DARK SOULS™ II: Scholar of the First Sin
DARK SOULS™ II: Scholar of the First Sin screenshot 1DARK SOULS™ II: Scholar of the First Sin screenshot 2
ActionRPGSouls-likeDark FantasyDifficultThird PersonAtmospheric

2,057 playing

Peak in the last 24 hours: 2,966

Peak in the last 7 days: 3,865

DARK SOULS™ II: Scholar of the First Sin Steam store

Game description

DARK SOULS™ II: Scholar of the First Sin brings the franchise’s renowned obscurity & gripping gameplay to a new level. Join the dark journey and experience overwhelming enemy encounters, diabolical hazards, and unrelenting challenge.

Basic info

DeveloperFromSoftware, Inc.
PublisherBandai Namco Entertainment, FromSoftware, Inc.
PlatformsWindows
Steam DeckVerified
Release dateApr 1, 2015
Price

Prices by IsThereAnyDeal

Minimum specs

OSWindows 7 SP1 64bit, Windows 8.1 64bit
ProcessorAMD® A8 3870 3,6 Ghz or Intel® Core ™ i3 2100 3.1Ghz
Memory4 GB
GraphicsNVIDIA® GeForce GTX 465 / ATI Radeon TM HD 6870
Storage23 GB
steamyze

Review Analysis Score

Based on 403 reviews from the past 1 year

70.9/ 100
Bottom 30%

Steam rating: Very Positive (84%)

Metacritic: 79 /100

Review analysis summary (Reviewed Oct 21, 2026)

The most argued over entry in its trilogy, this soulslike scores 70.9 from 403 analyzed reviews, with praise and grievances close together.

👍 Strengths

92 reviews say they enjoyed it, with some arguing it gets undeserved hate and a few calling it oddly addictive once its systems click. 61 praise its world, describing a melancholic atmosphere and areas that linger, and some single out the DLC zones. 55 value its depth, from weapons and rings to power stancing, with wide build variety and steady discovery. Story & World ranks 719th of 1096, and Multiplayer ranks 411th of 642.

👎 Where it falls short

Gameplay comes up in 76% of analyzed reviews and ranks 1137th of 1396. 92 reviews call the difficulty unfair, built on attrition, imprecise hitboxes and long runbacks, though a few find the bosses easy and forgettable. 19 say it is confusing, with an unclear stat system, hidden doors and progression that is hard to follow. 16 object to the balance, describing crowds of tough enemies with hyper armor that feel unfair. Pricing & Fairness ranks 1082nd of 1399.

Representative reviews Original reviews ↗

“recommends game highly after beating it and DLCs, calls it peak” · 92 reviews
“atmosphere is amazing and the Ivory King area is exceptional” · 61 reviews
“depth of weapons, armor, rings and power stance mechanics with constant discovery” · 55 reviews

How it holds up

−50+5

Controls, difficulty, progression and depth
Mentioned in 76% of reviews · Bottom 20% of the games we've analyzed

Strategy +2.79 · Depth of builds, tactics, and meaningful choices
Positive “depth of weapons, armor, rings and power stance mechanics with constant discovery” · 55 reviews

Progression 12% · Difficulty 50% · Onboarding 19% · Freedom 15% · Controls & feel 29%

Plot, characters and the world
Mentioned in 43% of reviews · Bottom 40% of the games we've analyzed

World +2.29 · Lore, atmosphere, and how immersive the setting is
Positive “atmosphere is amazing and the Ivory King area is exceptional” · 61 reviews
Negative “schlechtester Lore der Serie mit Inkonsistenzen und fehlender Verbindung” · 5 reviews

Story 19% · Characters 8%

How much there is to do, variety and replay value
Mentioned in 35% of reviews · Bottom 50% of the games we've analyzed

Volume +3.15 · How much there is to play, including endgame, for the price
Positive “incredible amount of care, very lengthy with plenty of side content” · 18 reviews

Variety 21% · Replayability 9%

Graphics, art style, music and sound
Mentioned in 29% of reviews · Bottom 20% of the games we've analyzed

Visuals +1.50 · Graphics, art style, and animation
Positive “art design gorgeous especially with Lighting Engine” · 14 reviews
Negative “visuals are horrible and lack the scale of the first game” · 5 reviews

Audio 10%

Playing with others, the community and servers
Mentioned in 10% of reviews · Bottom 40% of the games we've analyzed

Playing together +1.35 · Fun of playing with friends, teammates, or rivals
Positive “co-op is the most fun ever experienced in any game” · 5 reviews
Negative “invasive PvP invaders are detestable” · 1 review

Community 2% · Servers & Connection 2%

Pricing, cheaters, balance and matchmaking
Mentioned in 21% of reviews · Bottom 30% of the games we've analyzed

Balance -0.51 · Whether classes, weapons, and builds are evenly matched
Negative “enemy hyper armor and artificial difficulty through mob spam unbalanced” · 16 reviews
Positive “excellent balance work, many viable builds and weapon types now have purpose” · 2 reviews

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

Bugs, performance and developer support
Mentioned in 9% of reviews · Bottom 50% of the games we've analyzed

Stability -0.16 · Crashes, freezes, save loss, and game-breaking bugs
Negative “save file lost after computer reformat due to no cloud save system” · 9 reviews

Performance 3% · Developer support 2%

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

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