Dark Souls II

>>389151498
I thoroughly enjoyed when I played it, for about 600 hours. But after playing DaS3, it's impossible for me to go back to the floaty controls and gameplay of DaS2.

Fucking gank squads everywhere, PC port completly busted fuck this game.

>>389151498
DLC is literally places without a story.

Best plot in the series, best waifu in the series, buried under shitty design and a rushed release.

>>389151498
Not too bad. It's still a good game, just not as good as DaS1 or DeS in design.

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>>389151498
best souls game period.
fight me faggots.
pro tip:
Im already at the bonfire

>>389151498
Great game with a lot of replay value and the best PvP in any souls game, along with the funnest Co-op runs
Only negatives it had in my eyes was the art direction going into a more generic fantasy.

>>389151747
>best waifu
wut

>>389151498
i enjoyed it. i'd love for them to go back and finish//remaster dark souls 1 and 2 to the state they would have been if it wasn;t so rushed and unifnished

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>>389151498
Unironically best in the series due to the best combat mechanics all around. Proper dual wielding and functional poise is the reason the balance in this game feels just right. I could never get into DS3 properly due to how drastically different it was, compared to DS1, yet DS2 felt like an actual evolution of the DS1 mechanics, not a fucking revolution, which was the case with 3.

>>389151498
my personal favourite of the series

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>>389151717
>dark souls
>story

>>389151935
Shanalotte is the cutest.

>>389152262
The cat is the cutest.

for all of its faults the game could have been well received if they simply removed soul memory.

A good sequel made much worse than it should have been due to Bandai pandering to XDSOHARD faggots.

>>389151498
Base game is just as good as the first one
DLC is the best souls content to date

>>389152262
nop

>>389151916
>just not as good as DaS1 or DeS in design.

Why not?

Great ideas, terrible execution.

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I'm still kind of miff'd that DaS2 barely got any love in DaS3 lore, but at least the weapons and such weren't completely ignored along with a few of the cast

>>389152464
>DLC is the best souls content to date

Artorias of the Abyss and The Old Hunters?

>>389152117
The bosses suck

Nice hipster opinion, fag

>>389152117
>best combat mechanics all around

>attack in one direction in DS1 and then immediately in the opposite one
>character flips on the spot and hits behind him
>do the same in DS2
>character either rotates around, attacking to the sides first or simply ignores your input like with the BKGS

>>389152740
I actually liked most of the bosses. I had more trouble with the blue smelter than I had trouble with O&S.

>>389152691
not them, but I'd hold DaS2 DLC up to that regard. And even if we can't agree on that, we can agree that it blows DaS3 DLC out the water, right?

>>389151498
comfy music
gameplay is okay
nice characters

>>389152802
They're all boring

>>389152775
Time your inputs properly instead then

>>389152690
>not Semen_of_Dong.jpg
Smh.

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>>389152775
>character flips on the spot
>good

>>389151498
I loved the PvP and its a fucking shame they went out of their way to make invasions so obtuse
my best memories of the game were making cosplay characters and helping terrible players kill bosses

I think it's better than DaS3 simply because it isn't a linear piece of shit
It legitimately has really good DLC though

>>389151498
People shit on it so much that when I finally got around to playing it my expectations were so low that my experience left me surprised because overall it was a fairly enjoyable game with a lot of content.

But then again, I don't get the widespread acclaim of souls games in the first place. I went through them all and enjoyed them but I'd say they're all just 'Okay' games that mostly do the same thing over and over again, but it works because that repeated formula is pretty fun. Maybe I don't get it because I played them too long after they were released.

>>389152904
I disagree.
>>389153005
It's better than DaS3 for a few other reasons too, like bonfire ascetics, not being limited to having your fucking respec being 5 per playthrough or less if you change your appearance. Power stancing > weapon arts, and just better variety for builds

>>389152627
The level designs are a bit lackluster compared to the previous games, they're not necessarily lazier just more linear with less exploration and secrets. Bosses as well just don't feel right, I can't quite put my finger on it but a lot of them just didn't have the feel or memorability of the previous games.

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>N64 graphics
>Darkness mechanic axed at the last second (thanks consoles)
>Poor level design.
>Laughing pots.
>Soul Memory
>B-team didn't even know the lore
>Dynasty Souls: every room has 80 enemies
>Lightning bolts making left turns because net code is just hat good

Every souls game had its flaws but DS2 is the black sheep of the series by a large margin

Demons Souls remains the best title so far.

>>389152687
Miyazaki hates DS2.

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>>389153169
Aren't these the same guys who gave Dragon Age 2 a 9/10?

>all ds2 enemy movesets are horizontal rotating slashes just to make dodging more fun
>but it does not matter since i frames are tied to a stat
I enjoyed the game, i have 400hrs in it but ADP really rustled my jimmies.

>>389153347
Source?

It's enjoyable but tends to leave a bad aftertaste. Lots of small flaws to keep it from being something I'm fond of, but still enough content and simple functional gameplay for it to be a good coop experience with friends.

>>389153347
This is the reason I will never buy any of his games again after the shitshow that was 3. The fucker has exposed himself as a complete hack and has basically proven that From had barely any involvement in the making of Bloodborne and that it was almost entirely by Studio Japan due to how drastically different quality wise are DS3 and Bloodborne. It's like Hackazaki tried to copy Bloodborne with DS3, but failed, because he didn't make it in the first place.

I'm actually re-playing it now for the first time in nearly three years.

With the deadzone mod, the game feels a lot better than it did at release, but the main thing that keeps me from embracing it fully is still the gameplay. It just feels so much slower than anything else in the series. There's huge delays at the end of every attack animation visually that just make it feel like shit when chaining action together. Dark Souls 3 might have taken this too far in the other direction with how easy it is to mash roll out of anything, but I'll take a game that is overly responsive over one that isn't responsive enough.

The thing I'll say in it's favor is that it is somewhat refreshing to play a game that feels like it has some area variety over Dark Souls 3 and Bloodborne. I don't think many of them are designed particularly well, but having some places be just old as opposed to rotting, still on fire battlefields with a grey color palette is nice.

Overall, 7/10. Good game, doesn't stand up to the others in the series and is arguably a bad sequel to Dark Souls in some ways. Had some interesting ideas that maybe the subsequent games should have carried over, but if you read about the development history of it it's easy to see why they decided to just bury it. If Tanimura got a chance at directing a game straight off the shoot instead of cleaning up someone's mess, I would be interested.

>>389153652
>after the shitshow that was 3.

Was it THAT bad?

>>389151717
Just because you don't know them doesn't mean they don't have lore, anon.

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>>389151498
A mixed bag. The game is a 7/10 for me, not very good but not bad either.

Things that I dislike:
>The game feels weird to play (can't really explain this, it's just how I personally feel)
>Too many mediocre and straight up awful boss battles, especially in the main game
>Completely forgettable soundtrack
>Ganks everywhere
>Too much difficulty memeing
>World and boss designs are both downgrades from the first Dark Souls as well as Demon's Souls
>Some of the worst areas in the entire series like Frigid Outskirts and Shrine of Amana
Things that I like:
>SotFS has a lot of content
>New enemies on NG+ add replay value
>Being able to respec your character and easily experiment with different builds
>Power stance
>Bonfire Ascetic
>Fast ladder climbing (seriously, going back to Demon's Souls ladders after DaS2 was literal hell)
>Despite most of the main game bosses being bad, the DLCs contain some of my favorite bosses in the series (Fume Knight, Sir Alonne, Sinh the Slumbering Dragon)

So yeah, it's kind of an even combination of good and bad. I'm probably always going to have mixed feelings about this game.

