The main reason for the problems DS2 has is also because Bandai Namco gave Fromsoft only a year and a half to develop it. this is primarily the reason why the game has so much cut content as well.
The lack of content isn't even the underlying issues though. Enemy placements and overall just unfair gameplay all around. FromSoft at the time was riding the dark souls is hard so they did every BS thing possible going against Miyazaki's quote that DS is difficult but fair. DS2 has a death counter in its hubworld. * Edit I'd argued enough already about this years ago. Go cope somewhere else the death counter speaks volume of what their game philosophy in that game + Iframes being locked into a stat you have to specifically research.
@@ErinLynagh In DS1 and DS3 the music only cuts off after the "Victory Achieved" text. In DS2 the music cuts off as soon as the boss is dead, which is much worse imo.
9:13 what a pure Dark Souls moment, knock her off the edge so she can land on the ground, then he falls into the water and dies, then she jumps in after you for no reason!
@@diodoxystar Yea but souls is hilarious like this, 1 side u could be stuck trying to kill this girl forever or until u level up, or u can have some fluke happen and she does it herself.. there's just so much intangibles in these games, its what makes them so memorable.
In retrospect of it all. I kind of love DS2's theme the most. Every character who kind of gets the whole cycle of the world looks at you and thinks right off the bat "Yeah you're nothing. Just another guy throwing their undead life away to an unachievable goal, and even if you do take the throne, you'd just be another squanderer that lives and dies just like the other kings." ....And yeah. They ain't wrong. It's all pointless, going through all that bullshit led to nothing. And then Aldia fucking jumpscares you to scream his seethe about the reality of the world. Then hints to you that there could be something more. Something that can actually be done, if you're willing to commit to the bullshit. And then you do the DLCs and they're fucking hard as shit, but by now you do it knowing there's a real ending beyond this, a goal that is tangible and only obtainable by doing all said bullshit. And in the end of it all...There actually is. A true release from the curse of undead. Unknown to the rest of the world except to you, the one that willingly did what was needed to earn it (translated to fighting and killing big boss monsters and gank squads) idk I just kind of look at it like that.
Really well said mate. It tells you plainly what it is going to be and the ending where you just say 'I'll figure out another way. Screw you guys i'm going home" is fantastic. Ds2 always be my favorite :)
Dark Souls2 has probably the best NG+ cycle in the soulsborne genre Edit: Nioh 2 and Lies of P are not soulsborne, people are replying saying those games are better, but I’m not talking about soulslike I’m talking about soulsborne
Mandatory list of DS2 features and innovations; Powerstancing Bonfire Ascetics Actual NG+ changes Soul Vessel item for respec options Effigies allow mobile restoration of humanity Introduced omnidirectional targeted rolling (could only roll 4 cardinal directions in 1) Parry while 2 handing weapons Full movesets in either hand Guard breaking & critical followups Spell Deflection 2 handing shields/off-hand Sprinting & jumping into enemies pushes them out of the way to prevent being overwhelmed and cornered (huge issue in 1) Spice items to lower Spell stat requirements Max HP chipping til 50% (25% with Ring of Binding) to deter thoughtless/spam attempts at scenarios & bosses NPC Ghost/Gravestone feature Red Eye ring pulls enemy aggro to player to help NPC survive fights Covenant switching is free and easy 3 Arm slots (had 2 in 1) 4 Ring slots (had 2 in 1) Infuse shields Upgrading shields improves all stats & not only Stability Torches + torch interactions Hybrid consumable items Healing/consumables on ladders Environmental interaction (water pots give fire resis (Iron Keep), oil lowers it, water lowers lightning resis, etc.) Additional stamina cost per successive roll to prevent roll spam (rip DS3) Introduced movement during bow and item use Pyromancy actually balanced with Fire Seed upgrade system Poise actually balanced (yikes 1) with automatic get out options at certain thresholds (like being able to roll out after 2 hits) Only blacksmith could repair fully broken equipment (nice immersion/charm) Pharros lockstones Interactive/choice quest w/ Creighton and Pate Timing window on rolling-attack direction Twinblades Feint mechanic Hexes Etc.
Which ruined by abysmal level design, and overall animation speeds... And not sure if all of those are actually pros, or just paraphrasing controversial features that dropped out for better game design.
@@weirdman1737 They're definitely all pros. The level design is fundamentally identical to 1's without the interconnection of separate levels, which is fine because 2 starts you out with warping specifically to deliberately reduce the massive trek times of 1. Also animation speed? Lol. That's a new one...
@@dirtycash36yeah.. exactly lol. "The game just doesn't feel fast enough" "the world design is bad" Proceeds to completely ignore every flaw in every other Souls game to praise them, but nitpicks two tiny flaws of Dark Souls 2 and says those flaws completely destroy the game. Tell me you can't form your own opinion without telling me you can't form your own opinion 🤡
Something Dark Souls 2 had which I wish they kept are the Bonfire Ascetics. Letting you skip to NG+ in certain areas to get new loot and re-fight the bosses was a genius idea. It’s the closest the series has had to a hard mode (without requiring you to beat the entire game again)
@@A1phaz0ne Basically. The only thing I think 3 added in ng+ was more rings. So it would essentially just be to add challenge which I don't think is a good challenge, just sliding the number scales up on enemy health and damage
@@A1phaz0ne For me I mainly enjoyed using the Ascetics when I enjoyed an area and wanted to grind it, as well as stocking up on items and curatives (especially with how much more important they were in DS2) - plus getting the boss soul again for alternative equipment
2 is a sequel and a side story directly connected to Manus in the first game and a different take on the undead curse. Genius idea for a sequel. Even if it’s the weakest in the franchise, that doesn’t make it a bad game.
@@cinematographystudio Dark souls 2 is just bad. Says me. I have more good things to say about call of duty ghosts which people say objectively is a bad game. You can still like it even though I think it's an overall bad game.
ds2 was my first souls game and ive been hooked on the genre ever since. i remember stamina was the meta in ds2 with the stam regen shield and ring. can we please get a compilation of charlie saying 'out of stamina'?
DS2 is my ultimate comfort game. Whenever I need to relax, I play the background music when you enter Vendrick's tomb. I'm even planning on getting a quote from Vendrick tattooed on me, "seek strength. The rest will follow."
Also pro tip for everyone playing this game: popping multiple lifegems stacks the healing effect so you don't have to wait until the effect of one has run out before you pop another one.
I'm about to go on crusade to dislike every comment of FBI agents praising DS2. I guess recommending me 20 videos of "Dark Souls II is good, actually" wasn't enough, so they decided to buy Charlie as well.
i used to run dual great lances, and the slow speed of the thrusts would throw people off and allow hits! They didnt have crazy hit boxes, didnt have high damage, but the way they were simply made turned them viable! I really miss the slower, back and forth feeling of DS2 pvp, which also allowed spells and non-meta weapons a chance to excel. Game was rough but in my opinon, still good
The way people talked about DS2, and how many people say "skip it" made me think the game was going to be terrible... I decided not skip it and give it a try and I am so glad I did. If you are reading this and are on the fence or skipped DS2 because everyone told you to, I strongly recommend giving it a shot. Was honestly one of my favorites given how low my expectations were and how pleasantly surprised I was.
@@SpankinYaBoy Maybe we come from different circles of the internet, but DS2 has very good steam reviews and Critic scores. When it came out the sentiment was overall positive and it split the fanbase into people who liked DS1 and DS2 more. Later on I feel like people stopped playing it and reading one of the few hate threads from the time, never played the game and just ran with the narrative.
Ugh maybe I'll have to try it again. I've beaten 1, 3, and elden ring multiple times. I've tried ds2 probably 5+ times and never finished it bc it's just so annoying. The vibe of ds2 is fantastic, but it just didn't have the world connectivity of ds1, and while it adds so much cool stuff, it also adds so much BS that I couldn't overlook. The best part of ds2 (that I've heard) is the ng+ which I've never gotten to, and vibes, which only got me to want to play it, until I figure out why I quit. Which I might find out again soon lmao
I haven't played any dark souls and everyone is sucking Dark souls off so I tried a bargain bin dark souls 2 and it was miserable. I don't understand how any of that is supposed to be fun.
@MrAw3sum yeah ds2 is garbage play 1/3 or elden ring. 1 is simple, elden ring is very open world which has its ups and downs. 3 is the most straightforward
@@tinminator8905 as someone who almost exclusively played DS1 for 2 whole years in highschool, when DS2 released, all I saw online was hate for the game. I don't remember if it was just the adaptability thing, but I vaguely remember people hating that it didn't feel like a FromSoft game, they hated the healing animations, and that the PvP was really janky, even for a souls game, due to the backstab mechanics and connection issues.
@@TallicaMan1986 this. It was always the most balanced Souls game as well. Sure there were still some balance issues, but nowhere NEAR as prevalent here as it is in other souls games.
