User Score
7.9

Generally favorable reviews- based on 1317 Ratings

User score distribution:
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  1. Sep 10, 2023
    7
    It's fable like game first mechanic when you lose your things which are used for upgrading character is made in Fable, so I will say as always it's fable like game ... :P
  2. Aug 23, 2023
    7
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Dark souls 2 tiene como pilar fundamental el combate y, este a veces es muy molesta e impreciso. Los enemigos dan golpes que no tocan al personaje, el personaje falla golpes que parece que si tendrían que haber acertado... eso en un juego de este tipo puede ser frustrante, sobretodo contra enemigos algo exigentes.
    Después de eso, llegas a Majula, suena la música de fondo y se te olvida todo.

    Dark souls 2 ha hecho cosas que creo que deberían haber continuado en un juego de este tipo. El enfrentamiento contra enemigos acorazados en un pasillo de 2 metros de ancho crea angustia y te hace pensar como sortear al enemigo, porque quizás no sirva solo rodar. O la zona con estatuas que escupen veneno, con enemigos esperando para atacarte mientras te encargas de ellas...
    Quizás muchas zonas tienen enemigos de más, para incrementar la dificultad de esa manera, entonces es una pena, porque hay que correr para saltarse zonas y no te paras a disfrutar.
    A pesar de todo, no es un juego malo, pero su problema es que ha salido después de Dark souls...
    De todas formas es un viaje que os gustará experimentar, porque puede llegar a ser una aventura bonita y que os ayudará a conoceros mejor a vosotros mismos.
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  3. Jun 9, 2023
    7
    Sadly the worst Soulsborne game But it still is a soulsborne so it's still fun It's just is the worst game of the franchise in every aspekt (exept for weapons it has some of the best weapons in the franchise)
  4. May 14, 2023
    7
    Le moins bon des souls selon moi mais ça reste un souls avec ses qualités. Manque de charisme des zones et des boss
  5. Oct 20, 2022
    7
    Pretty good game. This game focuses more on the moment to moment encounters with enemies rather than the boss fights. Because of this, if you're a fan of FromSoftware's boss fights, then this game probably isn't for you. The bosses aren't bad, just mostly forgettable. Majority of them can be beaten on your first or second try. However, if you like the core gameplay, give this game a try.Pretty good game. This game focuses more on the moment to moment encounters with enemies rather than the boss fights. Because of this, if you're a fan of FromSoftware's boss fights, then this game probably isn't for you. The bosses aren't bad, just mostly forgettable. Majority of them can be beaten on your first or second try. However, if you like the core gameplay, give this game a try.
    However, if you're looking for boss fights, the DLC is for you. It seems like FromSoftware put all their good bosses in the DLC, with ones I actually had to attempt more than 3 times. It sucks that the DLC has the SOTFS treatment, with **** tons of enemies around every corner and just general bad level design.

    Graphics wise, the game somehow looks beautiful but outdated. This game looks so much better than Dark Souls 1, mainly because it actually uses colour (wow). However, when compared to Bloodborne, a game that released at the same time, the models and world looks so plastic and less real.

