@@doonrat9409 No, Bamco executives. They're the ones who pushed for it to be downgraded. Not many FromSoft fans at the time had owned a PS4 at the time until Bloodborne came out. Bamco was chasing profit based on player count and apparently didn't believe that DS2 was a console seller I guess.
Because it's a good game, it just doesn't stand up to any of the others in the series. DS2 is the best Souls-like out there, but it fundamentally missed the philosophy, soul and game design standards of the rest of the Soulsborne era of Fromsoft
@@narimandk6387 I also think it is the best souls game I've ever played, that said I didn't play dks1, only dks2, dks3, sekiro and currently playing elden ring. I don't know why, but I liked dks2 so much, maybe because it was the first souls game I ever played? It kinda gave me the ropes to how to play a souls-like. It also has my favorite weapon in any souls-game, which is the crypt black greatsword
@@GodLimone yea its because it was your first ds. a friend of mine said the same but when we played it again together, he understood what I was talking about.
@@thatguybis1997 yo this was a good video, so was your ds1 vid too. That said, i think dark souls 2 is still a very good game and despite its very valid criticisms and develpmental shortcomings, is still an amazing game and a must-play for those fresh out of ds1 and those who want to explore the series. Ds1 still on top tho
IDK man this comes off like "DS1 does it and it's good and great design, DS2 does it and now it's a problem". Like your rant about Majula and what way you're supposed to go. You say it's a coin toss on whether you pick the "correct" path and that enemy toughness could maybe be an indicator but that isn't enough. That's just Firelink shrine and the graveyard/New Londo. The difference is in DS2 there isn't a correct path. You can do either area early and it's fine. I've also personally never had an issue with areas like Iron Keep. Like you can see where those enemies are coming from in your footage. The game isn't even forcing you to play it slow so much as it just wants you to pay attention and maybe not put your back to pits in fights like you did at 18:35. Any other game in the series and it's "git gud, try something else etc" but in DS2? Must be the game's fault you ignored the knight running up to you to attack the one that isn't even aggro'd yet on the bridge. Must be the game's fault you drank right in front of the boss without baiting an attack like at 27:06. That would get you killed in any of these games but it's DS2 ofc so nope, game's fault. Like I hate to nitpick like this and have nothing against you personally or anything. I hope I'm not coming off as trying to be mean to you here because I'm really not. I've just noticed this cyclical thinking with DS2 where everyone knows the community trashes it so when playing people cope and blame the game and perpetuate that mindset instead of ever looking inward as to why a death might have happened. It's never "oh I messed up" and always "That's DS2 for you!" I don't understand why so many people feel entitled to play this game like they're some kind of speedrunner when they're not familiar with it and then get upset when the enemies punish the player for ignoring them. DS2 for some reason is the one FromSoft game it's okay to be bad at and blame the game for. I will never understand this. I watched your video through to the end and threw a like on it. I really don't think we needed yet another "DS2 bad" video but you clearly put effort into this project and your opinions at the end of the day are your own. Hope you have a good day.
I appreciate the comment! Here’s the thing about Dark Souls 2 for me. There were times where a death was absolutely my bad, I can admit it. But a lot of other times, it’s because I wasn’t using a bow and arrow and taking the enemies out one at a time, because there are simply too many to feasibly take care of otherwise. The game just throws waves of enemies at you that aggro from across the nation and expects you to deal with it. There is a solution to this problem (just look at the gameplay clips to see how I solved it) but it also slows the pace of the game down and makes it an unfun experience. Enemy placements in this game are also just so terrible imo (Four TMNT dudes in the Iron Keep in those hallways is insane.) Also, the only reason I complained about dying to Smelter Demon was because of what I had to do just to be able to challenge him again. If you notice, I never complained about the fight itself. The fight itself was fun, and my death to him was my fault. But having to do that all again just for another chance to fight him? I can't defend that. Making something tedious is not the same as making something challenging. These are just my two cents and your complaints are as valid as mine. You have yourself a good day as well!
I'm with this comment. Almost everything cherry picked from ds2 can be cherry picked from ds1. I just replayed ds1 again, and I thought it was fairly easy. Except, I totally get it also has "where do I go???" Without a playthrough or a lot of guessing, there are about two areas most players would've probably never guessed that was the right way. The gank squads are also in ds1. I just see ds2 footage where the player is being an idiot so it looks bad. Idk, I didn't think ds2 was that hard. Just pay attention. The game was pretty good. Miyazaki thought the director who came on later was so good he brought him on as co-director in later games like Elden Ring. I'm sorry, but a lot of these videos are just trying hard to make it seem hard. It's over the top. This game wasn't complicated, really.
