosses you killed and I will give you really crappy weapons. Well not really crappy, they are actually really cool to look at and use but I can't guarantee they will do very much damage. Ah man, I just can't lie to you, you are probably better off just using your +5 bandits knife.
    Straid cont'd: Oh and I have awesome spells....or they used to be awesome before you went and downloaded the update dumba$$.
    In Drangleic sometimes you take one sip or two sips of your estus flask. And sometimes not even at all.
    Drangleic, where only some of the environment is breakable. Massive support pillars yes, brown metal boxes...not so much.
    Drangleic, load up on VIT so can finally wear that cool armor and die in two shots anyways.
    Obviously the same company that built the walls in Lodran are the same company that built Drangleic. "You see this wall here? Yup, specially made so enemy weapons can slice through it like butter! Player weapons, no way Jose!!"
    Jump....don't roll don't roll don't roll....dammit.........meh I didn't need those souls anyway.
    Tee hee...I am lying on the ground and you can't hit me!!!
    Drangleic, where ladders are home free for the enemies.    … Expand
  11. Lordnael
    May 14, 2014
    0
    ok if you dont know what dark souls 1 is... well... save yourself some suffering and avoid this game, i only played the game offline... i dont know if online its the way its ment to be played, but man... after 3 hours i hated this game more than anything before in my life.... dry, lame, no music or inmertion feeling, monsters that one shot kill u, rolling doesnt save you, your shield worksok if you dont know what dark souls 1 is... well... save yourself some suffering and avoid this game, i only played the game offline... i dont know if online its the way its ment to be played, but man... after 3 hours i hated this game more than anything before in my life.... dry, lame, no music or inmertion feeling, monsters that one shot kill u, rolling doesnt save you, your shield works for nothing.... well... if you like DS1, this is your game,... i played it after DS2,.... and i hate that more....… Expand
  12. YeaBoi
    Jan 28, 2015
    0
    - Original Xbox graphics
    - Repetitive combat style, (4 possible slashes, 3 possible dodges, 1 block, and arrow shot. That's it.)
    - Combat relies on BAD AI. To win battles you have to perform actions like running around in a circle to dodge attacks until your health builds back up - Entire premise of the game is how often you can die (this is a supposed feature) - An online experience    - Original Xbox graphics
    - Repetitive combat style, (4 possible slashes, 3 possible dodges, 1 block, and arrow shot. That's it.)
    - Combat relies on BAD AI. To win battles you have to perform actions like running around in a circle to dodge attacks until your health builds back up
    - Entire premise of the game is how often you can die (this is a supposed feature)
    - An online experience that doesn't work (Gold member with 60hrs of play time, no PvP interaction)
    - No bonus for head shots, body part hits
    - NPCs have flawed speech and will ruin story and gameplay if you don't perform specific actions
    - Specific actions (killing NPCs or using key stones in the wrong place) will permanently destroy your future game
    - Only way to progress is literally looking up walk through, as you will be unable to pass levels without knowing why
    - Takes about 30% of the game before you can sell objects
    - Repairs actually don't mean anything, as they repair themselves at every bonfire
    - Zero revolutionary gaming aspects

    Literally the WORST game I have every played. I tried to like it. But I am baffled as to why anyone would rate this. I can't express how angry I am that I paid $60 for this...WOW.

    Have the positive reviewers been paid? The graphics literally are original Xbox , or PS1 quality.    … Expand
  13. RickyBooby
    Oct 2, 2014
    2
    A game famous (and infamous) for its difficulty and vast open world. Sounds like a fun challenge. I'll readily admit that perhaps due to not playing Dark Souls 1 I'm missing backstory and plot points, but with all due respect...what the **** is going on in this game? It starts out and quickly makes no sense. Controls or wonky, but like most games, a person will eventually get used to them.A game famous (and infamous) for its difficulty and vast open world. Sounds like a fun challenge. I'll readily admit that perhaps due to not playing Dark Souls 1 I'm missing backstory and plot points, but with all due respect...what the **** is going on in this game? It starts out and quickly makes no sense. Controls or wonky, but like most games, a person will eventually get used to them. The inventory system? Not so much. It's confusing and awful. You collect items with little to know idea what they do, are presented with paths to take...that you shouldn't because the enemy on the path is far too strong for your character. Battles consist of rolling around trying to stab a bad guy a couple of times until you run out of stamina, or better yet, hope you can get him to stand next to a rock that causes the horrible AI to make him stuck against. From there you can slice him through the wall...until an archer from across the map shoots you through the same rock wall. Wow.

    Development is sloppy, unique terminology is not explained, the animations are so long, slow, and disjointed that you start something then literally watch the enemy perform 2-3 actions while you wait for your animation to finish. Let's say you bring up the menu-well, you can still be attacked with it up, but whatever. You exist out and can start walking around...but not of your attacks or rolls work until you exist out of the menu's menu bar that is atop the screen. Really?

