Dark souls 2, regardless of whether its the original or scholar of the first sin version, remains the black sheep of fromsoftware's soulsy catalogue. Yet the black sheep of this stellar family is still a game worth and holds up compared to its competition.

There is just something missing here, the game design is not as crisp and has a put together kinda feel to it. The enemy positioning, boss runbacks and hitboxes are straight up garbage. The game is also longer than its siblings which has a repetitive unpolished vibe to it.

Yet the core values remain, the atmospheric melancholy , the stellar lore and storyline and the beautiful music is just as beautiful as what came before and after it.

I do recommend this game, as long as you know what you are walking into, a beautiful but flawed game that really really loves its gank fights.