Dark Souls 2 is... weird
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- Опубликовано: 5 авг 2024
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Also I have been told that the Lost Sinner is female after editing, which is entirely my bad and I apologize in that regard. Although it would be difficult to correct in the video since it's already posted, I wanted to make sure that I put it into the description as the next best course of action!
The thumbnails used in the video are from:
(Top Left) - Asmongold TV
(Middle Left) - Feeble King
(Bottom Left) - Matthewmatosis
(Top Right) - hbomberguy
(Middle Right) - Parker The Rat
(Bottom Right) - zanny
VIDEO TIMESTAMPS
00:00 - Intro Sequence
01:44 - Things Betwixt
02:32 - Majula
03:28 - Forest of Fallen Giants
04:37 - Heide's Tower of Flame
05:15 - No-man's Wharf
06:19 - The Lost Bastille
08:05 - Brightstone Cove Tseldora
09:54 - Black Gulch
10:48 - Huntsman's Copse
12:11 - Harvest Valley
14:14 - Drangleic Castle - Main Game End
20:45 - Main Game End + DLC Intro
21:16 - Crown of the Sunken King
23:00 - Crown of the Old Iron King
25:00 - Crown of the Ivory King
26:08 - Oofy points of DLC
29:32 - Personal Thoughts/Review
MUSIC TIMESTAMPS
00 : 00 - (Wargroove) ~ Peaceful Contemplation
00 : 05 - (Sen no Kiseki III) ~ Accursed Tycoon
00 : 30 - (Sen no Kiseki II) ~ Reverie Corridor
01 : 43 - (Sen no Kiseki III) ~ Welcome Back! Abend Time
02 : 39 - (Sen no Kiseki III) ~ Welcome Back! Abend Time
02 : 52 - (Dark Souls 2) ~ Majula Theme
02 : 59 - (Sen no Kiseki IV) ~ With Our Own Hands!!
03 : 28 - (Sen no Kiseki II) ~ Awakening
04 : 37 - (Sen no Kiseki II) ~ Blitzkreig
06 : 21 - (Sen no Kiseki IV) ~ Burning Throb
07 : 47 - (Sen no Kiseki IV) ~ Seductive Shudder
09 : 26 - (Sen no Kiseki IV) ~ Seductive Shudder
09 : 59 - (Sen no Kiseki II) ~ Blue Destination
12 : 20 - (Sen no Kiseki III) ~ Brilliant Escape
14 : 14 - (Sen no Kiseki III) ~ Burning Appearance!
15 : 48 - (Sen no Kiseki III) ~ Now, Thing To Do
16 : 29 - (Sen no Kiseki IV) ~ Over Ten Millions of Nights
17 : 58 - (Sen no Kiseki IV) ~ Crimson Flash Shadow Radiant Wings
20 : 44 - (Sen no Kiseki IV) ~ Towards That Land
23 : 00 - (Sen no Kiseki III) ~ Einhel Keep
24 : 33 - (Sen no Kiseki II) ~ Wintry Arrival
26 : 09 - (Sen no Kiseki II) ~ The Witch of the Abyss
27 : 50 - (Sen no Kiseki II) ~ The Great Shadow Approaching
29 : 34 - (Sen no Kiseki III) ~ The Caged Crossbell
32 : 00 - (Sen no Kiseki II) ~ A Quiet Decision
34 : 53 - (Sen no Kiseki III) ~ Genial and Balmy
37 : 19 - (Sen no Kiseki III) ~ Alley of Silence
38 : 24 - (Sen no Kiseki III) ~ Base Camp
40 : 37 - (Sen no Kiseki II) ~ Reunion
This version of the Vtuber model was made by Studio Nekoyama! 
Игры
trying to remove Asmogold from my youtube was harder than dark souls 2
I'm dealing with that right now. One of his videos started playing while I was asleep and now I see his finger smelling ass all over my RUclips. He's so terrible lol. How did he get so many followers? Ohh yeah the new generation is ruined that's why lmao
He's in the thumbnail. Why. Did you click the video then?
Hope he sees this buddy @@Spectrum0122
Damn don't let internet hobos live that rent free in your dome
@@Spectrum0122 ? I didn't, the problem was to avoind his video showing up in the first place
You know a game's good when Asmongold doesn't like it.
Asmongold is just a part of the sheep herd because that makes him relatable
usually its true for most games, but I did not like this game at all lmao
its not bad, but without Miyazaki it lacks his polish.
my dad does not like asmongold as well 😭😭
@@ryan_drums In some points definitely yeah, but at the same time it has the most details and mechanics of all the other fs games combined
Dark Souls 2 was peak of fashion souls and this is the hill I will die on.
Truth. Elden Ring drip is just 90% not to my taste, even though I think it's a much better game.
Also, you get to dress that lady up in whatever clothes you want. Why the fuck didn't they bring that trope back in Elden Ring - random woman you get to choose an outfit for
This is so true, you have so many sets compared to ds1/3.
Some day I'll get the syan set to drop ;-;
This would be true for me if the Tseldora set didn't exist. I literally could never take it off because of how valuable it is to have on
Casul cant quickswap his fit. You live with no drip. @user-783hhss7w2oifhe
Ok the fun trick for no man's wharf : you can ring the bell from very far away by just shooting an arrow at it.
YO WAIT THATS ACTUALLY KINDA SICK
I may do that any time I play through the game in the future because that's a super fun trick
No shit? I've played this through like 5 times and never knew that lol
I tried it, i felt it was dumb like a kid trying to cheese an exam or something... My jaw fell for a moment and the i laugh for a good minute at how silly it was lol
@@davidleivaarias9498 i love this ps3/360 era was goated
WHAT
Majula is my favorite hubworld out of every souls game.
Majula is super cozy, I definitely feel that. I'm a bit of a DS3 Firelink Shrine enjoyer myself, but Majula does just have the most immaculate of vibes
I still hear the music in my head durring my quieter moments. A part of my soul is always looking over the waves.
And it has the best theme out of all of them
@vazis, you could skip fighting with spiders of your used torch in second hand because the are afraid of it, this game has hidden mechanics that are not explained by game and thats what sucks and of you want to play again, play it with seeker of fire mod that solves most of the issues in the game.
Even people who don’t like DS2 put majula over fire link. Majula is so serene I would sit in there afk while I sleep in my bed.
Me and my friends always had the rule about No-man's Wharf... You either make it on the 1st try easy, or you totally get stuck in there. There's nothing in between.
IT'S SO TRUE
I made it to the end on my first try and rang the bell and everything but died to the two monster things in the house up top and it took me SO MANY TRIES TO GET BACK THERE
Or get the Crossbow trap in one of the Chests and it kills everyone
Light the fire with the pharros lockstone in no mans whatf makes the area a joke
Just Run and the entire area is so easy, and you have to know the shortcut :)
@@Sketonius I don't know about that. It may be true only for a part of NMW but DS2 is my favourite dark souls *because* there is an incentive to kill the mobs on your way to the bosses instead of running past : 1) because fog gates work differently in that one 2) because you'll have enough estus charges for the bosses 3) they don't respawn after you killed them enough times 4) there are puzzles involved (no man's wharf, iron keep, aldia's keep, etc) 5) it's better for summons who make it so you'll have enough estus charges for those bosses but in order to do so they have to not die on mobs
Just a small note, the side areas in the DLC (Areas containing the Gank squad, Alonne, Blue Smelter and twin kitties) are specifically designed with co-op in mind. The stone statues at the entrance of each DLC allow people who don't own the DLC to place their summon signs there, and those summon signs would appear inside the corresponding statues at the start of those co-op dungeons, basically allowing you to play them for free as a summon. Sadly this meant they didn't dedicate much budget for them but while it doesn't exactly justify them leaving out the solo experience in shambles, having played them with friends in-co-op I do think there's quite a bit of fun to be had that way.
