A Dark Souls 2 Story Retrospective

[@endermage77]

The one boss I think you completely missed in this analysis - Cerah the Old Explorer, Ancient Soldier Varg, and Afflicted Graverobber; colloquially known as the Gank Squad - actually have a significant bit of visual storytelling. They're a trio of NPC enemies deep in a random cave, and you can prove that they've hollowed by the fact they take large damage from Holy Water Urns. They probably went in here, got lost, and subsequently hollowed as they saw there was no way out. Except it goes one step further! Look at their weapons. The havel man wields a Dragon Tooth, and the archer uses a *Dragonslayer's* Greatbow. What does this say to me? This trio is a squad of *dragon hunters* -- or, at least, they were aspiring to be. And guess what? There's a dragon that happens to live in Shulva! The Gank Squad were dragon hunters who came down to Shulva to hunt Sinh, and then got lost and subsequently hollowed.

[@ethanwood5700]

That's wicked and I'm sticking with this theory

[@farrelavramh.8855]

Damn I never noticed that, I always hate them

[@RiinzL]

What does that change tho? We already know that there's a Dragon in Shulva so I don't understand where you're trying to go with this explanation

[@ryujin9727]

@@RiinzL because players tend to evade their lore because they are a cheap made boss (a gank squad) so explaining their lore in depth telling might gain much appreciation no matter how simple they are as a boss but they are awesome as an enemy in general

[@redtukeguy4263]

I like it.

[@theslanderousgent4475]

Nashandra is actually hinted to be something dark before you meet her in the Castle. Her portrait afflicts you with curse and it’s so ominous and immediately gave away the bad juju on my first play through

[@alexishallaert9424]

Yep and at the top of the elevator in Drangleic castle, we are rewarded with the ring of death, that allows its wielder, though a hollow carcass, to retain its human form... I haven't found how to trigger anything at the eminence of death shrine tho... i suspect this could be the follow-up to this thread

[@postapocalypse0763]

@@alexishallaert9424 If you mean the thing in Amana past the hollow only door you need to be hollow and have no Effigies in your inventory or item box.

[@greypolar2720]

My favorite part was how anticlimactic meeting Vendrick was. You spend so long looking for him, psyche yourself up to go into his chamber...and he doesn't even notice you. Just shuffles around, hollow. It's hard to explain but there's something about that that was so cool to me.

[@WorldBeater123]

💯 so eerie

[@yaqubebased1961]

The music never fails to haunt me

[@alldayagain]

Doubly so if the last King you met was Gwyn

[@birdstwin1186]

I think the meeting with Vendrick was very impactful on me. He is just a soulless husk wandering in darkness, completely ignorant, not even sapient, a true representation of the curse. The body remains, programed to react on external stimuli. Combined with the haunting music and the herlad's soft voice explaining his tragic situation made it one of the best encounters in the series.

[@onabs7107]

Bro I swear to God when I went to fight him, he did not respond to my hits and kept walking, worst glitch in ds2

[@fishninja9413]

I never understood hate towards DS2 story. Its refreshing to see someone finally giving it praise it deserve.

[@sarkadisf]

Fs didnt communicated with the fans and when ppl recivied this downgraded version of their original work(kadokava bought them so they were forced to release the game 2 years earlier) then some ppl didnt liked that its different from ds and 3

[@opgroundzero2.0]

@@EllaKarhu yeah, I too love doing same gank run in iron keep everytime just to pull a lever. I also love having to waste time killing a bunch of enemies just to be allowed to enter a boss room.

[@blackvalio4060]

Pretty sure the hate is for the gameplay not the story

[@ismaeljunior8624]

@@ASH-to2jo oh yes, the guy who makes vídeos that has hours of duration bc he spend minutes complaining things like the sound music cutting after the boss is defeated, while use DS2 to justify the flaws of DS3 like "see, DS2 is shit, so DS3 is better" because he is totally non-biased. DS2 is the most flawed, but his videos are another whole level of ridicule.

[@ASH-to2jo]

@@ismaeljunior8624 Rewatch the ds2 response videos. He refuted every claim which is why the videos were so long.

[@HollowProductions_1]

More than Dark Souls 1 I feel like Dark Souls 2 needs a remake given how much production was changed/rushed/cut

[@TheMimicTear]

It’s next up on the remake/ remaster list We probably won’t get another dark souls one remake for a very long time seeing as how we had the remaster a few years ago however if I’m being honest if they dude give blue point another game to do I honestly see them doing a Bloodborne before they do dark souls two

[@YeOldeMachine]

Unfortunately, I doubt we get a remake of ds2 unless its done by Fromsoft. Which i also highly doubt.. Bloodborne has a shot because its a Sony owned IP, just like Demon's Souls. But I think a bluepoint remake of ds2 would be crazy.

[@shanetaylor761]

@@TheMimicTear I only half agree with you. The difference in a remake like they did for demon souls and a 3 year old remaster are huge. Remasters are just a relatively cheap way to make old games just bearable enough for the uninitiated to play. Also the remake wasn't nearly as bad as the gta trilogy but there was definitely moments like I'm that where the animations and effects looked worse. That's because more than half that process is running the game through a program instead of fixing by hand.

[@MrMetalhorse]

Dark Souls had the same problem though. Demon Ruins, Lost Izalith and Tomb of the giants were very clearly rushed and DS1 is the g.o.a.t of FromSoftware games. I think DS1 deserves the remake more.

[@maosama3695]

Remake of ds2 and create it how it shouldve been. We need loli shannalot.

[@Oxy80111]

Once you obtain all the crowns and return to Vendrick they gain the ability to prevent death/hallowing. You still die but never lose human form and also become immune to curse. This leads me to believe the crowns act as a "cure" for the curse of undeath, but only for the wielder. Leaving even more possibilities for the "open ended" nature of the game. If you choose not to take the throne your character can continue to live free from the curse and either continue to watch the world decay, or attempt to find a greater cure or solution to the curse.

[@mez333]

It's not a cure. It's treatment. Putting on the crown only prevents hollowing, It does not reverse it. And it only works as long as you don't take it off. This is why the crown is the perfect counter to Nashandra. There is no cure to the curse. And there will never be one. The curse was embedded in humanity by Gwyn. You may pass it on to an object like purging stones or a humanity sprite, but you cannot remove it. Never.

[@Guitar-Dog]

Are the crown's the lord soul, I know the souls exist in NG+, but if DaS2 is about putting humanity/soul into objects with golems and all that, are all 4 crown's Gwyn's soul whoever's humanity that was split across the 4 people in DaS intro

[@mez333]

@@Guitar-Dog could be. It could also be that the crowns have the power of the first flame, hence the lingering heat Edit: I just remembered that King Vendrick says the crowns "hold the power of lords past". So it could be a piece their souls or a piece of the first flame each possesed

[@tyeklund7221]

@@Guitar-Dog no, the lord souls of DS1 are already accounted for within the Rotten, The Iron King, that one Prisoner woman, and some other boss. The crowns are entirely separate

[@toodleselnoodos6738]

Possibility: by obtaining the crown, you must have incredible willpower. Willpower the very thing that prevents complete hollowing. So maybe the crowns itself actually may not have had any power, but you, who accomplished so much, cannot hollow when you have the crown to remind you of that.

[@SouzadeSavio]

The breakdown of expectation on our first time finding Vendrick is really well done. Something that i came to think about and love is the mechanic of finding "Souls of Giants" to be able to defeat Vendrick as a way of telling a story through gameplay. The more Giant Souls you have, the more you lower his defenses. It always hit me as a way of showing that even having become a mindless hollow, the shame and regret of causing the war on giants under Nashandra's influence is still engraved in him.

[@alexishallaert9424]

Nicely said. Something I find fascinating is the hermetism of Souls and how community-driven it seems to be to gather, collectively, the mechanical and story information about it, as well as the myriad of secrets that are only hinted at in the game, if not completely unexplained ! Or maybe I just missed the hints :) For instance, the giant souls effect on Vendrick's resistance to your attacks, is this information at all in the game, or has only been witnessed by keen-eye players who actually tried an A B test with fighting without and with the giant souls to spread that information to a more wider audience that actually hasnt the willingness to dig so deep for every hint of secrets. That fascinates me how From pulled that off and the playerbase got ready for it. A nice alignment of stars, at last for them :)

[@nuclearwinter8382]

DS2 has my favorites lines of dialogue, from the 2nd Ending with Aldia talking about our destiny, to the beautifully delivered "Seek strength, the rest will follow" from Vendrick. I believe is a much more personal story, DS1 and 3 sell these great kingdoms and Souls, while DS2 puts you in total despair and not only wants, but guides you towards finding a better path to life, surpassing all the misery of the land to find something worth while at the end. DS1 has an incredible atmosphere, and a first experience that is second to none. DS3 has incredible combat and DLCs. But DS2 has core, Vendrick and Aldia seem to talk to you, not your character, has a message that surpasses the fictional and real borders of Drangleic. For me, one of the most beautiful games I ever had the pleasure of experiencing.

[@fafofafin]

100%, it's so personal and meta. Like every "fragment of darkness" is also a part of the kings' personalities that led them to ruin. The Iron King hubris, like all hubris, results in solitude, which is what Nadalia was. Ivory King had a perfect kingdom but was threatened by chaos (chaos is just another word for unplanned change), and was afraid of it, which is what Alsanna is. Vendrick in his desire to rid himself of mortality and impermanence committed horrible crimes against the giants, Nashandra is an augur of want, of desire itself. And finally, Sunken King was obsessed with protecting something that was taken from him so his augur is one of vengeance and wrath. Not to mention that you exit a pretty obvious womb from Things Betwixt and end your journey on a "throne" that looks more like a burial mound.