@@xavier_got_ya9169 I loved all the ways there were to get around turtles. Was always fun to invade someone using the Scythe of Want and see how they visibly panicked when I could hit them around their shield. And the guardbreak attack was great - if you knew about it it wasn't hard to avoid generally, but it gave an easy way for most weapons to punish greatshield turtles that didn't respect the guardbreak. Gower's ring was neat. baiting parrys instead of reaction parrys was also great - loved using attacks and then parrying on prediction. I played the hell out of DS2s multiplayer - played it so hard I burnt out on DS3s pretty fast. I also think the idea of souls-style games giving way to change your s and recovery frames interesting, though I think agility was a poor implementation and was also too poorly explained for how hard it would be to organically notice what the stat did and how it was best raised.
4:02 red guy 12:23 Pursuer before it was cool 20:02 Decrepit Tall Prisoner 28:32 Maybe the real boss was the friends we made along the way 34:18 Decrepit Prisoner (with freak) 42:42 Walmart Quelaag 47:44 Pope and friends 52:08 Limbo boss but with babies 56:10 An Ironic Statement followed by karma (101 Dalmatians) 1:02:57 Pile of Corpses with culinary skills 1:06:49 Oprah if she gave out rats 1:09:56 Trip to the dog park 1:14:09 Boney Guys 1:17:29 Mom from Binding of Isaac 1:20:29 Medusa 1:22:29 Titanic with spinny guy 1:26:38 Walmart Ornstein 1:29:15 Demon with sword 1:34:06 Balrog 1:37:06 Jumpscare Warning 1:37:43 Gargoyles x4 1:47:11 Voidskulker 1:52:42 Archer and red guy 1:54:30 November Rain Live (best base boss in game) [looks like mc from Blasphemous{yes I know this came out first}] 1:57:30 Frogger fights back 2:01:49 Chadstadt 2:05:15 How to Train (kill) Your Dragon 2:10:19 Dragon with too much health and a stupid attack 2:17:17 Tall Prisoner back in his prime 2:19:30 Beating up the elderly 2:22:05 Twodusa 2:29:32 Queen from down under (what does squalid queen even mean?) 2:40:20 Smaug after Taco Bell 2:47:30 Demon with sword but blue 2:52:10 No statues down (Big Sword guy) 3:00:26 Who is the janitor for this arena (Please dont commit seppuku) 3:07:37 Invisicat 3:17:26 Arthur and his Round Table Silence the Chaos 3:24:04 Test of Strength 3:26:18 Freaky with the finger also she looked like what??? 3:29:27 Fire Finale with Friend from before 3:33:41 Clocking out
@@Venom-xd9st you can do that if you want bruv no one is stopping you. It's also way more of a hassle to get the correct name and making sure you spell it right so I'll pass.
DS2 has my favorite Guts build. None of the other games come close. Not only are enemies trying to gank you all the time, but you need the throwing dagger, the fire bombs and the repeater cross bow to look cool as shit while getting ganked. Dodging attacks and throwing daggers and stunlocking enemies and what not. And the different stances as well. Some of the terrain requires you to be super nimble with a big sword. My favorite is invading a guy who has a summon where I proceed to do a 2v1 on shaky terrain.
The areas for PvP are genuinely so elite, they are made very well & are extremely memorable along with the arena. With atleast 60~70% of all the weapons being perfectly fine to PvP with & demolish still with. It was very cool. Plus only souls with HIGH DMG UNARMED/FISTS COMBAT!!!
DS2 is my favorite FromSoft game. No joking, no "irony" intended. I really love it. It's Dark Souls through and through, but with enough King's Field to remind you there's more to FromSoft than Miyazaki. Great game.
- BEST PvP and invasions - Longest game, beside Elden Ring - Bonfire Ascetics - Most build diversity before Elden Ring. Even after Elden Ring, DS2 holds its own for having actually viable builds. You could play with magic, miracles, hexes or any weapons and perform well. DS3 for example made it IMPOSSIBLE to make a miracle based build until NG+ or extreme late game/dlcs. - God tier fashion - Incredible aesthetics - A lot of unique ideas, like rewarding players for feats such as completing the game without resting on bonfires - BEST NG+ with a lot of new addictions, making it more than just "play it again but this time it's harder" Not a game without flaws, but in my opinion an excellent game that can definitely keep up with other souls games
I played all souls in last years. DS2 after Elden Ring actually. DS2 is absolutely great. Has a lot of ideas which were polished in Elden Ring. I enjoyed it more than DS1.
Having played the entirety of DS1, 2 and 3, I still hold all three of them in equal adoration. 2 may have had issues, but I still found it INCREDIBLY fun.
BTW This is for Charlie and any other DS2 Enjoyers that may not know, you actually have another way you can kill this boss in. First like Charlie, you can run to the lever which makes them hit the gate and crash you you fight the horse. The other one I prefer, literally just find a way to hit if while it is racing towards you, you can do it with bows or Spells, you can even hit it with a meele weapon, although it's much harder and will likely hit you. After you gets it's health to around 25%, the boss misses the jump in front of the gate and falls, then you just run to it, give it a little push of the edge and you win.
I'm glad someone is saying it! This game surprised me so much earlier this year when I finally bit the bullet and finished the game. It was one of the most enjoyable DS experiences I've had
Dude did you legit just drop a 3 hour on the best souls game?! Damn I remember when this was fresh I lived with some of my bandmates in a lil local band. We hooked up 3 tvs and 3 PlayStations and just went to town on this game for a solid 2 weeks lol. Good times
This was the last souls I play, DemonS, DS1, DS3, even bloodborne, 1 day, I just decide to buy it, and I was amazing, yep it has his flaws, but as you keep playing you end up loving it, especially the DLC's. Dark souls 2 has top tier DLC's of the whole Souls saga.
Oh yeah the black orb spam is so fun, I’d collect every black orb spell each run and I’d have like 150+ between bonfires, it puts the game on easy mode lol
Yeah you say can't say DS2 is a good game if you're gonna purposefully avoid one of the worst area and bosses in gaming history... spend hours dying to invisible horses and THEN tell me you think DS2 is a good game
@adamchoy7594 No kings pets is the best boss and he left the best boss in the game. How can he like something if he hasn't even experienced its best aspect. People play ds2 only for kings pets. Once you beat kings pets, delete the game and throw your computer away, cuz ure never gonna experience peak, quite like that in ur life.
"Lets see if i first try Fume Knight, full power, no statues down. I dont really remember his moves, but im sure ill figure it out." *immediately cuts to charlie outside the boss door* "Allllright im back, here i come!"
First game I ever preordered. I remember coming home from school and begging my mom to drive me to GameStop to pick it up. The steel book was so dope for this game. Love this game.
People hating on Dark Souls 2 are people who never played Dark Souls 2, they hate it cuz its popular to hate it. There are way worse games out there. Ds2 is fine game.
Nope, played it through twice. Worst Souls by far but still a fine game.. Lots of issues with it. It lacks the fromsoft quality that their other games have.
@@JayPeeh455 the camera frequently breaks, the lore is extremely blunt and sparse, almost all of the bosses are a joke, the level design is embarrassing, the world is incompetently put together, the enemies are poorly made, the encounters are tedious spam, I could go on.
Broken bots 🤖 this dude breaks bots all day. You ever heard him referred to as Florida Jesus? He legit looks like him but Jesus is dark complexion. He is depicted S white in America. What country are you from man?
i dont like the arguments of oh it has jank, oh adaptability, oh bad areas. Every souls game has some of these issues, no there is not a single person that will tell you that ds1 resistance is a good stat
DS1 doesn’t “require” you to level resistance to progress. also most times it feels jankier than DS1. Still like the game though but damn is it like being smacked with a wet rag.
@@andrewstephens5885 you level up in ds2 so fast that getting some points in ADP is a non issue. And technically you are no required to lvl up any stat to beat the game
Very fun to watch Charlie play the souls games, and he's legitimately good at them. Watching him no damage kill Fume Knight with free aim was awesome! I can't wait for his ds3 playthrough
Couldnt have put it better. The word is esoteric. You have to open yourself up to the experience and the deeply personal aspect of the lore and maybe only then will you feel its real touch.
I started my souls journey on Darksouls 2 back in 2015 on ps3, If we ever ran into each other on the iron keep pvp bridge I love you and I hope life is treating you well. Thanks for the memories.
I think the main issue that people have is a first time Scholar run. Scholar is inherently more difficult than the OG version for several reasons and especially during the beginning, the enemy placement. Not that it's not still a fantastic game which is absolutely is but for a first time player or at least not a frequent Souls player, it's a rough introduction to the genre and Fromsoft.
I feel like a good chunk of people who hate ds2 are like people who hate hawaian pizza. They never tried it and yet they are certain that it sucks because of the online opinions about it.
I've beaten dark souls 2 three times. I still fucking hate it and can't fathom why anybody likes it past nostalgia or an unwillingness to play a different game
@@UlumogTheDestroyerplayed it 4 times and loved it every single time. It’s all subjective and opinions in the end, ain’t ever gonna begrudge someone for genuinely disliking it. All comes down to the individual.
I played Dark Souls II at launch and loved it despite the jank. Descending through the Shrine of Amana and the Undead Crypt, then finding Vendrick, was SO atmospheric. The DLC launches, playing with everyone, discovering secrets… so good. I miss those days 😢
I love Dark Souls 2 SoTFS, it is unfair as fuck in that version but so rewarding when you get through that shitty section you’ve been stuck on. So many cool mechanics (besides adaptability) that were only used here until Elden Ring. All the areas are unique and beautiful in their own way and it really wasn’t that hard as people make it out to be. I platinumed or 1000/1000 achievements with my one character all the way on playThrough 3 without every leveling up adaptability. I didn’t know what it was because I didn’t want to spoil myself by looking anything up. So of course I played this game in extra hard mode.