I got ds2 simply because I was a newly FROMSOFT fan. I've beaten ds3, bought a Playstation 4 for bloodborne and beat bloodborne. Played ds1 and while it was cool, I booted up ds2 and I absolutely hated the game. Kept playing, and kept on going and i thought ds3 was my favorite of the series next to bloodborne. Well, unfortunately that became a hard NO. DS2 became my favorite souls game of the series and I quickly started to realize how stupidly ambitious the game was. Oh, you got invaded by some neon glowy red phantom that has that level 2 glow aesthetic? Fucking cool stuff. Get invaded by a Blue phantom with that cool neon glowy level 2 covenant aesthetic? Pretty cool shit. Grey phantoms of bell tower covenant members? Sweet asf. This game truly rocks man. Ds1 Remaster, has the worst fist in the game. Ds3 also has the worst fist in the game. But ds2? Powerstance with bonefist that allow you to do flying kicks that make you land on your back? Truly awesome. I love the mechanics behind it. Doing the mental math to know you need X amount of strength and dex to powerstance whatever weapon of choice. I like the pilgrims of dark covenant. I even beat dark lurker 😂. This game was genuinely the best journey I've had in all souls games. The areas have different vibes to them. The shrine of ammamah is beautiful. Going through the castle to fight looking glass knight where you HAVE freaking HORSE GOLEMS ROCKING FREAKING TWINBLADES!!! even more dope. Iron Keep with the cool samurai general knights are cool when they unsheathe with a lightning blade is peak creativity. Then you have the pursuer which I've grown to absolutely love. Everyone seems to have adopted the same mentality of hating ds2 for fun. Yet will call themselves a souls fan. Only to go as far as disrespecting the true genius this game has that hasn't been repeated again. Even Elden Ring half asses this attempt. If any from game deserves a remake, it's definitely Dark Souls 2. It truly deserves a remake so people can see this game in its updated glory. Armors are great and upgradeable. Too many weapons to choose from and they don't feel like the same thing. There's no corny music being played in the background. It's just you and the meek quietness of your surroundings. This game is epic. And these people making videos about how bad it is, very seldom are those who make videos talking about the lengths this game goes to be different than the rest and the ones that came right after. It's new game plus content is seriously cool. New game weapons, new game enemies. You even have the ability to use the bonfire aesthetic to level up areas to be harder. And guess what? It's actually pretty damn tough fighting red phantom enemies and humanoid types. It's just a better game. It was the first game that actually got me interested in playing builds. And I've played and beat ds3 FIRST. this game is genuinely awesome.
Also, let me not forget to mention, that after you've acquired the covenant of the fittest ring, which serverly boost bare handed fist, I've ran the game beating it with only my bare fist because your hands get an AR of 400. And you don't even need weapons. It's probably why I love this game so much unlike the others because the devs actually thought about something such as this. This game was truly made with a lot of love and attention to detail. It genuinely is a very well made, a well crafted fine piece of work. And that says a billion things to me that just seems to go right above these soo called content creators minds. I for one don't give a damn about the cliche echo chamber of like minded opinions for Ds2. I believe it was way ahead of it's time. For me anyway.
I never really got the singled out mass criticism of DS2 out of all the DS games. It contains inconveniences like any other Soulsborne game, I thought players though that was a "good thing"? Like the vagueness of the story, the confusion about where to go next, the counterintuitive steps you're supposed to do to unlock the next level, the clunky gamepley and overall movement, the boss runbacks, having annoying bosses with bad design, etc... I really thought those were inconveniences that those who praised DS1 actually loved so much, they asked for an inconvenient clunky game that is challenging, and that's what DS2 provided and improved upon from DS1 on the first glance. besides the bad hitboxes and a couple really long boss runbacks, I have absolutely no issues with DS2. I've completed it 2 times on Softs edition when it came out and once lately, I'd be lying if I said it wasn't memorable or if I didn't feel anything special about it. That being said, I feel the most thing that bothered people might have been that it wasn't directed by the same guy who did DS1.
all clunk, all jank with no good in return. also doesn't help that the game has garbage mob spamming and placement as well as punishing you for playing the game by taking away your hp. "they only hate it because it wasn't directed by miyazaki" is one of the hardest deflections and copes the ds2 community has come up with
Correct in spite of popular opinion stating otherwise. At the time it was a nice improvement to ds1. Start talking about ds2 and all of a sudden all those hollows on the way to gargoyles don't exist anymore, 4 way rolling while locked on isn't an issue, the golden walls forcing you to backtrack are not an issue, iron giant and gaping dragon don't teleport you into their grab, finding upgrade materials is never a problem, you don't die to a dragon on the bridge after getting your first chunk of souls from the Taurus demon, you don't get ganked by basilisks in the depths, you don't lose access to firelink when Lautrec offs the firekeeper, you don't have to run on invisible floors for 2 minutes to get to seath, you don't have to run for 90 seconds every time for bed of chaos. As if ds2 isn't on par with ds1. People wholeheartedly accept the infinite jank of ds1 and lambast ds2 for the exact same issue. Sleep deprived rant, sorry
@@michaelcarroll5801 difference is ds1 fans can admit that their game has faults while ds2 fans constantly cry and only point at other games to excuse their games bs. that and ds2 has way more garbage mechanics and game design that 1 ever had, so no it is not an "improvement". going to equate the hollows in undead parish to ds2 mobs as if those hollows aggro you when you're on the altar and have the movement speed of a speed walker. anything bad about ds1 is absolutely amplified in ds2. im pretty sure majority of people would rather do seath runback and lost izalith runback over going through frigid outskirts of iron passage ever again. you guys only try to bring down other games when if anything it just makes your game even worse by comparison.
