From Software The Dark Souls II Megathread™

[Hoaxmetal]

 

[d1r]

Creating PVP characters for Dark Souls 2 SOFTS is fun! I am also kinda surprised that I still get Rat Covenant PVP in the depths (Rat King).

 

[NJClaw]

Creating PVP characters for Dark Souls 2 SOFTS is fun! I am also kinda surprised that I still get Rat Covenant PVP in the depths (Rat King).

You still get low level PvP in this game, both on consoles and PC. I recently played the game on PS4 as a drinking challenge with a friend, and we got stuck in the Lost Bastille because we kept getting summoned through the Bell Keepers covenant.

 

[Verylittlefishes]

I've heard many bad things about this game overall, but this is the last Souls game I didn't played, so what if I just pirate it? Is it pointless to play this game offline? How active the community is?

 

[Multidirectional]

I've heard many bad things about this game overall, but this is the last Souls game I didn't played, so what if I just pirate it? Is it pointless to play this game offline? How active the community is?

You want to play the game with best online in series in offline only mode?

 

[Kitchen Utensil]

It's still pretty good offline.

 

[Lutte]

Don't be a pirate faggot.

Is it pointless to play this game offline?

Why should this even be a question? I've never seen online as anything interesting in From's games. All are P2P based and suffer from major latency issues most of the time since it's hard to get lucky enough to connect to someone close to you. Duelling is uninteresting garbo and cooperation just makes the games too easy. Ranking up covenants rarely offer anything of serious value either (some items from DS3 covenants are cool but farmable offline)
No, the games don't become pointless just because you play them offline.

 

[Verylittlefishes]

You want to play the game with best online in series in offline only mode?

It's still pretty good offline.

Yes, that's what I'm asking.

Don't be a pirate faggot.

Give me a reason to! Is this game really that bad as they say?

Why should this even be a question? I've never seen online as anything interesting in From's games.

Yes, I've already understood from DS3 topic that you cannot into genius Miyazaki's great masterplan.

 

[Lutte]

Give me a reason to! Is this game really that bad as they say?

It's pretty great. Pros : best build variety of all games, actually worthwhile NG+ with all the enemy swaps and new encounters, solid level and encounter (I don't mean world) design, best DLC content of all. Cons : some jank like 8 direction gated movement, serious ugliness of environments that were made for dynamic lighting because of rushed changes when they realized it didn't have good framerate on consoles (still looks gorgeous on areas that weren't made with dynamic lights in mind too much), a tad too many mediocre boss encounters and a few jarring area transition moments if you're anal about it.

It certainly has more distinct flaws than other games in the series but its strengths make it well worth playing IMHO, and it's my favorite souls to go back to and replay (I put more hours into this than both DS1 and 3 combined). It doesn't quite peak as much as the best of DS1, say, but it also doesn't have any area as bad as the worst of DS1. None of the levels ever get as boring as some of the segments of DS1 that are post lord vessel.

 

[Verylittlefishes]

Give me a reason to! Is this game really that bad as they say?

It's pretty great. Pros : best build variety of all games, actually worthwhile NG+ with all the enemy swaps and new encounters, solid level and encounter (I don't mean world) design, best DLC content of all. Cons : some jank like 8 direction gated movement, serious ugliness of environments that were made for dynamic lighting because of rushed changes when they realized it didn't have good framerate on consoles (still looks gorgeous on areas that weren't made with dynamic lights in mind too much), a tad too many mediocre boss encounters and a few jarring area transition moments if you're anal about it.

It certainly has more distinct flaws than other games in the series but its strengths make it well worth playing IMHO, and it's my favorite souls to go back to and replay (I put more hours into this than both DS1 and 3 combined). It doesn't quite peak as much as the best of DS1, say, but it also doesn't have any area as bad as the worst of DS1. None of the levels ever get as boring as some of the segments of DS1 that are post lord vessel.

wtf is Upgrade to DARK SOULS II: Scholar of the First Sin on Steam? Is it DLC pack or some technical patch?

 

[Lutte]

There's two distinct releases of DS2, buying one doesn't give you the other, the upgrade to SOTFS is for people who had DS2 base version. SOTFS upgraded the graphics a little, and did many changes to the game, like where enemies and some items are placed, their amount etc. Some of the changes are positive, some are pure negative (I really hate the new Iron Keep and the amount of enemies you can aggro there now).

I've played a lot of both versions and I honestly don't know which to recommend. Probably SOTFS, but. That. Iron. Keep.
Some people think Amana got better because of SOTFS but that's wrong, patches to the base version had already nerfed it quite a bit.