@@lordcraigdragneel136 It still prolly did it the best imo. DS1 kinda screwed over magic, with so much being locked pretty late into the game. DS3 on the other hand just wasn't sorcery friendly, especially with 5 gimmick bosses in base, and a pvp boss in DLC. Not to mention I think 3? bosses with resistance.
@@lordcraigdragneel136 DS1: overpowered DS2: in the middle, balanced by enemies that have high resistances and fun spells DS3: it was shit Elden ring: holy fuck i cant see anything why is it all so big
@@Xenphos Yui Tanimura is the co-director of Elden Ring, You know, the person that was the lead on DSII. You can pretend that DS2 didn't take the plunge to do crazy things. Also Miyazaki himself already came out to say that without DS2, Elden Ring wouldn't be what it is today. "X to Doubt" LOL LMAO
DS2 wasn't my first, but it still holds a special place in my heart. I played it right after entering uni during 2020 lockdown and it felt like a dream. Or a fairy tale that you hear in your childhood and remember only some bizarre bits and pieces. DS 2 probably gave me the same warm feeling that OG Zeldas gave to 90's kids I will die on the hill of defending it, at least its vibes and art direction
@@arkhamcrazies6477 it has unique bosses, weapons, established mechanics, and is often considered elden ring's biggest draw point. theres so much more i can say about it. it is the best souls game.
@ You can say this about every souls game made by fromsoft. The game was specifically designed to be frustrating. The whole marketing for this game was “omg guys it’s hard!”. It has some of the laziest level design, the bosses are the worst in the souls series. With there being over 40 and a big majority of them being filler. They spam a ton of enemies along with hundreds of ambushes on the player to the point where it just gets annoying. The lore in the game is super boring as well. If you like it that’s cool but it objectively is the worst in the series by a long shot.
The reason you only here negativity at first is because it was a different then the first one. Dark Souls 1 was always hard for me to beat, but with Dark Souls 2 I thought it was easier. Not everyone felt the same, so when I finished Dark Souls 2 back around the released date. I was shocked to hear Pewdiepie himself say Dark Souls 2 is hard, that's really what boils down to this scenario. You don't switch up the sequel, like that new Joker movie.
@@Abedeussnot to sure about that the amount of people crying because this game ganks you back to back to back leads me to believe this game is harder than people try to let on. Dark Souls 1 and 3 were easy because it's a 1v1 majority of the time. It also allows you to study the moves easier rather than fighting a boss and 5 of its henchmen running around attacking you at a distance. It also does a lot of random BS that are instadeaths.
@@TallicaMan1986The thing is that DS2 is incredibly easy and incredibly hard. It is not mutually exclusive. If you buy gems after every boss and focus ADP investment then you will most certainly have a baby game easy mode as you tank any environment and additional given Bonfire Astetic (definitely spelled that wrong) you can farm easy bosses and then skip half of the game no cheats or glitches required. On the flipside if you attempt to play it like any other Souls game you are immensely oppressed by the noxious gank and annoyingly long travel to the bosses since the bonfire is a few states away from a smelting demon or a singing skeleton frog. These are objective truths that nobody likes to admit but clearly anybody who played has experienced.
@@icycrusader1947if you played like any other souls game you will never get ganked, the only times i can remember of actual ganking in the game is the room full royal knights before the ruin sentinels and all the double wielding ghostlike knights in the Sunken king dlc which you need to find their armor to made them tangible so you could them and those armor happen to be in a room guarded by more knights
Are you serious? DS2 has the worst world design. You go up in an elevator and land in... underground-like lava area? There's NO connection or lore justification for zones being next to each other.
@@AbedeussYour character is actively losing his sense of self and time, so the game wanted to reflect that and make you feel the same way. Don't be a nerd
@@theshagohodyou cant defend bad world design by pointing at another game and saying this is also bad. Its like me saying the big mac is shit and then someone defending it by saying the whopper is shit like okay it doesnt change the fact that the big mac is shit
I love how in the leave ending our character is one of the few characters who will never go hollow due to the crowns yet they're still cursed with the mark of the undead so they're essentially immortal they have the power to see what happens after the age of fire and perhaps even after the age of dark
@@ryandelarami8462 because the inter-connected parts of the first half are well-made and the latter half you can tell they were short on time and funds.
One of the things that makes ds2 really stand out in how mid it is compared to ds1, BB, ds3 and ER is that its art design is so bland and uninspired. Its a lot of basic themes without much substance behind them, and i think the big reason for this is the sheer size of the game. The ice area is just an ice area, theres no culture to be found there. The big castle is just a castle. The forest is just a forest. In Elden Ring, an open world that Ds2 wanted to be, they learned from this- Stormveil wasn't JUST the grafting area, Raya Lucaria wasn't JUST the magic area, Redmane wasn't JUST the fire area, these places had culture, detail, enemy variety that made sense, and a lot of this was highly due to the art design being more than just "a city engulfed by X, Y, Z". In Ds2, the Huntsmans Copse, Harvest Valley, Earthen Peak and Iron Keep are all meant to be owned by the same guy, the Iron King, the Copse was for torturing undead, the valley/peak were for mining and refining resources, and the Keep was his castle, yet there is no consistency in these designs, theres no build up to the King, we dont know that these places are owned by him until we are told retroactively. In Elden Ring, you KNOW Godrick is in Stormveil, you KNOW his Knight's patrol Limgrave, you KNOW all you need to know about him before you enter his boss and this happens with every other major boss in that game, not in ds2. As an artist, its why i find ds2 so infuriating. It has a really compelling story at its core with Vendrick and Nashandra, the Kings and their crowns are very intriguing, the war against the Giants is an interesting idea, but all of this is not told well through the art. The levels look bland, the enemies look basic, the bosses are all dudes in armor or giant animals or basic "demons", the atmosphere outside Majula is non-existent, and this is all because the game is trying to tell 400 unconnected stories rather than one big one, like Elden Ring did.
Crown of the Sunken King felt pretty damn inspired to me that shit was dope. I appreciated the disconnectedness of DS2 though compared to DS1, I love them both independently of course. It felt like I was progressing through levels like old school ass games, and the atmosphere they did instill gave me some strong King's Field vibes like pulling up on Agdayne he's like yo we don't do light around here I'm like you got it brother, and enjoyed the dark dankness of the crypts from then on.
@@Riquinni Crown of the Sunken king is one of the very few areas i think feels like a real place which had culture. The poison and dark enemies actually make sense, the design of the main castle is really inspired, the story with Sinh is shown visually, etc. I do think that it is by FAR the worst dlc due to other reasons, but that is definitely not one of them. The disconnectedness is something subjective, and IMO its one of the main reasons Ds2 is a failure in game design. It feels bland and old where Dark Souls 1 was unique and refreshing, something Ds3 had to over-correct (for better and for worse). I'm just happy they've found their footing with Ac6 and ER.
This is a great way to describe DS2. It feels like every area of the game has been started but not finished, leaving the world feeling empty and barren. DS2 feel more like a Kings Field game then a Dark Souls game.
Lmao. Here are some quotes from stream "Easily the worst of the Souls/Borne games, but it's not bad", "by far the easiest bosses of the Souls/Borne games.", "this game has such dogshit level design." , "this games idea of difficulty is more enemies." And yet the title is Everyone is wrong about Dark Souls 2.
So you took 4 things he said in a 9 hour stream, out of context and only the parts that fit your bias? I remember him saying "it's by far the worst in the souls series, but not bad" but i also remember him following that up with "With that being said, even their worst game is still pretty fucking good!"
@@jarlbalgruuf2415 Enemies abused infinite stamina, were able to swing through walls, had poise when he the player didn't and the dogs teleported behind you. Ds2 ambushes were pretty obvious and not that dangerous, Ds3 overdid it to the point where I started eyerolling every time I entered a room because I knew what was coming. The only reason players dislike Ds2 is the art direction. A lot of the usual complaints are things players only cared about because they were disillusioned with the experience. If the art direction was better players would have enjoyed the game instead of constantly nitpicking.
@@sct77 ah, skill issue means the game is cheating, gotcha. _"The only reason players dislike Ds2 is the art direction"_ yeah no you're done, clowns get muted.
"Weakest of the Souls games" >Best pvp >Best armor sets >most variety of weapons and armor >Best Dlc >Poise actually works >Most variety of builds >Best powerstance utilization >Best lore overall >Aldia quotes >King Vendrick quotes >Best Hub Word >Bonefire hopping from the start >Bonfire Aesthetics is the best ng+ mechanic in the series >Has the best NG+ overall in the series >Emerald Herald best waifu Telk me again how it's the weakest
You didnt do anything but say stuff that you like. Tell us how the PvP is the best How the armor is the best how it has the most variety of weapons why is it the best dlc why does poise actually work, it worked plenty in the other games, this is just a bs point build variety. How? Best powerstance. Its literally the only one with it dingus. Best lore. No. Aldia quotes? More quotes? Best hub world? No. Bonfire hopping from start? Doesnt matter. Other games have it, so its not even a point. Bonfire ASCETICS. My guy doesnt even know the name of the item. Best NG+. No. Best waifu. Cringe. Can you tell me how its the strongest? You didnt say anything other than a list, genius.
