DARK SOULS™ II: Scholar of the First Sin

Peak SOULS 2

What can be said about this game that hasn't already been said? There are probably years' worth of Let's Plays and video essays on this game, deep dives into the lore, speedruns, analysis by fans and detractors alike. There's a lot of valid criticism about the world design, length, difficulty, mechanics, and other things that differ from the other entries into the Souls series and FromSoftware's larger repertoire. To be fair, this game *is* a slog at times. It *is* unfair and abstruse. The enemy placement in certain areas is ridiculous. There are too many bosses. There are too many locations. Some aspects of the level design either don't make any sense or feel punishing for the sake of being punishing. Why must I level ADP. But those are all reasons why I love this game more than the others in the series. Dark Souls 2 elicits a deep, existential fascination in me that the other two games don't. DS1 is a classic, of course, but it feels so heavily trod, so worn out. DS3 has fantastic gameplay and art direction but feels too polished, too precise. DS2 is the only one in the series that you truly feel like you can get lost in, even after numerous playthroughs and hours of in-depth breakdown videos. It feels like there's always something new to find around every corner even if you know from experience it's just another Pursuer. It feels like you're going to see something no other player ever has before. I love this game even in the moments where it frustrates and confuses me. I love this game when I'm in the areas that feel janky and unfinished. I love this game when I lose 3 levels' worth of souls because I tried to rush through too fast and got dogpiled by low-level enemies. And I love this game when I return to Majula after fighting the ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ Executioner's Chariot or the Royal Rat Authority and get to just bask in the warmth and in that beautiful soundtrack that tells you "the world is bizarre and dangerous but here, for a little while, you're safe." Hardly a day has gone by by since I first played this game years ago that I haven't thought about it. Only a small handful of games have reached that level for me: Disco Elysium, Pathologic 2, Elden Ring... The one thing these games have in common is that bittersweet feeling when you reach the credits that you're leaving a world so profound and captivating that you're forced to re-enter our real world as a different person, like returning through the wardrobe after years of adventure in Narnia. How do you explain to your family, your friends, your coworkers what you've been through? You can't, really. But you still went through it. You still pushed through all of the ambushes and weird mechanics. You still took that elevator from a windmill to a castle atop a volcano. Did it make sense? No. Does it have to? No. It's just Dark Souls 2. This game made me appreciate life more, with all of its stress and weirdness and challenges and disappointments and small victories and wonder. I will always be grateful for that, and I will always return to it when I need to re-invigorate my sense of curiosity and my will to move forward.

i love from software.. i played the game on ps <3

Un gran souls, tiene sus años y alguna cosilla, pero no se merece el hate que tiene. Lo he disfrutado muchísimo.

Don't give up, skeleton!

nice

Great game, fun connected world, never could understand why people were so down on this entry into the series.