Dark Souls II: Scholar of the First Sin

released on Apr 02, 2015

An expanded game of Dark Souls II

'Dark Souls II: Scholar of the First Sin' is an upgrade and bundle of Dark Souls II that brings the game to Playstation 4 and Xbox One, as well as DX11 features on PC. It also bundles all previous DLCs and provides additional features and content.


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Very special game for me. It gets overly hated. It's a fantastic game.

Best Dark Souls game ever. Elden Ring is an amateur copy. Shut the fuck up Miyazaki, you're not even good at your own IP. I've heard some argue that this game feels sluggish and has 0 feedback. There, you died while you were crying instead of paying attention. Enough feedback?

This really was our Dark Souls too....

I wanted to shoot my balls out.

I have a love-hate relationship with this game. At some points, it is fantastic and has some of the best moments in the Souls series, but it also has some lowest points. The ADP stat is the worst thing in Souls history. The things that carry this game for me are the lore and the DLC(except for Snow Reindeer Placee and blue Kool-Aid Man). I love the power stance mechanic. I wish it were in DS3!

This review contains spoilers

God dammit, I know it's the worst designed one but I just love it anyway. The hitboxes are terrible, the bosses are way too simplistic, and the game assaults you with bullshit at every turn. However, if you're willing to endure the flaws, there's some great stuff in here.

I think the reason I enjoy it so much is because it's a game that's not afraid to throw new and unique ideas at you every chance it gets. One moment you may be fighting enemies with lava traps in a fire castle, and another you may be in a crypt trying to prevent zombies from ringing a bell that summons deadly ghosts. The straightforward level progression of ds1 and 3 has been exchanged for a series of more puzzle-like mini-areas that demand something more from the player than just getting from one end to another. This is probably the game's greatest strength and greatest weakness.

A strength of this design philosophy is that the game can more easily craft memorable gameplay moments. A standout example of this comes at the end of the game, where the player must do a series of honorable duels with these giant dragon-knights. The player can choose to run past them, but this will trigger all the smaller minions in the area to activate and chase them down. It's just a wonderful way to build up the encounter with the ancient dragon, as it feels as though you've truly proved that you're worthy to be in his presence.

The issue with this design philosophy is that, due to the Dark Souls' series minimalist style, the designers weren't really able to tutorialize each level's unique mechanics. This is made worse by the game's unforgiving difficulty. If the player doesn't approach the gimmick correctly, they will be treated to a swift and brutal death. This can really take the wind out of what could otherwise be a powerful moment. For instance, the aforementioned moment where the player proves their worth to the dragon is a great moment IF you know what the game expects from you. The problem is that the game doesn't clearly communicate the rules to the player, so many people just try to run past the giant knights and get clobbered by the smaller ones.

This is why this game is such a mixed bag. The levels are overly punishing and straight up unfair most of the time. However, once you figure out what the game expects of you, it becomes very enjoyable. In that way, it's an incredibly hard game to rate. Do I rate it as the frustrating experience that I had the first time through? Or, do I rate it as I experience it now? I guess I'll just go in the middle.

That being said, I'd recommend giving it a shot. You may wind up disliking it, but there is the possibility that you'll love it.