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Dark Souls 2 is a very weird game, and in this video, I wanted to dive into why I feel it’s uniqueness plays into its strengths and weaknesses.
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Chapters:
Introduction: 0:00 – 4:02
Launch Day: 4:02 – 6:17
The Music: 6:18 – 7:06
The Weaponry: 7:07 – 10:12
The Bosses: 10:13 – 12:35
The Exploration: 12:36 – 17:23
The Iron Keep: 17:24 – 23:10
The Shrine of Amana: 23:11 – 25:03
NPC Invasions: 25:04 – 26:30
The Combat: 26:31 – 28:08
Behind The Scenes: 28:09 – 31:54
Conclusions: 31:55 – 33:42
38 Comments
Okay so idk what’s wrong with my brain when I say dark souls 2 was released in 2024. I meant to say 2014, but I had a brain fart. Sorry guys!
it is interesting to see both sides of the DS community in regards to DS2, because both are convinced they’re right and that the other side is stupid or “not a true fan”. reminds me of a certain political landscape…
Not sure what this video is about but the first two clips instantly invalidated whatever it is. The pursuer clip is extremely disingenuous, That's exactly how all grab attacks work and all souls games and has nothing to do with hitboxes. Then purposely putting yourself in gang situations to paint the game in a worse light.
What is with the bullshit ai voice over????
The title has me dead. Scholar of First the Sin 😂.
Haven't played ds3 but ds1 and 2 sotfs and remastered specifically are great games imo ds2 is different by a lot but i enjoy the mechanics it added especially because there not in the other games
Oh look, a small content creator using Dark Souls 2 for some clicks! What's new?
I was just like you, super hyped after DS1. Played the network test, then got the game and bounced off the vanilla version. It was just balanced like crap. Then SotFS came out and I binged the whole thing and beat it and all the DLC. The DLC SAVES DS2 as well as the balancing.
It is 1000% more enjoyable when you have a buddy to experience the entire game with.
Some valid criticisms like the lighting not being what was showcased, but all the clips of you dying really just seemed like you weren't paying as much attention or being reckless. You can get through amana without a bow just fine. But its definitely difficult as a fresh player. Its understandable if you didnt like the game but i really think you should give the game some more time and try the dlcs as well. You might come around more
You don’t know pain in the ass boss in DS 2 till you play the DLC and fight Fumekight
Im not gonna lie, i dont give a fuck if u still dont like ds2, i still dont think ds3 is good and elden ring is just as much of a mess as ds2 was and i think its HILARIOUS we dont point that out so do me a favor and shut the fuck up about it. We are never gonna agree, let's just talk about new games and let people who liked ds2 enjoy it.
22:55 Here's the issue – you don't have patience. And souls games are all about being slow and patient. In Iron Keep there are a lot of traps that help you dispatch the enemies. You just need to observe and use what the game gives you. If you ignore that and simply try to rush trough, of course you are going to have miserable time. Like in all other FromSoft games…
"Me no good at game mean game bad"
This video is odd. It’s just a bunch of complaints about the best parts of the game
I know there are alot of things people don't like about DS2, but I love it! It was my first souls game so maybe that has something to do with it…I didn't have any expectations going into it, so I could just take it for what it is…I do think there are a few too many enemies in a couple areas, but if you actually use all the tools the game gives you instead of just trying to run through, you can take them all out pretty easily…They had alot of good ideas for this game and I just wish they hadn't been so rushed get it out…
Dark Souls 2 fucks, i love it, but its definitely my least favorite of the 3/4, its just clunkier, as opposed to weighty. But Scholar is straight up ass, like vanilla DS2 and the dlc are awesome, the pvp is the best bar none, Scholar really sucks ass.
This is my favorite souls game. Lol all I’m seeing is a ton of whining lol
Literally just beat new game plus last night, yes it has issues but idk I love it 👍
Oh lawd…. I personally LOVE DSII, to pieces, even! Then again, the Burnt Ivory King and Fume Knight made the game as good as it was for me, and it definitely holds a special place in my heart!
shrine of amana is my favorite area in all of souls. it’s so dangerous yet one of the prettiest areas with the song playing in the background and the weird npcs leading up to a boss that reveals that the music playing is coming from it and the silence after boss falls
They should’ve kept the visuals for PC master race
I had no trouble with iron keep actually🧐
play ds2 on the ps3, not sotfs version.
i think its funny you like elden ring but hate this….. i hate elden ring BECAUSE it is dark souls 2 two…..the segmented world…. the bullshit enemy placement……it even in 'the lands betwixt'
I started with ds2, so it does hold a special place in my heart
So fun lil fact.
In the original Dark Souls 2 there are
•Half as many enemies and running past is actually viable. Not that you need to since the areas are much more pleasant when there's 10 enemies instead of 100.
• Very few NPC invasions. They few that are in the game actually have meaning such as the Nameless Usurper giving you the black eye orb for a small plot reveal and her gear.
• You don't need 1 million fragrant branches. 😎
Can someone tell me who the hell made it a good idea for this game to be so painfully punishing for no reason? Enemies chase you throughout the entire level, estus flasks are so bad it's laughable, enemy placement is comically bad(iron passage and sir alonne boss runback) eyeframes depending on a new stat and my favorite, sprint delay when recovering stamina. Just, why did this game need such a huge mechanical downgrade from ds1 and even demon souls?