@@xaevius5319 You're room temperature IQ, I like both games and admit both their flaws, and the flaws in the other games too. Check my other comment, I even conceded the lifegem problem so there you go. There are no boxes of ds2 fans or ds3 fans. People who love ds2 love ds1 just as much for the most part, because they're similar games, this is my entire argument. The hitbox problem exists in ds1. Pretend iron giant grab doesn't exist, pretend like ds3 doesn't have the exact same mimic grab jank, that ceaseless discharge doesn't have colossal hitboxes. You're just a hater bro, and a disingenuous one at that, bringing up the same tired talking points like they're trump cards. How many times do I have to explain frigid outskirts is designed for endgame co-op, that iron passage is designed for endgame co-op. If you were actually objective, you'd understand that frigid outskirts is the longest runback in the series, then after that ds2 and ds1 are totally on par with runbacks and jank. If you can't concede a single one of your emotional points, if you can't admit that seathe runback and bed of chaos runback aren't on par with the entirety of the worst the souls series has to offer, then you're arguing in bad faith.
You can actually one-shot the turtle guys if you catch them in the guillotine lever. Or drop them in the lava with the platform switches. Or lure them into the fire jets. Also, in Scholar of the First Sin, if you kill an enemy enough times, they stop spawning. The game can be frustrating, yes. But I still love it. Never beat it though.
@@gianni.sacciloto I would just be confused, these games are completely different, especially ds2 they just arent compareable and i cant think of anything that could ever make ds2 better than 3, its mind boggling actually
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.
You forgot to mention that the process of luring the enemies and setting off the traps becomes thuddingly dull after the first time. Which is the point - the solutions to the ganking and enemy placement are time-wasters and not fun.
I think the prower stancing makes sense if you compare the standard animations to power stance ones. In power stances, the player seems more proficient. Weapon attacks appear more fluid, there seems to be more of a techique compared to swinging left then right, and power stance almost makes any weapon seem weightless.
i thought DS2 was fun! the reason things feel slow to you is because they changed stamina regen so it doesn't start until whatever animation is completely finished, and when it was fully depleted, you had to wait until the bar was entirely refilled to do certain actions like running. i will defend the first choice by saying it's not better or worse than the system of constant refilling that DeS/DS1/DS3 use, it's just different, it has the effect of making stamina management a lot more vital of a concern than other games, which is something i really liked, but i understand why someone wouldn't like it, it's the same as having your basic attack be committal, it doesn't feel good when you fail, but imo it's very rewarding. the second choice was so you can't just get away with running at empty stamina by spamming the B button, i think there's better solutions to this, e.g. what DS3 uses (from fully depleted, you can run at 1/2), or what elden ring uses (if no enemies are aggro on you, unlimited running stamina, otherwise same as DS3) but this was an experimental game and I'm fine with it not being perfect!
if you would like to replay DS2 and potentially enjoy it a lot more, in your head you should roleplay as basically like you're a secret agent, who is trying to break into the throne room that's guarded by monsters and security guards etc. that's sort of the mentality i picked up within the first 2 areas and it served me very well! it precipitated quite a bit of fun, calculating whether or not i was strong and agile enough to just run through or whether i had to aggro enemies sequentially and methodically take then out. once i had been through a level once, i looked for any shortcuts, and then i had an easy time refighting the bosses, except smelter demon, i killed everyone every time i refought him, fuck that part of iron keep tbh
Nah ds2 is good asf, people just hate on it because it experimented with the formula, bonfire aesthetics for example are a crazy good idea that was never reused. Not to mention majula is the best damn hub in the series hands down, if you say otherwise you don’t have eyes and ears.
Some people might mistake your complaints about this game to be about difficulty per se, but they’re not. It’s what the player has to do to overcome the obstacles which is the problem - it’s just incredibly boring.
I love Dark Souls 2, I really do. I find it comforting, inviting and playable. I enjoy its overall vibe. But that doesn’t make me blind to how it’s definitely the worst one: I don’t need to convince myself it’s a great game to enjoy it. What pains me is, I always feel the need to balance out any praise I give this game with some harsh criticism, just so I don’t accidentally associate myself with DS2’s group of online defenders who seem to actively seek out negative reviews to whine about. The way they behave, you’d think they’re retaliating against some kind of personal insult. I’ve seen far worse petty childishness come from people defending DS2 than I have from people trashing on it, which only further harms how the game is remembered in the long run. Edit: Case and point can be seen below
those people are just contrarians. i would honestly say majority of the people who like ds2 are just people who are just being contrarians and trying to stand out, getting to have that perpetual "we're being bullied" victim mentality that comes from liking the game. can't give any good reason that ds2 is actually a good game tho, or at the very least not enough good reasons to counter act the bad, but they will somehow think "people just think hating on ds2 is fun" like people who critique it don't give the most obvious criticisms one can say about the game.
