While DS1 is my favorite, what I love about DS2 is how its atmosphere feels much more fairy tale-ish. It doesn’t feel like another “end of the world” story but more like a story focused on the player themselves. It’s a very cool vibe that is probably more similar to OG Demon’s Souls then any other souls game.
Another thing one to point out that at 21:00 if you lost connection in DS2 you can still progress the game as normal whereas on DS1,DS3 & Elden Ring it will force you to go back to the main menu
Some DS2 appreciation: it’s the best health system of the series. There’s a very clear pattern to Vigor giving the most at early levels, and all other stats giving a little bit. In the other games the only stat to give health gives only a little bit at low levels, then spikes suddenly before falling off. If you put off leveling your HP in the other games you end up spending a ton of souls for very little gain, possibly not even able to reach the good levels, whereas in DS2 you get immediate results on top of the little bits you’ve been accumulating from other stats.
What I like about ds2 is that there's not a dip in quality after mid-game sections. Things only escalate and the more you progress things get more fantastic and memorable. In ds1 i don't want to play after anor londo but in ds2 the next area will always be better than the previous one.
Personally I love the second half of DS1, TotG is great, new londo is one of my favorite areas, the Duke's archives are great, and lost Izalith is very cool, at least. DS2 second half is pretty great all the way through, though, too. The dragon Aerie is incredible
@@solarpellets I mean, for me the second half of ds1 is OK at best. But keep in mind they come after anor londo, Sen's fortress, undead burg, blighttown and so on. Lost izalith is an exception for me, I think it's just bad, down there with the worst areas in the series for real tho, everything about that place screams unfinished, and to top it all it has the worst boss of all fromsoft games. Ds2 beggining areas can be a drag but thing begin to escalate very quick in that game, you're always anxious for the next area and there's guaranteed pay-off. The game rewards you better as well, the upgrade materials and all the unique items.
@@KingPineFlesh-WX yeah catacombs can be considered a second half area in the intended playthrough. After the first playthrough I believe most players go there before anor londo to pick the mask and the lantern, and it's right there at firelink so I think it received more thought in the development than the other areas like lost izalith or duke's archives.
Nice fast playthrough and commentary. I have been pondering about the differences in vanilla and scholar for a long and I have replayed them both many times. I came from vanilla first so when I later played scholar it seemed to me that there were just too many enemies cramped in small spaces (I especially didn't like they planted all those Heide Knights in the Tower of Heide,. I found the original heide knight in the woods under the tree very very iconic and classic and now this one is removed (I know the three rare knights weren't removed, just moved at other locations)). But true some other areas were too empty so it's good they were populated a bit. Also good that the dull ember is not at the end of the world but much closer (in my first vanilla playthrough I was like over 70% through the game and wonder how the heck do I get McDuff to infuse?). I come to realize, for people who may have started with SotFS and then try Vanilla, they will feel something is missing. To me it was the opposite, like wow SotFS just obfuscated the iconic enemy placement I used to like. It's the equivalent of there being an updated version of classic Doom, where the blue armor and not green is in the stairs at E1M1 and outside in the courtyard there is a Cacodemon. It's a distorted version of the original, no matter that outside courtyard was too empty before. But ok, I came to love both versions and now I play SotFS more while I used to run Vanilla more. One has to be the definite, I don't like the loss between two worlds. I still enter an area in either versions and I am like "I remember there was a crystal lizard, were did it go?".
I personally really like the emphasis on more directional attacks and the way it forces you to watch your position. I've been playing ds1 again, and I feel a bit crippled without the advantage positioning in ds2 gives you. Ofc you can do that in ds1 also, but it's way less consistent imo.
OOOH! DS2 is my favorite souls game by far!! I've actually been streaming it a lot recently, but I've been on a bit of a hiatus because of a now broken TV. I can't stress how much I like this game, but I don't know why. Maybe its all the story? The art style? The weird floaty feeling and the janky camera? Whatever it is, this one is my favorite. It's probably because it's set in a different place and it's full of people to talk to and interact with, and it has that NG+ difference, and how Attunement raises Agility and the powerstancing and the infusion of twinkling weapons with innate magic and lightning damage and... Yeesh!! Okay, that's all. Enough random rambling from me. ^^ Listening to the rambling is fun!! I like having you in the background while I work on my project or sometimes when I stream!! You have a wonderful voice :>
Gundyr at least sets the tone for what DS3 expects from you well. Though there are different builds and approaches, you have to learn to react quickly and dodge to move forward.