>>389153394
ADP was fine. Game makes you choose between mitigating damage through dodge rolls and light armor or heavy armor and blocking

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>>389153347
There is no source because it isn't true.
>>389153652
Lol you have no idea what you're talking about. At all.

>>389153821
Personally, I hated it to the point where I didn't even play the final DLC, though I did buy AoA in the hopes that they might have improved the game, but nope.

>>389153773
>It just feels so much slower than anything else in the series. There's huge delays at the end of every attack animation visually that just make it feel like shit when chaining action together

The startup times for everything are instant though compared to Dark Souls 1 which was all that mattered for me but w/e, your taste is your taste

>>389151498
Solid 7/10, best game in the series

>>389153901
>it's another Miyacucki cultist claiming that "Studio Japan is j-just a p-publisher, I s-swear!"
hackazaki did not make Bloodborne, it is obvious to anyone who has played both BB and D3. Your icon is hack.

>>389153821
Not them but DaS3 shits the bed pretty hard for me.
>bad starting areas
>linear as fuck
>shitty build variety
>shit pvp
>shit DLC
>shit replay value that makes you groan going into ng+ more than anything

The only thing DaS3 has going for it, is it's art direction, controls and bosses. Everything else is pretty shit

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>>389154052
>claiming that "Studio Japan is j-just a p-publisher
Where did I say this? Go on.

>>389153865
Basic actions in a video game should always lead to consistent results. A good dodge should be a good dodge, adding a stat based thing to that takes control away from the player, which is the opposite of good design when you have a combat system that revolves around player input.

>>389151498
It's a good game and doesn't deserve the amount of hate it gets

Decent, but overall a disappointment compared to it's predecessors.

The main problems are the:
>Inorganic world design
>Often pitiful area design
>Uninspired and often lazy boss designs that don't more often than not, don't really have any reason for being there
>duller, murkier graphics compared to DeS and DaS, which probably comes half as a result of the development issues with the lighting engine
>sluggish feeling combat, and hitbox issues
>soul memory ruining what could have been otherwise the best pvp system in the series

The game clearly had major developmental issues.

I wouldn't be surprised if the new directors/team combo had much grander visions for the game originally, both in terms of graphics and game design.

Even the DLC, improvements as they were, had enormous issues, no doubt related largely due to the tiny time frames they were constricted to.

>Empty feeling level design, involving repeated textures and single colour themes, especially amongst the walls, this is perhaps displayed within the pyramid in the sunken king location and the cathedral in Eleum Loyce
>Disappointing and unnecessary third bosses, the twin tigers, the gravedigger trio, the blue smelter

Dark Souls 3 felt like they gave up on any real lofty ideas to change the formulae for the "dark souls" ip and instead simply made a solid, great game, if perhaps suffering from several dips in quality that showed just how constrained the developers must have been under the release schedule.

>>389153194
Laughing pots?

>>389154113
OK, let's look at the facts:
>Studio Japan and From "cooperate" and make BB
>it's fucking amazing
>From makes DS3
>it's a shitty attempt at copying Bloodborne
>the game is shit
1+1=?

>>389151498
it's an okay king's field game, horrible dark souls game.

>>389153865
I don't mind ADP existing, but the base roll should have been at least functional. Sure Souls games always had wonky hitboxes but when the models don't even come close to touching and you still take a hit it's pretty frustrating. Even worse for the "grab" attacks where your model literally teleports back in the enemy's attack.


If adp made you roll faster and/or further it would have been a much better design instead of just going from "broken hitboxes" to "slightly more iframes".

>>389154290
Now who was the backing company for Dark Souls III? It was the same backing company for Dark Souls II, and Dark Souls. What do these three games have in common? Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

I want another B-team Souls

>>389154278
The curse jars

>>389154215
Honestly soul memory played a huge part in why DaS2 pvp was so good, and that's no one is tied down to some arbitrary soul level like 120 and instead could go full CURAZY with their builds

>>389154324
>it's an okay king's field game,

??

>>389154131
Okay but ultimately it can be sidestepped with upgrading, unlike Soul Memory where there is literally nothing you can do to loosen its grip on the game.

>>389154215
>I wouldn't be surprised if the new directors/team combo had much grander visions for the game originally, both in terms of graphics and game design.

Tomohiro Shibuya wasn't a co-director, that's Japan's way of saying that he was taken off the project because he was producing a turd, to the point where Tanimura is quoted as saying "We really had to go back to the drawing board and think once more about what a Dark Souls game should be." and "Ideally we’d start again from scratch but of course we were under time constraints so instead we had to figure out how to repurpose the designs in our newly reimagined game.".

This really gives some good insight into a lot of what went wrong with Dark Souls II

http://peterbarnard1984.tumblr.com/post/113163062955/dark-souls-2-design-works-translation

>>389153821

Yes

>Dark Souls 2 hitboxes
Not even once
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gRXm41sCQls

>>389154503
>feels slow and weird
>looks like a ps1 game
it checks out

>>389153821
No, it's not bad at all. NEVER listen to contrarians.

>>389154609
>a lot of what went wrong with Dark Souls II

Examples?

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>>389154726
That clearly hit him?

>>389151498
It's SHIT

Dark Souls 2 is honestly the tightest, most polished game in the entire trilogy. It sports the best performance, best animation meshing, cloth physics, interruptible animations, non-invulnerable backstabs/ripostes, and other elements that put it above Dark Souls 1 and 3. Sure, its story is nothing to write home about, but the same can be said of the entire series, so this doesn't bother me in the slightest. Sure, the world layout makes no sense, but Souls games have never been known for consistency anyway.

If I have to be brutally honest, I think "hurrrdcore" Souls fans dislike DaS2 because it has the least space for "deep" fanfiction that excuses the game's flaws. YouTube fanfiction was a big element of DaS1's popularity, and it's nowhere as big or prominent for DaS2, IMHO for the reasons listed above.

>>389154609
I always knew Tanimura wasn't a lost cause. He needs another shot.

Tanimura Souls when

>>389153821
Not as bad as Dark Souls 2

>>389155020
Dark Souls 3 was his shot.

>>389155009
Spot on anon

>>389153821
Only slightly below bloodborne in quality which everyone on /v/ loves.

>>389151498

Its the Dark Souls of sequels

>>389155009
>interruptible animations
Wait, really? I recall the animations being even more committed than in Dark Souls 1.
>but the same can be said of the entire series
This is incredibly untrue.
>so this doesn't bother me in the slightest.
But now we're in the realm of subjectivity and this part of your post doesn't matter.
>Sure, the world layout makes no sense, but Souls games have never been known for consistency anyway.
This simply isn't true.
> because it has the least space for "deep" fanfiction
>YouTube fanfiction
Now you're just talking about things you're ignorant about. Why even bother posting at all? Imagine being at dinner with people and rattling off something you're completely ignorant about.

>>389155064
It had a lot more expectations going for it and an even better development cycle, team, and launch trailer to boot, and it was still barely better made than Dark Souls 2.