    Overall, Dark Souls 2 doesn't deserve all the hate from the community, but it sure as hell doesn't deserve all the praise it gets from game reviewers.
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  6. Jul 21, 2022
    7
    Сначало я думал, что мое мнение про что дс 2 топ это истина, но это был мой первый солс и после прохождения других частей и повторного этой понял... что мое мнение это комедия...
  7. Jun 23, 2022
    7
    сложная по началу, но гораздо легче с середины игры, атмосферная, есть пару нудных локаций, мало запоминающихся боссов, отвратительное управление на пк
  8. May 3, 2022
    7
    This game is forgettable. I see no reason to play this one over the other titles. That being said it is a very unique game. Some areas and bosses are excellent. However the game overall is lacklustre with some incredible moments. Souls fans should still try this game even though the quality is a downgrade.
  9. Apr 14, 2022
    5
    I had to cheat so my health bar wouldn't decrease every time I died- I hate the mechanic. The hardest part of this game is the run to bosses. Especially Iron Keep
  10. Apr 2, 2022
    6
    I did not get very far into this game unfortunately. I quit and did not come back because of the very slow feel of the combat. I really feel like I am missing out on something. I know it is probably pretty good because it is a From Software game, but the slow combat really makes me not want to play. I loved Dark Souls 1 and 3, and have played through each at least twice.
  11. Sep 26, 2021
    7
    A VERY fun game but this was my first dark souls game so I kinda struggled (A LOT) even if this isn’t your first dark souls game it’s still very hard but it’s super fun and I recommend it to anyone who wants to have a challenge
  12. May 17, 2021
    5
    Yeah it's pretty good but honestly nowhere near as good as Dark Souls. There were definitely some great boss fights, but they decided to put in WAY too many, and that severely affected the overall quality of the average boss. The level design was one of the things that took a pretty big hit. The areas were all so much less interesting, and it didn't feel so smartly built andYeah it's pretty good but honestly nowhere near as good as Dark Souls. There were definitely some great boss fights, but they decided to put in WAY too many, and that severely affected the overall quality of the average boss. The level design was one of the things that took a pretty big hit. The areas were all so much less interesting, and it didn't feel so smartly built and interconnected. The graphics also somehow looked a lot worse, at least for some areas (I saw the ogres in the first area and was so confused as to why they looked so bad). The graphics definitely do have some really good bits too, though. The story was good and cohesive, but I wish it had kept more in line with the storylines in 1 and 3. Still Dark Souls, though. Definitely still recommend checking it out. Expand
  13. Apr 10, 2021
    7
    I have a love/hate relationship with this game. I believe I finished it 3 times, including all DLCs, so the game is definetly enjoyable, giving you a great time. What annoyed me the most though, is the amount of ganking int his game and I mean offline. This game is full f ambushes with enemies and tons of bosses that consist of multiple enemies. Also, the game has a kind of weird feel toI have a love/hate relationship with this game. I believe I finished it 3 times, including all DLCs, so the game is definetly enjoyable, giving you a great time. What annoyed me the most though, is the amount of ganking int his game and I mean offline. This game is full f ambushes with enemies and tons of bosses that consist of multiple enemies. Also, the game has a kind of weird feel to it when it comes to moving. Slashing things feels odd too, as if your attack has no impact and the sound feels off too. One of the worst if not the worst part of the game is a part of the crown of the ivory king DLC. I am talking about the Frigid Outskirts. Possible the worst are with the worst boss at the end I ever encountered in an RPG, so frustrating. But the game has its strengths too, especially in combat (i.e. power stance, awesome addition to the game) and also boss weapons are amazing and fun to get. Not the biggest fan of the areas overall, but all in all, a pleasure to play. If you liked Dark Souls 1 much, dont expect the same thing but definetly give this one a try. Expand
  14. Feb 8, 2021
    5
    While certainly not holding a candle to the rest of the series, it's an okay action rpg in it's own right. Can be enjoyable on a surface level but lacks the care and depth it needs to be great.
  15. Jun 26, 2020
    6
    Los desarrolladores no entendieron que es lo que hizo tan grande la primera parte y la alta dificultad parece que solo se basa en muchos enemigos con mucha vida y mucho daño
  16. May 20, 2019
    7
    For each thing that this improved over Dark Souls 1, it messed up two more things.
  17. Sep 17, 2018
    7