It's because most criticisms are overblown, that's why people defend the game. Like with iron keep runback, it's manageable. Shrine of Amana is manageable. Hitboxes are consistent relative to other games in the series. Absolutely every single criticism I've come across is either colossally blown out or an issue that applies just as much to the other games in the series.
@@michaelcarroll5801 oh yeah because ds1 and ds3 had areas like shrine of amana and iron keep and iron passage and frigid outskirts right? they'll always say the game is "manageable" but never "fun". i would rather do 20 runbacks of lost izalith and to the crystal caverns of seath before i step foot back on shrine of amana or iron passage
@@michaelcarroll5801 "Hitboxes are consistent relative to other games in the series." your s are literally tied to a freaking stat. your s are literally a variable, wth are you talking about? 😂😂
@@xaevius5319 s have nothing to do with hitboxes, your drone level IQ is showing buddy. And yes I have fun with shrine of Amana, it's an interesting dungeon. Oh, iron keep bashing? Did you have trouble running across a bridge and dealing with one captain who does 60 poise damage on his attack that is easily baited out and avoided very consistently? P.S. I ran through all mobs in iron passage first try and that's without the TWO npc summons in the area. Furthermore it's a multiplayer area designed for co-op, also its optional.
@@ManFromThePits I wouldn’t know because I don’t have lightning magic. It is named old dragon slayer but is still not confirmed to be or not to be ornstein. Just like how the Havel you see in ds1 near the hydra isn’t the real Havel. This is not meant to be a shot at you btw, just a discussion lol. Ain’t trying to start an argument 😂
Got exploration completely wrong. You can see landmarks from Majula. In DS1 you can end up going to the catacombs from the start and having a bad time.
I’m ngl the iron keep argument is valid but blown way out of proportion, kill the enemy close to fogwall, alonne knights will fall off that bridge without any interference half the time, don’t fight near the ledge, bonfire after smeltor demon completely negates the belfry sol argument, if you’re going to willingly skip a boss that gives you a checkpoint you’re going to pay a price, make the enemies fall with the platforms and kill the rest of the enemies with traps you don’t need to put in any work yourself after smeltor demon cause the traps do it all for you
So not sure if i prefer this video more or the DS1 video. Very well put together and i agree with every thing you mentioned, however i do still really enjoy the game :) Can't wait to hear about DS3 bro, Even tho i watched your full SL1 playthrough on stream lol.
So... Basically you just don't get game that you imagine and mad about it. I can 100 agree that iron keep and amara it's ridiculous bad location. Other "flaws" was in ds 1 or will be in future games like ds 3 or sekiro
1. DS1 was actually enjoyable from start to finish, that's the difference 2. DS1 didn't have incredibly shite controls and input lag 3. Deflecting to DS1 because you have no valid points isn't going to magically make DS2 good 4. Generally horrific input lag and grab attack lag along with the worst hitboxes in the Soulsborne series 5. The good things DS2 did was power stancing and PVP 6. Weird ass 2000s textures and lighting made it eye cancer tier horrible 7. Losing HP when you die is stupid as fuck, zero need to be implemented The good? 1. Weapons and armours do look legit cool 2. Areas outside of the first 2 parts definitely looked thematically good won't lie outside of the lighting 3. Some of the bosses feel very good and worked well for the arenas they were in 4. PVP
@@GiveMeBass93 I still can't fully agree with you. 1. "Enjoyable" very abstract word. I also can say that enjoyed ds 2 from start to finish. 2. Shite content - yeah, it's true. 4. Input lag? Character roll and attack when you press button. Can't say in specific numbers of microseconds, but for sure not much different from ds 1. Bad hit box - kinda, leveling up adp makes it's much better. 5. PvP for me is terrible in all trilogy. 6. Exaggeration. 7. Valid. Especially in early hours when player don't have enough human effigy or ring that reduce this effect. Overall I really like ds 2. And in my previous comment I could be too defensive. But I didn't had intention to be disrespectful. If I was. I'm truly sorry 😔
I just made the stupid mistake of trying to replay it again. I have beaten it twice before, third time I hoped I’d enjoy it this time. I still hate it 😂
He was great on release when he would actually summon invaders Scholar onwards it is such a forgettable boss, just slow slasher number 54 but with shield
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.
