Dark Souls 2 (PC) Review – Sure it’s Hard, Doesn’t Mean it’s Any Good | COG

Paul took his time with this review. He wanted to make sure he was giving Dark Souls 2 for the PC every opportunity to succeed. He wanted to like it. Unfortunately he didn’t.

[seanpitt23]

I don't agree on this score it's a 9 out of 10 game. What the dark souls games offer that no other game can offer is the sense of achievement after beating bosses and finishing the game. I loved the first one and I loved this no other game comes close to what this series offer I just cannot wait for what they have in store for us on the ps4xone.

[JackOfAllBlades]

Yes, I believe this person is just posting click bait

[Palitera]

What did he get?

A black list mention. Won't ever get a click from me.

[punctualdork]

Because anyone who gives a game less than an 8/10 has to be a troll who is click-baiting. Amirite?

Reviews are subjective. People have different opinions. That doesn't make them any less valid.

[DragonKnight]

@punctualdork: Maybe you should listen to your own advice. You're sitting here ragging on people who are sharing an opinion about this guy's opinion. You said that people are allowed to have an opinion, yet all you've been doing is defending this guy's opinion like he's your relative, roommate, or significant other.

It is an opinion to say his opinion sucks, and if you're the champion of defending the right to have an opinion, then drop it because you're then not defending the right to have an opinion, just the right for some people to have dissenting opinions.

[kevnb]

maybe he doesnt like the game? Some people really don't want to be challenged when playing games.

[q8kik]

no challenge = not fun

[Jughead3416]

Kevnb, I agree that lots of people don't want to be challenged. I have a friend that plays only open world RPGs, but is too intimidated by dark souls' difficulty to even try it. But as a reviewer, I feel that if it's not your type of game to begin with, then you really can't give a game a fair shake.

[HeavenlySnipes]

The facade that Soul's games are very difficult are annoying. The only "challenge" with the games are being patient through the redundancy of the gameplay.

Block, block, roll attack twice. Rinse and repeat. If you try to rush through that you can get yourself killed. That's why many people find the games boring, barring the fact the narrative isn't present a majority of the games and you find yourself wondering why you're in the place you're in.

I wouldn't give the game a 5, but I'm not shocked someone would feel to grade it as such

[VileAndVicious]

@HeavenlySnipes

You know I'm actually going to kind of agree with you. I was really into Demons souls back in the day. It was one of the games that made me switch from my 360 to the PS3. And Demons souls was IMO worth it I spent hours with it and once I finally beat it I had a great sense of accomplishment. But one thing became clear after a few deaths, the game wasn't really hard at all. The game just requires you to play it a certain way otherwise you will be severely punished.

If you don’t block you will die, if you go in hacking and slashing away at everything you will die, if you don’t pay attention to your surroundings you will of course surely die.

Once you realize these things, IMO the game ceases being hard and becomes an exercise in patience more than anything. In fact I personally did not enjoy Dark Souls as much knowing this (not that I thought it was a bad game mind you.). The game just wasn’t very difficult so long as you were cautious (which is how the game is meant to be played).

That’s not to say this is a bad thing it’s just that I can understand why for some people this might seem boring as it’s an acquired taste.

[nucky64]

i'd say 8 out of 10 (played ps3 version). what drags the score down for me is all of the help allowed for bosses - whether co-op or npc characters. i think the bosses should be beaten solo....on the abilities of the player and with NO HELP.

[Jughead3416]

But any help is completely 100% optional. Help isn't forced on you or anything. I killed 90% of the bosses with no help. I beat the game almost completely solo.

[cleft5]

I put well over a 1000 hours in Demons Souls, well over 400 hours into Dark Souls 1, and around 300 hours into Dark Souls 2. I have beaten Demons souls and dark souls at lvl 1 with a pure melee build. With that said, I agree with this review score. I brought the game and I found it to be riddled with artificial difficulty and just cheap gimmicks. When the game is good it is simply amazing, but far too often the game is cheap. The Belltower boss is the perfect example of that. I do love Dark Souls 2, but I completely understand anyone that scores it a 5 or a 6.

[oIITSBIIo]

What a stupid review .

[BeardedPriest]

Yeah... I agree aside from the challenge, there isn't much making this a good game.

