Overhated, better than its reputation
Mentioned in ~1 in 5 positive reviews
“Yes, the game has issues. No, they’re not as bad as people make them out to be.”
Steam review · 99.8 h played ↗
DARK SOULS™ II: Scholar of the First Sin
Worth buying? What 300 Steam reviews say.Worth buying? Here’s what 300 Steam reviews actually say.
Very Positive · 85%Very Positive · 85%FromSoftware, Inc.2015Souls-like · RPG · Action
The verdict
A huge, atmospheric, build-rich Souls entry with great DLC, but built on enemy ganks, runbacks and the Adaptability stat. Skip it if you want DS1/DS3-style polish.
Great for
Series veterans who want a big, slow, build-heavy Souls game with great DLC, co-op and PvP
Main risk
Gank-heavy enemy placement, runbacks and clunky combat make it frustrating, especially if Adaptability isn't understood
What changed in the last 30 days
161 recent reviews
Recent negatives mostly repeat familiar complaints (ganks, ADP, clunky combat). A few mention save-file loss and unskippable credits. No single new patch is clearly responsible, so confidence is low.
161 recent reviews
What players love
Atmosphere, Majula and world
Mentioned in ~1 in 9 positive reviews
“What an unbelievably beautiful hub area. To this day, I think it is the best hub in the entire trilogy.”
Steam review · 66.8 h played ↗
Huge variety of weapons, builds and areas
Mentioned in ~1 in 14 positive reviews
“it's by far the largest DS game: most bosses, most biomes.”
Steam review · 77.6 h played ↗
Unique mechanics and replay value
Mentioned in ~1 in 17 positive reviews
“Ng+ that actually changes, bonfire ascetics, best fashion souls, best PvP, Animation cancelling, Power stancing, most diversity in genuinely viable builds”
Steam review · 85 h played ↗
Great co-op and PvP
Mentioned in ~1 in 17 positive reviews
“the co-op in Dark Souls II is the most fun I've ever had in any game, period.”
Steam review · 174.9 h played ↗
Excellent DLC
Mentioned in ~1 in 30 positive reviews
“The three DLCs are absolutely god-tier, loved all of them.”
Steam review · 77.6 h played ↗
What players complain about
Clunky combat and bad hitboxes
Mentioned in ~1 in 3 negative reviews
“Combat is imprecise and annoying. Enemy attacks track unnaturally, recovery frames are long”
Steam review · 17.7 h played ↗
Gank-heavy enemy placement
Mentioned in ~1 in 4 negative reviews
“How not to make a game difficult, spam 100 enemies into a small zone that chase you around the entire map.”
Steam review · 10.2 h played ↗
Adaptability stat gates dodge i-frames
Mentioned in ~1 in 6 negative reviews
“Locking roll invincibility and item speed behind a stat is never explained and punishes players who don’t meta-game early or follow online guides.”
Steam review · 17.7 h played ↗
Boring, easy or gank-based bosses
Mentioned in ~1 in 6 negative reviews
“WHY ARE THE BASIC ENEMIES MORE CHALLENGING THAN THE BOSSES.”
Steam review · 45.1 h played ↗
Max health loss on death
Mentioned in ~1 in 11 negative reviews
“Making it even MORE punishing by reducing your health by 10% every single time encourages players to either have godly skill or grind”
Steam review · 29.1 h played ↗
Tedious boss runbacks
Mentioned in ~1 in 21 negative reviews
“the run backs are hell and the poor enemy placement is just dog water”
Steam review · 10.4 h played ↗
System requirements
From the Steam store page
Steam Deck: VerifiedController support23 GB
Minimum
OSWindows 7 SP1 64bit, Windows 8.1 64bit
ProcessorAMD® A8 3870 3,6 Ghz or Intel® Core ™ i3 2100 3.1Ghz
Memory4 GB RAM
GraphicsNVIDIA® GeForce GTX 465 / ATI Radeon TM HD 6870
Storage23 GB available space
Recommended
OSWindows 7 SP1 64bit, Windows 8.1 64bit
ProcessorAMD® FX 8150 3.6 GHz or Intel® Core™ i7 2600 3.4 GHz
Memory8 GB RAM
GraphicsNVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 750, ATI Radeon™ HD 7850
Storage23 GB available space
OSWindows 7 SP1 64bit, Windows 8.1 64bit
ProcessorAMD® A8 3870 3,6 Ghz or Intel® Core ™ i3 2100 3.1Ghz
Memory4 GB RAM
GraphicsNVIDIA® GeForce GTX 465 / ATI Radeon TM HD 6870
Storage23 GB available space
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