    Every step of the way lazy development and horrible game design prevented me from caring about what was going on, wanting to spend more time to learn, or give me any confidence that I was stuck in a learning curve that would end, and the meat of the gaming experience would start up.

    Now multiplayer. Perhaps through poor research on my part, I was led to believe there was a traditional co-op experience in the game. What actually happens is after getting a few nonsensical items and apparently drawing on the floor with them, you can have someone else join your game as a shade. That means they get to see you run around and enable conversations, open chests, open doors, play the game, while you're along for the ride. Able to walk on ledges with terrible camera control and enemy targeting, swing your weapon of choice, then eventually run out of time in your buddy's world and getting to re-appear at a bonfire, you are guaranteed to feel completely cheated out of the story and gaming experience. That isn't co-op. That's single player, with some small amount of interaction above watching someone's Twitch account.

    This is in my bottom 5 of worst games I've ever played, and I've easily played through 500+ games.

    Difficult? Yes. In the sense that it's difficult to ride a bike on the freeway with a missing tire, three pedals, and a blindfold, but I would argue the difficulty, and frustration, is due to sloppy development and horrible game mechanics. Exploiting bad AI and clunky animations is not cleverly difficult gameplay to me.    … Expand
  14. Lepstrung
    Jan 8, 2016
    0
    This game is actually gopd but it has only one bad side: its way too hard. Took me hours to kill the first enemy and after that there is one other. Game is literally impossible and it takes years to complete it.
  15. ChosenKukky03
    Feb 7, 2016
    0
    The rewarding feeling is not worth the sheer amount of stress. Stupid, awkward controls, just plain WEIRD dialogue, and you can easily lose your money quickly. The devs are some twisted jerks.
  16. nova227
    Jul 3, 2014
    0
    Dark Souls 2 is the biggest piece of garbage of a game ever created. SERIOUSLY DUE NOT BUY THIS GAME OR SUPPORT THE COMPANY IN ANY WAY. Everything about this game is broken. The camera is garbage. The lock on mechanics don't work and the hit detection is so bad that the game gets to be unplayable.

    Dark Souls had always advertised that it is a hard game well it is not what it is is    Dark Souls 2 is the biggest piece of garbage of a game ever created. SERIOUSLY DUE NOT BUY THIS GAME OR SUPPORT THE COMPANY IN ANY WAY. Everything about this game is broken. The camera is garbage. The lock on mechanics don't work and the hit detection is so bad that the game gets to be unplayable.

    Dark Souls had always advertised that it is a hard game well it is not what it is is incredibly cheap. It is like FromSoftware ran out of idea's and thought hey how can we make this game seem hard? Oh I know at any point we can we will make the game so frustratingly cheap that it will seem difficult. Add this with virtually every system in the game being broken and poorly designed and you have something that is basically unplayable and beyond frustrating.

    You no longer get that sense of accomplishment from beating a boss now your just thankful that it is over because all you did was die 20 times to memorize all the animations of the enemies and lucked out that the game got stuck in a loop of animations that let you get the upper hand. Worst of all 90% of my deaths didn't come from bosses they came from cheap encounters in the environment so there really was never a sense of accomplishment. The only difficult boss I found was because was because the designers thought that it would be ok to put a boss fight on a ledge with a hole in the middle and have all the boss's moves knock me back. He never once actually killed me the falls from being knocked back or rolling out of the way did.

    This leads to the absolute worst part of the game. Poor level design. The best example of this is the numerous levels they included that were flooded with water. Not only can I not move well but I either faced enemies who could kill me with a hit or two which you can no longer dodge thanks to the water or they included ranged enemies that will kill you before you can even reach them. That right there is not fun and leads to controller smashing frustration.

    Playing this game is like playing a game with your friends who are obviously cheating to win but you can't do anything about it you just lose and have to live with it. This game is a waste of money and unless you have the most patience of anyone I ever met you will likely get to a point in the game which you cannot get past and for me if a game is made in a way that makes it so you cannot keep playing than it is not a good game.    … Expand
  17. Bo33y
    Apr 22, 2014
    0
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. This game is by far the worst game I have ever played. Not because it is difficult is by fact quite easy, not as hard as the original. Because it simply has the most flaw out any game I have ever played.

    The UI is a mass of broken functions. If I am holding 99 a maximum of an item, yet I go to collect from a source which has tow items. I have to destroy some of the the maximum item in order to collect the other item of importance. Changing smooth stones at the nest is done slowly, one at a time. Inventory doesn't register any items, which have been placed in the item box. So if I collect an item present in my item box, it won't register that I already have this item. Boss souls which are traded for weapons won't register, if I am holding that same weapon, unlike other items which tell you specifically how many held within inventory. Spells cannot be traded for souls, these collect numerous uses but unlike every other item, they cannot be traded for souls. With spells they have to be painstakingly destroyed as they numerous fill inventory.. Bonfires are reset when traveling between them replenishing all uses and health. Although when using a spell, or item, to travel to a bonfire, this will not replenish any health, or uses without additionally resting again. Items when using functions keys if using only a single item, on a function key, they can go blank creating error. Targeting is within a stones throw of opposing damage, within weapon range. Everything can be avoided from roll away so this system is quite stupid. Targeting has it own set of error after setting a target, this will auto change if facing another direction. There is manual change after setting a target but the computer can auto change. Some weapons won't fire at close range like other item of exactly the same category in error.