I hated DS2, I really tried but the game was frustrating with terrible and annoying level design and if like me you are someone who plays on PC with KB/Mouse (I know, I know), this DS2 is a misery and your first hour is spent trying to get the controls into a usable state. I might try it again one day but unlike the other games I just cant motivate myself to go through with it
I came here and was about to trash this youtuber then i heard the Skyrim & Nier & bloodborne music 😢
will you make dark souls 3 in 2024 video?
I was trying…. really trying to get that spark of joy and accomplishment after making it through an area and defeating the boss.
Now, after the Looking Glass Kinght, I'm so uninspired that I'm watching these kinds of videos to decide if it's worth continuing or not….. I think I've found my answer.
IMO, it's not that it's a terrible game. it's just not fun or rewarding feeling.
That feeling of learning a bosses moveset and overcoming the challenge….. no where to be found. Other than apparently a couple in the DLC…? 😢
Not ever gonna update that stat everyone hates it but it is one of the best in my opinion I love it and currently still play scholar of the first sin no complaints just gotta do better idk man the games not impossible much love
17:05 I very heavily disagree with this. I have my problems with DS2, but the amount of "checkpoints" you get is perfect in my opinion. Dark Souls 3 gives you far too many, Dark Souls 1 gives you too few (like in Sen's Fortress, which is an excellent area but super frustrating for new players because of a lack of checkpoints). Checkpoints in DS2 do always come in the form of a bonfire rather than shortcuts, which is a shame. Forest of the Fallen Giant actually started off so strong with all paths warping back to the bonfire, but they decided to forego that mentality for a lot of their later levels. Still, No Man's Wharf and Undead Crypt have intelligent shortcut design in my opinion.
Other than that I completely agree with your biggest issue with DS2, which is that every encounter is the same and there's far too many of them. Bait out one of the guys with range, watch all surrounding guys aggro and slowly pick them off. Walk 2 meters forward, pick off a new group of enemies. And so on. It's boring and sluggish. If you try to play at a quicker pace, you're just gonna get ganked and die. It's not fun.
Also, because of the way movement works in DS2 you don't have complete 360 degree control over your character. So, walking small ledges and navigating near pits can be frustrating to say the least. Yet DS2 does absolutely nothing to accomodate this new movement system. There's so many levels with small ledges, small platforms, etc.
Then there's the bosses. In my opinion you were far too lenient on them. Dark Souls 2s bosses are awful. All of them are the same enemy. Wow you have a double slash and an overhead slam? How original! There are good bosses here, but when Lost Sinner (which literally has the exact same moveset as any other enemy in this game) is considered to be one of the best bosses then you have an issue. Going back to DS3 is so different because in that game the bosses are so much more interesting.
I got really frustrated in Iron Keep at the beginnig, to a degree of considering the location totally garbage, but it's actually managable quite easily, if you plan your actions and execute them carefuly. In the large area with a furnace in the middle of it you can easily avoid archers fire by jumping to a platform below one of the archers. After killing him you make your way further with a little help of a ranged weapon. The area with a moving platform gave me huge amount of fun because of possibilities to manipulate enemies it provided.
Shrine of Amana is really beautiful and also fun to play, if you are not tolally strange to concepts like ranged weapons and patience.
These two locations are just different to basic souls experience, much more focused on planning, patience and carefulness than combat skill. It felt like a cool change of pace to me.
Overall DSII is obviously not as elegant as I or III and it often feels like some kind of patchwork mess, but ultimately it was most entertaining to me from whole trilogy. It doesn't mean i consider it the best or i like it most – on the contrary, i like it least and i consider it the worst, but i had most fun with it. It's very straightforward in terms of traversing locations, has a lot of bosses who are not very hard to beat, lots of equipment to experiment with, and for every three or so ugly and unpolished location you get one with a stunnig concept or a beautiful vista. Yeah, i love it, even though it's no masterpiece like I or III.
Delete this crappy video 😂
To think you got baited into thinking the DLC was better lol
Your whole section of Iron Keep is second hand embarrassment for me. Talking about "objectively bad enemy placements" when you are missing the dozens of traps you can utilise to kill them where they are standing. Just as examples: on those hanging platforms you can use the lever to drop 2 of them into the lava immediately. Then as you go on the platforms themselves there are buttons you can walk on to drop the floor under them and they fall into the lava. You can also kite them into the fire breathing statues where they die in 2 seconds. You can also kill them in the beheading guillotine trap. You just don't look around you and utilise any of your environment and are just trying to run through levels without thinking. This is not "gimmicky" gameplay, this is clever level design with traps that punish dumb players and reward smart players who make use of them. You also aren't supposed to loot the items under the fire statues like that.. You are supposed to explore the area properly and find a way to turn them off and then loot them. Why are people like you so adamant to making videos like this when you didn't put any proper effort or research into the topic? AT THE VERY LEAST don't use phrases like "objectively bad X design" when you are absolutely clueless, my god this generation is full of Dunning Krueger effect it is astonishing.
You are just running through enemies with no situational awareness, this game is obviously trying to teach you to be patient and OBSERVANT about your surroundings. Being unable to do so isn't a game design issue, it's a "you" issue.