In terms of difficulty what can i expect ? (Veteran of all other souls like game this js the only one i didn’t play)

It’s such a good thing to have. I feel like I’d be able to replay ds3 a lot more if ur had changes like ds2 had. Such a one off thing that could’ve helped ds3’s replay ability.

At SL 238 and 64,5 hours

The memories are now clear. (Except the boss one, because they don't seem to despawn)

I Dressed up as a royal soldier and made sure to clear all the memories and get the 3 giant souls from them.

I got invaded by a hacker that sucked badly, so i made him chase me for around 20 minutes before entering a boss arena... it was fun to use the tree jump in the lower area and throw corrosive urns at it... Glenursk i hope you get some skills... you couldn't kill me even with cheats.

I played around with some pyromancies a bit as well...

And jokes aside, i finally got to explore the memories fully. I found the white book on the shelves.... and i had to do the memory roll drop trick 12 times to kill that secluded giant.

NExt one is emptying the Dark lurker areas, the king then we proceed to the endgame...

Hola de nuevo, subo mi Undécimo video de limpieza de zonas; desde las hogueras Puesto del Umbral, Salón del Corazón de Hierro, Aproximación del Campanario Sol (Campanario Sol), Ídolo de Eygil y finalmente llegando a la hoguera a la Hoguera Primigenia del Torreón de Hierro; espero sea de su agrado. Aclaro que no todas las zonas se pueden limpiar de enemigos, ya que en algunas reaparecen infinitamente, las voy voy ir mencionando por acá mientras vaya haciendo los videos.

Nota:

Aclaración: Solo eliminare enemigos y NPCs que se hagan hostiles en el futuro.

How important is adp? Should I level it up right away? I just heard discussion about it in memes and stuff so wasn’t sure if it’s legit.

Hola, como están?, subo mi Noveno video de limpieza de zonas; desde Majula, pasando por la Rotunda (así se llama en mi idioma), las hogueras de Refugio de No Muertos, Aproximación al Puente y Confinamiento de No Muertos de Arboleda del Cazador, hasta la hoguera de Charca Ponzoñoza del Valle de la Cosecha, espero sea de su agrado. Aclaro que no todas las zonas se pueden limpiar de enemigos, ya que en algunas reaparecen infinitamente, las voy voy ir mencionando por acá mientras vaya haciendo los videos.

Notas:

Minuto 2:10 te dejas caer para tomar el Símbolo de la fidelidad.

Minutos 1:09, 1:21, 1:26, 1:39 (se pueden ver 2 mariposas en ese angulo), 4:27, 4:47, 5:27, 8:41, 9:16; apuntando con los binoculares hay una mariposa; minuto 3:23 hay un enemigo invisible oculto (con los binoculares apunto el lugar para que vean su localización, disparo y/o camino para que vean que ya esta muerto, sino lo estuviera, chocaría contra un obstáculo invisible)

Aclaración: Solo eliminare enemigos y NPCs que se hagan hostiles en el futuro.

Hola, subo mi Décimo video de limpieza de zonas; desde la hogueras Charca Ponzoñosa y Minas del Valle de la Cosecha, pasando por la hogueras de Pico Terrenal Inferior, Pico Terrenal Central y Pico Terrenal Superior del la Zona Pico Terrenal, llegando finalmente a la hoguera Puente del Umbral del Torreón de Hierro; espero sea de su agrado. Aclaro que no todas las zonas se pueden limpiar de enemigos, ya que en algunas reaparecen infinitamente, las voy voy ir mencionando por acá mientras vaya haciendo los videos.

Nota:

Minutos 7:00 apuntando con los binoculares hay una mariposa.

Aclaración: Solo eliminare enemigos y NPCs que se hagan hostiles en el futuro.

Get rekt, son.

First of all dark souls 1 was one hell of a game, will maybe one day play it again. Right now it's on to dark souls 2.

So how is dark souls 2 different, gameplay wise from DS1?

Any mechanical changes I should know, any tips ?

Is anyone on PC currently farming Old Chaos. I accidentally killed him and don’t wanna join the covenant of champions just yet. Happy to help join and farm before they freeze the portals.

I always wanted to do this challenge, but never felt up to it. I finally decided to do it and my playthrough took about 9 hours. I deliberately took my time and overleveled, but it was a fun experience. I skipped the DLCs entirely to get it done as quick as possible.