@@ChimpBrained Your pathetic attempt at discrediting my comment is laughable. You have shown that you are not only ignorant, but more than happy to share that ignorance with the world. Be gone.
Every Souls game is overrated to the moon. Watching your gameplay with eyes open should be enough for everyone to see how bad and boring it is, dodge, roll, poke, maybe chug potion, repeat until boss dies.. all with garbage level animations. But of course the blind sheep mob mentality somehow empowers Souls fanbase to have godtier mental gymnastics.
@@m3d1ated42 Have you considered that you should judge something on its own merit devoid of praise, critique, reputation, bias? Watch the gameplay long and hard and tell me the combat is fun or looks good. Its objectively, undeniably repetitive and basic-- dodge, poke, potion, repeat. Thats the definition of bad but everyone eats it up like the sheepish drones they are.
@@leho_123its engaging when you are the one playing, i hate turn based games i find them boring as shit, i tried final fantasy, persona, etc none of them click for me but i wont say that is objectively bad game design
Dark Souls 2, in my opinion, had the greatest OST in the entire trilogy. The theme for Majula is equivalent to you coming back from a hard adventure and just wanting to rest. The theme is so good.
It's crazy how Charlie still doesn't know about the Pursuer strat where you run across the ledge after he's dropped on that platform, then cause him to despawn and die when you run back.
Dark Souls 2 taught me to roll, because a shield was good enough in the earlier games. The Fume Knight was unbeatable with a shield, so I started the whole thing from scratch and 'got gud'.
They hate it because it has more humanoid types bosses, have ambushes left and right and too much traps when this story is when the chosen undead took the dark age ending (the age of man) it makes sense to have more humanoid and human strategies like ambushes even some monsters adapted some strats from them
Adaptability is actually good game design. Players just don't actually like getting good. If you want armour, there's a stat. if you want health, there's a stat. If you want magic, there's like 5 different stats. But if you want a strong dodge roll, the strongest defensive ability in the game, you want it for free? Adaptability is basically the attunement for melee classes (hence why agility also increases with attunement). The timing is not strict enough to justify it being free. People just don't like that it costs after being free in the other games
That’s actually such streamer luck that looking glass knight didn’t go to spawn the little bro until he basically had no health left. Every time I fought that bastard he spawned the mimic before he was half health
The main reason for the problems DS2 has is also because Bandai Namco gave Fromsoft only a year and a half to develop it. this is primarily the reason why the game has so much cut content as well.
Fuck Bandai
The lack of content isn't even the underlying issues though. Enemy placements and overall just unfair gameplay all around. FromSoft at the time was riding the dark souls is hard so they did every BS thing possible going against Miyazaki's quote that DS is difficult but fair. DS2 has a death counter in its hubworld. * Edit I'd argued enough already about this years ago. Go cope somewhere else the death counter speaks volume of what their game philosophy in that game + Iframes being locked into a stat you have to specifically research.
Didn’t ask
@@NinjapowerMS yeah man like DS2 is the only Soulsborne that has an achievement for dying if I'm not mistaken "This is Dark Souls"
Is there really a cut content? Ds2 is 2nd longest souls game next to elden ring
Dark Souls 2 was my first souls game, so it'll always be special to me. Definitely has issues, but goddam it has the sauce
Heide knight cosplay goes hard. It was my first, it's great, it's just not favorite. Still a banger in a series of bangers.
@@anthonyrygalski6424 Heide Knight is a top 3 FromSoftware Knight armor, and it ain't 2 or 3
Same here. I hated it at first, ended up puting it down for like a year until I watched a Vaati video and fell in love with the lore lol
So real
Don’t get lost in the sauce bro. It’s not that deep. We’re watching dark souls.
Love dark souls 2 personally I think the game has the best set of armor’s out of the entire franchise
agreed
It's too bad most of us use Laughlin's shitty clothes for the whole game lol
True
When I think of fashion souls I think of Dark Souls II
My favorite part of this game is how the boss music immediately and abruptly stops the frame the boss's health hits 0
doesnt this happen in every souls game...?
@@ErinLynagh not true youre stupid
Litteraly DS1
replaying ds1 and can confirm it also does the same thing
@@ErinLynagh In DS1 and DS3 the music only cuts off after the "Victory Achieved" text. In DS2 the music cuts off as soon as the boss is dead, which is much worse imo.
9:13 what a pure Dark Souls moment, knock her off the edge so she can land on the ground, then he falls into the water and dies, then she jumps in after you for no reason!
Beautiful jank side of the game. Grand theft auto V ragdolls are janky and fun in a same playful sense Sure. Sometimes even helps you
@@diodoxystar Yea but souls is hilarious like this, 1 side u could be stuck trying to kill this girl forever or until u level up, or u can have some fluke happen and she does it herself.. there's just so much intangibles in these games, its what makes them so memorable.
One thing i like is the whole theme of DS2 focusing on Human kingdoms. The gods are long dead and humanity is at fore front.
In retrospect of it all. I kind of love DS2's theme the most. Every character who kind of gets the whole cycle of the world looks at you and thinks right off the bat "Yeah you're nothing. Just another guy throwing their undead life away to an unachievable goal, and even if you do take the throne, you'd just be another squanderer that lives and dies just like the other kings." ....And yeah. They ain't wrong. It's all pointless, going through all that bullshit led to nothing.
And then Aldia fucking jumpscares you to scream his seethe about the reality of the world. Then hints to you that there could be something more. Something that can actually be done, if you're willing to commit to the bullshit.
And then you do the DLCs and they're fucking hard as shit, but by now you do it knowing there's a real ending beyond this, a goal that is tangible and only obtainable by doing all said bullshit.
And in the end of it all...There actually is. A true release from the curse of undead. Unknown to the rest of the world except to you, the one that willingly did what was needed to earn it (translated to fighting and killing big boss monsters and gank squads)
idk I just kind of look at it like that.
Who asked 😂
@@IsraelSolosGaza I did
Really well said mate. It tells you plainly what it is going to be and the ending where you just say 'I'll figure out another way. Screw you guys i'm going home" is fantastic. Ds2 always be my favorite :)
@@IsraelSolosGaza yo username sucks lil bro quit trolling and go back to class
I asked @@IsraelSolosGaza
Dark Souls2 has probably the best NG+ cycle in the soulsborne genre
Edit: Nioh 2 and Lies of P are not soulsborne, people are replying saying those games are better, but I’m not talking about soulslike I’m talking about soulsborne
@UA-camChannelYass-w7l what.. 😭
@@fatbrokeboi6917it’s just a bot, ignore it, interactions are exactly what it wants.
@@fatbrokeboi6917don't engage with that just report and move on.
you mean the only good NG+ cycle 🤣
it wins this category by default because it actually makes changes.
Mandatory list of DS2 features and innovations;
Powerstancing
Bonfire Ascetics
Actual NG+ changes
Soul Vessel item for respec options
Effigies allow mobile restoration of humanity
Introduced omnidirectional targeted rolling (could only roll 4 cardinal directions in 1)
Parry while 2 handing weapons
Full movesets in either hand
Guard breaking & critical followups
Spell Deflection
2 handing shields/off-hand
Sprinting & jumping into enemies pushes them out of the way to prevent being overwhelmed and cornered (huge issue in 1)
Spice items to lower Spell stat requirements
Max HP chipping til 50% (25% with Ring of Binding) to deter thoughtless/spam attempts at scenarios & bosses
NPC Ghost/Gravestone feature
Red Eye ring pulls enemy aggro to player to help NPC survive fights
Covenant switching is free and easy
3 Arm slots (had 2 in 1)
4 Ring slots (had 2 in 1)
Infuse shields
Upgrading shields improves all stats & not only Stability
Torches + torch interactions
Hybrid consumable items
Healing/consumables on ladders
Environmental interaction (water pots give fire resis (Iron Keep), oil lowers it, water lowers lightning resis, etc.)
Additional stamina cost per successive roll to prevent roll spam (rip DS3)
Introduced movement during bow and item use
Pyromancy actually balanced with Fire Seed upgrade system
Poise actually balanced (yikes 1) with automatic get out options at certain thresholds (like being able to roll out after 2 hits)
Only blacksmith could repair fully broken equipment (nice immersion/charm)
Pharros lockstones
Interactive/choice quest w/ Creighton and Pate
Timing window on rolling-attack direction
Twinblades
Feint mechanic
Hexes
Etc.
Which ruined by abysmal level design, and overall animation speeds...
And not sure if all of those are actually pros, or just paraphrasing controversial features that dropped out for better game design.
@@weirdman1737 They're definitely all pros.
The level design is fundamentally identical to 1's without the interconnection of separate levels, which is fine because 2 starts you out with warping specifically to deliberately reduce the massive trek times of 1.
Also animation speed? Lol. That's a new one...
