This game is really fun, who the fuck started the bullshit lie that it's horrible? It's been very enjoyable so far. I'm at The Tower Apart bonfire and can't figure out where the fuck to go since I skipped No Man's Wharf
>I'm at The Tower Apart bonfire and can't figure out where the fuck to go since I skipped No Man's WharfIs that the one where the guys shoot you as soon as you get up or the one in the jail cell
You need a fragrant branch to unlock the path forward
>>722708903It's the bonfire that's only reachable by using the bird nest after killing Pursuer
>>722708812/v/ realized that they can't actually time their rolls at all and got shit on so they seethed for months until an eCeleb told them it's OK to be ass-ravaged and they bandwagoned into full force.>>722708903It's the one after Pursuer.
These are the people telling you its bad. There's tons of youtube videos now of people exposing ds2 haters as just being bad. lmao
Dark Souls 2 is really good when you don't have a bunch of retards in your ear telling you how dogshit it is.
>>722709017I forgot the re-release does retarded shit like this.
>>722709031>>722709093Oh yeah. Haha. >>722709220iirc you can access the smith there earlier at least. In the original you had to uhhh... come back with... something... that was not near the bonfire after pursuer. And it was in Iron Keep I think? Anyway you can get a +10 weapon in DS2 super early which is fun.
>>722709220You can still move forward without it by going through No Man's Wharf, it's just up to you
You can parrywalk past most fragrant branch statues if you don't want to spend time looking for said branches, all you have to do is buy the moon butterfly skirt from Maughlin
>>722708812It's objectively unpolished and low quality compared to all the other games in the series
Frozen Elysium Loyce is my favorite snowy environment from any game ever. The poison windmill area is badass as well.
>>722709485
>>722708812I always liked it because it is well fucking optimized and ran great on my potato and I'm a shieldChad and don't give a fuck about having to put levels in ADP for iFrames. I did prefer the layout of DaS but I got a lot of fun out of 2.
>>722709756I thought shield raising frames were tied to ADP. A lot of stuff is tied to ADP cause it's just the agility stat.
>>722708812The marketing team used bullshots to promote dark souls 2. It was running on a super computer with perfect shadows that looked good by todays standards. then in reality people got a PS3 game that looked mediocre even for PS3 That was the big issue that pissed a lot of people off and it made people looking for reasons to hate on the company.Pair that with the fact that dark souls 2 devs were trying to counter the "meta" or "cheese" playstyles with tweeks that made the game harder + the act that they were trying to esign a game where you were meant to roll to avoid attacks instead of i-frame them + the fact the game is not movie game and is somewhat challenging.It was the perfect storm for a game to be received poorly. It is my favourite souls now though, i really wish the director had more freedom to make the game he envisioned in the first place.
>>722709830and where are those shadows in ds3 and er?
>>722708812buy the cat ring from the catgo down the giant majula holestop having fun
>>722708812This one is different from the others but it's not necessarily a bad thing. It feels more like an adventure and it's actually quite balanced when going for the challenge rings
from hasn't made a better looking game since. And this ran at 60 fps where all their other games look and run like shit
everything inside the game, nothing outside the game, kill the rotten 5 times in the first 50 minutes, go fuck yourselfdark souls 2 is fascist is what i've started to realize. it's no longer fun to like it
>>722709987Lighting was a huge part of dark souls 2 because of the torch mechanic and they advertised it a lot.its irrelevant what other game did or did not have it.
People consider Dark Souls 2 bad because they just parrot what retarded misinformed youtubers spout that they heard from other retards. >HITBOXES ARE BAD The game will play out pre-existing animations before swapping to a hit or a grab. In every single example of a "jank hitbox" you can clearly see the enemy hurtbox connect to the player hitbox, your movement animation will finish, and then you are moved into the grab/hit animation. I personally think putting like 10 points into ADP or whatever it is to regain the number of Dark Souls 1 iframes is far less egregious than having to level vigor to 60+ on every single character in Elden Ring to not get one shot by basic enemies. Best fashionMost varied builds Lots of cool NG+ shit that literally never came back Best pvp balance Still has some neat puzzle bosses before From completely did away with them because people were mad they couldnt rollslop/left strafe them allMy only real complaint with the game was how a clear lack realistic expectations during initial development caused the team to reach FAR beyond their scope which had to then be reigned back in, ultimately causing all the cut content/inconsistent world design.
The way I see it.DS2 has its good parts and really really bad parts. But i respect it for at least focusing on exploration. Unlike Boss Rush 3 that came after
>>722710395>Unlike Boss Rush 3: Member Berries Edition that came afterFTFY
>>722709821Default speed was good enough I guess, I never really tried to stunt on niggas and block at the last microsecond so I didn't notice.
It's fine, but if you're autistic about it, the game completely misses what made Dark Souls 1 such a captivating experience. I'll never forget the immediate distaste I had with the red meta commentary witches at the start laughing at how often I'd die. Instantly took me out of the experience.
>>722710297The torch mechanic does jack shit for 99% of the game. The shadows look cool though. That's actually the main point of shadows in video graphics.
>>722710297>it's ds2's fault when it doesn't have rtx pneumbra soft accurate accumulated voxel soft shadow GI but gets 99% there, but their other games get excused because "reasons"wow, amazing objective analysis
>>722708812I think my biggest issue with the game is the lighting and the controls. Other than that, I like it more than 1.
>>722709830>the act that they were trying to esign a game where you were meant to roll to avoid attacks instead of i-frame themThe crazy part is that they didn't even do that. All they did, the only thing, was tie high iframes to a stat so that you needed to invest something to get them instead of having them on every single build for free. They didn't change the timing of the rolls at all, they are entirely consistent from level 1 to 500 or 1 ADP to 99 ADP and are not noticeably different timing from DS1 either. That alone was enough to spawn a decade of crying online about it.
>>722708812>who the fuck started the bullshit lie that it's horrible?People were actually just really used to how good Dark Souls and Demon's Souls were.And that does make it a lot more offensive than DS2 is in a vaccuum, I mean if you could do it fine the first two games then why fuck the third one for no reason?
>>722709485>It's objectively unpolished and low qualityHad me here.>compared to all the other games in the seriesLost me. None of these games are polished, all of them are unfinished and full of broken mechanics that required a year+ of patches to mitigate.
>>722710297No, it's not irrelevant. Even after the game's visuals were downgraded to the point of running in stable frames on PS3 and 360, it still mogs the newest From games despite being 11 years old.What he means by talking about shadows, it's obviously not shadows, it's the fact that Dark Souls 2 MOGS, it fucking MOGS every other From game to date DESPITE the budget constraints, DESPITE the lack of direct control over the project because of DS1's success,DESPITE the sudden downgrades, DESPITE everything. That's what life is. Dark Souls 2 is the essence of life.
>>722710698Because they tried to make Elden Ring before it was technologically feasible with their budget and had to rush a complete overhaul right at the end of development when whatever they had was a tech demo for a doomed concept.
>>722710680They did do that. They did exactly that. A low equip load character will roll further than a higher equip load character. Omni rolling gave you more direction to avoid attacks when rolling. Locked on sprinting lets you space and and maneuver around enemies without iframing through attacks. Anybody can play a 3 adp character and play this way and see for themselves. If you actually play a 3 adp character with this playstyle in mind you'll see how doable it is. And anyone else has a 8/10 chance of picking a character with at least 8 iframes which is all you need. ADP investment is a meme
>>722710928A big problem with DS2 is that when it looks bad it looks terrible, so everyone can ignore that when it looks good it looks incredible.
>>722710698the being used to the goodness in question:
>>722710698DS2 shits on those games
>>722708812>who the fuck started the bullshit lie that it's horrible?people just say that because DS2 fans are extremely insecure, which makes them easy to bully online. the average opinion on DS2 is actually more like >>722710395or >>722710530If you're having fun, that's what matters, right?
>>722710680>The crazy part is that they didn't even do that.They did exactly that with being able to roll in twice as many directions when locked one, sprinting being faster and more responsive, stamina costs and movement speed being directly tied to your weight, etc.To this day DS2 has the highest base walking speed in the series which allows for consistent repositioning without needing to roll.
>>722710530tourist acting as though the bamco advertising of dark souls 1 didnt predate this and inspire it throughout the rest of the series
>>722711315Could you be anymore npc?
>>722711104That playstyle of not using iframes to dodge has always been present and accounted for since DeS, DS2 did not invent this approach nor did they force it on the player. They didn't change the overall gameplay of the franchise. What they did was split everything more definitively into roles, making the rpg and stat aspect more prominent. If you wanted to iframe roll or wear heavy armour to tank you needed to invest specifically into those, if you went without either of those the game was still beatable and you can even iframe most attacks at low ADP but you'd be playing as a risky glass cannon.