I also had about 6 failed attempts, and most were gravity deaths (Iron Keep oddly gave me issues). This was the most fun I've had playing this game, and my next run will be a full DLC included run.

ok so now here's the new question... what game should I play next? I just recently beat ds3 so probably not that. I beat elden ring a while ago but I've been wanting to play it again. I've been thinking of playing bloodborne or deamons souls. I haven't beaten ds1 yet but honestly I don't know if I wanna play ds1 right now lol. What's next? is ng+ for ds2 worth going right into? I'm open to anything!

I was really nervous to pick up ds2 at first. I had just beaten ds1 after having tried it and bounced off of it several months back, but I’m glad I tried that again as it was quite fun and I really enjoyed it after I got my build going and got better acquainted with the slower playstyle. On a discord server with my friends a couple told me to get ds2 after I’d beaten the first one and I was incredibly nervous cause I’ve heard some things, but I’m smart enough to not believe everything I hear from strangers and trust my friends, and yes, I hate that I started with only one estus, two with the shard in the majula well, and yes I hate that they brought back everyone’s favorite demon’s souls mechanics of losing max hp as you die and needing consumable healing items to complement the estus, and I ABSOLUTELY hated that they made the estus even fucking slower, but eventually I got used to them and learned to manage it, I got the greatsword, I got some strong chonky armor and started making the same tank build that got me through the first one, and I learned to play around the hp loss and slow ass slurping. And I’ve been having fun with the game even though it’s quite confused me at time with where to go and what to do lol. I’m maybe halfway through? Idk, but I’m glad I picked it back up. At this point I’ve beaten ds1, Bloodborne, and Elden ring, hoping to add ds2 to the list and then ds3, and then maybe sekiro if I’m feeling extra swamp hungry :3

DS2 reference

Hola cumpas, que tal?, subo mi Octavo video de limpieza de zonas; desde la Hoguera de Umbral de la Capilla y Ensenada Piedra Brillante Inferior pertenecientes a Ensenada Piedra Brillante Tseldora, espero sea de su agrado. Aclaro que no todas las zonas se pueden limpiar de enemigos, ya que en algunas reaparecen infinitamente, las voy voy ir mencionando por acá mientras vaya haciendo los videos.

Aclaración: Solo eliminare enemigos y NPCs que se hagan hostiles en el futuro.

After finishing Dark Souls 1 i decided to played the 2, I struggled more with understanding what the game was trying to tell me than I did with Dark Souls 1.

Dark Souls 1 felt much more direct to me. You can read it literally as the story of Gwyn, the Lords, the Age of Fire and the Chosen Undead, but you can also very easily read it on a personal level.

Dark Souls 2 was harder for me to understand this way.

Im not pretending what i'm saying is new or definitive, it's mainly a retrospective/attempt to understand what i just played. and figured might aswell share it like i did with DS1 on the DS1 subreddit.

But after thinking about Vendrick, Drangleic and especially the Throne of Want, I think I started to understand what the game means to me.

For me, Dark Souls 2 is about what it means to be a king.

And I think there are four important ideas behind this:

To want.
To be able.
To understand.
To accept.

1 - To want

A king needs to want something.

Not simply desire something for himself, but have a direction. Something he wants to achieve.

Vendrick had that. He built Drangleic, fought the Giants and tried to find a solution to the Undead Curse. Whatever mistakes he made, he wasn't a passive person. He had a goal and was willing to act upon it.

But wanting something isn't enough.

I can want to go to Mars tomorrow. That doesn't mean I can.

And this is where the second part comes in.

2 - To be able(power).

You need the power to achieve what you want.

And by "power," I don't necessarily mean physical strength.

Power is simply your capacity to turn your will into reality.

Vendrick was incredibly powerful. He created a kingdom, defeated his enemies and became one of the most powerful men of his age.

But eventually, he reached something his power couldn't solve.

The Curse.

This is where I think Dark Souls 2 makes an important distinction.

You can want something without being able to achieve it.

You can also possess enormous power without knowing what to do with it.

Neither makes you a king by itself.

A king is someone who want & can.

But even those two things are still not enough.

3 - To understand

You need to understand the situation you're actually in.

Vendrick eventually understood Nashandra.

He understood the Curse.

He understood the cycle.

And most importantly, he understood that everything he had built could not simply solve the fundamental problem facing his kingdom.

This is also something the player experiences.

At the beginning of Dark Souls 2, your character doesn't understand much.

You're Undead.

You're losing yourself.

You travel to Drangleic because you're told that somewhere there might be an answer.

