Grossly_incandescentWhat do we think of ds 2?
BurningnnTreeI love Dark Souls 2 and I'm not afraid to admit it. It's in my top 3 favorite FromSoft games (along with Dark Souls and Elden Ring.) I know it doesn't have the atmosphere of DS1, but I love the variety of environments, the branching paths through the game world, and the PvE balance. I think DS2 is the most balanced Souls game, in the sense that all types of builds are equally viable and it has plenty of weapons and spells that are actually worth using.
frozenThe fact that you lose max health when you die turned me off so hard. I know, "git gud", and I agree to an extent, but that mechanic just felt way too punishing.
Once i got the binding ring that part wasnt so bad
Too bad you don't get fully immune to it until you beat all the DLCs. :(
It's implemented backwards in DS2. If you look at DS3, you get HP when you have ember and lose it when you die. If DS2 started you out with less HP and let you gain HP through other mechanics, it would feel much better. Definitely a bit of a stumble.
RatI know I’m really late to this, but I actually prefer ds2 and des way of doing it over ds3. Because they present embering as a buff, it makes it feel like your base health is pitiful compared to the other games. Having it presented as a reduction gives you more incentive to be human, and interact with the multiplayer and stuff.
Favorite game in the series. When I spend time thinking about it, I think DS1 is “better” designed and probably more memorable narratively, but I simply had the most fun playing DS2. It’s the game I go back to the most in the series, I just love it.
The combat is slow enough that positioning and patience make enough of a difference rather than simply rolling through everything. I really enjoy a lot of the mechanics exclusive to DS2, such as life gems, despawning enemies, bonfire ascetics, fun differences in NG+, etc. I get why people bounce off of it, but people also bounce off of whatever their fist souls game is initially as well. I think with a little patience it becomes a great experience.
I really feel like next time i tackle it things will click more. It did last time. I beat the giant and was at the underground town, i forget the name, before i quit again. The first try i could barely get out of the woods
marigoWhat kind of build were you using? Heavy weapons are a ton of fun in 2, especially pancaking enemies with the greatsword. There’s the power stance system for dual wielding too.
I love DS2 and it may be my favorite Dark Souls. That being said, I beat it several times before Scholar came out, and I acknowledge that Scholar made the game wildly inaccessible to new players.
Some of the changes were definitely for the worse. Iron keep especially has way too many enemies with crazy far aggro distances.
Or grouped enemies you cant single out
I don't think it's the best game in the series but it has some very definite upsides.
You posted a sotfs edition pic, so I’m assuming that’s what you played. I love DS2 but I hate sotfs edition. The enemy placements and changes they made in sotfs mostly make no sense and only make the game more annoying to play. I’d recommend trying the standard edition out if you’re able and wanna give it another shot.