What use of the torch 😂 theres literally 1 corridor, 1 boss and 1 area where the torch does anything and even then if you're playing with standard brightness you dont need it at all. I played this on midnight release and spent the entire game carrying a torch and lighting every sconce and by the end of the playthrough I was still wondering where this darkness mechanic they advertised so much actually is Then they made the game even brighter with scholar because they realised thay they had already removed the need for a torch from the entire vanilla game so why not just light every area up It was one of the best ideas they had in DS2 but like every other good idea they had, the team was either unable or unwilling to actually impliment the idea
Cool review bro. I agree with everything as a fellow Ds1 lover. But I have to argue to Ds2's soundtrack is quite generic and feels like a remix of Ds 1's except for Majula of course.
I will say the specific gank stuff with iron keep and the sheer amount of NPC invaders is a Scholar specific problem. Vanilla DS2 honestly, was inoffensively bad. Had questionable systems and generally not great, but it had its okay moments. Scholar is just maliciously designed in it's layout plain and simple. Its like they took inspiration from a Zelda Master Quest but forgot to capture the fun aspect.
@@thatguybis1997 Vanilla had a poor reception and I presume they had the logic of "it must've not been hard enough" The original DS2 was nowhere near as gank heavy as Scholar. I'm often told by defenders that Scholar was build up with co-op in mind but I don't think thats a very good defense or way to build a souls game if true.
In the music section with that boss battle where there’s three of the armor people. I spent days there helping people beat that I had a faith build and if I believe correctly lightning hurt armor. Ahhhh the first week.
I thought it was weird when you mentioned the combat was frustrating because I didn't remember it bothering me all too much. Then the video segued to you shooting arrows at enemies to lure out an entire zone while complaining how boring this playstyle was, and I laughed my ass off because I was like, "Yeah I remember having to play the entire game this way now".
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!
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...
This is my favorite game ever and I get very defensive whenever anyone bashes it. (Ok, not actually favorite game, but I tend to love something even more whenever I feel it’s disproportionally criticized/put down). Nice video though.
This is my favorite Souls game of all time, best PVP also, this is coming from someone who just played the elden ring dlc. Dark souls 2 remake..to die for 😃.
@@nateortiz3364 just such a letdown. they didnt really improve upon the first one in a meaningful way and it felt even more clunk and the level design got worse. just a huge dissapointment after ds1 and what could have been a great sequel. thankfully ds3 finally figured it out and was an amazing game.
"bashing" to a ds2 fan: anything in criticized in the game that is actually true and is indeed garbage game design but are too used to the game's bs for them to think it's not.
I still really liked the premise of DS2 (dreams and memory loss) as well as the NPCs and Majula. Also my favorite armor set from any video game is in here (Faraam is so goddamn good-looking). It just really needed more time and someone competent at the helm to bring everything together. The bones are definitely in there somewhere for a worthy title.
@@xaevius5319 -8 dimensional roll -every single weapon's moveset turned fluent -multiplayer (password [sort of], small soap stone to summon even after a boss is defeated, covenants at their best... ) -vastly improved upgrade system -respecting stats -improved player animation like backstabs, more fluent medium roll etc. -I-frames for backsteps (From literally just brought it bacj with a ring in ER's DLC) -most likely the best balanced gear in the series (also very good for multiplayer) -the most variety in areas -bonfire ascetics -vastly improved on magic systems -vastly improved on usable/throwable items, really only ER improved it further by a huge margin -simpletons/sceptic spices -interesting changes for NG+ (new enemies, invaders, items, mechanics) -no completely useless stat -weapon durability in a sensible way -the most overall content only beaten by ER -one of the most interesting and deep lore ... could go on for quiet a bit...
@@easy8077 most of these honestly i feel like are just so miniscule. ill give the roll, the bonfire ascetic, i dont play pvp but i'll just believe you guys if you say it is good as well as powerstancing. but how does that compare to removing your hp every time you die, garbage mob placements and spamming, the existence of adp, enemies can aggro from narnia and chase you till peru, and those are just off the top of my head. game's honestly cooked just from the hp thing as well as the mob spamming. 'weapon durability in a sensible way' it makes sense that your weapon is that frail? what? you can clear an entire area and by the time you reach the boss your sword is almost broken? they did give you a better roll but then they didn't make the general movement 360 anyways. 1 foot forward 1 step back. 'most variety in areas and most overall content'? yeah you're definitely gonna get more if the whole philosophy was quantity over quality. 'more bosses' and then you get covetous demon......
@@xaevius5319 oh, you're that kind of person... ! Most of what you just complained about is now state of art in Elden Ring and most times even exaggerated, yet noone cries about it... but it's okey, we all have our biases and subjective truths. But I have no time arguing with people that complain about something yet are okey with it in the same token as long as someone calls it something different, just watch "Domo3000" if you want to find objective analyses of lots of DS2 critique.