@@dirtycash36yeah.. exactly lol. "The game just doesn't feel fast enough" "the world design is bad"
Proceeds to completely ignore every flaw in every other Souls game to praise them, but nitpicks two tiny flaws of Dark Souls 2 and says those flaws completely destroy the game.
Tell me you can't form your own opinion without telling me you can't form your own opinion 🤡
Still a garbage game
Your beloved ds3 wouldnt have existed without ds2. Show some respect. @@bloodywolf6483
Something Dark Souls 2 had which I wish they kept are the Bonfire Ascetics. Letting you skip to NG+ in certain areas to get new loot and re-fight the bosses was a genius idea.
It’s the closest the series has had to a hard mode (without requiring you to beat the entire game again)
or the covenent of champions (also in ds2) that makes every enemy stronger and not stop respawning
Those would be worthless though in DS1 and DS3, no? Pretty sure DS2 was the only one that added new equipment to its NG+ cycles
@@A1phaz0ne Basically. The only thing I think 3 added in ng+ was more rings. So it would essentially just be to add challenge which I don't think is a good challenge, just sliding the number scales up on enemy health and damage
@@A1phaz0neTrue. Bonfire Ascetics would be worthless in DS1 and DS3. The bosses there are so shit that you don't wanna replay them.
@@A1phaz0ne For me I mainly enjoyed using the Ascetics when I enjoyed an area and wanted to grind it, as well as stocking up on items and curatives (especially with how much more important they were in DS2) - plus getting the boss soul again for alternative equipment
Majula theme is still best theme music in the elden soulsborne dies twice series.
DS2 fans harping about a singular OST that is pretty good, meanwhile not having a single memorable OST past that.
@@lowresolutionbunnyfeng3919 Sir Alonne's theme
@@lowresolutionbunnyfeng3919I dunno I liked Vendrick's boss theme
Majulas theme is good when it's your first time hearing it, after that its high pitch noise makes you want to throw your headphones away.
Who asked 😂
2 is a sequel and a side story directly connected to Manus in the first game and a different take on the undead curse. Genius idea for a sequel. Even if it’s the weakest in the franchise, that doesn’t make it a bad game.
Have always liked it, I did a no death no bonfire run to get the rings that make weapons invisible. I played it for hundreds of hours.
yeah this game has the best lore
You are right. Being a bad game makes it a bad game though.
@@Ayuima69 “weakest” doesn’t mean bad. I never said that. Don’t put words in my mouth.
@@cinematographystudio Dark souls 2 is just bad. Says me. I have more good things to say about call of duty ghosts which people say objectively is a bad game. You can still like it even though I think it's an overall bad game.
ds2 was my first souls game and ive been hooked on the genre ever since. i remember stamina was the meta in ds2 with the stam regen shield and ring. can we please get a compilation of charlie saying 'out of stamina'?
DS2 is my ultimate comfort game. Whenever I need to relax, I play the background music when you enter Vendrick's tomb. I'm even planning on getting a quote from Vendrick tattooed on me, "seek strength. The rest will follow."
I like majula background music a lot
Also pro tip for everyone playing this game: popping multiple lifegems stacks the healing effect so you don't have to wait until the effect of one has run out before you pop another one.
Nah everyone knows that
At first I thought this was gonna be a 3 & a half hour video essay from Charles about DS2... honestly wouldn't have minded one bit.
I think there's something like that but forgot the person who made it
@@_Error__I think you’re thinking of Hbomberguy. That video isn’t that good tbh.
@Ssosmooth69 Yes I watched that a while back
@@Ssosmooth69it's an excellent video.
@@Ssosmooth69I love DS2 but yeah the points he made were awful
Charlie, I have been preaching this shit for years. The majula soundtrack caries by itself
🐍🐍🐍🐍🐍🐍🐍🐍🐍🐍
🥒🥒🥒🥒🍑🍑🍑🍑💧💧💧🫦@@TheLastHoneyBees
Bro's on a crusade to redeem DS2 in the eyes of the public. I'm all for it.
Was my first Dark Souls 💪
Didn’t ask
me too needless to say I got thoroughly thrashed
U know Its definitely not my favorite but it's still very good 👍
@@IsraelSolosGaza no one asked if u asked
I'm about to go on crusade to dislike every comment of FBI agents praising DS2. I guess recommending me 20 videos of "Dark Souls II is good, actually" wasn't enough, so they decided to buy Charlie as well.
Ds2 pvp was god tier. Basically every weapon was viable in some way, and hybrid builds were super fun, like longsword firemage.
i used to run dual great lances, and the slow speed of the thrusts would throw people off and allow hits! They didnt have crazy hit boxes, didnt have high damage, but the way they were simply made turned them viable! I really miss the slower, back and forth feeling of DS2 pvp, which also allowed spells and non-meta weapons a chance to excel. Game was rough but in my opinon, still good
The way people talked about DS2, and how many people say "skip it" made me think the game was going to be terrible...
I decided not skip it and give it a try and I am so glad I did.
If you are reading this and are on the fence or skipped DS2 because everyone told you to, I strongly recommend giving it a shot. Was honestly one of my favorites given how low my expectations were and how pleasantly surprised I was.
@@SpankinYaBoy Maybe we come from different circles of the internet, but DS2 has very good steam reviews and Critic scores. When it came out the sentiment was overall positive and it split the fanbase into people who liked DS1 and DS2 more. Later on I feel like people stopped playing it and reading one of the few hate threads from the time, never played the game and just ran with the narrative.
Ugh maybe I'll have to try it again. I've beaten 1, 3, and elden ring multiple times. I've tried ds2 probably 5+ times and never finished it bc it's just so annoying. The vibe of ds2 is fantastic, but it just didn't have the world connectivity of ds1, and while it adds so much cool stuff, it also adds so much BS that I couldn't overlook. The best part of ds2 (that I've heard) is the ng+ which I've never gotten to, and vibes, which only got me to want to play it, until I figure out why I quit. Which I might find out again soon lmao
I haven't played any dark souls and everyone is sucking Dark souls off so I tried a bargain bin dark souls 2 and it was miserable. I don't understand how any of that is supposed to be fun.
@MrAw3sum yeah ds2 is garbage play 1/3 or elden ring. 1 is simple, elden ring is very open world which has its ups and downs. 3 is the most straightforward
@@tinminator8905 as someone who almost exclusively played DS1 for 2 whole years in highschool, when DS2 released, all I saw online was hate for the game. I don't remember if it was just the adaptability thing, but I vaguely remember people hating that it didn't feel like a FromSoft game, they hated the healing animations, and that the PvP was really janky, even for a souls game, due to the backstab mechanics and connection issues.
People will never understand the peak of ds2 multiplayer. A time to be alive
@@jasonesnayra3526Easily has thr best arenas and the most variety of multiclassing.
@@TallicaMan1986 this. It was always the most balanced Souls game as well. Sure there were still some balance issues, but nowhere NEAR as prevalent here as it is in other souls games.
Also this, I enjoyed DS2 invasions the most
@@xavier_got_ya9169 I loved all the ways there were to get around turtles. Was always fun to invade someone using the Scythe of Want and see how they visibly panicked when I could hit them around their shield. And the guardbreak attack was great - if you knew about it it wasn't hard to avoid generally, but it gave an easy way for most weapons to punish greatshield turtles that didn't respect the guardbreak.
Gower's ring was neat.
baiting parrys instead of reaction parrys was also great - loved using attacks and then parrying on prediction.
I played the hell out of DS2s multiplayer - played it so hard I burnt out on DS3s pretty fast.
I also think the idea of souls-style games giving way to change your s and recovery frames interesting, though I think agility was a poor implementation and was also too poorly explained for how hard it would be to organically notice what the stat did and how it was best raised.
@hello866t7 We DO NOT 𝘾𝙖𝙧𝙚 BECAUSE
Kiemi39 𝙄𝙎 𝙗𝙚𝙩𝙩𝙚𝙧
best covenants and dual wield system in all souls
The annual souls marathon is something all souls fans do, even if they have not put that name to it yet.
4:02 red guy
12:23 Pursuer before it was cool
20:02 Decrepit Tall Prisoner
28:32 Maybe the real boss was the friends we made along the way
34:18 Decrepit Prisoner (with freak)
42:42 Walmart Quelaag
47:44 Pope and friends
52:08 Limbo boss but with babies
56:10 An Ironic Statement followed by karma (101 Dalmatians)
1:02:57 Pile of Corpses with culinary skills
1:06:49 Oprah if she gave out rats
1:09:56 Trip to the dog park
1:14:09 Boney Guys
1:17:29 Mom from Binding of Isaac
1:20:29 Medusa
1:22:29 Titanic with spinny guy
1:26:38 Walmart Ornstein
1:29:15 Demon with sword
1:34:06 Balrog
1:37:06 Jumpscare Warning
1:37:43 Gargoyles x4
1:47:11 Voidskulker
1:52:42 Archer and red guy
1:54:30 November Rain Live (best base boss in game) [looks like mc from Blasphemous{yes I know this came out first}]
1:57:30 Frogger fights back
2:01:49 Chadstadt
2:05:15 How to Train (kill) Your Dragon
2:10:19 Dragon with too much health and a stupid attack
2:17:17 Tall Prisoner back in his prime
2:19:30 Beating up the elderly
2:22:05 Twodusa
2:29:32 Queen from down under (what does squalid queen even mean?)
