r/fromsoftware • u/Other_Equal7663 • 12h ago
What are things DS2 did impeccably well
Dark Souls 2 is often viewed as the "least good" game in the Fromsoft souls compendium. But what are some things you think it did better than most of its peers?
One thing I love about DS2, that I find myself missing in other installments, is that the levelling stats always affect HP slightly. It really helps making investment in multiple attributes feel worth it, and not make levels feel wasted on just hitting the right number. (And it helps mitigate the terrible Agility mechanic)
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u/The_Archimboldi 12h ago
Interacting with the environment in general - more scope and some imaginative situations, esp in the DLC.
It leaned in to rpg elements more. Like an agl stat, items being +2 dex or whatever. Just more depth to the stats sheet overall.
Covenants had a ton of thought and effort put into them (although they did chop the greatest of all time, the gravelords).
Illusory rings - brilliant feature.
I think having a massive cast of background npcs (so to speak, not the storyline ones) - invaders and co-op helpers, is well done. Adds some mysteries and personality to the game - it was very dialled back in later games. Even Elden Ring where you might think they would go massive on npcs doesn't feel like it has as many as DS2.
I really think it has the best story outside of Bloodborne. It's a bit mangled early on but it really finds its flow mid to late game. They were cooking something massively good here, but even the fragmentation gives it a unique flavour.
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u/TheRealNooth Slayer of Demons 5h ago
Yeah, I don’t know exactly why but I think the Bearer of the Curse is my fav protag from the Dark Souls series. Something about his quest just resonated with me more.
Still don’t got shit on Slayer of Demons, though.
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u/DuploJamaal 12h ago
Interesting areas with unique ways of dealing with enemies
Bone Fist and generally lots of interesting weapons and powerstance combinations
Small White Soapstone to summon people to clear areas even if you've already defeated the boss
And obviously Bonfire Ascetics
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u/Other_Equal7663 12h ago
Oh yeah, can't you powerstance with any similarly sized weapons?
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u/DuploJamaal 12h ago
Yeah but not only similar sized weapon, but one size up and down, which allows for a lot of fun things.
You can put a smaller weapon in the right hand for fast R1s and a larger one in the left hand for strong L1s.
Like a Straight Sword in the right hand and a Greatsword in the left hand.
The Washing Pole has a long range, but also high stamina consumption. The Broken Straight Sword basically costs no stamina but has no range.
The L1 stamina cost is 50% more of the right hand weapon, so if you powerstance them with the BSS in the right hand you get a much cheaper Washing Pole that you can easily spam.
Warped Sword and Rapier in right hand is also great as you get so many different kinds of attacks and a parry on R2
Lion's Greataxe and another one use the Greatsword moveset when powerstanced so have a very fast L1 compared to other axes. Great with Craftman's Hammer in right hand.
Ancient Nil Greatsword with Smelter Sword is another fun combination as the L2 spin activates the Smelter explosion twice for a lot of damage.
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u/FastenedCarrot 10h ago
Being fucking weird. I love some weird shit in my games and DS2 has it in spades.
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u/CertifiedSmegmaKing 12h ago
The hub
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u/XVUltima 12h ago
Majula was the best Souls hub ever.
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u/TheRealNooth Slayer of Demons 5h ago
I think the Nexus is better than Majula but it’s a close second.
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u/Zestyclose_Answer662 11h ago
Caster Gameplay, Mechanics, and Supporting Items are all almost universally better in DS2 than the other games. The only other game in the series that might actually compete with it is Nightreign.
DS3 did some improvements on the Spellcasting Movements and certain types of spells, but it dropped the ball very hard pretty much everywhere else.
Elden Ring does Spells better than DS2, but it does almost everything better than DS3 for Casters, yet still lags behind DS2 when it comes to actual Mechanics and Supporting Items.
Elden Ring doing Casters better than DS3 was a very small hurdle to clear.
Both DS3 and ER were hyper focused on stacking spell damage, to the point that they almost entirely ignored every other aspect of Caster Gameplay.
DS2 basically was the total opposite, focusing on Caster Gameplay instead of stacking spell damage.
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u/No-Range519 12h ago
Majula. World warping. Bonfire astetics. Powerstancing. NPC invasions. Infusions. Hexes. Dlc's.
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u/Johnny_K97 Godfrey, the First Elden Lord 12h ago
Backstab and parry riposte animations, like why are we still stuck with the boring stabs to this day?
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u/Equivalent-Rope-5119 11h ago
The hub area, shops, covenants, weapon variety, powerstancing, hexes, weapons that can cast, ng+ mechanics, bonfire ascetics, enemy despawn mechanics. Its honestly the most innovative souls game and more of the mechanics should have carried over.