[@connyslayer4661]

Pretty great points and agreed in some ways. All Dark souls games are brilliant and have their own beautiful traits. They have their own merits and their own flaws. This is what makes them stand out. I love Ds3 for all its traits. I think Ds1 is classic and well done however, Ds2 is unique and great in its own right. I need to explore it alot more and appreciate it. Its still a great game.

[@vagabundorkchaosmagick-use2898]

On point! I don't hate DS2 as many people do, I love DS2 and I think it's better than DS3 in all that matters (i.e. it plays like a Dark Souls game, it has good story and art-style, it doesn't rely on fan service, it has Lucatiel, and it's hard.)

[@reiisthebestgirl]

"To be alive... To walk this earth... That's the real curse right there." Is easily in top 10 of video game quotes.

[@gabenvandenbrink9114]

Also, don't forget this quote from Nashandra: 'Souls... more souls' If you don't know it, please look it up. It sends shivers down my spine.

[@alexkuhn5188]

Alsanna really reminds you that Manus was once a normal person and not a monster like how he is when you fight him. Glad she got to meet the Ivory King who treated her so well. The Ivory King was a true leader who cares for his people, hence why he took her in despite knowing her true nature, that is also why he was so determined to stop the old chaos.

[@C3lticlord]

Ivory King is honestly the best king in the entire series, all the others were selfish or blind and it was their downfall. He instead was selfless and protected his people as much as he could.

[@YEY0806]

​@@C3lticlordbut unfortunately he was in the Dark Souls universe, so all good things come to an end so that the devs can give you something to play with for fun

[@elektra8535]

​@@YEY0806judging by ds3 at his actions may have caused to stop the chaos flame and the demons are close to extinction

[@grrr111222111]

The Ivory King is one of my favorite Souls fights. The first time I beat it it was with max human summons which I think is 3 other players so it was a huge fight which was a very unique experience.

[@Guitar-Dog]

I've still got all the DLC to do, might need to roll another character. I've only done half of the snowy DLC, that tiger messed me up

[@fafofafin]

That's the best way to do it imo. A huge brawl

[@artydean9892]

​@@Guitar-Dogthe one in the blizzard arena

[@jdwolf4703]

This is still the dark souls game I think about the most, I love the art style the story I really really like too it's so unique and it adds so many interesting things to dark souls lore, I also think the game has the best area variety in terms of how different and unique areas are, also majula in my opinion will always be the best souls game hub

[@rawadosa90210]

yesssss

[@mikeohc]

The Majula soundtrack is one of the best

[@jdwolf4703]

@@mikeohc I also think the main menu theme of dark souls 2 is great and highly highly underrated....know one ever talks about it but it's so good

[@hauntedhotdog]

Dark Souls 2 speaks to me in a way the other games don't. Don't get me wrong I love Dark Souls 1 and I like Dark Souls 3, but the tone and atmosphere in Dark Souls 2 instantly stir something in my soul and I can't quite put my finger on it. It's like a fall sunset... it's beautiful, but sort of sad at the same time. I love the music, and areas like Huntsman's Copse, but Majula is the star of the show. Dark Souls 2 is my favorite Souls game, and it's not close.

[@blackvalio4060]

Yeah i don't see it the gameplay sucked the word didnt make any sense the characters are unlilable for the most part the story is good but its a spin off that doesnt matter and i dont see that as a possitive. And only 3 of the over 40 bosses are good. Not to mention areas like the snow outskirts... but im not hating i just dont see what you guys see i prefer 1 and 3

[@BrendanCS]

To me DSII was not about the cycle like DSI but about the 'cycles', plural. About the way that kingdoms come and go replacing one another, powerful beings inherit the lord souls and they too come and go, and the feeling of nihilism as a result, how the events of this age matter little as another will come along and die just the same. But once you confront that nihilism and meaninglessness, what you choose to do, give up responsibility and hit the reset button, or pave a new path with no idea what will come of it good or bad. This game also helped me through a seriously rough time. The Majula theme song still hits me hard. The song seems to wander and forget its train of thought just as the world in DSII does. There seem to actually be many people with a similar experience with this game, it helping them through a hard time and all.

[@fafofafin]

Yep, this is it right here. The cycle was always very analogous to life/death, and DS2 went all in with the similarities.

[@yaqubebased1961]

Iran in a nutshell

[@moonlight2870]

King Vendric's reveal is to me one of the best pieces of visual storytelling in the souls series.

[@caramelkalin6696]

Dark Souls 2 was my first ever souls game and still my favorite one to this day, it's pretty rare nowadays to see anyone actually complementing it so have a like

[@MrPeachie42]

Gingy - you’re truly one of the best voices for video game story analysis on KZbin, your channel is amazing!

[@Gingy]

Thanks Matt :) I appreciate it ❤️

[@angelaxxify]

Vaati would like to know your location

[@Etticos.]

Of the original Dark Souls games, this was easily my favorite to play solo. I love how gloomy and ethereal everything feels. Even some of the location transitions (Earthen Peak to Iron Keep) didn’t feel awkward to me, but rather surreal. It felt like my character had gaps in his memory due to the curse and hollowing. That may be just how I interpreted it, but I am glad I did as it added to the vibe of the game to me.

[@favkisnexerade]

same, I never questioned these transitions because of how fast you level up and the fact you're hollowing and it said in your face multiple times. You probably remember like 10% of everything that happens, that's why you traverse whole country but it feels so small.

[@steveaugust7797]

I've always loved dark souls 2. It's nice to be able to sit down and just listen to someone explain the lore from a walk-through perspective. Good job!

[@edmond0073]

If there is still a voice line that still lingers in my mind even after all this time since 2014 when I first got into souls franchise through dark souls 2 it would her final lines . "My name is lucatiel. I beg of you remember my name . For i may not myself ." And after the bonfire reset she goes away forever.

[@rawadosa90210]

🥲

[@lieutenantpliskin]

And why is it that her brother invades you aswell?

[@JerBear0328]

Tragic

[@KamiOrion]

@@lieutenantpliskin it's more like Lucatiel after getting cursed comes to Drangleic not knowing why [as strowen the narrating fire keeper says it] but she had a hunch that her brother also came here, if you manage to keep her alive in 3 boss fights and meet her at Aldia's Keep she'll explain that she's actually on a search for his brother also tell's the player she was never able to defeat him once and thanks the player for keeping her sane. Asatiel invasion is like Asatiel came to Drangleic after being cursed and made up to Aldia's Keep but as he arrived there he got hollowed. Showing that however strong you are your last destination will be Aldia's Keep for idk what reason. So taking it like that Asatiel was the strongest man in Mirrah but because of Hollowing he becomes nothing hence the easiest invader

[@jadonw3288]

You have steadily become one of my favourites narrators and analysts of video game on KZbin very fast. You seriously do such a good job, hats off man

[@GunRunner106]

my theory always was that, the aslatiel, that invades us after the last lucatiel encounter is actually lucatiel herself. she forgot everything, herself, her name, except for her reason to go there - trying to find her brother..... his name is the only thing she didnt forget, so she became him and started invading as him. its also implied that a lot of time has passed since then with the slightly different description of the sword that he can drop compared to lucatiels sword she has.

[@starlyghtdrifter66]

Exactly. I always thought that too, it’s too much a coincidence for him to invade you right there where you talk to her the last time before she hollows

[@abcdef-cs1jj]

Yes, let's give DS2 the love and attention that it deserves. For me personally the best of the series, I know not many agree but I just have the fondest memories playing this gem.

[@WorldBeater123]

Right there with u bud

[@TheMaulam12345]

it has beest story, its very sad and horror and i feel very bad for both human and the giants

[@remilenoir1271]

I swear Ds2 fans live in some sort of alternative reality... The game is getting plenty of attention and love, it's been four years that the whole Internet praises it like it's the next best thing after Bloodborne, and treats Ds3 as a worthless pile of shit. Videos of how great Ds2 is are litteraly flooding the Internet, it has never been more unpopular to plainly state that Ds2 is the worst in the series.

[@samnunnink7575]

@@remilenoir1271What alternate universe are you living in? Ds3 and 1 are treated like the perfect children while ds2 is the mistake that is a terrible game because it commits the sin of having slightly worse hit boxes than ds1. All the videos defending ds2 are in response to a ton of people hating on ds2. Sure you’ll find your fair share of defenders and attackers but the overall fans opinion is that ds2 is terrible. You saying that it’s never been more unpopular to say that ds2 is a bad game just goes to show that a lot of elden ring fans have picked up the souls serious and are unbiased towards ds2 so they see it for what it is. A flawed but still extremely fun game that definitely deserves its place in the souls game, sure you can say it’s the worse one but it doesn’t deserve the treatment it’s gotten for years, don’t try and take away its praise once it’s finally getting acknowledged as a good game.

[@remilenoir1271]

@samnunnink7575 I ask you back the same question : What alternate reality do you live in ? The situation you talk about was years ago. Nowadays, the trend is to praise Ds2 and hate on Ds3. Go and say that Ds2 is bad in any comment section under any video pertaining to the Souls games. You will be flooded by comments stating that you're wrong and that other souls games suck compared to Ds2. Do the same, this time saying that Ds3 is the best in the series, you will get flooded by reply saying how boring it is, how it's only Ds1.2, and that magic sucks, and how much better Ds2 was.

[@blitzgirl6522]

I love Dark Souls 2's story and characters. It has far more intrigue than the other games. Also, this and Elden Ring have some of my favorite voice acting/variety of characters.

[@bandarsalh1338]

I like the story of dark souls 2, hearing about the kings, their kingdoms and how they inspired loyalty It feels similar yet different from the lords in ds1 The kings in ds2 didn't try to change the world, they were just doing their duty towards their people and you see how each one of them failed

[@burntreynolds1068]

Genuinely love DS2 - the sheer, eerie atmosphere of the whole thing is palpable. I don't know quite know how to put my finger on it, but it just evokes the isolation and existential horror with more depth than the other two titles. I really got the feeling of this mighty empire that had been inexplicably abandoned, a few loyal stragglers having lost their purpose and gone hollow. Once in awhile an enterprising soul picks over the ruins but somehow they always wind-up back in Majula. "... may you find peace on your journey ..."