[Summons75]

Great gameplay, superb online and teaming up with others to overcome obstacles despite not being able to talk to each other, great story which is told through the gameplay and discovered only by exploring and talking to people, great environments that each have their own story of how it fell apart, awesome atmosphere, and a lot of well designed bosses that you have to think to overcome.

There is a ton making these games good, the only thing that holds people back is the fact that you have to take it slow and think about what you're doing and more importantly know when to admit your mistakes....otherwise you rage quit.

[PurpHerbison]

The atmosphere dies a little each time a Souls game gets released.

[LiViNgLeGaCY]

Sorry to have to tell you this Summons75, but all of that is just your opinion, not fact.

[rezzah]

Purp's point of view is understandable (excitement can die out overtime), but the game has more of a cult following than grand media popularity (like GTA series). This group will grow slowly, but should be enough to help maintain decent sales overtime.

[BeardedPriest]

Well designed bosses? After getting magnet grabbed by the rotten... Aside from Smelter, they are too easy when you team up with people.

[rextraordinaire]

I kind of agree. I could never get into the Souls series, it always felt like cheap games with jacked up difficulty for the sake of it.

Dragon's Dogma did it much better, in my opinion.

[Palitera]

How much did you play it?

edit, @4.1.1: So you do realize you know very little about the series, right?

I'm not saying everyone will like it, but you can't expect to understand the design of the game playing only one session of a huge game... It has very little "cheapness" on it. Actually, being fair is one of its core features...

Well, whatever, I'm not in the mood for this.

[rextraordinaire]

About 2 hours. I found the gameplay to be revolting from the start. That's usually a good sign of things to come.

Dragon's Dogma got me hooked in the first 10 minutes.

[thricetold]

Allow me to respond then, having about 317 hours under my belt in DS2 and agree with a lot of the negatives others have said. Doesn't mean we are right or wrong but it's not just players who are noobs or don't understand the mechanics.

I've put in just about the same amount of hours in each souls game since demons and have felt the same about each iteration. I can't still enjoy the gameplay even if what you like I consider a fault in the game? Im a gamer so I just overlook what I dont like, but to sit here like the series is some perfect piece of "challenging" gameplay when there are loads of cheap moments is absurd.

There are a lot of soul fanatics that act like they were the only ones supporting the souls series from the start and those who criticize it dont understand it which is just them not willing to admit the games imperfections because they feel it will tarnish their virtual achievement.

Overall good series with some questionable design choices and cheap moments. Dont see how anybody can argue with enemy weapons clipping thru walls for full damage while your attacks are nullified. Or how enemy arrows in DS tracked your movement which thankfully they stopped for the most part in DS2.

Just sayin not everyone who doesn't drool over all the design choices or mechanics is some casual who doesn't like challenging games.

[Clogmaster]

I like Dogma better, but Dogma was designed more like a 3D upgrade of Capcom's old Beat em Ups (King of Dragons, Dungeons & Dragons).

Souls is more about patience, where Dogma is more about action.

[rextraordinaire]

I'm more of an action man when it comes to slaying dragons. ;)

[rezzah]

There is a patience aspect for Dragons Dogma, but that part only appears in the DLC called Dark Arisen (much harder than the post-game).

Not saying it has the best of both worlds, therefore it is better. It's all about personal preference.

[Clogmaster]

Truth. Dogma had the patience aspect at the start of the game, and in Bitterblack Isle which had me strutting very carefully.

BBI was so fun. hahaha

[Summons75]

The original Dark Souls I'd agree on some parts but this game and Demon's Souls no.

Dragon's Dogma (I loved it) was way too easy, Capcom marketed it as harder than Demon's Souls and a Demon's Souls killer and it was so easy. I loved it but it is no where near comparable to the souls games.

[Neixus]

Tried hard mode?

[rextraordinaire]

Dark Arisen on hard is hard, really really hard.

And I'll admit I only tried Dark Souls. I didn't like it, at all, so I never tried the other games in the series. But Dark Souls left such a bad taste that I don't want to try the other ones, it can't be -that- different, can it?

[thricetold]

@summons

Come on man stop kidding yourself, the souls games are easy or can be as well! You're going to sit and say it's easy to complete BBI dark arisen at the start of the game on hard? Or that a sl1 player cant complete each souls game without ever even needing to level up? Once the player learns the attacks you can go thru the entire game unscathed.