I did a co-op playthrough with my brother after recording actually! And those areas were definitely more manageable due to the extra person, but balancing them around multiplayer do be a little bit goofy for design imo. I like the concept a lot because then it can make a more unique experience for multiplayer which I think is sick! I think exploring and expanding upon that in subsequent titles would be absolutely sicketh. But sacrificing the single player experience in order to achieve such do be kinda oofy I think
This is all true (and cool), but I don't think that was a consideration at all with budget in mind. If there were any negative budget considerations about DS2, they only came from the fact that Bloodborne DLC and DS3 were in development, and that DS2's DLC budget had to be carried over 3 DLC's, rather than the 1/2 of DS1/3
@@braytechexoscience2790 I would not know how much the overall budget and staffing suffered from that but regardless of that if the net result was a tight budget to begin with then allocating that tight budget between the main content of the DLC which is locked behind the purchase and the side content of the DLC which is practically free, then the choice of which content gets more money and manhours dedicated to it is far more direct.
Not only that, but by no coincidence those areas also come with a bunch of NPC summons to help out solo players. Horsef*ck valley in particular let's you summon up a small army because you're going to need it to make it to the boss(es) (Warmth is super clutch for keeping Vengarl, Feeva, and O'Hara topped off). The devs more or less were very aware of how giga-cancer those areas would be if attempted solo and provided some extra help to compensate.
@@joshuakim5240 and don't forget that by the time you tackle them you will have collected all 3 crowns and gotten Vendrick's blessing so that takes the pressure off your dwindling human effigy supply for summoning.
Putting desert sorceress as the thumbnail. Nicely played.
Believe it or not it's actually the pyromancer from DS3 DLC lol! I originally tried to find the titular armor set for the game but couldn't find one I could use, so I looked for anything else DS2 related and the best I found was Alonne and the DS3 pyromancer! I prepared one for both but the video did better when I switched it, so I haven't changed it since lol
I didn't even know there was a comically large lamp in no man's warf! Fuck!
BRO I SO FEEL YOU
Me either, I wasted so much damn torch time in NMW... Damn
To be honest it's better not to light it, since when it's lighten all those nasty monster will go hide in the same place which result in a massive gangbang when you try to go loot that area, at least with the torch you can pick them one at a time
That is why I am glad that enemies after 15 times stop spawning. I will have to find that lamp next time
Hey, if you use a torch in Tseldora, the spiders don't attack you
I unfortunately learned that after the fact and kicked myself for going through the whole area the hard way 😭
But thank you for letting me know!! It is absolutely a vital piece of information that helps to make that area a lot more bearable to go through lol
It honestly suprised me all those years ago how useful the torch can actually be ,and how many times it's helped me make an unbearable boss , bearable.
you can also light the tortches outside the Lost Sinner fight to help light up the arena
There are quite a few little tricks . No mans whatf has a pharros lockstone area that lights the whole area up. Lost sinner has the 2 fire bowls you can light if you got the bastille key that allows mich further lock on range, there are a few ways down to the gutter , generally gilligan but the cat ring and naked man will also do it. There are 2 boss soul weapons/spell NPCs, but most only find Straidd even though ORNIFEX IS RIGHT DOWN THE ROAD (Happy Souls reference)
There's much much much more, but yes, this game is full of awesome little things like this.
Also, DS2 has the ultimate new game plus a LOT of people miss out on. DON'T skip NG+ in this one. It's amazing. New enemies, different enemy placements, and new items! And that's each cycle up to +6 (or NG7 as its known).
Only in the scholar edition. The original Ds2 version, they attack you more because the torch increases their aggro range.
I know steam reviews arent proof that a game is good, but with the ammount of vitriol that some of these people talk about ds2 you would think it has negative or at least mixed reviews, but its still positive, only about 5 percent lower than ds1
The game has arguably the most compelling story, about characters resisting the hollowing curse, wishing to cling onto what makes them... well, them. So many parallels drawn with fallen monarchs, tales of betrayal, greed, and sometimes, actual love and loyalty. Ivory king dlc is probably the few instances where a story is genuinely heartwarming. A king really sacrificing everything for his beloved, who he saw for who she was and not for the chaos spawn everyone perceived her as. And giving his life to seal the chaos flame away and give her a chance to live happily, free from her curse. It's... beautifully tragic.
And so many great ideas also went into the game. Bonfire ascetics, NG+ cycle changes, and the power-stancing that went on to become a staple.
Really, most negatives have to do with ADP and movement, and the swarms of enemies that scholar brought to the mix.
Locations that are awful to go through actually feel fair in the regular edition. only Black Gulch felt a bit aggravating, but all souls games have that one area that just makes you want to tear your hair out. But even then, black gulch is no blighttown or valley of defilement.
But even with those flaws, the game is still a cut above most.
It's a game that although great, still has to contend with masterpieces.
@@M0ONCommander Completely agree, except the comment about Blighttown. Its unironically my favourite area in the trilogy
Don't worry, youtubers will still use clickbait thumbnails showing a false "mostly negative" steam screenshot and internet free thinkers will truly believe that the game is hated my everyone who played it
The game has a lot of terrible in it that can easily build up and ruin the experience for you. It's why I just don't want to play it again. The thought of going through some of those areas again just makes me straight up tired. That's likely how a lot of other people feel to.
@@vojtechspinler6363Genuinely, you fascinate me. I'm not going to tell you that's wrong, it's just such an out there opinion. If anything, I envy that you can enjoy that area haha
Fist builds are peak in ds2, they made the bone fist so it will forever be my favorite souls game
Un ironically I really liked darksouls 2 it has to be one of my favourite souls games from the series
I think it definitely has some really cool aspects to it! The combat was a little slow for me and my DS3 brain, but I can see a ton of stuff that people would gravitate too, it has a lot of interesting ideas in it for sure
I liked it 🤷🏽♂️. Doesn’t mean I can’t see what pole dislike about it but I don’t bought it was fun
DS2 is my first dark souls game and it will always stick with me because I went through it completely blind with no ideas as to what the game had to offer and damn near beaten the whole game without any coop at all, only at the end did I try coop for the first time and I didn't notice it was near the end of the game honestly
It's a fantastic game. It may not be the best Souls but it's the Souls I've had the much fun with. I wish they'd make a Dark Souls 2: 2. Without the Frigid Outskirts of course.
It’s the first souls game that I completed… mostly because I got dark souls 1 years after it had come out and the player base was dwindling… most of the people still playing were just invading and kicking my ass. All of my friends praised the game but had long since stopped playing… dark souls 2 I got shortly after launch. My friends didn’t like it but I met someone who did, and they literally ran me through the entire game (carrying me)… I was able to learn the game, and eventually beat the new game plus multiple times on my own, before starting a new character from the start and playing my way through on my own after having learned the game inside and out. It gave me the confidence I needed to eventually play through dark souls 3 on my own once it came out, and then later on finally going back and beating dark souls 1 after the remaster came out. I’m now an avid from soft fan, and it’s honestly thanks to this game. Though I did not like scholars as much I also finally beat it 😂
There's a ring protected by a heide knight near boss door towards no man wharf that reduces your health loss on hollow form
Ye! I used it for small a bit and I think I touched on it super briefly near the end when I talked about HP reduction. It is definitely SUPER clutch I'm ngl
Dragon Rider boss in Heide’s tower.
@@vazisFunnily enough, the ring that does the same thing in Demon’s Souls is called the Clutch Ring
but it only reduces it to 75% and you lose a ring slot for it
Me and my friends call it the noob ring xD
I love how Amsongold watched a video of a guy who enjoyed and defended the Dark Souls 2 and whined throughout the entire video.
It's like quatumtv level is baby rage
DS2 was my first souls ever. Joined the covenant of champions because I didn't know and it sounded cool. I hated the game with a PASSION.
Then tried again a year later and got the hang of it. So I kinda get Asmon
Oh please ds2 is the most cheapest ss difficulty ever. The game is 5 steps back from the og darksouls. They think a hard game is a game where they throw 8 enemies at you at once and dont fcking say but you must clear the area first before heading to boses. You think fighting the same boring uninspired attack spamming enemies 12 times is fun? And even if i manage to clear the enemies then what im gonna fight the boss who only took me 1-3 tries the boss run is more difficult than the boss itself
@@KingfAce-qb9xk I like how you got offended over someone liking a video game that you don’t like. It shows how mature you are.
