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[SRTtoZ]

Welp, beat Bloodborne tonight, amazing experience, so I'm gonna take a week off, play a few backlog TellTale games, and get ready for some DS2 next Tuesday on PS4. Have it paid off in full so I can't wait, its been a while since I played it, and I missed all the DLC's. 60fps is gonna feel so nicee!

 

[Coldsun]

This lack of the new version STILL not being on Steam sucks. I mean I love the team, but whoever is in charge of getting this stuff up on Steam is really letting me down.

 

[pupcoffee]

Never played this before. But I'm going in with faith that the enemy changes will be better than the original game.

 

[Rivitur]

So did we finally get the lighting of what they showed before the game came out of did they have to scrap that again on current gen? Also how are the load times on ps4?

 

[Miletius]

I think I'm going to pick this up at some point. I never finished DS2 (bad timing, was right in the middle of moving when it came out) and I wouldn't mind playing a complete/remixed version.

Probably not for $ 30 though. I'll pick it up when it's on sale (perhaps during the summer sale), depending on price.

 

[XANDER CAGE]

I just beat Bloodborne and I'm pretty excited to play 2 again, even with all my gripes. Feels good to be eating so much as a Souls fan all of a sudden.

Have to wait for PS4 I guess, though, so I have another week to run chalice dungeons. Curious to see what the DX11 changes are first, though.

 

[-tetsuo-]

If you want to see how wonderfully overblown the ENB effect got on PC, you can check out this video I captured. Just mute it to avoid the DOTA2 skype conversation lol

 

[Augemitbutter]

will get after i finish BB. what a great year.

 

[h3ad0rZ]

If I have game and all DLCs on ps3, can I get "upgrade" on ps4 for 20$? Or is this only effective for PC?

 

[Sajjaja]

I just beat Bloodborne and I'm pretty excited to play 2 again, even with all my gripes. Feels good to be eating so much as a Souls fan all of a sudden.

Have to wait for PS4 I guess, though, so I have another week to run chalice dungeons. Curious to see what the DX11 changes are first, though.

Whoa.....when did you become a mod....


Also, I'm really tempted to buy it because I haven't played it, but I think I might just wait for a sale instead.

 

[aravuus]

Still not up on Steam? I wonder how much the upgrade will be for EU folk who own the season pass. I kinda want to jump back in after Bloodborne and give a GS no-shield build a try.

 

[Mogwai]

Never played this before. But I'm going in with faith that the enemy changes will be better than the original game.

To be honest, the bosses were more of a "problem" than the enemy placements.

 

[Orochinagis]

Why should they skip the best Souls game?

Why would anyone who enjoyed BB would skip any of the souls series so far =)

 

[Sajjaja]

To be honest, the bosses were more of a "problem" than the enemy placements.

What's wrong with the bosses?

 

[Hypron]

I really liked the game but I'm not sure I want to go back to it just yet. I got all the achievements twice and that's enough for me for a while haha. I'll probably be playing Bloodborne in the near future anyway.

I'm keen to hear what people think about the remixed enemy locations though.

In terms of difficulty how would everyone rate the series from hardest to easiest now that Bloodborne has been out for a little bit?

For me it's Bloodborne (hardest) >= Dark Souls 2 > Dark Souls > Demon's Souls (easiest).

Demon's Souls has simple bosses (it's only got 2 or 3 challenging ones and even then they're not that bad if you are levelled up properly) and most normal enemies are simple (there are a couple of exceptions though).

Dark Souls has more skill based bosses, especially in the DLC. Dark Souls 2 vanilla is about the same difficulty apart from a couple of areas that are borderline bullshit (like the Dragon Shrine). However, the DLCs ramp up the difficulty significantly - the DLC areas are basically NG+ difficulty in NG. They have a number of bosses that are more challenging than anything in DaS (Fume Knight, Burnt Ivory King, the coop bossfights).

For me Bloodborne is overall the hardest — it's the most skill intensive game of series due to the fact you don't have access to shields. Normal enemies are overall more challenging and some bosses are actually hard like the early game bosses (the cleric beast's the hardest first boss in the "series" by far), some of the optional bosses and the later Chalice Dungeon bosses.

 

[Orochinagis]

What's wrong with the bosses?

Horrible hitboxes, humanoid bosses, lots of mid bosses that shoulnt be bosses at all, re skin bosses of older bosses and re used bosses from the main game on the DLC

 

[Mogwai]

What's wrong with the bosses?