I think DS2 is the best of the trilogy. It’s also the one that’s most like an RPG where both 1 and (especially) 3 lean into more action and player skill.
I basically didn't play "modern" video games at all. Until DS2 and Skyrim. I switched a lot between them during this time. The beginning of DS2 will always have an amazing place in my heart. Most now more modern games just don't compare to fromsoft.
Glad to have you as a fellow DS2 fan. My first souls game was DS3 and DS2 was my second. While playing DS3 it was the best game I ever played but DS2 still blew me away with how much it had to offer.
If you didn't know, the lords are actually reincarnations of original Lord soul holders! The old iron king is a reincarnation of gwyn, the lost sinner is the witch of izalith, the rotten is nito, and Freja is the exception, but she does possess seathe's soul. It is implied that these individuals continue reincarnating again and again.
Did you also know; Old Iron King is Vendrick's dad. Lindelt is the Illuminati, causing the fall of the Sunken King and the rise and fall of all subsequent monarchs.
What I hate about scholar is the slightly off colour pallet compared to OG and the heidi knight removal from different areas. I do like the OGs empty spaces. It makes it feel that I really am in a lost and decaying kingdom but I do understand that as a game those empty spaces is boring to deal with.
For me it's between 1 and 2 for which I like the most. The areas in ds2 make you look around for ambushes and what not and I actually found myself using consumables like poison throwing knives or firebombs to do certain things. I know most people disagree with this but ds3 is my least favorite and to be honest I couldn't even tell you 100% why that is. Also I always liked watching my items pile up in ds2 like the divine blessings human effigies and watching the torch time go up.
I've only played Elden Ring, DS3 and DS2, all for the first time this year. I'm not done with SotFS yet but it's definitely my favourite. So far my ranking is DS2 Elden Ring DS3 I dunno if I'll play DS1R yet but I'm not sure where it'd end up on the list. I can sorta understand the hate for DS2. The infinite aggro on enemies In scholar is little frustrating but having seen the changes from vanilla to Scholar, there's been some good changes such as enemy placements, removal of others, due to this video I think people hate on it *too* much. I just have the DLC left I think now, and then the final boss of the main story. Wonder if either will change my opinion.
YES I agree with you on ADP. It's kind of too bad people didn't like it, because it feels like everything after became a dodge fest (DS3 and Elden Ring). I like that you have to make the choice to be a dodging type person.
@sirfijoe450 DS2's legacy is in the midst of a culture war. Haters that get clout, ad revenue, and in-group affirmation lie and mischaracterize it as an objectively bad game, and fans get baited into zealously defending it. The actual quality of the game is lost in the fray. And I appreciate real analysis videos like these.
1:47:26 Holy fuck. I have literal thousands of hours in this game across hundreds of playthroughs and I swear I haver never noticed that little path and item. God damn.
This may be one of the funniest comments I've ever gotten. Not only am I not a man, my voice is more masculine than most women I know, so saying "woman" voice doesn't make sense lmao
While DS1 is my favorite, what I love about DS2 is how its atmosphere feels much more fairy tale-ish. It doesn’t feel like another “end of the world” story but more like a story focused on the player themselves. It’s a very cool vibe that is probably more similar to OG Demon’s Souls then any other souls game.
So true. OG Demons souls and DS2 became my favorites in the series. Love the dream like feeling.
Another thing one to point out that at 21:00 if you lost connection in DS2 you can still progress the game as normal whereas on DS1,DS3 & Elden Ring it will force you to go back to the main menu
Not having this feature in future games is pure incompetence
1:16:00 the enemies waiting for you to finish your duel is a scholar only thing. Kind of surreal to think about tbh.
yet such a neat touch
@@Crit-Multiplier For sure, it's just such a big part of why I love ds2, and it's not even in the base game.
Some DS2 appreciation: it’s the best health system of the series.
There’s a very clear pattern to Vigor giving the most at early levels, and all other stats giving a little bit. In the other games the only stat to give health gives only a little bit at low levels, then spikes suddenly before falling off.