@@milkinobama8160 i can say the same to you
@@milkinobama8160 let be real you think ds2 is difficult? Honest answer
A note about drangleic castle, and why the firekeeper mentions it as the end of the journey, the end of the game is there, and there is proof that it was meant to be the final area in the files, halfway through development, the entire dev team changed, and late into development, the layout of the game had to be rearranged, so some areas had a bunch of extra enemies added or removed (shrine of amana).
Additionally, DS2 is known for having the best NG+ Experience, as it adds more enemies and different placements, and genuinely changes up the experience.
Oh, I didn't know about it intending to be the final final area! I'd known about some of the changes due to the shift of management in development, but that was not one of them. And I've heard about the ng+ experience, it sounds like there are really cool alterations throughout the cycles!
Had like NG+12 on my main char back in the PS3 days , what really sucked was that when the DLC came out, i got oneshot by everything KEKW
DS2 was such a great time, definetely #1 souls game for me due to nostalgia
But the ending still happens there. I mean in the basement of Drangleic.
For No Man's Wharf you should have brought a torch. It makes it much easier to progress, you can light up all the torches to make it look much better and the dark beasts are afraid of light.
The same would have worked with the Sinner later. There's two torches outside the area you can light up to enable lock on turning the fight as well.
And the Gutter as well. Turning all the lights on also spawns a invader that drops a nice armor set.
Or in Tseldora, all the spiders are afraid of the torch.
Ye, I'm aware of where and in what regard torches are beneficial after having played the game and learning more about it from research!
But whilst playing it blind, using a consumable without a guarantee of knowing when/where or whether I will or will not need it later is mega cring
@@vazis very understandable... 99 elixirs, on final boss, "but what if he has another form?" XD
And in shrine of amana you can more easily see the edges under the water with a torch so its easier to explore without dropping to your death.
Torches being on a timer is a remant from their old design idea that the game would be darker with a better lighting system but they had to scrap. You can see how it woul have been in the network test.
@@vazis Wait, are you saying that you didn't light up the shit ton of torches in the pitch black area because you were worried you would run out of torch?! 😂
@@jorgeoquendo7514 Mayhaps lol
the torch is your best friend, can light up the wharf, can scare away spiders, light up the sinner's boss room
Idk what it is, but the classic video game style and simplicity makes this my most replayable game in the series. Im one achievement away from plat and it honestly has been 100x more bearable than bb plat
Poison is actually a threat in DS2. Loved infusing Poison on the Heide Knight sword.
As someone who has Platinum'd DS2 4 times over the course of 4 consoles and played and beat every Soulsborne game, Dark Souls 2 is my personal favorite of the series.
Especially as a Caster main, DS2 explored gameplay areas that DS3 and Elden Ring failed, didn't even bother to improve, or worse they rolled back improvements.
Heck yeah, glad to hear you enjoy DS2! Platinuming it 4 times is absolutely crazy too, you must have the route down to a science lol
But that's an interesting perspective, because I personally liked the magic systems from DS3 and ER a lot more than I did from DS2 with the magic build I've been doing in a playthrough with my little brother! What are the gameplay areas that you think DS3 and ER failed in?
@@vazis
Heavy Focus on Damage Stacking
Dexterity determines Cast Speed
Duplicate spells are useless
Spell Merchants useless Post-NG
No Herbs/Spices/Waters
Catalysts can't be Infused
No Hybrid Catalysts (ER)
No Catalyst Shields/Weapons (ER)
Lack of Ash of War options (ER)
Never Improved Catalyst R2 button
or L1 (2-Handed)
Lack of Passive FP Regen (ER)
Mind stat was butchered (ER)
Cumbersome to select spells
Both games have enemies with Spell Tome weapons but players can't gain access to.
Elden Ring is very heavy-handed when it comes to "recommending" Casters to play as Spellblades instead.
@@Battleguild I don't mind a good chunk of those personally, and some I actually kind of like being different! But I can definitely understand the preference towards some of those for sure, and being forced into mixing the build could definitely be oofy
But I think that's why it can be kinda cool that each game develops it's systems in different ways! Because you can always go back and play the ones you like, and then the new systems get to be reps for people who haven't found one they totally jammed with yet :D
ironic that u talk about ds2s improvements and evolution of mechanics yet u main caster, which even in ds2 is still lock on + press r1 from a safe distance, completely ignoring all the in depth melee mechanics
although ds2s network test did try to evolve magic, with light and heavy versions of all spells existing like melee, and the ability to aim with a magic-ified bow reticule when 2 handing a staff, all of which were removed in the final game for whatever reason
@@needo6295
DS2 also had:
R2 Bonks that actually dealt semi-decent damage, so it wasn't entirely useless like in DS3 and Elden Ring.
Herbs/Spices/Waters
Duplicate spells were useful
Attunement determined Cast Speed
Catalysts can be Infused
Strong Catalyst Shields/Weapons
Spell Merchants useful post-NG
Catalyst Weapons can be Buffed and Infused
Didn't heavily rely on damage buffs
Iron King Crown could passively recover spells
DS2 was essentially the golden age for Casters until we got the dumpster fire that DS3's magic system was and unfortunately that was the spell system mostly ported to Elden Ring.
Elden Ring made improvements to spells, but it also had a very heavy-handed suggestion for Casters to play as Spellblades. If you looked beyond the spells and Spellblade support, you'd notice that any gameplay improvements for Casters was minimal at best.
As for the DS2 Network Test, I owned a 360 at the time and didn't have access. I can only speculate that they got rid of the aim feature due to the Binoculars existing and possibly dropped the light/heavy spell attacks due to balancing concerns and limited time. (Though it looks like it was the prototype to Elden Ring's Charge Spells.)
While DS2 was still entrapped to the missile turret gameplay of its predecessors, at least it brought a swathe of improvements. While DS3 and Elden Ring had better access to resources and time to improve Caster gameplay, yet both did little to nothing in the attempt.
Powerstancing and the armor design is what sells the game for me the fashion of a knight with 2 ultragreatswords is amazing. Also I've never cared about adp and instead learned how to dodge away from attacks instead of through them, which I actually like more
All my friends think I'm weird for loving ds2. I think they're weird for always wanting to do playthroughs of it with me even though they "hate it".
DS2 is my favourite of the trio.
I don't know if it's the locations or the powerstancing or what, but it stuck with me the most.
Heck yeah dawg!! Love that you could find your favorite :D
Agreed IMO DS2 has the best magic builds
same here, and also it was my first souls game (the pain !)
I agree, I feel it just has the most to offer overall, with a great variety of builds, locations, enemies, bosses, weapons, gear, etc.
Same. Best Souls 2
I first started the FS fever by playing Sekiro, then DS3, then ER, then DS1....and was deterred from playing DS2 due to all the infamy and rumors about it. But one day, one streamer actually said this is the best, and told me to try it. So I did...and boy, this has become my absolute favorite Dark Souls of all time. I'm glad I'm one of the people who love it. Why? Cause that's one more souls game I'm playing
HECK YEAH DAWG WE LOVE TO HEAR THAT FOR YOU!!
Why i prefer this over 1 and 3
1. The cozy dark atmosphere
2. The weapon selection
3. The survival mode to defeat all the spawned enemies.
4. The satisfaction to pummel Fume knight after learning his rhythm is more satisfying than any other boss in souls.
5. The hubs music in majula.
6. Exploration. Not as technically sophisticated as 1 and 3 but it was more adventurous.
7. The adventure to heal the stoned people and open the stone locked doors
8. The usefulness of the torch
You can light up the arena for The Lost Sinner. Right outside his arena are two oil slicks to the left and right. Set them on fire and you'll have a fully lit arena for the fight.
Not sure if you know, but somr helpful things the game doesn't really tell you or hint at:
You can light two torches to make the lost sinner boss room have light in it
Carrying a torch through the spider area, makes the spiders completely passive, even the ones in the boss roon
Haven't finished the video yet so idk if its brought up later
Thank you for the heads ups!! Those are definitely useful pieces of information that I am absolutely considering if I play this game again lol
I saw the lighting for the lost sinner before I fought it from a short time I spent watching a streamer play it, but I had no clue where to get the key at the time. But fighting it in the dark is a lot better than I made it out to be in the video, but I think if I ever play it in the future I'll be lighting that room up lol!
