Dark Souls 2 Is Actually REALLY Good...?

[@KadaiGaming]

I just finished up my Dark Souls 3 playthrough and made a simliar video, check it out below if you wanna

[@JohnDaleski]

I don't see many people talking about it, but the armors set in Dark Souls 2 were really beautiful.

[@vectivus3499]

the best

[@isaacA38]

i was really glad that ds3 had a lot of the Armor sets from ds2

[@217adaptiveperspective]

​@@isaacA38Too bad they left out alot of the cooler ones like Sir Alonne's set and the DS2 Shadow Set

[@CLouDBRoS]

The thing about vendrick is that it sucks on purpose for story reasons. He gave everything, even fragmented his souls to keep Nashandra from getting to the first flame. and even after that, when he is just a husk he still hits like a truck. Also yeah, the last bosses are easy to learn but you also had the advantage of getting the level ups on the DLCs. The lore implications of the game are so cool. You found a solution for the main issue of the soul games, and all it takes is inmensurable sacrifices from 4 kingdoms to get a crown that can stop 1 person from hollowing out. This and the ideas/ stories that you will see in 3 can be so depressing and cool, I love it so much.

[@PoliticallyIncorrectBronto]

This is spot on, the story of Vendrick is one of my favorites, and the fact that in this game your journey leads you to being inmune to the curse that looms in all souls games. It's majestic.

[@theincrediblefella7984]

I dunno. I much prefer subtlety. Seeing an old and autistic vendric walking around was a little much for me. Too on the nose.

[@LeonardoRodrigues-uj1sm]

Ppl think this game is bad until they actually play it.

[@DirtyOven01]

played it and still think it’s bad

[@diediedice]

Still playing through the dlc (picked it up a few months ago) and it's a love hate relationship. I really enjoy the lore though, it's sooo good

[@zugzwang8761]

i played ds2 after ds1 and ds3 and i absolutely fell in love with it, minus the lud and zullen runback 😂

[@N_Tertainment7]

Let me put this in simple words. Is it a good game? Yes, Absolutely. Would I play it over DS 1 or 3? HELL NO.

[@kiopsm8825]

​@@diediedice the love-hate relationship thing is with every Souls game honestly, DeS? Good overall but tons of gimmick bosses. DS1? Great world building and level design until you get the Lord Vessel. DS2? Variety in all forms, but ADP exists and ganks all around in SoTFS. And DS3 is straight up just a boss rush with quite a bit of filter in-between, which is as good as it is bad.

[@nicoldengenyakeye6905]

Ah my dear dark souls 2... Shitty laptop, college, being broke, B4 I knew it I was in love 😅

[@Arc-coop]

lighting the torches in DS2 actually does things... like if you light all the torches in the gutter a npc invader shows up. Great video tho I love seeing Ds2 content!

[@burns0100]

Also using a torch does things, like changing how enemies act towards you such as spiders, lighting up actually dark areas and used to interact with the environment for certain hidden things. Loved that aspect of the game.

[@darksmiling6387]

He invaded me in the gutter even though i only lit 1 torch lol

[@Arc-coop]

@@darksmiling6387 that’s strange lol

[@notsorandomuser]

People really give DS2 a lot of bs because it's not directly tied to Miyazaki, but it's still a very good game. It does things similarly enough, and differently enough, that it feels like a well deserved entry in the series.

[@ikiwe9730]

It does have it's problems like some boss runbacks, too many Enemy placements and some of The boss battles. But in general i really enjoyed ds2. It has Very good atmosphere.

[@whyequalswhat]

People give it a lot of BS cause it's a poorly designed game that's often time unfair and un fun to play

[@nomercy8989]

no it doesn't

[@georgesorin650]

@@whyequalswhat Its literally the same with ds1, but people want talk about it. Because ds1 fans are insane, and they will meltdown over it for criticizing their "perfect" game.

[@wgnd1614]

that's literally not even close to the reason why it ''gets a lot of bs''

[@Rift2123]

Smelter demon has always felt like a skill check in DS2 lol

[@zaiwex]

I just started replaying Dark Souls 2 after 10 years. It felt amazing as I tried out a new build for the 1st time. I also researched that Dark Souls 2 was the best in terms of being the best NG+ content. No regrets. All honestly, people are saying Dark Souls 2 bad just skill issue.

[@swagmiredoesall]

Yeah fr. It's not bad. The only problems I have with it is some bosses are too EASY, some run backs are a little too punishing, and I wish the map had more circular progression like DS1. Most of those are non issues though, and the bosses being to easy can just be negated a bit by doing a challenge run.

[@artemtykhov9711]

DS2 was my first introduction to the series, so maybe I'm biased, but hands down is NOT a bad game by any means. The atmosphere, the hub, the challenge, animations and combat mechanics imo all were top notch. And yeah, the pursuer took me like 30 tries since it was my first souls game😅

[@MizanQistina]

I watched some DS elitists videos on why they hate DS2 long time ago, most of their complaints are about: - they can't parry properly - they can't backstab properly - they got hit when rolling - enemy too many - soul memory It is actually they suck at the game and they're too ego to admit. They used to bully DS noobs by invasions, they can't do that anymore.

[@darksmiling6387]

Not really. I beat every souls games and ds2 roll hits suck. They make no sense 50% of the time lol. Hit boxes are trash, still love the game tho. Don't tell people they suck lol.