It had to deliver on not one, not two, but three critically acclaimed titles by Fromsoft. Dark Souls 1 and 2, in addition to Bloodborne which is just an impossibly tight game.

It was worse in almost every way given how easy it would've been to deliver something better.

>>389155304
This post simply isn't true.

>>389152791
Fuck off idiot

>>389151498
It's a good game, but after playing DaS3 and BB I can't replay it. Its floaty as fuck and you feel like everything is underwater. Even DeS and DaS hasn't aged that badly. Shame since the DLC is GOAT

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>>389155354
Willing to here rebuttals, friendo.

>>389152262
I mean, if you think being a woman automatically makes you "best waifu" then sure, Emerald Herald probably is the best. However, she's about as interesting as a rock and has literally zero personality so I wouldn't rank her very high in the waifu list. Even the cat is a better waifu than Shanalotte.

>>389155304
Not him but offhand rapier cancels every attack animation cooldown in the game. I paired it with my red iron twinblade.

>>389155417
I borrowed my rebuttal from >>389155304 since not only was it applicable, it also seemed acceptable to the original author, so why not?

>>389155473
>but offhand rapier cancels every attack animation cooldown in the game
Interesting. I'll keep that in mind.
>>389155519
Still
>willing to hear* rebuttals, friendo.

>>389155304
>Wait, really? I recall the animations being even more committed than in Dark Souls 1.
They are.
In 1 you have a "wind up" part in the attack where you can still chose the direction where you attack, in 2 you don't which results in>>389152775

>>389155473
>>389155602
Fume Knight in a way is an entire boss designed around it.

>>389155602
Waiting to hear yours first. I can't exactly respond to "This isn't true". There is nothing to respond to. No basis. No argument.

So in the meantime, you'll have to be satisfied with >>389155354

>>389151498
I love it, as I do with all the souls games I've played. It's the one I've played the most, but that's more to do with the fact that it has way more content compared to the others than quality.

Objectively
DaS > BB > DeS > DaS2 >>>> DaS3

Personally
DaS > DaS2 > DeS > BB >>>>>>>>>> DaS3

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>>389152262
>Not Lucatiel

>>389155326
Anything is better made than Dark Souls 2. The PVE, the main part of the game that opens paths to different ways to experience the game is complete and utter shit. It forces you to either use a shield or dump 40+ points into ADP for a normal DS3 roll, which limits what builds you can use until you get into ng+. The PVP isn't any better, either. Just like DS1 it's a backstab fest, rolls cost way too much and ultra weapons do literal shit damage compared to a short sword. It's alright, though, because you have poise. The literal definition of useless when fighting any metamancer in pvp. Did I mention invasions being the worst in the series? Only the host can heal, which devolves into phantoms and dark spirits running around the map healing themselves with the unlimited supply of life gems the game gives you. The only form of PVP DS2 people accept are fight clubs because of invasions being literal shit. Wanna gank some nerds with your friends?
>Dark spirit invades
>runs around for 30 minutes until other dark spirits invade
>They then proceed to run around until they get in a good position to cheese the host in

>>389152691
Artorias, while having the best bosses in the series for a long time, also had the completely forgettable level that is Oolacile woods and linear gankfest that is Oolacile Township, the proto Shrine of Amana.

>>389153652
This surprises you coming from one of the biggest shovelware devs around?

>>389155472
better waifus in that game:
>lucatiel
>rosabeth
>chloanne
>milibeth
>steelheart ellie
>sweet shalquoir (best personality)

>>389154131
Nope, this is an RPG not devil may cry. The character should be more important than the player

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>>389155712
Hear my what? Have you played the games? Be truthful, now. I shouldn't have to say anything because what I said are objective facts. But let's give you surface level shit, yeah?
>but the same can be said of the entire series
Dark Souls is an expansion and variation on the slight theme of a king and his ruined kingdom from DeS. Dark Souls II is a retread of Dark Souls' own lore, as well as its themes. It features hollowing more prominently, but this only comes out with any real effect with Lucatiel. The rest of it is a retread of Dark Souls. Gonna copy/paste these next ones:
>so this doesn't bother me in the slightest.
>But now we're in the realm of subjectivity and this part of your post doesn't matter.
>interruptible animations
>Wait, really? I recall the animations being even more committed than in Dark Souls 1.
>Sure, the world layout makes no sense, but Souls games have never been known for consistency anyway.
Demon's Souls' level design consists entirely of consistent loops. Like I said, things I shouldn't have to say if you played the game.
> because it has the least space for "deep" fanfiction
>YouTube fanfiction
>Now you're just talking about things you're ignorant about. Why even bother posting at all? Imagine being at dinner with people and rattling off something you're completely ignorant about.

>>389155775
This is the best taste here

>>389153821

It the worst Soulsborne, NEVER listen to contrarians

I think it's the worst souls game but it's still really good. Amazing armour sets. SOTFS fixes 90% problems most people have with this game and makes it a lot less linear and having DLC be part of the game is for the best because they are better than any other areas in base. Poor enemy variety.
Again, I don't think it's a bad game, it's just that every other one in the series is better than this one. I've heard it has the best PvP but I never play do anything online

>>389156074
>is a retread of Dark Souls' own lore, as well as its themes
>Dark Souls
>lore
>themes
fandom is fun

>>389156207
Are you >implying Dark Souls doesn't have lore or themes? Let alone that Dark Souls II doesn't retread them?

>>389151498
Did the PC version make the cover art armor not look like a fucking plastic action figure?

>>389151498
The vertical slice was much more interesting than the vanilla version.
SOTFS should have been vanilla.

>>389156074
>Have you played the games?
Have you? If you can't recall that interaction animations can be interrupted in DaS2 (either by you or the enemies), then you just may not have played it. Which would render any "This simply isn't true" you say completely ignorant.
>Dark Souls II is a retread of Dark Souls' own lore
What little there was. Dark Souls 2 tells a more complete and coherent story based on it compared to the original. It's still nothing special or even extensive, but it's better than the first game.

If you feel like expanding your other "arguments" as well, I'll be glad to rebut them.

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>tfw DS3 didn't keep the animations

>>389156317
Most of the light armors look better. All of the heavy armor still looks the same, though.

>>389156257
inb4 autism fit

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I like all of the Souls games, but think it is clear that they should have had more time to finalize the product

>>389151498
Good game but not a good souls game.
Biggest gripe is that the enemies don't play by the same rules imposed on you as a player

Dark souls 1 was good because it challenged you with enemies and an atmosphere that punished you if you're careless.
Dark souls 2 just throws random unfair bullshit at you because 'le its so hard xd'

>>389156417
DaS3 rolled back all kinds of improvements to the engine for whatever retarded reason.

>>389155775
nah
DeS=DaS2SOTFS>DaS1=BB>DaS3

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>>389153169
Damn...

>>389156417
Thank god. Every single part of DS2 is a horrible abomination of mediocrity.

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>>389152775
This honestly made the game a lot deeper with weapon choices. It effectively weakened fast weapons against large ones in terms of angling attacks, due to the removed windup not allowing time to rotate, whereas heavier weapons could swivel a lot more.

Everyone who's played the game knows that if you want to get some angle on your attack with a fast weapon you need to R2 instead, which does in fact let you rotate the attack.