>>722708812Best Souls 2. I find it funny that there are still psychos in the DS2 arena in 2025I booted it up on PS5 and fought a guy around 20 times, only beat him once
>>722711623>That playstyle of not using iframes to dodge has always been present and accounted for since DeSI know, and those games shouldn't have iframes to begin with.
>>722709031you need to use a fragrant branch on a statue blocking a door, it will open a route that you can use to progress
>>722711674So you agree with me that they didn't? I can probably agree that being more like Monster Hunter might be better for combat, but I'm confused what your point is honestly.
>>722708812I said it since these games are garbage made by a group of Jap pedophiles.
>>722711885They did. If you dont have the iframes you're not dodging into attacks. And they made your roll and movement a lot better to compensate. Yeah you can circle strafe backstab spam all the enemies in ds1, but that's less about the game not being designed around iframes and more so the enemies just being retarded and bad and the game being broken.
>>722711315>people just say that because DS2 fans are extremely insecure, which makes them easy to bully online.this is revisionist cope, it was incredibly popular to shit on ds2 for years, the "easy bullying" is because ds2 fans were sick of people being confidently wrong all the time, being a retard and getting responces isn't bullying
>>722712129The funny thing about Dark Souls 1 is that they clearly recognized the circlestrafe meme was an issue in Demon's Souls and their "fix" was to just make all the enemies pivot toward you during all their animations, and even change direction in mid air during leaps in some cases. Still didn't really do anything to prevent it in most cases.
>>722709503>The poison windmill area is badass as well.so iconic they reused it in the ds3 DLC
>>722711315The glint of quality bait in a Souls thread for once.
>>722712129>If you dont have the iframes you're not dodging into attacks.But you can though? All Agility does is add recovery frames to the end of the roll, the initial timing and iframes are always the same no matter your Agility level. Even with starting ADP or ATN you can dodge many attacks comfortably, just only the ones that you can physically make it through before the Iframes run out (which is partially why light equipment load makes you go further too).
>>722712574You can try that doesn't mean you will
>>722712708>I can't do it therefore noone can
>>722712249Just saying, OP wanted a nice, positive "Dark Souls 2 is good" thread, and it immediately got derailed by retards having their group therapy session about how the game they like is apparently unpopular, how ecelebs poisoned the well, etc. Even you're doing it now, too. Ever consider that maybe you're just getting trolled?
It was never a lie. I played it on release on ps3. It was dogshit with some good ideas here and there. You're not playing the real version anyways. Its the only Souls game that's needed as much patching as it got and even a "fixed" version. You'll never experience the true Shrine of Amana snipers
>>722712786If the game is only giving you 5 iframes that's not encouraging you to dodge into attacks. It has nothing to do with skill. And either way, if i cant do it that's objectively not encouraging me to dodge into attacks either.
>>722712708>If you play badly it won't workUhh, yeah. That's why you try not to do that.
>>722712910anon, it's literally in his first sentence>who the fuck started the bullshit lie that it's horrible?
>>722712708There's maybe seven attacks in the game you can't roll through as Bandit and most of them are things with lingering hitboxes, like breath attacks.Fact of the matter is that most people roll too early and get hit, then whine because they don't have half a fucking second of iframes to compensate for their idiocy.
>>722712946>You'll never experience the true Shrine of Amana snipersPretty funny, since everyone claims that Scholar Amana is worse than base game experience despite that obviously not being true if you played both.
>>722710530Don't they all do that? The crestfallen warriors in Demon and Dark Souls 1 mock you about dying. The others even had their advertising about dying repeatedly
>>722708812Its just a meme that has gone too far. DS2 was the last game in the catalogue I played because of its reputation
>>722713306I'm not saying it's literally impossible to dodge into attacks with 3 adp. I'm saying the game isn't encouraging you to do so when the timing is that tight. Yeah, you could also parry just about everything too but most people aren't doing that, nor is the game expecting you to do so.
>>722708812because spamming low level enemies everywhere isn't actually fun and is the epitome of artificial difficulty?
>>722711484It's the exact same difference as between Doom and Quake
>>722709142domo is a tranny apologist who needs to start using AI dubbing because that accent is dogshitthat said, DS2 is kino
>>722712910nice try, it was in the OP, have you considered you're just wrong and people are sick of it?
>>722713505The game encourages you to not get hit. If you want to not get hit you learn how to do that within your ability. Stop trying to philosophize skill issues.
>>722713389Yes, it's a consistent theme in the series. The despairing fire keepers are more on the nose about it, but it's done for a narrative reason to contrast the hopeful tone of the game going forward and not to personally mock players or laugh at the idea that DS2 is trying to be uber hard or "artificially difficult."
>>722708812Based. I love that this game is hated because it's easily the best one in the franchise, yet goes out of its way to filter the uninitiated. >i-frame stat>hard mode that disables summons>didn't let magic fodderize the entire game>didn't let poise/defense fodderize the entire gameLike damn. Feels like it was made in the current year as a response to souls fatigue and yet it's over a decade old.
>>722713118>>722713790A perfectly innocent rhetorical question, sure! But the responses were predictable, because the same insecure replies come out every time. I wonder how many people have their own "DS2 argument" folders where they keep all these webms showing off the cool shadow effects? I always look forward to seeing that one.It really is okay to like DS2, you know. It's a good game. Don't let the overabundance of trolls on /v/ psyop you into thinking you're some victimized fanbase, because it really isn't true.
>>722708812Hello, stopping by cause I saw a picture of shit souls 2 and just wanted you to know that the game is fucking dogass
>>722714041"skill issues" is literally how you design challenge and encourage player behavior. That's what game design is. Rolling away from an attack instead of risking rolling through it is encouraging players to not get hit because it's way safer. Again, there's nothing stopping you from parrying just about every attack either but you're not doing that because why?
>>722708812i tried to play it a few months back turned it off it fucking sucked a cock
>>722708812>who the fuck started the bullshit lie that it's horrible?It started with a man named MatthewMatosis
>>72271131demon topbbdark as being a slower shitter demon that uses alot of its ideas, dark 3 plays better then 1DS2sakiro, these souls games give the player some freedom to play how they like I just cant see the point of playing this shit rather just play nioh/2 a better game fuck if i wanna play a rhythm game I play project diva
>>722711484in the ds2 gameplay a mob just stops moving
>>722715431The torch guy? He's friendly
>>722708812Da2 fags are mentally ill. Kill yourself.
>>722710928kek. I like Dark Souls 2 but take your fucking meds
>>722710928>No, it's not irrelevantA game that came out in 2016 is completely 100% irrelevant to the discussion how a game that came out 2 years earlier was received at the time it came out.>NOOO I WAN U 2 TALK ABOUT HOW DS2 IS SEEN AS TERRIBAD NAO!!!basically everyone knows dark souls 2 is shit because people have always known dark souls 2 is shit because some streamer ssaid so one time and if you question that then you are a nazi antivaxxer anti science globe earth denier, chud.seriously though, all you people are brain dead. >>722709830 is objectively the reason dark souls 2 got a bad rap on release. the reason its still seen as the bad one is because it was fantastic at filtering the band wagoner shitters who started playing the series when it was getting popular.
>>722709830Previews ran on an actual PS3, you can see it from any YT video, alongside constant framedrops.
>>722708812Because it plays nothing like the other games. It's slow, tedious, and ugly.
>SotfS>Ds2LE>Second SinYep, it's gaming time
>>722708812Because it plays nothing like the other games. It's RPG first, roll slop second, and beautiful.
>>722721059ds1 is so faast
Guys is this NInja Gaiden or Dark SOuls? I cant tell. The speed, the quickness...
>>722721618had to double-check I didnt set the playback speed to 2.0
>>722721618I wish fromsoft could go back
>>722708812>>722708903>>722709017>>722709093Its kind of amazing how blatant the samefagging is. Look its ok, your player base is 1000 strong, there is no need to justify what you like to anybody. I am sure anon just started it, definitely.
>>722709093you dont even need to roll in DS2adp is kinda gay hidden mechanic, but its not even the main reason DS2 is hated, there are way more unfun things
>>722721502and ds2 is worse, you can circle around everyone the same way
>>722722396>you can circle around everyone the same way>and the enemies have magnetic tracking>and you need 40 points into adp>and you can circle around everyone the same way...
>>722722795This kills the pajeet.
>>722722759>game makes you work and earn a backstab now>shitters crawl out the woodwork
What's the best total overhaul for DS2? I played Seeker of Fire and it fixed a lot of my complaints.
>>722715357He liked the game, he never thought it was horrible
>>722723821SotFS
>>722708812Matthewmathosis. And it was pre scholar release, so most of his points aren't even relevant.