And as much as I love the lock on feature, its like an auto aim-assist for attacks, you can't miss! At least if it worked as intended instead of maybe swinging at the air because you're locked onto some giants belly. Without the lock on the attacks can be hit or miss.

The same can not be said about DD due to the amount of enemies they throw at you at one time, ALL the time. I'm not saying one is better or more "challenging" than the other but lets stop dismissing one and glorifying another game when difficulty itself is subjective.

[Clogmaster]

I don't ever remember Dogma being marketed as a Demon's Souls killer. It was in development when DMC4 finished (2008). I always saw it as Capcom finally giving us King of Dragons with character creation! FINALLY! hahaha

Look at all the bosses in King of Dragons and Dungeons and Dragons. Most are the same. Even the classes are the same. (Well, you'll always see the same staple medieval/fantasy monsters).

[Clogmaster]

I don't ever remember Dogma being marketed as a Demon's Soul killer. It was in development when DMC4 finished (2008). I always saw it as Capcom finally giving us King of Dragon's with character creation! FINALLY! hahaha

Look at all the bosses in King of Dragons and Dungeons and Dragons. Most are there. Even the classes are the same.

[SuicidalTendencies]

I'm currently playing the first game and like it but it's incredibly overrated by it's fans and some of the "professional reviewers". The difficulty is fine with some cheapness involved but nothing you can't figure out with some learning of the enemies. The real problem with the game is the lousy controls. That spikes the cheapness of some deaths even more. I can only hope for the people who are playing Dark Souls 2 that they fixed the crappy controls.

[rextraordinaire]

Yeah it's not a "bad" game, but like you said, damn, those controls are poor.

[Imalwaysright]

You say that Dark Souls controls are poor and yet you come here saying how much you enjoyed Dragon Dogma? A game where 2 out of ten times you miss an attack because you can't lock on your enemies? I played both games and imo Dark Souls gameplay and controls are much more tighter than Dragon Dogma's, not even a contest.

Now that that is out of the way, I don't understand why both of you had problems with Dark Souls controls. Never once had I any problem with them. If for any reason I died in that game I blamed myself because I understood that my deaths were due to me loosing concentration and not antecipating an enemy attack. The game isn't cheap, it has a learning curve that goes all the way until the credits start rolling in and that is why I love it.

[Clogmaster]

Souls games combat is very tactical. It plays very similarly to a fighting game where you have to understand range, recovery time, and distance from walls.

I don't see how you can miss attacks in Dogma without a lock on though. It's pretty easy to aim your attacks in that game. It plays just like Dynasty Warriors.

[RedSoakedSponge]

im not even going to read this review. a 55/100 for dark souls 2 is laughable, and in all honesty makes me a little angry to think hes aloud to put out reviews.

[BeardedPriest]

You don't like his opinion?

[Summons75]

We don't like that he sucked at a game and is trashing it for the sake of trashing it. This was in no way informative about the mechanics of the gameplay which is an intelligent journalist knows a review needs to be informative and UNBIASED.

This is just a pathetic blogger.

[RedSoakedSponge]

do i really need to state that? lmao

[Th3o]

YET they gave dark souls 2 on Xbox 360 an 84?

http://canadianonlinegamers...

[Digital_Anomaly]

Two different reviewers, two different opinions. What makes one opinion more valid than another? If you read both of them they both clearly explain why they liked or disliked everything.

Just because you disagree doesn't make it wrong. Reviewers are just guys with opinions and the sooner people figure that out the better off they'll be!

[Th3o]

reviewing 1 game from the same site by 2 reviewers send mixed and biased messages.

There was absolutely no reason to have another review written for pc specifically unless there was something much worse than consoles or much better.

This is just dividing your site in 2, and making your site feel very unreliable and unpredictable for scoring.

We KNOW everyone has their own opinion how about you give us your sites? Instead we get ...this game is amazing and bad...So stop trying to save face.

Terrible.

[Summons75]

Opinions aren't supposed to be based on opinions, they are suppose to be unbiased and an in depth look at the mechanics of the game and telling weather they hold up and people who are unsure should purchase the game or they aren't great and people should save their money.

If this guy wrote an article about why he didn't like Dark Souls 2 then this article would be perfectly fine but it's a review an information piece. Bloggers need to learn what Journalistic Integrity is or they will never be taken seriously.

