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I’m beginning to see a lot of renewed interest in Dark Souls 2 following Elden Rings release. There are some aspects of Elden Ring that are drawn more from DS2 than any other installment.

I’ve always considered the hate for DS2 completely unjustified and I’m almost 100% convinced that a lot of people always hating it never actually played/finished it. It’s just become part of the community to shit on DS2. Sure, it takes quite a while to get used to the general ”feel” of DS2 compared to the other entries but DS2 has a ton of great mechanics that went missing in later installments (Bonfire ascetics, lifegems, Company of Champions equivalent, a much more ”scary” pvp-system etc.)

Will we see a resurgence of ”new” DS2 players finally admitting they never actually played it and sing its praise once they realize its actually a really strong entry in the From Softwares work? Is anyone else noticing this trend?

I should add that I have only played the SotFS Edition and that it might influence my overall positive view of the game.

 

[AV]

It's still a good game, it's just absolutely the worst Soulsborne game.

 

[The Cockatrice]

Before Elden RIng it was still good to play. After, dunno, doubt it. Only if you're not bored of playing practically the same game with less stuff. DLC bosses are great tho, better than most ER bosses.

 

[kanjobazooie]

DS2 ❤

 

[John Bilbo]

Dark Souls 2 was the first Souls game I finished so it has a special place in my heart.

 

[Ezquimacore]

Elden Ring players should actually play Nioh 2, the best souls game out there.

 

[PuppetMaster]

I liked DS2 far more than DS3.

Especially because DS3 was after Bloodborne. And I felt DS3 was a step backwards from that.

Also DS2 was a pretty good looking PS3 game. But DS3 was a PS4 game. And I had much higher expectations. And it was barely improved over DS2.

Also I liked all the PvP challenges built into DS2. I remember the PvP as memorable.

 

[The Cockatrice]

Elden Ring players should actually play Nioh 2, the best souls game out there.

Only if they like garbage level design.

 

[GymWolf]

If anything, elden made me want to play sekiro again...

 

[Yumi]

If Elden Ring is a players first From Software game, I can see them checking out the rest of the catalog. Though I doubt most of them will prefer Dark Souls 2 to it.

Personally, Elden Ring hasn’t made me want to go back to any of the previous From Soft games, and I liked them all.

 

[Ezquimacore]

Only if they like garbage level design.

They'll be too busy enjoying the best combat a souls game has to offer to notice.

 

[Larxia]

I always loved Dark Souls 2 and never understood the hate.

Yes, like many people, I prefer how clever and well connected the world of Dark Souls 1 is, this was my biggest disappointment with DS 2 back then, however, something to really keep in consideration is that it's only the case for the first half of dark souls 1, the second half being really awful in comparison. And Dark Souls 1 was the only one like this, Dark Souls 3 gave up on that too with the teleportation available right from the beginning of the game, the more linear design etc. Dark Souls 2 was very criticized for this, but no other souls games ever did it like Dark Souls 1. I feel like it got criticized because it came right after DS 1, people were disappointed by this, then DS 3 came, and even if the issue was still here, people somehow forgave it this time because there was Miyazaki.

Dark Souls 2 had a great atmosphere, great areas with lot a variety, and most importantly, the best gameplay in the series. It's very reactive and precise, when Dark Souls 1 was a bit too heavy / slow, and dark souls 3 was too floaty. The amount of build variety is insane, you can do so many things. It's very balanced, unlike dark souls 3 where weight doesn't have that much impact anymore and playing with a heavy build is recommended since a dex build won't be much faster anymore in comparison to the damage they deal.

The PVP was also the best in the series by FAR. It was amazing.

I haven't played Elden Ring yet because I'm waiting for the PC issues to be hopefully fixed at some point, so I can't compare them yet.

 

[RoboFu]

Idk .. there is a lot I like about DS2 pacing and progression.

 

[Captain Toad]

Dark Souls 2 is the most underrated game ever.

But, Elden Ring is the better game.

 

[The Cockatrice]

They'll be too busy enjoying the best combat a souls game has to offer to notice.

You misspelled Sekiro. But sure, it's pretty nice with all the weapon stances.

 

[Y0ssarian]

Elden Ring players should actually play Nioh 2, the best souls game out there.

I will, after I'm done with Stranger of Paradise. Should I skip Nioh 1

 

[Larxia]

You misspelled Sekiro. But sure, it's pretty nice with all the weapon stances.

I don't think people should compare Sekiro with Souls all the time, for me it's completely different.

I personally really didn't like the combat system of Sekiro. I was very confused at first because of how hard it is to remove health from bosses, then a friend showed me how it's supposed to be done, and I actually found it boring because just parrying over and over until you can finish the boss kind of feel like there isn't actually any combat, I feel like I have to wait until the game tells me "okay, now you can kill the boss", it's a really special feeling, one that wasn't for me.