    The AI are all really stupid. Most can be played round the round about with leading them up and down stairs by dropping off, or around chest ,as they get stuck having to go all the way around never hitting. Some will walk away after engaging returning to their spawns. Some will randomly attack at nothing when not the vicinity of them. Many bosses are identically are the same containing very few differences. Summoned AI are retarded getting stuck, dying to environment hazards, falling down holes, and not entering encounter that they have been summoned for.

    Attributes are grossly miscalculated. Seeing huge gains at the start of character creations per level per attribute. These drop rapidly upon any later levels. To the point it is not worth gaining 49 levels from 50-99 on set attributes because you will likely only see and additional point of damage per level. Any efforts are all wasted. meaning at level 99 I am only doing roughly 49 extra points of additional damage then that level 50 was. When they are using the same weapon and gear. There is no gained gear from maximizing stats. IE the same options are acquired 39 levels previously.

    Some Items will cancel other items outside of their descriptions. Some items will make boss encounters ridiculously easy to the point of pointless. Other items mean a level 10 will do only 100 points of less damage then a level 50.

    Some descriptions are worded wrong. In particular all of the resonant casting range. This states the more souls acquired will see a damage increases. However this is not the case when after collecting a set amount of souls there is no damage gained.

    PVP is boring because everybody is using the same items, gear, and spells there is no distinction to any of them. PVP can be quite annoying when being invaded. When trying to go to a get to a boss and waiting to summon other players, or be summoned, or simply trying to survive a level. The seed of giants don't reverse effect. When invaded by other players they are not equally attacked by any creatures within your environment unless using this item, which means you will also get as attacked when trying to reach them. An invader can attack you when in combat with other enemies.

    In short this is the worse game, I have ever played. Definitely not a contender for GAME OF ANY YEAR. Rated 0 a blight on any culture, a complete waste of time, containing so many flaws.    … Expand
  18. ineedfiles
    Jul 21, 2014
    1
    this game sucks so bad.
    i'm totally glad I didn't pay for it.
    games like this are the reason I bootleg my games. the buttholes push this garbage on us and say it's gold and people eat it up. I must admit I fell for all the hoopla, and downloaded it, but to my dismay, I hate it. it's like it's unfinished or something. There is NO SAVE feature. something that people who have lives    this game sucks so bad.
    i'm totally glad I didn't pay for it.
    games like this are the reason I bootleg my games. the buttholes push this garbage on us and say it's gold and people eat it up.
    I must admit I fell for all the hoopla, and downloaded it, but to my dismay, I hate it.
    it's like it's unfinished or something.
    There is NO SAVE feature. something that people who have lives actually need.
    that ALONE should be enough to make people stop and think.

    I don't feel bad for making copies of this game because it is garbage and the only way i'll ever give Namco any of my money is... hey, i'll NEVER give Namco another dime.
    HOW IS NAMCO STILL ALLOWED to make games?
    dark souls II my butt.
    I hate this game.
    people give it high ratings because they don't have anything else to play, or it is as close to the lives they will never actually have that they want. like when people play those crappy tomb raider games, but reality those games suck too and they only play them because they like laura croft. im not gay or a lame, so I can speak my mind.

