Give it to me straight. How much am I going to hate this game?

Go into it pretending it's not a Souls game but a Souls clone made by another company, then it's surprisingly playable.

>Put a fuck ton of points in Adaptability
Pretty sure it caps out at like 20.

A whole fucking lot if you don't level up Adaptavility as soon as you get some souls. No, for real. Level up adaptability.

>Roll backwards, the sensible way to dodge a grab
>Get nabbed 100% of the time
>Roll sideways, a seemingly bad way to dodge a grab
>Evade 100% of the time
DS2's hitboxes are something else.

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When the game was not dead it had the best pvp

Softcap is at around 40 I think.

For its other benefits yes, I mean just for the iframes.

Yeah, it's hitboxes and some of the animations of the enemies are some of the most awful in the whole series.

I think iframes also go up until around 40.

It's like DS1 but bad and the setting/lore is high fantasy, so it doesn't really feel Dark Souls-ey.

hell you might even like it.

Agility caps at 110 points regardless of how many points you have in adaptability, which means at 23 adaptability you're already maxed out because of the number of agility points it gives per level.

>high fantasy
Doesn’t that apply to scope? In which case, I’d still think DS2 is less significant.
At best it feels like a fantasy setting that “kind of” felt like standard Souls games, just lacking a ton of effort.

Don't listen to these people, you're just going to hate the game even more. Play it, but don't expect DS 2.0
It's a different experience. If you don't plan to be tanky, make sure to level ADP to 26 as soon as possible.

It's very good it was my introduction to the franchise and it holds a special place in my heart

DaS1 is High Fantasy too you retard.

Your max health gets capped at 50% if you die a bunch of times. The game is just designed to be fucking irritating and annoying because they bought into the whole "people loved DS for the frustration" meme.

It has way more problems than any other game in the series.
What I'll give it is that it has a FUCKLOAD of content. Easily the longest Soulsborne game with the highest item variety and the most bosses. This comes at a heavy expense to environmental and boss quality overall though.

It literally isn't. It's low magic medieval with some occasional lovecraftian horrors. Exactly like the Berserk manga that inspired it.

I thought it was good, not nearly as hard as described. I had more trouble with 3 honestly

Yeah all the bosses are pretty much a variation of the same "big monster that moves slow but hits hard". You just stay on their ass and that's the whole strategy lmao.

Are the environments really that shitty? From what I've seen and the way people talk about them it feels like the entire game is Demon Ruins tier. Does it focus more on PvP than immersion?

Basically, unless DaS2 is your first Dark Souls, you're not gonna like it. It is a step down in every way from all the other games except for specifically linearity/open-endedness compared to DaS3

It's quantity over quality pretty much.

Ahh El Americano

not demon ruins tier though some areas are almost as bad.

It also has some cool places especially the DLC's (which also have the worst area in the entire game).

>played 300 hours of ds2
>people whining about how you NEED to level adp
>never put one point into it
>never any problems with finishing the game

DS1 has a much better world while DS2 has much better combat. DS2 is still pretty fun.

DS3 is just the worst of both games rolled into one

>eurojank
it's a japanese game you stupid transvestite fetus

It's good. Maybe dont play it immediately after completing the other games though, because its not as good as those.

If you approach it with a negative attitude harboured by vee you are going to hate it. Play it for yourself like you've never heard anything about it.
Yeah, it's disappointing in a lot of ways but it has its moments.

I'm loving it, I don't get the hate.

>DS1 has a much better world while DS2 has much better combat
Crazy subjective. Much like the game world itself I think they needed more time for interesting PvE, it’s far more passive than the rest with the only benefit being ‘more builds’ - which is also debatably quanitity>quality.

Skip it and play 3. Then go back to 2, you'll appreciate it more.

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2 and 3 combined into one game, trimming off the shit from both, would’ve been the ideal sequel.

110 is the soft cap for agility and you reach that number at 38 ADP, not 23. Attunement also increases agility, so if you've leveled ATN you'll need less ADP to reach your agility goal.

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>it's okay when Japan does it
fuck off

>Are the environments really that shitty?
Pretty much every issue you can think of is in this game, be it nonsensical architecture, batshit insane level progression, piss poor area transitions, tons of rooms that are just empty boxes, texture tiling straight out of a shitty Quake 2 mod and one graphic error after another like misalligned textures, placeholders that are still in the game, clipping issues or even entire parts of the level geometry simply missing.