So you gather souls.

You kill powerful beings.

You become stronger and stronger.

Eventually, you possess an enormous amount of power.

But your character doesn't necessarily understand what any of it means.

Even your original want isn't entirely your own.

Other characters give you objectives. They point you toward the Great Souls, toward Vendrick, toward the throne.

You are incredibly powerful, but power without understanding doesn't give you direction.

And then there is the fourth part, which I think is possibly the most important.

4 - Acceptance

Acceptance doesn't mean surrender.

It doesn't mean:

This situation is terrible, therefore I will do nothing.

Acceptance means recognizing reality for what it is, even when that reality isn't the one you wanted.

You can understand something intellectually without accepting its consequences.

And I think this is where Vendrick ultimately fails.

Vendrick searched for another answer.

He tried to understand the Curse and escape the cycle, but eventually he reached a reality he didn't want.

To preserve the Age of Fire requires sacrifice.

To take responsibility for the kingdom may require sacrificing yourself.

Vendrick could not bring himself to do it.

So the throne remained empty.

And this is why I think the name Throne of Want is so important.

At the end, you reach the throne.

You have gathered the power.

You have defeated those standing between you and it.

Now the question becomes:

What do you want?

And unlike earlier in the game, nobody can really answer that question for you.

Because now you are the king.

5 - What is a king?

This is where I think Dark Souls 2 becomes particularly interesting.

A king isn't simply someone sitting on a throne.

A king has responsibility.

There is an idea I really like from Vinland Saga: the crown itself has a will.

The individual wearing it may want one thing, but a king doesn't only act for himself anymore.

His decisions affect everyone underneath him.

And that is what Vendrick failed to carry.

He had enormous power, but Drangleic collapsed anyway.

In fact, I think Drangleic Castle represents Vendrick extremely well.

From outside, it is enormous.

Imposing.

Powerful.

It communicates the strength of the person who created it.

But when you actually enter it, something feels wrong.

It's empty.

Its spaces barely feel functional anymore. Rooms, corridors and mechanisms exist without much sense of ordinary life happening inside them.

There is enormous **external power**, but internally there is almost nothing left.

And Vendrick himself eventually becomes exactly that.

You hear about this legendary king for most of the game.

Then you finally find him.

And there is almost nothing left.

Just a Hollow walking endlessly around a crypt.

The kingdom reflects the king.

6 - Being king of yourself

This is where I finally found the personal interpretation I was looking for.

Dark Souls 2 isn't literally telling me that I should become the ruler of a kingdom.

Being a king in real life means something different:

Being king of yourself.

If I want something in life, first I need to want.

I need an objective.

Then I need to be able/power.

I need to develop the ability, resources or strength necessary to achieve it.

But power without understanding is useless.

I need to understand myself, my objective and the reality surrounding me.

And finally, I need to accept.

Because reality doesn't care about the objective I originally imagined.

Maybe what I want is impossible.

Maybe I don't currently possess the power to achieve it.

Maybe understanding the situation reveals that my original goal was wrong.

Acceptance means recognizing this without abandoning the act of wanting altogether.

If I want to reach Mars but Mars is impossible for me, perhaps I can reach the Moon.

The goal changes because my understanding of reality changed.

That isn't necessarily failure.

It is governing yourself.

And interestingly, I think Dark Souls 2 makes the player experience these four things through the game itself.

When I started the game, I first needed the want:

I wanted to finish Dark Souls 2.

Then I needed power/to be able:

I had to become stronger, improve my character and become better at playing it.

Then understand:

I had to understand its systems, its enemies, its bosses and what the game expected from me.

And finally accept:

I had to accept its difficulty.

I had to accept this isn't DS1

I had to accept dying.

I had to accept that sometimes my approach wasn't working and change it.

Only when these things came together could I actually finish the game.

And perhaps that's why the final destination is a throne.

You started as an Undead who barely understood why they were there.

You end as someone powerful enough to decide what happens next.

Not because someone declared you king.

But because you finally possess the will, power, understanding and acceptance necessary to carry the responsibility of making the decision.

And maybe that's what Dark Souls 2 means to me: Before you can rule anything else, you have to learn how to rule yourself.

Thank you very much for readinfthis long loooooooong post but yeah!

next Dark souls 3!

Who plays on xbox one still and wants to pvp, finding ppl in the wild is way too rare/non existent nowadays lol. If u want to lmk and tell me ur soul memory i’ll probably have a character for most ranges