In the end though, faster weapons have no windup so they don't have time to rotate.

I understand why people don't like this, but essentially you're saying it's not casual enough, which is of course, up to personal taste.

>“For Dark Souls 2, we don’t even expect any additional downloadable content because we want to deliver a full game, the full experience, to fans who purchase the package from day one," said Miyazoe in an interview with Edge.
>"We did do additional content for Dark Souls," continued Miyazoe, "but generally downloadable content for Dark Souls 2 is not really being considered. Buy the package and you’ll get the full experience, and you’ll have as much fun as anybody else."

What did From mean by this?

>>389153821
The people that didn't like DaS 3 are a very small minority, even in /dsg/.
It's basically a mixture between DaS and DeS. Not always taking the best of both worlds, but mostly.
Clearly a step up from 2.

I tried to replay DS3 last night, killed Gundyr before I realized I really want to play DS2 instead. How dead is the online now?

>>389156543
you meant DS3?

>>389156512
DaS3 improved on the graphics, zones, pve, and bosses. The few things DaS2 really has on 3 is the pvp hitboxes, netcode, and power-stancing.

>>389156489
>Dark souls 1 was good because it challenged you with enemies and an atmosphere that punished you if you're careless.
Or if you stood too close to a wall that enemies can pass through while you can't. Or walked on a tight path at a just slightly wrong angle that would send you flying off the side to your death for no reason. Or if you remained standing too close to Smough/Ornstein when they died in the first phase of their battle. Or if you got hit in the side by Dragonbow archers which would send you flying directly back anyway. Or...

>>389156612
Vanilla ds2 has around 300 players on pc, sotfs has 1500 or so.

>>389156543
That's not how you spell DaS3

It's an okay game, I seriously can't understand how anyone could have this as their favourite in the series, when DaS1, DeS and BB exist. DaS2 is literally "Quantity > Quality" The Game.

>>389156727
>zones
>in ds3
>improved
Sure they look pretty, but they're all pretty shit and feel like a slog to go through

>>389156489
>Biggest gripe is that the enemies don't play by the same rules imposed on you as a player
This has been the case since Demon's Souls

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>>389156381
>or the enemies
Oh you.
> If you can't recall that interaction animations can be interrupted in DaS2
Actually you have one person corroborating your statement by solely mentioning. Meanwhile, I have two someone elses corroborating my sentiments here: >>389155678 and >>389152775
>What little there was
That isn't relevant.
> Dark Souls 2 tells a more complete and coherent story based on it compared to the original. It's still nothing special or even extensive, but it's better than the first game.
This isn't relevant to the discussion at hand. I did not mention anything about originality or coherency, nor did you in your original post here: >>389155009. I simply asked you why were you posting about something from a place of ignorance.
>I'll be glad to rebut them.
...You didn't rebut anything. You didn't respond to my comment about subjectivity, you didn't even answer why you were speaking from a place of ignorance, you didn't respond to my part about level design. I assume we're done, then?

>>389156591
LORE. Content is convoluted, new DLC rises and fades away like embers on the wind.

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>>389156727
>pvp hitboxes and netcode
K E K
ds3 netcode and the wep hitboxes online are eons better than ds2 ones in every fucking concievable way

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>>389156913
>by solely mentioning
the rapier*. I swear I wrote that. Strange.

>>389156956
>netcode in ds3 better than 2
You're full of shit and clearly didn't spenf very much time online in either game

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>>389151498
This was the very first souls game i played. It hit me so hard man, the atmosphere the storytelling, the world, all gritty and unforgiving, i loved every inch of it, but bare in mind i pirated it, and had no access to multi...

i played it trough multiple times, also loved the DLC's, and i went trough the entire game on my own, no walktrough bs, i got so invested i became pretty good at the game and just went for fashion souls from the very beginning, also company of champions right way on any new character.

Earlier this year a friend of mine got the game on steam for free, so i asked him to lend me his account so i could try the multiplayer . which he did, and holy shit, this might be a bit surprising but the multiplayer COMPLETELY ruined the game for me, it devastated the immersion (for me at least), messages all around, random out of place ghosts running around, i thought the game would be harder but it wasn't, it became much much easier, the co-op was really fun, and i enjoyed helping people out but fighting bosses on my own was a lot more fun.

i decided to play DS1 to see all the hype and i can definitely see the appeal but i got bored in DS1, idk why, maybe because ds2 was my first and i loved it so much and got used to its mechanics :/

that's it from me, didn't py DS3 cuz my pc can't run it decently. DS2 was the first game in a long long time that got me so engaged and immersed, and it will remain my favorite.

>>389156727

Yet is worse than BB in every conceivable way

>>389156865

I like DS2 the most despite thinking its the shittiest game overall because I have more fun playing fashion souls than playing the game normally. DS2 has the most armor sets and the best overall armor design, alongside the most flexible stat distribution and hybrid build friendliness. I can replay DS2 more than the other Souls games because its got the most variety, despite being overall worse in almost every other way.

It's honestly the best game in the series.

>>389156874
The one zone I don't really enjoy going through is the Smoldering Lake. Not because of the zone itself, I actually enjoyed it quite a bit. But because of the Grus. They're the most annoying enemy in the game imo. Especially the one that attacks you with grabs and claw attacks.

>>389156974
Why would they do that?

>>389156913
>I have two someone elses corroborating my sentiments
We're talking about game mechanics, not sentiments. DaS2 has interruptible interaction animations. The animations even properly rewind after they've been interrupted. DaS1 doesn't. You get full i-frames during every such animation, even if you've got 50 hollows wailing with sticks on your back. This isn't the case in DaS2.
>I did not mention anything about originality or coherency
I alluded to it by the phrase "nothing to write home about" - originality and coherency usually being desirable traits in a story. Try to keep up. Neither DaS1 nor 2 tell a very compelling story, but 2 has the added merit of telling a more complete and coherent one.
>You didn't respond to my comment about subjectivity
It was just a comment and not at all constructive or substantial. As I've said already: I can't respond meaningfully to non-arguments, because there is nothing to respond to. Expand, expound, offer constructive answers, and respond I shall. The ball is in your court.

>>389157132
Edit,
yeah i'm never gonna play it online again, i feel much comfier with the offline experience.

if i could just keep the being invaded mechanic that would be swell,

>>389157081
I played DS2 pvp to death and no matter who I was facing the netcode was godawful. You can't sidestep or use zoning because every weapon behaves like a washing pole. Enemy swings and you have to roll or you'll be hit, even if you're standing 6 feet behind them.

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>>389156048
>>sweet shalquoir
Seriously guys, try to give me even one reason why she ISN'T the absolute, uncontested best waifu in the series.
>Playfully jokes around whenever she sees you
>Excellent personality in general
>Sexiest voice in the entire series by far
>Remembers and loves your scent
>Constantly flirts with you, doesn't try to hide her crush on you in any way
>Cannot be killed so you don't have to worry about that
>Stays at home keeping track of your covenant progress like a good waifu should
10/10

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>>389157081
i somehow doubt you played the game for more than 10 mins if you think ds2 netcode is better than ds3, boot up sotfs right now and go to bob arena, let's see how consistent the connections are, also, das2 pools every country and region even with the region lock on, the only country region lock prevents you getting matched with is japan

>>389157380
She's a cat.