And the spiders I learned about after the fact! I was kicking myself now knowing that I could've just scared the spiders away with a torch lol, would've made that area SO much better to deal with
DS2 is a bit of a hurdle to get through the first time, but after understanding all the mechanics and giving it a 2nd go… that’s where it shines imo. Also, in the other Souls Games, I usually find more enjoyment in creating a new character instead of going into NG+ (although I’ve set reaching +7 as a personal mandatory goal for every Souls game), but in DS2 it’s the other way around for some reason.
I think it is definitely a different experience once you're more associated with the game! And I'm the same way with the other games too! Love me startin' a new character and doing a different build lol. But I haven't really done ng+ for many of the games, maybe I should try them out sometime!
the 3 bosses you mentioned having awful runbacks were meant to be coop areas, not a good design but it explains the amount of enemies. (sir alonne, fridgit outskirts and blue smelter wedge)
I've heard that those were meant to be co-op areas! I agree in that I feel like they aren't good design despite that, but you're absolutely right in that it at least explains why those areas are designed the way that they are!
Gank squad too
what i got from this video is that newborns start at half health
as someone who played around 10 times the game with diferent builds, i can say that this game gets better the more you learn about it, when you reach the point where you know everything and then try a new build you will feel like your playing something diferent but you wont get mad becuse you know everything that makes your life easier, you wont keep items becuse you know exactly where to use them, you also wont need to activate traps or go in places that got nothing you want aswell as knowing every gank locations, in the end this game is just like minecraft, the game wont tell you anything but you search tutorials and everything gets better
I definitely feel that! I think the game was very much designed for playing through multiple times, especially with what I hear about the ng+. I think that in the pursuit of that though, unfortunately, the first time/blind experience can be hindered a lot. And in order for a player to want to do subsequent playthroughs, they would need to enjoy their initial playthrough enough, or at least anticipate a comparatively more valuable experience in said subsequent playthrough, which can be a pretty big ask imo. But I do think that if someone is willing to put in the time to look up information about the game beforehand to have a better understanding, then they will have a much better experience! I was lucky enough to understand enough elements to have a pretty okay time, but I do also wish I had known some more about how certain functions of the game worked. But I also didn't want to spoil myself from looking at external sources, so it was a big divide for me lol. I think if the game communicated with the player more intentionally, then a lot more people could have more optimal experiences, which would be sick!
After 6K hours, hundreds of speedruns/challenge runs, I can agree. DS2 grows on you.
Extremely relatable. It's by far the easiest in the series for me to get back into and start a new playthrough, committing to it to the end with a new build.
Only someone who would want to play dark souls 10 times would think it gets better the more you play. The average person doesn’t even complete a game let alone play it 10 times.
@@Kamawan0 that’s just an obsession
Little note 40:07 regarding the Pharros poison fountain, it releases clean water if you have burned the windmill, and rolling in it wets your clothes and increases immunity to fire damage.
But also increases lightning damage taken
also im sure people in the comments have mentioned this by now but the main difference between the base game and scholar is mostly enemy placement. If you ever do go and watch/play the base game it'll feel like the enemy placement is a bit more thought out where as in scholar they essentially decided that the way to up the difficulty is to move some enemies around and just swarm some areas with a ton of gank squad enemies.
Ye ye, I was aware of that going into it too! I don't know the exact differences in enemy quantities and placements though, I only knew that Scholar had more enemies and tougher enemy placement from what I'd heard. And I can definitely see what they meant lol!
There’s other differences as well like no stone guys blocking the beginning area. Less enemies in general but also some additional. There’s a horde knight crouched on ground right after you go up the first ladder after the lone giant troll. In scholar he doesn’t come to life no matter what but in the vanilla ds2 he does if you hit him.
remember the torch is the moust usefull item in the game!! all the spiders run in fear of the fire and the weird shadow monsters too
Yeah! I learned about it after the fact, but even if I knew then I might've held back out of my primal need to hoard consumables lol. But thank you very much for the advice!!
My jaw dropped after I saw that this video only had 90 likes,This video is pure quality,Such an underrated RUclipsr.
Aw thank you, that's really nice of you to say! I'm glad to hear that you enjoyed the video 😊
dark souls 2 would've been such a pain for me without the messages
Same lol! I would've never found certain items or bonfires if it weren't for some of those kind messages lol
3:41 the best way to restore humanity is actually to help somebody out in co-op, whether by using a large white sign soapstone and defeating a boss or by using a small white sign soapstone and killing like, 15ish enemies or goofing around for 8 minutes. The small white sign soapstone is actually pretty peak and naturally, IllusoryWall has a video explaining the mechanics behind it in better detail
watching this footage makes me realize how much better the animations have gotten in these games. the way the pursuer swings his sword is just… strange. floaty? i can’t really place what it is but it goes for most of the other bosses too
I think it's the best game for understanding the lore, as it bridges 1+3, and it explicates the trilogy's themes most openly.
I think Majula comes from the Sanskrit Mañjula meaning beautiful/melodious - think also of the Milfanito.
It is a lot more open with its lore, so I think I agree in that it's really good for understanding the lore of the games, especially in comparison to the other two! And that's a really cool detail in regards to the origin of Majula! It definitely helps to explain its distinctive vibes in comparison to the rest of the series
Saying Dark Souls 2 takes one step back for every step it takes forward, means it stays where it started. Which is Dark Souls 1, which is awesome.
kinda disagree, ds1 was a great game back when it caime out up untill the half way point or a bit past, now ds1 is just okay.
For the Lost Sinner, if you have the Bastille Key (which really isn’t hard to find after Ruin Sentinels) you can light up her boss room in order to not lose your lock-on!!
Dark souls 1 poison: Hi, Im lethal, but slowly.
Dark souls 3 poison: Yo, dont mind me, im not important
Elden ring poison: I´ll take 20% of your health in 120 seconds, be careful, ooooo
Dark souls 2 poison: Will give you flashbacks of playing Pokemon Red having a level 8 pokemon catch the poisoned conditions and you got no antidotes left.
I've beaten ds2 but not scholar version, but i hear they added alot of spawns to no mans warf and the iron keep to it. While barely adding any to Lothric Castle, so that might be why it felt easier near the end game. They changed some other stuff, like adding more stone statues to block your progress with a branch. As well as moving items around. Hope this helped. I'll definitely have to give scholar another try soon
Dude I just did the exact same thing with the pillars. Went all the way around and the first one I used was the lift that gets you back to the og fire. I was so mad I spent the whole time not knowing 😭😭
I'M SO GLAD TO HEAR THAT I'M NOT THE ONLY ONE
Ds2 is like that one person in your life you dont really care for but somehow you always end up being forced to hang out with them. You cant escape.
lowering max hp for every death was what encouraged me not to be reckless
clicked for the zanny thumbnail
Every time I play Dark Souls 2, some other big game comes out and grabs my attention by the time I reach Nashandra and I just never finish the game. Maybe I should replay it so the Elden ring DLC can finally drop lmfao.
It would be absolutely wild if you beat DS2 and then the DLC was announced next day or something like that lol
@@vazisyeah wild huh
@@DartictheuniC I can't believe our timeline rn LOL
Nashandra and Aldia are garbage bosses anyways you're not missing out on much.
if you light a torch at the bonfire you can dissuade a lot of the big scary enemy packs from attacking you. Like the big packs of spiders will go almost passive towards you while holding one.
32:00 Dark Souls 2 is the only game in the series that will give you a reward for beating it deathless. You get a ring called the Illusory Ring of a Conqueror which will make your left-hand weapon invisible. There is also a reward for beating the game with no resting at bonfires except for the primal bonfires.
i didnt even know you can hurt vendrick... i was so confused what to do and where to go in this game lol. but i definitely enjoyed (after learning about ADP lmao)
I thought I knew a lot and I was still flabbergasted throughout so much of the game lmao, so I feel you there!
dark souls 2 was my first souls game when I was 15 and now I have played all the souls games fromsoftware and I think by far ds2 is my favorite along with bloodborne, definitely the hardest for newcomers to the franchise.
Heck yeah, glad to hear that you found ones that you jam with!! Although I do gotta say, DS2 and Bloodborne are definitely an interesting pair to have as your favorites, what about each of them do you find compelling if you don't mind me asking?