[@Ign0rantP3rson]

​@@darksmiling6387if you're rolling and you're getting hit maybe your ADP is too low?

[@CausticSpace]

@@darksmiling6387 I've never had an issue with rolling in DS2 and only dealt with a bad hitbox once, Sir Alonne stab, but just going in the other direction in a roll fixed.

[@N_Tertainment7]

- No s for backstab or fog gate - bad hitboxes - Poor Level Design - Poor Boss Design - Too many ganks with poor enemy placement. - Extremely easy bosses - Bad Boss runbacks I like DS 2 but my god, You need to stop glazing it. The flaws are still very much valid.

[@MizanQistina]

@@N_Tertainment7 No i-frame at fog gate is your first complaint? It is to prevent players skipping the game and just run to the boss. It is not a flaw, and all DS games should have this. All DS games have bad hitbox issue, but only DS2 being the black sheep of the family. All DS games level design is bad Poor boss design? Are you serious? You forgot Pinwheel, Ceaseless Discharge, iron Golem, Bed of Chaos...? Why being hypocrite? DS2 have more unique bosses after DS1. Too many ganks? You forgot Bonewheels, Giant Skeletons, Blighttown residents and monsters? Painted world fireball hollows and crows? Again you forgot Pinwheel, Iron Golem, Ceaseless Discharge? Do you ever play DS1 to complaint about boss runbacks? 😂

[@bbogdan7583]

When the “friendly” random ass phantom from the ivory king dlc stabbed me in the back after i pulled the lever and pulled the no no emote on me i realised this is a great game. Indeed it feels slugish at some points but it do be like that sometimes. OVR a great game. Stop listening to people saying is bad, just play it and make an opinion for yourselves. Also DS2 had the best armor sets.

[@PoliticallyIncorrectBronto]

I'm that guy who, when told a game is unfair, it's a bad game, the enemy placement is bad, that just makes me wanna play it even more. Also isn't that why we play souls games? To face hard challanges that some would deem unfair. Not every souls game has to be the same, I think people gave this game a lot of shit because it's the most different game of the bunch. Thank god I didn't listen to people telling me to skip DS2.

[@RemingtonSteel]

Same. Love DS2

[@Nathanaelelliott]

Never understood the enemy placement complaint. Did they like it even less once sotfs released cuz they added even more 😂

[@shiroamakusa8075]

No, they give it a lot of shit because it's the worst designed of the bunch and a huge downgrade from where DS1 left off.

[@VREMEPLOV1]

Well in my case, Elden Ring was my first souls game, then DS3, Sekiro, DS1 and Bloodborne. Everybody was telling me to stay away from DS2, but I tried it. Honestly, worst 10h of my lifetime. I cannot understand how DS2 can be worse than DS1 in almost every way possible. With DS1 they had the perfect template for making a decent sequel. Instead, we got DS2. Keep in mind that I absolutely adore soulslike games, but this is just bad. Glad to see some people enjoy it, but for me, flawed attempt at making a decent sequel.

[@Ghorda9]

@@Nathanaelelliott they didn't add more, they just moved things around. gain some, lose some

[@soulstice94]

It's my favorite of the trilogy. It has it's issues, and I will forever be bummed we didn't get a next gen game version of it since development was cut short, BUT Yui Tanimura really pieced together a pretty freaking awesome game from what he was left with. Ranking wise I'd have: DS2 > DS3 > DS1. (Elden Ring and Bloodborne are my #1/#2 and Demon Souls is behind DS1 in last, but still holds a special place in my heart as my first souls game) That in no way means DS1 bad, in fact it's really good too, but the value of the interconnected world is outpaced by the combat and story of 3, and further by the story, world, and systems of 2. I don't care for Adaptability either way, and Soul Memory was an idea to fighting twink builds but didn't land well, and that's fine.

[@mic01851165]

Glad you like the dlc of DS2 Tbh in my opinion DS2 dlc trilogy saves the game for me and actually pose enough challenge on their bosses. A lot of players of ER join the series at either DS3 or ER, so they really hate the slower pace of DS2 with a passion. Tbh I appreciate the slower pace tactical aspect of DS2 more than ER just fast reaction + spamming op skills to finish the boss asap style. Bosses don't need to always be hyper aggressive + fast to be enjoyable.

[@richardlong2094]

DS1 is way way less enjoyable to play than DS2 imo. I have always really enjoyed DS2 tbh it feels like a huge adventure, there may be some rough design decisions but I would rather that the absolute fall off in the second half of DS1

[@joejoejoej9763]

I think DS1 has higher highs than DS2, but lower lows, but NG+ on DS2 is just next level fun. Though I get people who hate on DS2 and glaze DS1, imo they are indeed close minded and like to roleplay Miyazaki 😂 (even though he said how important ds2 is)

[@UsmevavyPanacek]

I'd day first one is great entry point for new players. It more or less eases you into the difficulty more than the other games. In a way.

[@drew8235]

That's an absolutely wild take, but to each his own lol

[@RemingtonSteel]

I find Ds1 wayyyyy too slow and boring. Ds2 is much more enjoyable

[@SSAS939]

What happened to the post lordvessel part?? Was there development hell or something, cuz that part is just AWFULLLLL

[@Eugen-x8o]

Circular design works only with restricted progression, warping from the start allows developers to focus on each region separately rather than the whole world. Moreover after first playthrough that restricted circular design is not that fun to replay.