 

[Ezquimacore]

I will, after I'm done with Stranger of Paradise. Should I skip Nioh 1

Nioh 2 is a prequel and is better than 1, although Nioh is fantastic too. But if you only wanna play one game, then should be 2.

 

[nightmare-slain]

Dark Souls 2 is my favourite Dark Souls game. I don't hate 1 or 3 they are good games but I enjoyed 2 a lot more.

I'd rate the games as:

1. Bloodborne
2. Elden Ring
3. Sekiro
4. Dark Souls 2
5. Dark Souls 1
6. Dark Souls 3

 

[Melon Husk]

Dark Souls 2 with Miyazaki + big budget = Elden Ring.

In some sense Elden Ring is the real Dark Souls 2.

 

[Spaceman292]

it's only the case for the first half of dark souls 1, the second half being really awful in comparison.

I see a lot of people say this but I never understood it. The second half has some great stuff. And the first half has some relatively dull stuff: sewers, burg, swamp etc

 

[Graciaus]

I reinstalled it but you can barely see damage numbers at 4k.

 

[R6Rider]

DS2 still has the best NG+ system out of all the Soulsborne games.

 

[peronmls]

The only thing I noticed it's similarities with DS2 is the small soldier enemies. They have green zombie faces like the ones in DS2. That's all I noticed though.

 

[01011001]

"I just played this amazing game! I KNOW WHAT I'LL DO NEXT! PLAY THE WORST SOULS GAME OUT THERE!"

that doesn't sound like a logical sentence, does it?

 

[Aesius]

I can definitely see the similarities between ER and DS2. At times ER feels like an open-world Drangleic. ER and DS2 also both seem to be a little more "high fantasy" than DS1 and DS3. I mean, they are still quite dark and foreboding, but their worlds seem more "magical" than those of the other Souls games.

In retrospect, I think DS3 may have been something of a panic move by Miyazaki and FromSoft. DS2 was divisive so he went back to a winning formula and made DS3 very similar to DS1. If he had been more hands-on with DS2, I think it, but most importantly DS3, would have been very different.

It's probably fair to say that ER includes a lot of Miyazaki's original plans for DS2 which got shelved or pared down once he focused on Bloodborne.

 

[nemiroff]

I enjoyed it overall, but i was like "wtf" because it felt like a deviation. Yeah; Don't even get me started on the map philosophy changes.. My favorite thing about the game was to jank the ethernet every time someone invaded me.

TLDR; It's not close to Elden Ring as a game.

 

[Freeman76]

No because DS2 was weak as fuck, B Team failed. Because souls is such a great premise it was still a decent enough game, but not in the same league as the others. The gameworld is bland and empty, enemies just plonked wherever, and all the intricate looking castles etc you dont even go inside, just through a corridor around the edges. Did have decent builds though!

 

[DevilMayFlyForAWhiteGuy]

Dark Souls 1 and 2 are tied for my favorite Souls games, but I haven’t finished Elden Ring and I also don’t really consider Sekiro a Souls game. Sekiro is it’s own thing being a mishmash of Souls and more traditional Character Action game and I really love it too. It scratched that sort of Ninja Gaiden itch I’ve been missing for a while.

Dark Souls 2 is a game that’s great despite going through development hell, and the DLC is some of the best I’ve ever played. Up until Elden Ring it had the best build variety of any Souls game, and the pacing is great. Since there’s so many branching paths you can take a similar approach as Elden Ring (albeit on a much smaller scale) in that you have some options on what you want to tackle first.

DaS1 has a much more intended, Metroidvania path, that you’ll probably only deviate from on accident or on repeat playthroughs when you know what you’re doing, and DaS3 is just straight up the most linear game of the three and feels railroaded by comparison.

Since all three Souls games are so different in terms of overall progression design I think it’s very subjective what someone may favor, but in my opinion the more linear design of DaS3 makes it the weakest of the three, despite having definite high points.

DaS3 and Elden Ring were also co-directed by the guy who ended up directing/salvaging DaS2 from its aforementioned development hell, so the whole “only Miyazaki should touch the games” mentality never made much sense to me, since Miyazaki himself must have seen worth in what Tanimura did with 2.

I know I’ll rustle some Jimmie’s with this but honestly I feel Demons is the worst Souls, but only because it’s the least polished and most janky, which is more due to it not aging as well as the other games that had the luxury of building on it as a foundation; it’s still a great game in its own right.

I’m really not expecting many to agree with me of course, as all the Souls games have their pros and cons and it’s pretty easy to prefer any over the others. It’s a really consistent series.

 

[ANDS]

I always loved Dark Souls 2 and never understood the hate.

It's mostly the Miyazaki-stans who considered Dark Souls 2 a "B-Team" affair, despite - in my mind - it being the most fun Dark Souls of any of the games, especially the complete SCHOLAR full package.

. . .did the level design make any sense when it was mapped out? Nope. Did it matter? Nope. The game was fun. Punishing, challenging and full of beginners traps, but still fun.

Most importantly though - it was fair.