2:40:20 Smaug after Taco Bell
2:47:30 Demon with sword but blue
2:52:10 No statues down (Big Sword guy)
3:00:26 Who is the janitor for this arena (Please dont commit seppuku)
3:07:37 Invisicat
3:17:26 Arthur and his Round Table Silence the Chaos
3:24:04 Test of Strength
3:26:18 Freaky with the finger also she looked like what???
3:29:27 Fire Finale with Friend from before
3:33:41 Clocking out
Best description of these bosses. I love it
How about a description of the actual boss names?
@@Venom-xd9stno
@@Venom-xd9st you can do that if you want bruv no one is stopping you. It's also way more of a hassle to get the correct name and making sure you spell it right so I'll pass.
0:36 Thats why he's my goat. Dark Souls II is sick af
I’m glad some people share the same sentiments
Im doing plat right know and its so much fun
Hell yeah it is I love dark souls 2
DS2 has my favorite Guts build. None of the other games come close. Not only are enemies trying to gank you all the time, but you need the throwing dagger, the fire bombs and the repeater cross bow to look cool as shit while getting ganked. Dodging attacks and throwing daggers and stunlocking enemies and what not. And the different stances as well. Some of the terrain requires you to be super nimble with a big sword.
My favorite is invading a guy who has a summon where I proceed to do a 2v1 on shaky terrain.
The areas for PvP are genuinely so elite, they are made very well & are extremely memorable along with the arena. With atleast 60~70% of all the weapons being perfectly fine to PvP with & demolish still with. It was very cool. Plus only souls with HIGH DMG UNARMED/FISTS COMBAT!!!
DS2 is my favorite FromSoft game. No joking, no "irony" intended. I really love it. It's Dark Souls through and through, but with enough King's Field to remind you there's more to FromSoft than Miyazaki. Great game.
What elements does it take from King's Field?
@@mastertunnelrat8051one that I can remember is pharos lockstone puzzle.
2:07:05 "I've been thoroughly exploring and couldn't find Estus Shards and Sublime Bone Dusts"...looks like someone didn't thoroughly explore...
- BEST PvP and invasions
- Longest game, beside Elden Ring
- Bonfire Ascetics
- Most build diversity before Elden Ring. Even after Elden Ring, DS2 holds its own for having actually viable builds. You could play with magic, miracles, hexes or any weapons and perform well. DS3 for example made it IMPOSSIBLE to make a miracle based build until NG+ or extreme late game/dlcs.
- God tier fashion
- Incredible aesthetics
- A lot of unique ideas, like rewarding players for feats such as completing the game without resting on bonfires
- BEST NG+ with a lot of new addictions, making it more than just "play it again but this time it's harder"
Not a game without flaws, but in my opinion an excellent game that can definitely keep up with other souls games
Insane darksouls 2 situation
shut up
I played all souls in last years. DS2 after Elden Ring actually. DS2 is absolutely great. Has a lot of ideas which were polished in Elden Ring. I enjoyed it more than DS1.
Me too, ds1 is overrated and ds2 is very underrated
Having played the entirety of DS1, 2 and 3, I still hold all three of them in equal adoration. 2 may have had issues, but I still found it INCREDIBLY fun.
BTW This is for Charlie and any other DS2 Enjoyers that may not know, you actually have another way you can kill this boss in.
First like Charlie, you can run to the lever which makes them hit the gate and crash you you fight the horse.
The other one I prefer, literally just find a way to hit if while it is racing towards you, you can do it with bows or Spells, you can even hit it with a meele weapon, although it's much harder and will likely hit you.
After you gets it's health to around 25%, the boss misses the jump in front of the gate and falls, then you just run to it, give it a little push of the edge and you win.
Thanks for mentioning it. Its one of the delightful little things DS2 did.
Seeing Charlie have “a hoot & a holler doin it” is why I’m still subbed after all these years.
I'm glad someone is saying it! This game surprised me so much earlier this year when I finally bit the bullet and finished the game. It was one of the most enjoyable DS experiences I've had
I like the rat covenant.
I like the mouse one 😱 Logitech I mean bro. It ain’t that deep 😮
because you're one of them deep down
Rats. We're rats. We're da rats.
@@knotknight514I'm the giant rat that makes all of da ruuules
@@nachalnik5738 Let's see what kind of TROUBLE we can get ourselves into!
i cant believe among all the bosses, he died the most to Royal rat authority
Hot take but i actually like ds2 more than ds1
Same bro - or more like equal now that I think about it
thats dumb
@@ludokrus3564 how
Me too bud.
ive beaten all of them many times. ds2 my favorite one. then bloodbourne
Bro conveniently skipped Frozen Outskirts 😭😭😭
I remember tuning in to the livestream for a bit the other day and seeing him tilted Af at shrine of amana 😂
Dude did you legit just drop a 3 hour on the best souls game?! Damn I remember when this was fresh I lived with some of my bandmates in a lil local band. We hooked up 3 tvs and 3 PlayStations and just went to town on this game for a solid 2 weeks lol. Good times
This was the last souls I play, DemonS, DS1, DS3, even bloodborne, 1 day, I just decide to buy it, and I was amazing, yep it has his flaws, but as you keep playing you end up loving it, especially the DLC's. Dark souls 2 has top tier DLC's of the whole Souls saga.
Charlie doing LongPlays is such a treat.
I can consider that dark souls 2 have the best dark magic spells in any of the game besides the Elden ring
They’re honestly better than Elden Ring stat/damage wise. Only difference is they’re not as flashy and use the old spell system.
bro miracles are horrible to play in that game solely because of that shitty system they should have kept the demon souls system
Oh yeah the black orb spam is so fun, I’d collect every black orb spell each run and I’d have like 150+ between bonfires, it puts the game on easy mode lol
@@marylandlax3 If only miracles and pyromancy had the same cast number on their base spell 😔
@@lepindre9193 We DO NOT 𝘾𝙖𝙧𝙚 BECAUSE
Kiemi39 𝙄𝙎 𝙗𝙚𝙩𝙩𝙚𝙧
Dark Souls 2 is guilty pleasure for me
No point, you did not beat lud and zallen, king's pets
V\I'M WAY BETTER THAN ANY UA-camR AND YOU CAN'T SAY OTHERWISE !!
I'M WAY BETTER THAN ANY UA-camR AND YOU CAN'T SAY OTHERWISE
.,.,🔥🔥🔥
Irrelevant
Yeah you say can't say DS2 is a good game if you're gonna purposefully avoid one of the worst area and bosses in gaming history... spend hours dying to invisible horses and THEN tell me you think DS2 is a good game
@adamchoy7594
No kings pets is the best boss and he left the best boss in the game. How can he like something if he hasn't even experienced its best aspect. People play ds2 only for kings pets. Once you beat kings pets, delete the game and throw your computer away, cuz ure never gonna experience peak, quite like that in ur life.
@@adamchoy7594I mean, I can do that
I just don't go there on subsequent playthroughs, it's completely optional
"Lets see if i first try Fume Knight, full power, no statues down. I dont really remember his moves, but im sure ill figure it out."
*immediately cuts to charlie outside the boss door*
"Allllright im back, here i come!"
First game I ever preordered. I remember coming home from school and begging my mom to drive me to GameStop to pick it up. The steel book was so dope for this game. Love this game.
People hating on Dark Souls 2 are people who never played Dark Souls 2, they hate it cuz its popular to hate it. There are way worse games out there. Ds2 is fine game.
i played DS2 to see for myself and the hate is justified
Hi just played it a few months ago and it is honestly the most incompetently made game I’ve ever played.
@@czarcasm5495why
Nope, played it through twice. Worst Souls by far but still a fine game.. Lots of issues with it. It lacks the fromsoft quality that their other games have.
@@JayPeeh455 the camera frequently breaks, the lore is extremely blunt and sparse, almost all of the bosses are a joke, the level design is embarrassing, the world is incompetently put together, the enemies are poorly made, the encounters are tedious spam, I could go on.
The bots are always absolutely insane on Charlie's comments
Broken bots 🤖 this dude breaks bots all day. You ever heard him referred to as Florida Jesus? He legit looks like him but Jesus is dark complexion. He is depicted S white in America. What country are you from man?
@@TheLastHoneyBeeswhere did jesus come from in a comment about bots
i dont like the arguments of oh it has jank, oh adaptability, oh bad areas. Every souls game has some of these issues, no there is not a single person that will tell you that ds1 resistance is a good stat
DS1 doesn’t “require” you to level resistance to progress. also most times it feels jankier than DS1. Still like the game though but damn is it like being smacked with a wet rag.
@@andrewstephens5885 you level up in ds2 so fast that getting some points in ADP is a non issue. And technically you are no required to lvl up any stat to beat the game
@ fair point, some of the hits you take before that point are straight bs though.
Very fun to watch Charlie play the souls games, and he's legitimately good at them. Watching him no damage kill Fume Knight with free aim was awesome! I can't wait for his ds3 playthrough
Charlie's adventures with Chordagoth were the first videos I watched of his, him honoring that legacy with Goof Juice makes me smile.