[@RawrItsJuul]

Circular design can definitely be a restriction on the world design, but I would argue those restrictions can lead to more creativity as well. It takes more skill and planning to put together a world that is cohesive. Warping from the start is convenient, but it also takes you out of the world. Traversing the world of DS1 and being forced to get to know the environments first before being able to fast travel made it that you're more familiar with the areas. I do enjoy that. Going into a new game with that knowledge to see where you can go at what point is also very satisfying in my opinion. You're rewarded for remembering the fastest ways to get everywhere. You can get to the different areas you need to be so fast once you know where to activated the short cuts (which you will need to go to anyways because you're replaying the game). The lack of fast travel was never an issue for me. The world of DS3 also felt a lot more disconnected to me in the beginning since you're forced to teleport to the first area. DS2s world feels a bit weird since even though you know the directions you go the world doesn't show you where you are in relation to the world. Being able to see that castle in the distance because you know you can get there some way, then once you found it look down from it to see other areas you were hours ago is also one of the things I love about the exploration. DS3 got there in the end, but the world of DS2 definitely ranks lowest for me because of the weird way they connected the areas. Just goes to show how subjective this all is.

[@zombiefriend]

Always nice to see people who enjoy DS2. I never understood people who don't like it. Obviously I still love the first game more, but I would go as far as to say that I like DS2 more than 3. The hype around this game when it was coming out was PALPABLE.

[@jameswinslow8540]

People give dark souls 2 a lot of crap becuz they are babies who fallow trends. If there are too many enemies don't lock on in combat, I understand the game doesn't tell you that but I don't remember ds1 telling you that rolling with a light equip load makes you invincible, people just figured it out or just watched someone do that on yt.

[@N04HHHHHH]

W fightin cowboy reference (he’s the goat of walkthroughs for souls games)

[@thrashhhhh]

You can enjoy DS2 while admitting it’s deeply flawed and doesn’t live up to the standards of the FROMSOFT catalogue. I’ve platinumed it and just finished another playthrough on a new character. I like it. I like the atmosphere, the branching paths, the build variety, the fashion, the music, the powerstancing, the bonfire ascetics, the character creator. But the game has a lot that sucks. The hitboxes are garbage. The combat is slow and clunky. The bosses are forgettable. The art direction is mediocre. The ADP stat is stupid. The enemy AI is terrible. Just seems like so many people go too far to one side or the other. It’s a cool game, but there’s definitely a reason it’s regarded as the worst Souls game.

[@CLouDBRoS]

Also, you probably know this but I wanted to mention it just in case. Vaati has playlists for DS2 with details of the story and that game that are easy to miss, they are really interesting and some or them are practically impossible to learn naturally

[@inoodlesi4459]

Anyone else think this games lore is some of the best out of the souls games?

[@-Yttrium]

The best**

[@comradecatbug5289]

Imo third best, behind Dark Souls 1 and Demon's Souls.

[@-Yttrium]

@@comradecatbug5289 fair enough..

[@allenwilhelm7799]

ADP, incremental rotation when not rolling. Soul memory, repostes and backstabs, and ummm... that's it. That's all I can say I hate about the game.

[@VulkanHunter]

I dont think anyone in 2024 is calling DS2 a bad game anymore, just not their favourite. Most people have woken up about it to be honest.

[@holler_pit5243]

There enough people that are still on the hate train and even the ones that acknowledge it as a good game come with phrases like "it's a good game just not a good souls game". The amount of inflated criticism this game received in comparison to the other titles is mind boggling to me and is probably the reason why many people view as the worst title. However 2024 feels like a Renaissance for DS2 with players revaluating the game, new players praising the game or giving it at least a fair review, or old critics who argued in bad faith (like Mauler) being debunked.

[@VulkanHunter]

@@holler_pit5243 I feel that, I do think too because of the graphical/gameplay downgrade we got from what was supposed to be a really dark atmospheric game that torches mattered and exploring dungeons was required to do so. I get that too, but honestly, DS2 will still remain one of my all time beloved games.

[@StEvEn420BrUlE]

​@holler_pit5243 yeah but DaS2 in 2024 is not the same game as DaS2 in 2014. Vanilla Dark Souls 2 deserves all the criticism it got

[@shiroamakusa8075]

@@holler_pit5243 No, it's more that all the 12-year olds that played it ten years ago have now thick nostalgia blinders on. It's still a garbage game.

[@holler_pit5243]

@@StEvEn420BrUlE Complaints about ADP, snap movement, hollowing, hitboxes, etc. exist for both versions. The only critique points I can think that changed were lighting (Though this point is pro og DS2) and enemy placement/agression and maybe item placements. Or maybe you mean criticisms of the unpatched 2014 release version however you see much more complaints about things that are still present across both versions.

[@3therealogmo815]

I love ds2, never doing frigid outskirts again tho

[@1925683]

I lowkey like this game because the boss fights are easy. I prefer to explore and I hate the feeling of having to bang my head against one single encounter simply because it’s “supposed” to be hard. I want to like more recent From games, but I think they went way too far in upping boss difficulty while keeping most areas super easy.

