I found it in my phone’s gallery, probably from Reddit.
It’s probably the Souls game I had most fun with and also the one with the most frustrating experiences. There’s a lot to love there but I must admit a huge chunk of my enjoyment with DS2 came from playing it coop just with my partner, so she gets the credit. 😅
Reminds me of the olde classic video “Happy Souls” - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2kr7KDCsIws
I played the whole franchise with a friend and had a blast.
I’ve got BOSS WEAPONS
still lives rent free in my head
This video was and still is sooo good! 🫶
It had a great PvP scene going for it. Also a huge world and improvements of all kinds over DS1. The only tragedy is that it also came with regressions in very important areas…
Still, it heavily influenced later games and the DLC + Scholar brought back a lot of what the original release kinda lacked
Fortunately Scholar of the First Sin Edition was what we played. 😅
To be fair, coop with a friend can fix any game! But playing FromSoftware games in coop sounds funny, given how much focus is on loneliness in their games.
Depends on which too. If it’s a Souls the summoning and invading mechanism is very generously sprinkled from top to bottom. Soapstone messages are everywhere too. Even when played offline NPC summons and invasions are still there to fill in for other players.
I can’t see a focus on loneliness, but rather on being suprised by a stranger’s interaction who’s company you never expected.
Also, this Eurogamer interview delves into what inspired Hidetaka Miyazaki to approach multiplayer as he did.
I never thought about that actually… my experience with Souls-like is largely defined by offline experience because my broke teenage self just pirated the games. It was always a given for me that these games are supposed to feel lonely.
That’s a funny revelation haha
Speedrunners are single players too. 👌
It’s actually a virtue that these games let players find their own way of progressing. I love the Souls games because players have ways to express their character that would be unthinkable in other games that aren’t immersive sims.
I gifted Scholar of the First Sin to my partner at a time when she was feeling stuck and overwhelmed with options and responsibilities and I wished she’d venture down a path she liked, scrutinize the obstacles on it and overcome them through pattern learning, practice and resourcefulness, asking for jolly cooperation whenever she needed some help.
It immediately clicked and had a good influence on our lives. We both pushed forward with better attitudes. 💛
I believe “fun” and “good” are two different attributes, so both cats can be right.
DS2 is the only souls game that hasn’t “clicked” with me. I know it’s not bad, but I’ve given it 5 tries over the years and I just don’t enjoy it like the others.
Have you finished the game during those 5 tries? And what about the DLC?
Sometimes it takes time for the Stockholm syndrome to really kick in.
I’ve never finished it and never done the DLC. I always started a new game.
I’m surprised you picked it up 5 times before deciding it’s not for you. I also occasionally fall into this trap of “this game is really popular so my lack of enjoyment of it must be because of my approach” and then I sink 6 hours into Earthbound despite not enjoying anything the game.
There’s too much stuff to explore in this world to spend so much time with something as pointless as an unfun game.
Sums up the experience for just about any game that’s being discussed on reddit for a long time
This is an example of the internet facilitating anti-intellectualism
How come?
DS2 is easy.
DS2:SotFS is dumb.
DS2’s difficulty is all in the bullshit leading up to the disappointing boss fights.
DS2’s best shit are the mechanics, tho. True dual weilding, limitless invasions, no level matching for multiplayer, bonfire aesetics, enemies stop respawning after X number of kills on the same dude, etc. The only thing holding it back, mechanically, is the dumbfuck Soul Memory system. And for first time players, the stat that affects how many iframes you get when dodging.
no level matching for multiplayer
enemies stop respawning after X number of kills
IMO these are downsides.
I can actually invade some level 300 dude on a level 1 character and show them what real strength is.
If you wanna farm enemies, this feature forces you into using the bonfire ascetic items to continue killing the same dude forever. Which also makes them give more souls each NG+ cycle you increase the area to up the 7th time. If you’re trying to get a drop: Trust me, not one thing a random enemy drops is actually worth the time.
You don’t need to use Bonfire Ascetics to endlessly farm enemies. You can join the Company of Champions covenant. This covenant prevents enemies from despawning (and buffs them).
Going into higher NG cycles or using Bonfire Ascetics is still beneficial when farming since, with higher Bonfire Intensity, drop rates increase.
I did not know that stopped them from despawning, just that it made them stronger. Good to know. 😁
The boss fights were some of the last good ones. You could beat the pursuer without ever dodging, because positioning and movement were actually important.