Also, SOTFS includes all DLC, while you need to buy them if you get the base version of the game.

 

[Lutte]

Oh and forgot to mention but if you're one of those online obsessed fags the two versions can't play together and I expect the community to be far more active on SOTFS than the original edition of DS2.

 

[praetor]

There's two distinct releases of DS2, buying one doesn't give you the other, the upgrade to SOTFS is for people who had DS2 base version. SOTFS upgraded the graphics a little, and did many changes to the game, like where enemies and some items are Some of the changes are positive, some are pure negative (I really hate the new Iron Keep and the amount of enemies you can aggro there now).

off of the top of my head, the Iron Keep clusterfuck is the only distinctly negative change in SotFS? can't remember anything substantial that made it worse other than that, as most other are improvements in encounter design and game/item progression

Verylittlefishes if you have the option, play the non-SotFS version first, 'cause even though it's the inferior, if you do end up liking the game, you can upgrade and think of SotFS as a NG-not-quite-+

 

[RoSoDude]

I've only played SotFS myself, but perusing lists of changes and seeing some video, I have some complaints:

• The Grand Lance is now available as soon as you beat the Last Giant, which is ridiculous
• Another Flexile Sentry now appears in Sinner's Rise instead of a unique enemy type. It's an absolute pain to fight in the sludge water, so you're encouraged to cheese it in the doorway. I assume they did this to ward off players who skipped No Man's Wharf?
• Most of the Lion Warriors in the Shaded Woods have been replaced by Invisible Hollows
• The Drangleic Castle golem puzzle room no longer has any active statues, so you have to leash a Manikin into the room instead. It made way more sense to defeat all the statues as they woke up

Most of the changes seem good, and I applaud a lot of the complex group encounters in SotFS. I thought Iron Keep was an awesome challenge, and I love the new Pursuer fights. It also fixes some dumb stuff like the Royal Soldier in the Lost Bastille who crossbows you while you're resting at a bonfire.

 

[Funposter]

Is this game really that bad as they say?

I've played through the original Dark Souls innumerable times. I've played through Demon's Souls and Dark Souls 3 probably about six times each. I never completed a second playthrough of Dark Souls 2. Yes, it is that bad.

 

[Silverfish]

I've played through the original Dark Souls innumerable times. I've played through Demon's Souls and Dark Souls 3 probably about six times each. I never completed a second playthrough of Dark Souls 2. Yes, it is that bad.

It's really not. DS2 has problems, but they're magnified depending on how much you favor Demon's or Dark 1 (I'm not exempt from this, by the by. I hate a lot of DS2 more that it actually deserves for the same reason). Strictly on its own merits though, DS2 is a damn good action rpg.

 

[Ivan]

Silverfish just bumped all 3 Dark Souls threads to the top

 

[Bester]

Is this game really that bad as they say?

I've played through the original Dark Souls innumerable times. I've played through Demon's Souls and Dark Souls 3 probably about six times each. I never completed a second playthrough of Dark Souls 2. Yes, it is that bad.

LOL. Oh my belly, I thought guys like you were a 4chan meme. You typed that out seriously? x"D

Ok, I don't want Verylittlefishes to get the wrong idea. So, there's a vocal minority of people with a mental disorder that claim DS2 is "bad", due to lack of "muh miyazaki touch" or something else. They're bad in the head, don't pay attention. Whatever it is they're hallucinating is not reproducible by normal people, we can't experience it.

 

[Silverfish]

Silverfish just bumped all 3 Dark Souls threads to the top

 

[Funposter]

Is this game really that bad as they say?

I've played through the original Dark Souls innumerable times. I've played through Demon's Souls and Dark Souls 3 probably about six times each. I never completed a second playthrough of Dark Souls 2. Yes, it is that bad.

LOL. Oh my belly, I thought guys like you were a 4chan meme. You typed that out seriously? x"D

Ok, I don't want Verylittlefishes to get the wrong idea. So, there's a vocal minority of people with a mental disorder that claim DS2 is "bad", because lack of "muh miyazaki touch". They're bad in the head, don't pay attention.

I don't care about Miyazaki. I've played FromSoft games from before he joined the company, and enjoyed plenty of games from them where he wasn't the director. What annoyed me about Dark Souls 2 were the overwhelming amount of design decisions that flew in the face of what made the previous two games actually fun to play. The amount of bosses that can be described as "humanoid with a big weapon" is well documented, as was the team's proclivity to making boss fights more difficult by adding a tonne of mooks. Design for Freya not that much fun? Add a million shitty spiders. Ruin Sentinels not that interesting? Fight three of them. Hey, what if you got to fight six of the gargoyles from Dark Souls 1 with no respect paid to the actual dynamics of that fight? Remember when you got to fight a giant rat version of Sif that had adds which inflicted toxic, and that you couldn't realistically kill all of before they or the boss reached you? That was fun.