[@JoachimFosse]

How to make every boss a cake walk: When the boss has a sword in his right arm, and a shield in his left (think pursuer), simply walk circles around him, moving TOWARDS the shielded hand (anti-clockwise)

[@tect0nicssb]

Try to do that to an enemy and they bash you with their shield 😆

[@theskorpio1]

Ds3 is mid

[@S4BRETOOTH]

Apparently, someone doesn't know about DS2 special NG+, and didn't defeat the Darklurker and the Twin Pursuers.

[@KadaiGaming]

I'll do any Ng plus material after I've played new game at least once in every game. I know I could've popped bonfire things to spawn them

[@zzodysseuszz]

@@KadaiGaming ng+ adds a lot to the game that you can’t replicate with an Ascetic

[@Haerknox]

i really feel like a huge reason people hate this game isnt actually due to the gameplay being bad, but the fact that they come from a game like elden ring or ds3 and expect it to feel the same when its not. Most of the complaints i hear really feel like "wahh wahhh wahh being different is bad and i cant get used to change" Dont get me wrong, i enjoy the gameplay of ds3 way more, but i also fucking love ds2s gameplay, and i dont judge it just because its different. I mean my first playthrough when i was like 12 i never leveled adp or knew about the infinite life gem shop. I basically played that shit on hard mode and absolutely loved it. Now, are a lot of the bosses decently bad? yes, and its a shame, i feel like they couldve fixed a lot of them by making them a bit more aggressive and giving them a good amount more of HP, but even with the bad bosses, i really feel like the good bosses of the game shine above some of the good bosses from the other games (the dlc bosses are some of the best in the entirety of soulsborne imo) And i could go on and on about why i love this game and think its great, but i dont feel like writing a book in a comment section, and this comment is already way too long. The last thing ill say tho, is that i highly recommend checking out Domo3000s RE: "RE: 'In Defense of Dark Souls 2'" series on youtube showing in detail that a lot of the complaints the game gets are purely hypocrisy and or the player just straight up being bad at the game. Anyway, great video! Hope you have a great time playing the other games in the series!

[@VREMEPLOV1]

People hate this game because it’s awful. DS1 is lightyears ahead of this game in every aspect. No one hates it because it is “cool” to hate it-people generally hate this game because it is bad. Those who say that “haters gonna hate” are the people who cannot objectively defend liking something the majority doesn’t. I respect you loving this game, but don’t pretend it’s objectively good. It isn’t. It is sub par comparing to anything FS lead team has ever made.

[@Leo-64DC27]

The whole "Too Many Enemies" topic is stupid, i could say the same for DS3 as well where most of the time is the runbacks and the bosses are easy

[@danielgrosso1007]

People that don’t like ds2 are just Miyazaki fan boys.

[@noahl9073]

I mean… not really? Like people don’t just shit on games for no reason. The complaints with the game are very real. I’ve played it myself and I don’t think it was bad as I was lead to believe, I’d even say it’s a good game, but it’s the worst dark souls game, and that’s why people say it’s bad.

[@danieltinsleykhvsff9622]

Kinda true I guess

[@CausticSpace]

@@noahl9073 To me, DS2 felt like a way better DS3, but a worse Elden Ring.

[@noahl9073]

@@CausticSpace explain, I don’t feel like its all that similar to either of those games

[@CausticSpace]

@@noahl9073 Whens the last time you played DS2? Elden Ring basically is what DS2 was supposed to be, DS3 borrowed many of the innovations or features made in DS2 but did them far worse or copied and pasted.

[@AleksandrGabachev]

2 is my favorite souls game. everyone liked it very much when it was first released, back before bloodborne when these games did not really get mainstream attention. I believe that has a lot to do with how “ds2 bad” meme persists.

[@yurtthesilentgod1225]

I bought it 2 weeks after launch on the ps3 when I was 15. Up until mauler made his huge video shitting on it everybody loved it. It's a newish thing with people hating on it. All new fans of the series. You can tell who has played it and who hasn't. It was my first and favorite of the dark souls games for replayability. Bloodborne still best game ever though.

[@Dylanjrvs]

Dark souls 2 is better than 3 might be a hot take but I appreciate the whole package the most and dark souls 3 struggles on areas. Yeah they’re not total bs like a lot of 2 and 1 worse areas but they’re so forgettable which is even worse honestly. Dark souls 3 killed shields and started the whole you have to dodge only mentality which sucks.

[@SpecialK574]

i had more fun with 2 genuinely and have the same critique. i love every single game though

[@altec00]

I start my Soul series from DS2 .. it hooked me into soul genre game.

[@karolbielik838]

Man so far one of the best reactions to DS2. Some people love to nitpick every stupid thing about it and others ( me ) praise it like it was some god or something idk

[@swagmiredoesall]

The reason the heide knights were suddenly aggroing onto you is because you beat the dragon rider, and all of the enemies suddenly being aggressive is the games way of telling you that Heide Tower is no longer for the stage of the game you're at, and you'll need to gear/level up and return later. You didn't do anything wrong

[@NMONEY56]

I am playing dark souls 2 i just started, as i just beat ds1. I also beat bloodborne and edlen ring (3 times) i heard bad thing about ds2 but im still gonna beat it. These games have changed my life

[@RandomInternetMan-qu4xd]

ds2 had such a great pvp scene. I remember grinding colosseum to get my "red glow"

[@burns0100]

I miss those days. I spent close to 2000 hours just on PvP over the years and majority was invasions or in the brotherhood of blood arena. I think Dark Souls 2 did covenants and pvp the best out of all the games. It took Dark Souls 3 and Elden Ring ages before they even came up with decent PvP systems after release and they still fall short. Seeing someone in Dark Souls 2 with a full red aura just casually walking towards you was the scariest thing.

