3.5/5 ★ – moonscented's review of Dark Souls II: Scholar of the First Sin.

still haven’t completed the DLC but I wanna talk about it anyway. DS II is such an oddball out of the fromsoft catalogue, I always considered it “the black sheep” of the series, but only for reasons I heard from others. Playing it now, I really feel like I’m glowing with praise for it, though it is DEFINITELY a pretty big departure from what DS I is, I couldn’t imagine playing this on day 1, without expecting what this ended up being. Right from the jump, the opening cinematic is so much more bombastic and action heavy, following with a pretty immediate barrage of npcs, more than any other souls game. Even how your character moves feels different, the camera drags in a weird way you can’t find in other games. What I think works so well for DS II though is just that in a lot of ways- how it’s different, how departed it is from the others. It’s locations are so bright and colorful, each location has a very vivid and specific vibe to it, albeit with a heavy sacrifice of that connected feeling DS I’s map has. DS I’s atmosphere does rely on that sense of loneliness in a lot of ways, and while I love that about it, this new vibe has its own swelling feeling to it. Going home to Majula after a boss fight, leveling up new skills at the far fire, reinforcing my weapon with the smith, and near the cliff is a new npc I haven’t met yet. It’s cozy, it’s warm, it’s homey. DS II also has the absolute best armor sets, easily. Weapons are also pretty varied, but there’s also a lot of very OP weapons that you can get early on and that really breaks any desire to build around something else. Critical flaws though; worst hit boxing in any of the games. Something I love about all of the other games, DS I included, is that you could dodge attacks by inches, it’s a foundational part of why the combat is so great. Here, that really falls short, and frustrated me throughout pretty much the whole thing. Enemy placements don’t feel as precise or intentional anymore, a lot of difficulty from the encounters would be more so because I’m being overwhelmed by 5 or 10 enemies at the same time, all while running into traps every few steps. There’s…. A lot of bosses in this one. Which normally wouldn’t be an issue, but there’s way to many underdesigned or copycat bosses, all with very similar move sets. There are a couple really cool ones though, Demon of Song really sticking out to me. As easy as he is, his design is amazing and I loved that there was a precise strategy to his fight. I recommend at least looking him up if you don’t plan on playing. Overall, it’s such a beautiful little mark on From’s face. It’s filled with fascinating concepts that we don’t see in other souls games, and a lot of those are with good reason, but a few I think should be welcomed. Some did with DS 3, like respecing points, and Elden Ring bringing back power standing, which is easily the best thing DS II has contributed.