>>722708812I started Souls games with DeS, but never actually got around to playing DS1 and DS2. Then I saw BB and immediately played that, followed by DS3 shortly after. Then I played DS1 and Elden Ring.Only recently I went back and played DS2, got about half way through before jumping into NightReign with buddies. But DS2 really made me appreciate how much the game asked of you. Taking things way slower. Way more adventuring. Way more mysteries and secrets and stuff you know you just can't solve right now. Way more paths to/from places. Once NR has run it's course I'll go back to DS2 and finish it properly.
>>722708812Its not horrible by any means but its arguably the weakest Souls game overall. It certainly does some things better like PVP and character building but aspects like level design, combat and presentation are one or two levels below the titles that were directed by Miyazaki.
proof that dark souls 2 haters never even played the game. >>722722396
i played ut when it came out and thought it was mid, then over time i started to hate it more, then earlier this year i did a full playthrough and loved it and now i thunk it's great and arguably a more interesting game than ds3 even though it's definitely weaker in a lot of ways
>>722723821I don't think any of the overhauls are good. Seeker of Fire does some cool things like giving you less linear progression, but most of the overhauls have the same problem that they try to turn DaS2 to something it's not (usually faster paced souls, or more like that other souls game), thus making the overall experience worse than vanilla/SotFS.
>>722721123What will you go for this run, anon ?
>>722711667>only beat him onceAnd still played for fun? Based.
>>722724831Greataxe, thinking about getting Gavlan's and see if I like it more than the standard one
>>722708812I never hated DS2, I remember trying to avoid any type of criticism saying that the game was bad (I was so hyped to play that I bought the DS2 art book before playing, always liked FS artwork) and yet I had problems that was similar with many people who doesn't like the game like the fire keepers dialogue that rubs the wrong way, the weird lore, the fixation on not letting the player turn to any direction after an attack, the areas design artistically speaking that didn't felt on the same level as Anor Londo or Boletaria, the DS1 references that didn't fit and so forth.It's a great game anyway, they tried to improve many things from DS1 but didn't had the time to make the whole game overall image more cohesive, but they did enough for the game so you could say that DS2 might be the best one in the trilogy.
>>722726345>the DS1 references that didn't fitI've never understood this complain, Ds1 had fog gates directly taken from Demon Souls without any logic behind it.
DaS2 is the worst Soul game.If you think differently you're wrong. You can have your own opinion, but you're still wrong. And no, I don't care how much of a contrarian asshole you are and what kind of cherry picked arguments you find/fabricate.It's still the WORST Dark Souls game.Deal with it and move on. Nobody cares about your meltdown.
>>722726525u r the 1 having a melty
>>722712946>>722713369iirc Shrine of Amana got patched many times in base DS2, so a bunch of people played different versions of those witches.
>>722726525Just because you posted a sexy little girl doesn't mean you're right
>>722721502>>722721618retarded zoomers obsessed with speed and movement are the reason ER has to rely on cheap, fake, adhd difficulty with it's input reading, delayed attacks and thousand move combos with AoE's
>>722721618H-HE'S FAST!!!
>>722722759 adp is dump stat, you dont need to roll at all >>722724226I beat it deathless/nbf with bandit with no adp, no bow, no magic - easiest game and the most retarded ai and combat in the series
>>722720776Nice trivia Anon, I already knew some of these stuff but it was a good read. Thanks!
>>722721618invincibility because your mid animation has always been a dogshit game mechanic
>>722726525you deserved to be lynched
I found a death from my first playthrough I found pretty humorous but I don't feel like doing the DSP WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOW spiel so I'm just gonna post it.
>Le shit game is le actually good!
I've been enjoying it for the most part but it's the first soups game where I'm not "building" my character towards anything in particular. Figured I'd approach it more like a King's Field and just use everything at my disposal.
>>722708812Im from an alternative time era where they already modded gta characters and vehicles online multiplayer to work in all the souls worldsand they modded all gta games to use souls characters for multiplayer online gamingyou guys are way behind on the fun stuffalso women admitted they were wrong about everything and just date normal men instead of pedo billionaires and 3rd worlders
>>722726404I meant shit like Ornstein, those half scorpions that were a reference to Quelaag or the old souls being of the Lords from DS1.
>>722710102You have to really cherry pick scenes in DS2. Half the game looks like fucking garbage with N64 tier textures, and the other half is quite nice or atmospheric. The problem is the parts that look awful look absurdly awful, there's no consistency in that regard.
>>722709093>until an eCeleb told them it's OK to be ass-ravagedThe funny thing is /v/ took this to mean that DaS was still the shinning light not realizing their parasocial eceleb daddy actually hated DaS since he was a DeS purist.
>>722708812>This game is really fun, who the fuck started the bullshit lie that it's horrible?Literally 99% of negative opinions on DaS2:SOTFS, Sekiro and Nioh games is because "souls veterans" got exposed for being dogshit gamers and getting filtered by these games. So skill issue + iq issue.
>>722725874>exterior is round>interior is rectangular>both somehow have windows with light shining through
>>722708812>who the fuck started the bullshit lie that it's horrible?people with common sense
>>722708812I really liked the original game at launch before they did a bunch of stupid shit like drastically nerf all the fun shit into the ground. Miracles, sorceries, pyromancies, strong infusions on fun unique weapons like mundane santier's spear, all nerfed with a giant fucking hammer. I swear if you still got a shit ton of Lightning Spears per attunement slot and they still did as much damage as they used to everyone would be a lot more positive about the game.
>>722709142DaS2 sucked because of the awful hitboxes. Don't give me that crap about oh but the other Souls games. Because that only means you are defending that DaS2's hitboxes are especially egregious then.
>>722711130>chocolate badYou a dog or something?
>>722710698seriously there's no better way to put it. those who weren't there just don't get it. anon played ds2 for the first time in 2025 and was like "it's fine I guess". motherfucker you have no idea what a kick in the nuts it was back then.
>>722733775>if you still got a shit ton of Lightning Spears per attunement slotYou do if you level attunement. I made a full caster build once with 60 attunement, throw some rings and the hexer's hood on top of that and you have 108 casts of lightning spear. You may not like it but it's still possible. You can also have 324 casts of dark orb but that probably requires some NG+ cycles for duplicates.
>>722733807>DaS2's hitboxes are especially egregiousthey really arent. Dark souls 2 just has the most grabs and grans in souls look dumb as hell because if your tippy toe gets grabbed it teleports the rest of you into it.
>>722733807Dark Souls 2 has the best hitboxes out of the trilogy. It was extremely jarring going from DS2 to DS3 and suddenly it's like everyone is swinging surfboards. I got used to evading by positioning myself out of the arc of the swing in DS2, that's a lot harder to do in DS3 because the hitboxes are enormous. Frankly, the only truly bizarre hitbox in DS2 is the mimic hitbox, which lets it grab you while you are behind it. Everything else is fine:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pnuuVlA1C0E
Objectively correct tier list, any questions?
DaS2 was fun but it's the only Souls game I never, ever want to replay
>>722734323>Elden Dogshit Ring>Dark Souls: Shitmastered by QLOC>Vanilla DaS2Money wasted, time wasted, dogshit garbage taste.
>>722728485Elden Ring fans really be like this
>>722734354yeah it does that to you. I did replay it eventually but it was like 7 years later.
>>722734323M-may I kneel, my king?
>>722708812go back and do no mans wharf
going back to it I feel like I'm playing in slow motion, not really a critique of the game but it's interesting to see how different things are
DS2 is an rpg! Let's look at all the diverse buil->Armor is useless for physical defence>Robflynn>Strike damage>Lighting infusion>Dark weapon
>>722708812what happened to that mod that brought back all the shadows and atmosphere
>>722734323as a dark souls 2 enjoyer i honestly feel like scholar changes to base game and the balance changes that happened around the same time are shit. also dark souls 1 remaster is the worst thing fromsoft has ever done, even worse than dark souls 2 bullshot baiting.
>>722708812>who the fuck started the bullshit lie that it's horribleThis guy
>>722734818None of which was a problem until they nerfed everything else in the game.
>>722734818Eh those are number problems not mechanical problems, easily changed.