[@watson3906]

I’ve always said when debating DS2. “Yes, it is the worst Souls game…. BUT even the worst Souls game is SIGNIFICANTLY better than like 99% of games released” There’s an asterisk attached to its negativity. Someone telling you to skip it is the dumbest gaming opinion I’ve ever heard

[@28_Spokes]

The amount of details in this game is insane. Considering how the development was shotty and split among directors, I’m so impressed with how it came out. Great video and agree on all your points. We pretty much feel the same about it.

[@b.p.m.3660]

I have only actually played ds2 (both base and SOTFS), and I think I'm gonna keep it that way lol. It seems to get under the skin of haters, which gives me a good laugh!

[@andrzejkulakowski]

Love the game - a best souls to me.

[@elijahfyffe5176]

I think the reason you liked it so much is because you started with the earlier titles. I did the same thing and I think Ds2 is the best. Many people started with the newest games and when they go back, they hate the gameplay and won’t acknowledge that DS2 is an improvement from ds1’s mechanics.

[@VREMEPLOV1]

Well I started with Elden Ring and then DS3. Loved both games, and also love DS1/ demon souls, apart from world tendencies. Still, DS2 is one of the worst games I have ever played. I suffered through it for about 10ish hours, couldn’t force myself to continue.

[@KlyeKlyeKlye]

I think I'm gonna use "Your dad couldn't even beat Pinwheel, are you gonna listen to him? Or me?!" from now on, such a power move!

[@williamshon5545]

Honorable fightingcowboy mention... we've all found ourselves on his page once per play through

[@weirdemon_]

The only places i had problems with is the first half of the iron keep and shrine of amana and the frigid outskirts other than that the game slaps

[@burns0100]

You should have trouble in those area's they are end game zones. Iron Keep as one of the four great souls, Amana leads you to find Vendrick and Outskirts is literally the final DLC's optional boss area. Three of the harder area's in game all because they are key area's too. Makes sense.

[@johnnyflannigan136]

I like dark souls 2 more than 3

[@volimsir]

Finished the base game a few days ago, and now I'm doing the DLCs. Have no idea why people are saying that this game is so bad. I really like it! Some areas are more difficult than others, but none of it felt impossible at any point. Also, you didn't fight the Darklurker? That was the most difficult boss for me up to this point.

[@KadaiGaming]

I didn't find out about darklurker until after, missed that NPC once or twice. The DLC is the best by far, enjoy!

[@jakeowenramos5754]

Darklurker is easy chees on strength build or Faith users lang great lighting

[@CausticSpace]

@@jakeowenramos5754 me, who had a hexer/dark build

[@ratharos]

Super based review. Always nice to spot a fellow masochist. Been defending ds2 for a decade now lol

[@michaelpoger6662]

I feel bad for those turned away by all the negativity because it’s a Top 10 for me.

[@umarmayet4647]

To me Dark Souls 2 is actually Demon souls 2

[@comradecatbug5289]

Why??

[@ms98816]

Interesting. I typically see others refer to Elden Ring as "Dark Souls II ...2" lol

[@Gabi-bv9ux]

Really solid video. There are a few things I disagree with, such as the game being hard being the main draw. I really think it is the sense of exploration and rewarding gameplay that doesnt just coddle you. Meaning hard can play into that, but I do not think a souls game specifically has to be hard. I for example am playing wo long atm and finding it quite easy but still super satisfying in the combat department. As for people complaining about the over reliance on gank fights. The reason this likely gets brought up a lot is the original ds2 had some issues with ganking being used to artificially create deaths (or try to). So when sotfs came out many hoped this would be tweaked for the better. Instead of thoughtful careful enemy placement they simply added more ganking to a substantial degree. It is kind of like if they took the lack of circular progreasion both you and I like and instead of taking on that feedback they made the dlc even more linear etc. I really recommend playing og ds2 as sotfs is clearly not the intended design and plays more like a mix up mod for the og game. The og game also isnt so damn dark in those areas you mentioned. That is the new and imo terrible lighting system for sotfs and adds artifial difficulty that when the game was designed originally was not intended. The only thing sotfs os good for imo is it is playable on modern consoles and increased summons is fun for doing pvp fight clubs. If you can I highly recommend playing Lies of P also. It is much better at being hard but giving you all the tools that if you master even some of them you can style on even the hardest boses. I really can't recommend this one enough it is shocking just how good it is. Also id recommend using some npc summons as without spoiling anything there is story/lore connected to some of them. But of course if thats not how you like to play none of it is a must. Just worth noting they dont just make bosses easier. :)

[@sheleg4807]

Oh... a classic green screen kadai video. Love it. Great video!

[@kevindangelo1091]

Ds2 beats ds for me only because its a finished experience (scholar not day one). That and the build diversity. Its just a fun, challenging experience.