[@beary-boo3223]

One small thing I always liked about the Nashadra fight is that her boss title isn't some embellished elegant title like "Nashandra, birth scorn fragment of the abyss" or anything. Just "Nashandra"

[@jackkendall6420]

Same thing with Vendrick. Finding him in his tomb and seeing that was a very impactful moment.

[@Nabs-xd2qr]

They build her up as being oddly creepy for the whole game and then when you finally see her... there is no need for titles. Everything you need to know... stands before you.

[@elektra8535]

It is a little bit more special when you fight the defender and the Watcher of the throne just at the very end, because she is the one that enters the fog, you are the bossfight for her for us she is just Nashandra

[@YEY0806]

​@@elektra8535that's so cool in analysis, having a boss enter a fog wall to battle the player rather than the other way around

[@ben-ty9jo]

One thing I really like about the iron keep is that to get there you take an elevator straight up from earthen peak, but you can clearly see from the outside that there is nothing above earthen peak. That always made it feel more mysterious and cool to me

[@yurtthesilentgod1225]

Ds2 was my first and I'll never forget putting the disk in the ps3 for the first time. It is still my favorite one to "pick up and play" since the controls are second nature at this point. If you haven't played in a bit I reccomend trying as a hex build. Out of all 3 DS games 2 has the best and most fun hexes. Just use the spell yearn and then dark orb, climax, dark hail them into dust. Great video by the way

[@zzodysseuszz]

Hex? Oof you’re going to spoil the game for them with such a powerhouse build

[@elliotkivi1682]

@@zzodysseuszz you just had to

[@yurtthesilentgod1225]

@@zzodysseuszz return play throughs is when to try hex. Most people don't know there's a dedicated hex build on their first play through.

[@zachh3296]

Ds2 is the only game where I enjoyed an intelligence build fully. Idk why, but it was especially fun for invasions.

[@Mojaveknight17]

All the small/big problems of Dark Souls 2. So after getting 150 hours in Dark Souls 2 and gotten most items and such I just find it to lacking stuff. But I'm gonna list all of the problems I have with the game. 1: Game locks the FPS to animation which speeds up monsters in the game. 2: The new controls ain't exactly the best and you can't rebind them easily. In fact you got very little option when it comes to the mouse. Btw my PS2 gamepad won't be detected by the game so I stick with keyboard. 3: Mouse and Keyboard are not fully supported. Mouse for example got an dead zone. The attack delay makes triggering Guard break and Jump attack near impossible. Keyboard promts still work fine though. It's too sensitive with aiming when in a bow or binoculars. They had an extra month for this. I expect better. 4: Monsters got Magnetic weapons. Which means they will trace you far more than in Dark Souls. This is cheap and it ruins immersion when you see them spin around when not moving their feet. This also means they are not playing by the same rules you are. 5: Upgrading materials are far too rare and far too hard to get until you're able to use a lot of bonfire ascetics. This stops you from trying new weapons or upgrading armors because you are generally just gonna stick with one. 6: No tail cutting. Or as far as I know there is none to be done. That's a shame. But with the way bosses move now it's pretty hard unless there are 2 of you. This could also get you some good weapons in the first game. 7: S ranking isn't all that much better than A ranking on weapons. Weapon ranking in generally got less useful where as Magic got seriously more powerful. Yes yes I know you can dodge them but why does the more dangerous route get nerfed more? 8: Most weapons are useless because of low durability and damage. Not to mention the lack of materials and 60 FPS ruining weapon durability faster. Some will later show up in PvP due to reach or some other special feature. Washing pole fore example. 9: Trading boss souls for weapons. This just simplified the process and makes the broken blade worthless to keep around or upgrade. I just find that it's lacks the spirit of Dark Souls where you have to use a weapon and a soul to then make it to a better weapon. 10: Twinkling titanite are far too rare and used far too much and cost far too much to buy. It cost more than a Titanite slab ffs. I'd love to try out some new armors but with the rarity of these materials that is not going to happen. I know I can farm the Giant memory and have done it a bit now lately. 11: Soul Memory basically gives you no real reason to start over. I've made 2 new characters to play with a friend but when he got high enough when I could use my other I just used him instead. With the way how PvP works I have no reason to stop leveling either. 12: Lack of secondary ending. Also lack of being able to kill a certain NPC. Which is part of the end boss. 13: No message system like in GFWL. I haven't had anyone post on my profile on stuff that I've done in the game. In Dark Souls I've gotten quite a bit of PM. 14: There are several areas that don't feel connected at all because the landscape changes so much and when you look off into the distance you'll see the same type of weather while it's less than a mile away. In one area it rains constantly yet this can not be seen anywhere else. 15: Enemies despawning after 15 times. I just don't like this feature. 16: Enemies can't drop multiple items at once. They could do it in Dark Souls and those Dark Wraiths can show this. From time to time you might get 2 Titanite Chunks or 1 Slab and 1 Titanite chunk. Here you only get one item. Edit: It seems this starts to happen on NG+. But it sucks for not really happening in NG. 17: Hidden illusionary walls can only be opened with Pharros stones. They could just have put a door there instead locked by the Pharros stone. Because the giant blue face just ruins the "Oh it's a secret here". The normal secret walls are ok though. 18: Inventory. I honestly liked the columns of items better because it gave me direct information on all the useful stuff I wanted to know. 19: Lack of Red eye Orb. The whole one. I don't PvP much but that is something that should be in the game. 20: Covenant rewards are just grindy. In the first game you didn't need to do that much to the third reward. Here you might need to kill 500+ people or so. 21: You can't coop with people in NG+ while being in NG. 22: Leveling up should have been done at the bonfire. Traveling back to the first place is just an annoying task and you have to talk to her every single time. 23: Bow and Poison arrows are a bit too OP for normal enemies. When you know where they attacking you you can just wait it out. Dark Souls had this as well in several areas but it is far more noticeable in this game. Dragon Shrine being a prime example of it. There is no monster there you can't cheap kill. 24: Making a female characters takes far too much effort. The base ones are just horrendous. Dark Souls 1 did it better. 25: Last boss just felt like any other boss in the game. I've seen the boss in Demon Souls and played Dark Souls 1 to the end several times. I found Dark Souls 1 to have the best last boss because he was just a King. Looked human and could be parried. He was though a bit bigger. Music was better too. 26: Poor gamepad support. I've seen other Developers do it better and if this game truly want you to play with a gamepad they should support as many as possible. 27: You can't drop Upgrading materials or most other items in the game like boss souls, bonfire ascetics and Covenant reward items. Sunlight medal and the sort. In Dark Souls you could drop a lot of items. Don't see why they have to limit it like this. 28: Dragon Scales can not be used to upgrade Dragon type weapons. 29: Can still only just give one Medal at a time. If all they do now is boost your covenant rank might as well just be able to give them all. Stop wasting our time. 30: That made the voices of the birds in the nest even more annoying. Also no birds are visible there. At least put something there. Also the items they want are too easy to figure out. In Dark Souls 1 they had a more varied taste for items. I've also beaten all bosses in the game too. Ok, that's about it I think. Don't get me wrong though, this game is easily the best game of this year. It's worth the money and it has a lot of value. It's just that they missed on a lot of marks. All of those small things are starting to pile up for me. There are people who can easily ignore these things and that's fine. But for me, I see all of those small problems in more and more games and when it just adds to such a high level I lose interest. It makes me want to play it less. Which is happening right now. I only really got this game and Transistor(Makers of Bastion) to play the very moment. Some issues are bigger than others like Soul Memory and lack of upgrading materials. I'll still play it every now and then though.

[@greasehole9158]

I love the story of dark souls 2 the most. Seeing the cycle continue and how other kingdoms deal with it. Hearing about Vendrick the whole game and then seeing him will always be one of my favourite moments in a game. It’s so good

[@allkindsofgroovy6865]

My first Dark Souls game ever so it always occupies a special place in my heart. Looking back, there's a lot that could have been done better, but more that could have been done so much worse. Its good to see a review that's not just "DS2: Bad!" It's a brilliant game that suffered for trying to be a little different from the one that came before. Think I'm starting another play through tomorrow.

[@megamilkxl3414]

i love ds2. it’s honestly my fav fromsoft game. the atmosphere, the armor/enemy/weapon design, the music…. it’s all so good to me

[@familiarisfelinus4087]

Just started two new characters recently since it was on sale for PlayStation and I didn’t have it on my ps5, going back to play through the trilogy and already beat ds3 again lol!

[@maxwell2428]

I don’t think the problem is that it tried to be a little different from the others, the problem is that because the original author wasn’t involved in this game much of the narrative, lore and world cohesion was lost. But the biggest problem is that this game actually spits of the lore of the first game, making a lot of narrative choices that are not coherent with the lore of the first game. With the return of Miyazaki in DS3 he in fact retconned much of the story and lore in DS2 because it wasn’t written so well

[@ColdNorth0628]

@@maxwell2428 yet the lore of souls 1 and 3 evidently went just as much nowhere as 2 seeing as 3, only added details to what we already knew and it ended with "and everyone died" if we are to go off of the dlc being the final point in time.

[@maxwell2428]

@@ColdNorth0628 well if you think it went nowhere there’s not much point in arguing

[@Bliss467]

emerald herald is at the very least by far the best fire keeper because she... has personality and actually does things.

[@sasaki999pro]

Would you actually care to back that statement up with evidence?