>>722709142I watch a few Souls challenge runners cause I'm retarded, the amount of times I've seen them try to run past all the knights and then seethe about how shit the area is, lel
>>722731429Okay, let's see here. *check notes* they complained about having to press a jump button to hit a flying enemy. that's all we need to know
It was always the better game of the 3 and the only fromsoft game to get 3 dlc.People talking shit about it (mostly because they got filtered) can't change the fact that it was good and successful.
been 12 years and no hub has ever topped MajulaDilapitated shrine in sekiro was up there, but it's very deserted and only has like 4 NPCs max
>>722735376Now show Elden Ring
>>722731429I don't understand how anybody could possibly have gotten filtered by SekiroThe deflect window is like 0.5s. I'm an absolute shitter when it comes to Souls parries and even I can easily deflect shit in that game
People call DaS2 incomplete. Forgetting that the other Souls are an incomplete mess as well or just a DaS1fag daycare center like DaS3.Once you get the Lord Vessel, you see where the game is lacking such as the enemy spam in the archives and painting, the ugliness of TotG, the dragon asses seemingly everywhere, Ruins of Izalith needs no introduction.Going for a Demon's -like branching on the map was the right decision.You should only find a shortcut once every few hours. Not a plethora of shortcuts leading back to the same place.
The thing i love most about ds2 is that every weapon is viable, unlike ds3 where half the boss soul weapons are about as powerful as the ladle
>>722735430The vast majority of "souls veterans" are literally braindead and extremey bad at games, they beat souls games by overlevelling, summoning and using cheese methods when possible. Sekiro is the only FromSoftware game where these elements are not available or minimal, this is why they got filtered.
>game releases>its worse than the game that came before it>people complain about that>years later several generations of things getting worse have occurred lowering the standards immensely>"wtf why did everyone say game was bad its amazing!"dont look fondly at the good things they left in during previous generations to make the transition to slop less jarring
>>722735430google says it's 0.2 seconds :I
>>722735873>my headcanon
>>722735853I can see summoning, but overlevelling barely does anything in Souls
>>722736431>increasing your attack and defence barely does anything??
>>722736612Scaling is a fucking meme unless you are already at max upgrade level
>>722736431The early game before players can put together an OP build is the hardest part and dumping levels into HP and getting an upgraded weapon makes a huge impact.
>>722708812>weekly ds2 cope threadLet it go man, I get it that your first sovls game will always be special to you but it's been almost 15 years now...
>>722736724it still helps to go beyond the recommended levels. like I remember in ER how I went way too late to castle morne and destroyed Leonine in like 5 swings of the sword.
>>722737087>get into souls series>everyone memes about DaS2 being the black sheep of the series>avoid it until the very end (this is before ER)>want to play more souls>try out DaS2>it's actually the best souls game and I have most hours in itjust proves that /v/ is full of mouthbreeding retards
It has its issues and it's probably the worst souls game in certain regards, but 90% of the common criticism against it boils down to "it wasn't like this in Dark Souls"It's mainly disliked by those that treat the series like an immersive experience with a deep story, while those that treat it like a game are more lenient on it (for example when I played it on release I didn't think twice about the infamous elevator because I had no preconception about the world needing to be cohesive and interconnected, I just viewed it as a level transition)
>>722737452>it wasn't like this in Dark SoulsValid criticism
>>722737452I mean yeah that's the fate of every DS sequel. you're not allowed to be less than perfect. it's what happens when you're the goat.
>>722708812It's a really good game but not a very good dark souls game, people expected too much from it and everything that's wrong with this game can be fixed with a patch. Due to the limitations of the consoles, the game's lighting system and graphics were toned down, the gameplay was butchered from fantasy explorer game to a mesh of dark souls 1 and what already was there. There are tons of places where devs lazily pulled out textures and objects and they look bland and weird, hitboxes are also bullshit but again that can be fixed and since you can infinitely respawn it becomes irrelavant. I consider it a 8/10 game on it's own offline and a 9.5/10 online, I really like the chill slow vibe of the game, you slowly progress and it's extremely easy if you take everything apart one by one and do a little prep.
>>722710102Anon I love ds2 but it looks like shit almost all the time, there are very few places that look good and even then you have this empty feeling like something is missing or wrong with the way they look.
>>722737497>>722737606>Valid criticismit is, but it also explains why the reactions of people to the game have been so divided since not everyone viewed it as the awaited sequel to a beloved game.I also think that some people have been overly lenient towards DS3 because "at least it's not as bad as DS2", it's always tough to choose between evaluating a game in a vacuum or as part of a series.I played DS years after DS2 and I agree that the former is vastly better, but I'm kinda glad that I experienced the latter first because this let me appreciate its positive sides without constantly feeling the bitter taste of it shitting on its predecessor's design philosophy
>>722738078>why the reactions of people to the game have been so dividedYeah because DS2niggers never played 1. We already knew this
>>722708812Being "the worst Dark Souls" is not a low bar
Obligatoryhttps://youtu.be/EpSoGZa3Hrw?si=jZB40AXCu7TsK4bS
>>722708812Why did they massively buff all enemy elemental resistances in the DLCs? Were spells really that overpowered in the base game?
>>722738610Mostly lightning
>>722738610Pyromancy was already garbage in the base game. I have no idea why did they do it. At least there's a mod to remove these artificial resistances.https://www.nexusmods.com/darksouls2/mods/1417?tab=description
It's just the worst dark souls game but still a very good and fun game.4chan is a place where nuance dies so it gradually got morphed to "DaS2 is the worst game of all time"
>>722738610Some projectile spells are very strong in that they are safely spammable, the AOE spells however are ass because they are only allowed to deal full damage on the first hit (except for heavenly thunder lmao). There are hardly any forms of damage buffs for spells and DLC enemies have more health so it was definitely overkill.
>>722738610It's because sorcery and pyromancy were utterly broken in DaS1 (and sorcery in DeS as well) to the point you did not even have to engage with the combat system
>>722738848>Pyromancy was already garbageIt's situational, some enemies are surprisingly weak against fire.
>>722720776Damn this is cute af, best girl
>>722739585>a merchant who owns a little girl>you could possibly buy her
>>722729847so it is exactly like all the other Souls games
>>722738986In base game before scholar, some merchants sold infinite amounts of the grasses which give you more spell casts which made pyromancy pretty damn good, had some super powerful spells limited by amount of casts
>>722710102>7th gen game ran at 60fps on 8th gen hardwarewoah
>who the fuck started the bullshit lie that it's horrible?Anyone who played it. Combat feels bad. Art design is awful. Enemy animations are awful. Player animation is awful. Lighting is super inconsistent. Zombies bob around like goof retards. Bad guys look like Seth MacFarlane characters rather than FromSoft characters. All weapons are floaty. All spell effects look like PS2 era. Soundtrack is bad despite being Motoi Sakuraba. Bosses are forgettable. Areas are unlikable. Enemy encounter design is all Duke's Archives quality or below. Stamina feels bad.I could go on anon, but it's obvious that it sucks and you suck for posting about it.
>>722740198agreed with everything but did you mean Todd McFarlane?
>>722734941>full blocks with a shieldI always get surprised when I see people do this. Absolutely fucking pathetic.
>>722740198the first 2 weeks of DS2 launch were the most fun I've ever had playing a video gameI leveled adaptability (the stat that literally says it makes you invincible for longer, btw) while every one else was fucking moron str / dex builds and I got most of my levels just farming people in Belfry Luna as a Bellkeepershit was so fucking awesome man. we'll never get that again.
>>722737161imagine being me and playing souls for like 15 years and dark souls 2 is your favourite but hardly anyone liked it so all the cool features you liked are never seen again.
>>722740636lol yes
>>722741048what did he mean by this?
>>722708812DS2, great game. Still talked about even today.
>>722740636>eth MacFarlane characters rather than FromSoft characters. All weapons are floaty. All spell effects look like PS2 era. Soundtrack is bad despite being Motoi Sakuraba. Bosses are forgettable. Areas are unlikable. Enemy encounter design is all Duke's Archives quality or below. Stamina feels bad.> I could go on anon, but it's obvious that it sucks and you suck for posting about it.>>>Also, the fact that you recognized what I meant is good proof that this is true.
>>722741527blocking with a shield instead of rolling makes you a fucking fag. crazy how I actually have to explain that.
>>722741802that's what I assumed but then I thought "anon can't be that much of a faggot". still getting triggered by shields, fuckin embarassing.
>>722708812A big reason is that people latch onto names. This one didn't have le Miyazaki.
>>722741990
>>722741527He's too scared to stand there like a man and take his opponent head on.
Eternal threads: Final Fantasy, Dark Souls 2 and Breath of the Wild/TotK.
>DS2: flawed diamond>DS3: polished turdYou can't prove me wrong.
>>722742447I can agree to an extent, yes.
>>722708812best souls games, don't listen to faggots who need to git gud
I really want to like this game and do multiple playthroughs. Already finished it once, and yeah, it has some really good stuff going on. One reason why I have it installed right now is that I want to revisit some areas. Some of them are truly beautiful and enchanting.But damn, something about it also makes me want to not engage with it. I could boot up Bloodborne any time and just blast through some areas (not speedrunning, actually kill anything in sight). But Dark Souls 2? Mental blockade.Also, I have been using the same weapons during this playthrough. Despite the huge amount of gear. But what I would want seems like so far away.