[AnEwGuY]

@ Summons75 ...

"Opinions aren't supposed to be based on opinions.."

¿Que?

[mezati99]

LMFAO a casual

[DragonKnight]

Why are you giving Canadians such a bad name with your poor reviewing abilities? I mean, first of all there's this...

"Dark Souls has a reputation for being brutally difficult, and I was well aware of that fact going in. Concrete walls are also known to be sturdy, but that doesn’t make beating your head against one a pleasant experience. Let me be blunt: I found Dark Souls 2 to be frustrating, repetitive, and needlessly vague. I can hear you. “You don’t understand the game.” No, I understand it fine. I don’t, however, enjoy it."

By making that analogy, it's clear you DON'T understand the game. Also it appears that this is the first game of the Souls series you've played judging on how you speak about this game in particular.

The point of this game is methodical gameplay, study, and eventually overcoming challenges with an immense sense of achievement for doing so. The fact that you call it repetitive just shows that you're missing the point.

The vagueness is purposeful and part of the draw for this game. The story isn't about the story, it's about you. It's about how your journey goes, how you cope with the challenges of facing a world alone, and how you will overcome the multitude of creatures, traps, and enemies that all want you dead. Dark Souls 2 is perhaps the least vague in the entire series, but given that it's likely that you only played this game and not the others, you again understand nothing.

"With such a rich lore..."

It's an RPG. What the hell are you doing playing an RPG and NOT talking to characters and NOT reading? Is this your first RPG ever? You must be a young gamer because if you had played RPGs before Nintendo created the accessibility craze with the Wii, then you'd know that they were all like this. Try understanding what you need to do in the very first Final Fantasy game. I know people who didn't know that Bahamut changes your class. Why? Because they skipped the most important aspects of playing an RPG, that being ACTUALLY READING!

"Although the skill requirement of combat is a definite strength, it can be mercilessly frustrating."

Then you're playing it wrong. The game is about forcing you to be methodical in how you play. You can't expect bosses to be easy, so you'd better play smart, you'd better play safe, or you'd better not b*tch when you die.

"Leveling is important, but only to stay in stride with enemies – you’ll never feel like you have a leg up. You’re obligated to endure and embrace death to progress."

Care to explain how there are people who have beaten these games at Soul Level 1? These are people who know how to play the game. They've learned it, and learned what not to do. That's the point of this game.

"the punishing and repetitive nature of the gameplay makes Dark Souls 2 feel like a errand rather than entertainment."

Meaning you weren't good enough to play the game well, so you decided you'd call it a repetitive errand because you kept dying. It's a little like a boulder rolling competition between Sisyphus and an athlete doing it for exercise. Sisyphus has been doing the same thing for centuries and wishes he could stop, the athlete is trying to get the most out of it because he wants to get better, stronger, faster. You have the mindset of Sisyphus only without the experience. You didn't do well, so you got frustrated and wanted to take your ball home.

[punctualdork]

Calm down dude. The guy had a different experience than you did while playing. Big whoop.

[DragonKnight]

His experience isn't the issue, it's how he acts like he understands what the game is about when he clearly doesn't, and then gives the game a poor score because of how little he understands the game.

It's that kind of "journalism" that needs to end. If you want people to judge your review as an experience based piece, then there's no need to score the game at all. If you're going to judge the game for what it is, you should have a grasp on the content, simple as that.

[sevilha82]

The guy never wanted to learn to play the game ,that was is main flaw,and whats wrong with this new generation of gamer(not generalizing,i know many younger gamers that love Rpg´s and know how to play them,just refering to the trends of gaming nowdays).

For instance he called it repetitive,but i bet that he goes to play COd every night for hours and do the same thing over and over again(see my point)

He said the game is too hard(what??).no it is not,it is by far the easyest Souls game of them all,very acessible to new gamers all you have to do is explore and learn,but i know its to much trouble to learn and intelligence as no swag i´m i "ritte"...

Look we all know he as a right to an opinion of course he does,as do we,and this game is not a 5,5 in 10.

It´s fun ,the gameplay is solid,and it as countless hours of replay value so i´d give it an 8,5/10 pherhaps so would he if he would even try to play it...just saying.

[CrashJones]

Well thought out remark sir, and I agree.