[@pokimanefartcompilation]

@@sasaki999pro I know I'm not the guy you asked, but I'll tell you anyway. For starters, the emerald herald has an actual story. Her name is Shanalotte, and is theorized to be born of dragonkin, given her connection to the dragon shrine. As the player progresses through Drangleic, Shanalotte travels alongside you, constantly pushing her will, a will to be set free from the curse of the fire keepers. If you're familiar with the cut content of Ds2, you'd know that they had planned for much more story telling regarding Shanalotte. For instance, there's an unused NPC model of a young Shanalotte, a child. And given how emphasized time travel is in Ds2 (accessing memories), it's not hard to believe they originally planned a much more personal connection between the player and Shanalotte. It's a shame none of this was built up on in the final product. Nonetheless, all these things come together to help define Shanalotte as a character, and imo end up making her a lot more compelling than the other level up waifus.

[@raphicoco]

@@sasaki999pro the fire keeper in DS1 has an interesting side quest around her, but feeling pity toward her isn’t really a personality trait. In the end, most people have a connection towards here for her utility and not her character itself. DS3 fire keeper not only has 0 personality, but is a straight up copy of the Maiden in Black without what made her interesting. She at least has a slight of ambition in the game but is only shown wen the player ask her to. The only real thing that players truly like from her is her appearance and beauty... Wile in DS2, she starts as the true first beacon of hope for your journey and actually help you not just with her leveling powers but as guidance. She also has ambitions as she has a tue symbiotic goals for herself in this quest which is not just about you. And instead of being stuck in one place like a “good house wife”, she goes around in your adventures. And even with her monotone voice, she expresses more personality than the others wile hanging around Majula. Looking at the beach with awe, réconfort at the fire and sometimes just play around joyfully. It is not a lot but it is all way better than any other fire keepers.

[@Bliss467]

@@sasaki999pro sure. she travels the world, guiding you. also, i mean, even just sitting on the rock and kicking her legs playfully is 100% more personality than the other firekeepers.

[@05killaz]

maiden in black on top

[@arellajardin8188]

While irrelevant to the final product, I’m fascinated by the possibilities of some of the original intent for DS2. The Whole memory/time travel thing was, at one point, supposed to play a bigger role, with your actions in the past inadvertently shaping your present. The Emerald Herald might guide the Undead, but she would connect to you in particular, because you would eventually go back in time and save her as a child. Her kicking her legs by the bonfire is a mirror of an animation her child model does. Some theorize that this scrapped version of the Herald would have become the player’s Queen, if they took the throne.

[@fafofafin]

I disagree about the NPCs being a waste. They're all hollowing, you need to see this is a crumbling kindgom full of cursed people. Can't do that with 3-4 NPCs. Also, 6:29 You can sell stuff to Gavlaan. That makes him unique and crucial. Lucatiel herself tells you she came for her brother. Mytha was after the old iron king. It is mentioned in one of the items IIRC Alonne leaves because the Iron King fell into depravity, his sword or armor says it. Iron King was probably afraid of the undead just like whoever made the Lost Bastille was, who wasn't Vendrick as Straid knows of the Bastille for undead but hasn't heard the name "Drangleic". And Vendrick purged them into the Gutter and the Gulch, that's what the Rotten is. His "face" is a prisoner cage. And even the Ivory king sent them to the Frigid Outskirts. They all tried to purge their land from undead, it wasn't sadism. The rats aren't pointless..... The rats are the refuse that takes over when all decays. The only real winner of the cycle of life. Where are the rats? In a place called The Grave of Saints. A place that should be holy and revered, is now the kingdom of rats. Only they remain, when all crumbles. I know it's very popular to assume you're travelling to the literal past to kill the last giant in an ouroboros type of thing, but I'm not sure. I mean, both Vendrick and Bernhart recognize you in a memory, Bernhart especially who just met you in real life. I think these memories are liminal spaces you can pillage for souls, but not necessarily OUR past. You even kill Sir Alonne in a memory but we know from the lore of his items that he just left when the Iron King went astray. You correctly saw how much summons make the BIK fight and Nashandra better, but then complained about a lot of bosses just being ganks, without connecting the two. Some bosses, like Sinh and Alonne are near perfect fights both solo and with NPCs, but most others favore one of the two. The Ruin Sentinels is a very good fight because the summons turn it into a proto-melee like the one with the BIK. But I agree with you that this is just down to preferred playstyles. Nashandra is not a mystery that can be spoiled by the herald lmao. If you don't know the Queen is waiting for you at a place literally called the "throne of want' idk what to tell ya. It's also a fascinating moment from the herald who has been all peace and love until now "Put Nashandra to rest" she says, in a very out of character moment. Imagine not having that for a "surprise" anyone can see from miles away. This is probably the weakest point in an otherwise good video. Very nice video, thanks for reading if you did.

[@aldiascholarofthefirstsin1051]

Dark Souls 2 fanboy who did not pay attention to the video and has a bad english, expected.

[@BigHatLoganGaming]

about alonne. we can compare them to say, artorias's legacy. the item descriptions are not a reliable narrator. everyone believes artorias had slain manus, even the way the game weaves the story frames it as such, but its only when we personally enter the dlc do we find out that it was us and artorias has failed, just because the items say alonne left doesn't mean it's the fact of the matter

[@fafofafin]

@@BigHatLoganGaming I get your point, but Artorias' false legacy is actually the main plot point of the DLC. Alonne's lore being fake does not mean anything. It's not even a famous figure mentioned outside the armor of the hollow knights of the iron keep.

[@BigHatLoganGaming]

@@fafofafin alonne being a minor figure doesn't mean it can't follow a similar case. your only point against it was the item descriptions

[@fafofafin]

@@BigHatLoganGaming I doesn't mean it "can't" follow a similar case, no. It means it likely doesn't.

[@erris5744]

This game possesses my absolute favorite themes. On top of the Undead theme, there is also a sense of pointlessness to the cycle. Drangleic is just one of countless kingdoms that have stood on this land and dealt with Gwyn's sin. If Olaphis can exist only in the memories of a man turned to stone, how many kingdoms exist between it and Drangelic utterly lost to the wheel of time? The flame has been linked countless times, and it has also probably faded countless times. But in the end, it means nothing, and the cycle marches onward.

[@maxwell2428]

btw i don’t know if you played ds3 but it isn’t actually a cycle if you pay attention to the description and the world

[@joedatius]

@@maxwell2428 yeah the whole "cycle" thing was made up entirely by DS2 and was immediately retconed. That was probably for the better honestly since its hard not to see the concept of cycles being anything but a ploy for Namco Bandai to keep milking Dark Souls, In a lot of ways DS3 exists to give Dark Souls a definitive end.

[@erris5744]

IMO, the hatred that DS2 got was the greatest tragedy of all of Dark Souls. DS3 stepped back too far in order to almost completely ignore DS2, only referencing with items that have vague descriptions only to say "here, DS2 fans." And it is a cycle in DS3, just different. The flame fades and someone links it. Enough people have decided not to link it that they implemented a whole system of reusing those that did before.

[@joedatius]

@@erris5744 no its literally not a cycle in the way it's described in 2. DS3 shows that even after so much time linking the flame there are long lasting consequences. and in the end where you attempt to link the flame, it doesn't burn, your body smolders with flame but its over. its a very overt difference from the kiln being lit in DS1 with an inferno of flames taking hold of the kiln. its why a main theme of DS3 is set around Ashes. embers might reside for a fleeting moment but in the end it is only ash that remains, no longer is an age of fire possible. And sorry but there simply isn't anything in DS2's story worth bringing up since it choose to be as inconsequential as possible, DS2 was practically designed from the ground up to be obsolete to the series as a whole which is only fair because it was made as a cash grab first and foremost while the actual good devs of Fromsoft made Bloodborn.

[@erris5744]

@@joedatius There is plenty that could have been brought up. The cycle itself was interesting, a fascinating story that could have been expanded on. Or even referenced more. The whole point of DS2 was that Drangleic is, at the time, just the most recent iteration of an endlessly repeating story. I'm not saying that they should have brought anything back, but just mentioning some of the lands mentioned in DS2 could have been cool, instead of just repeating the lands from DS1. Honestly, I don't like the worldbuilding of DS3. Too much of it is easily described as "Remember this thing from DS1? Here it is." It's good, don't get me wrong, but so much was lost by ignoring DS2 as much as possible without saying it never existed. The fact that DS3 ignores DS2 so much fucks everything. We know that DS3 takes place long after DS1, but it is unclear where DS2 takes place. Logic would dictate that it takes place between, but its themes mean that it makes no sense. How can everything from DS1 be so utterly forgotten that the only two that really know about them had to sacrifice everything to learn even the most basic truths, but in DS3 everyone knows the tales of Lordran? It makes sense for DS2 to take place after DS3, between the main game and the Ringed City at least, but the inclusion of DS2 items fucks that utterly. Not to mention Creighton just existing for the sake of appealing to DS2 fans. DS2 was not a cash grab. To say that is to ignore its ambition. I consider Elden Ring to be the spiritual successor of DS2, because ER is everything DS2 tried and failed to be.

[@roningunslinger4511]

Cool thing about what you mentioned right at the beginning, about brightbugs comforting the dead and about never coming back. Your character is clearly still human when they jump into the portal, however when you wake up, you're hollowed, which only happens when you die, or get cursed. With Drangleic seemingly being a very different kingdom to where your character is from, and the fact that the things betwixt feels so eerie and otherworldly, it would kind of make sense you have to die to get there, and only an undead can get there how you do

[@terrifyingspoon3052]

This is my favorite fromsoft game, happy to see someone else who sees the story as great

[@Mehno97]

Hell, yeah! After I watched your Darksouls 1 Story Video I was looking forward to this alot. Darksouls II is my favorite Souls game and a big reason for that is the story and the more philosophical approach on the nature of choice as well as other things.

[@ArkantosArcane]

+1

[@Splitboltxful]

Great work gingy, I think this is your best one yet. Helps that DS2 has my favorite story of all three games

[@rotatiopaolo296]

There is barely a true statement within this half hour mess

[@utlandsk]

As much as I think this game isn’t all that great I’ll still always love it despite its flaws. If I can have fun in a game then I don’t really care about anything else

[@suzu8253]

This is a mindset that I feel like most game devs today just don't nail. If it isn't fun, why bother.