Nothing per se. But there have been countless arguments that the bosses were cheap because they just spam multiple mobs to increase the difficulty. Basically, it's a cheap way increase difficulty by making the player fight a gank squad. Secondly, people complained about that there are too many humanoid type bosses. According to my own quick math, Demon's and Dark 1 had around ~20% humanoid bosses. Dark 2 was almost on 40%.

But at the end of the day, this can't be changed. But I never thought that enemy placements were a serious issue. It's an easy way to make the game feel more fresh, though.

 

[Hypron]

Nothing per se. But there have been countless arguments that the bosses were cheap because they just spam multiple mobs to increase the difficulty. Basically, it's a cheap way increase difficulty by making the player fight a gank squad.

I wonder what those people have to say about the S

Spoiler

hadow of Yarhman

, the W

Spoiler

itches

, R

Spoiler

om

and a couple of the chalice boss fights then (mind you, most Bloodborne bosses are better designed but they're still "spamming multiple mobs to increase the difficulty").

It's not like DaS 2 has a lot of those multi-enemy boss fights either.

 

[Marvel]

Oh I forgot about this. Will pick it up.

Never did try DS2.

 

[PensivePen]

It's not like DaS 2 has a lot of those multi-enemy boss fights either.

It has by far the most of them of any of these games.

 

[Hypron]

It has by far the most of them of any of these games.

It also has by far the most boss fights of any of these games...

 

[aravuus]

It wouldn't be a DkS2 thread without all the unnecessary negativity lol

 

[CrackaF3tt]

Why can't every game as perfect the paragon of animations, physics and hit detection that is Miyazaki-san's masterpiece Bloodborne?

I just have to reply with my gif http://www.gfycat.com/SardonicGlumGnatcatcher

 

[Lamneth]

It wouldn't be a DkS2 thread without all the unnecessary negativity lol

Game has many flaws, deal with it.

 

[Mogwai]

I wonder what those people have to say about the S

Spoiler

hadow of Yarhman

, the W

Spoiler

itches

, R

Spoiler

om

and a couple of the chalice boss fights then (mind you, most Bloodborne bosses are better designed but they're still "spamming multiple mobs to increase the difficulty").

It's not like DaS 2 has a lot of those multi-enemy boss fights either.

That was my (and many others) problem with Dark 2. The developer didn't really make some interesting multi-enemy boss fights. They just seemed to copy/paste the bosses.

Spoiler

Ruin Sentinels, Gargoyles (intended copy/paste), Skeleton Lords, Dragonriders.

As for BB, this is why I also think that

Spoiler

Shadow of Yharnam

is a lame fight. It's a classic example of a copy paste boss.

Spoiler

Rom

and

Spoiler

Witches

are passable IMO.

 

[aravuus]

I just have to reply with my gif http://www.gfycat.com/SardonicGlumGnatcatcher

That scared the shit out of me the first time it happened

Game has many flaws, deal with it.

Hahahahaha, holy shit. Great post, dude.

 

[Shinjica]

Game has many flaws, deal with it.

 

[Fallout-NL]

Never had anything like that happen to me in DkS2. Not even once.

I really think people exaggerate.

And as for the whole 'lock-on' and tracking that the enemies do. GOOD. If not, you'd just walk around and backstab half of them as you did in DkS1. It fixed an issue that needed to be fixed.

Indeed, never once had that happen either. Hitboxes in DkS2 are fine.

 

[dragn]

What's the cheapest option for getting the DirectX 11 version? I found this website which is supposedly selling Steam keys for $22, but the site looks super ghetto and there's no way to tell whether this is the DX11 or DX9 version.

i emailed them and they say its the dx11 version

 

[Ferr986]

Game has many flaws, deal with it.

All Souls games have faults. But there's no need that we have to go with the same shit in EVERY DS2 thread. I mean, EVERY one.

 

[Kurt Russell]

What's the cheapest option for getting the DirectX 11 version? I found this website which is supposedly selling Steam keys for $22, but the site looks super ghetto and there's no way to tell whether this is the DX11 or DX9 version.

I wouldn't buy anything there, they are selling Blizzard CD keys, which is basically the same as saying "we are not legit!"

 

[Ninja Kn1ght]

Does anyone know if the Steam upgrade will create a second entry in your library? I'd like to have both available if it's possible.