@@vazis I think the aesthetics and mechanics of both games are their greatest appeal. Bloodborne was the one that introduced the aggressive and fluid combat to the rest of souls games and souls type games in general, when I played it was a marvel, especially when you understand the parry system with the gun. Dark souls 2 on the other hand, encourages you to try many things as you progress, giving you the opportunity to play with a lot of freedom independent of the chosen class, but at that slow pace that punishes you if you take it too lightly. I think both games are their counterpart respectively, the combination of both is what results in Dark souls 3. As a fun fact, both games were developed almost at the same time. Keep up the good work!, I enjoyed your video.
@@Depredown That's really interesting! I'd have figured that someone who enjoyed the faster and more aggressive pace of Bloodborne might not like the more slow and deliberate pace of DS2 combat and vice versa, so that actually feels like a really distinct perspective, thank you for sharing it with me I appreciate it!! And I had heard that both games were being developed at the same time! It's wild how they were being developed simultaneously but ended up becoming near polar opposites like you mentioned, it's really cool!
And thank you, I hope to be able to keep it up and I'm glad you enjoyed the video!!
On the first pursuer encounter on the roof there's no help but that second pursuer encounter that you showed you can actually run over to the giant crossbow and instantly kill him with it
One thing I don’t like that people say is like
“It’s a good game, but not a good souls game” which is directly contradictory because most future games have mechanics from ds2.
Nonetheless I still love ds2
As someone who played DS2 for about 45+ hours, I think it's very flawed and frustrating. It has a lot of good but an insane amount of bad.
Honestly, I appreciate your take and presentation. Genuinely surprised you don't have more subs.
That said, Dark Souls 2 is easily my favorite fromsoft game (aside from Sekiro). The biggest factor in my love of the game is how weird it is. Each area felt distinct, creative, and memorable. Sure, the game might be less than the sum of its parts, but I adore how you can always see the dev's ambition in every decision. The insanity of the world layout, the vibrant color pallets, tons of crazy ideas, and a real focus on exploration over sprinting straight to each boss like Ds3. It's easily my most replayed game in the series. (Even more than Sekiro)
Plus, I didn't mind any of the "negatives" that upset a lot of the new players. Since I played the games in order, it felt faster compared to Ds1, so the combat didn't put me off the game at all.
That's really nice of you to say, I really appreciate it!! Maybe we'll make it out of the underground with this one lol 😎
And I agree that this game has very distinctive and creative areas, and that there's a ton of really interesting aspects of the game to be able to be drawn to! There's definitely a ton of compelling elements to the game which I think is super dope. And this might be just a Scholar diff, but I typically felt disincentivised to explore due to the consumables and torch timer and jazz. Some stuff being traps, some stuff being treasure, and some stuff being almost pointless felt a bit oofy in terms of giving value to the player exploring, at least for me personally. But like I said, that could just be a Scholar diff
And I think a lot of the standard negatives are a bit overblown, at least from my personal experience. Certain things like the health reduction and somewhat agility I do wish were removed from the game (or for agility's case at least more adequately explained to the player) since I think they can detract from the experience, but otherwise I think those elements are definitely a bit over-villainized
The biggest shame really is that it came out for PS3 rather than PS4, otherwise the awesome lighting system they tried to implement would have worked.. I really enjoy it, but it's aesthetic suffered quite a bit from that.
This, thank you. Plus impact from hitting enemies in this game feels better than in any other fromsoft game for me, idk why. And the amount of ambushes this game presents is just fun, the other souls games barely play with the concept aside from their equivalents of undeadburg, here you get ambushed in a new way in every other location, be it that bunch of mages+melee before the fog wall in amana shrine, or a bunch of metal knights on the dragon island right before the stairs, or, my favorite, dranglake castle entrance. This game tries its best to surprise you after every corner. Sure, sometimes they overdo it a bit and it gets frustrating more than surprising, but the amount of unique challenges easily outshines the frustration for me.
would it be possible to see the full playtrough vods? id love to watch you experience thsi game. ds2 is also my favourite game out of the 3 souls games despite the many flaws it has. you can set them as hidden and make a playlist if you dont want them to clutter your feed or upload on another channel. if there already is a way to see these point me there.
I unfortunately think it won't be possible to upload the full playthrough, my apologies! There's quite a bit of time where I am talking to someone about irl things and jazz like that, plus I had to play without music so that I could add my own in post easier lol. So they'd need a bit much in the work department to get goin'. I do have a twitch though! And if enough interest comes up for that I can have vods of future playthroughs of stuff if that sounds at all intriguing!
i will never ever forgive the fromsoftware for making the shrine of amana so needlessly fucking difficult to traverse
Ds 2 has the one of the best aproaches to new game plus.
I think so too from what I hear about it!
It maybe wasn't the greatest implementation, but at least it TRIED something different, whereas even Elden Ring changes practically nothing. Too many NG+ options are content with simply carrying over your power and/or making the existing enemies slightly tougher. In those cases I usually just start a new game and ignore NG+.
Even Chrono Trigger, which I think of as introducing the most familiar version of NG+, had some secret endings that were only practically obtainable during an NG+. I wish more games would lean into the idea of introducing changes and surprises into NG+ cycles. Fromsoft should've built upon what Dark Souls 2 tried to do with NG+ instead of abandoning it for the generic "carry your stuff over and cakewalk through slightly stronger enemies".
Completely agree with your take, I might hate it a bit more now tough because with my time becoming more limited I have become more sensitive to tedium and grind. I love challenging myself and overcoming a challenge but what I really hate is being forced to repeat something I have previously mastered. And the DS2 runbacks are exactly that.
DS3 thankfully cut that down a bit, but they did start pushing something else more: Multi phase bosses. I remember really loving the Sister Friede fight, because its mechanically so good, despite dying over and over again. But eventually I learned her first phase and the 2nd phase was even faster and easier to learn so I got stuck at the 3rd phase which is mechanically the hardest. So despite initially enjoying the 1s phase (2nd phase is kind meh), I got annoyed at having to repeat a fight I have already mastered that I was winning 9/10 times. Thats just tedium. I wish they'd save the state of the phase you are at and reduce your healing items instead to compensate for the difficulty.
I can understand that! I felt somewhat similarly with the Radabeast fight. Needing to get through one boss just to get to the other felt kinda unnecessary, especially since the first one wasn't really super challenging and the second was kinda just gimmicky. And for a 3 phase fight I can understand you having felt similarly! I think it could've been cool to give the player the option to skip phase 1 or something like that
Dark souls 2 was my first souls game and first souls like. I have so many hours in it and it was the game I played while I was in a job that I hated. So every night when I got home from work I would play it for 2 hours. I essentially cleared out the whole game with how many times I ran through areas. Then I grinded so much to get strong enough to beat bosses that in ng+ it wasn’t hard but felt like the game caught up with me.
It’s got problems that much is true, but I enjoyed it and then when I got my brother to play it and we co-op it made me love the game. After going through it alone for so long to then play it with someone else really enriched it for me.
Its second behind ER for me. I bounced off it a couple times but I just did a sorceror run and just loved it.
36:25
The thing about not going hollow when you die is THE coolest one in the game.
Its such a storytelling device.
Why?
You go out to find a cure for being undead. But you dont find a cure. Not realy. You find a way to stop it. But just for you.
So it is the reward you wanted all along. But in a break DS sort of way.
Thats my thoughts on it anyway. That, Majula and the NG+ changes are, for me, the best things in the entire game
It do be kinda wild that Vendrick was just able to cure being undead and didn't tell nobody about it. And heck yeah! Those are some dope elements to the game for sure. I don't know the full extent of ng+ changes, but I've heard that the game will change all the way up to ng+7 which is wild!
@@vazis DS2 was my first From Soft game so I just assumed they would all have these kinds of changes. But non other have had it!
Thats just wild.
I doesnt have to be huge. But some small tweaks.
Take Elden Ring.
NG+?
You will get suprise attacked by a totaly new dragon. Or a dragon you think you will face later makes an early appereance.
The Fire Giant adds a new attack in its second phase.
A named NPC that isnt a phantom the first playtrough now can invade you
SOMETHING!
But nope.
