I love the irony of something called "The Pursuer" having an extremely short aggro distance before it gives up and leaves.

in defense of the lock-system it works flawlessly for enemies, they never miss.

The enemy AI is broken because all enemies have special scripts made to ambush you. If you come at them in any other way other than what the developers intended they break. This becomes extremely obvious if you're farming Twinkling Titanite in Shrine of Amana starting from Rhoy's Resting Place. The Archdrake Mages will not notice you until you're right behind them, but if you're running from the other direction (as you would, in your first go through) they'll aggro at you from a kilometer away.

In fairness to DS2 (not that this remotely helps it’s case as a whole), at 1:06:45 , the reason for a lack of backstabs is because Jester Thomas’ set prevents you from getting critical attacks from behind. Not that the average player would know, given the set is sold by Magerold in Iron Keep and most people hardly talk to the guy if ever, from what I’ve heard. ..That said, every other clip there was a hilarious showcase of this game’s horrifically inadequate backstab system. Bonus: at 37:00, the hollows attacking the tree isn’t a bug or pathing issue, rather, that’s a tree that was formerly a giant, which those hollow soldiers fought. DS2’s best attempt at environmental storytelling I suppose. Though the prioritization of attacking the tree over the player is a.. different matter. Other than these two minor oversights the video is an excellent critique, and puts into words many of my own scattered thoughts-and issues, regarding this game. I know I’m ages late to the party on this video, but I’m glad to have seen this series.

I am pretty sure there is a lore reason they attack the trees. No, seriously. The trees are Giant Trees, and the soldiers fought the Giants, so maybe the Hollowing has made them think the Trees are actual Giants.

I'll never forget the first time I died in this game. The first ladder in Things Betwixt. I found out that pressing B dismounts ladders now, rather than sliding down them in DS1. Fell what looked like 10 feet. Died.

Am I to believe you ONLY spent 3 months on this masterpiece of a series? Incredible.

I also hate how ds2 and even 1 sometimes used the "Y axis turned" enemies. So basically if you try to circle an enemy to find an opening, most of the time they'll have some sort of side/back attack to cover their flanks. That's perfectly fine. But in Dark Souls 2, there are many cases that the enemy just rotates in one place to face you constantly without any animations and hits you with its forward-facing attacks. The salamander pit section is a prime example of this. Instead of actually giving animations to the enemies to be able to hit you from the side, they just rotate along you to face you constantly. Feels extremely cheap.

dark souls 2s movement system is the dark souls of movement systems

“Is that a cat?” *Bird noises* “Oh no, it’s a person”

If this video has taught me anything, it is that Dark Souls 2 is an amazingly entertaining game when you make fun of all its problems.

"The hitboxes not matching up with the character models is actually a genius decision by the developers - keeping the player constantly on their toes and wondering what will happen next! I like it a lot! I think more games should do it!" - HBomberGuy

The hitbox designer was rubbing his palms together like an evil troll when he made them.

I'm late as hell but in the backstab section 1:06:54 You can't backstab Jester Thomas because the Jester's Robe Top stops backstabs

Made it to the "hitbox" section, watching at around 25:00, and all this is doing is making me really, REALLY appreciate Bloodborne, Dark Souls III, Sekiro, and Elden Ring. They clearly improved is all I'm saying.

That 8 directional movement is something I noticed immediately, it feels like something a mad employee would tweak in after they got pissed off. It drove me so crazy I couldn't even play the game after a few hours.

A full play-through of DS2 including the DLCs feels like an Odyssey

One of the Dark Souls 2 devs really got destroyed by Marth in Melee and said “The world will know my suffering”

I still like to re-watch these. Mauler, you are a criminally underrated UKpostsr.

Regarding the failed backstab attempts against Jester Thomas, the bonus effect of the Jester's top is actually backstab nullification.

I started playing ds2 the other day for the first time and laughed out loud when a knight killed me and then pulled a full 360° degree turn to throw himself off the nearest cliff

"In Defense of Dark Souls 2" MauLer: Well yes, but actually no.

I am so glad I watched this entire series, and that this did not disappear under the rug the way you thought it would. You make exceptional content and I look forward to watching the rest of your videos.