 

[Coldsun]

Does anyone know if the Steam upgrade will create a second entry in your library? I'd like to have both available if it's possible.

It should, yes.

Sigh, 6 p.m. ET can't come soon enough.

 

[AuthenticM]

God, I wish I could afford it right now.

 

[fantomena]

Will it cost 60$ on US PSN?

 

[Noisepurge]

this is coming out way too close to bloodborne will buy this saaay next september or something, after Metal Gear Solid 5.

 

[Kiyo]

What's the cheapest option for getting the DirectX 11 version? I found this website which is supposedly selling Steam keys for $22, but the site looks super ghetto and there's no way to tell whether this is the DX11 or DX9 version.

Use a more reputable site (well, as reputable as the grey market can get) like g2a or kinguin that offers protections/refunds for the same price.

 

[SkylineRKR]

Its in the mail at home, waiting for me to unpack when i'm done.

Though I still have to wrap up Bloodborne and want to make a Bloodtinge build. Choices...

I do think though that BB is the hardest game of all these. Stat building is easier but you need to be in melee range all the time. For me its that much of an issue I always went with 2 handed builds in Souls, actually BB has more forgiving stamina and i frames. But yeah I still think its the hardest because of every boss seems to be a melee flamelurker fight.

Demon's has the easiest boss encounters, but has the toughest progression. The shortcuts weren't that close to the bosses. Difficult enemies wouldn't be a one time kill, red eyes and other bastards kept respawning. And it has Giant depraved in swamps where your movement was REALLY limited compared to swamps in sequels. Let alone Pure black with BP versions of those.

 

[allangelsgone]

I wonder what those people have to say about the S

Spoiler

hadow of Yarhman

, the W

Spoiler

itches

, R

Spoiler

om

and a couple of the chalice boss fights then (mind you, most Bloodborne bosses are better designed but they're still "spamming multiple mobs to increase the difficulty").

It's not like DaS 2 has a lot of those multi-enemy boss fights either.

I liked and disliked DaS2, still it left a bad taste in my mouth this past year. The bosses from Bloodborne you mentioned and other past mob bosses always had a way to make it fair. The first boss you mention needs to be killed fast to become easier or in a certain order, the second one has a health that's static the second time you meet them, and the final had plenty of weaknesses to be easy to handle (slow and plenty of room). The bosses in Dark Souls 2 are pure ganksquad difficulty and ruined the game for me. No one can justify what the Darklurker did to me as a melee build. Dark Souls 2 made me summon people and when I really needed help they didn't allow summoning.

It's a badly designed Souls copy of a game with none of the fairness I've come to expect from the series. It felt like "lol difficult and hardcore" without understanding what Souls is really about. And all the changes that I hated with mobs seem to be getting worse with this update. This combined with tracking and bad hitboxes are the worse sinners. Note however that even a bad Souls game is a great game in my opinion.

 

[Fix The Scientist]

this is coming out way too close to bloodborne will buy this saaay next september or something, after Metal Gear Solid 5.

I don't get the timing of this release at all, really weird.

 

[Kiyo]

I don't get the timing of this release at all, really weird.

I think it's to capitalize on all the people without PS4's. They'll get a lot of people that read all these great reviews of Bloodborne but don't have a PS4 wanting the next best thing and here it is. Sales for people who finished Bloodborne and want to play Dark Souls 2 on PS4 is just bonus.

 

[Hypron]

I liked and disliked DaS2, still it left a bad taste in my mouth this past year. The bosses from Bloodborne you mentioned and other past mob bosses always had a way to make it fair. The first boss you mention needs to be killed fast to become easier or in a certain order, the second one has a health that's static the second time you meet them, and the final had plenty of weaknesses to be easy to handle (slow and plenty of room). The bosses in Dark Souls 2 are pure ganksquad difficulty and ruined the game for me. No one can justify what the Darklurker did to me as a melee build. Dark Souls 2 made me summon people and when I really needed help they didn't allow summoning.

There are far better examples of gank squads (like, the actual gank squad boss fight in the first DLC) in Dark Souls 2 than Darklurker. Even when it splits in two it's still completely feasible to avoid all its attacks. You just need to move around (not locking on helps) and dodge. It requires a different approach from your average Souls boss but it's a good boss fight in my opinion once you get to grips with it.