Remember when the soul arrows in Shrine of Amana homed in on you to a ridiculous degree? Remember all of the encounters in Drangleic Castle and the Dragon Aerie where they are clearly designed for the player to lure the enemy into a doorway which they cannot fit through, and just fire spells or arrows at them? Remember the guy with the crossbow who shot you at the Saltfort bonfire? Remember the shortcut you can kick down to a previous bonfire in Huntsman's Copse, which sits directly next to another bonfire. Remember when Lifegems ruined the airtight healing economy from Dark Souls 1, and were a step back to Demon's Souls easily exploitable Grass system? Relating back to the thing about adds in the Royal Rat Authority fight, there's also instances where the player is forced into a death or taking high damage without any warning or way to prevent it - that one Ogre in Aldia's Keep who breaks through the wall is probably the most notorious example.

What build variety exists in DkS2 that didn't in the original, apart from hexes? I'm aware that some more interesting rings and equipment were added in the DLC, but I also never played them because I never touched the game again after the launch period. I also don't think that DLC is enough to save the game, because you still need to suffer through the abysmal base game to reach them. I'm not saying that Dark Souls 2 is terrible on the level of Big Rigs or something, but it's solidly a 4/10 video game. I managed to finish it, so I guess I'd call it endurable trash. On the same level as Front Mission: Evolved or Armored Core 2: Another Age, but better than Final Fantasy XIII.

 

[Bester]

Remember when the soul arrows in Shrine of Amana homed in on you to a ridiculous degree?

Who says it shouldn't -- you? Anyway, never caused me a problem, just get good.

Remember all of the encounters in Drangleic Castle and the Dragon Aerie where they are clearly designed for the player to lure the enemy into a doorway which they cannot fit through, and just fire spells or arrows at them?

Nope, I don't remember, cause I'm not a spells fag or bow fag? I don't even have those weapons, so I don't remember. Again, just get good.

Remember the guy with the crossbow who shot you at the Saltfort bonfire?

Yeah, and? Literally never even thought about it in any terms other than "it's a mob". The mob attacks you and inconveniences you? Well that's what they're for in the game, jesus fucking christ.

Remember when Lifegems ruined the airtight healing economy from Dark Souls 1

"Healing economy" "ruined"
Is the game too easy or too difficult? You just cried like a baby that you get pwned at the Shrine of Amana. Now suddenly it's "too easy"? Fucking stop lol. I never even noticed the "guy with the crossbow", cause I died there maybe 2-3 times in total there. You probably got poked by the crossbow guy 100+ times every time you died, cause you're not a learning animal. "REEEE HE HIT ME FOR 20 HP NOW I HAVE TO SIT AT MUH BONFIRE, OR I COULD JUST EAT A GEM, NOOOO GEMS RUINED MY HUEALING ECONOMY". You're literally a crazy person.

Relating back to the thing about adds in the Royal Rat Authority fight, there's also instances where the player is forced into a death or taking high damage without any warning or way to prevent it - that one Ogre in Aldia's Keep who breaks through the wall is probably the most notorious example.

Have no idea what this rambling is about, and I got 320+ hours in DS2.
Like I said, us normal people can't experience your "problems". It's mental.

suffer through the abysmal base game

ABYSMAL x'D
"There's a crossbow guy who pokes me when I get up from the bonfire. Friends, this game is abysmal".

I can't help you.

 

[Bester]

And by the way, I love DS1, so I will never say some stupid shit like "DS1 is Abysmal cause you can escape death by chugging, and lots of weapons are unplayable, but DS2 fixes it so it's GOD TIER GAME, but DS1 IS SHIT". These are facts that DS2 fixes a number of things from DS1, but that doesn't make DS1 bad in any universe. People with that kind of logic should be shipped to Lost Bastille in real life.

 

[Funposter]

Who says it shouldn't -- you? Anyway, never caused me a problem, just get good.

Well, they patched it, so obviously enough people thought it was bullshit for them to fix it.

Nope, I don't remember, cause I'm not a spells fag or bow fag? I don't even have those weapons, so I don't remember. Again, just get good.

Melee works too, since you're limiting their mobility. It just means you have a higher chance of being hit and something going wrong. Said enemies at the Dragon Aerie also have no recovery time between their combos which is silly.