There's also tons of shit that has to be seen to be believed.
At one point the lightning casts a shadow of the level on the nearby mountains - not of the huge castle you're in but just the level, there's a building where rooms are just boxes that are tacked onto the walls and floating in the air that can be seen from the outside, there's some REALLY inappropiate recycling of DS1 assets and the outside of some buildings doesn't match the inside in the slightest, including huge windows missing on the outside.

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at what point can we consider this to be avatarfaggotry?

I beat it without dying pretty easily and it made me hate the game even more than I did before. Just play 3

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>placeholders that are still in the game,
do you actually have an example of that? I can't think of anything other than the beta giants still in the memories

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it depend do you like DS1 because the lore or game play? if is lore you will detest it because its inconsistent and soulless areas and poor graphics if you like DS1 because the game play you will hate this game because the clunky movement and the focus in the rpg mechanics instead of the skills one in DS1 if you dont like DS1 at all you will like this game DS2 as a sequel dont work because it deflect of all that make DS1 unique and good but as a stand alone game DS2 is a very good game whit some big flags but overall better that most AAA games

105 agi for ds1 fast roll. Any more and you're just waiting points. If you need ninja flip levels of iframes, you have way more issues than your rolls

The back of King's Passage has textures from Undead Burg that don't match anything else there and don't have any rain effect applied to them.

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The Falconer enemies

Same with the ceiling of the corridor before it which features textures that don't fit at all with the rest of the environments and don't appear anywhere else.

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And then there's also this part of Drangleic Castle that they forgot to retexture.

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Depends what you liked most about it.
>Game looks significantly worse
>Level design is worse
>ADP
>Hitbox issues even with high ADP
>Removed poise
>Unstaggerable infinite stamina enemy spam
>Miracles useless
I'm sure some autist can triple the size of this list.

>PvP works better
>More equipment variety
>Significantly harder, not necessarily a good thing

If Dark Souls is a 5/5, Dark Souls 2 is a 3/5.

>Miracles useless
???
DaS2 had the best miracles in the series

Those round windows on the Cathedral of Blue also have a completely different, much more primitive looking texture on the inside.

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>dark souls
>Kick to stun
>Parry swing just before it connects
>I-frames tied to rolling which can't be changed
>One hand or two hand for alternative moveset

>Dark souls 2
>Weird as fuck party riposte mechanic doesn't perform at all like ds1
>Power stance unexplained alongside dual welding which is also confusing
>I-frames tied to a stat

Its unnecessarily confusing

Also: Jesus Christ, that pillar placement...

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Pretty interesting. I remember some pretty interesting fuckups too. When you arrive in the Lost Bastille from the Wharf if you look up you can see the level geometry hanging in the air.
There's also this random thing hidden in the map data for the Lost Bastille, but I've never seen someone actually go to it ingame.
I kind of wish someone with CE would go and see it ingame.

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DaS2 has some amazing things in it, no doubt, some stuff I was even mad that DaS3 left out.
BUT
For every nice things there's a dozen awful shit that never left, not even the fucking re-release of the fucking game.
>b-but the light effects
I don't give a shit. They had the opportunity to fix things, instead the fucked up other things too

tl;dr
Do not believe DaS2 apologists, it's and okay/meh game at best.

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It's a good game but arguably the weakest Souls game.

No, it's not even a good game outside of Dark Souls context. It's a proper trainwreck.

It really does feel like more than half of DAS2's content was cut.

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If you git gud youll love it
It takes you to places and scenarios no other ds game does. Has a lot of secrets and stuff to discover. Story and lore is great and interesting, and the endings will push you to the limit.

I'm in the same situation as you, having only played DSR. I'm playing thought DS2 right now and I'm enjoying it a lot. Sure it has its issues, such as clunky controls and soul memory (this doesn't but me though as I usually never summon or invade) but all things considered, it's been pretty good. It's worthy of some criticism, but the absurd amount of hate it gets is just internet bandwaggoning, as far am I'm concerned.

Depends entirely on how much of a scrub you are. And how much you dislike fighting dudes in armour obviously.

The old (technically new) map data that was found in the DLCs is a giant treasure trove of content and speculation.

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I've got 20 points in STR, DEX, VIT, END, VIG, and, ADP. Should I focus on STR or DEX, or do the others need more points?

Miracles do significantly less damage.
It's only useful as support, and if you're using anything beyond great heal excerpt, you're wasting points.