    This game had a lot of potential. However, the developers added a new gameplay mechanic known as Soul Memory (SM). PVP connections are no longer based on soul level. Instead they are based on SM which are grouped into different tiers or levels which dictate who you can connect to. The primary reason the devs did this is to prevent people from getting gear, upgrading it, then griefingThis game had a lot of potential. However, the developers added a new gameplay mechanic known as Soul Memory (SM). PVP connections are no longer based on soul level. Instead they are based on SM which are grouped into different tiers or levels which dictate who you can connect to. The primary reason the devs did this is to prevent people from getting gear, upgrading it, then griefing players who aren't that far along in the game. However, this wasn't even necessary because players can still play in offline mode. Players can still invade or do co-op at a specific SM if they purchase the Agape ring which absorbs souls. However, souls are needed to buy items as they are the game currency. Eventually, you will progress beyond the SM tier you want to be in because you need souls to buy items. This will add to your total number of accumulated souls. Players need to micro manage their souls carefully by making frequent backups to online storage in case they die and lose all their souls. When you loose your souls, it's still counted in your SM capacity. Of course you can farm for items like in DS, but who want to do that? If I wanted to buy something in Demon's Souls or DS I would just farm souls which was easy and buy a stack of items. Another mechanic is the Effigy Doll which is like Humanity from Dark Souls. If you die, you lose 5% of your HP each time for a maximum of 50% of your health. So, the game really punishes you for dying. You can find Effigy Dolls to restore your humanity and total health, but they are rare. Also, as Demon's Souls and Dark Souls evolved into a franchise, it seems like the devs spend less time on graphics. The characters in Demon's Souls looked great. They looked a bit funny in Dark Souls. In Dark Souls 2 they look even worse. Dark Souls 3 is the worst of all. The environments have changed too. Demon's Souls environments made you feel like you were in the game. They couldn't even add moving clouds to DS II so you don't feel like the environment is immersive. A lot of the weapons and armor are not even usable unless you're going for low equipment load and a parry/crit hit build. Even then, most players just go half naked. I would have rated this game higher if it were for SM, Effigy Dolls and lackluster characters and environments. Weapons could have been better too. Expand
  18. Dec 3, 2017
    5
    this game is cool BUT WAY TO HARDDDDDDDDDDDDD and thats not fun at all!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
  19. May 1, 2016
    7
    If you are a fan of dark souls, western medieval fantasy from a Japanese game developers point of view or just want to play a game that kicks your ass at every corner than dark souls 2 is for you. The game has amazing visuals, smoother game play and not to mention, BETTER FRAME RATE than dark souls 1, to a brand new fan of dark souls who would start with this game, it is a good choice.If you are a fan of dark souls, western medieval fantasy from a Japanese game developers point of view or just want to play a game that kicks your ass at every corner than dark souls 2 is for you. The game has amazing visuals, smoother game play and not to mention, BETTER FRAME RATE than dark souls 1, to a brand new fan of dark souls who would start with this game, it is a good choice. However, long time fans of dark souls who have played dark souls 1 will be disappointed in the layout of the world as it is not interconnected so it doesn't feel like one huge place. Also, the soundtrack, although its good to listen to, its just not up to the same level from dark souls 1 as most music in dark souls 2 tries to sound like ornistein and smough. Lore is present but in smaller quantities and some are just not that interesting to read and finally the boss fights. The boss fights are still hard but most are just not that hard to beat. Aside from these flaws the game is still fun to play and if this is your first souls game, it can only go up from there.
    CASUAL GAMERS BEWARE OF SOULS GAME
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  20. Aug 10, 2015
    6
    This game is so much worse than Dark SOuls 1, i cant even describe how much.
    First of all, if you have Dark Souls 1, keep playing it and dont bother with Dark Souls 2, because its difficulty isnt "hard" its compulsively hard, and this makes it worse than Dark Souls 1.
    In 1 you know you had to be better than the Enemy/Boss and you could easily defeat every boss , alone. In Dark Souls
    This game is so much worse than Dark SOuls 1, i cant even describe how much.
    First of all, if you have Dark Souls 1, keep playing it and dont bother with Dark Souls 2, because its difficulty isnt "hard" its compulsively hard, and this makes it worse than Dark Souls 1.