    this game is GARBAGE STAY AWAY FROM IT    … Expand
  19. skyrimftwmofos
    Nov 3, 2014
    0
    by far the worst game I have ever played. it fails in every respect. don't know who thought it was a good idea to make a game like this
    First off the graphics are last gen. have never played a 360 game with such poor textures. so much more could have bee put in in terms of making the game pretty, but in the end it just reflects a lazy design team that didn't try.
    secondly, the gameplay    by far the worst game I have ever played. it fails in every respect. don't know who thought it was a good idea to make a game like this
    First off the graphics are last gen. have never played a 360 game with such poor textures. so much more could have bee put in in terms of making the game pretty, but in the end it just reflects a lazy design team that didn't try.
    secondly, the gameplay is generic and pointless. It is 100 hour of unrewarding leveling, overpowered enemies and poor lighting every where, with linear enviroments that don't offer much in the way of alternate routes or decision making a open world game is suppose to. The enviromental design is just as poor. It is defined by generic rubble, underwhelming sceneries in which are boring and lacking of details that should give the game life and character. The combat is a generic, slow roll and hack mess that gets old fast. The enemies are usually just copy and paste variants of one another, where they pointlessly advance, hack and repeat, not using any advanced tactics or balancing mechanics. gameplay often dissolves into pressing b for 10 minutes, hacking, repeating. every boss looks different, but ultimately is just a new skin upon a lackluster, overpowered, stupid AI. There is no point why everything is OP and then you are punished for dying by losing all your souls, and permanent health, even though the game is defined by dying. It makes the game fustrating, dull, and unplayable as you fall into a pointless of dying over and over without getting anything back for the $60 you spent.
    The story could have been the saving for this game, but sadly it suffers just as many vital flaws. The quests are boring fetch quests often, or otherwise completely vague and ambiguous to the point where you think you are playing the mad ravings of a chronic mental masturbater. The storyline is pretty much nonexistent, and when you do get scraps of it, you find a morbid, depressing world, and pretty much no motivation on continuing other than just to try and prove to yourself you didn't just waste $60.
    overall, this is an overrated, poor, lazy and otherwise wasteful game that gives no emotional reward, and instead resigns to drive the player to insanity, and broken controllers. Should never be played by anyone.    … Expand
  20. basicgamer
    Mar 17, 2014
    2
    WTF? Usually a sequel enhances what made the original so good. Not here. Feels like a totally different game. Every change is for the worse. Feels more like Fable than Dark Souls. Graphics, combat, character models and movement and overall pacing and experience is off. Whoever forced these changes at FROM SOFTWARE should lose their job. Don't let this garbage define Dark Souls. MyWTF? Usually a sequel enhances what made the original so good. Not here. Feels like a totally different game. Every change is for the worse. Feels more like Fable than Dark Souls. Graphics, combat, character models and movement and overall pacing and experience is off. Whoever forced these changes at FROM SOFTWARE should lose their job. Don't let this garbage define Dark Souls. My recommendation (for old and new players, alike), go back and play Dark Souls 1. Every detail is DS1 was done with care. This thing... like I exclaimed, WTF. Score: 2 (compared to original which I would give a 10). What a disappointment.… Expand
  21. Desw1sh
    Dec 2, 2014
    0
    Игра без сюжета с тупым ссаным управлением. Полная срань. Игра для школьников-садомазохистов, которым нравится запах жареного пукана и сектантов, которые любят искать сюжет там где его нет. 0 из 10.
  22. blackspot
    Aug 12, 2015
    0
    the most frustrating game i have ever played. everything is against you - no saves, you dont have enough spells to reach the end of the level, your stuff breaks up, bosses are too tough, it is a death simulator, not a game.
    i decided to go on. your first boss gives you enough experience (souls) to get 5 levels up, i was excited. but once you reach middle of the game bosses give the same    the most frustrating game i have ever played. everything is against you - no saves, you dont have enough spells to reach the end of the level, your stuff breaks up, bosses are too tough, it is a death simulator, not a game.
    i decided to go on. your first boss gives you enough experience (souls) to get 5 levels up, i was excited. but once you reach middle of the game bosses give the same amount of experience and it is not enough for 1 level upgrade. no better weapons. nothing. all the RPG elements vanished, only frustration was the same. as if the enemies were not bad enough, there are "cheap death" invisible holes, traps etc. without saves you have to play the same areas again and again, before you know all the enemies and traps. very boring. games are supposed to be fun, right? this one wasnt.
    i want back my money and, most of all, all the my wasted time.    … Expand
  23. Broyax
    Mar 15, 2017
    0
    From Software persiste et signe dans sa lignée de jeux de rôle "hardcore jusqu'à la mort" qui a définitivement trouvé son public, un public qui aime avoir mal. Ainsi la difficulté légendaire de ce Dark Souls 2 n'a pas à rougir de ses ainés : la progression par l'échec y est un dogme assumé.

    La progression par les essais (jusqu'à l'infini et au delà) et les erreurs : une simple faute    From Software persiste et signe dans sa lignée de jeux de rôle "hardcore jusqu'à la mort" qui a définitivement trouvé son public, un public qui aime avoir mal. Ainsi la difficulté légendaire de ce Dark Souls 2 n'a pas à rougir de ses ainés : la progression par l'échec y est un dogme assumé.

    La progression par les essais (jusqu'à l'infini et au delà) et les erreurs : une simple faute d'inattention, t'es morg cong ! peut-être auraient-ils pu ajouter un petit rire sadique avec un "t'es mort" répété sur tout l'écran et clignotant en permanence mais on aurait eu une vague de suicides de manettes et de dépressions.

    Il suffit de recommencer, encore et encore... et de se documenter grâce à tous les "wikis" et les guides qui pullulent sur le net : ainsi le jeu qui soûle devient aussi un jeu de piste. Les joueurs en parlent pendant des heures sur les forums et dans les "tchats", se refilent les bons plans et les bons tuyaux comme aux alcooliques anonymes. Il semble en effet que l'addiction y soit bien réelle et le "vétéran" qui finit l'abominable étron ne tarit pas de conseils envers la bleusaille au bord (déjà) de la crise de nerfs.