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peabrained retard

Is all of this shit actually gathered anywhere?

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Focus on STR/DEX to kill things faster. 20 is fine for VIG for a good portion of the game, 20 VIT is probably fine as long as you aren't wearing super heavy armor, and 20 is a common stopping point for both ADP and END.

tcrf.net/Dark_Souls_II/Unused_Areas

>Implying DS3 is different
While my friends died to dancer 1000 times because they couldn't grasp how to roll out of her grab properly I literally never died a single time to her

Are these actually loadable ingame?
youtube.com/watch?v=WXowyshRW0Q
Sanadsk managed to load the Iron Keep files although with no lightning or collision detection. So surely these files are still functional in some way?

I mean, these are still weird. Almost every single map is underground and has these giant archways, and none of them seem to connect together. It's hard to imagine what the game's progression would have been like if it had been completed.

These seem to only have a portion of the unused content

ds2 tried to be ds1 but bigger and better, but the game was plagued by a rushed development cycle by bamco and poor direction on from's part. it's an incoherent mess of a game with no focus and that appeals to some people.

Get 20 in everything and go mundane

DS2 has more variety in offensive miracles than any other Souls game. WoG oneshots everything (though it is a bitch to use). Lightning storm is fantastic against bosses and groups. All variants of lightning spear are very easy to get and besides the standard one, they all rip enemies a new asshole. DS2 has the best version of Emit Force. Sunlight blade + lightning infusion feels like cheating, and only DS2 allows you to combine them. Sacred Oath is the strongest buff in the series.
DeS only has support miracles
DaS1 has extremely limited casts
DaS3 only allows you to get non-useless miracles at the end of the game

You can load them but most are unfinished/unpolished, have tons of assets piled together at the coordinate origin and large polygons and meshes through the geometry.

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the demastered is the worst one along with ds3 you faggot

do these actually have textures?

no

I remember one shotting some bosses in DS2 with pre nerf miracles, good times

If you aren't dead set on "everything must be EXACTLY like in the first game or else it's trash" then you're probably gonna like it.

I bought this game three times.

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You're fucking retarded m8. It's a dead high fantasy world. That doesn't make it low fantasy all of a sudden.

this guy's retarded OP, don't listen to him.
you don't have to play the first to notice the over abundance of garbage decisions in the second

Based

You're gonna love it as soon as you figure out every enemy respawn is limited to 12 times, which means you'll have a much easier time getting good and leveling up.

Just like you don't have to assume that every bad design choice is going to make you hate the game. Though most of the critique of DS2 does come down to "first one did it better".

I'd imagine quite a bit. The areas aren't fun to explore nor are they pretty. The team that developed the game seemed to think "hey lets jam massive mobs all over the fucking place" was the pinnacle of difficulty and not just fucking annoying. Hell, one of the first bosses in the game is a multi-encounter boss with all the shitty kiting and maneuvering you do in each level. The weapons degrade very, very fast so get ready to have multiples if the area leading to a boss is pretty big. You have to invest valuable points in your build just to get the i-frames you had naturally in DAS 1. Also, the community is practically dead so don't plan on doing much co-op or PVP. Doesn't help they split the community already by having Scholar be separate from DAS 2 and it's DLCs. The whole thing was a real shitshow.

2 is better than Scholar and I've got 200 hours in both

>DS3
>40 faith
>faith boosting rings
>find the lightning bow miracle
>use it on a mob enemy
>20% damage
The only miracles worth it is the Vow of Silence against Aldrich and the Dragonslayer Greataxe, and even then I'm not sure.

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whats wrong with your hand?

A lot because it does literally everything wrong and then some

it's jank kino but it has its moments too

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>the community is practically dead
SotfS has more players on steam right now than DSR. You're retarded if you think that SotfS was a shitshow but DSR wasn't.

How is it better? The old version only has 300 daily players on Steam while Scholar has 2000.

Wtf?

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>not rolling into grab
lmao pleb level some adp

Pro:
-Lots of build variety (there's something for every build)
-Best PVP
-Tons of mats to experiment
-Lots of spells/miracles/hex that aren't just buffed up version of a previous.
-Can go pure caster if you wish thanks to cast replenishment
-Lots of paths in the beginning, not as connected as DS1 almost like Demon's with archstones
-Great variety in moveset
-DLCs are incredible
-Most weapon type can be obtained early
-Stats do not completely soft cap at 40. Past 50 is garbage except for 70-80 range.