    In 1 you know you had to be better than the Enemy/Boss and you could easily defeat every boss , alone.

    In Dark Souls 2 the bosses are pretty lame, are hard to beat alone and are just annoying.

    Dark Souls 2 is bad.
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  21. Feb 14, 2015
    7
    Not as good as DS1 as far as world building, but the raw combat mechanics, especially in PvP, are dramatically improved. The characters are in most cases weaker, and the bosses in most cases are less creative and they seem to have this hard-on for humanoid monsters with big tracking overhead swings. Some of the bosses, however, are really great. It doesn't capture the feel of Lordran, butNot as good as DS1 as far as world building, but the raw combat mechanics, especially in PvP, are dramatically improved. The characters are in most cases weaker, and the bosses in most cases are less creative and they seem to have this hard-on for humanoid monsters with big tracking overhead swings. Some of the bosses, however, are really great. It doesn't capture the feel of Lordran, but it's more fun for the most part to actually play. Expand
  22. Feb 9, 2015
    5
    This game is only for those who consider themselves hardcore and enjoy the challenge of long winded battles and unresponsive controls. If you don't mind dying many, many times so that you can memorize the actions of mobs then this game will appeal to you. It was not so much the dying but the level of punishment for dying (reducing your maximum health) that I was so opposed to. I don'tThis game is only for those who consider themselves hardcore and enjoy the challenge of long winded battles and unresponsive controls. If you don't mind dying many, many times so that you can memorize the actions of mobs then this game will appeal to you. It was not so much the dying but the level of punishment for dying (reducing your maximum health) that I was so opposed to. I don't mind challenge but when the challenge is at this level, to reduce your health upon respawning as a punishment in addition to dropping your souls is over the top. I would be far more likely to spend the effort to over come the obstacle if I were not punished to the point where additional failed attempts would provide even less leeway and bring about a quicker death.

    The story is done well. The lighting is NOT well done. The textures are muddy and archaic. The game is not very accessible and appeals to a particular type of player. Simply put, I don't find the game to be fun or entertaining. Its more of a chore than something that I find enticing.

    I know that some people enjoy very difficult challenges and will bang their head against a boss until they beat it. For them this game will be a must play. There are very few challenges out there like this and if you are masochistic and like to deal with over powered bosses that way over stay their welcome (at least for me) then this game will be a gem.

    I do hope that Bloodborne will be more accessible. Watching the play through that has been recorded during the Alpha it certainly appears to have more variety in the combat and tactics and be more accessible.

    I can only give it 5 out of 10 - for the writing, voice acting and soundtrack.
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  23. Feb 5, 2015
    5
    This game was a huge step down from the original dark souls and all I can say is it felt rushed. The developers claimed better graphics, more polish. Instead it's big, bland and frustrating. I put 120 hours in the original and loved everything about it. DS2s world had really no exploration at all to it, just clear this area move on to the next. There was no believable slow emergence intoThis game was a huge step down from the original dark souls and all I can say is it felt rushed. The developers claimed better graphics, more polish. Instead it's big, bland and frustrating. I put 120 hours in the original and loved everything about it. DS2s world had really no exploration at all to it, just clear this area move on to the next. There was no believable slow emergence into the next world, just your clearly in the lava stage now... From an elevator... That took you all the way up... From a windmill...? Much of the enjoyment of the original was just exploring this vast world and looking for surprises. For the first 30 some hours of DS2 there was nothing. Funny enough that some of the few issues from the original were either still there or made worse by new rules implemented. They can rerelease DS2 on Xbox one and say it looks better now all they want. They should have waited and put out a clean game than to lie about DS2 and disappoint fans of this series Expand
  24. Dec 26, 2014
    7
    Let me start with a disclaimer - It is very hard to review any sequel without comparing it to the original. So with that said let me say that Dark Souls 2 is a good game and it makes some mechanical improvements on the previous game. Just know that for the most part the combat system remains excellent and still has the same weight to it as the previous games in the series. However, itLet me start with a disclaimer - It is very hard to review any sequel without comparing it to the original. So with that said let me say that Dark Souls 2 is a good game and it makes some mechanical improvements on the previous game. Just know that for the most part the combat system remains excellent and still has the same weight to it as the previous games in the series. However, it certainly has flaws and takes several steps back in other areas when compared to Dark Souls 1.