    Ainsi avec ce "jeu" une reconnaissance sociale de vos pairs vous est acquise (pour ceux qui tiennent le coup jusqu'au bout) et un support psychologique pour tous les autres crevards qui en chient à mort.

    Et il en faut du dévouement ! d'abord graphiquement parlant, ça reste laid et d'une fluidité pour le moins discutable. Aucune carte n'est présente mais comme vous apprendrez les niveaux par coeur, ce n'est pas un "problème"'. Revenir à un point de sauvegarde implique que tous les ennemis de la zone idoine ont ressuscité ! si ce n'est pas du vice, alors c'est donc ton frère... On tient là une putain d'usine à farmer jusqu'à la lie.

    Et la barre d'endurance qui se vide à chaque coup porté est une idée géniale contre le bourrinage : un mauvais calcul et le perso ne fait plus rien : il attend sagement la mort, résigné tandis que le joueur postillonne un "putain de merde". Une seconde de trop à consulter l'inventaire et... t'es mort ducon ! il n'y a en effet aucune pause... un inventaire et des menus particulièrement foutraques d'ailleurs.

    Evidemment, pour les quêtes, tout est l'avenant mais ce n'est pas grave : à force de recommencer, vous finirez par savoir où aller. Retournez lire les guides, matez les vidéos de "ceux qui ont survécu", il en va de votre "prestige" : les masos du coin vous ont mâché le boulot... ce qui n'empêche pas de crever comme une merde sur une esquive maladroite. Il fallait faire attention !

    On pourrait encore beaucoup en dire de ces pseudo-jeux vidéo (des thèses sont certainement en préparation) et du public soumis qui s'y adonne. Ah le Marquis serait fier !    … Expand
  24. WayT101
    Mar 31, 2014
    0
    Simply the worst game i have ever played EVER! This over rated, over hyped, outdated garbage.
    The Game play is simply awful, it's lazily designed, slow, clunky, irresponsive, downright unfair, boring, tedious and repetitive. The entire game is built around trial and error game play, a game design that should have died out decades ago. Sadly however the talentless designers decided to go    Simply the worst game i have ever played EVER! This over rated, over hyped, outdated garbage.
    The Game play is simply awful, it's lazily designed, slow, clunky, irresponsive, downright unfair, boring, tedious and repetitive. The entire game is built around trial and error game play, a game design that should have died out decades ago. Sadly however the talentless designers decided to go down this route because their fanbase clearly don't want games that make them use their brains but a game that makes you do the same tedious crap over and over again until either by luck or some very contrived circumstance you progress. However the game can't even get this right! Because every time you die you lose some of your maximum health bar! You also lose all your currency! You have one chance to regain your souls/currency and you'll usually be cheated out of this too. This awful game has completely contradicting game mechanics that just sum up how bad and lazy this game is. Instead of these being options for experienced players they are forced on you, alieniating people who are trying to play for the first time. Is there a tutorial for people new to the series sort of, but you wouldn't know it because the badly made tutorials are hidden in dark caves with a mist covered entrance and appear to be something spooky that should be avoided until you think you're ready, but no, you can actually go in there and learn...nothing really just what buttons do what, just as described in the manual. Not a proper tutorial just a lazy...something. The stamina bar wrecks the entire game with its excessive restrictions, it is the equivalent of a 90 year olds one remaining asthmatic lung that has been cigar smoked 24/7 and has been exposed to every pollutant of the industrial revolution and has asbestosis. Your character starts out completely incompetent, a very lazy way of adding depth and progression to this rubbish, as is the case with most RPG's and it takes hours of repetitive grinding to progress your character just to make the game remotely playable, sort of. Even then it doesn't get any better because the enemies have an assortment of cheat moves to pull off, cheap deaths cover this **** game and there plenty of traps that you can never see coming, you simply die and have to start again, over and over again.
    The challenge in this game does not come from intelligent A.I., well designed puzzles that test your problem solving skills or any form of strategy or tactics, this game is not aimed at that sort of audience. This games artificial difficulty comes from the fact that it is a mindless grind of boring repetitive combat that is usually won by exploiting the games crappy A.I. or by hoping that the game will actually respond in time to your button presses and NO this is not about good timing or reflexes, but by hoping that your commands actually push through the clunky, clumsy 'design' if you can even call it that. You will constantly roll out of an enemies offence only to lose most of your health anyway.
    Exploration usually results in some cheap death from a trap you can never see coming or do anything about once sprung, you simply die and start over.
    There is no real puzzle solving either, just wandering around until you find some item and use it in the right place, again requiring no intelligence just the patience to do the same crap over and over again until you progress.
    The Story: What story? I don't play games for the story line and this game is a prime example of why. You start of as a nobody in the land of....i don't know, undead world or something. You have no purpose and it all goes nowhere! It's nonexistent. The only bits of a story you get are from talking to the badly voice acted, boring and depressing NPC's, but the only reason to speak to them is because if you talk to them enough they usually give you some sort of useful item. It's forced, uninteresting and pathetic, lazy design again! The world is lifeless and there is no motivation to save it, if that even is the point of it, who knows? I don't even think the developers know what this was all about.
    The Graphics: For a game released in 2014 it is laughably bad! It has not been optimised, it looks bad, muddy and lazy. It has a distinct lack of Vertical-Synchronisation the screen is constantly torn as you move the camera. At least the camera functions properly, though, that's the only positive in the game.