 

[Bladed Thesis]

Dark Souls 2 massively underrated.

 

[BennyBlanco]

DS2 still has the best PVP in the series

 

[skit_data]

"I just played this amazing game! I KNOW WHAT I'LL DO NEXT! PLAY THE WORST SOULS GAME OUT THERE!"

that doesn't sound like a logical sentence, does it?

I see it more as people might have overlooked DS2 because of its bad rep and once that souls-itch needs scratching might want to try it out because of the similarities to Elden Ring that are present in DS2 but not in any other game.

I consider DS3 the weakest overall but it’s still a great game and have no strong feelings about it. Some people just seem to have this unreasonable hate towards DS2 specifically, like DS2 slept with their mom or something.

Edit: I might add that DS2 is not my favorite installment either. Might change when I’ve finished Elden Ring but so far Bloodborne and DS1 are in tied 1st place. Bloodborne because I think it’s the most consistent overall and DS1 because it was the first I played and it’s approach to level/world design has the exact right amount of ”what? I’m back at Firelink?”-feeling.

 

[existensmaximum]

It's trash. Can't stand it. Reminds me of a Souls game, but bad and just frustrating without all the fun.

 

[Shifty]

No, it's still wank.

Just look how hard the community has to try and make you like it

 

[TexMex]

Where are you seeing this renewed interest in Dark Souls 2?

 

[Kokoloko85]

Its a decent game. But not when you compare it to the others.
Just doesnt feel like a Miyzaki game, not on the level of a Demon Soul, Dark Souls, Bloodborne, Sekiro etc

 

[MiguelItUp]

I respect those that love DS2, I didn't think it was god awful, but I definitely thought it was the weakest in the series of Souls games. The music, the environments, the enemies, even the bosses sans a couple, just all felt so watered down to me. Hell, even the flow. By the end of the game it felt like such a chore to finish for me. I was curious about going back to play the DLC as I've had people tell me that its the best parts of DS2, but I just lost the care to even pursue it.

Every other entry didn't do that to me whatsoever. So, I think that says quite a bit.

Regarding revisiting DS2 because of Elden Ring's success, if anything, I'd assume Elden Ring's success may make people more curious about Demon's Souls on PS5. I say that since it came out more recently than the other titles. But, I could see folks checking them all out, honestly. Especially if they never cared about the games, but they clicked with Elden Ring.

 

[Heimdall_Xtreme]

Dark Souls 2 was the first Souls game I finished so it has a special place in my heart.

Dark souls 2 is a special game... I really like it.

 

[Mr Hyde]

It's not a coincidence that Elden Ring draws inspiration from DS2. Yui Tanimura, who directed Scholar of the First Sin, is co-director of Elden Ring. I consider DS2 by far, the best Souls-game. I've had so much fun with that game. It was disheartening to see all the hate the game got.

 

[El gallo]

Darks souls 2 is a masterpiece and has the best theme: Nothing is better than Majula theme. Nothing!!!!!

Shit represents life.

 

[Codes 208]

I see a lot of mixed aspects that remind me of the souls series in general (the general combat and fluidity reminds me more of BB/DS3 and sekiro however) not just 2. Unless youre referring to the high boss count, thats like the one big thing i can connect to ds2 specifically.

Oh and all the gank fights, the one thing i really wished they didnt take from ds2

 

[March Climber]

When I think back about my fond memories of the souls series, Dark Souls 2 SotfS is the first game that comes to mind, followed by Bloodborne. They are artistically up there on the list, and like a few others have said here, I also felt that DS3 dropped the ball in certain regards to the point where I felt that was not the game they wanted to make at the time, but they were asked to.

DS2 artistically just had more memorable locations to me.

 

[remember_spinal]

Only one i never finished and dont even feel compelled to finish. Something about it is so not engaging.

 

[Rodolink]

To me the worst is DS3, most of its areas and enemies didn't appeal to me as much as the others.

 

[Raven117]

Its still a solid entry. Its just not AS good as the others.

(But we need to talk about Dark Souls 3...which really is about the same as Dark Souls 2...it felt more phoned in than other games from From).

 

[Lognor]

Nioh 2 is a prequel and is better than 1, although Nioh is fantastic too. But if you only wanna play one game, then should be 2.

Good to know. I will wait for it to be free on Epic Game Store. That's how I got the first game and it actually surprised me. I liked it a lot!

 

[Werewolf Jones]

Only good Dark Souls is the first one. Dark Souls 2 is ripe with bad game design moments and Dark Souls 3 is more of a straight line than FF XIII. So maybe people will be curious to play them like me but once you know you know.

 

[rofif]

ds2 is a fantastic entry.

 

[rofif]

Only good Dark Souls is the first one. Dark Souls 2 is ripe with bad game design moments and Dark Souls 3 is more of a straight line than FF XIII. So maybe people will be curious to play them like me but once you know you know.

ds3 is a curated, tight elden ring without all the repeated bosses.
It's just not open world which is not a bad thing