Whats wild is that it cant be THAT much work to put some of these into place
@@tommyakesson8858 I don't know exactly how to feel in regards to ng+ alterations in each cycle, because it has the same problems that I feel like open worlds tend to confront. Which is, that putting cool stuff throughout the entirety of it kinda mandates the player to explore it, which can end up feeling kinda repetitive for all of the aspects that aren't new imo. But at the same time, having no differences means there's not really a reason to explore ng+ options for the most part, which I think can also be disincentivizing. I'm not sure what the middle ground is because having a good amount of the experience locked behind repeated content can be rough, but having none of it also negates some of the purpose of ng+, so it seems like a difficult tightrope to walk
@@vazis Elden Ring atleast had an easy way to respec. So that gave it some joy
@@tommyakesson8858 Idr how too many of the games did their respec, but DS3 was pretty easy too with Rosaria and the pale tongues! Have to do a good bit of running, but you only have to fight 3 bosses to get there!
fantastic video man. I recently did a defending DS2 video myself and man did I get alot of hate lol. So because of this I went out and bought a Xbox 360 and DS2 so I could do a comparison video on all the differences and ... yeah there isnt much of a difference lol. very small things. The biggest thing would be one or 2 less enemies for the ganks. Some things I wanted to add
so because you kept all your human effigies you didnt get invaded alot. if you have more then 10 I do believe NPC invaders wont really bother you but if you get low they will start invading all the time and that was to give you more effigies.
Im not sure if you know this but the real reason this game is different is because the development was hell, rushed and then half way through it they changed lead directors and he wanted a different take so they almost had to start over without getting more time or pushing the release date back.
Lastly I wanna say I think the true reason its hated so much is because its to different. DS1 and DS3 are very much alike with DS3 only adding small changes to make the game better. DS2 seems like they wanted to make Elden Ring before they were ready. I made this point in my video but if this game was called Dranglaic adventures or something I dont believe it would have been hated like it is. around this time the original Lords of the fallen released and that game was praised at the time.... dont try to play it today it might be the worst souls-like I have played. I think because DS2 was called DS2 thats why it was sooo hated. people felt it didnt stand up to the very high standards DS1 created.
Thank you so much man, I appreciate you saying that! And I actually saw one of your videos on DS2! I don't remember which one it was since it's been a hot second, but I think it was the first one. And it's wild to hear that there isn't much difference between the two versions! From what it's sounded like, it felt like Scholar might've had double the enemies or something lol
And I could've gotten invaded more?! I was already being invaded like 1-2 times per area lol, that'd have been asinine! And I have heard about the development! I don't know much beyond the change of directors and some of the things around that, but I have also been told that this game might've been more inspired by Demon Souls with a lot of its elements, which could explain some of the area disjunctedness and some other elements like that, which also might've been why they needed to change directors (maybe at least I'm just speculating in that regard lol)
And idk, I feel like there's both people that defend DS2 in part because it's a Dark Souls game and bash DS2 in part because it's a DS game, I feel like it just creates a more polarizing environment for both ends of the spectrum. And good to hear about Lords of the Fallen lol, I've heard things about it but I haven't seen much of the games, so I'll definitely keep that in mind if I'm thinking about trying them out!
looking back i cant believe I actually beat this game on my own.
Nice job ashen one. Subbed (ps was there when it came out and invasions and co-op made it fun). Cheers JXx
32:15 That was something I picked up on day one, just from the dialogue with the old witches. DS1 had just the right atmosphere that combined with everyone's general hopelessness or weariness that made the game feel somewhat inspiring. I was motivated to prove them wrong, to go forth and set an example at least, I wanted to fight the sense of oncoming doom and win. And that's something that helped me get through every hard boss, or annoying obstacle. DS2 feels like its trying to do the same, but its ham-fisted and focused on to the point where it almost felt mocking or patronizing. Hell, the witches feel just shy of explicitly insulting you and telling you to just off yourself, and they literally laugh at you. In my mind, the place where DS2 looses so many people is that it just doesn't FEEL right, and it instills that feeling within the first five minutes of the game. I did enjoy DS2, and played it to completion, but I certainly didn't play it for the same reasons as 1 or 3.
I think I feel that way a bit too! There was another comment that I had a fantastic discussion on some of the Firekeepers intentions if you wanted more in depth thoughts on the matter, but on the whole I think that the initial encounter feels like it's indicative of difficulty by deaths being at the forefront of the mind during development. I think DS1 got swept up in that idea after gaining its pedigree as the game people die in a lot, hence the 'prepare to die' edition, and that carried over to DS2's development being a core element from the design. I think all of the games have some difficult encounters and funky fights/deaths, but none of them felt as intentional and gimmicky to me as DS2's did
You either love Dark Souls 2 or you think it's complete garbage lol. I lean more towrd the former personally, i won't deny it has flaws but it has a certain charm for me. I also just don't care for the faster pace of recent fromsoft games.
Because of DS2 I started playing every souls like game as a glass cannon
"I got invaded like 3 times and each time sucked nuts cause I got bodied so I don't like it"
relatable lmao
I started doing a broken straight sword run of ds2 (2nd playthrough, ng, killed rotten/freja, about halfway through iron keep and lost bastille) and I've realized that the game is a lot more forgiving than I thought (broken straight sword is, ironically, broken).
If you level ADP to ~26 you can get on pretty equal footing with enemies and the game showering you with titanite makes it easy to experience with weapons even in the endgame. If you go the the old hag after leveling up, you can keep yourself at 50+ lifegems at any given time and get basically infinite heals, which is fine because the estus is asking to only be used to top off health before bosses. Where I am I'm already at level 108 (i did use an ascetic on pursuer and lost giant early, though) was about level 80 at the same point of my first playthrough without any grinding.
Besides the generic dark souls bs (some of which is turned up to 10) and a handful of questionable choices, it's a good game. The otherness of this game compared to the rest of the fromsoft catalogue makes it a lot more entertaining for me after playing 1 and 3 to death. I think it's the most varied in the trilogy and took a lot of risks that made it an experience that can't be found anywhere else.
I think the "mega hard, git gud" reputation that the series gets primes a lot of people to get more frustrated when they do something 'wrong' and go "well this must be the intended way to play because it's hard".
The series as a whole (ignoring segments that everybody calls bs) are very forgiving you engage with it on its own terms. Play patiently, learn to position yourself in fights, choose your battles, and the game will reward you. If you can't do that the game gives you items, summons, and other build options that make parts easier or circumvent them entirely. People will moan about other players not playing it 'correctly', but who cares? We all have bosses we've cheesed to get past either the first time or on repeat playthroughs, so what difference does it make if a new (or returning) player is dealing with something is equally difficult or annoying to them?
idk that's just my two cents about 2 and the series as a whole, i really like these games and like to talk too much
@@shen1891 No, I think these are a ton of really fair points!! I think it can be easy to get swept up by the idea of communal suffering that we can neglect upwards and downwards social comparisons, therefore calling people who do more difficult things sweats and people who use more of the enabling options casuals or noobs. But I think that variance is part of what makes these games so awesome! Regardless of who you are or what your skill level is, there are things to help you fight every situation in the game! Inevitably that does make some things more OP and I do feel like some people can lose the magic of certain encounters/bosses by relying on them too much, but it's their experience and as long as they have fun, that's all that matters in the end! And that's no exception for DS2, it just has different expectations and rules it expects the player to follow, and different enabling factors at the same time
Can't wait to try a broken broken straight sword mundane build, stone ring + low stamina consomption and no regards for durability = pain train
Plus you can powerstance them til start
No offense to him but I'll never trust Asmongold's opinion ever since I watched his botched attempt to play Wo Long.
I haven't seen much on Wo Long or Asmongold's experiences with it, but they do give some credit to DS2 for some of the fights and other design elements! Although I don't know much about their time with DS2, I can say that I think their opinion of the game was a bit harsh in comparison to my own experience. Or at least felt more so defined by its negative aspects
@vazis Wo Long is a heavily parry based game. And Asmongold infamously barely used the mechanics, barely tried to avoid moves, raged and called the game poorly designed.
@@VengefulJay Oof
@@VengefulJay That's the thing, Asmongold refuses to learn or change tactics. He tries to steamroll everything and if it requires an ounce of thought, he rages. You can watch his DS2 playthrough where this is showcased. It's embarassing really.