    This game gets a zero because it is awful in every way! The difficulty is entirely artificial, not born from clever design, but from cheap tricks that only come from truly talentless developers. Everything in it is bad and unrewarding, not once did i feel a sense of reward as i played this game. This game is a collection of everything that should have died out in game design a long time ago and most of it never should have existed. Truly awful! An absolute never buy, it is pure **** on a disk (or hard drive.) With no redeeming value at all.    … Expand
  25. Deusex
    Mar 23, 2014
    2
    A third person fantasy game, where It pushes you to it's limits.
    Pros:
    Graphics are a nice touch. Sense of danger. And basically feels like your stuck in hell and the only way to get out is to kill everyone in front of you, and if you die, you try again. Cons: No real story. Bad voice acting. Unrealistic gameplay and stamina use. Lifeless world and NPCs. Bad facial animations.    A third person fantasy game, where It pushes you to it's limits.
    Pros:
    Graphics are a nice touch.
    Sense of danger. And basically feels like your stuck in hell and the only way to get out is to kill everyone in front of you, and if you die, you try again.

    Cons:
    No real story.
    Bad voice acting.
    Unrealistic gameplay and stamina use.
    Lifeless world and NPCs.
    Bad facial animations.
    Unrewarding.    … Expand
  26. JeanZied
    Apr 30, 2014
    2
    Un jeu sans âme, une suite sans idées et assez moche, bien ennuyeuse, un titre faussement élitiste. Bref, ça n'arrive pas à la cheville d'un Skyrim par exemple.
  27. FlabbyCastle
    Apr 12, 2017
    4
    If you are a hardcore fan of the first game you may find this one very disappointing. Just a little about me, I have over 600 hours on DS1 (DS is dark souls) and at least 100 on DS3 by now so I have experience and I'm not totally spewing nonsense. I have also done many challenge runs in both including things like no shield, no estus, fat roll, and other runs (still haven't done soul levelIf you are a hardcore fan of the first game you may find this one very disappointing. Just a little about me, I have over 600 hours on DS1 (DS is dark souls) and at least 100 on DS3 by now so I have experience and I'm not totally spewing nonsense. I have also done many challenge runs in both including things like no shield, no estus, fat roll, and other runs (still haven't done soul level 1 cause I am a scrub). I love this series and mainly PvE (player vs environment) cause PvP doesn't really appeal to me.

    Pros:
    Runs really well especially on PC compared to DS1
    Has more cool weapons and movesets
    Looks fantastic
    I'm not into PvP much but I have heard it's the best of the series
    DLC has cool bosses

    Cons: (I'm an overly critical fanboy who loves DS1)
    Disappointing bosses
    -many are recycled DS1 bosses that seeming had no effort put into to revamp them
    -many have terribly straightforward movesets that are boring to fight against
    -made more to be unfair and ganky then to be mechanically challenging
    Clunky gameplay
    -lack of invincible frames on roll (probably the most important DS mechanic) unless you level your adaptability stat which makes it feel like your wasting levels
    -feels like the character isn't doing what I am inputting on the controller
    -frequently doesn't switch weapons or use items when I am smahing the button (tried on multiple controllers even brand new ones)
    -has weird mechanics (long pivot animation to run away from enemy, guard break instead of kick)
    -terrible hitboxes (DS1 had them too)
    Confusing and annoying world
    -enemies have boring movesets and ridiculous tracking
    -confusing areas with no clear progression
    -emphasizes quantity over quality (a lot of gank bosses and hordes of trash mobs)
    Awful and confusing story
    -instead of making a cool story and leaving it up to the gameplay to make you feel like a helpless undead it just mocks you and spouts off about how your going to die a lot
    -opening cutscene and conversation with fire keepers laughing at you feels like the developers were getting off to the fact that they made a game that's purposely made to be rage inducing
    DLC made the core game worse
    -random enemy placement
    -now comes with more ganking hordes of annoying BS
    -still doesn't fix clunky gameplay
    -blocks previously open paths making areas less accessible (can be unlocked but only by expensive/hard to find items)

    Conclusion: I fell like the design behind the original was lost and changed to just be hard/unfair to live up to the first being called super hard/unfair. To be honest I felt while there was some stupid BS in the first with the lag and cruddy hitboxes it was still a relatively fair game with universal mechanics that put you and the enemy on more fair terms whiles still managing to be incredibly difficult. Still it's not the worst game ever but definitely not a great one either. If this is your first souls game you may actually enjoy it a lot, but hardcore DS1 players probably won't. You may also want to have the wiki open 24/7 cause it gets confusing as hell.    … Expand
  28. Tubey
    Mar 11, 2022
    4
    The 'black sheep' of the Souls series of games. A 'Marmite' title that you'll either love or hate - but then I honestly can't understand how anyone COULD love it.