>>389151498
Best game in the series but still only a 6 or maybe 7/10

>>389157312
>You get full i-frames during every such animation
Really? Are you sure? Huh. I'll check that later.
>Neither DaS1 nor 2 tell a very compelling story
>This isn't relevant to the discussion at hand. I did not mention anything about originality or coherency, nor did you in your original post here: >>389155009. I simply asked you why were you posting about something from a place of ignorance.
>It was just a comment
Nay, an objective fact that DeS is comprised of loops whereas DSII is not. It is clear at this point you are not looking to converse. Adieu, enjoy your day.

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>>389157445
Yes, go on...

>>389157373
>y..you just have to protect yourself a few seconds in advance!

DS2 netcode is awful and anyone who says it isn't is a fanboy.

>>389157382
DS2 does have worst netcode by far, but in fairness Dark Souls 3's region lock works the same way. Japan and not Japan.

>>389157596
>adieu
>thinks sage does anything

How to spot a newfag 101.

>>389157596
Enjoy yours!

>>389157380
>>389157445
DS2 would'be been vastly improved if the bearer of the curse was scouring the land for a way to turn his cat waifu into a human
but in the end he only finds a ring that turns him into a cat

>>389151498
the only thing i remember from this game is giant rolling slug boss

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>>389157445
A cat is fine, too - Shiki Tohno, Tsukihime

>>389151584
Same.

It's really hard to keep playing honestly. I beat the chariot boss and flexile sentry recently but I'm getting completely drained of my will to play. It just doesn't feel good to swing a weapon in this game.

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>>389151498
I like to co op every time I play. Soul Memory prevent me from doing this and is the entire reason why I won't complete the game. I bought both versions too

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>>389151498
I had a real bad time getting into it, but after I got used to it it became super fun. I never experienced broken hitboxes.

The level design is all over the place being either super good or absolute dogshit, and there's way too many bosses for them to be truly meaningful.

The mechanics tied to your character, however, are really well done and I like how smoothly the controls are, how many options you have in terms of equipment and fashion. I liked the fact that you could make so many different builds without having to wait until mid-game in order to truly activate, and I liked the NG+ actually adding something more than a few hundreds to HP.

It had some frustrating moments and very immersion-breaking things, but other than a few weird things here and there I was able to beat it twice and actually enjoy it.

It feels more like old, 00-05 era ARPGs, kinda reminds me of Blade/Severance in visual style and controls, so it's possible that this is what makes me like it so much.

I honest to god didn't like Scholar of the First Sin. I feel like it highlights the worst aspects of DS2 by making it 'lolsohard' for no reason other than for it to be that way, and it doesn't even do it in a natural or exciting way, it just fucks up costs and enemy placements for it to be slightly more frustrating, not even more difficult.

Definitely not DS1, but a good experience nonetheless. I feel like it would've been best for it to be B-team's spinoff rather than the second iteration in the franchise.

7/10

>>389157312
>2 has the added merit of telling a more complete and coherent one.
This is just not true, it doesn't tell a story, in Dark Souls 2 literally nothing really happens.
You kill everyone and then you sit on the throne and then everything is as it was before.
The kingdom has already fallen, the world has already ended, it's just time to wait for the next cycle to start.

It's basically the cruelest exercise in nihilism I've seen in a video game.

>>389158201
That's just the story without DLC.

>>389158328
And in DLC you go look at other kingdoms in the general area where the same thing happened.
It's all completely pointless, everything you do does not matter.

>>389151498
I liked it

presentation and artistic direction were complete garbage and a disgrace to the series' style.
gameplay could've been the best in the series for its technical combat if not for some dumb design decisions that overshadowed it, like tying invincibility frames to a stat, Soul Memory, garbage animations and feedback, nonfunctional lock-on rolling...etc.

>>389153821
Of course it wasn't you stupid fuck. /v/'s hateboner for 2 and 3 are unnecessary.

>>389158201
>>389158328
DS1
>well fuck the world is falling apart
>go try jump starting the universe

DS2
>well this sucks, I'm all wrinkly
>guess I'll go kill some gods see if that helps
>well that was fun, now to sit in the dark forever

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>>389158394
>It's all completely pointless, everything you do does not matter.

...It's not, though? The main character stops hollowing and he gets a very good ending?

After the initial crushing reality that Vendrick is hollow and can't cure him, he finds a way to communicate with him and they work together to find a solution that was previously impossible, and ultimately succeed in creating a special item that does in fact help Bearer of the Curse stop hollowing and retain all the knowledge and power of those past kings on his travels to find his own answers of life beyond that all. The mark of a true king.

On top of that, the DLCs literally explain 100% of Vendrick and Nashandra's main motiviations in addition to adding awesome new characters that are even more fleshed out like Ivory King and Alsanna who are two incredibly compelling characters. Sir Alonne's and Iron King's troubled partnership. Sir Yorgh and his Drakeblood Knights ultimately being stupid hunter rejects that can't see past their own bloodlust.

You learn Velstadt's life is one side of two roads, and ultimately Raime as bitter as he was, lived a more fulfilled existence just seeking his own answers. The main protagonist does the same in a way.

>>389159671
This is ridiculously inaccurate for both games

>>389156603

>lying on the internet

/dsg/ hates DaS3 and is universaly
considered the worst one there

>>389159553
You're half right. 3 was fine.

2 makes dogshit look appealing though.

>>389160321

Your taste is dogshit, pls go back from whatever reddit sewer you came from

>>389160561
>reminder that DS2 is hippo shit
>reminder that you're only defending it because you're a contrarian faggot on /v/ and DS2 is by far the least popular, which makes it your favourite
all these flavours and you chose to be a faggot

Cool designs and concepts, but extremely poor execution. Doesn't honestly deserve the hate it gets but out of all the games it's pretty bad

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>>389151498

I have no idea why Scholar of the First Sin is hailed as some kind of magic bullet that fixes all the problems of the first release. Some shit has been made actively worse.

>fight pursuer early
>notice a bunch of bodies on the ground, not agro'd but there for sure
>finish him off
>like three soldiers get up and attack me

It was fine because I knew they were there and didn't take any serious damage during the Pursuer fight, but that's such shitty design for someone who is newer. Literally "haha we got you!" when you should be rewarding the player. There's certainly other moments like that throughout the series, but the fact that they sat down and thought about how they wanted to improve that initial encounter and that's what they came up with is absurd. Noticing other shit like that too, seems like the DS2 philosophy for enemy encounter design of throwing more shit at you only gets worse in Scholar if anything.

>>389159714
You can't do this! You can't just go and start convincing people DaS2 isn't absolute horseshit! You'll regret this!

>>389151584
Because DS3 is easy and you ont get punished for your mistakes.
>%90 of your dodge animation consists of i-frames
>little to no stamina consumption when dodging
>the standart stamina regen is so fast there is no point in using stamina regen equipment
>dodge animation is very spammable since there is no cooldown between dodges
>the dodge animation makes you move a good amount of distance negating some of the attacks that should punish you at the end of your i-frame
>everything tracks like crazy(this is good for UGS/UGH etc) which trivializes the combat
I could go on and on about how DS3 is the most safely developed game for the casual audience but i really had enough of arguing about this with people since everyone is a literal baby here.

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Shit game, but best fashion in the series.