[@connyslayer4661]

Absolutely agreed, i think the same and i have a similar mindset. Regardless of the game and its flaws, if its entertaining, is enjoyable and has great traits despite it's flaws, i think its pretty amazing. Its one of the most important things to me.

[@dragonfoxsolid1308]

I legitimately love parts of DS2. Vendrick twist, dual wielding, Majula. It's all underrated.

[@GhettoBagel]

So glad I just so happened to see this video on my sidebar, cuz now I get to watch this and your other videos for the first time. Excellent work!

[@benjaminkuchler9145]

I absolutely love dark soul 2, Aldia to me is one of the best and most interesting characters ever because most of what he says can be applied to real life as well. Wish they did more with his character in ds3

[@yaqubebased1961]

Nah, peasants just don't hear the music.

[@alexishallaert9424]

Yes, makes Ds2 a kind of anti-epic. While the action is epic, you're invited to reflect upon thy desire and goals, and the pointlessness of it. It makes a good commentary on what it means to play these game, to enter the monk-style mentality to be able to beat them, and to question our desires and why we do things. I really liked that too. I really dig ds2 for some reason. Can't really stand the bombastic presentation of DS3 in terms of musis especially. Epic but cold, it felt to me. I think of Elden Ring as a continuation of this theme of questionning our very action in the game. " extinguish thy flame" " put these foolish ambitions to rest" memorable lines :)

[@alexishallaert9424]

There's also the part about love and death and the lines about humans being unable to disringuish between reality and fiction. So many lines I found were quietly profound

[@alexishallaert9424]

It's not about the grand cycles, it's about the cycle in one's life, the decisions one make, the curse that drives him to one particular fate

[@jerrym1218]

Dark Souls II will always be my absolute favorite of the Dark Souls Trilogy. I had so much fun playing it for hours and getting lost in it’s lore and world, oh and of course the beautiful calming music. So many great memories when playing this game for the very first time.

[@realspartan5206]

what I love is that if you wear any of the crowns after blessing it in shrine of amana, it doesn’t make you hollow after death, which could possibly end up bringing a different interpretation to the endings, like did the bearer of the curse take the throne to watch the world decay as they carry on? did they walk away from the throne to find a way to use the crowns to reverse the hollow curse? I think that’s the beauty of the Dark souls 2 endings especially with the DLCs

[@gabenvandenbrink9114]

Few things i think are worth adding: The depth of dialogue from Vendrick and Nashandra and the level of voice acting in general, for example: Vendrick: Seek strength, the rest will follow. It fits the story and his character so well. Nashandra: Souls... more souls. Fits the character perfectly, but you need to hear this line from the voice actress. Sends shivers down my spine. You can hear truly hear manis's power-hungry side, manifested as a living beign's extreme hunger for souls. It has a sertain.. desperation, melacholy and feral beast-like hunger to it. The full story from the blacksmith in Majula is an incredibly bitter-sweet one. Majula itself. It has such a... powerful melancholy vibe. I both love it and it slightly breaks me. The arena from Sir Alonne is breathtaking. Combining the four crows into a curse-breaking one. Effectively making the character immune to the curse. He/she could live forever. This opens up so many possible endings and maybe has cycle-breaking potential as well.

[@postapocalypse0763]

The more I hear about the cut content for this game the more I want it

[@hyperbrug9328]

I’ve held for years that this game tells the best narrative of all the souls games.

[@golemofwill4728]

The DLC of Dark Souls 2 is my favorite content in the series. Exploring ancient kingdoms and learning about their leaders and culture from their armor and weapons was great. They all may have had one bad boss and area, but the other two fights for each DLC are top tier. Really love the Zelda esque feel of the levels, especially Shulva and Brume Tower.

[@TheHonoredMadman]

My favorite souls game. I now may revisit sooner than expected. Thanks gingy great stuff as usual

[@SomeGirlNextDoor1993]

The story of DS2 is very underrated and I feel like the more time goes on the more people will realize that.

[@MikeHesk742]

The Souls series asks incremental questions with each game: 1. What happens when the fire starts to fade? 2. What happens when the fire starts to fade and the one destined to link it refuses? 3. What happens when the fire starts to fade, the one destined to link it refuses, and nobody worthy usurps their position? DS2 introduces the concept of someone needing to be "worthy" to link the flame. In DS1, you need the boss souls to open the door, but there's nothing in the lore that says a random undead couldnt walk in after you if you refused to link it yourself, and they could link it (albeit for a shorter time with a weaker soul). DS2 talking about "becoming a true monarch" is really talking around the idea of taking Vendrick's place in this whole affair, it was meant to be Vendrick so whoever takes his place needs certain qualities in common with him. I see the world of DS2 as being on the cusp of what we see in DS3, the circumstances are identical, barring the loophole of the player character becoming a surrogate for Vendrick (which never happened in DS3 with Prince Lothric). It's retcon and personal headcanon, but I see the emergence of these ancient powerful kings in the DLC as something akin to the lords of cinder being raised in DS3. Remember that the ritual in DS3 involves taking their ashes (and crowns!), placing them on their thrones, and performing a ritual that combines their power into yourself, and that this somehow allows you to change the state of your world. Well... what happens in DS2? You claim the crowns of ancient lords, perform a ritual to combine this power, and this allegedly allows you to break the cycle in some meaningful way. At least one of these lords (Vendrick) we know to be a lord of cinder, by the same circumstances as Lothric, and the game treats these crowns as equals. The Iron King we know lived during a different cycle and outbreak of the undead curse. My theory is that each of the DLC kings were potential lords of cinder, in this same way.

[@uncultured_sen]

Honestly this game deserve a proper remake.

[@ExileTwilight]

I'd love a DS2 remake from the second director who took over the production of the game, yeah.

[@uncultured_sen]

@@ExileTwilight the only problem I think with ds 2 is that the game trying to put so much content that make the game so hard yet rewarding.

[@vonolemaxle3040]

Finally, someone who REVIEWED the game for what it is and not just constantly WHINE that they cannot do what they can do in the other games. This is seriously a great content due to its nature of not even trying to put other titles as a means of comparison but rather as a means of objectively extending the lore that we had in the prequel. I seriously hate these other pretentious 'reviews' where the OP just constantly brings out that the lore from this and that is better, gameplay is better, pacing and design is better while not even trying to hide the partiality of their tone. As a loyal player of DS2, I am well aware of the trove of faults this game has to offer and I won't pretend that this game is perfect. As long as it's not heretically branded as a trash game, I welcome other people's preference of its siblings cause they are great titles as well.

[@Himomo3]

@astroblaster6347 I disagree with your premise entirely. Do you think that only flawless games are "great"? That's funny, because those don't exist. No game is perfect and you can absolutely call a deeply flawed game great. Furthermore, I am indeed saying that No Man's Sky and Cyberpunk 2077 are great games and their flaws are forgivable. Not only were they victims of extreme overhype (which never ends well), but they also fixed most of their issues in subsequent updates over the years, which is commendable. And while I personally haven't played No Man's Sky, Cyberpunk was honestly not that bad on release, at least on PC. And besides, there aren't many factors by which you can objectively rate a game. Sure, anti-consumer practices (predatory monetization, etc.) are unequivocally bad, but even fundamental design "issues" like sudden difficulty spikes or clunky controls can be deliberate choices used by developers to deliver a specific experience. At the end of the day, some people are gonna like it and some aren't. In order to (more or less objectively) judge DS2, we can use the rest of the series as a point of reference. What changed from DS1 to DS2 and which changes were kept in future games? Let's see: respecing, 4 ring slots, separating equip load from endurance, weapon upgrade system, estus upgrade system, equip load thresholds, active poise/hyperarmor, boss weapon acquirement, etc... Even powerstancing returned in Elden Ring. Huh, turns out that DS2 introduced many good changes that shaped the series moving forward. Even on those grounds alone, it's a solid sequel and a great (even if flawed) game. I will agree that it would've been preferable to release DS2 with more polish (especially considering its bumpy development cycle), but I'll definitely take what we got over nothing. As for Mauler's response series, it's honestly so pedantic and passive aggressive; such a thinly veiled insult to both hbomberguy and DS2 that I'm embarrassed at its popularity. "Be tough on what you love"? Please, that man is seething with anger and contempt, barely disguising it as a civilized and measured response. It's the epitome of the "minor spelling mistake, I win" mentality. He hides behind "objectivity" and nitpicks the original video at every turn for not ending every sentence with "in my opinion", and yet when all is said and done, his 10-hour long video essay series is nothing more than a Trojan horse containing his own subjective views on the game (that it's trash). He then, of course, presents his opinion as objective truth - the hypocrisy is astounding!

[@Himomo3]

​@astroblaster6347 Well, I obviously agree with you on that. Dark Souls 2 is without a doubt a flawed game deserving of constructive criticism. But that's no reason to completely dismiss it. Excuse me if I'm overly defensive about this, but the problem is that there is a vocal part of the community actively dissuading newcomers to the series from even trying out DS2. And what happens when those new players believe that shit? They spread it further without having even formed their own opinion on the matter, blindly repeating the "popular opinion". The end result is a lot of people missing out on a unique experience with a souls game (which did some things wrong, but also did many things right).

[@Himomo3]

@astroblaster6347 Glad to see we can agree on that, and sorry if I sounded a bit hostile. Cheers!