    For me, compared to DS1 and DS3, this is a terrible game. Uninspired level design, terrible enemy placement, drab grey environments, lacklustre mob design. It is totally forgettable too, which is possibly it's greatest sin -    The 'black sheep' of the Souls series of games. A 'Marmite' title that you'll either love or hate - but then I honestly can't understand how anyone COULD love it.

    For me, compared to DS1 and DS3, this is a terrible game. Uninspired level design, terrible enemy placement, drab grey environments, lacklustre mob design. It is totally forgettable too, which is possibly it's greatest sin - Souls, at his best, is majestic; not just the core series, but Bloodborne, Elden Ring, all feature high points that have your jaw hitting the floor. DS2 has nothing, not an ounce of wonder to it.

    Souls games also live and die by how good it's heavy but fair combat design is; DS2 is lacking in that area too. There's little weight to it and everything feels that tad bit delayed. It's not bad, but just... uninspired.

    That really is the word to describe the whole game - uninspired. It suffers from being a marked downgrade on the first game, and the devs knew it too, with DS3 basically ignoring DS2 altogether and using the first game as the base instead.

    But not only is it a bad Souls game, I honestly think it's just a pretty bad game altogether. I now know after the fact that the game had a hellacious development cycle, and boy does it show. My advice would be to play literally any other Soulsborne game by From Software instead of this; they're all dramatically superior.    … Expand
  29. DarkSoulsPlayah
    Feb 3, 2020
    4
    Dark Souls 2 is one of the worst games of 2014 in my opinion. FromSoft took everything Dark Souls 1 did and spit it right in the face! The Level-design is awful, the enemy placemant is awful, in every level theres a ton of enemies that swarm you and don't even get me started on the Shrine Of Amana. there are some new good things like the agility system and the only level i personalyDark Souls 2 is one of the worst games of 2014 in my opinion. FromSoft took everything Dark Souls 1 did and spit it right in the face! The Level-design is awful, the enemy placemant is awful, in every level theres a ton of enemies that swarm you and don't even get me started on the Shrine Of Amana. there are some new good things like the agility system and the only level i personaly enjoyed was The Dragon Aerie. The Bosses are painfully easy and none of the characters are interesting. Overall, i hate this game and i'd rather play Demon's Souls or Dark Souls 1 instead.… Expand
  30. DemonrexPro
    Apr 25, 2021
    0
    No me gusta porque tiene muchas cosas peores que el uno y es raro porque es una secuela
  31. Calibrimbor
    Jul 5, 2020
    0
    Ewww this is the **** darksoul i've ever play this **** is not suppose to be here cuz its **** so many bosses like its too ambitious and the entire story is so **** up like literally **** up
  32. jamiec
    Jul 11, 2020
    1
    I loved both dark souls 1 and 3 and was excited to play this game however i could barely play for even 5 hours. The hordes of enemies are just frustrating to fight and the bosses are all boring with stupidly large amounts of health making every boss fight feel like a chore.
  33. Petrokolos
    Nov 19, 2020
    4
    This game is not just a bad FromSoftware game, it is generally a bad game. Terrible mechanics, boring levels (I bet that none of the people that gave it a 10 can recall a single memorable level) and even worse bosses. Hitboxes are also trash and the adaptability mechanic is a dreadful addition to the series.
  34. Kamuy
    Jun 16, 2021
    0
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Trashhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh… Expand
  35. germerfumm
    Nov 2, 2021
    0
    definitely deserves a lower score than 7.9 at the time of writing this, fromsoft is capable of making great games with the guiding hand of Miazaki but ds2 proves to all the true difficulty of making a good souls game, its criticism is well deserved for its obviously rushed development cycle, headbutting directors and a misguided and worn out dev team, ds2 offers very little in innovationdefinitely deserves a lower score than 7.9 at the time of writing this, fromsoft is capable of making great games with the guiding hand of Miazaki but ds2 proves to all the true difficulty of making a good souls game, its criticism is well deserved for its obviously rushed development cycle, headbutting directors and a misguided and worn out dev team, ds2 offers very little in innovation to the souls formula and feels more like a directors cut or a "what not to do" example for other devs when working with the souls formula, darksouls 2 is deeply flawed and disappointing entry to the souls franchise and a stain on the fromsoft name and id advise anyone wanting to try it for themselves to ask to borrow from a friend or buying on the humble bundle since buying this game for anything over 5 dollars would be throwing your money away… Expand
  36. Davidnotavailab
    Nov 5, 2022
    1
    Holy **** these games increases my chances of being more easily affected by the placebo effect. It was about when i got to harvest valley that i realised this game struggles with ideas, same level design, crappy encounters repeat that for 30 hours, now to a lazy maze until u get to a mediocre boss, done. At least ds1 had a good map design in the first half. Anor londo felt so differentHoly **** these games increases my chances of being more easily affected by the placebo effect. It was about when i got to harvest valley that i realised this game struggles with ideas, same level design, crappy encounters repeat that for 30 hours, now to a lazy maze until u get to a mediocre boss, done. At least ds1 had a good map design in the first half. Anor londo felt so different from the rest. How the hell is this a 90 metacritic game, how is this must play this is one of the things i would reccomend anybody sane in the head to avoid. Critics grow some **** balls and stop giving a 10 to any game like this. It gets to a point that a game can be ridiculously bad and its consider better than something that we used to see before.Also the graphics are horror. This came out in the same year as the witcher 3 did,wtf look how that games map and design looks. Im not talking about techniques used, just how it aesthetically looks. And dont defend it with **** like oh this was meant for ps3, ac iv was also playable on ps3 and looks infintely better than this. Gta v as well.… Expand
  37. DeathUnveiled
    Feb 23, 2022
    0
    Not much I can really say here, I just don’t think this is a very good game.
  38. Svabbe
    Oct 7, 2022
    0
    Abominio videoludico fatto unicamente per essere frustrante, perché di questo si tratta, non è un gioco difficile anzi è semplicissimo lo dimostra il fatto che se arrivi ai boss quasi sempre te li fai al primo tentativo, il problema (uno dei tanti) è più arrivarci che rende questo gioco ridicolo, per intenderci se al posto di mettere tutti quei nemici ne avessero messi la metàAbominio videoludico fatto unicamente per essere frustrante, perché di questo si tratta, non è un gioco difficile anzi è semplicissimo lo dimostra il fatto che se arrivi ai boss quasi sempre te li fai al primo tentativo, il problema (uno dei tanti) è più arrivarci che rende questo gioco ridicolo, per intenderci se al posto di mettere tutti quei nemici ne avessero messi la metà probabilmente al posto di impiegare 70h per la prima run ne avrei impiegate 20h con DLC annessi.… Expand
  39. Saidixs
    Apr 28, 2023
    2
    Este juego es con diferencia el mas mediocre de la saga, muchas zonas pero todas se siente vacías, la estadística de adaptabilidad mal empleada y unas gitboxes malísimas, dificultad artificial al poner 20 enemigos en cada esquinas, Lore poco interesante comparado con otros juegos de la franquicia, PvP decepcionante, malos pactos lo que obliga ha farmearlos en vez de jugar online, Ia de losEste juego es con diferencia el mas mediocre de la saga, muchas zonas pero todas se siente vacías, la estadística de adaptabilidad mal empleada y unas gitboxes malísimas, dificultad artificial al poner 20 enemigos en cada esquinas, Lore poco interesante comparado con otros juegos de la franquicia, PvP decepcionante, malos pactos lo que obliga ha farmearlos en vez de jugar online, Ia de los enemigos mal echa, entre muchas otras.