    Story - I really don't know what to say about the story, the souls games have never been big on exposition but have always managed to deliver a simple, effective narrative which is enriched by scraps of lore you encounter through item descriptions. I get the impression that the narrative here was outsourced to a 15 year old goth. It seems to relish in being mysterious and dark for the sake of being mysterious and dark. Just know that you will have no idea what is going on until the late game, and once you do sort of know what is going on, the story introduces time travel before it's pantomime "it was me!" final boss and ambiguous ending. Regarding the lore (item descriptions) - all you will get is more ambiguous crap like "could this have been that?" or "perhaps that was this?" or "some people say that.....". Why craft a story when you can just plaster everything in meaningless ambiguity? or is it?

    World/Levels -unlike Dark Souls 1, this is not an open world game though it does a decent job of masquerading as one. This is highlighted by some of the ludicrous transitions from one area to the next (Earthen Peak to iron Keep). It's essentially a series of linear levels, each of which ends in a boss fight. Environments for the most part are good, though some are fairly drab looking, while others are a bit too video game-y (Iron Keep).

    Enemies/Bosses - Severe lack of variety in this department. Most enemies and bosses in this game are basically just some iteration of 'dude in armor' with few exceptions. This actually is reflective of a big problem with the game and perhaps it's biggest failing - there is a severe lack of creativity in this game in general.