Something that sticks out to me as DS2 being my favorite Souls game is that it was easier to play with a group of friends. My circle of friends played through this entire game together, area to area and through all of the DLC's and I think thats why I love it the most. We were all scattered about the world during that time because of the military and it was nice to experience the game together.

I think power stance was one of DS2s strongest points. I really miss that.

1 hour, 46 minutes, and no ads. He did that shit for us.

After finishing Dark Souls and watching this again, I appreciate Souls 1 even more now in spite of enemy attacks tracking with player movement.

Watched all of this for the seventh time as a New Year present to myself. Good shit.

Defence of Dark Souls 2: 00:00 Introduction: 05:55 Movement: 07:44 - Snap-point turning: 07:47 - Ladder blockage event: 11:09 - Fall damage: 12:42 Adaptability: 13:52 - Lack of clarity: 15:13 - Detriment to RPG choice-making: 16:48 Hitboxes: 19:00 - Player hitboxes: 20:50 - Enemy hitboxes: 22:04 - Explosive barrel example: 24:00 - Sir Alonne's grab: 24:31 - Hitbox examples: 25:34 - DS1+3 comparisons: 29:44 | AI: 30:30 - Aggro ranges/obstruction: 31:58 - Pathfinding: 34:14 - AI suicide: 40:02 - Assorted bugs: 42:31 Boss healing: 47:28 Levelling: 49:35 - Over-levelling: 49:43 - Weapon levelling: 51:28 Human effigies: 54:22 Repair system: 56:23 Focus system: 57:52 - Target prioritisation: 58:28 - Weapon misdirection/inconsistency: 01:01:42 Backstabs: 01:05:35 - Backstab failures: 01:05:56 - Backstab inconsistencies: 01:08:34 - Lack of clarity: 01:11:39 | Miscellaneous design failures: 01:12:25 - Fragrant branches of Yore: 01:12:29 - Headshot staggering: 01:13:25 - Graphical criticism/vagueness: 01:14:13 - Model animations: 01:15:08 - Miscellaneous modelling: 01:16:15 Audio: 01:18:11 - Item pick-up audio cuts: 01:18:55 - Boss music: 01:19:45 - Audio inconsistencies: 01:20:37 Minor nitpicks: 01:21:57 - Disconnection message: 01:22:03 - Unskippable credits: 01:22:36 - The "B-Team": 01:23:32 | Overview: 01:25:17 - Combat: 01:26:12 - Exploration: 01:27:16 - Resource management: 01:28:21 - RPG Elements: 01:28:47 - System subversion/redundancy: 01:29:22 - Aspects kept/dropped in DS3 from DS1/2: 01:31:03 Conclusion: 01:33:10 - Comment from Harris: 01:35:39 - Video quality upkeep: 01:36:43 - Closing: 01:37:47 - Final thanks: 01:40:15 Extra clips: 01:42:12

I think my favorite part of this video is that in the 5 minutes when he's praising dark souls 2, a ds3 song is playing in the background

I just watched this man destroy one of my most favorite games ever, and every point he made I agree with :'(

Its been years since ive played DS2, one of the things i loved about this game more then the other 2 games was the way they handled dual wielding. Having a power stance system that let's you dual wield any weapon was very fun and i enjoyed it a lot

I actually enjoyed DS2 a lot despite some of these issues. I will say, though, for anyone getting frustrated with the Jester, it is impossible to backstab him and if you get his armor set, it keeps you from getting backstabbed

Whoa, what the hell, I had no idea that ADP affected the speed that you used estus That would explain why my depraived tank character with only 6 ADP (Yes, I'm serious about that ADP, never leveled it) consumes estus slower than a god damn snail trying to move a mile.

This was my first Dark Souls game, and I loved every rage filled second of it.

The editing of this piece is great, but the script? Impeccable. Every sentence has a great rhythymn to it, and the complaints are presented very coherently. Great job!

Really bothers me that the Hollows went from dried up, skin-and-bones husks to fleshy--even buff at times--with green skin and open sores.

I finally understand what's weird about the movement in DS2. Thank you for that.