>>389151717
>All of the DLCs actually have an original and a unique story
>They all have minor connections to the actual lore of the game but they execute it without focusing on the main lore too much, they feel fresh
>The concept of the crowns get tied up to the end of the game very well and concluded the objective of the bearer of the curse in a meaningful manner
You are dumb

>>389161741
b-but muh graphics, muh lore

>>389161496
Scholar is basically everything DS2 was, except even more.

>the DS2 philosophy for enemy encounter design of throwing more shit
How is that a bad thing anyway?
You have more than enough room to deal with multiple enemies at all times.
I think you're honestly just bad.

>play DS2
>the first 30 minutes i've already seen like 3-4 different landscapes
>run past everything all the way to the first NPC invasion
>have no desire to even kill anything but bosses

i never turned the game back on after i got stuck. how is it i get stuck in this game but managed to beat 1 and 3?

>>389151498
Better than 3 and only plebs will disagree.

1 is the only masterpiece souls, though.

>>389153154
>with less exploration and secrets
Excuse me? The secrets in DaS2 are the least "straight in your face" in the series.

>>389156537
>people complaining about the pc port on release
Woah... it's like you can't read...

>>389162130
>How is that a bad thing anyway?

The Souls combat system is mainly designed for singular encounters with maybe some trash on the side. Most weapons aren't capable of hitting multiple enemies very effectively(although there are certainly some times you can make that work with bigger weapons if you unlock) and the hit stun from one enemy can be transferred into a combo of another. Multiple enemies are fine, but when 3+ enemy encounters are the bread and butter enemy placement it doesn't play to the strengths of the combat system.

>You have more than enough room to deal with multiple enemies at all times.

Yeah, it's not hard, it's just annoying and the pacing of the encounters feels way worse than every other game in the series. Going through horde after horde is a slog.

>I think you're honestly just bad.

Gotta love the "ur just bad!" shit. For the record, I think Dark Souls 2 is still probably the easiest game in the series, just far and away the most annoying and least fun to play.

>>389162945
No, it is a meme that the combat is mainly designed for singular encounters
>free aim is possible
>horizantal attacks are possible
>parrying and backstabbing is possible
>using magic for crowd control is possible
>knockback is possible
I love how shitty scrubs like you try to alter the mechanics to your own liking when you suck at the game.You just fucking suck nigger, literally get good and stop turtling around your enemy with an ugs in your hand and a greatshield, fucking shitfaced cunt.

>>389163153
>You just fucking suck nigger, literally get good and stop turtling around your enemy with an ugs in your hand and a greatshield, fucking shitfaced cunt.

lol, thanks Anon. I haven't made anyone this mad at me on the internet in a few months. Thanks for the laughs m8.

>>389151498
warmed up to it after the blandness of 3 but I still think that it has the worst art style and area design both visually and gameplay-wise

>>389163473
you are welcome, i am just mad 7/24 so its nothing special

>>389163473
>hehehehe u m-mad lol p-please stop
not the same person but damn you are autistic

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>>389162945

>Most weapons aren't capable of hitting multiple enemies very effectively(although there are certainly some times you can make that work with bigger weapons if you unlock) and the hit stun from one enemy can be transferred into a combo of another.

Are you blind? In Dark Souls 2 even the damn longsword has great sweeping motion on both 1h and 2h R1 movesets. Stop making excuses for your refusal to notice the blatant increase in the clearing abilities of weapons compared to Dark Souls.

You can absolutely make this work in your favor against mobs and it sounds as though you conveniently ignored it.

>>389163594

Because of, I'll reply somewhat seriously.

>>389163153
>free aim is possible, horizontal attacks are possible

I did mention this. If you play unlocked and use something bigger than a Longsword, you can absolutely hit more than one enemy consistently. Again though, this isn't the way the majority of people play the game and does not play to the strength of the combat system.

>parrying and backstabbing is possible

Ironically enough, these were actually much better tools for dealing with the sort of encounters I'm saying are bad in the previous games because you actually had i-frames during BS and riposte animations. Dark Souls II does give you damage reduction, but still, not a great solution, particularly when not every enemy in the game can be backstabbed or parries(although 2 did increase the pool of enemies you can criticize over 1)

>using magic for crowd control is possible

Good point, but build and play style specific.

>knockback is possible

Somewhat good point, although attacks that give knock back are typically ones that are punished very easily by a horde.

>>389163612

I have no issue dealing with the mobs because I play unlocked 95% of the time and have since Demon's Souls. It still doesn't make for good encounter design.

>>389164237
>I have no issue dealing with the mobs

Well clearly you're having some kind of issue, the enemy count is literally no different than the first game.

The only difference is that hollows in forest of giants are much stronger than in undead burg.

>>389164237
Oh, and I somehow forgot the worst part about parrying as an answer to horde encounters, the stupid fucking knockdown before being able to riposte to actually capitalize on a successful parry.

>standing riposte

Unintentional tech.

>>389164237
>this isn't the way the majority of people play the game
it's almost as if most people who play these games are really bad at them, huh?

>>389151498
Unplayable. I got into the series late so I don't suffer from that nostalgia of DaS1. Seriously, after playing the other games, 2 is just such a disaster that I can't bring myself to continue with it. It's ugly as hell, slow, and clunky. I don't know what meth they were on when they decided this was the game they wanted to release.

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Why are these threads still a thing?

DeS
DaS
BB

The other two are low quality like those old, cheap dual shock spinoffs you could get back in the day.

>>389165054
>it's almost as if most people who play these games are really bad at them, huh?

It's almost like the game is designed to be played with lock-on and makes no effort to teach players to unlock and use those sorts of techniques because they're more "things you can do" as opposed to being actively part of the design philosophy.

>>389165421
It's almost as if the games don't hold the player's hand at all times.

>>389151498
Best souls game.

>>389165320
DS2 > Demon's Souls and BB

>>389165618
I respect your opinion, but it's wrong.

Too many bosses and enemies are humanoid, not enough strange looking things to fight. Great Hammer weapons are horribly broken since you can just two hand and flatten 90% of enemies that you fight.

I did like boss rooms getting additional enemies during new game+ runs. Also Majula is hands down the best hub in the series. Has great music and just feels comfy as fuck when you're there.

>>389166080
>Too many bosses and enemies are humanoid, not enough strange looking things to fight.
Why is that a bad thing?
And it's also a lie.

>>389154726
Hope you guys realize that hitboxes are just part of what makes das 2 unbearable.

Atleast in my experience, running through the alonne knights was impossible.

You get hit before they even finished winding up their attacks, this also happens on alot of other enemies.

>>389166227
>Why is it a bad thing?
>Why is lack of variety, something that most people will obvious find bad, bad?

But why is anything a bad thing?

>>389166432
Why is it a bad thing, didn't people earlier say that the engine was designed for 1 on 1 encounters between similar combatants?
Also, what you are saying is a lie.

Best PvP in the series
Best Covenants in the series
Best armor and weapon diversity in the series
Highest replayability in the series
Best DLCs in the series
Most interesting plot in the series
Balanced yet fun

Worst art direction in the series
Too many bossfights that don't deserve the title bossfight
Leveldesigns often feel too videogamey
Bossrehash coop areas in the DLCs
Divided fanbase between the original and Scholar - Thanks Bamco Greed

Dark Souls 3 is like the opposite of that which is why so many people who dislike DaS2 end up liking DaS3

>most linear
>everything is so balanced that it becomes unfun due to everything being mediocre
>worst PvP due to host bias and ganks and general lack of activity inside the world

infinitely more replayable than 3

>>389161741
You must not have played bloodborne
>even more i frames during dodge
>get health back on hits
>no equip load
but muh best game
muh faster
hehe never ever

>>389154726
>beam clearly curves downward towards him at the end

That's not really a hitbox problem. Just shitty tracking.