[@hunterotte9555]

Ds2 was my first souls game actually, I had the privilege of being able to come in and actually getting it without the expectations of 1's story telling. I think it's great you managed to understand what this game was going for and were willing to put in the effort to change your mindset playing it, rather than just hating it for not being ds1. I would say a few of our interpretations of the story are different, but I loved hearing your ideas. Primarily around the nature of the ashen mist heart's powers. I have always interpreted it as calling these memories as to distinguish that it isn't time travel, but this is probably because I hate time travel in games because it often just allows lazy writing or plot holes to be a thing. Kinda like if you progress to a certain point and just stop playing (basically hollowing). Manus was still stopped, Alonne still dies, and giant lord still winds up underground. But you didn't do it, and nobody could trigger the events to get pulled into the past except your character. Thus someone must have done it before you, and you take their place. But, that's just my opinion. I suppose we could quote Solair "time-space be wack yo" and call it a day, it's just not satisfying to me though. The only thing I would call time travel in 2 could be the intro cutscene, but even I am iffy on that. I do however want to ask your opinion if you see this, or if anyone else bothers to share their thoughts. Do you think that Drangleic is another dimension (like the painted world), a time travel moment, or that it's a place we get teleported to (like the dlc shrines). I could see all 3 being possibilities and even anomalies in the arguments being explainable with how trippy things get in the ringed city. Like the dragonslayer armor being defeated by us, reappearing in the ringed city. I do feel a lot of our criticisms are shared as well, despite the appreciation. Granted I do prefer the slower combat, but that's just my personal preference. Either way, I think 2 is heavily deserving of a remake (I know it won't happen, but still). If the games problems were fixed and they didn't run out of development time from scrapping 2 entire versions of the game, I think it wouldn't be a "flawed masterpiece" described as how the series in general gets described, it could be a straight up masterpiece. I will say I do find more faults in 3 than most do, I wasn't charmed by it personally. So I do look forward to seeing what you have to say about it, granted I am expecting a gratuitous amount of praise. But that's fair. It just wasn't the perfect game for me, but even I think it's extremely good despite my complaints.

[@Bankers-Dozen]

Seeing you jump on Najka’s back made my jaw drop with joy, subscribed.

[@LucasDimoveo]

Dark Souls 2 has a more personally tragic story than 1 and 3

[@wimbusbert1249]

I agree and I think it extends to the side quests too. All the side quests in 1 are pretty one note. It makes thematic sense for all of them to end with the character going hollow, but ultimately feels bland. The side quests in 2 explore the idea of inevitable madness in more interesting ways. I do like alot of the side quests in 3, but 2 is still better in my personal subjective opinion. They just feel a little more subversive and spicey.

[@davidjovanovic2614]

@@whitewall5977 dark souls 2 hater cringe

[@rawadosa90210]

​@@whitewall5977 And it's a tragedy that your neighbour didn't pull out that one night.

[@deepfriedchocobo]

@@davidjovanovic2614 you actually like dark souls 2, so hold off on the cringe. The game is an embarrassment to the franchise.

[@mobiusone6994]

@@deepfriedchocobo Says the one who probably unironically thinks DS3 is a good game

[@williambates5893]

Best dark souls 2 story/lore summary on youtube very underrated. concise but also satisfying great video

[@CptDuck]

Dark Souls 2 is so memorable.. it just feel like a real journey compared to the other 2 dark souls game... from limbo, to an abandoned peaceful small village called majula, to forest, to underground graveyard, to the lab, to the mist, to the castle, to the shrine, to the mountain, snowy place, hot place, dark souls 2 has everything that called "adventure".. Every place has its own atmosphere and colorful unlike the first dark souls that literally dark-blurry, and dark souls 3 where everything covered in ash or black-white style that bored me.. And DLCs in Dark Souls 2 SoTFS actually connected to the base game & matter to the ending. Unlike DS1 DLC that only connected to Siff boss fight, and DS3 that doesn't even matter what DLC you have done you get the same endings.

[@aldiascholarofthefirstsin1051]

The geography was all fucked up and nonsensical in the game, different from Dark Souls 1 where the map made sense and was very interconnected.

[@CptDuck]

@@aldiascholarofthefirstsin1051 it is, i heard bcuz it was originally about time travel.. but at the last moment they changed the plan.. Atleast DS2 hub (majula) is way better than DS3 where DS3 hub literally have no connection at all, it is just small little island out of nowhere that just connected to cemetary, a really high small little island and you must use teleportation via bonfire immedietly as a new player. That alone broke the immersion about interconnection hub in dark souls series where you free to choose the path you want to go first...

[@ryanjasinski3378]

I think this might be the most in depth and easy to follow DS2 lore I have ever heard. Thank you.

[@silversnail1413]

I had issues with Dark Souls 2 when I first played it but in retrospect it's my favorite of the series and easily one of my favorite sequels of all time. I absolutely love the direction they took, echoing the events in the previous game in subtle and clever ways instead of just re-using characters like Patches and Siegmeyer again and hitting you over the head with the obvious call-backs like DS3 did. It's impossible to find all of these connections in the first playthrough but they are definitely there and as a result we have a much more intimate and personal story, one that distances itself from the larger than life creation myths the previous game established and instead placing more focus on the struggle of one lone undead and their determination to beat the curse. Also, I disagree with you about the NPCs. Obviously there are some forgettable NPCs like Maughlin and Cale but even they are there to reinforce the greater themes of memory, loss and identity that pervade the whole game. And NPCs like Lucatiel, Shalquoir, Vengarl, Agdayne and Manscorpion Tark are anything but bland and forgettable. They're a lot more colorful than the NPCs in DS1, most of whom I flat out ignore because they're of no use to me, and really add to the strangeness and atmosphere of the game even if they don't have big questlines attached to them.

[@BeautifulGaston]

Couldn't agree more. While the ds1 npcs were cool and iconic, DS2 npcs feel more vulnerable and human. I also enjoyed Navlaan, Lycia, Pate, Creighton and Straid is my absolute favorite!

[@BeautifulGaston]

@Plain Water Does the magnificence of my spells deter you?

[@boohoo723]

When I started the Dark Souls series many people 'warned' me about DS2 and how its story made no sense, and by the end of the series I was like "DS2 is the only game that told its story to perfection." It makes perfect sense. It's my favorite story in the series, easily.

[@fafofafin]

It makes perfect sense. It's not another Tolkien-lite story of gods and dragons so it went over a lot of heads.

[@duskdarker3264]

Aldia is such a cool character, I wish he had a role in DS3 or at least a nod to him.

[@relton66]

Aldia is the Scholar who convinced Lothric to not link the first flame

[@roycrowley2674]

This video loves me love dark souls 2 even more than I already did. Yes I love dark souls 2.

[@pliskin101]

YES. DS2 always had my favorite lore in the whole trilogy, good to see getting some love.

[@jeanniemaycrawford4466]

Your intro is spot on, my friends were very dismissive of this game because it wasnt grand like ds1 or 3. But to me, that's why is so cool, it shows a slice of the world, it also expanded on what beings of dark were and amazingly, it gave us the best hub area to date

[@soundthedreadalarm6759]

I really am enjoying your consistent flow of some of my favorite content on KZbin. I've spent the past year or so listening to most everything fromsoftware related on youtube from critiques, to reviews, to lore videos. Unfortunately I feel that I have made it through all, if not most of, the notable content on youtube. Fortunately though, you keep new content coming!

[@SuperGamer273]

this is by fare one of the best souls games ever, Honestl yTHE best. I LOVE how on NG+ it changes the game, invasions and such so good

[@SithMirth]

I am so happy to see that as time has gone on, there has been greater appreciation given to DSII. I understand the complaints about the mechanics and the like, but DSII holds a very special place in the SoulsBorne pantheon for me. Aside from personal narrative, for me, it's the story and it's lore as it relates to the first game as it occurred in time so long hence. I appreciate your speaking to it as you have.

[@cmorr54]

“Further showing how dark his soul has become” is so unintentionally funny

[@TheMotitaNEWS]

For me personally, it's the souls that I've enjoyed the most (even to these days) and my favorite one after bloodborne.

[@roningunslinger4511]

Also for anyone who doesn't know, the frigid outskirts is an incredibly easy area to get through, just a bit tedious. The reindeer only spawn when the snowstorm is happening, you're supposed to head for the buildings and take shelter until the storm passes before making a run for the next one. You can make it all the way to the boss without ever seeing a single reindeer.

[@TheGCRust]

I was a latecomer to the Souls franchise and had a love-hate relationship with DS2. Lots of design choices I disagreed with. But kept me compelled to keep pushing through. Where as I found the third installment depressingly mediocre save for one lone boss, DS2 felt like a sequel. Building on what came before rather than just using nostalgia to tell its tale.

[@20thcentury_toy]

Ds3 it's better taken as a finale for the series not in the conclusion sense but in the meta sense, I could ramble more on it but it would be too long for a single comment

[@Dsonsee]

I couldn't really get into DS3 so much. First, because I was playing it by myself, and second because it felt like it was just imitating the first installment

[@kanseidorifto5367]

your standards for games are appalling. It's fine to like a shit game, all the power to you. But to say DS3 was mediocre when it had the best combat system and bosses in the entire series, is pure fanboy garbage. DS3 is peak dark souls in terms of gameplay and is the perfect finale for Dark souls as a franchise. It all ends where it all started. DS2 enjoyers seem to be pretentious "artsy" people that like to justify their shit taste by saying X is bad when it's clearly not

[@louisgworld]

@@kanseidorifto5367 The combat in DS3 is boring as hell, DS3 is a clear bloodborne copy paste job which left the actual combat pace of DARK SOULS in the past. Gone are armour upgrades, good magic, build variety, the mid roll is a fast roll, damage types don't matter, stamina is something you rarely consider, poise is worthless, armour defence values are fucked, the level design abysmal.

