Dark Souls II
Second Dark Souls game set in Drangleic.
Dark Souls II is an action role-playing game from 2014, created by FromSoftware and released by Bandai Namco Games. As the second game in the Dark Souls series, it takes place in the kingdom of Drangleic, where an undead protagonist searches for a way to lift their curse. While the setting is new, the game’s look, feel, and some story connections stay close to the original Dark Souls. A key difference is a “hollowing” system that punishes repeated deaths more harshly.
After some delays, the game came out worldwide for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in March 2014, with a Windows version following in April. It sold well and earned strong reviews, with critics praising its story, atmosphere, world design, and visuals. Opinions were split on its difficulty, and many felt its boss fights and combat mechanics weren’t as good as the first game’s. Notably, it’s the only game in the trilogy that series creator Hidetaka Miyazaki did not direct.
Three downloadable content packs were released throughout 2014. An upgraded version called *Dark Souls II: Scholar of the First Sin* came out in 2015, bundling all the DLC along with other improvements and additions. It launched on the original consoles as well as PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. The next game in the series, *Dark Souls III*, arrived in 2016.
**Gameplay**
Like other entries in the Dark Souls series, this game is known for being tough—both bosses and regular enemies can kill the player in just a few hits. Health recovery options are limited, similar to the first game. Each time the player dies, their maximum health decreases through a process called hollowing, which can keep dropping until the health bar reaches a minimum of 50% of its full size. To restore the full health bar, the player must use a rare consumable item. The game uses souls as a shared currency: they serve as both experience points for leveling up and money for buying items from shops. When the player dies, all their souls are left at the spot of death. They can get them back by returning there, but dying again before picking them up means the souls are lost forever.
A character’s abilities depend on their level in nine attributes: vigor, endurance, vitality, attunement, adaptability, strength, dexterity, intelligence, and faith. Each time the player spends souls to level up, they can raise one attribute by a single point. Increasing attributes boos
- Developer
- FromSoftware
- Publisher
- Bandai Namco Games
- Release Year
- 2014
- Platforms
- PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Windows
- Genre
- Action role-playing
- Directors
- Tomohiro Shibuya, Yui Tanimura
- Series
- Dark Souls
Lore & Background
Dark Souls II is set in the kingdom of Drangleic, where a human cursed to become a Hollow after dying travels to break the curse. The player is tasked by the Emerald Herald with obtaining four Great Souls from powerful undead, then directed to seek the King. The Queen Nashandra reveals that King Vendrick fled his kingdom long ago, and the player learns that Nashandra deceived the king into an ill-fated invasion of the giants' lands, leading to the kingdom's ruin. The player ultimately kills Nashandra and sits on the Throne of Want, with the decision to link the fire or let it die left ambiguous.
The game employs minimalist storytelling, with plot conveyed through dialogue, item descriptions, and world design. The Scholar of the First Sin version adds Aldia, King Vendrick's brother, who offers cryptic hints about the cyclical nature of the world and presents an option to abscond the throne and follow a path beyond light or dark. The three The Lost Crowns DLCs add side-stories involving other daughters of Manus and a quest to obtain a crown that cures the player of undeath.
Reader's Guide
Dark Souls II is significant as the only Dark Souls game not directed by Hidetaka Miyazaki, yet it maintains the series' signature difficulty and minimalist storytelling. Its gameplay introduces a hollowing mechanic that reduces maximum health upon each death, down to a 50% lower limit, and uses souls as both experience and currency. The game features a Soul Memory system for multiplayer matchmaking, pairing players based on total souls gained, and a robust new game plus mode that adds new enemy encounters and boss changes. Released in March 2014 on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, with a Windows version in April, it was a commercial success and received critical acclaim for its story, atmosphere, world design, and visuals, though reviewers were divided on its difficulty and deemed its boss battles and combat mechanics inferior to the original. The enhanced version, Scholar of the First Sin, was released in 2015 on original platforms plus PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, and the game was followed by Dark Souls III in 2016.
Did You Know?
- Dark Souls II is the only game in the trilogy not directed by series creator Hidetaka Miyazaki.
- The game uses a 'Soul Memory' system for multiplayer matchmaking, pairing players based on total souls gained.
- The Scholar of the First Sin version adds Aldia, King Vendrick's brother, who offers an alternative ending.
- The three The Lost Crowns DLCs each feature a daughter of Manus, the final boss of the Artorias of the Abyss expansion.
More in Soulslike video games 1-24
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