DS2 is very underrated...So many good things about it, personally it has the best iteration of the Faraam Set and the draconic form. Visually.
Didn’t ask bozo
@@IsraelSolosGazaI did.
DS2 is one of the few incredibly underrated and deeply esoteric games that of course went under the radar compared to the other games.
Couldnt have put it better. The word is esoteric. You have to open yourself up to the experience and the deeply personal aspect of the lore and maybe only then will you feel its real touch.
@@ccellspllitt R/im14andthisisdeep
@@ChimpBrained ds2 release date is also in 20 -14-. Coincidence?? I dont think so. Something's definitely going on out here.
@ccellspllitt Its a game that is best enjoyed slowly. Not for the lot who just want to run through areas fast and fight bosses.
2:00 You mean Palpatine looking woman
Exactly
1:39:45 Two trained well creatures in one day… that’s a state of bliss that is very well known as very rare
I started my souls journey on Darksouls 2 back in 2015 on ps3, If we ever ran into each other on the iron keep pvp bridge I love you and I hope life is treating you well. Thanks for the memories.
I think the main issue that people have is a first time Scholar run. Scholar is inherently more difficult than the OG version for several reasons and especially during the beginning, the enemy placement. Not that it's not still a fantastic game which is absolutely is but for a first time player or at least not a frequent Souls player, it's a rough introduction to the genre and Fromsoft.
I loved DS2 because that was the first one I beat
I feel like a good chunk of people who hate ds2 are like people who hate hawaian pizza. They never tried it and yet they are certain that it sucks because of the online opinions about it.
I've beaten dark souls 2 three times. I still fucking hate it and can't fathom why anybody likes it past nostalgia or an unwillingness to play a different game
@@UlumogTheDestroyer it's ok I played Dark Souls 3 6 times and still think it's the worst. It's all subjective.
@@UlumogTheDestroyerplayed it 4 times and loved it every single time. It’s all subjective and opinions in the end, ain’t ever gonna begrudge someone for genuinely disliking it. All comes down to the individual.
@@Dylanjrvs Why are people playing games that they dont like so much? If you dont like a game I dont see a reason to finish it.
People who enjoy ds2 only played scholar of the first sin and never played the original release without all the improvements
I played Dark Souls II at launch and loved it despite the jank. Descending through the Shrine of Amana and the Undead Crypt, then finding Vendrick, was SO atmospheric. The DLC launches, playing with everyone, discovering secrets… so good. I miss those days 😢
Power spike for gaming at 30? Bro my power spike was like 20, I'm in a downward spiral in all games I play skill wise atm
I love Dark Souls 2 SoTFS, it is unfair as fuck in that version but so rewarding when you get through that shitty section you’ve been stuck on. So many cool mechanics (besides adaptability) that were only used here until Elden Ring. All the areas are unique and beautiful in their own way and it really wasn’t that hard as people make it out to be. I platinumed or 1000/1000 achievements with my one character all the way on playThrough 3 without every leveling up adaptability. I didn’t know what it was because I didn’t want to spoil myself by looking anything up. So of course I played this game in extra hard mode.
Nah Dark Souls 2 had the best magic system hands down and the level design around secrets? Amazingly well done. I liked the game. In hindsight
Not the best magic system but secret level design is goated in ds2.
@@lordcraigdragneel136 I mean. The rest of them had the same spells. And were pretty basic 2 had hexes and a lot of variety thats just fact
@@BrandonDenny-we1rw elden ring has better imo.
@@lordcraigdragneel136 It still prolly did it the best imo. DS1 kinda screwed over magic, with so much being locked pretty late into the game. DS3 on the other hand just wasn't sorcery friendly, especially with 5 gimmick bosses in base, and a pvp boss in DLC. Not to mention I think 3? bosses with resistance.
@@lordcraigdragneel136
DS1: overpowered
DS2: in the middle, balanced by enemies that have high resistances and fun spells
DS3: it was shit
Elden ring: holy fuck i cant see anything why is it all so big
POP OFF CHARLIE
IT'S PEAK SOULS 2!!!!!!!!!!!
WITHOUT PEAK SOULS 2, WE WOULDN'T HAVE GOTTEN ELDEN RING!!!
X to doubt.
@@Xenphos Yui Tanimura is the co-director of Elden Ring, You know, the person that was the lead on DSII.
You can pretend that DS2 didn't take the plunge to do crazy things.
Also Miyazaki himself already came out to say that without DS2, Elden Ring wouldn't be what it is today.
"X to Doubt"
LOL
LMAO
@@Xenphos Many mechanics praised in Dark Souls 3 and Elden Ring where firstly introduced with Dark Souls 2
DS2 wasn't my first, but it still holds a special place in my heart. I played it right after entering uni during 2020 lockdown and it felt like a dream. Or a fairy tale that you hear in your childhood and remember only some bizarre bits and pieces. DS 2 probably gave me the same warm feeling that OG Zeldas gave to 90's kids
I will die on the hill of defending it, at least its vibes and art direction
I'm glad he made an edit for this playthrough. I was trying to find time to watch almost 20 hours of the stream vods that I've missed 😅
Yapping starts 0:00
Yapping ends 3:35:45
Dark Souls 2 has always been my favorite of the three, its so tragic to see all the hate on such a beautiful game.
its only hated by dark souls 3 "fans" who have never even played any other fromsoft game. its literally the best souls game in every way.
@@joogled1839you’re high
@@arkhamcrazies6477 it has unique bosses, weapons, established mechanics, and is often considered elden ring's biggest draw point. theres so much more i can say about it. it is the best souls game.
@@joogled1839ngl I love ds2 but the whole movement mecanics are janky as hell (except for the jump, i love that one).
@ You can say this about every souls game made by fromsoft. The game was specifically designed to be frustrating. The whole marketing for this game was “omg guys it’s hard!”. It has some of the laziest level design, the bosses are the worst in the souls series. With there being over 40 and a big majority of them being filler. They spam a ton of enemies along with hundreds of ambushes on the player to the point where it just gets annoying. The lore in the game is super boring as well. If you like it that’s cool but it objectively is the worst in the series by a long shot.
shit mb i didnt know i was wrong
I'M WAY BETTER THAN ANY UA-camR AND YOU CAN'T SAY OTHERWISE !!
I'M WAY BETTER THAN ANY UA-camR AND YOU CAN'T SAY OTHERWISE
.,.,🔥🔥🔥
@@xaf943otherwise
I mean it's still a Souls game. They're generally pretty well made.
I love how displeased Charlie always looks and sounds whenever he gets hit by a boss or enemy
The reason you only here negativity at first is because it was a different then the first one. Dark Souls 1 was always hard for me to beat, but with Dark Souls 2 I thought it was easier. Not everyone felt the same, so when I finished Dark Souls 2 back around the released date. I was shocked to hear Pewdiepie himself say Dark Souls 2 is hard, that's really what boils down to this scenario. You don't switch up the sequel, like that new Joker movie.
Because it was easier. You have basically infinite number of healing items and healing mid-combat is easier.
@@Abedeussnot to sure about that the amount of people crying because this game ganks you back to back to back leads me to believe this game is harder than people try to let on. Dark Souls 1 and 3 were easy because it's a 1v1 majority of the time. It also allows you to study the moves easier rather than fighting a boss and 5 of its henchmen running around attacking you at a distance.
It also does a lot of random BS that are instadeaths.
@@TallicaMan1986The thing is that DS2 is incredibly easy and incredibly hard. It is not mutually exclusive.
If you buy gems after every boss and focus ADP investment then you will most certainly have a baby game easy mode as you tank any environment and additional given Bonfire Astetic (definitely spelled that wrong) you can farm easy bosses and then skip half of the game no cheats or glitches required.
On the flipside if you attempt to play it like any other Souls game you are immensely oppressed by the noxious gank and annoyingly long travel to the bosses since the bonfire is a few states away from a smelting demon or a singing skeleton frog.
These are objective truths that nobody likes to admit but clearly anybody who played has experienced.
@@icycrusader1947if you played like any other souls game you will never get ganked, the only times i can remember of actual ganking in the game is the room full royal knights before the ruin sentinels and all the double wielding ghostlike knights in the Sunken king dlc which you need to find their armor to made them tangible so you could them and those armor happen to be in a room guarded by more knights
It has by far my favorite story in the entire souls series.
I think dark souls 2 has some of the best world design. A lot of hidden paths, best home world. And a lot of bosses.
Are you serious? DS2 has the worst world design. You go up in an elevator and land in... underground-like lava area? There's NO connection or lore justification for zones being next to each other.
@@Abedeuss ashen lake
@@AbedeussYour character is actively losing his sense of self and time, so the game wanted to reflect that and make you feel the same way. Don't be a nerd
@@Abedeuss izalith??
@@theshagohodyou cant defend bad world design by pointing at another game and saying this is also bad. Its like me saying the big mac is shit and then someone defending it by saying the whopper is shit like okay it doesnt change the fact that the big mac is shit
"this is mirror knight, right? oh, nope, it's Looking Glass Knight"
that got me laughing so hard
I love how in the leave ending our character is one of the few characters who will never go hollow due to the crowns yet they're still cursed with the mark of the undead so they're essentially immortal they have the power to see what happens after the age of fire and perhaps even after the age of dark
I'm standing on business when I say it's better than DS1.
the first half of DS1 was one of the greatest instances of game dev from FromSoft
@@xxxxx409yea ds1 falls off hard after smornstein
@@jprec5174 why does everyone say this, i always thought the second half was fire, except for bed of chaos
Huge reach, cold take
@@ryandelarami8462 because the inter-connected parts of the first half are well-made and the latter half you can tell they were short on time and funds.