>>722708812I've literally been replaying it this week after re-watching some old pvp content and I'm having a blast way more so than elden ring. Honestly there's a lot of cool stuff in DS2 too, lost sinner fight and having to light the fires to light the room, mythra and draining the poision, power stance, the branching paths straight from the beginning of the game allowing you to go in basically any direction. All the covenants.Sure there are negatives like lots of mediocre boss fights, soul memory fucking online play and lots of gang squad enemy placements but the truth is I like the game I think it has way more going for it than not. DS2 haters are obsessed.
>>722708812Me, starting DS2 immediately after playing DS1>Holy shit, my character's movement feels like complete garbage, what the fuck did they do?>Why does every animation take 1000 years to play now? I have nothing and I'm not happy.>Damn rolling sucks dick now, guess we're too cool to have working controls anymore.>Whoa they ruined the parry animation. Le prepare to le die I guess.>This is literally one of the ugliest games I've ever played in my life.Even after you learn what ADP is, the game still feels trashy on a mechanical level forever. That never goes away. Even 10 years later, it's like jumping into cold water when you boot up DS2 because of how fucking fucked up it's controls are. And that impacts a lot of the rest of the gameplay. Everything in DS2 moves and attacks slow as molasses because you yourself can't fucking move and the game still needs to be technically beatable at base ADP.This isn't even getting into the other fucked up mechanics DS2 has>Making practically every weapon and armor in the game something you have to grind 5% droprate odds for, AND enemies don't respawn forever unless you unlock Hard Mode where they've got double HP and double damage>Need to grind their shitty pvp arena for the right to invade>Invasions get cucked by soul memory regardless>Hilariously aggressive weapon durability decay means they have to put a bonfire every 50 yards>Seriously, invasions (especially solo invasions) were so rare even on launch that you'd be invaded only a handful of times the entire game despite technically being in the invasion poop 24/7 with no opt-out>Fucked up world design and lore that is super noticeable and jarring even on a casual playthrough where you don't really care>WoW-esque enemy designs that don't feel like they belong in the world (see: the lion warriors on the way to Spidertown, or the Dwarves)Grind and jank and grind and jank and grind and jank and grind and jank. That's the DS2 experience.
>>722745674Weird cope considering how things are indeed usually physically connected together in this franchise and that's a major selling point of the environment design
man I'm surprised this game is this active still
Agape ring actually makes it soulful
>>722746878Bro there's smudges on your screen
>>722747517>>722747126>>722747045>>722746878>hit dude once>It true combos into another hit that kills himThis is what pvpsloppers play all day? And I saw like 3 hits that clearly hit tne enemy but somehow did no damage
>>722747540yeah fixing that
>>722710475i shit on DS3 a lot but it makes no sense to call it a boss rush. Hell it would probably have been better if it WAS a boss rush70% of the game is some boring ass normal area with boring normal enemies that is super linear.
>>722708812Dark Souls 2 is a great video game. It's just the worst Souls game.
>>722708812>Another DS2 defender threadBack in the coffin xister
I'm replaying the game (first time was at launch). Where should I use the pharros lockstones?
>>722747660Yeah, it's kino, thought the one-two hit only works on total noobs who never level their hp. I have like a month of footage to compress to 4mb, it progresses.
>>722747848>Where should I use the pharros lockstonesKeep one in your inventory until you get santier's spear
>>722745674Except there is no volcano behind the windmill and when you are inside the Iron Keep you are in the middle of an OCEAN of lava with no windmill in sight.
>>722748006There is a volcano it's just in the distance.
im getting negative polarization memed into liking ds2 again by watching ds 2haters act gay and retarded
>>722748112Don't worry, we already know that people pretending to like 2 are just doing it out of contrarianism
>>722709017>>722709220Wait, what? I never played it past the original, without SotFS. What's this shit?
You know plebbit will be making a return to drangleic in like half a year? Best part about it is total lack of seamless coop for them to hide in.
>>722708812>who the fuck started the bullshit lie that it's horribleUnironically YouTubers Dark souls 2 CREATED the video game YouTube video essay which is why the original narrative that it’s le bad came from. Because it was a novel style of content at the time it captured the public’s perception. It was always reactionary and revisionist, the game was well liked on launch
>>722708812roll more faggot. Dogshit game with nonexistent physics engine, boring aah hard gameplay. Play multiplayer games if u want a challenge, not this AI slop. fuck you
If this was directed by Mitsubishi-san himself you'd be frothing at your mouths running defence for this and claiming it's underrated.
>>722748112DS2 haters are the leftists of the souls community, at the core they make some good points but then they get so gay and over the top that they just push people away from their cause
I might be the only one in the world but I actually like the Fragrant Branch mechanics in SOTFS. It does feel a bit constraining early game, but I have always liked how it made me think about routing and what to prioritize when either for my build, fashion, or other progression. I like getting a Branch and thinking about how I can go to X or Y with it, and X has a good spell/item for my character but is harder than Y and makes me go through Z to get a new branch to unlock Y which is harder still but potentially worth it for the reward item I get from Y. I liked progression in Elden Ring significantly less because I could practically go anywhere and get anything with next to no decision making and so I always ended up dropping it on replays. I know this is a divisive mechanic that definitely leans more towards hated or disliked, but it's a part of the game that actually does make each playthrough feel different to me because I have to make different tangible choices.
>>722749902I like it to, and it's handled better in Scholar than in vanilla. In Scholar you have more branches so you're free to use them to open up vendors and locations quicker and in different orders than you could before. It actually makes the game less linear, because if you want to unlock that vendor or de-petrify Rosabeth in vanilla you pretty much have to beeline through one route to get the branch you want. Where as in Scholar there's one in every location now.
>>722708812It's not a bad game, it's just that the tone, graphics and story are disappointing when compared to the first game, it feels like it wasn't directed by the same guy and it wasn't, It was created by miyazaki's b team and it shows. On its own it's pretty decent, but as a sequel it was a disappointment.
>>722750507>muh first game>muh miyazakiGood, cause it's way better and miyazahacki is everything wrong with the series
>>722708812the exploration gameplay is probably where it shines, no other souls game has something as fun as descending until you reach the black gulch too bad you can only play it for the first time once
>>722708812everything after dark souls 1 but maybe dark souls 3 is trashelden ring is faggot normie propagandathe actual game is just worse dark souls 3 lolstill better than most western slop tho i guess but souls games stopped being fun when it became like osrswhere its about it being a slog for bragging rights not about having funlike our entire society lmao
>>722748112Ironically enough I've seen a lot of content creators claim they were wrong and dark souls 2 is actually good. Could be old good new bad or maybe they ran out of ideas to farm engagement, but eh.
Where DS2 actually feels like one of those old school dungeon crawling arpgs, DS1 tries to be artsy walking simulator slop
>>722711315put bloodborne into great and 3 into okay.
So my normal way of a run is>run to get fire sword in forest of the giants>avoid killing anyone>go kill dragonrider>get the branch of yore in warf>kill flexile>get key from a chest by Lucatiel in bastille>go to Straid, farm souls until you get to 30k SM>get Agape Ring>now you can play the game>up to 39k SM to spend on whatever the fuck you want>go kill Last Giant, Pursuer, unlock bastille blacksmith>get the hammer, it will carry you trough the game>loot everything, it has enough for you to max out a weapon to +10 and infuse it and have extra for level ups>now you can invade>install Blue Acolyte for infinite red eye orbs>play the game to get more stuff to invade with
>>722750760>no other souls game has something as fun as descending until you reach the black gulchhell yes, having a big ominous hole in the middle of the comfy hub was a genius idea, getting to the point that you can just barely survive the drop and then descending deeper and deeper was so memorable. Imagine if they had managed to make the dynamic lighting that was initially planned, is that popular lighting mod good? I want to do another playthrough now
>>722751741>avoid killing anyonewhy do that if you have to farm souls later anyway? You are not gonna get over 40k just by killing mobs along the way
>>722751745What's really great is that DS2 isn't just non-linear, it's actually non linear in the choices you have to progress to any one specific area as well. You can pay a guy to drop ladders for you, you can buy a fall resistance ring to drop in, mages can cast spook and take minimal fall damage that way, you can invest into HP and just tank the fall damage, you can go through Doors of Pharos-fight an optional boss-go through an entirely optional area and come out to Black Gulch that way. And the game does this throughout. You can buy the key to enter Huntmans Copse or just kill the bitch and steal it off her corpse. It's very immersive sim in this way. Goddamn what a game.