    Tenia mucho potencial este juego y presentaba nuevas mecánicas interesante como el uso de la antorcha, pero a la larga se implementan mal, muy mal, este es posiblemente el juego que más me he obligado ha jugar, me falta 1 trofeo para platinarlo pero sin ninguna duda lo volveré a jugar jamás.Me sabe muy mal que la compania creadora de mi saga de videojuegos favorita hay echo una basura como está, nunca recomendaría este juego a nadie, no tiene nada que ofrecer al jugador y no entiendo como es el juego de FronSoftware con mejor valoración en esta plataforma.    … Expand
  40. Formaggiello
    May 26, 2023
    0
    **** game miyazaki Is the king not this Pieces of **** I didn t likes It because It wasn t good there were a lot of non sense

Awards & Rankings

1
#1 Best Xbox 360 Game of 2014
1
#1 Most Discussed Xbox 360 Game of 2014
4
#4 Most Shared Xbox 360 Game of 2014

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
91

Universal acclaim - based on 30 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 29 out of 30
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 30
  3. Negative: 0 out of 30
  1. DarkZero
    Oct 9, 2014
    60
    Though it lasts a long time and provides a decent challenge, I think it really needed an extra push on top of what the game contains. I would describe it as just above average, but that’s as far as I’d go.
    Read full review
  2. The Digital Fix
    Apr 2, 2014
    90
    Its over dependence on group battles, less interesting boss designs and a slightly more forgettable world let it down, but none of this is so severe that it stops it from becoming another superb entry into one of the best series of games of all time.
    Read full review
  3. ZTGD
    Mar 25, 2014
    100
    If you have any interest in playing this game after reading this review, do yourself a favor and get it now. If you allow yourself to be enthralled with its atmosphere and game play you’ll become an avid fan just like me.
    Read full review
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