@@mudkips8399 It's because Asmon can only play one game. And it's WoW. There is a reason he playes it all the time still, even though there has been times he hates the game and it's not for the views (and I'm not even sure it's because he likes it anymore), it's the only game he knows and cares about. And let's be real here, Wow is not a hard game. If anything becuase you can just use all those addons (which he does) you don't even have to learn and think, just follow instructions, which makes it even easier. So because WoW is the only game he really cares about he approaches every game the same way he approaches that. Just slam the gas into the floor, don't think or experiment, just do and push buttons, and try to hit the late game as fast as possible.
The reason why DS2 is my favorite, is because of how free you're to play however you want, and I think that's why the game had such a honorable playerbase when it came out.
This game doesn't make you feel like anything is cheating.
You don't like No man's wharf? You can just use a Farros stone and run through it, ring the bell with a bow or whatever. And you won't have to go through there ever again because you can TP since the start.
Even if you feel underleveled, you are at any time able to go to the other bosses and come back, since this game isn't linear.
You don't like The pursuer? You can shoot him with a ballista and move on.
The experience is so customizable. I also feel more weapon variety in DS2 than in Elden ring, like each weapon really plays differently. Because it's not only the weapons themselves but the environment, and also the fact that weapons get damaged, forces you to change weapons sometimes.
The game really insists on "you can be stubborn and do this, but you're meant to try anything and do what you find the most fun".
I see a lot of people say "yeah but I like playing alone, yeah but I only like playing with one weapon, yeah but...", what does it get you? You could be having fun instead of playing a game you hate, and you decide to hate the game because it doesn't play exactly how you wanted, that's the definition of insanity 💀
Talking about playing with only a weapon, you can throw a bonfire ascetic and have dupes without restarting the game, and that's so awesome.
There's also a lot of zones I bet 99% of ppl doesn't know, like the forest of dead giants has another half next to where you find Cale, and in NG+ you get invaded and can obtain the onion armor if I'm not mistaken- that's not the point tho.
I feel like your enjoyment of this game is really up to you, but when you master the game, it allows you to have a lot of fun.
Knowing the torch scares away the dark stalkers in no mans wharf, and the spiders later in the game helps so much
DS2 is an Experimental Skillcheck for future games imo, they used data from this game to design future games by making them easier, less obscure mechanics, more checkpoints etc. Think about it, some things in this game never returned in future titles in favour of trends vs Uniqueness/Obscurity and exploration (not Open World exploration but puzzles and content).
I definitely think that a lot of the mechanics in DS2 were reformatted or otherwise adapted in the future games for sure, which is part of why I appreciate it being in the series! A lot of cool things in the other games I don't think would have existed, at least in the form they do now
That's kinda how I saw it too and why I liked it so much, and why so many people didn't like it. It's 100% the hardest in all the souls games, every souls game has some sort of cheese builds that just do too much damage, this game never had those.
So that's kinda why I think so many people hated it, it was too hard for them. Then DS3 dropped being the easiest in the trio and look how popular it got. People like games challenging but easy, not just hard hahaha
@@Kranix I actually think DS2 is super easy as long as you play to its expectations! It makes the experience a bit tedious sometimes for sure, but I don't think I'd say that it was difficult in that time! And if we're talking cheese builds, the rapiers do some absolutely bonkers damage for the speed that the player can attack with them imo! They make the game almost too easy from my second playthrough lol. I haven't played with everything though, so I can speak as to if rapiers are the only outliers in that regard
But DS3 is a bit different to me in that the difficulty is in skill expression! There's definitely some ways to cheese some fights, but on the whole as a casual playthrough, I think the game is a lot harder and rewards developing your skill set as the player, which is why I think the game can be a lot easier if you're just generally good at the game! And I can say that I personally jammed with that type of difficulty a lot more rather than the main difficulty of a game being the quantity of enemies over the quality of an encounter, although I'm speaking for myself in that regard
@vazis yea the rapiers in DS2 were definitely the strongest things in the game, but they weren't really cheese tbh. In DS1 you have spell builds to be able to 1 shot bosses because the spells are broken, in DS3 there's multiple weapons with their weapon arts that 2 shot bosses, in elden ring there's spells AND weapon arts that insta kill bosses. The rapiers in DS2 made the game easier, but it wasn't just 1 shotting the game!
Great video! :]
my only gripes with DS2 is the lighting but thankfully, there's this mod called "DS2LightingEngine" which fixed the lighting of the game and makes the game insanely beautiful compared to the other two dark souls game.
What i liked about dark souls 2 is you can't abuse dodge rolling because the stamina system and also the movement is a little bit slower than the other two, requires me to move strategically.
Also my favorite thing in DS2 is the fact that it's the most melancholic dark souls game ever, i mean listen to majula, listen to Crestfallen saulden, Vendrick, Aldia, etc. No other NPC in souls game ever had a Thought provoking, Philosophical, and melancholic dialog than most NPC in DS2. Booting up this game, feels... i don't know, relaxing? feels like home? It's weirdly comforting despite of its melancholic atmosphere.
I still have this memories of trying to beat the bosses in The Sunken King DLC, and i died a lot. 1 months just trying to beat Elana The Squalid Queen, and i eventually did beat it, this is back when i still don't know what ADP is. It's such a precious memory i have about this game. Sadly, that magic cannot be captured again after 4th playthrough as i grew knowing every movesets and attacks of the bosses and all of the secrets in the game. i wish i could erase my memories about ds2 and started all over again.
I'm really glad to hear that you found so many things to enjoy in DS2!! The more deliberate and intentional combat system was definitely a super interesting direction to take, and although I'm more fast-paced DS3 head, I've heard a lot of people really jam with the conservative and strategical element of the combat, which I think is absolutely dope that everyone who enjoys that has a rep in DS2!
And I loved the Sunken King DLC too, super consistent quality and really interesting level design. I think they absolutely hit it out of the park with that one, and Sinh was super cool too!!
I do unfortunately have a different opinion as to the thought provoking aspect of DS2, which is that, whenever I heard Aldia and the Emerald Herald speak all I could think of was the r/im14andthisisdeep memes and I could never unassociate it so that's all I think of now when I hear their dialogue 😭
As an unskilled person, I like that enemies stop responding it forces me to explore and not just grind forever and try to over-level before each boss. I know it has a covenant that keeps them from disappearing. I like to farm souls and levels to make up for not getting GUD. I am currently trying to decide on Demons Souls PS3 or DS2 PS3. Later I will go for remake I own all. Demon's Souls will get me used to having half health permanently. I also hoard everything just in case and still never use it just in case I need it in an NG+ Game.
You might know this already, but if your burn a bonfire ascetic at a bonfire it will turn the nearby area into ng+ difficulty and reset all the enemies. So if you run out of enemies to farm you can do that and they will all return including the boss of the area. It's a great way to get more souls and items easily, and if you do it in early game areas it doesn't increase the difficulty all that much.
I only recently got into the series. Played and beat ds remastered and then played 2. I actually kinda liked 2 the more I played it. The more deaths I accrued, the more tricks I learned to handle each type of enemy
I feel like you may have missed a few shortcuts or bonfires but the fact that you didn't find them only enforces the frustration a player could have with these parts of the game. EDIT: Additionally there's a ring you can get very early on that completely negates the health loss. you just have to take it back to majula to repair it if you die. These are not a git gud statement however since this just shows how much is hidden from new players. This game is great if you have done the research and honestly i played along side epicnamebro on day one and he did a great job of explaining all of these things. kind of sad it took a glorified walkthrough for me to enjoy this game. Might also be good to note that this game had a published games guide along side its release. Not an uncommon thing for games in the 90s but a bit dated practice for 2014.
Bro that ladder in Iron Keep was so hard to see 😭
And I think you definitely hit a nail on the head! There were definitely some bonfires I didn't know about until I saw them online, luckily some messages told me about some of the ones hidden in the walls, but without those I could definitely see myself having been more frustrated with those sections of the game
Edit: And I had no clue that the ring would negate the hollowing! I think I know the one you're talking about, it was the one that said it negated death if I'm assuming correctly. But I just assumed it would have been something like having 1 HP instead of dying when you would die from an attack, I had no idea!