[@Riptequila]

my dad couldnt even beat pinwheel is crazy lol my little brother beat that game on switch

[@davidrw67]

I loved ds2 sadly adp didnt bother me i beat fume night ng+ hitless after sevral times trying to beat him with a summon

[@itsyaboycactus6096]

Ds2 is easily my favorite fromsoft game

[@AtreyusNinja]

ds2 > all

[@srikiraju]

getting ripped in ds1, looking forward to ds2 now

[@Buttersaucee3]

I’m entirely convinced that the narrative around DS2 would be completely different if Miyazaki’s name was on it.

[@TheZeroSbr]

No, no it wouldn't. Instead people would be joking about how Miyazaki had multiple strokes during its development, resulting in what we got.

[@yunleung2631]

670 hours and you call yourself a fan? amateur

[@ic-on7375]

walking out is best ending

[@DieselDiaz]

I believe that is the canon ending, because the undead curse has already been broken by the time of DS3. The Bearer of the Curse is the one who made it possible.

[@brandonbryson3317]

DS2 is my favorite of the lot.

[@uriah1]

New game plus is nice in ds2

[@smukgitgut]

You will hate ds3 because it's the most linear shit fromsoft made

[@AtreyusNinja]

Dude, ds3 replayability Is sh1t because of how linear Is the f game.

[@mariant4673]

Godd game. Worst Souls no doubt.

[@Kaibamon]

I played the Original DS 2 and Scholar and yes I can confirm that the enemy placement is more obnoxious in Scholar

[@zzodysseuszz]

It’s not. It’s designed with more thought in mind to stop the player from skipping everything. They’re supposed to be a barrier to the boss or an item and such etc. you just gotta fight the enemies as the game presents them to you and not rush past everything. I kinda demonstrate this with my shrine of Amana video.

[@Bendanna93]

It is harder in Iron keep, but you're right​@@zzodysseuszz

[@BlondeMcGuinn]

Watch Domo’s Vanilla versus SotFS series. He compares the games side-by-side with footage. Vanilla has more enemies (save for Iron Keep) and its enemies have a much bigger aggro range (Shrine of Amana is much more ganky). Plus, SotFS has an easier to obtain Dull Ember, Branches of Yore and lockstones. SotFS is a better game by far.

[@zzodysseuszz]

@@Bendanna93 iron keep is still really easy. I also demonstrate it in my video “iron keep is overhated”

[@Bendanna93]

@@zzodysseuszz I've gone through it a few times recently and now realize how to trivialize it. But I still don't like those two archers right before smelter demon

[@enol1466]

I agree with your overall conclusion and im glad you liked it but there was....a lot of misunderstandings here. Alot misunderstanding the base game, skipping darklurker, not givijg the bonfire asthetic system its due credit, not understanding that the multiplayer areas are...meant and balanced for multiplayer...also you just could not help but get mad at every boss that didnt double fist you, even though you were pretty much OP by end game. I can go 5 shot godfrey on elden ring, that doesnt make him easy. Definitely not enough crddit given to aldia and his fight. Good video overall tho

[@Delvokian]

Yea I am a big dark souls 2 fan, it's atleast in my top 10 games of all time, but somehow he was exclusively defending the few parts of the game I don't like lol.

[@Scitch-et4vk]

This game is amazing

[@nexuvareldari7418]

Dark Souls 2 actually failed to improve hit boxes and dodge mechanics, it made them worse by making dodges tied to a stat and hitboxes were broken where you get hit even whilst being several feet away from the outside range of the attack, that isn’t improvement bruh.

[@DarkSouls-Izalith]

The devs that made ds1 was taking off of ds2 to work on BB.... So ds2 had different devs.... But ds2 is my favorite outsl of all of them.... it'd go ds2, ds1, ds3 and ds is tired... BB is good to but I see it as a different game than ds... But tbh I miss king field days 😊😊

[@nickjanecke6688]

DS2 is near the bottom of my personal ranking, but Majula is my favorite hub. Definitely not saying it’s a bad game, just not one that I tend to go back to often. But I do still revisit it. I do think the PS4 SotFS edition is worse than the original PS3 version of the game though.

[@CrazyhorseDK]

i like them all for different reasons but i dont have any fromsoft souls game i dont like

[@AtreyusNinja]

ds2 > ds1 > ds3

[@ratmirez2250]

This is almost my exact list but ds3 at the top(it was my first souls game)

[@DarkSouls-Izalith]

Have you tried demons souls? U gotta play it on PS3, f remake

[@ratmirez2250]

@@DarkSouls-Izalith I would but to be honest buying a ps3 for one game is a lil much for me. I was considering buying the remake but why do you think it's bad?

[@aml-zq5mc]

that's funny cuz I rank Ds3>DS2>DS1. There's alot of problems with DS1 in the last half to me

[@smukgitgut]

Based on

[@arhidontos]

One of the not many honest opinion of this game, u got sub

[@ms98816]

My favorite phrase referring to DS1's level design is "shortcut p0rn"

[@TheEpicPancake]

I remember buying Dark Souls 2 on my Xbox 360 as a kid and hating the game as one does with their first souls game. I only ever thought about trying it again after coming within an inch of beating Sekiro and getting through Anor Londo in DS1. I came back with Scholar and, frankly, I kinda love it. I love the feeling of combat with the diminished clunk coming from DS1. There's a reputation for bad hitboxes, but I don't really get it. I actually ended up taking a footwork oriented approach to combat here and tried to avoid rolling when I could step around things, and it worked great. No idea how this conception came around. I like how the game encourages you to engage with the environment more with explosive barrels, torches, traps, etc. I feel rewarded for being resourceful and taking notice of details in the environment. I also like the areas despite the linearity, as they often still have a few clever shortcuts within themselves and have a great variety. It's also less taxing to keep a mental map when the connections are a bit more straightforward, but I understand why the DS1 formula is preferred. I think so many of the complaints I heard about it were pretty unfair in retrospect, and that the game really does hold its own in the lineup. It has its quirks, but it's definitely Dark Souls. I'm happy to see the train of discussion shifting towards being reasonable these days.