>>722751872Just in case, to not overshoot.And after that point you can actually progress your SM to wherever the fuck you want by just spending souls ONLY on shit you need for your build. That means you don't get infinite lifegems making the game actually interesting to play.
>>722746461>Weird copeThe game literally tells you that.
>>722748059No there isn't. And even if there was it wouldn't match what was going on in that picture.
>>722752139I've pirated the game on pc because I already got the og one on ps3 and softs on ps4 (I donìt have either console anymore) but now you are making me want to buy it again just so I can re-experience the online play. I'll get a key though, fuck those namco jews keeping the price so high after all these years
>>722751741I love doing low SM runs as well, and Rape-ier is definitely the cheesiest and the best weapon for it.
So, objectively, DS2 has a fuck ton of flaws, especially on release. >it was rushed so the world has a fuck ton of cut content resulting in shit like volcano on top of the tower. >Soul memory means that every single enemy you kill pushes you up in matchmaking, and if you don't spend it on getting stronger, eventually you will face max level havel monsters>the gameplay became slow compared to ds1>combat became slow as well>you have to invest into a stat to have your rolls working as intended>no infinite invasion item>lifegems make the game piss easy>the level design itself was underwhelming in terms of challengeI could go on but I would exceed the symbol limitSOFTS fixed a lot though>agape ring while is a crutch allows you to become the predator on SM and catch all the tseldora set wearing schmucks >levels rehashed, actually have a challenge now>a bunch of npc invader phantoms and npcs to summon>extra contentThe game became a lot more lively, and previously what was just shit became a knowledge check and additional challenge that is interesting and your reward is the ability to dunk on anyone your SM
>>722752643The only downside is rats and bell zones are not active at all and you have to get higher to have fun with them.
>>722753058when I did a coop playthrough with a friend I accidentally stood near the old bitch with my butterfly wings, so basically I couldn't buy lifegems until tseldora, which was fun.But then I farmed a bit for some equipment and we could no longer summon each other because our SM was too different, which was definitely not fun
>>722753387They did add the name rings for make it easier, but yeah SM is still shit for that, but it's manageable if you have the brackets open in a tab and coordinate. Easy enough to do early by consuming souls from the inventory.
>>722708812>who the fuck started the bullshit lieLiteral niggers, aka people who started the series with DS3 or worse, elden ring.
>>722710569Such a brutal webm. It makes DS2 look a generation above DS3.
>>722753772I'm just waiting for seamless co-op to drop for 2. At that point it will essentially fix soul memory, especially if they preserve PvP the way Elden Ring's did. Seamless co-op where one of your party members can just be yoinked into the Rat Zone sounds extremely funny.
>>722753826It was considered horrible by everyone who started with Demon's Souls and Dark Souls 1For the longest part DS2 lovers were the ones who started with it, we called them "ds2 kiddies" back then. At the moment the game is good with critical flaws crutched, which makes for a soulful experience.
>>722711129Anybody can say what they want about how DS2 looks, but it near-objectively has some of the most beautiful skyboxes in gaming. The only skyboxes post-PS3 release that give me the same feeling that Spyro skyboxes did to me as a kid.
>>722754257This is something that 3 was sorely missing. While it is cool that 3 has you able to see any area from anywhere else in the game in the distance, at the same time outside of a few instances like Irithyll, it completely lacks the "wow" factor of walking out of some transitional area and ending up in this insane looking place with a gorgeous sky and adventure ahead. Elden Ring is a bit better at it but the open world means that you only get this sort of thing rarely.
>>722735664>that pic
>>722754039>I'm just waiting for seamless co-op to drop for 2It's in the making? What a shame, another one casualised to hell. Luke should've just stopped with Elden Ring and focus more on making invasions and other connectivity easier.
>>722741208For me it was Iron Keep bridge duels with Crystal Magic Weapon MLGS
>>722754872I was a chaos katana kid back then
>>722754779>casualizedSeamless has invasions so you can't just use it to avoid bad red man anymore. The intent IS to improve connectivity and online play in general because it was always annoying and gay to have to run the same area 3 times to get each of your co-op partners caught up so you can progress.Because of Soul Memory and the many robust but functionally useless covenant options in the game (black crystal for rats, anyone?) and retarded shit like being unable to do a full co-op Covenant of Champions run if you prefer the difficulty, 2 is arguably the game that most needs a massive overhaul like this.
>>722755195>Seamless has invasions so you can't just use it to avoid bad red man anymore.It has a setting that allows you to just turn them off, sadly. Granted, it IS an "i suck cocks because i'm a loser" button essentially, but still I strongly dislike the ability to turn off invasions that mod provides, as well as the original issue of splitting the playerbase for less connectivity between vanilla and the mod.
>always get a itch to play ds2 again>never get the same itch for ds1 or 3really don't know why there is something about ds2 that really won me over
>>722708812>who the fuck started the bullshit lie that it's horrible?tl;dr: rushed development ruined this game, it would definitely be better than elden shit, which is better than ds3, but that ain't saying much
>>722721379kino>>722721991shut the fuck up
>>722755548because it has most replayability with the best NG+ that adds new mobs and highest weapon varietyand DLCs are mostly kino - so you have more content than other Souls
>>722754165Vile ai generated slop
>>722754165what weapon is this? looks fun
>>722756074Just the regular Zweihander
>>722756164fire infused and fire buffed
>>722752039>go through Doors of Pharos-fight an optional boss-go through an entirely optional area and come out to Black Gulch that wayWhat?
>>722758498He means the other rat covenant area, you can skip it
You can see that certain parts of it were made with care and passion. But some of the ganks are nonsense. Some of the hit boxes are atrocious. Some of the “traps” are nonsensical.
Man what a good thread. You can see that this game is still actually played by people here. What a stark contrast to BG3 shill threads holy shit. They ban you for showcasing gameplay there
>>722734323250 in elden ring all bosses max weapon nothing else
>>722759428based
>>722749902branches are the ultimate casual filter, deciding whether to use your first branches on heading to shaded woods, doing early bastille, unlocking Straid for early boss weapons/spells, etc. are more interesting choices than nearly anything else in the series will offer you especially dog shit 3
It is my favorite Dark SoulsThe lore is the most compelling of them all. DaS1 was awesome but 2 has this feeling of grand adventure. 3 is just a grey swamp gauntlet.
>>722759428I love 2 threads because even people who hate the game actually talk about the mechanics and why they don't like it in relatively tangible ways.>>722760775I don't really know if I 100% agree with the lore, but 2's somewhat bizarre and often criticized disjointed level transitions and inconsistent spatial distances actually makes the game world feel much bigger than it is and make it feel like more of an adventure through ruined kingdoms. It reminds me much of older Zelda games which similarly made its world feel huge by having contained zones with different geography. This also lends 2 by far the best enemy variety in the series almost.
>>722761143DaS2 has always been the most Zelda-like souls-game.
>>722761143And I'm not the only one who posts webms here, and it doesn't get me banned for showing that moderator's favourite game is garbage
what a dogshit thread. anyway anyone have that image comparing dark souls 2 to minecraft? I've been looking forever
>>722734890Fromsoftware didn't make the remastered version of DS1 anon
>>722754165Wrong. The fake hate only started when ds3 was released.
>>722708812Since nobody bothered to point out why it sucked I'll make an attempt.iframes being tied to a stat instead of weight was a big change that most hated. notice this change wasn't kept into games going forward it was immediately abandoned and swept under the rug.they completely killed the ability to play online by tying matchmaking to total souls earned and not souls spent on leveling. (this got fixed in SotFS but only if you got the item that fixed it and only if you started a new character. any previously made characters were forever ruined.)abysmal level design which honestly isn't that big of a deal but coming from the best designed game of all time to one of the worst left a sour taste in everyone's mouth.awful enemy placement (largely fixed in SotFS)weapons would break in less than 20 swings (fixed in SotFS)worst shrine maiden of all time (bear, seek, seek, lest).basically if you think dark souls 2 is awful, you played before SotFS. If you think dark souls 2 is ok or pretty good, you played after SotFS. If you think Dark souls 2 is great, you're retarded. Anyone who says "ITS ONLY CAUSE YOUTUBERS SAID IT WAS BAD IT'S NOT EVEN BAD!" should be killed on the spot.Don't get it twisted it did some good things. Rat covenant will go down in history as the best covenant of all time (except that it only worked for a little bit until you ruined your character by playing online too much).
>>722763773I started with ds1 and I hated the slow combat of ds2. Original ds2 sucked hard until the dlc.SOFTS is basically an apology tour
>>722761253Maybe that's why i like it so much
>>7227654962 is as fast, if not faster, than 1
>>722766004>>722765496>10 cracked red eye orbthat's something I forgot in my original post. wasn't there no permanent red stone? this game really fucking hated online play.