Interesting fact about Dark Souls 2. This game won the golden joysticks game of the year in 2014 and sold over 2.5 million copies. I don't know if those numbers include scholar of the first sin or not. I can think back on it and understand some criticisms that people have today about it but it's hard to deny that this was a great game for its time. For reference here's the games it stood up against:
Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag
Battlefield 4
Dark Souls II
Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft
The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds
Mario Kart 8
Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes
Resogun
South Park: The Stick of Truth
Super Mario 3D World
Tearaway
Titanfall
Towerfall Ascension
Watch Dogs
The Wolf Among Us
Wolfenstein: The New Order
Device 6
38:09 im not sure why the wiki doesnt have the fact that agility also increases casting speed for spells, which is why higher levels in atunement also boost the stat
OH WHAT I WOULD'VE LOVED TO KNOW THAT WHAT THE HECK
I've heard a ton of different ideas on what raising the stat does from helping out your shield up faster to random small actions, but I never noticed it raising casting speed and I would've dumped so much more into that stat if I knew that helped it
@@vazis yeah no problem, I only noticed it because I'm currently playing ds2 as a sorcerer, and both adp and atunement both up the agility stat
@@vazis Its the attunement+little bit faith/intelligence that increases casting speed, not agility. Agility adds frames in backsteps and rolls and increase you item usage speed, such as estus or firebombs.
Actually it's code allows me to run it on my notebook with Intel in 720p while DS1 is only playable in 480p
Them trails ost kicked in and I started listening to them then had to play back the video to hear what you saidl😅
I feel you there lmao! The one down side to pickin' absolute bangers lol 😆
The best part about the Lost Sinner fight is you’ll never realize on your first playthrough that you can light her area up before you enter so you can lock on farther
I also love seeing how many people still get bodied by The Pursuer at first until they learn to parry or circle strafe him, he’s quite a funny boss, great video!
Yeah! I had no idea where the key was to her fight at the time. I assumed it was past the Ruin Sentinels and all that but didn't want to use a branch or the Internet to find out lol
And the Pursuer really is a funny boss, any fight that I feel safer going for two attacks over hitting my heal button do be kinda funny! And thank you, I'm glad to hear that you liked the video! :D
It always weirds me out when people cite the health drop on death as a point against the game. That was a thing in Demon Souls too, and that game is beloved.
Did they take that away in DS1? I stopped after taurus demon...
I haven't played Demon's Souls yet so I can't agree or disagree on that, but I can say that in DS2 it didn't really feel like it added anything for me personally, in part because of the gimmicky deaths that forced you to lose health just by not having played the game before. I don't think it ruins the experience by any means since it's relatively negligent and not too difficult to fix! But in my own opinion, I do think that, in a small capacity, it does have the potential to negatively impact the experience, so I'm not a huge fan of it personally!
And I think it's fine to not have enjoyed DS1! Not every game is necessarily to every particular player's tastes, so if you didn't enjoy it that's perfectly okay!
You can light up the lost sinners boss room
I heard someone describe DS2 as experimental above all else. For better and worse, it brought many concepts to the table and some stuck while others flopped hard. It also had my personal favorite character stances for weapons, it felt more real than the poses in DS1 and 3, and powerstance was such a cool thing that I’m happy Elden Ring brought back. Is it polished? No. Is ADP stupid? Yes. Does the lift from Earthern Peak to Iron Keep make no sense? Yeah. Janky hitboxes? You betcha. Those Falconers? Abysmal. I could go on, but honestly, it was my first Souls game and I genuinely enjoy going back and running through it from time to time. After SOTE I’m in the process of beating the DLCS for it and just got done with Iron and Ivory, onwards to Shulva.
Playing ds2 right now after playing the rest of the fromsoft games, and honestly I’m really hating it so far. Constant gank squads everywhere and the movement and combat feels so unresponsive and clunky. And all the bosses are easy af, but it’s like they made everything else 100x harder. Also hate the mechanic of losing health everytime you die
I think it can be very hit or miss depending on what someone enjoys in a souls experience, and a lot of what you outlined were reasons I thought most of the game wasn't really for me either. But, I can say that I liked the DLC a lot more than the base game (for the most part) since I feel like some of those aspects get a bit better! That may not feel the same for you which is totally okay if so, but I did want to share that so that you might have something to look forward to!
@@vazis thanks for the reply, yeah I’ll definitely keep playing. Hopefully my opinion is changed by the end
@@mikeyb0121 It was my pleasure! And heck yeah dawg, I'm hoping so too!
the worst part in every souls game is that the game doesn't want to explain most of the important mechanics in these games. if DS2 explained how human effigies, adaptability and even cool mechanics like power stance work then the people who dislike these games wouldn't hate it so much (ds1 and ds3 are not far behind in not explaining most of the core mechanics)
I heard that the runs to the blue smelter demon, sir alone and the 2 king pets ara like that because they were made with co op in mind. Those places are the only ones in the dlc areas were people that did not bought the dlc of ds2 vanilla could be summon. So they were made more difficult with the idea of you going alongside some other friends or random summons.
Yeah, I think you're right in that regard! I've heard it from a few other people too, so I imagine that is the case! And I do think it's a really cool idea to incorporate multiplayer elements into an area, and I think it'd be awesome to incorporate more stuff like that in future games! But I do also feel like sacrificing the single player experience in order to achieve that versus having the areas adapt to the co-op is kinda oofy imo
@@vazis Yeah guess the best method was to have the runs with enemies according to the number of players, but guess it was chosen thsi way to incentivize summoning and give people that didn't bought the dlc a chance to play some areas
Also while a chore as single player, the run to the blue smelter demon is kinda cool in cooperative, with players opening gates for each other, each one going through their own tunnel, meeting in the bigger areas at different heights and getting back to face the mini boss right in front of the fog wall
To this day, they still can't replicate the best NPC that is Maldron.
Kinda like shining resonance refrain. Where the game feels horrible, but people still like it.
I have not played shining resonance refrain nor do I know how it plays, but I do think DS2 can feel very good or very bad depending on one's preferences for sure!
Great video, but for clarification, the lost sinner is a girly girl
That do indeed be my mistake, thank you for the clarification!
I always faced the roadblock enemies before i should no matter how many times i died(havel, black knight, crystal lizard, ogre)
They say every time you bring up DS2 someone uninstalls it.
I don’t mind DS2. I liked it better than 1, and less than 3. It’s a fun run with friends.
I will say that I played it again with my little brother after my first go and the co-op can go kinda goofy and I think it's really funny. There were so many times we got stuck in small hallways because in my perspective I was behind him and in his perspective he was behind me so we have to try and work our way to a more open spot, peak gaming moments
For what it is, I like Dark Souls 2
Heck yeah, I'm glad to hear that for you! I definitely think there's a lot to like about Dark Souls 2, even if I don't think it was the game for me
I do too. Understand its quirks and problems, but I always thoroughly enjoy playing it when I do, and have hundreds of hours logged on it.
since it wasnt in the video i assumed you missed it like most players, but the emerald herald is right after the doors to the throne of want where she tells u some lore and her name.
I actually did miss it on that playthrough lol, you are correct! Which is extremely unfortunate as I felt it was the most real dialogue the Emerald Herald had in the whole game and probably my favorite interaction, it is a very oofy location to have put them lol
Hated it at first but i found myself unable to stop playing it at the same time (i uninstalled and reinstalled it 3 times over 5 years) .
it was fun i loved the difficulty it provided it was hard but fair if you know what to do.
The trick was to to be patient, not fight more than 1 enemy at a time , sometimes run from fights you can't win.
i also died alot(aloooot) but managed to finish the main game i didnt use rapier it couldv been much easier if i did that i guess i didn't know (my goal was to finish it with any means necessary, but at the same time with no internet guide).
Would totally play it again if its remastered properly.
To me: My thought process on DkS2 is that its more like DeS and its why I enjoyed it more than 1 or 3. All of them are great but I like 2 the most.
Also great vid, well done! Keep up the great work!
I've actually heard that! I haven't played Demon Souls so I can't relate to the comparison yet, but it makes me really interested to try it out now that I've played Dark Souls 2!
And thank you very much, that's really nice of you to say!! :D