[@Wolfpunker]

"The lack of circular progression is my keast favourite thing about DS2" oh boy, wait till you play DS3

[@DonutSwordsman]

the dad couldnt even beat pinwheel joke made me laugh my ass off. subbed. had an uncle who played doom try to play the newer ones and was a baby playing zelda lol

[@WeirdTroll666]

Dark Souls 2 (SotfS) was the last souls game I beat (7/7). Came into it hating it myself after hearing good points to do so from others. Couldn't be so wrong in my entire life. It's so so much better than DeS and DS1 imo, and I haven't tried the DLC yet! I love its vision and variety, it's nature, music could be stronger yes, but it's beautiful as it stands in medieval fantasy, securing my 2nd favorite spot in the series after Elden Ring. On your side, circular progression is unfortunately absent on most of these games, but it would be great here as well :) adp I beat the game with my starting of 4 but game is really easy as you said, a skill issue truly, also I love the gutter :(

[@Wolfpunker]

Goid to see someone thinking fir themselves instead of just blindly parroting "gamer facts"

[@ates423]

I think People love or hate this game depending on if they treated this game like a boss rush or not similar to the other games. This game basically forces you to be patient and handle the enemy in the areas or else you’ll get overrun and a lotta people hate that. For me though it adds a lot of replay value because you can basically tackle each area in a unique way and you have that much more incentive to summon people for help through the area. Unlike other games where you only summon for the boss Outside of that there’s so much content and depth as well as quality of life despite its flaws. 1 - best PvP and highest skill ceiling hands down. Elden ring is noobified too much, ds3 was the 2nd best but still was streamlined into a one trick play style (passive play), 1 had horrendous backstab focus, and bloodborne was pretty bad all around each PvP can be fun. 2 - casting speed, slots, and max casts tied to one stat, such a brilliant idea for casters 3 - poise, the best in the iteration. Saves you from certain true combos in PvP, allows you to basically passive tank through most of the attacks but not all, hyper armor makes poise stronger. Basically what Elden ring tried to do but better 4 - connected to previous point, but elemental defense was more important than physical defense and physical defense has a really small soft cap/hardcap. Since poise was good but not important, fashion souls was basically the biggest thing out of all the souls games since you’re not punished too hard for wearing what you want to wear, but it still mattered if you wanted to make a tanky build or a anti mage build. 5 - diverse range of weapons and armor 6 - very important loot and consumables spread correctly. Unlike Elden ring where you would be getting basically shit for the majority of areas you explore, you get pretty valuable stuff for the most part in this game 7 - ng+ cycles and bonfire ascetic. Ng+ straight up changes the game, new enemies, new movesets on certain enemies, new loot. Replay value through the roof 8 - reasonable scaling, stat softcaps and hardcaps, as well as all around non inflated stat numbers. In Elden ring it was super common to hit 1200ar on literally any weapon, buff city, gotta stack buffs on everything, super tedious and annoying and scale all the way to 80 or 50 on stats. In ds2 you can be just fine on 30 vigor, with 50 being a super hardcap. Endurance basically caps at 20, all the damage stats cap at 50 but you can go higher if you wanted to, attunement has benefits going all the way up to 94 but you can cap it at 40 for optimization. Attunement and agility are tied together so if you were on a caster you wouldn’t need to level adaptability that much. 9 - low overall damage ceiling, fights last much longer, punishing stamina rolls, short roll distance and and less s (unless leveled) forces players to actually be smart and strategic of where they are and overall contributes to the online experience 10 - covenants. Super fun. 11 - online. For everything I listed previously they all contribute to a thriving online community. Despite how old this game is, I can consistently, anytime of the day, any summon range, throughout the years, find matchmaking and find it quick. No joke I just recently switched to this game from Elden ring and I seriously get invasions here faster than I do in Elden ring even the coop can be faster sometimes. I get summoned after like 30 seconds to 2 minutes of waiting. I could extend this list farther but too lazy. Now the only drawbacks I can think of is adaptability being a strange stat and bosses being a bit too easy. With the largest drawback being soul memory. Besides that, people are making this game a lot worse than it is because they want it to be too much like the other souls games. That’s what makes this game special though, is that it offers what most of the other souls game can’t.

[@jasikshaw9309]

In my honest opinion, DS2 isn't a bad game. It's a good game in fact, not a masterpiece, just good. But, I believe it is a bad Souls game.

[@Taaha_Alii]

Health cutting after every death is the only bad thing in DS2

[@human_called_Jon]

Based.

[@hollowsonictale702]

For me personatly I wouldnt say its a bad game in fact I really like it. It still remains as the worst souls game for me but honestly, that says more about the other games rather then ds2.