Also soul memory, crappy lore, worst covenants in the series, all the cool mechanics from prerelease were removed, npc summons needing to survive a fight to continue their story, enemy placements in both vanilla and scholar, nerfing every single character by forcung you to level ADP just to make the game work properly, lack of enemy, area and boss variety, fast travel from the start, the complete misunderstanding of what Dark Souls is about and what it is trying to say, resulting in a game that seems like it was based off the 'Prepare to Die" commercials instead of actually trying to follow the heart of the series, PVP was completely ruined by soul memory and the NG+ requirement as well as invade timers etc, enemies despawning makes it possible for new players to softlock themselves in any area, it has the worst NPC quests in From's modern history and even though DS1 had lost izalith, DS2 with all DLC still feels incomplete in every possible way
The hitboxes aren't really weird at all except for the giants in the gulch and the memories. Grab attacks will teleport you in to them but that happens in every one of these games. I'm guessing the lock on thing you are talking about is actually a feature with large weapons where you can free aim them while swinging. Yeah most large weapons are stamina intensive. The slow heal of the flask is supplemented by the lifegems, you're supposed to use lifegems during combat because you can still walk while using them and flasks outside of combat. It was pretty cheesy being able to chug through enemy attacks in ds1.
Having just completed DS2 yesterday your rant on Iron Keep and Shrine of Armana are spot on. Up until Iron Keep the game felt alright in terms of world difficulty. Then Iron Keep happens and you have to try your absolute damndest to maintain your sanity. Shrine of Armana is criminally bad and whoever designed that area is a psychopath. Also the game would not have been playable for me if I didn’t know before going in that the Agility stat gave you I-frames on your roll. What a terrible idea to put something as important as that behind a shitty stat.
Dark Souls 2 is the worst in the series, but it's definitely better than most triple A titles. Dark Souls 2 is a game that innovates and tries to do a lot, with some areas where it failed exponentially, but others where it did an amazing job that is not replicated fully by the other FromSoftware games. Compare Dark Souls 2 to the average EA piggy bank that gets released every year, and you have a game that had love, effort, and most of all creativity put into it. I'll take a developer who is willing to make changes and take risks to give players a unique experience over the unchanging slop modern games often are any day. Even if there's some missteps. Never change FromSoftware.
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 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…
I think alot of your problems with DS2 boil down to SOTFS being pretty much a “hard mode” to DS2, OG DS2 is much more fairly designed and honestly alot of the level design makes more sense.
2024 it's still bad. what's lamer is your community of contrarians and victim complexes that keep trying to defend your bad taste in games because we actually know what a good game looks and feels like.
@@jesterprofilepic garbage mobs, garbage bosses, nonsensical level design, garbage game mechanics, garbage durability on weapons, garbage runbacks, garbage story, garbage lore, garbage music. apparently all you need to make your awful game be praised by ds2 fans is pvp and customization. if those barbie dress up games have a pvp y'all would probably say that's a masterpiece too.
@@xaevius5319 customization and pvp make the game feel alive and repayable. ds3 we got grey maps, grey armor, generic weapons that look the same. the pvp spot was a grey circle area where barely anyone was ever online. got boring in minutes. also every souls game has mobs. are u really gonna sit here and tell me ds2 is the only one with bad mobs? thats like a classic souls staple.
@@jesterprofilepic ds2 is the most fan made an actual official dark souls title can get. from how it was designed to how it looked to how it played it looks like another studio or a really dedicated fan made it. someone who didn't get the dark souls formula. so much quantity over quality aspects in ds2 as well as hard just for the sake of being hard. just look at the black gulch. just add a million poison statues in every single spot you can put them in and not do anything interesting with the level. absolutely lazy. these are actual game developers that made this area and it feels like a kid in mario maker who spams mobs or area hazards made this level. "customization and pvp make the game feel alive and repayable." 'replayability'. k so how bout single player content? story? good areas to repeat? good runbacks? good bosses? so i was right. ignore all of the rest of the problems with ds2 especially single player wise and the ds2 community will think its a masterpiece. i should learn how to make a game so i can sell a pvp barbie game i already know its gonna sell like hotcakes to the ds2 community. oh so there were areas as annoying as iron passage in other souls games? frozen outskirts? shrine of amana? areas that looked to be the only goal for creating them was to piss you off as much as possible? were there mobs in the other games that aggro on you from narnia and chase you til peru? you can't even see them and they'll aggro on you. constant fighting of 3 or more enemies even if you're careful in a game where fighting more than 2 enemies is a bad idea. the rushed second half of ds1 looks godlike in comparison to these abomination of an area in ds2. after playing ds2 i am glad tomb of the giants, duke's archives and lost izalith weren't any worse than they are.
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
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
Bro it's not that it's a difficult game.It's just not a fun one. Some of you get too caught up in me talking about "the difficulty" (as if gamer skillz are something that matters in real life) when the real question you should be asking is, "is this even fun to play?"
I REALLY wanted to like this game, I finished the whole base game even though I hated most of it, I really tried to give it a change, but I just couldn't like it, which broke my heart cause I love Dark Souls 1. I didn't even try the DLC, I just don't want to touch that game ever again.