If you put off leveling your HP in the other games you end up spending a ton of souls for very little gain, possibly not even able to reach the good levels, whereas in DS2 you get immediate results on top of the little bits you’ve been accumulating from other stats.
I love this game. Over 300 hours and I’ve never leveled ADP one time
What I like about ds2 is that there's not a dip in quality after mid-game sections. Things only escalate and the more you progress things get more fantastic and memorable.
In ds1 i don't want to play after anor londo but in ds2 the next area will always be better than the previous one.
Personally I love the second half of DS1, TotG is great, new londo is one of my favorite areas, the Duke's archives are great, and lost Izalith is very cool, at least. DS2 second half is pretty great all the way through, though, too. The dragon Aerie is incredible
Catacombs is peak ds1 and that comes after Anor Londor in most people's playthroughs
@@solarpellets I mean, for me the second half of ds1 is OK at best. But keep in mind they come after anor londo, Sen's fortress, undead burg, blighttown and so on. Lost izalith is an exception for me, I think it's just bad, down there with the worst areas in the series for real tho, everything about that place screams unfinished, and to top it all it has the worst boss of all fromsoft games.
Ds2 beggining areas can be a drag but thing begin to escalate very quick in that game, you're always anxious for the next area and there's guaranteed pay-off. The game rewards you better as well, the upgrade materials and all the unique items.
@@KingPineFlesh-WX yeah catacombs can be considered a second half area in the intended playthrough. After the first playthrough I believe most players go there before anor londo to pick the mask and the lantern, and it's right there at firelink so I think it received more thought in the development than the other areas like lost izalith or duke's archives.
I love a lot of the areas in Dark Souls. New Londo and the Archives are great.
Nice fast playthrough and commentary.
I have been pondering about the differences in vanilla and scholar for a long and I have replayed them both many times. I came from vanilla first so when I later played scholar it seemed to me that there were just too many enemies cramped in small spaces (I especially didn't like they planted all those Heide Knights in the Tower of Heide,. I found the original heide knight in the woods under the tree very very iconic and classic and now this one is removed (I know the three rare knights weren't removed, just moved at other locations)). But true some other areas were too empty so it's good they were populated a bit. Also good that the dull ember is not at the end of the world but much closer (in my first vanilla playthrough I was like over 70% through the game and wonder how the heck do I get McDuff to infuse?). I come to realize, for people who may have started with SotFS and then try Vanilla, they will feel something is missing. To me it was the opposite, like wow SotFS just obfuscated the iconic enemy placement I used to like. It's the equivalent of there being an updated version of classic Doom, where the blue armor and not green is in the stairs at E1M1 and outside in the courtyard there is a Cacodemon. It's a distorted version of the original, no matter that outside courtyard was too empty before.
But ok, I came to love both versions and now I play SotFS more while I used to run Vanilla more. One has to be the definite, I don't like the loss between two worlds. I still enter an area in either versions and I am like "I remember there was a crystal lizard, were did it go?".
I personally really like the emphasis on more directional attacks and the way it forces you to watch your position. I've been playing ds1 again, and I feel a bit crippled without the advantage positioning in ds2 gives you. Ofc you can do that in ds1 also, but it's way less consistent imo.
OOOH! DS2 is my favorite souls game by far!! I've actually been streaming it a lot recently, but I've been on a bit of a hiatus because of a now broken TV. I can't stress how much I like this game, but I don't know why. Maybe its all the story? The art style? The weird floaty feeling and the janky camera? Whatever it is, this one is my favorite. It's probably because it's set in a different place and it's full of people to talk to and interact with, and it has that NG+ difference, and how Attunement raises Agility and the powerstancing and the infusion of twinkling weapons with innate magic and lightning damage and... Yeesh!! Okay, that's all. Enough random rambling from me. ^^
Listening to the rambling is fun!! I like having you in the background while I work on my project or sometimes when I stream!! You have a wonderful voice :>
Gundyr at least sets the tone for what DS3 expects from you well. Though there are different builds and approaches, you have to learn to react quickly and dodge to move forward.
Yeah, but I like that less, so I like Gundyr less lol
I think DS2 is the best of the trilogy. It’s also the one that’s most like an RPG where both 1 and (especially) 3 lean into more action and player skill.
