Dark souls 2

I don't get the amount this game gets shit on. It's my first souls game I've played and it's single handedly restored my faith in retaining vidya as a hobby. I'm at harvest valley, is there a point where this game drops off severely?

Bump?

Halfway through pretty much. You are likely 5-10 hours away from that point. But then the DLC areas kinda make it bounce from the depts of mediocrity,

Is it just a drop in difficulty? Hate to be that guy but I'm not finding the game very hard so far. Lost sinner was the toughest granted it's still early but I still took her out on the second attempt.

people bitching and moaning about 'hating' this game, is the equivalent of fools dissing on their least favorite meal in a fancy high-dining restaurant

It's alright. Mainly it's the mechanics that got fucked with.

More of an increase in annoyance. The game starts to throw multiple enemies at you at every step you take and most bosses start to feel boring and unispired. Level design also takes a dive.
Still, the DLC areas are there to distract you from the horrible second half of the main quest. You can just tell they are DLC because they feel awesome compared to the rest of the game.

Does that mean I'll be fucked when I move to the other souls games?

No it's really a great game

It got a meme status and to be honest I couldn't stop until I finished it unlike 3.

My only complaint about Dark Souls II was the map design. it didn't have any of the atmosphere and mystery that Lordran did. For a series like the Souls series, not being heavily invested in the world means you're not going to finish that game.

Psst. Go to the Lost Bastille bonfire, the one near Lost Sinner.
Burn a Bonfire Ascetic in that bonfire, respawning Lost Sinner. Don't worry, her respawning doesn't screw up your progress.
Now proceed to fight her again and get your shit slapped.

you'll probably find them more easier or more balanced overal

No it's not as drastic as they pretend. Hitboxes and tracking are a bit worse in 2 compared to 1.

This for me. I struggled to finish the game for how boring the world got.

>Scholar
Have fun at Iron Peak.

Have.
Fun.

So true.

Nah, it's fine.

I'd say it's even better as it goes along since it expects you to have your full loadout and bonfires stop being like 3 feet from each other.

Certainly no post Lordvessel dropoff.

Does the run up to the fight change at all? That flexile sentry was irritating.

>Restored my faith in vidya

You sound like a faggot.

It's a great game.

Fuck you faggots, Iron Keep is a great location.

>but muh elevator
Epin :^)

Just run and roll past all that shit and focus on getting to the fog gate.

I'm 28 years old and genuinely thought I'd outgrown the hobby.

Think they're referring to SOTFS new enemy placements, which are kinda retarded.

>those huge mutant cucks on the way
JUST

>food analogy is becoming a meme

At least yours was decent and wasn't: out of the frying pan, into the fryer.

What part of "Scholar of the First Sin" are you just not getting?

What's hard about it?

I thought this until I played the U4 multiplayer. I prefer Ds2 to 3 but it was my first, outside of playing Demons when it first came out

Harvest valley is one of the worst areas in the game
DLC is better than the main game
It gets shit on because it does a lot of dumb shit, but it's not actually a bad game

Enemy placement is horrendous and the knights have obscene aggro ranges. It's IMPOSSIBLE to rush the fog gate for Nacho Cheese Smelter Demon and you have to very slowly and carefully kite basically every knight there every time you want to try the boss.

They tripled the enemy count and tripled their aggro ranges, it's stupid.

Harvest Valley was fine, by that stage in the game poison doesn't do shit and the levels pretty fun to explore otherwise.

My least favorite area so far is no man's wharf. That shit was annoying as fuck and seemed pointless.

>by that stage in the game poison doesn't do shit
Depends on which order you're doing the areas I guess
Not that that's the issue, it's just a pretty bland area in my opinion. Not terrible but not very good either

PVE is terrible all around, but if you're a filthy PVPfag you might like it

Annoying? You sure? You know about the torch gimmick that turns the Darklurkers into blubbering babies, right?

Like the two areas in this game I'd say suck dick at SOTFS Iron Keep and either version's Shrine of Amana.

I just kind of wish the lore for the area was more obvious. It's a neat idea but the area itself is ugly, and not in a meaningful way like say Blighttown was. Big green fart clouds are stupid ways to illustrate poison.

>finish the main quest and generally loved the game, even if it felt not quite as polished as 1
>can't wait to get stuck into the DLC, generally heralded as much better than the "shit" main game
>crown of the sunken king

Really? I've not got to a boss yet but the whole area just feels like a chore with big gaps between bonfires. The way people go on about DaS2, it feels like I'm playing a different game to them.

I really liked Sunken King's level design, but yeah, the bosses are ALL backloaded.

I'm not sure where you're at but there's a well hidden bonfire before the first boss (which is near the end of the DLC). You'll be dropping down a massive chamber with Drakeblood Knights around every corner. There's an illusory wall in one of the chambers. It's hard to describe, but there's a series of stair steps and it's on a suspiciously large hallway.

DS2 had
>best PvP due to non-exploitable estus and better balance after a few patches
>best covenants
>armor mixed well together, best game for fashion souls

However, it has shit hitboxes, mostly shit bosses, and the world feels disjointed

>I don't get the amount this game gets shit on.

- Shitload of easy bosses with unremarkable boss areas to match
- Multitude areas so random that it doesn't make any sense
- Cluttered horde number of armors and weapons that makes it feel your playing some final fantasy game instead of a game based on medieval fantasy.
- That fucking adaptability stat that diminishes the need to rely on your skills and/metagame to proceed, forcing you to rely on overleveling your character instead.

a lot of people here who only played DaS2 thinking that's how the souls series should be. It ain't.

>want to replay DS2
>remember all the enemies crammed into Iron Keep
>remember Black Gulch
>remember Shrine of Amana
>remember all the enemies crammed into Aldia's Keep
>remember all the enemies crammed into Frozen Eleum Loyce
>remember all the enemies crammed into Brume Tower
>remember all the enemies crammed into Shulva, Sanctum City
>remember how I only even beat all the DLC bosses by making a build focused on blocking and couldn't beat the bosses otherwise
I fucking suck at DS2.

>black gulch
Literally run forward and eat moss at the boss fog: the area

I think I've yet to actually ever use a shield in DS2.

I'd comment on the areas, but I played the PS3 version of SOTFS which didn't have the new enemy placements, so they were all pretty easy.

It also had the best builds. Everything was viable provided you bust your ass and make a good build for it.
Playing a hexer was fun to me because while they were definetly overpowered, I had to defeat a couple of bosses at hightened difficulty just to get some specific items which were pretty much needed to play it efficiently.
Dark Souls 3 had amazing level design but took a huge step back in that regard, a fast melee character is the only viable build and dual wielding is only allowed for a few specific weapons

I like taking my time and exploring, also, every time I try and bumrush to the fog door in DS2 I get interupted and raped.

I played both versions, once each, struggled with both. Guess I just suck.