Ds2 was my first ds game and I legitimately didn't know that back stabbing was a mechanic till i played the other games and went back and tried in ds2. When I played ds2 in 2017 or so I thought it was a much older game. I genuinely thought it came out in like 2007 bc of how janky it felt. Can't explain my suprise when I found out how new it was. With it being my first game I think it set a weird precedent for the other games. They felt.... weird. I just assumed the other games were meant to feel the same. Not in a sense of mechanics or broken ai, but in a way that they didn't make me as angry. Ds2 often felt like it was intentionally trying to piss me off rather than try and teach me a mechanic or a way to approach a situation and I think this goes back to the 'tough but fair' sentiment from early in the video. And I honestly think it made me enjoy the other games more. So at least one good thing came of it. I know this is an old video so if you're reading this, hello and thanks for reading. I should really be asleep lol

A fantastic conclusion to an awesome series. Really well done!

45:30 to be fair, that zombie is meant to just run around the woods

36:46 The Soldier runs to attack the Giant Tree because it thinks it is a giant, right? Because of the war between them and Vendrick.

I just started DS2. The enemies are crazy, you hit them 3 times with a broadsword and 1 microsecond later they immeadiatly attack. My best advice for anyone else new. Get a bow and a lot of arrows. Much easier to slowly progress after sniping them, or else you will get these headshots mentioned in the video.

53:55 idk why but this also makes me laugh so much "SOMETIMES deflects spells"

1:35:35 'this will probably be my most contentious series ever' Oh LongMan, how times have changed.

_MauLer:_ *masterfully and exhaustively expounds upon this game's innumerable flaws* _Me:_ *"Time to reinstall!"*

I really enjoy the story for DS2, its an interesting spin on retelling the original. Vendrick realized the cycle he was stuck in and made his best effort to escape it, unable to cure hollowing but found a way for our character to nullify it, and thus exist outside of the cycle. Would have been cool for Dark Souls 3 to have an npc like that, thats existed outside of time with all the knowledge they've garnered

Man makes video called, “In Defense of Dark Souls 2”, proceeds to utterly shit on the game for almost two hours. Am I missing something?

I can’t defend any of these points, they are all absolutely truth. There’s nothing to defend, these are facts - Yet, I still enjoy the game. Is it too hard to acknowledge something’s faults, yet still enjoy it? Nice video!

Your voice reminds me of a less approving Vaati

Wow I tried avoiding this vid but I found your star war vids and liked them but I never knew you made this, “where did that lead you, back to me”

If i'm remembering correctly, i looked into the issue with the hitboxes when the game was still in it's prime. The community came up with 2 possible answers: either the collisions are proximity based (they're close enough so a hit is registered), or the scripting decided whether the hit landed at the very beginning of most animations. The most notorious example is the mimic grab.

That was a plot twist at the beginning. I love this game though, but it DEFINITELY has its flaws

The point with ADP is especially frustrating since I played DS2 directly after DS1 and in DS1 everybody told me not to put points in resistance as it's some kind of joke from the developers so I thought "Oh it will be the same with ADP I guess" and then I wondered the whole game why enemy swings always hit me even when I thought I rolled away early enough.

I love DS2. I just love DS1, DS3, and Bloodborne more. From Software needs to bring back Bonfire Ascetics.

"I interpret the ending of the Clown as the end of its beginning. No one cares or understands. The Clown is now happy and the pain, and finds it interesting." "I explain the end of the Clown for the end of its beginning from scratch. No one cares or understands. I am happy about the pain now, and I find it interesting." -Flute Musician

The AI pathfinding problems are more to do with nodes. The reason the square in Shulva is inaccessible to the enemies is because at some point that square can become a pit for an elevator. Instead of putting nodes over the gap when it's closed and removing them when it's open, they didn't put nodes at all, out of convenience of development I guess, which means enemies literally can not walk onto there. A lack of nodes basically explains most examples of "bad AI" like the gargoyle not jumping- it doesn't jump because there are not any nodes for it to jump to. The connections between nodes is also hilariously bad in this game. More than once have I seen a group of enemies take the same zigzag path through an empty room- they all followed nodes laid out in an inexplicably bizarre fashion.

“In defense of Dark Souls 2” *spends the next hour and a half shitting all over the game*

I love DS2, but this video is technically correct and I respect the fact that these are all very real problems pointed out here, and how the game could have been so much better. It was hard to correctly define these problems originally on release, so its nice to have them fully explained and fleshed out. I hope a full overhaul mod is available someday that fixes all this in one so we can experience its true potential.