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
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...? 😢
Ill admit DS2 is def the weakest of the three in terms of the combat/bosses. But the main reason I play these games is for the atmosphere/exploration, And IMO DS2 is second only to Bloodborne in this area. I played Sekiro, DS3, Bloodborne & DS1 all before DS2, And for some reason DS2 is by FAR the most nostalgic for me, There's just this dreamy vibe all throughout that the others don't have, I love the massive variety of areas in DS2, Visually it has the best locations to me, I really enjoy the puzzle aspects of its world as well, It has such an interactive world, Especially in its DLCs, Another thing it does better then others is its level of customization, I LOVE being able to infuse any weapon i want, Including boss soul weapons. Have no idea why they never included this in later titled like DS3 & Elden Ring. Being able to create a Lightning MGS or a Fire Smelter Sword, Then BUFF the weapon on top of that is such a badass thing to let you do lol, NG+/Bonfire Aesthetic is another area DS2 knocks it out of the park, Having new stuff in NG+ is very cool, And being able to replay thru any area and its boss is amazing as well. Covenants and PVP is also at its absolute best in DS2 IMO, Overall, From what many generally expect from a "Souls" Game, It's easy to see why its considered the weakest, But as an overall RPG, I think it's the most "Adventure RPG" Out of the trilogy, And its a top tier game in Fromsofts catalog. Personally, Including DLCs, It's tied at 3 for my favorite Fromsoft game, I legitimately prefer SOTFS over Elden Ring, Atmosphere man, Elden Ring is incredible but its areas never evoked the same type of feelings as DS2 areas did. Even the BS areas like Shrine Of Amana or Black Gultch aesthetically stand out and make me feel things i never felt in Elden Rings open world. Tired of fans calling DS2 a bad game, Critics actually got it right, Its a masterful RPG experience. It's the least "Souls" Out of the Soulsborne series, And thats one of its strengths tbh. Great game.
I think the hate will die down and people will eventually see ds2 as on par with ds1 for the reasons you stated. Maybe like 5-10 years. The mediocre bosses is basically the only non-overblown criticism out there for ds2
DS2, the bad one. The least memorable bosses, the slowest combat, floaty combat, durability too low and traps to kill your durabulity, more ganks than DS1 and 3 combined, Terrible healing system. Gotta hate it personally, the few positives it offers just aren't worth it. I atruggled to beat it for all the wrong reasons and instead of satisfaction it was relief that I nevwr had to play it again XD.
Aside from the Iron Keep and the box boss rooms, I really enjoyed the areas in the game. The methodical moving through areas never bothered me, I do that in every game. The enemy placement was pretty dense, but I never experienced the rage that I see for this game. It's one of the Souls games I finished more than once. I love the video, though!
In before they try and make u believe that everything changes after playing the dlc. It only makes it worse youtubesoulsbro, don't let them hollow you into believing this game is anything but a hyper underwhelming sequel to the absolute most influential video game of the last 2 console generations.
If you want to play elden ring in a very early stage, play DS2 lol, but yeah unless you really want to fight a specific boss like Sir Alonne or Ivory king i cant recommend it, finally Adaptability is so underrated and so bad designed with 25-30 u re quite untouchable when you roll
20:06 there's a bonfire right after Smelter Demon lol Recently beaten DS2 and somehow it felt way less frustating than DS1, but maybe I'm biased as I already got the hang of it by playing DS1 first. Also, the weapon reforge system is miles better than DS1's BS 0,2% titanite slabs.
@@Fadegalaxy-mv4mpnah fr, this video even has some weird points about how playing with a bow and arrow is mandatory. Besides the sunken king dlc pressure switches, I barely touched them. The funniest point he made is how Shrine of Amana is like an FPS game for hiding behing pillars and shooting. My brother in christ even at 24:46 they are lined so that you can run to the caster while taking cover.
@@satiz7800 and then what? those 2 melee guys can chase him while he has impeded movement speed and they don't? if i went no shield playthrough as well i'll most definitely use a bow and arrow. i ain't going through that cancer i'd rather cheese it boringly
@@xaevius5319 Did you even play the game? Those 2 Pilgrims+Priest only aggro on you if you come closer to them lol. You can get rid of the 3 casters around the pillar circle by just moving around the area while evading the middle. The Priest has an even smaller aggro range and wont attack if you aggro the 2 Pilgrims.
@@satiz7800 oh they definitely aggro on you. this game consistently have mobs that can aggro from narnia why would that particular area be any different? they might not attack you going to the mage but they'll attack you when you do. i wish what you're saying is true, if then you're one lucky guy.
i wish i could enjoy ds2. it has a lot of cool stuff, but i can't see past everything it does wrong. i've played through it many times, but the more i play it, the more i hate it. i keep trying to find the secret combination of build and weapon, but there is no secret. i guess you can't force yourself to enjoy something
As someone who just beat Dark Souls 2 for the first time I really didn’t enjoy it. Dark souls was amazing and 2 was just a downgrade in every way. When I finished it I really just felt relief.
@@thatguybis1997 Figured I'd give an update since I asked but I actually am enjoying it personally! The swarms of enemies get a little frustrating but overall I'm having a decent time!