Bro really likes dark souls 2
No surprise it is a very good game
@@Kenos347A very good game of what no to do in the future
@@luckymark571Elden Ring moment
One of the things that makes ds2 really stand out in how mid it is compared to ds1, BB, ds3 and ER is that its art design is so bland and uninspired. Its a lot of basic themes without much substance behind them, and i think the big reason for this is the sheer size of the game. The ice area is just an ice area, theres no culture to be found there. The big castle is just a castle. The forest is just a forest. In Elden Ring, an open world that Ds2 wanted to be, they learned from this- Stormveil wasn't JUST the grafting area, Raya Lucaria wasn't JUST the magic area, Redmane wasn't JUST the fire area, these places had culture, detail, enemy variety that made sense, and a lot of this was highly due to the art design being more than just "a city engulfed by X, Y, Z".
In Ds2, the Huntsmans Copse, Harvest Valley, Earthen Peak and Iron Keep are all meant to be owned by the same guy, the Iron King, the Copse was for torturing undead, the valley/peak were for mining and refining resources, and the Keep was his castle, yet there is no consistency in these designs, theres no build up to the King, we dont know that these places are owned by him until we are told retroactively. In Elden Ring, you KNOW Godrick is in Stormveil, you KNOW his Knight's patrol Limgrave, you KNOW all you need to know about him before you enter his boss and this happens with every other major boss in that game, not in ds2.
As an artist, its why i find ds2 so infuriating. It has a really compelling story at its core with Vendrick and Nashandra, the Kings and their crowns are very intriguing, the war against the Giants is an interesting idea, but all of this is not told well through the art. The levels look bland, the enemies look basic, the bosses are all dudes in armor or giant animals or basic "demons", the atmosphere outside Majula is non-existent, and this is all because the game is trying to tell 400 unconnected stories rather than one big one, like Elden Ring did.
Crown of the Sunken King felt pretty damn inspired to me that shit was dope. I appreciated the disconnectedness of DS2 though compared to DS1, I love them both independently of course. It felt like I was progressing through levels like old school ass games, and the atmosphere they did instill gave me some strong King's Field vibes like pulling up on Agdayne he's like yo we don't do light around here I'm like you got it brother, and enjoyed the dark dankness of the crypts from then on.
@@Riquinni Crown of the Sunken king is one of the very few areas i think feels like a real place which had culture. The poison and dark enemies actually make sense, the design of the main castle is really inspired, the story with Sinh is shown visually, etc. I do think that it is by FAR the worst dlc due to other reasons, but that is definitely not one of them.
The disconnectedness is something subjective, and IMO its one of the main reasons Ds2 is a failure in game design. It feels bland and old where Dark Souls 1 was unique and refreshing, something Ds3 had to over-correct (for better and for worse). I'm just happy they've found their footing with Ac6 and ER.
This is a great way to describe DS2. It feels like every area of the game has been started but not finished, leaving the world feeling empty and barren. DS2 feel more like a Kings Field game then a Dark Souls game.
I love how Boosteroid keeps my gaming experience smooth and lag-free
i like when charlie was tricked into falling onto a ledge with no possible way back up aside from dying
I can't believe Charlie is the Bay Harbor Butcher 😭
Lmao. Here are some quotes from stream "Easily the worst of the Souls/Borne games, but it's not bad", "by far the easiest bosses of the Souls/Borne games.", "this game has such dogshit level design." , "this games idea of difficulty is more enemies."
And yet the title is Everyone is wrong about Dark Souls 2.
So you took 4 things he said in a 9 hour stream, out of context and only the parts that fit your bias? I remember him saying "it's by far the worst in the souls series, but not bad" but i also remember him following that up with "With that being said, even their worst game is still pretty fucking good!"
And Ds3's idea of difficulty is giving you no poise, giving enemies cheats and adding tons of cheap ambushes.
@@sct77 giving enemies cheats what does that even mean? And Ds2 is much more notorious for it's cheap ambushes
@@jarlbalgruuf2415 Enemies abused infinite stamina, were able to swing through walls, had poise when he the player didn't and the dogs teleported behind you. Ds2 ambushes were pretty obvious and not that dangerous, Ds3 overdid it to the point where I started eyerolling every time I entered a room because I knew what was coming. The only reason players dislike Ds2 is the art direction. A lot of the usual complaints are things players only cared about because they were disillusioned with the experience. If the art direction was better players would have enjoyed the game instead of constantly nitpicking.
@@sct77 ah, skill issue means the game is cheating, gotcha. _"The only reason players dislike Ds2 is the art direction"_ yeah no you're done, clowns get muted.
"Weakest of the Souls games"
>Best pvp
>Best armor sets
>most variety of weapons and armor
>Best Dlc
>Poise actually works
>Most variety of builds
>Best powerstance utilization
>Best lore overall
>Aldia quotes
>King Vendrick quotes
>Best Hub Word
>Bonefire hopping from the start
>Bonfire Aesthetics is the best ng+ mechanic in the series
>Has the best NG+ overall in the series
>Emerald Herald best waifu
Telk me again how it's the weakest
Imagine using bonfire hopping from the start as a positive.
@AGuyCalledHarry Imagine thinking fast travel is a negative.
@@AGuyCalledHarryDogshit take
You didnt do anything but say stuff that you like.
Tell us how the PvP is the best
How the armor is the best
how it has the most variety of weapons
why is it the best dlc
why does poise actually work, it worked plenty in the other games, this is just a bs point
build variety. How?
Best powerstance. Its literally the only one with it dingus.
Best lore. No.
Aldia quotes?
More quotes?
Best hub world? No.
Bonfire hopping from start? Doesnt matter. Other games have it, so its not even a point.
Bonfire ASCETICS. My guy doesnt even know the name of the item.
Best NG+. No.
Best waifu. Cringe.
Can you tell me how its the strongest? You didnt say anything other than a list, genius.
@@ChimpBrained Your pathetic attempt at discrediting my comment is laughable. You have shown that you are not only ignorant, but more than happy to share that ignorance with the world. Be gone.
Charlie testing the poison weapon on the dlc, where all the enemies are immune to poison and calling it bad was pure gold
Debugging is like being the detective in a crime movie where you're also the murderer at the same time.
Every Souls game is overrated to the moon. Watching your gameplay with eyes open should be enough for everyone to see how bad and boring it is, dodge, roll, poke, maybe chug potion, repeat until boss dies.. all with garbage level animations. But of course the blind sheep mob mentality somehow empowers Souls fanbase to have godtier mental gymnastics.
Have you considered that maybe it's just YOU who doesn't like them. They wouldn't be game of the year if they were that bad.
@@m3d1ated42 Have you considered that you should judge something on its own merit devoid of praise, critique, reputation, bias?
Watch the gameplay long and hard and tell me the combat is fun or looks good. Its objectively, undeniably repetitive and basic-- dodge, poke, potion, repeat. Thats the definition of bad but everyone eats it up like the sheepish drones they are.
@@leho_123ci have so many hours in this games but you are so right kinda boring if you really think about it
@@leho_123its engaging when you are the one playing, i hate turn based games i find them boring as shit, i tried final fantasy, persona, etc none of them click for me but i wont say that is objectively bad game design
Go back to your overrated mainstream games with garbage ass gameplay 😂
hey charlie, will you add lies of p and black myth on your next annual marathon?
Dark Souls 2, in my opinion, had the greatest OST in the entire trilogy. The theme for Majula is equivalent to you coming back from a hard adventure and just wanting to rest. The theme is so good.
It's crazy how Charlie still doesn't know about the Pursuer strat where you run across the ledge after he's dropped on that platform, then cause him to despawn and die when you run back.
Charlie dying to Lost Sinner now but beating Maleina in 24 attempts his first time fighting her is just insane to me lol.
Dark Souls 2 taught me to roll, because a shield was good enough in the earlier games. The Fume Knight was unbeatable with a shield, so I started the whole thing from scratch and 'got gud'.
They hate it because it has more humanoid types bosses, have ambushes left and right and too much traps when this story is when the chosen undead took the dark age ending (the age of man) it makes sense to have more humanoid and human strategies like ambushes even some monsters adapted some strats from them
Adaptability is actually good game design. Players just don't actually like getting good. If you want armour, there's a stat. if you want health, there's a stat. If you want magic, there's like 5 different stats. But if you want a strong dodge roll, the strongest defensive ability in the game, you want it for free? Adaptability is basically the attunement for melee classes (hence why agility also increases with attunement). The timing is not strict enough to justify it being free. People just don't like that it costs after being free in the other games
That’s actually such streamer luck that looking glass knight didn’t go to spawn the little bro until he basically had no health left. Every time I fought that bastard he spawned the mimic before he was half health
Ascetic bonfire is what carried the replaybility part. wish other soulslike had the same feature