Cons:
-Very sensitive to hitting geometry and recoiling. If you use a spear with your back to a wall, it counts as hitting the wall.
-Enemies have insane tracking some to the point where rolling is useless. Especially against that lance invader.
-Janky hitbox. That rat/dog is a prime example.
-Janky animation. Along with hitboxes those sword heide knights. Also famous example, the falcon knights that are glitched to constantly block while moving giving their legs the appearance of the skeleton dance.
-Little convoluted with progression. Exhaust NPC dialogs just in case. Must summon npc to complete certain ones.
-IMO: Damage calculation makes bigger weapons feel less effective since it's completely linear. Also spell calculation wasn't a good idea.
-Durability

Tips:
-Scaling works with the bonus listed in stats not with weapon damage. You can just meet requirements and rely on weapon upgrades until you're comfortable with your stats to start increasing offensive.
-For efficiency do not mono damage.
-2H does not 1.5x STR. It 2x STR only for requirement.

I've been teleported into this fuck's arms with 99 agi

DS2 is a busted game in many aspects, like how armor and health are worthless because even with over 1500 health and highly upgraded heavy armor basic fodder enemies can still hit you once and do 50% of your life

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Heavy armor does matter. Shields are also extremely viable. You can't facetank everything unlike in DS1 but it does make a difference.

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>Significantly harder
You're insane, user. Lifegems are a thing.

>tfw no Emerald Herald gf

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If you play it now its fine. The disappointment stemmed from it being a mainline series entry next to DaS and DeS. The franchise is so drowned in mediocrity that its par for the course at this point.

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playing dark souls 3 (and to a lesser extent bloodborne) has made me appreciate dark souls 2 because it's just so weird and different compared to the rest of the games

when the game came out people were giving it all "it's a good game, just not a good souls game" and i think this is true and it unironically redeems the game, i'm fucking sick to death of souls games at this point and while dark souls 2 plays like one it doesn't feel like one

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>Give it to me straight. How much am I going to hate this game?
Put points on ADP, while you doing that you'll level your agility status, i recommend to keep putting points till 105 agi.
Don't neglect this it may save your whole experience with the game.
Man what a hell were the developers think with this adp crap.
In general i think is the weakest soulsbournkirowhateverthefuck, but it's a straight up bad game or anything, it has metric fuck ton of content, because of that the build faggotary is top class on it.
Have fun user.

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>DS2 reboot never ever
>no fixed versions of Shaded Woods/Ruins

it hurts man!

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Heavy armor matters for weaker early game enemies like the royal soldier in that pic, but once you start getting to later game enemies that hit for half your life per swing it stops mattering. If you were to run that test against something like the Drakekeepers you'd see that the total difference in damage between full havel and totally naked remains about the same despite how much more damage you're taking overall.

It can be pretty rough at times. Until you crank adp up your rolls aren't 100% reliable and you can still get clipped by wide hitboxes. Pursuer'll teach you that.

>You have to invest valuable points in your build just to get the i-frames you had naturally in DAS 1
You also level up twice as much (and almost twice as fast) as in DS1 so it's literally never a problem. There are no points to waste since by the time you get to Drangleic Castle your build is basically finished unless you're going for something exotic that needs 40 in three stats instead of two. By the end of the game your "valuable points" go into dump stats and your character is 20-40 levels above what you'd get in DS1.

>*btfos Ashes and Ringed City*

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>That Dragonrider artwork
>We never got this

ok i'm mad now.

Well specified "basic fodder enemy" so that is what I tested on. Haven't tried on dreakekeepers, hold on.

you played the most sterile faggoty version of dark souls 1, so you'll probably hate dark souls 2 for feeling like an actual video game

All these autists who say the game is jank or clunky clearly don't know how to play an Action RPG outside of spamming R1.

>shit enemies
Why did I laugh

Excuse me, just using the best ugs in the series.

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>Are the environments really that shitty?
Yes

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it is a problem that a game forces the player to invest in a particular stat to be able to reliably make use of its basic fighting mechanics

Yeah this makes sense. Though it is NG++ general principle applies. I doubt it's different in DS1 but I'm can't be assed to install it now. It definitely IS the same way in DS3, even for basic hollows. Armor does next to nothing there.

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>forces
it doesn't, you could just play better and not have to rely on iframes

Could be just the blunt weapon damage bonus. It works against enemies, probably works for them too.