>>389161741
But I found DS3 to be the hardest of the 3, how do you explain that?

>>389167101
There is actually cooldown between dodges in BB though and the enemies are even more aggressive compared to any of the Souls games.

>>389167491
Probably because of the health system. It doesn't promote sloppy play like the original.

>>389151584
This. I hate all the dark souls 2 shitposting but I just can't go back to it after dark souls 3.

>>389153394
>farm for an hour
>dump it all into ADP

Problem solved

>>389151498
It was fine, I liked it. It's the least good Dark Souls, but still an excellent game nonetheless

The general visual design, models, lighting, animations, textures, etc, all manage to look worse than the first game.
Any gameplay improvements like popping multiple souls at once, or sprinting up ladders, are cancelled out completely by faceplants like agility and durability.
Despite AotA demonstrating that players like speed, DS2 is the slowest game in the series, with many ponderous animations for both the player and bosses.
Most bosses are either a clusterfuck of trash mobs, or an unintimidating big guy who can only do some slow horizontal sweeps. The only difficulty is that late game bosses can mostly two shot you. Even the much hyped ancient dragon is trivially easy if you know what to do.
Even fewer memorable NPCs than DS3.

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>>389167656

I hate dark souls lore it's all trash

I loved the sheer amount of choices for weapons
Build variety was top tier
FASHION was pretty good
DLCs were awesome

>>389171542
Which is another reason dark souls 2 is the best.
There's no "lore", because the game really hammers home the point that it doesn't fucking matter.

>>389171960
There absolutely is a 'lore' and I don't think not having one would make any souls game 'the best'.

>>389165320
DeS is the worst souls game by far, even vanilla DaS 2 is vastly superior from a gameplay perspective

Nioh is fucking better than DeS

>>389172215
just go back to commenting on vaati videos no one cares

the lore is both awful and irrelevant

Combat felt horrible. Unresponsive and extremely floaty. Power stance and guard break were cool additions though.
The world wasn't exciting to explore for even a second.
Great majority of the bosses are horrible.
Couldn't even copy paste the story of dark souls 1 correctly, which was clearly the point all along.

This is gonna sound pretentious as fuck, but I feel like you can only enjoy dark souls 2 as much as every other soulsborne if you have no awareness or appreciation for game design philosophy under the hood. 2 missed the mark of what made every other one that much greater than itself.

>>389172413
how is nioh by the way? it looks interesting but i havent seen much of it.

Power stancing was the best thing to ever happen to the Souls series and the removal of it in 3 was the biggest disappointment I've ever had since my son

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>>389151717
>Ivory king has you stand in one place talking to a ghost for 2 minutes telling a story about the Ivory king being a hero and giving his life to stop the chaos and the people searching for a new king.
Nice falseflag, anon-san

>>389171941
>Build variety was top tier
>FASHION was pretty good

This is really the only reason I prefer DS2 over DS1 or DS3. Its the most important thing to me in the game and its why I can still replay it despite its horrible, horrible, design decisions whereas DS3 feels like you just play the game once and you've seen all there is to see.

>>389171542
Its presented in the worst way possible too
>pick up a dirty pair of pants off a corpse and your character magically learns some history
fucking dumb

>>389171542
Good thing it's all optional then. In every single game I never care about the lore or plot. Gameplay is king in these games

>>389166539
>didn't people earlier say that the engine was designed for 1 on 1 encounters between similar combatants?
Only retards who want to justify their horrible combat skills say that.

>>389153347
Yes, he made some dirty work to hype DS3 because his name was going to be in the cover as a "quality badge" and then threw shit to DS2 by saying "I DIDN'T MAEK THAT SHITTO :) EVEN THOUGH I WAS THE SUPERVISOR AND I PUTTO MY BABY SHIBUYA AND MADE TANIMURA FIKUSU EVERYTHING-O I FAILED AT" , he made himself famous in Demon Souls, even though that game was Tanimura's work, he tried to be relevant and he got what he wanted. He's just some pretentious hack.

>>389152262
>>389152316
>>389155776

Rosabeth you plebs.

>>389152687
>DaS2 barely got any love in DaS3 lore

An essential NPC in the fucking hub is straight from DaS2.

>>389173634
>he made himself famous in Demon Souls, even though that game was Tanimura's work
What the fuck am I reading

>>389151498
most fun game in the series, played to new game +7 with my two-hand STR/FAI

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>>389174168
No, I agree that Shanalotte is the cutest

>>389172215
You misunderstand completely.
There is lore, sure.
But ultimately, the game makes it clear that it doesn't mean anything, it doesn't matter that there was this person once who did that thing. Because the events of the game have happened countless times with different actors, it doesn't mean at all.

>>389174387
Mihackzaki pretended that Demon Souls was his work, he never directed it, he just put his name after the Director title, anyone who followed the developtment of DeS know this.

>>389174592
So your main point of deconstruction is something that is always the case, with any story ever?

>>389174592
Doesn't Dark Souls 1 make it very clear the events of the game would repeat with a different undead all the time?

>>389174831
The story usually doesn't usually does not make this explicit.
A story usually holds some claim of relevance.
Just look at the intro for Dark Souls, it tells a story that is somehow supposed relevant, when in reality it doesn't matter at all, everyone mentioned in it is long dead or gone.

>>389175106
Not really. It's theorycrafting

Okay DaS2 guys you've made some good points

HOWEVER

I challenge you to defend
>RRA
>Twin Dragonslayers
>Ancient Dragon
>graverobbers
>Ludd & Zallen
>OIK

>>389175712
>RRA
can't
>Twin Dragonslayers
What's the problem with that one?
>Ancient Dragon
100% optional

>graverobbers
>Ludd & Zallen
>OIK
dlc

>>389175106
I always thought the implication in 1 was that there are just tons of undead that think they're the Chosen Undead and you're just another one of them.

DaS3 outright states that Gwyn was the first to link the flame, so there was no cycle at the point that DaS1 took place.

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Did he do anything wrong?

Played it only to finish all games in series on PC. Played DS1 again and paying DS3 now. No DS2, cause do not even want to. Cause it fucking boring and ugly. Majula is only place I missing.

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DLCs on Dsrk Souls 2 are better content than DS1 Lord Soul areas.

Base game ds2 sucks harder than enb's sis sucks his ENDick +15

>>389151498
I come into these threads to ctrl-f and input lore. Then I masturbate.

>>389175842

OIK is base game.

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>>389161496
It's better in some places and worse in others. Undead Crypt is a bit less shit but Heide is an abomination due to the drake that got added. The statues they added everywhere also ajnoyed the fuck out of me by making the zones more linear and giving you less paths to explore. Most of the time the Scholar changes were for the better though.

It was great. Had a blast

>>389175712

The only reason I don't hate DS2 for its boss fights is because boss fights in Souls in general are fucking terrible. DS1 had the highest proportion of bad to good bosses while DS2 had the most mediocre and forgettable ones. DS3 was the breaking point where almost every boss for me was a matter of rolling and poking.