I basically didn't play "modern" video games at all. Until DS2 and Skyrim. I switched a lot between them during this time. The beginning of DS2 will always have an amazing place in my heart. Most now more modern games just don't compare to fromsoft.
Replaying DS2 sotfs on Ng plus for the first time I love the random red phantoms placed in areas. Looking forward to following these videos 🙌
Glad to have you as a fellow DS2 fan. My first souls game was DS3 and DS2 was my second. While playing DS3 it was the best game I ever played but DS2 still blew me away with how much it had to offer.
If you didn't know, the lords are actually reincarnations of original Lord soul holders! The old iron king is a reincarnation of gwyn, the lost sinner is the witch of izalith, the rotten is nito, and Freja is the exception, but she does possess seathe's soul. It is implied that these individuals continue reincarnating again and again.
Did you also know;
Old Iron King is Vendrick's dad.
Lindelt is the Illuminati, causing the fall of the Sunken King and the rise and fall of all subsequent monarchs.
What I hate about scholar is the slightly off colour pallet compared to OG and the heidi knight removal from different areas. I do like the OGs empty spaces. It makes it feel that I really am in a lost and decaying kingdom but I do understand that as a game those empty spaces is boring to deal with.
For me it's between 1 and 2 for which I like the most. The areas in ds2 make you look around for ambushes and what not and I actually found myself using consumables like poison throwing knives or firebombs to do certain things. I know most people disagree with this but ds3 is my least favorite and to be honest I couldn't even tell you 100% why that is. Also I always liked watching my items pile up in ds2 like the divine blessings human effigies and watching the torch time go up.
But most players will say this is bad cuz they can’t run pass enemies & then gets gank and then complain that ds2 is a bad game
Yay another girl who is a big scholar enjoyer, this vid is so nice and comfy!
YESSS, MORE DS2 YESYESYESYES
I've only played Elden Ring, DS3 and DS2, all for the first time this year. I'm not done with SotFS yet but it's definitely my favourite. So far my ranking is
DS2
Elden Ring
DS3
I dunno if I'll play DS1R yet but I'm not sure where it'd end up on the list.
I can sorta understand the hate for DS2. The infinite aggro on enemies In scholar is little frustrating but having seen the changes from vanilla to Scholar, there's been some good changes such as enemy placements, removal of others, due to this video I think people hate on it *too* much. I just have the DLC left I think now, and then the final boss of the main story. Wonder if either will change my opinion.
YES I agree with you on ADP. It's kind of too bad people didn't like it, because it feels like everything after became a dodge fest (DS3 and Elden Ring). I like that you have to make the choice to be a dodging type person.
video idea: beating darksouls with least distance travelled (idk how one would measure it but it sounds fun)
Why are the pursuers floated???
Yess i will always welcome more analysis and less culture war nonsense this game seems to attract
DS2 attracts culture war debate? I can’t fathom that tbh
@sirfijoe450 DS2's legacy is in the midst of a culture war. Haters that get clout, ad revenue, and in-group affirmation lie and mischaracterize it as an objectively bad game, and fans get baited into zealously defending it. The actual quality of the game is lost in the fray. And I appreciate real analysis videos like these.
A three hours analysis of PART of a game? Way to stick it to HBomberGuy
Perfect timing i just downloaded scholar. Havent played since vanilla on release
Dark Souls 2 is my unironic favorite (only played sotfs)
yay, 3 hour video
yay long video!!
Heater video
1:47:26 Holy fuck. I have literal thousands of hours in this game across hundreds of playthroughs and I swear I haver never noticed that little path and item. God damn.
I think that means I'm exploring adequately lol
I bought 1st scholar and few days ago bought ds2 and ds2 is better than schoral IMO
oh god 3 hours
Dark Souls 2 is already much longer than 3, it doesn't help that I'm doing two entire games lol
Peak Souls 2 feels like a fantasy story book
Mid Souls 3 was just bland as fuck in the art and colours
You should probably do separate videos \[T]/
Man doing a woman voice.
"Dont recommend channel" button comes in clutch yet again 🙏
This may be one of the funniest comments I've ever gotten. Not only am I not a man, my voice is more masculine than most women I know, so saying "woman" voice doesn't make sense lmao