Basic game mechanic is rolling and it is available to you from the start, you don't HAVE to fast roll/have high i-frames. Are you telling me you can't complete DS1 while not fast rolling? You're delusional in that case. You also have a wide array of shields in DS2 and can complete the game without rolling much. As someone who has finished DS2 on SL1 you just have to get used to not rely on i-frames and instead be smart about your direction (which by the way you can't really do in DS1).

Maybe but it seems about the same for the short sword drakekeeper. Also never noticed before, but when he does his magic sword attack it can't hit you if you stand right next to him, the hitbox is in the sword and his arm is just long enough to go through you.

If there's something that DS2 does extremely well is making a pugilist build feel fucking amazing. Holy fucking shit, it feels so damn good to stunlock mooks with your meaty punches and then drop-kicking some niggas and throwing hadoukens all over the place. Man, that shit was so fucking fun. And doing that while wearing the dragon set made me feel like some sort of kamen rider fucker. Good stuff.

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forgot pic

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Ds2s art direction makes me physically ill

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Dancer is fucking cancer and her gravs arent the problem, her problem is how she'll randomly decide to extend her fucking combo, and her stupid reach, also fuck you and your retarded friends faggot

Demon's/Dark Souls are dark fantasy, Dark 2's is more high fantasy.
Dark 3 is grimdark.

Not that much, enjoyment will be less but not nearly as bad as people claim.

Its filled with a lot of shitty things, but its acceptable and still better than your average game.

I agree, not enough Berzerk references for my taste, my inner weeb was insulted by that treachery.

>No Bone Fist in 3

Fun hating motherfuckers!

I'd say it's been avatarfagging for a while now.

that vampire lion thing in the middle is cool as fuck though

>wow lion knight
>cool
You disgust me.

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it's only okay when miyazaki makes shit designs and plagiarizes berserk for them

>I've been teleported into this fuck's arms with 99 agi

99 agi and you still don't understand how the iframes work?

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Red = not in game
Green = what's the issue?
The rest aren't bad at all.

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>The first two are enemies used in the Iron Crown DLC
>Edgy skull pommels
>Landscape pieces are generally used to evoke feeling not to be 1 for 1 copied into the game
>Giants are in game but they removed the faces
>Silver armor is unused but still awful
It's obvious the directors don't have an eye for good designs

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oh and the fire hollows with over sized axes are also in the iron crown dlc

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>yet another DS2 hate thread
Was it really that bad? Like, Fallout 3 levels of bad?

PvP is much better than the backstab fishing in 1. Sure the game isn't really good looking (thanks consolefags) but if you enjoy the slow gameplay and the fun items and weapons, you'll like DS2. The DLCs are also very good.
Don't let Yea Forums memes get to you, it's not the PoS those fags are describing, even if it's far from perfect. I'd say it's more a successor of DeS than DS1 was.

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The foggy hair woman isn't in the game dude. Maybe you're referring to pic related, but he's missing a head and his shoulders spew lava which makes the enemy much more original than most others in the series as you have to pick a proper side to dodge to.
>Landscape pieces are generally used to evoke feeling not to be 1 for 1 copied into the game
So a non-complaint
>Giants are in game but they removed the faces
So? Goatse faces are hardly generic. If anything Yhorm became much more boring to me once I figured out he has a regular face.

The design didn't remind me of the enemy so I guess you're right. I still don't find the design egregious.

I don't like the reused arachno-humanoid theme, or the Balrog iron king but the rest are fine with me. The lion warriors are whatever.

Forgot the pic.

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How would you go from Drangleic to shit like Boreal Valley and Anor Londo?

no, dark souls 3 trannies just got so bored with their shit game that they have to do this for fun instead

Fuck Straid, the ungrateful fuck.

I was deeply disappointed with Dark Souls 2, it was the only one I ever bought at launch. I still enjoyed a ton but the letdown was immense. Having said that, I was hyped anticipating a sequel to my favourite game, whereas you clearly already have low expectations so it might not hit you as hard.

I'm the same even though I've posted DS2idf tier stuff ITT. The visual downgrade was especially disappointing as the torch/shield dynamic seemed really interesting. Still I think the dlc's are really good stuff hell of a lot superior than just the base game.

yeah and dark souls 3 is just the same old spindly big limbed bosses spamming horizontal slashes and blinking around