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Dark Souls II: Scholar of the First Sin |OT| Your weapons are weak, old man

MilkBeard

Member
Is it me or does the game feel...easier? There seemed to be less enemies in some areas, and I'm picking them off pretty easy.

Perhaps it's just because I've been playing Bloodborne, which feels a bit harder with the faster movements. Enemies seem to die easier in this game.

I chose a Swordsman this time around, wanted to go dual straight off the bat. Perhaps my selection is making it easier this time around.
 
Shieldless run completed. I didn't expect this to go so smoothly at all. I'm pretty sure I beat this game 3x faster than my original run.

The new final boss, Aldia, was pretty simple. I was hoping he would have a humanoid form instead of the weird tree monster with flames.

Not sure how I feel about the new ending. It's cool that we get a choice at the end again though.

Now for the DLC areas.
 

HeelPower

Member
The lighting is amazing.

I love how you can see natural looking rays through crevices for example.

I am gaining a new appreciation for the game.
 

DryvBy

Member
It's too bad the chromatic aberration does its best to hide it.

Yes, I own Bloodborne but the performance is pretty disappointing compared to PC Dark Souls/DS2.

Game plays just fine. 60fps isn't a requirement to look good or have fun. If we went by that standard, nothing compares to Quake III since it can run near 999fps on modern systems.
 

owlbeak

Member
Got this today, skipped it when it came out in hopes of a PS4 version. Going in totally blind! I've played a half hour or so, and man I forgot how the actual Souls games have SO many items. It's been a while since I played DS and DkS1 so I totally forgot about the sheer variety of stuff there is. Especially after Bloodborne where the items were fairly limited in variety.

How outdated is the guide for this game now that SotfS is out? Is it still worth picking up?
 

Rhaknar

The Steam equivalent of the drunk friend who keeps offering to pay your tab all night.
I just realised... shouldn't I have been in that wooden area with the dwarf by now, where there's a statue blocking the way?

I've done
FotG->Lost Bastille->Heide Tower->Huntsman Copse and then stopped at the poison zone
, I forget the name
 

Jobbs

Banned
The NPC at the monument is telling me about different areas, and notably he told me about the hole and that I'd need a ladder. I don't think he said any of this stuff in the original version.

In my first play, I went
down the hole without ever knowing about the ladder guy. I just got the fall damage ring and got high enough vitaltiy and jumped.
 

Rhaknar

The Steam equivalent of the drunk friend who keeps offering to pay your tab all night.
The NPC at the monument is telling me about different areas, and notably he told me about the hole and that I'd need a ladder. I don't think he said any of this stuff in the original version.

In my first play, I went
down the hole without ever knowing about the ladder guy. I just got the fall damage ring and got high enough vitaltiy and jumped.

You meet the ladder guy in the
poison zone
that I can't remember the name. At least you did in vanilla
 
I'm curious whether the PS4 or PC version is preferable. Any early indication as to which is the way to go?

I can't see any reason you wouldn't go with the PC version if it's an option. I mean the PS4 one runs fine and looks good, but you'll have the option for modding if you ever want to on PC.
 

Danny Dudekisser

I paid good money for this Dynex!
I can't see any reason you wouldn't go with the PC version if it's an option. I mean the PS4 one runs fine and looks good, but you'll have the option for modding if you ever want to on PC.

I have literally no interest in mods, whatsoever. It's a non-factor for me.
 

ike_

Member
I'm curious whether the PS4 or PC version is preferable. Any early indication as to which is the way to go?

I can't see any reason you wouldn't go with the PC version if it's an option. I mean the PS4 one runs fine and looks good, but you'll have the option for modding if you ever want to on PC.

Yeah, one of the very few times I'd say the PS4 version performs almost perfectly. But PC version is probably a better investment.
 

That's technically not a different light system. They just expanded screen gamma, like a SweetFX profile.

That's the kind of effect you see when you expand output levels from 16-235 to 0-255. Maybe reapplied twice for added strength.

The effect you obtain is that the bright spots white out, become even whiter, and dark ones are also pushed out, and so all shadows are much darker.

I'm pretty sure that I can take one of those DX9 screenshot and make it appear exactly like a DX11 one with just some calibration.
 
Just get whatever. They are both exactly the same game. Got more friends that play on PS4? Get that. More on PC, then jump in!

I can say that the PC version is super active (obviously) there's NO problem finding people to invade/summon.

The co-op and PvP is so fun.
 
Anyone who thinks that this is just some quick and dirty port could not be more wrong. New enemy behaviors and item placement, enemy remixes and unsuspecting surprises for those of us who have played, crisp 1080p and silky smooth 60 fps. Even the lighting has been improved and we are now closer to what it was supposed to look like.

Screenshot-Original.png

So... do torches actually serve a purpose now?
 

Jobbs

Banned
So I'm doing forest of the fallen giants, and I just cleared the little area where the hilde knight guy used to be sitting at the tree -- (he's gone now, and instead we have like a billion small zombies).

I think it's probably good that they took him out, because his sword -- getting that sword at this point in the game -- kind of trivialized everything else for a while for many builds.

what stands out though, is obviously I'm JUST starting -- and my mace is already about to break. they clearly made weapon durability go down faster. it's so much faster that I must wonder if it's intentional.
 

SRTtoZ

Member
Got this today, skipped it when it came out in hopes of a PS4 version. Going in totally blind! I've played a half hour or so, and man I forgot how the actual Souls games have SO many items. It's been a while since I played DS and DkS1 so I totally forgot about the sheer variety of stuff there is. Especially after Bloodborne where the items were fairly limited in variety.

How outdated is the guide for this game now that SotfS is out? Is it still worth picking up?