    All that said, it is still a good game and worth buying if you're up for a challenge.
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  25. Sep 29, 2014
    5
    Don't let the high scores fool you!
    This sequal is a huge step back from the previous title. The overall feel of this installment leaves alot to be desired. Poor level design, no sense of direction or urgency, artifical difficulty coming from the way of broken game mechanics, terrible matchmaking mechanics (see soul memory) Unnecessarily tedious task like leveling up, bad hit
    Don't let the high scores fool you!
    This sequal is a huge step back from the previous title. The overall feel of this installment leaves alot to be desired. Poor level design, no sense of direction or urgency, artifical difficulty coming from the way of broken game mechanics, terrible matchmaking mechanics (see soul memory) Unnecessarily tedious task like leveling up, bad hit detection/phantom hits, certain gear so over powered, you would be stupid not to use it effectively removing any customization. Unusable weapon classes because of horrendous move sets (im looking at you reapers) forgettable bosses all feeling the same....... the list goes on.
    On a brighter note, i may be describing it as a horrible game, but it still trumps other rpgs out there.
    Being a massive fan of the soul series i was immensely disappointed by this sub par sequal, they have fixed several balance issues associated with the first games, but have created a myrid of other issues.
    spend any serious amount of time playing this game and the cracks will begin to show.
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  26. Aug 7, 2014
    6
    I won't go too in-depth here, but they really messed this up. The first Dark Souls got it right, in that they found an excellent balance between difficulty and reward. This game has all the difficulty and more that Dark Souls had (although this time around it's difficult mostly because of the broken combat system), but it's almost like they left everything that was wrong witht hat game andI won't go too in-depth here, but they really messed this up. The first Dark Souls got it right, in that they found an excellent balance between difficulty and reward. This game has all the difficulty and more that Dark Souls had (although this time around it's difficult mostly because of the broken combat system), but it's almost like they left everything that was wrong witht hat game and broke everything that was great. It's not challenging, it's frustrating. It's not rewarding when you beat a boss, you're just relieved that you don't have to fight it anymore. It's not exciting, it's irritating. It just doesn't feel "challenging but fair" anymore, it feels like you're constantly at a huge disadvantage. Enemies hit you when they shouldn't, your weapons don't feel like they have any impact, and you never feel quite strong enough to have a chance. You're constantly being swarmed by enemies and you often have no way to protect yourself from taking at least a bit of damage. The healing system is screwed up, with HP recovery taking a painfully long time, time you just don't have in most situations. The game just feels like it's sucker punching you at every turn, and to me that's not fun or challenging, it's just annoying. You shouldn't have to play through an area 10 times just so you can find all the places the game is going to kick you in the nuts. All in all, it feels more like a "rage game" than a full production title. Dark Souls was an incredible game, a real feat of game design and a shining example of what a video game should be. I'd really like to know what happened here. They took a game that was tough but fun and took all the fun out of it. Expand
  27. Jul 25, 2014
    5
    Great for bosses. That is about it, the game still plays almost exactly the same as the previous two, people will claim that there is new content such as power stance and Hexes, those people are wrong, there is nothing really new.
    The only real difficulty of the game still comes from poor animations and mechanics, if you get hit by someone returning to their default stance after you avoid
    Great for bosses. That is about it, the game still plays almost exactly the same as the previous two, people will claim that there is new content such as power stance and Hexes, those people are wrong, there is nothing really new.
    The only real difficulty of the game still comes from poor animations and mechanics, if you get hit by someone returning to their default stance after you avoid there attack, the animation of their movement will inflict as much damage to you as their attack would have.
    Multiplayer is still 50/50.
    There is still not a decent story line.
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  28. Jul 19, 2014
    6
    While it's by no means a bad game; Dark Souls II, unfortunately, falls a long way short of the near perfect original Dark Souls. In terms of combat, world design, enemy design and boss design; Dark Souls II just doesn't live up to it's predecessor, or the hype generated prior to release. 10/10 for the cloth physics though :)
  29. Jul 6, 2014
    7
    Dark Souls 2 is a good game, but I feel it is a step down from Dark Souls. I'm not sure if others feel the same, but the way Dark Souls was connected by shortcuts It really made the world feel together. Some points in dark souls 2 don't make sense where they are placed and shortcuts are lame now that you can fast travel. The combat and how it plays feels similar enough to Dark Souls soDark Souls 2 is a good game, but I feel it is a step down from Dark Souls. I'm not sure if others feel the same, but the way Dark Souls was connected by shortcuts It really made the world feel together. Some points in dark souls 2 don't make sense where they are placed and shortcuts are lame now that you can fast travel. The combat and how it plays feels similar enough to Dark Souls so once I got used to it I had fun. Though I was letdown by the bosses in Dark Souls 2 which are mostly all re-skins of bosses from previous games with slightly different moves.So most the bosses felt kind of uninspired except for a few.A little more than half way through the game I was getting a little bored. Probably because I was expecting more.I still completed it, but felt it was missing something. The game was good and worth a purchase, but it is not amazing like Dark Souls. Expand
  30. Jun 5, 2014
    5
    This is a step back from dark Souls.
    The ghost damage one can get from a katana R2 etc or the mystical hitbox damage one takes when "out of range" of enemy radius is astounding.
    From seems to want gamers to spend 300+ hours on lackluster arenas that require grinding for example the blue sentinels (10,000) souls per orb.) On PC the game looks excellent , the story nothing to write home
    This is a step back from dark Souls.
    The ghost damage one can get from a katana R2 etc or the mystical hitbox damage one takes when "out of range" of enemy radius is astounding.
    From seems to want gamers to spend 300+ hours on lackluster arenas that require grinding for example the blue sentinels (10,000) souls per orb.)
    On PC the game looks excellent , the story nothing to write home about . It is obvious Miyazaki was "busy" getting to be president of from.
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Metascore
91

Universal acclaim - based on 30 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 29 out of 30
  2. Negative: 0 out of 30
  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. 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.