Yeah, and? Literally never even thought about it in any terms other than "it's a mob". The mob attacks you and inconveniences you? Well that's what they're for in the game, jesus fucking christ.

We're talking about a mob that respawns next to you while you sit at a bonfire, and then attacks you, forcing you out of the bonfire menu. I figured even this game's most ardent defenders would realise how absurd this is.

"Healing economy" "ruined"
Is the game too easy or too difficult? You just cried like a baby that you get pwned at the Shrine of Amana. Now suddenly it's "too easy"? Fucking stop lol. I never even noticed the "guy with the crossbow", cause I died there maybe 2-3 times in total there. You probably got poked by the crossbow guy 100+ times every time you died, cause you're not a learning animal. "REEEE HE HIT ME FOR 20 HP NOW I HAVE TO SIT AT MUH BONFIRE, OR I COULD JUST EAT A GEM, NOOOO GEMS RUINED MY HUEALING ECONOMY". You're literally a crazy person.

Notice I said nothing about the game's difficulty. I pointed out balance issues, some of which were either patched and some of which may have been addressed in SOFTS, although a friend who played it noted that most of these issues were never fixed. Levels in Dark Souls 1 were pretty clearly designed to be completable with only the bottom limit of 5 Estus Flasks, as long as the player was cautious and observed their surroundings. By taking away that limit, the devs are free to just throw bullshit at the player and excuse it away since "you can always use some lifegems" but it just ends up being tedious. There are very few instances in Dark Souls or Demon's Souls where the player will take damage without it being their fault, as long as they're observant.

Have no idea what this rambling is about, and I got 320+ hours in DS2.
Like I said, us normal people can't experience your "problems". It's mental.

There's a door in Aldia's Keep which if you attempt to open it (or even approach it? it's been 6 years) an Ogre will break through it and the wall, and deal a lot of damage to you. It's very easy to die to this, and it isn't communicated to the player. What it's supposed to be doing is teaching the player that Ogres can break through walls, so they should lure one to the chained door in order to break it down, but it's done in the most bullshit way possible.

 

[Bester]

. Levels in Dark Souls 1 were pretty clearly designed to be completable with only the bottom limit of 5 Estus Flasks, as long as the player was cautious and observed their surroundings.

Do you hear yourself? You sound like a fanatic. DS1 areas were designed for people to fucking die in.
Not to mention, what you say is absolutely patently false. Everyone plays at a different skill level. There is no way to guarantee success with X number of estuses for everyone, nor could it ever be in a design, or it would only fit 10-20% people's playstyle, and others would be disappointed. It's insane to think what you think from a QA point of view.

Since you claim a hypothesis, I can disprove it with one example. I for one never had enough estuses in DS1, so I simply put a couple of points into Faith and memorized a couple of heals. This way I had enough. DS1 allowed healing outside of estus and DS2 allowed healing ouside of estus, just didn't require you to dump a couple of points into Faith for that.

the devs are free to just throw bullshit at the player and excuse it away since "you can always use some lifegems"

Does it mean lifegems allow you not to ever die? Again, absolute nonsense. It allows some minor leeway, but people die in DS2 all the time, meaning lifegems are only useful in a situation where you ran out of estus, but need to press on to the bonfire. If you're super careful, and you have a ton of saved gems, then you can MAYBE make it. It doesn't break PVP, it doesn't allow you to cheese bosses, it breaks literally zero mechanics.

There's a door in Aldia's Keep which if you attempt to open it (or even approach it? it's been 6 years) an Ogre will break through it and the wall, and deal a lot of damage to you. It's very easy to die to this, and it isn't communicated to the player.

I imagine it went like this...
QA guy: Sir, most players can't find that golems break doors.
Tanimura: We don't usually tell them mechanics explicitly anyway, it's for them to figure out.
QA guy: But SIR, they get STUCK!!!
Tanimura: Fine, if they're so fucking weak, get a mob to break through a wall right into their fucking face. No knowledge is free in this game.

It's not a game that makes it a rule of explaining mechanics, so what happens there is fair. Also, in a game that laughs into your face when you die 30 times to a boss... to maybe randomly die to a mob in one place, am I to somehow believe it's a tragedy? You can't sell it to me even if you make a video of yourself crying.

 

[Lutte]

Bester, you are spending too much effort talking to trolls and children.

DS1 gave people the ability to get 20 estus, and farm humanities, which also full heal you. If people had trouble dying too much in ds1 they were handicapped to begin with and have no business talking about ds2's lifegems.

DS3 is the only souls game that has actually limited your ability to healscum. Heck healing spells there are nearly useless because estuses need to be traded for your manastuses.