Most if not all games are repetitive to a certain degree... and a lot of them include dying over and over until the player gets it right... Mario... Link... anyone?

The Souls games a great because of the many varied ways you can play, and how any build is viable based on the players skill. This equals replay value in my opinion.

Games by nature... are repetitive. The way to change the game is by doing just that, play a different one.

[Tommy_titfer]

This demands an "open letter to the internet" (confined to N4G)

[DragonKnight]

Fail troll is fail, and I bet you don't even understand why.

[MEsoJD]

Click bait for sure.

[DarkLord1003]

Seems like someone is craving for attention...

[Blastoise]

A very, VERY disappointing game, but still well worth a playthrough. 7-8/10 in my opinion, definitely undeserving of the best scores in the series, but better than most games out there still.

[Question_Mark]

Sheesh, people aren't allowed to have opinions anymore...

[sevilha82]

Ohh did the casual got is ass kicked by a not so hard game and decided to bash it in the internet..Poor ,poor casual...

[elninels]

Lets lynch someone for their opinion. Yes, reasonable indeed.

[Kaze88]

A little bit too short and informative review, but i understand why he didnt like it. I respect his opinnion, everybody doesnt like Souls games.

As for me Souls games are one of the best games ive ever played.

[47]

Glad someone had the balls to say it. Those games are some of the most overrated trash to hit the gaming industry in quite some time. Bland, repetitive, hollow and "hard" for the sake of being hard doesn't make a great game. It makes overrated trash, aka, demons/dark souls.

[sdozzo]

Look at me. I'm a little bitch.

[Master-H]

Spoken like a true filthy casual.

[Kaze88]

imo games like Gears, Halo, Uncharted, Twisted Metal Black, God of war are way too overrated. Really bland and mediocre games imo.

As for souls games, i think that they are one the best games. When you play carefully and plan ahead + learn the enemy fighting pattern they arent that hard. Also the game does rarely take cheap hits/kills on you, most of the deaths are because the player wasnt aware of his surroundings or took a bit too large bite etc.

[shammgod]

This game lacked in areas where demons and dark didn't. It's definitely not a 55/100, but this game didn't have the same feel. Felt rushed to me. Level design, especially towards the end, was boring and lacking.

[sdozzo]

I once told someone to throw themself off a bridge.

[ramza04]

The reviewer is entitled to his opinion and I'll give him that. But I'll throw my opinion out there and say the review is laughable. Shame on the developers for assuming the player is capable of figuring things out on their own instead of relying on minimaps/arrows pointing the way to go. Shame on the developers for designing the leveling system in such a way that you cant simply pump out stats to completely Zerg through enemies without any skill. Shame on the developers for actually requiring the player to delve into the lore by actually exploring and interacting with npcs and paying attention to what's going on.Shame on the developers for making death meaningful and assuming once again that the player isn't an idiot and knows how to dodge/block/parry and not just mash the X button to victory. And shame once again on the developers for giving people the OPTION of playing with their friends and can play the game completely solo if they want which is what I did.

Anyways you get my point. I really would like to know what game this guy would prefer that is as rewarding and requires someone with half a brain to succeed. All the most popular games out now are hella more repetative and require absolutely no critical thinking from the player. This game is a breath if fresh air in a market flooded with games focused on cattering to the widest market possible.

[Master-H]

This reads like a scrub review to be honest, the game is the worst in the series, granted, but it's still awesome, i wouldn't give it less than an 8, 8.5 would be ideal imo.

[Spotie]

So confused about why people want to defend patently bad reviews with, "it's his opinion."

Yes, but it's supposed to be an informative opinion designed to let others know whether they'll like or dislike a game.

When a review shows that a person didn't grasp the intent of a game, it's a bad review based on an ill-informed opinion.

It was Germany's opinion, once upon a time, that Jews were the root of all their problems, and that conquering the world was an aryan birthright. Was that opinion ironclad, solely on the strength of it being an opinion?

Don't make excuses for bad opinions. Yes, they DO exist, and this poorly written review is an example of one.

[HarvesterOSarow]

Pretty sure I'm on the last few bosses of the game, and when I beat it I most likely will never play it again. I loved Demons Souls and Dark Souls, but I find this game to be hollow and uninteresting. If I had to score this game I would give it a 6/10.

[Grave]

Git gud casul.