DARK SOULS™ II ▶ Trailer
DARK SOULS™ II screenshot 1DARK SOULS™ II screenshot 2
ActionRPGSouls-likeDifficultDark FantasyAction RPGAdventure

86 playing

Peak in the last 24 hours: 220

Peak in the last 7 days: 237

DARK SOULS™ II Steam store

Game description

Developed by FROM SOFTWARE, DARK SOULS™ II is the highly anticipated sequel to the gruelling 2011 breakout hit Dark Souls. The unique old-school action RPG experience captivated imaginations of gamers worldwide with incredible challenge and intense emotional reward.

Basic info

DeveloperFromSoftware, Inc.
PublisherBANDAI NAMCO Entertainment, FromSoftware, Inc.
PlatformsWindows
Steam DeckVerified
Release dateApr 25, 2014
Price

Minimum specs

OSWindows Vista SP2, Windows 7 SP1, Windows 8
ProcessorAMD® Phenom II™ X2 555 3.2Ghz or Intel® Pentium Core ™ 2 Duo E8500 3.17Ghz
Memory2 GB
GraphicsNVIDIA® GeForce® 9600GT, ATI Radeon™ HD 5870
Storage12 GB
steamyze

Review Analysis Score

Based on 411 reviews from the past 1 year

72.3/ 100
Bottom 30%

Steam rating: Very Positive (88%)

Metacritic: 91 /100

Review analysis summary (Reviewed Oct 22, 2026)

Reviews split on this souls sequel, which scores 72.3 and draws praise for its builds alongside complaints about cheap fights.

👍 Strengths

146 reviews enjoy it, and some call it a good first souls experience. 46 praise the world, from a beautiful and peaceful hub to dark, harsh areas full of lore. 23 value the build depth, with wide weapon and item choices, dual wielding and diverse playstyles. Story & World ranks 738th of 1096, and Content Volume ranks 708th of 1351.

👎 Where it falls short

Gameplay appears in 69% of analyzed reviews and ranks 1106th of 1396. 89 reviews call the difficulty cheap, pointing to poor enemy placement, unfair spikes and some disappointing bosses. 50 describe an awkward combat feel, including odd hit detection, a stat that governs dodging and clunky default keybinds. 19 find the bosses repetitive, with recycled encounters and areas that feel like filler. Visuals & Sound ranks 1052nd of 1249, and Pricing & Fairness ranks 1009th of 1399.

Representative reviews Original reviews ↗

“fun playing this game, good for first souls experience” · 146 reviews
“Majula hub area beautiful and immersive” · 46 reviews
“had fun playing with friends learning together” · 10 reviews

How it holds up

−50+5

Controls, difficulty, progression and depth
Mentioned in 69% of reviews · Bottom 30% of the games we've analyzed

Controls & feel -2.15 · Responsiveness, precision, and how the menus handle
Negative “two-handed sword feels awkward and makes playthrough difficult” · 50 reviews
Positive “best Souls in terms of mechanics and gameplay feel” · 8 reviews

Progression 9% · Difficulty 48% · Onboarding 12% · Freedom 9% · Strategy 17%

Plot, characters and the world
Mentioned in 29% of reviews · Bottom 40% of the games we've analyzed

World +2.34 · Lore, atmosphere, and how immersive the setting is
Positive “Majula hub area beautiful and immersive” · 46 reviews
Negative “Tanumura's spell collection area, Amana temple, Iron Citadel, and enemy design are terrible” · 5 reviews

Story 11% · Characters 5%

How much there is to do, variety and replay value
Mentioned in 30% of reviews · Bottom 50% of the games we've analyzed

Volume +2.64 · How much there is to play, including endgame, for the price
Positive “many more bosses and overall gameplay content than other entries” · 7 reviews
Negative “fewer enemies and NG+ content in Xbox 360 version, no multiplayer” · 4 reviews

Variety 20% · Replayability 5%

Graphics, art style, music and sound
Mentioned in 18% of reviews · Bottom 20% of the games we've analyzed

Audio +2.89 · Music, sound effects, and voice acting
Positive “gives 2 points for soundtracks” · 4 reviews

Visuals 16%

Playing with others, the community and servers

Not enough data — only 8% of reviews mention this.

Playing together +1.19 · Fun of playing with friends, teammates, or rivals

Community 2% · Servers & Connection 1%

Pricing, cheaters, balance and matchmaking
Mentioned in 17% of reviews · Bottom 30% of the games we've analyzed

Balance -0.39 · Whether classes, weapons, and builds are evenly matched
Negative “Royal Rat Authority boss is bad” · 19 reviews
Positive “original version has better enemy placement without artificial difficulty” · 4 reviews

Anti-cheat 0% · Pricing 2% · Matchmaking 0%

Bugs, performance and developer support
Mentioned in 11% of reviews · Bottom 50% of the games we've analyzed

Stability -0.12 · Crashes, freezes, save loss, and game-breaking bugs
Negative “save files corrupting, achievements not appearing” · 8 reviews

Performance 4% · Developer support 2%

Grey means too few reviews mention it to trust. — means almost no reviews mention it.

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