>>722766393Yeah, Blue Acolyte is sadly a must to play online if you want to invade.You don't waste the orb when you invade with it and it does automatic backups.
>>722708812The actual level design is my biggest complaint I don't care about graphics
>>722723752>game makes you earn basic functionality by dumping 30 levels into an otherwise useless stat just to achieve normalityStockholm syndrome
>>722708812>dude it's awesome how come all these people hate it>5 minutes into the gamedumb fuck. too bad i'll miss the thread you start after you get past bowser's castle.
>>722766652It's not otherwise useless though. ADP also raises item use speed, resists, and HP. It's also not the only way to raise your roll iframes and item speed, as Attunement also raises your agility.
>>722708812I love it, I do think it's pretty unclear where you're supposed to go after reaching the dragon though
>>722766652why is being invincible during a roll "basic functionality" or normal? You can sprint, roll in any direction, jump, attack, block all without any investment. That's what basic functionality is which DS2 doesn't restrict by levels.
>>722766542Probably why I played so much rat covenant on release. I played through the game normally then went back and made two rat exclusive characters and played them until matchmaking broke.
>>722766872>erm, you dont need running water to use a toilet. You can just stomp the shit down over and over and it will go through the pipes. You're not hindered in any way, and in fact if you do have running water that means you're a scrub and dont deserve to play life like an indian
>>722750507there's no A or B team, you can check the credits for the trilogy.
>>722766817>>722766872The fact than you need a stat to have the exact same roll functionality of the previous games or you get basically no i-frames is one of the major gripes with the game that was never fixed.Though mostly you could just get the peasant set and simpleton set and do your bosses and farms like that, the rest is manageable.
>>722709505hes wearing that ring that makes him invisible
>>722708812>who the fuck started the bullshit lie that it's horribleactual trannies, they tend to congregate in ds3
>>722710395ds 2 ruined bosses, made them all too easy. after that everything became a field boss
>>722767172There's nothing to fix. You get more functionality with your roll than you did before all without ever putting a single point into adp
>>722767332You need it close to 20 for enemies like drakekeepers.
>>722767129Then why is ds3 the only good one?
>>722768438No you dont
>>722768623These shill videos are so pathetic jej. Can tell they were all made by redditors, the only group of "people" that like ds2
>>722768623Unfortunately there is a few timings there that would absolutely hit at 3 adp, which makes me suspect infinite i-frames
>>722769186No there aren't.
>>722708812>This game is really fun, who the fuck started the bullshit lie that it's horrible?I don't know but you should rush into the Frigid Outskirts because it is the best part of the game and anyone claiming differently is a fucking faggot.
>>722769357>insert tear filled cope about how you dont get it its SUPPOSED to be shit
>>722767129DS3 had some people from DS2 development and some new ones getting into From, the artists who worked on BB also worked on DS3 too which makes players think that the devs were the same for both games but this isn't true, there were never an A and B team.
>>722769357>Optional co-op intended area in the 3rd DLC is bad therefore the whole game is shitGlad we can agree that DS1 is shit because lost izalith exists
>>722769603>>722768441wrong one sorry
>>722769430>A Dark Souls game is challenging in ways that make you feel like an adventurer more so than fighting a boss where you didn't press the dodge button at the right timeNOOOOO
>>722769357>Frigid Outskirts is the best part of the game I agree but only because it has ponies
>>722765146>a post so objectively correct the contrarians can't engage with it
>>722753058>cut contentin all honesty who cares? "waaah the content was cut" so did almost any game ever released of large scope, its still a very fleshed out complete adventure that never feels rushed>soul memoryIt genuinely sucks during the lategame, it should have simply stopped mattering after 1-3 million or something. But its great on the early game so people cant twink as easily>combat slowit felt so much faster than ds1>rolls working as intendedthe game plays really well without leveling adp, just actually dodge the attack instead of rolling inside of it
>>722708812DS2 is dogshit in comparison to DS1 (or any following game) for the following reasons:>atrocious movement with 8 direction snap dead zone that requires a mod to fix>weird lopsided progression that requires merchant/loot items>enemy design is dogshit>area design is ridiculously linear, save for a few notable exceptions. shulva especially is phenomenal and top 5 souls area>textures look like a monkey's blown out asshole>animations are floaty and weightless>encounter design often consists of throwing 500 enemies at you because dark souls is le hard>hitboxes>iframes are tied to a stat>some of the most frustrating and poorly designed areas in gaming, such as shrine of amana>boss design is uninspired for the most part. very few are actually challenging or memorable>you need to kill 4 bosses because your character can't climb over a tiny rockThe things it did right>powerstancing was way ahead of its time, despite the stat investment balance being ways off>most open-ended game in the series from the start>largest variety of areas>largest variety of weapons/builds until ER came around
>>722770115i dont understand complaining about linear area design in the souls series specially not ds1DS1 areas were predominantly linear in their progression except you can change their route more significantly with interconnection, while ds3 is literal linear hallway simulator. how the fuck does 2 get the flak for it
>>722770115>atrocious movementwe're already trying to gaslight with skill issue feels. The movement is objectively faster, more responsive, and with added functionality like omni sprinting and omni rolling. A DS2 character would literally run circles around DS1 enemies.> 8 direction snap dead zone that requires a mod to fixWhich is why the game feels so responsive and there's nothing to fix. Going from zero to full speed is going to be objectively faster and more responsive feeling with a rectangular deadzone than with a radial one. Look at any pro controller software and they all let you choose your deadzone and will tell you the same thing.
>>722770112ADP is a minor gripe for me at this point, I adapted. What I currently hate the most is arena locked progression of invasion centric cocenants. And not just because of principle of the arena, but because arena will straight up match you up with infinite SM if you want long enough.
>>722754779Seamless has better invasions in ER than vanilla
>>722710102>beautiful lightingWhere?
There's some interview about DS2 after it was revealed Miyazaki wouldn't be directing the game, it was made by some FromSoftware dev.After the interviewer asking about the criticisms From was getting for the whole Miyazaki fiasco, the dev said something along the lines of "before Miyazaki/Dark Souls, the industry thought our games were literal shit/turds". This shit stuck in my mind since, I feel bad for the criticism the old devs at From took only because people that never played any game from the company that wasn't DS1 were obsessed with Miyazaki.
>>722769691>challengingWhere is the challenge? The game is just shit. Its a normie opinion but i agree that scholar ruined the game and cemented its poor reputation
>>722771161asked* ESL moment
>>722708812Yeah ds2 is pretty fun, at least until you remember that literally any other fs game is way more fun.
>>722771161The Miyazaki worship didn’t happen until way after dark souls 2 retard. around after Sekiro won goty or BB at the earliest
>>722771220>Frigid Outskirts isn't challenging after a decade long cope of seething and crying see this is what they do
>>722770115>iframes are tied to a statThis is not a problem at all and is actually an amazing idea of your characters defensive utility of evasion being tied to a stat.The reason adaptability is fucking stupid is because it’s not just I frames it’s also item use. Flasks and gems are so fucking slow at low ADP it almost feels like parody.
>>722708812Its great. The last true Fromsoft game before the rollspam dark ages. Made by the old guard too and it shows. Shadow tower being the best Fromsoft game by far.Miyazaki ruined everything and is a total hack retard
>>722710569damn ds2 mogs ds3 hard
>>7227088121=2>>>>>3
>>722770115Fromsoft games are meant to be weird and hostile. Not some uber polished rollspam ARPG. The shrine of Amana is a masterpiece. If you disagree you dont like Fromsoft
>>722708812I dropped it, combat was even fucking slower than DS1.It is not fun swinging at an enemy and having to tab out for 3 minutes until the animation finishes.
>>722745674Dark souls 2 is so fucking funny lol
>>722770924It still splits the entire invadeable playerbase in two and allows shitters to escape invasions, which is why I'm generally opposed to it.
>>722771161So Shadow tower came out in 1998 and is unquestionably the most high effort and best game of the year. But it was panned because apes wanted to play movie games like MGS or empty fields like Ocarina. Retarded Game journalists have always existed, spectacle is better than gameplay to them. Fromsoft has been filtering casuals from day 1 by making games about gameplay. Something /v/ struggles with today
>>722771413>The Miyazaki worship didn’t happen until way after dark souls 2 retardyou can use google, there's many interviews talking about how Miyazaki saved gaming. He had some cult following even before DS1, why do you think the game was so popular?DS1 fans had big expectations for DS2 and when they heard Miyazaki wasn't going to be the director for the game, many chimped out. Gaming websites/magazines added fuel to the fire by making claims like "the developers are trying to get the Skyrim audience".