[@kanseidorifto5367]

@@louisgworld Ever considered the fact that DS1's combat is mind numbingly boring. DS3 ain't perfect with its armor problems, and other balance issues, but i sure as hell would take it instead of DS1 and DS2. The pace of the DS1 combat makes me yawn

[@rjjm88]

I think DS2 is criminally underrated, for many of the reasons you highlight as a positive. I played DS1 when it came out and it didn't click with me, but DS2? Man that game captured my heart and imagination. I played it 5 times through, then went back with new appreciation for DS1. I love the smaller focus of the story; it isn't a story about gods and dragons, but a story about a king trying to find the meaning of the soul. It's a story of the people of the world, normal people like us, and how the cycle impacts them.

[@dr.veronica6155]

If you do the ending where you leave the throne, you not only have decades of research into what won't work, you also have the crowns that are enchanted to ensure you never go Hollow again, giving you unlimited time to find an answer while everybody who came before you had to try to do it before they went Hollow themselves.

[@ericmurray5441]

Correct reinforced by Aldia from his dialogue.

[@mrm0nty550]

I always found Dark Souls 2 to have the most fascinating lore.

[@SickTruck]

Great video. I really like Dark Souls 2.

[@dmd356]

That was a very honest review. I love this games lore more than i did 1 and 3 because within the game i was able to grasp what was going on. But 1 is still my favorite overall. Damn, theyre all great in there own way.

[@QuantumTelephone]

Ds2 IS brilliant. Everything is haunting, and deep. Great video

[@FRhuevo]

I´ve never noticed about the Old Giant being the Giant Lord and remembering you from "later" in the game when you travel to "the past" and save Drangleic from the giants. You are the savior and the new treat at the same time. Incredible.

[@BonePapi]

34:57 yeah, I too wish that ancient and forgotten ruins had some thousand year old indvidual to give a lore dump. Imagine how easy archaeology would be that way, especially in Egypt.

[@enol1466]

Ds2 is my favorite for many reasons, but one of them is the uniqueness of the story and gameplay and how it's the only souls game other than BB that really changes up the series

[@MICKEYrenraw]

4:22 "i've always preferred it when the main hubs here seamlessly integrated into the world" yes, man, DS3 is so off putting having the main hub disconnected, it just feels like it's not part of the main world that you explore, like everything is connected, or not in that case :/

[@soulstarved4116]

I'm probably biased because this is the one I took the time to do my own lore diving. But I'm happy that someone can give DS2 the credit it deserves.

[@Guitar-Dog]

21:50 that's why I like DaS2 it's made with a huge amount of replayabilty, the world being so huge means that it almost feels like DnD to me, it's more of a roleplaying game in the western sense. It gives the player freedom, you don't like the gutter well just explore different places until you hit 1mil soul memory. And in a narrative way it is kinda weird the Chosen Undead kills 99% of Lordran then travels back in time and kills some more. Whereas Bearer of the Curse does kill every lifeform in Drangliec, he does travel back in time and ruin the Giants tho.

[@donmarteng7646]

Thank you so much! As a non native speaker these videos are easier to understand, at least for me. Watched all of Vaatis stuff, but im still learning new things from your videos! Watched all the soulsborne stuff at least 3 times and you do an amazing job in summarizing the story! Great to hear another passionate soul!

[@2102082]

I’ve been saying it for awhile, and will probably mention it on the DS2 subreddit again in the next couple months, but DS2 would likely not have received the amount of hate that it has today if DS3 hadn’t gone back to the same storyline or including Gwyn’s line so heavily. I loved the subtle references to DS1 strewn throughout Drangleic and I wish there were more references to DS2 within Lothric than a select few items

[@joedatius]

DS3 didn't go back to the same storyline, its a literal conclusion to the storyline. while DS2 made constant references to DS1 but it never amounted to anything.

[@zZwingli]

true, DS3 is lame

[@xxsilentsniperxx5392]

i loved your old for honor content, im so happy you were a successful youtuber

[@narupiv]

Something you didn't mention is that Vendrick DID succeed in finding a 'cure' of sorts to the curse of the undead, but only through the players actions. When you bring all the crowns to him, and he tells you of Nashandras origins, he also imbues all the crowns with the 'cure' of the undead curse. It's not truly a cure though, as it's really more of an overpowering of it. Through the power of four immensely powerful kings given to a fifth, powerful soon to be king/queen you are able to become completely immune to the curse, both it's internal inflictions upon death, and it's external inflictions by others (Nashandras curse orbs during the fight/other sources of the 'curse' status) by simply becoming so powerful that it could not affect you. Which shows that the curse is a form of power, just like the first flame was in DS1, and the reason that the rekindling of the first flame 'undid' the curse in the first game is because upon both Gwyns and Yours (ds1 you's) Rekindling of the first flame was simply a power spike to the opposing power of the undead curse. No one ever mentions it but something I always theorized is that the undead curse had always existed, even during the age of ancients, before the first lords found the first flame, and that it and the first flame were simply two forms of power, that of the power of light and dark, held in eternal balance by the immortal dragons for so long, that even the immortal dragons themselves forgot that they existed. It's why the age of ancients was an age of gray. The middle point between black and white, or darkness and light. Disparity, the thing so touted as being 'created' at the beginning of Dark souls intro cinematic was something always present, but simply held back by the stillness and unchanging world created by the dragons in the age of ancients. The lords finding the first flame was not 'creating' Disparity, it was freeing it, from the prison of stagnation that the immortal dragons forced upon the world so long ago that not even they remembered doing it. That's why I find DS2's third option so interesting. You walk away from the throne, the place where you can decide which part of the cycle you shall rule over, light or dark, which is the true, natural cycle of the world of Dark souls. You can walk away, and pursue a third option, the only third option that would truly break the cycle for a time. A new age of ancients, where an immortal force of power holds the cycle of light and dark hostage for so long they simply blend into an unchanging world of grey until some lowly, unpowerful beings find the source and power of light or dark and free it to bring about the cycle once more. It's also why I believe Aldia became infatuated with recreating the dragons for a time, believing that they were the only thing able to force the cycle to stop, not realizing that anything could force the cycle to stop, if it simply became powerful enough to do so.

[@JM-yq9gd]

Brilliant take. I've recently come to understand that the driving plot in these games is directly related to the cyclical nature of reality itself- questioning such, or finding an alternative to the very fact of time passing, life/death, and other such 'disparities', isn't really something our mortal minds can even comprehend doing within this realm, much less achieving (And doing so would likely cause massive problems, but that's another rabbit hole entirely). If we snuff out the light, there would be only dark/pointless stagnation/nothingness; if we shine light on all, there would be no more shadows which bring about meaning/drive to existence via that process of ever shifting and battling polarities. But polarities NEED each other in order to bring about existence through conflict/cooperation, thus the cycles always repeat on both macro and micro levels. When the ages end, it's just these polarities swinging hard to the furthest point for a set time, like a pendulum. The parallels to Buddhism are plain as day once you know what to look for.

[@Tumidiagram]

To be fair Gingy sort of skimmed past a lot of stuff and genuinely misinterpreted a lot of the game's lore.

[@ThommyofThenn]

Finding Vengarl while trying to find my way through the shaded forest felt like a great easter egg on my first playthrough. On my second playthrough, after learning a bit more of the story I listened to the entirety of his dialogue until it started repeating.

[@Krystalmyth]

"'There's just *so much clutter.* Half these *characters* can _literally_ combine into one general goods merchant'". _Jesus H. Christ. lol_ _How does one even respond to this?_ You're going to do a Dark Souls 2 retrospective in 2022 but just dunk on one of the most memorable aspects of the game? The dreamy dialog of this world's denizens I hear in my dreams to this day. I just - don't even know how to begin with such an outlandish sentiment, luv.

[@fafofafin]

It's almost like the game is showing you an entire population being hollowed and forgetting themselves. I wonder why? /s

[@sydposting]

You uploaded this on my birthday! Even though I wasn't able to watch it right away, it felt like a present! 🥰 Another high-quality analysis that truly does the game justice, and without the (usually unintended) misogyny present in so many other videos that fixate on the Queens/Daughters of Manus as antagonists. Dark Souls 2 is one of those sequels like Metal Gear Solid 2 and Dragon Age 2, in my opinion, where the themes being explored ran counter-current to the audience's expectations for where the series was going, so it was not judged kindly when first released. I'm glad to see it get appreciated by others!

[@studmuffin6530]

Was really waiting on this one, another great retrospective. Ds2 always gets the most hate but it has the most creative and different mechanics. All we need now is a demon souls retrospective

[@CharlieHankey]

Most creative and different mechanics? Are you aware Bloodborne exists

[@artorias7742]

Creative and different mechanics? Sekiro and Bloodborne have way better and more unique mechanics.

[@Mojaveknight17]

Because it's a bad game

[@NeoGato2point0]

I keep finding myself drawn back to this video and it’s because I love that you actually spoke thoroughly on the plot and themes and presentation of this game, which is overlooked. Dark Souls 2 is not perfect by any means but it is still something really good and can sort of fit into the trilogy as an exploration of dark and the curse brought up in 1 and 3 is an exploration of fire and cycles and those who did what you did in 1.

[@wanderingwobb6300]

It's funny cause I finished my first playthrough of DSII earlier this week as my final entry in the souls series. I previously dropped it at the pursuer fight because the shitty combat really rears its ugly head early game with hollowing, low ADP, poor hitboxes, and just wonky feeling combat. The story in this game is definitely underrated and the bosses were generally okay. I much prefer the basic easy design to whatever the hell FromSoft did with Elden Ring bosses. The buildup and reveal for Vendrick is one of the greatest moments FromSoft have ever created and even fighting him isn't as easy as it would seem because although predictable he still hits unbelievably hard and has so much defense. I heard excellent things about the DLCs but they were just decent in my opinion although fume knight and sir Alonne were both excellent fights. I honestly found the runback to the blue smelter demon far more egregious than the "infamous sir Alonne runback" which really wasn't that bad. I'd still only put this game above Demon's Souls but it's pretty good regardless and it wasn't scared to form its own identity (a criticism that many people have about the third game in the series).