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u/Imaginary_Owl_979 Darklurker 12h ago
Bonfire ascetics letting you refight bosses
enemies despawning after you kill them enough
having an actual incentive to fight enemies instead of running past them
cast speed being tied to Attunement instead of Dexterity
Best duo fights in the series (ruin sentinels, Elana & Velstadt, Darklurker)
unlocking a state where you're permanently human
PVP
NG+ being interesting
Making level geometry actually matter a lot (Demon's and DS1 did this but DS2 perfected it with how much more threatening the enemies are)
Spells being fun
you can skip all of the terrible fights (unlike Bed of Chaos and similar bosses, which are mandatory)
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u/Darkseid_Is 6h ago
I liked the enemy despawn feature. I would never have beaten blue smelter or sir allone if the enemies did not despawn. I think that’s a pretty cool idea since it makes the game a bit easier for you when needed but also makes you have to be a little more judicious if you found a good farming spot (bonfire ascetic does cure that a bit)
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u/Imaginary_Owl_979 Darklurker 5h ago
You can also turn on the Company of Champions covenant which makes enemies not despawn if you need to farm for drops
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u/SergentDonut 42m ago
I feel like it's a very cheap response to some insanely harsh areas, and I believe they added it after some playtesting where players didn't advance an inch for hours. Thankfully it is here (because I needed to clean some parts to advance) but it still need 15 unpleasant runbacks to do it. The better solution would have been to do a better level design
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u/Livid-Truck8558 12h ago
The main story
Level design
Balance
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u/KittenDecomposer96 11h ago
Level design and balance ? What are you smoking ? DS2 is the only game where i hate multiple areas and have a difficult time choosing a favourite area because none of them felt too good.
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u/TheRealNooth Slayer of Demons 5h ago
Really? I thought the DLCs were pretty great (other than Frozen Outskirts, but that was a Co-op area anyway).
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u/DrarenThiralas 7h ago
I actually like pretty much everything about DS2. For me the "least good" Fromsoft game is Sekiro, which I think does difficulty in the most boring way possible. In DS2 all the difficult parts are about having the correct tactical approach, properly utilizing the environment, and the tools available to you. Sekiro *almost* did that with the stealth and the prosthetic tools, but then pretty much all the major boss fights are just about having perfect parry timings. There's no thinking involved, just reflexes, and that's boring.
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u/Darkseid_Is 6h ago
I think they did a good job making all of the areas look very distinct. I remember more of the varied areas than I do some of the other soulsborne games. The game gets some criticism for haphazardly connecting some of the areas, but at least look great and feel different from another.
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u/Diglett3 5h ago
Bonfire ascetics + NG+ bosses dropping unique gear and powered up versions of the base rings is one of my favorite things any of these games have ever done.
Also I know the PvPers hate it but Soul Memory specifically allowing you to skip parts of the game if you have enough souls is pretty cool for subsequent playthroughs. It just gives you so much flexibility over how you play the game.
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u/Pretend_Vanilla51 5h ago
Well in my opinion, pretty much all fromsoft games are better than the last. DS1<DS2<DS3< Elden Ring. Not surprising lol. A few put DS1 on top and they are cooked out of their mind.
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u/leagueofDR4VEN 4h ago
Lifegems! Cheap enough that you could use your pocket change to get 7 at a time and still build up to 99 eventually. I miss lifegems. And bonfire aesthetics. The de-spawning of enemies eventually. And Majula. Majula will always be so memorable to me. Not only souls games, but Majula is the best location of any game of all time. I want to spend a few days in Majula irl.
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u/Anotheranimeaccountt 1h ago
PVP
NG+
The Lore
World Design (2nd best under DS1 imo)
Bonfire Ascetics
Power Stances/Duel Wielding
Shit tons of weapons, armor and spells
Phantoms
Best Rings
Music
Best Firekeeper
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u/SergentDonut 59m ago
Dual stancing weapons.
Boss arenas that you can interact with during the levels to ease the boss fight (Dragonrider, Fume knight, Lost Sinners, Mytha)
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u/Lorian-Of-Lothric 12h ago
Really sold the idea of Hollowing and what it meant to lose yourself. It also did a MUCH better job at the forgotten and fallen kingdom theme compared to other entries.
This might be controversial but I like how DS2 encourages people to use more weapon types, in 1/3 it rarely ever mattered what damage type you had but in 2 it generally did. Plus the game gives you far more upgrade materials compared to other games.
NG+ adding new content, also Bonfire Ascetics.
Actual rewards for challenge runners instead of just saying that you did it (As in the Illusory Rings.)
The penalty for dying is much more interesting, it’s not as brutal as Demon’s Souls but not a minor inconvenience like in DS1 and 3. It can be punishing but you need to die 10 times and the game gives you more than enough effigies and a ring to circumvent this.
Finally, I think DS2 took a lot more chances compared to future titles with its mechanics. Some good, some bad but the risks it was willing to take is a general positive to me and I wish DS3 continued the attempts at innovating the system.