Apart from the Gank Squad in the first DLC and the first phase of the Burnt Ivory King, I don't actually get why people find those boss fights with multiple enemies hard, they are all simple and are all balanced around the fact you face several enemies at once.

They are not handled as well as the aforementioned Bloodborne fights, but they do many things similarily - they do have tricks to make them simpler (kill the first sentinel before coming down, kill the skeleton lords in the right order to keep the most annoying skeletons for the end of the fight, spread damage across the throne defender and watcher to prevent them from reviving each other, kill the bow wielding dragonrider first, etc...).

Spoiler

On a related note, I'm pretty sure if the hidden village 3 man gank squad was in Dark Souls 2 we'd get lots and lots of B team talk.

 

[elhav]

Man people really dislike the game around here.

Somehow it's my favourite in the series. Demon's souls was the better game but I still like DS 2 better.

Maybe it's the atmosphere? The world? I dunno.

Gonna wait till the price is low and finally have another playthrough. Actually made me excited to see all the improvements they made.

 

[GrandHarrier]

I'll just be happy to return to a game with a shield. Bloodborne made me realize how much I enjoy the combat flow in proper Souls games. I also don't have the same hangups others seemed to have with DkS2.

 

[def sim]

I don't get the timing of this release at all, really weird.

Scholar of the First Sin is on five platforms and Bloodborne is on one.

 

[Nere]

Everyone seems to hate Dark Souls 2 but to be honest its my favourite from the Souls series (havent played Bloodborne yet). Sure the original Dark Souls was better in some regards like bosses and level design but the quality of the game dropped so much after Anor londo. As for Demons souls i never liked the idea of a hub and teleporting around never liked that style a world in a game.

 

[Retrozocker]

Maybe it's the atmosphere? The world? I dunno.

I think the atmosphere is this "something" that a lot of people are missing in DkS2. For me too. If you play DeS and DkS1 and now Bloodborne before DkS2 youll just notice immediately that Myazaki was not on board. It just doesnt have the soul that the other three have. All other complaints are always about specific parts of the game like pvp players didnt like DkS2 because how matchmaking worked due to soul memory.

 

[Fallout-NL]

Think there's going to be a whole bunch of new believers on PS4 as well after having played Bloodborne. In fact (anecdotal evidence), two of my friends are finally getting in on this now that Bloodborne convinced them (where I failed over the last year in attempting to enlighten them on the matter) . Odds are this is going to sell just fine on PS4.

I think the atmosphere is this "something" that a lot of people are missing in DkS2. For me too. If you play DeS and DkS1 and now Bloodborne before DkS2 youll just notice immediately that Myazaki was not on board. It just doesnt have the soul that the other three have. All other complaints are always about specific parts of the game like pvp players didnt like DkS2 because how matchmaking worked due to soul memory.

While not as cohesive as the other games, it's got plenty of heart. Majula theme is fucking great for instance.

 

[Foffy]

Man people really dislike the game around here.

Somehow it's my favourite in the series. Demon's souls was the better game but I still like DS 2 better.

Maybe it's the atmosphere? The world? I dunno.

Gonna wait till the price is low and finally have another playthrough. Actually made me excited to see all the improvements they made.

I think the things I find it lacking compared to the previous game are really big standouts, particularly the world design. So many places seem so incoherent, and that stands out, as the previous game went out of its way to try to fit the locations it had with some logic. No elevator should go up from a windmill to fire mountains and castles, but if it went down, that'd make sense. I also thought the bosses and characters weren't particularly memorable, save for Vendrick and his story. Mind you, I did not touch the DLC, which is almost universally regarded as the saving grace and high point of the game; in fact, I put the game down because of the announcement of DLC after they claimed they had zero interest in ever making such stuff. To compare the Souls games to its predecessor franchise King's Field, Dark Souls II has a lot of the same criticisms that King's Field III had to its previous game. Not that either game is garbage, mind you; it only stands out when comparing, and comparing is always a slippery game.

Maybe this version will have enough changes and improvements to interest me again. I think the world building is kind of a lost cause, but I can let some of that slide. I for one hope the game forces darkness that requires a shield, or at the very least needing to break the brightness instead of trying desperately trying to find a purpose to it, save for the few mandatory points it's needed to just unlock things.

 

[funkystudent]

I would pick this up but I recently played Dark 1 and now Bloodborne. I dont want to burn myself out on Souls.

Will wait for a few months and get it cheap when I need a new meaty game. Seems like a great package though.