[@zzodysseuszz]

It doesn’t have poor hitboxes (it’s hitboxes are extremely precise) and adp wasn’t your problem as the main use of that stat is animation speeds for mage builds. Your problem was skill. Yes, literally “git gud”

[@wanderingwobb6300]

@@zzodysseuszz sarcasm?

[@zzodysseuszz]

@@wanderingwobb6300 no, easily proven fact. You can gesture under most attacks in the game and the only exception is attacks that hit too low to duck under (like vertical attacks)

[@wanderingwobb6300]

@@zzodysseuszz It's a fact that hitboxes in DS2 are notoriously poor. There's plenty of examples all over the internet showing them. Couple this with low ADP early game (which apparently you have no clue what agility does considering you made the statement of its for casting speed primarily ??????) causing you to have an exceedingly limited number of s compared to normal and you have an infuriating combination of bullshit. This leads to dying a lot which normally isn't a problem except DS2 also decided to bring back Demon's Souls idiotic soul form mechanic as their "hollowing" mechanic (which is still better than how it was in Demon's Souls but shouldn't be there to begin with). Fortunately you get the ring to mostly mitigate this pretty early on but not at the very start like Demon's Souls and you also have 4 ring slots this time around instead of 2. Edit: Holy shit I just discovered that your channel is just a massive DS2 hitbox cope compilation. Dude you can like a game and admit that it has flaws. It's okay.

[@olimawu]

@@zzodysseuszz Bro the game has some very precise hitboxes, as well as shitty hitboxes, like truly poorly made hitboxes, pursuer can swing at you and miss even though it was a hit as he can hit you mid roll. Besideds that wtf do you mean by git gud when you involve ADP, that shit iumproves your fucking I Frames what changes your animation speed is your equipment weight. Yes the game has problemas, but we can all like it while still pointing out problems within the design, all without letting our feelings gett involved, well S Plo already said it all.

[@ryuman757]

Being someone that never got big into the Souls series (always watched from the sidelines), until I got Elden Ring, watching these Retrospectives you truly see how much of the past games inspired everything that made-up Elden Ring 🙌🔥🔥

[@patcris8923]

Darksouls two world was what I wanted elden ring to be like, but open world. But it doesn't capture that melancholic feel that of ds2. In Ds2 every area feels different and vast, your hardly exploring any of it. So imagine it in Elden ring style

[@xXLunatikxXlul]

Same!

[@blackvalio4060]

The areas are so different cus the world makes no sense xd

[@greenbrickbox3392]

Elden Ring's open world was really cool, and I liked how you could travel to everything that you saw, but for gameplay purposes it was a bit too big and sparse so enemies/bosses/dungeons were practically copypasted in later sections with large areas just not having anything of importance. Would like a mix between hub and semi-open world for the next game with some pvp covenants and pvp areas.

[@LindensTree]

Thank you. Finally, some appreciation for DS2.

[@Just_B0red]

I like that DS2 tried doing something different instead of being same as it predecessor, but at the same time adding some mechanics that would be carried on in later additions to the franchise. Considering that we already had multiple DS1 remakes and DeS remake I'd be happy to see DS2 get fresh coat of paint like DeS.. now if Bluepoint would somehow be able to get rights to do it it would be stellar, because as much as I like FromSoft.. their remakes weren't the best.

[@mr.budderpie3538]

Check out the Flames of Old mod developement for ds2

[@zzodysseuszz]

Yeah from soft is very lazy and you can see this in their game design especially how they design “difficulty”

[@joeclarke7982]

@@zzodysseuszz I'm not sure how you can call a developer lazy when they've put out nearly nothing but classic games and their most recent Elden Ring is pretty much a lock for game of the year, but sure.

[@artorias7742]

I would love a Ds2 remake because the mechanics are absolutely horrible and that's what made me quit the game so if they fixed that i might actually like the game.

[@Mojaveknight17]

All the small/big problems of Dark Souls 2. So after getting 150 hours in Dark Souls 2 and gotten most items and such I just find it to lacking stuff. But I'm gonna list all of the problems I have with the game. 1: Game locks the FPS to animation which speeds up monsters in the game. 2: The new controls ain't exactly the best and you can't rebind them easily. In fact you got very little option when it comes to the mouse. Btw my PS2 gamepad won't be detected by the game so I stick with keyboard. 3: Mouse and Keyboard are not fully supported. Mouse for example got an dead zone. The attack delay makes triggering Guard break and Jump attack near impossible. Keyboard promts still work fine though. It's too sensitive with aiming when in a bow or binoculars. They had an extra month for this. I expect better. 4: Monsters got Magnetic weapons. Which means they will trace you far more than in Dark Souls. This is cheap and it ruins immersion when you see them spin around when not moving their feet. This also means they are not playing by the same rules you are. 5: Upgrading materials are far too rare and far too hard to get until you're able to use a lot of bonfire ascetics. This stops you from trying new weapons or upgrading armors because you are generally just gonna stick with one. 6: No tail cutting. Or as far as I know there is none to be done. That's a shame. But with the way bosses move now it's pretty hard unless there are 2 of you. This could also get you some good weapons in the first game. 7: S ranking isn't all that much better than A ranking on weapons. Weapon ranking in generally got less useful where as Magic got seriously more powerful. Yes yes I know you can dodge them but why does the more dangerous route get nerfed more? 8: Most weapons are useless because of low durability and damage. Not to mention the lack of materials and 60 FPS ruining weapon durability faster. Some will later show up in PvP due to reach or some other special feature. Washing pole fore example. 9: Trading boss souls for weapons. This just simplified the process and makes the broken blade worthless to keep around or upgrade. I just find that it's lacks the spirit of Dark Souls where you have to use a weapon and a soul to then make it to a better weapon. 10: Twinkling titanite are far too rare and used far too much and cost far too much to buy. It cost more than a Titanite slab ffs. I'd love to try out some new armors but with the rarity of these materials that is not going to happen. I know I can farm the Giant memory and have done it a bit now lately. 11: Soul Memory basically gives you no real reason to start over. I've made 2 new characters to play with a friend but when he got high enough when I could use my other I just used him instead. With the way how PvP works I have no reason to stop leveling either. 12: Lack of secondary ending. Also lack of being able to kill a certain NPC. Which is part of the end boss. 13: No message system like in GFWL. I haven't had anyone post on my profile on stuff that I've done in the game. In Dark Souls I've gotten quite a bit of PM. 14: There are several areas that don't feel connected at all because the landscape changes so much and when you look off into the distance you'll see the same type of weather while it's less than a mile away. In one area it rains constantly yet this can not be seen anywhere else. 15: Enemies despawning after 15 times. I just don't like this feature. 16: Enemies can't drop multiple items at once. They could do it in Dark Souls and those Dark Wraiths can show this. From time to time you might get 2 Titanite Chunks or 1 Slab and 1 Titanite chunk. Here you only get one item. Edit: It seems this starts to happen on NG+. But it sucks for not really happening in NG. 17: Hidden illusionary walls can only be opened with Pharros stones. They could just have put a door there instead locked by the Pharros stone. Because the giant blue face just ruins the "Oh it's a secret here". The normal secret walls are ok though. 18: Inventory. I honestly liked the columns of items better because it gave me direct information on all the useful stuff I wanted to know. 19: Lack of Red eye Orb. The whole one. I don't PvP much but that is something that should be in the game. 20: Covenant rewards are just grindy. In the first game you didn't need to do that much to the third reward. Here you might need to kill 500+ people or so. 21: You can't coop with people in NG+ while being in NG. 22: Leveling up should have been done at the bonfire. Traveling back to the first place is just an annoying task and you have to talk to her every single time. 23: Bow and Poison arrows are a bit too OP for normal enemies. When you know where they attacking you you can just wait it out. Dark Souls had this as well in several areas but it is far more noticeable in this game. Dragon Shrine being a prime example of it. There is no monster there you can't cheap kill. 24: Making a female characters takes far too much effort. The base ones are just horrendous. Dark Souls 1 did it better. 25: Last boss just felt like any other boss in the game. I've seen the boss in Demon Souls and played Dark Souls 1 to the end several times. I found Dark Souls 1 to have the best last boss because he was just a King. Looked human and could be parried. He was though a bit bigger. Music was better too. 26: Poor gamepad support. I've seen other Developers do it better and if this game truly want you to play with a gamepad they should support as many as possible. 27: You can't drop Upgrading materials or most other items in the game like boss souls, bonfire ascetics and Covenant reward items. Sunlight medal and the sort. In Dark Souls you could drop a lot of items. Don't see why they have to limit it like this. 28: Dragon Scales can not be used to upgrade Dragon type weapons. 29: Can still only just give one Medal at a time. If all they do now is boost your covenant rank might as well just be able to give them all. Stop wasting our time. 30: That made the voices of the birds in the nest even more annoying. Also no birds are visible there. At least put something there. Also the items they want are too easy to figure out. In Dark Souls 1 they had a more varied taste for items. I've also beaten all bosses in the game too. Ok, that's about it I think. Don't get me wrong though, this game is easily the best game of this year. It's worth the money and it has a lot of value. It's just that they missed on a lot of marks. All of those small things are starting to pile up for me. There are people who can easily ignore these things and that's fine. But for me, I see all of those small problems in more and more games and when it just adds to such a high level I lose interest. It makes me want to play it less. Which is happening right now. I only really got this game and Transistor(Makers of Bastion) to play the very moment. Some issues are bigger than others like Soul Memory and lack of upgrading materials. I'll still play it every now and then though.

[@mudroach87]

Dark souls 2 has been my favorite so far.

[@luminite2569]

Though it had it's faults, the pros outweigh the cons for me in DS2. It's something I hate to love and love to hate, but I always find myself returning to it.

[@januskaisar4972]

This video is amazing because you explain clearly what's up, and also from this video I realize why everyone's like "Elden Ring is Dark Souls 2 done right"