I'd stick with an online type guide because a lot of stuff will be outdated from patches and now the remix.
 

ike_

Member
Yes, definitely. The Gutter for example is impenetrably dark without a torch. Helps to play at night!

Speaking of the gutter, has anyone seen these things?


I sure don't remember these from vanilla DS2. Are these like DS2's versions of vagrants or something? I don't remember hearing about new enemies in this version. I noticed this guy this weekend on PC. Did not fuck with him.
 

Jobbs

Banned
I broke my mace and two broken straight swords (so I guess I double broke them) on my way to the tower bonfire in forest of fallen. almost didn't make it. everything just keeps breaking! aghh!

incidentally, one of these soldier zombies before the bonfire dropped a bastard sword. DEFINITELY new loot tables. NEVER had that drop here before in vanilla game.
 

tuna_love

Banned
I broke my mace and two broken straight swords (so I guess I double broke them) on my way to the tower bonfire in forest of fallen. almost didn't make it. everything just keeps breaking! aghh!

incidentally, one of these soldier zombies before the bonfire dropped a bastard sword. DEFINITELY new loot tables. NEVER had that drop here before in vanilla game.
They dropped in vanilla.
 

Beaulieu

Member
so what are these shadows I can summon everywhere from the start ? are these actualy players or npcs ? they don't seem to stay for long.
if these are actual players, the online works way better than in bloodborne.

edit : soloed DS1 without an internet connection so I wouldnt know
 

Kai Dracon

Writing a dinosaur space opera symphony
To be honest I wasn't sure about the new enemy placements early on. My experience with playing through DS2 like five times had conditioned me and the zones felt wrong and broken.

By the time I got to The Gutter however, I have come to prefer this to vanilla DS2. The team that ported this put much more work into rebalancing the flow of the game than it seems like. The Gutter was IMO flat out superior and way more fun, not just because of the darkness (but that contributes).

To me it also feels as if enemy AI, attack patterns (including for bosses) is altered in a lot of cases; some of it can be taken advantage of by a veteran. Affected enemies seem to have more gaps in their offense, and don't spam their cheapest attacks nearly as much. The big hammer and ultra greatsword knights in Heide's were the first good example. I'm not complaining. It has made fighting those enemies less slow and boring.

I did just blow out the first of the (former) DLC areas and it seems that area was not altered in enemy placement to the best of my memory. So I would guess it's just the primary game zones that are affected.
 

Kalnos

Banned
so what are these shadows I can summon everywhere from the start ? are these actualy players or npcs ? they don't seem to stay for long.
if these are actual players, the online works way better than in bloodborne.

edit : soloed DS1 without an internet connection so I wouldnt know

The online does work way better. There are large summoning signs and small signs. I'm guessing you're seeing small sign because they are time/kill based and when the player has helped you enough they are sent back to their own world and rewarded with health/estus charges IIRC.
 

Beaulieu

Member
The online does work way better. There are large summoning signs and small signs. I'm guessing you're seeing small sign because they are time/kill based and when the player has helped you enough they are sent back to their own world and rewarded with health/estus charges.

nice thanks !
 

SRTtoZ

Member
I am loving this game lol I need some advice if anyone is willing to help me!

Im going for a purely melee build my first time through so Ive been leveling up strength and dexterity equally. Gaf, what is one good strength weapon to reinforce and one good dexterity-based weapon to reinforce?

Also, for those that have beaten the game, will I find enough titanite to reinforce multiple weapons to the max?

What you're going for is called a Quality Build, look it up. A great STR weapon to me, if you want something big would be the Large Club. I think it has S scaling in STR eventually when upgraded and it hits like a truck. Also an amazing weapon with a great moveset is the Giant Warrior club. The size is ridiculous and it has a great moveset, especially rolling L1. You can farm materials so you can upgrade a lot of weapons if I recall correctly.

I'm curious whether the PS4 or PC version is preferable. Any early indication as to which is the way to go?

I own both versions, Vanilla on PC and the new one on PS4. Honestly theres really no difference except for having some trade in value if you go with a physical PS4 version. I chose PS4 because of Trophy support but that still isnt a big deal.
 

Jobbs

Banned
the rate at which everything breaks is making the early game much more challenging. I'm using every random little crap weapon I can get my hands on because nothing lasts.
 

Robot Pants

Member
I'm honestly liking the changes to this game a lot.
The new enemies are better in my opinion and they got RID of the annoying ones like the ones near Straid, etc.
Having the pursuer follow you around the game is how it should have been the first time. Lovin it
 

Veggy

Member
Was not interested in buying this initially due to the countless hours spent working on the official guide + all the hours spent post vanilla/dlc release, but after watching a stream today it seems the game is different enough to get me back into it
 

Massa

Member
Was not interested in buying this initially due to the countless hours spent working on the official guide + all the hours spent post vanilla/dlc release, but after watching a stream today it seems the game is different enough to get me back into it

That's exactly why I want to get it. Changing things up for this port was a brilliant move on their part.
 

Jobbs

Banned
Did they remove the
shortcut to the cardinal tower?
the one by breaking the wall? I can't get the wall to break.
 

Handal

Member
Man I want to buy this game but I don't know if my GPU good enough for it..

I have a GTX 560TI and an I5 2500K overclocked to 4.5ghz.

I'm wondering if I should buy this on PC or on my PS4. Any help ? :/
 

Mutagenic

Permanent Junior Member
After messing around with this a bit on my PS4, I decided to just stick with my vanilla DS2 on PC for now. The one thing I've noticed is the crazy amount of analog stick dead zone while using an XB1 controller as opposed to playing with a DS4 on my PS4.
 
wow the gangbanging is insane now, FOFG and HT are both def harder than they used to be o_O the stronger enemies are much more numerous and i'm only an hour in. hopefully i can fight to the agape ring tomo since i'm at the corpse for the skelly lords
 
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