[@UsmevavyPanacek]

I finished Frigid Outskirts today. Took some time:) But there's always your shadow, so if you know where it pointed when facing the next building, it's not that hard finding your way. Also, buffed great club for the ponies, they can't hurt you if they are pancakes.

[@magnus4945]

nice and fair review. i feel like dark souls 2 innovated on a lot of things, and then dark souls 3 regressed on a lot of it, so it's sometimes frustrating to see the modern perception that the games have now. people have become hyperfixated on the bosses of each game, instead of the actual levels. to the point that people will boil down the games to only looking at it based on the bosses... if you treat ds2 as a series of bosses and running past everything else, it will of course be dissapointing, because the good and expansive levels is where the focus is for me.

[@valkeitos]

Whilst souls players may agree that DS2 is terrible, we can collectively agree DS2 is a masterpiece in the world of video games.

[@dutchjoyce6106]

so far ive only beaten ds3. i have ds1 (i was spoiled w ds3) and bloodborne (git gud moment) but my main complaint w the game is the choices. i LOVE the fact that you can make impactful choices that will completely change your game, but sometimes theyre SO VAGUE. how the fuck am i supposed to know to do some of this stuff? and then some quest lines are just pure chance tbat you actually run into the npc again before their quest is cut off FOREVER. still love the boss and enemy content, id just like a small journal or something where the unkindled or tarished or whichever just wrote down "siegward: found him in a well in the cathedral of the deep. he wants his armor" just so i would remeber to go back.

[@KadaiGaming]

I kinda like the vagueness as it can give you a reason to replay the game eventually. I rarely ever replay single player but will go back and play the souls games one day to try stuff I missed on the first go

[@zzodysseuszz]

Ds3 is ass. It and ds3 are the best starter games cos they are so shit and don’t add anything to the series, whereas bloodborne and ds2 and sekiro are the best

[@brandonrogers5207]

I started not too long ago and just finished the skeleton kings boss. We’ll see how available and build friendly it really is so I can make a triple hybrid build the way ds1 was

[@helpfulapple3125]

Playing SOTFS for the first time, I had fun with it. It wasn’t very hard for the most part and had some questionable level design (ahem, Iron Keep) but I ended up enjoying the game. After I killed Nashandra, I decided to play DS3 and leave the DLCs for afterwards (huge mistake). Played DS3, absolutely loved it. More than any other Souls game I’ve played so far. After I killed the Nameless King, I decided to go back to the DS2 DLC. Man, this game is unbearable. The animations and combat feel so sluggish in comparison. I much prefer the fast-paced playstyle that DS3 and Bloodborne encourage. I actually enjoyed DS2 quite a bit, but the fun I had with DS3 kind of distorted that and made me think it was worse than it actually was.

[@primalspongebob6144]

As a staunch DS2 Scholar lover, being a huge fan of some of the things it does with atmosphere, characters, armors, unique details and experiments like bonfire aesthetics, etc, seeing a video like this is really nice. And I think the ending of it really should be the standard of how we look at games. I think if they ever do a remake of it and polish up a few things, A lot more people would hopefully see some of the great things that has in the store. Great video man👏.

[@marmadukesandwich]

I swear that the one janky animation snap on the Pursuer's sword thrust accounts for most of people's negative perceptions about the game. It's not perfect, and there are actual problems with the hit boxes, but it's not like the other games are perfect either.

[@sacrif2457]

people often time say that ds2 is bad cuz the bosses are only big knights while ds1 and 3 end bosses are a dude with sword and the most liked bosses in ds are knights plus ds2 is peak it really is i enjoy it on the daily it's the only one i still replay , ds3 is scared of being it's own game without doing a ds1 ref every 10 secs and bloodborne makes me wanna watch my innerwolf comps plus , all the loved design ideas on elden ring were first on ds2

[@Mick-hp4yg]

I don't think DS2 is some great travesty or anything, there are just a lot of little annoyances that add up over time. But still, I replay it all the time. Still love it 👍

[@Warrior_Zith]

If you did not play ds2 during its height with pvp you missed the best part of the game. It was hands down a chess game versus other people. So when someone makes a video ten years later with no PvP at all the opinion means absolutely nothing to me. The other thing no one brings up about ds2 is that you can make any build with any weapon and beat that game.

[@thisisnotmyrealname6990]

I really want to play ds2 rn because I never gave it too much of a chance but having played 3 elden ring and Ds1 and bb so much I’m hungry for fresh new souls content.

[@yurtthesilentgod1225]

Play it!!! Just have the mindset that it plays different. Bloodborne plays different but once you get used to it it's great. Your first playthrough is amazing and I reccomend whatever weapon types you enjoyed in the other ones. For repeat playthroughs maybe dabble in some spells. Lightning spear and sunlight blade for faith are incredible. Also Ds2 has THE BEST HEX builds you can imagine. The other games have very little with hexes but ds2 has some of the greatest builds. Beat the rotten boss then use an bonfire aesthetic and when you beat him again his soul cam make the crypt blacksword. Basically guts sword but scales with hex. Anyway enjoy!

[@thisisnotmyrealname6990]

@@yurtthesilentgod1225 it’s so good I’m currently at the twin fight before nashandra.

[@natethegreat9887]

I’m almost done with dark souls 1 and I have really enjoyed it just found a copy of dark souls 2 at my GameStop. My friend got me into the series and told me that the second is his favorite, he is a huge lore guy so I’m excited to try the second as well.