>>722709142loldark souls 2 was the only game out of the series (or any soulsborne for that matter) that actively punished players for skipping all the fights and running past everything on the way to the next bonfire/bosshardcore game for fromsofts real fanbase not the tidal wave of braindead normalfags they appeal to with ds3 and beyond
>>722746461Weird cope because only DS1 did this and that was significantly inferior to Kingsfield 4 world design
>>722734941I just noticed he's wearing the archdrake robes, meaning he started with the cleric, but doesn't have miracles equipped. and he also has the red sign summon in his hotbar.
>>722750705Based Trvke, Shadow tower proves Miyazaki is the biggest fraud in the industry.
>>722772907Miyazaki fans are the ultimate secondaries
>>722748223But that's in the original as well. Use fragrant branches to unpetrify statues. SotFS just added more all around the world.No idea why people claim this is bad, they rarely block important shit and you usually have more branches than statues found.
>>722772971I always found ds2 to be the fake fans because the whole "dark souls is good behind its hard" bullshit got doubled down in ds2's marketting and it was really cringe and made me put off playing dark souls as a franchise for a long time. Whichbi kinda regret
>>722773315>No idea why people claim this is badIt's weird. Not nessessary bad, but seems to be implemented not in a meaningful way, just as another gate. SOFTS tried to solve it, but it's still only iseful for 3 things: get straid, get pyromancy girl, get sex bird girl, and that's it.
DS2jeets are relentless scammers.
>>722772821Totally agree anon, honestly I like the whole From catalogue both old and new.Too bad people waste time arguing online with bad faith arguments, all 3 DS games are good and the flaws/jank just adds charm to it imo.
>>722765146I kneel...
>>722773654ds1 was marketed as prepare to die and harder than demons souls
>>722772168It's probably my favorite area, and I knew people were complaining about it before ever going through it myself.Patience is a skill.
DS2 is kino of the highest order
>>722708812It's garbage
>>722772821They wanted Elder Scrolls and got this. Idk why journos weren't giving pre Miyazaki Fromsoft a chance. Dorito Pope mocked AC before he kneel and sucked souls cock.
Prowling Magus & Congregation is the best boss Fromsoft has ever made
>>722774128That would be Covetous Demon
>>722773949It is, but it's sovl
>>722774601>DaS2 troon thinks low-level pvp is sovl
>>722708812Game was very flawed but i will always appreciate it for trying out some many interesting concepts and ideas, with some of them sticking around. It's like the last truly experimental game before From just started stream-lining everything into the modern souls formula.
>>722774751it is sovl, in very souls game. Love me Undead Burg.Love me Wall of Lothric.Love me Limgrave.
>>722751741Of course the pvp twinkfag is a cheater.Just like every pvp webm spammer.
>>722776661The only difference that makes is time spent farming hunters copse for the orbs, your ass is annihilated either way.
>>722776884Who cares about the orbs, being able search for potential invasion on all maps is the problem.
>>722777092>being able search for potential invasion on all maps is the problem.Why
>>722777092Yeah, why? It's improved connectivity. If you want to be a pussy just burn an effigy at a bonfire or some shit.
>>722777196Because it makes invaders too oppressive and common? Clearly From intended them to be confined to their areas.
>>722708812Yeah you haven't hit the part where you kill like 10 bosses back to back that all suck, followed by a monster boss that's even worse
>>722777385>Calls someone a pussy>Invades low level players with a +10 weapon buffed with a NG+ spell
you can meme dog2 not being shit until the end of time, but it's still shit
>>722776884Beautiful fight.FromSoftware totally lost what made these games special with Elden Dogshit Ring.
DS2 fucking sucks and DS2 fans have an obvious humiliation fetish.Literally an entire decade of being shit on and laughed at and they STILL come back for more ahahhaha.
Both DS2 haters and fanboys are retardsTake the DS2 pill
>>722778261Sekiro > Bloodborne > DaS2:SOTFS > DaS:PTDE > DeS (2009) > DaS3 > Nightreign > Elden Dogshit Ring.
>>722777607Get good, burn an aesthetic for a sinner and collect the materials from glowing lizards and playing as a shade. You get a slab in the gas lands.
>>722777936Reminder these posts are from the same low IQ jeetoids that think DS3 rollspam is ok
>>722778531Yeah anon I know how to make twink builds I've made one in every game except demon souls I don't know why you think that you are not a pussy invading dumb low level retards with end game shit. I did it because I'm an asshole and love the hatemail but you don't see me acting like a pvp god spamming shitty wembs two shotting scrubs
I wish somebody would leak the older versions of DS2 already, the game looked quite different.
Why does everyone talk so little in these games? DS1 has the most talkative cast but it's still lacking for a typical RPG. I'm not asking much since I don't like established protags but it wouldn't hurt to throw in more dialogue here and there.
>>722778531>get goodMaking a twink isn't hard. Oneshooting noobs isn't hard.
>>722778429>Sekiro is not a souls game>Ranking BB that high but then DaS3 that low when they are essentially the same game, except that BB runs like a powerpoint presentation
>>722779043I'm calling anyone avoiding invasions a pussy, because it's an objective truth.
>>722779186You have never played Bloodborne.
>>722708812Why was this game so forgettable compared to 2, /v/?
>>722779210And I'm calling a pussy for doing twink invasions because that's also an objective truth
>>722778429Sekiro would have been perfect if they didn't cancel Lady Tomoe and the promised dlc.
>>722778673who said anything about our lord and savior god3?
How do I make the notched whip not blow?
>>722779101
>>722779186>Ranking BB that high but then DaS3 that low when they are essentially the same gameYou have not played BB.
>>722779383I dunno, playing with a major handicap trough the entire game while actively engaging with the online seems a tad different from crying >"nooo please I don't want a bad red man who will remind me i'm not a gamer god"
>>722708812Being worst of a superb series doesnt make it a bad game. There are just fuckton of little things about it that are infuriating when you are used to them not being an issue. Like fog gates not granting invul frames, fuck that with a hammer.
>>722779210>>722779383>>722779754i play offline and only summon npcs. it's more soulful than playing online
>>722778429Your taste isnt consistent unlike mine. Im based as fuckGod tierKingsfield 3 Kingsfield 4 Shadow towerS tierDark souls Dark souls 2 Elden ringA tierKingsfield Kingsfield pilot styleB tier Demons souls Kingsfield 2C tierEternal ring BloodborneD tierEvergrace Shadow tower AbyssFaggot tierDark souls 3 Sword of moonlight 2000 Fuck rollspam and unfinished games
>>722779353>Forgettable>the favorite entry of shit ton of peopleWhat are you even talking about?
All Invaders do is insta-crash your game and/or ddos you.
for me it's every game
>>722779429>>722780135>zoomers think pressing O O O O r1 O O O r1 is "peak"
>>722779754>A major handicap lmao the games aren't hard even at low soul level/memory idk why you are trying this hard to justify yourself just own up to it you are not a pro max level gamer dude you are just invading retards that never stood a chance to kill you and bragging about it here. You are not any better than the idiots crying red man bad
why is the DS2 lighting so fucking good?
>>722780272They are harder because you don't get infinite lifegems, and your character is weaker than it's supposed to be at any given zone past the bastille. In SOFTS it's at least felt. DS2 vanilla was piss easy I agree.
Dark Souls 1 (if played first) > Bloodborne = Sekiro = Elden Ring > Dark Souls 2 > Demon Souls = Dark Souls 3
>>722708812My main complain is that the game is overall ugly
ds2 is kinda comfy because you get allk these gems and herbs and you can pretty easily no bonfire no deat hthe game
>>722780184My most recent invaded me twice and dropped me some humanity's the second time. Then he killed me. He was a straight pyromancer. And I had some fire too so I tried to kill him with it. He was better.
>>722781370>ds2 is kinda comfy because you get allk these gems and herbs and you can pretty easily no bonfire no deat hthe gamedon't forget being a FTH fag and having 1 million different regen and healing spells plus the best and most OP infusion in the game (lightning) you also get access to sunlight blade which stacks with lightning infusion
>>722781159The only time that I felt like it was significantly harder was in BB when I tried to get to the bloodletter early. Killing Ludwig took me some time but one shotting people with the transformed L2 was worth it every other game felt pretty much the same
>>722781113artistry, technology,
KVNO...
unpopular opinion, i know. but I find Dark Souls 2 to be the most fun and its the one I return to when I get the itch. Dark Souls 1 is only fun in the Undead Burg, Parish, and Lower Burg. Dark Souls 3 is too linear and doesn't have the feeling of an adventure like the earlier entries. Elden Ring is too bloated with repetition and I gives me the inverse effect of wanting to explore. picrel is an image of a woman to ensure people look at my post, even if they dont read my words. Thank you.