Having played ds2 as my second souls game after ds3, losing max hp whenever I died was the most annoying. Can't wait to play through it again, this time I want to beat the dlcs 😂
DS2 vanilla is still fundamentally broken, Scholar just served to show us that it could have been worse and the comparison makes the OG better in our munds
It really isnt, the general consensus is that it is a decent game but a bad FromSoft game, which is completely accurate. It just has a small but incredibly loud community of supporter/apologists is all
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.
Playing the vanilla version is a much better experience. I bought the SotFS version and hated it. But years later, I bought the vanilla version and had a good time.
Alright. I’m gonna explain everything you’re complaining about to the best of my (logical) ability. 1. The Iron Keep is really not as horrid as you guys paint it out to be. 19:13 they didn’t pop up out of “nowhere” you need to *look around* and you’ll see the 4 Alonne Knights on the top of the building. Also, Ds3 and Ds1 suffer just as much “gank” as this game, the only difference being; Miyazaki had a hand in Ds1 and 3, thus creating much more unnecessary biased against this already, hate barraged game. I’m pretty certain the iFrame removal was for pvp purposes because lots of invaders were complaining about it. If you remember 10 years ago, in Vanilla that cage outside the Sol was not there. That was the shortcut. 23:34 there’s numerous areas in Ds1 and Ds3 that I could say that exact sentence about. Yet no one’s complaining about them. Interesting, isn’t it?
DS1 hasnt got nearly as much ganking as 2, every time I see this argument I just get confused as to where this meme came from considering it is objectively and provably false. While you are correct rhat in DS2 you can often see the ganks coming if you look around and take it slow, that doesnt mean that it is okay that ganks are the most frequent style of enemy placement puzzle in the game by a massive margain. DS1 gets let off from its ganks because there is a massive variety in the types of encounter you face compared to DS2 which has multiple entire areas where the only gimmick is that enemies get you in gank squads Regardless of the reason for removal, the fact is that the people it effects most are new players and that all they did was tax *every* character 20-30 levels just so you can make the game function properly. Absolutely abysmal game design that only makes PVP worse due to the fact that the more experienced you are the less you need ADP and therefore the more spare levels you have Where in DS1 is there an area even slightly like Shrine? The closest would be anor londo but there are only a few archers and a *lot* of cover to deal with it. The missiles are also way more consistent and dont home on you nearly as much and the amount of enemies shooting at you never goes above 2 Shrine is just a massove flat plane with a dozen snipers with homing spells and the whole place is dark with hard to see deathfalls. Not even slightly comparable
@@boblionia When I said “gank areas” I was mostly referring to Ds3. Ds1 has only ONE true gank area. Archdragon peak has horrible ganks and cheesy enemy placement along with them being the most annoying type of enemies. The absence of poise doesn’t help much either. There’s the entirety of Irithyll and the Dungeons leading to the profaned capital. The jailers just need to glance at you and your max HP goes down extremely quickly. The Ringed City lake, the Lothric staircase, the lowermost floor of Ariandel Chapel, the list can go on for a while. Point is, why would someone point out Ds2s flaws whilst pretending that Ds3 is a “masterpiece”? I reckon it’s because of the fancy bosses. Which aren’t even that good to begin with.
@@Vinlaan "When I said “gank areas” I was mostly referring to Ds3. Ds1 has only ONE true gank area. " and yet you say "ds1 and ds3" as if they contain the same amount of bs that you're alleging them. you backed out when you got absolutely checked by someone who doesn't use their feelings to make their arguments. we love that miyazaki made ds1 and ds3 maybe because miyazaki actually knows how to make a good game
@@xaevius5319 Ds2 is also a good game. I’m sorry that you cannot see it through your shrouded meatriding vision. Also, I didn’t back out? I clarified my statement as I could see how it potentially confuses people who think without their prefrontal cortex and with nostalgia instead. Such as yourself 😊
@@Vinlaan "Also, I didn’t back out?" yeah sure you didn't 😂. you got caught and backtracked by softening what you said even though you were totally implying BOTH ds1 and ds3. "Ds2 is also a good game" no it's not its absolutely terrible. why don't you play a game that doesn't have a hard on ganking you all the time?
Doing SL1 (BL4) runs in these games is a lot of fun and make up for an interesting challenge and different experience if you’ve done and seen already everything the game has to offer. I highly recommend you go for it! Just do yourself a favor and don’t go for DS2 first, or at all if avoidable. A DS2 SotFS SL1 run only highlights all the flaws and poorly thought out and implemented ideas and mechanics of the game, which unfortunately make up or influence a large part of the game.
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?
Among all the dark souls trilogy Bloodborne sekiro and yes even elden ring, dark souls 2 scholar of the first sin was my most favorite souls game ever the vibes in this game majula 😌 i just can't forget all those golden times i love dark souls 2 and i would give millions to get a better version and rework of it