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>>389175712
>that walk back to lud and zallen

>>389151498
Worst of all Souls games. Still worth 1 playthrough.

>>389180582
I actually really like the snowstorm area (or at least the idea of it), but I hate 2catz too much to go though the area.

The whole area should of just been a boss fight with the lightning deer. Or the deer should've been the boss of the area at the end.

>>389178243
Yeah, I remember.
Old Iron King is irredeemable too.

But don't go pretending that all the bosses in the other games are all well designed.
I'd like to see you defend 4 Kings or Bed of Chaos.

>>389151498
SOTFS is the worst thing to ever happen to a video game.

>>389182051
SotFS is not for everyone.
It's only for the people who played and loved DS2.

>>389182171
That's funny because I really enjoyed Vanilla DS2 and hate every single fucking step I take in SOTFS.

>>389151498
Not terrible, introduced some quality of life things, not the same sort of experience as the first game, succeeded by something that did capture the atmosphere of Dark Souls, clearly rushed and didn't get a full development cycle, DLCs are the strong points, some unique bosses that punctuate an otherwise boring cast of bosses, some terrible ideas like sweetspots completely ruined some weapons, I'd give it a solid 7/10

>>389181861

Seath is fucking terrible too. The majority of DS1 bosses are terrible.

>>389181861
I felt like Old Iron King was in the wrong game. He seemed to fit a top down game a lot better.

>>389157715
Turning into a cat is fine too.

>>389181861
>Four Kings
The OST for that fight is better than anything from DaS II, there defended.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hs59egXnb3c

>>389151498
Shit game, the worst in the series

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>>389182796
*blocks your path*

>>389182738

Honestly, most of the music in the series is completely forgettable and that track is no different.

>>389183018
at least twice as good as 2. Weapon arts are amazing, game doesn't feel like buttery floaty shit to play.

>>389183018
This is actually the only Souls game I haven't played. It can't be worse than DS2 because DS2 isn't only bad as a Souls game, it's actually just a bad game.

Bloodborne>Demon's Souls>Dark Souls 1>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Dark Souls 2 for me, everyone says I'll like DS3 because I like BB

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>>389183285
DS3 is a downgrade from BB but it's a bit better than DeS

BB > DaS2 > DaS > DaS3 > DeS

>>389182171

I have only got to the Castle, but so far it has been just extra enemies to gank on you, Pursuer suprises, and some more NPC invaders. The only good thing has been the earlier Dull Ember and Fragrant Branches.

>>389167656

Rat authority is piss easy with a greatsword.

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We all know that Dark Souls 2 is a fucking disaster but let's remember and post some good things related to this game.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qg2IGTQsvZY
This theme is the best main menu theme in any game period

That bridge on the pic is one of my favorite moments in this series

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>>389185360

>>389181861
>4 Kings
Only bad on NG+. First playthrough they're fantastic.

>>389187902
No they aren't, you can just face tank them and that's the best way to do it since you're on an indirect timer.

>>389188050
I never did that. I just learn their moveset and beat them. The battle arena is interesting and the music that plays is nice. They're basically a DPS check.

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>>389188050
>you can just face tank them
Requires very specific gear. 4 Kings is a pretty good boss by DaS1 standards honestly. Yes, it's a gimmick boss but different builds can do it in different ways. And it's not like you can't facetank bosses with the right equipment in the other games.

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>>389151498
i really love the set bonuses and the NG+ wish dark souls 3 would have used some of those ideas.

>>389188968
The difference is, with Four Kings you are encouraged to because all that matters is killing them in the allotted amount of time you have before the next one shows up and once you realize you need a shield with high Magic resistances it's a cakewalk. Dark Souls has some good boss fights, Four Kings is not one of them.

>>389167491
>>389168613
Because DaS3 took all the worst parts of DaS2 and amped them up to stupid as fuck levels.

>Every fucking enemy has massive amounts of tracking and swings in wide arcs. It's so bad that enemy's torsos can be seen turning up to 180 degrees on their waists at times to make sure to hit you.
>Gank squads everywhere, ones that are even cheaper than DaS2. There's places where you walk into a room and a miniboss will fall from the black void of the ceiling and 1-shot you. Almost every fucking area features Thralls raining from the sky to hit you.
>Every single enemy has infinite stamina.
>Every single enemy does 2 to 3 times the damage it should. Bosses especially do far too much damage in general.
>Enemies are absurdly aggressive and will attack through walls, doors, and other surfaces to cheap shot you.
>Almost every enemy has a cartoon tantrum attack where they just swing 5-10 times, with only 2-4 attacks in their "combo" needing to land to stunlock you to death.
>Enemies have poise but you don't. All you get is half-assed hyper armor.
>No armor upgrades.

That said, a lot of these are the reasons why the game is so fucking easy too. Once you realize where all the cheap shots are coming from they're irrelevant, and once you realize that the enemy AI is fucking terrible and so hilariously aggressive that they will sprint off of cliffs to their death to get to you, the game becomes a total joke, easily making it the least challenging.

TL;DR: DaS3 banks entirely on cheap tactics rather than challenging encounters because they fucked up Roll and Estus and didn't know what else to do.

>>389188968

What specific gear? My first playthrough I wore the Lothric Knight's armor and just fat rolled through their attacks and hammered away at them until they died. I poised through everything.

>>389189342
Or you could just get a high damage weapon, learn their attack patterns and kill them

>>389189591
There's a good chance you already have a high damage weapon at that point in the game, making what could be the penultimate boss fight a damage check fight is stupid.

>>389151498
If the animations wouldn't look so weird it would be my favorite

>>389189748
Almost every fight in DaS games is a damage check though. If you do high enough damage you can kill them in a third of the time, meaning that you don't even need to learn most of the boss's moveset.

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>>389189748
I don't know then. I always enjoyed them until my NG+ and beyond playthroughs.

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>>389151498
I loved these

>>389189901
>Almost every fight in DaS games is a damage check though.
How? Fights like the Bell Gargoyles and Four Kings become incredibly hard if your damage output isn't high enough because you will become very quickly overwhelmed, something like Iron Golem it doesn't matter how slowly you kill him because the fight stays the same regardless and this is true for the vast majority of bosses in the game.

>>389190302
I said how right in the post you responded to.

>>389190431
You should learn what a damage check is.

>>389185360
The music in DaS2 is generally my favorite in the series. DaS3's was too same-y outside of a few tracks like Dancer. There's only so much "Loud screeching choir of women," I can take.

>>389190734
>The music in DaS2 is generally my favorite in the series.
Wrong.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AB6sOhQan9Y
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mvvFnR0kJFw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZVyHH-voR8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nsps0I58yUM

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>>389189505
>Lothric Knight's armor
>when we're talking about Dark Souls 1 boss
Wat?

>>389190882
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mtf-2nz6je4

>>389190882
>The music in DaS2 is generally my favorite in the series.
You're right, it's not my favorite. Fucking retard.

>>389190937

Lordran knight armor or whatever. The one that exposes your stomach and from the knight enemies by the first bell.

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>>389191435
Balder Knight armor.

>>389189080
Yea DS3 NG+ was very lackluster which is a shame because the game itself is very good.