A new fan here and this is the first Dark Souls game I play and finished. I sighed of relief when I find out the hitboxes, AI, and Health Reduction mechanic are actually real downsides and are not actually the main reasons of why the game is challenging. I thought DS2:SOTFS is already a masterclass in giving the whole Dark Souls experience. After learning some objective flaws and also having experienced it myself, I'm kinda hyped for other installments in the series that will deliver what this game didn't.

27:34 "What is he doing?" "He's beginning to believe."

"The point of it is to provide a genuine defense of Dark Souls 2... without focusing on any negatives." Proceeds to completely bury the game and piss on the grave.

“Your feelings aren’t relevant” dude you just got a new sub 😂I loved that

There are a few minor points of contention that don't diminish the overall points, but do render certain examples used inappropriate. The first is the FoFG mobs attacking trees. The trees are the giants they fought long ago, and their attacking them is completely intentional. Next, that hollow in Huntsman's Copse is meant to run from you and never attack. In the backstab section, Jester Thomas is wearing the Jester armor set, which prevents backstabs. As I said, this is pretty hyper specific context and doesn't affect the overall messages of the sections.

could you imagine in blighttown im dark souls 1, the poison dart spitters managed to hit you through the walls because the walls werent considered as a mesh?

"I'm not directing that at anyone in particular, but I'm sure you understand *Harris.* " I love being British and having access to that level of sudden and unexpected vitriol.

"Comments are subjective." -Bilbo Baggins

the most funny thing is. you cant even defend it by saying "DUDE ITS OLD GAME GET OVER IT", when dark souls 1 exist before it. LMFAO

Am I the only one annoyed by how long some animations are? Like opening a chest and going through fog in ds1 were so much faster...

That whole part about you attacking in the wrong direction instead of where you're locked on to is unbelievably prominent in the Aava & Lud & Zallen fights for some reason.

Among the greatest videos I've ever seen. Exemplary argumentation and a clear example that sophistry will always lose when held up to scrutiny. Ironically your video makes me want to replay ds2, because I love the fact that it sucks

You should do more game reviews like this. This video is one of my favorites.

How much of the ai walking to their deaths do you think might be caused by them being tied to the same 8-directional movement that you have, while lacking player sensibilities?

Man, I can't help but laugh every time I hear that fart sound effect when a Dragonrider falls off a ledge. Thanks for this series, it's been a fantastic ride. Looking forward to watching the rest of your current stuff as well as your future work. Good shit.

What a master peice of analysis. Ive been a fan for years, elden ring made me curious to finally watch this thing. Thnx bruh

Thank you for making not only this video, but this whole series. It’s appreciated. I went from only hearing about ‘how bad DS2’ was, to playing it, disliking it, appreciating it, to loving it (all for a whole myriad of reasons). I started playing video games at 39, and started with DS3, then DS1, before playing DS2, so I know I’m out of the ‘norm’ with my introduction to these games, but whilst still able to recognize the massive flaws throughout, I find DS2 engaging, immersive, and maybe the one I replay the most. I found this video after Harris’s video and Matt’s, and (as you like to say in this video… alot…), embarrassingly agreed with most of Harris’s point BEFORE I watched this. Some I still agree with, honestly, but I must say, you are far and away more correct in your assessment (also, I’ve definitely come to realize he’s a smug prick who’s flat-out wrong most of the time). I DO wish you’d have gotten more into the co-op issues with DS2. I was not around playing when DS1 was released, so I’ve really only had the password option in my Souls games, but gods, Soul Memory is just a TERRIBLE mechanic. I’ve put thousands of hours into the Soulsborne series, have platinumed them all now, so when I play now, it’s almost always a co-op affair. My friends, whether Souls vets or ones I’M now just getting into the series, are immediately put-off in our play by SM, and for players like me it’s just become… almost a chore to have to take it into account if we want to play through again. I’d just have liked a little more time spent objectively evaluating that as a mechanic, but I guess that’s primarily down to Harris himself (at least in the first 8 parts) not getting into it. Finally-and I realize this might be smug or harsh, or petty… or all three…)-that one guy you keep showing with the blue box around him… I wish you’d have pick another person as the subject of some of your examples. His appearance throughout nearly made me stop watching multiple times, because he comes across as… just not a good player who constantly complains when he doesn’t succeed, and blames the mechanics you’ve (rightly, objectively) discussed the issues with, and instead of learning how to take advantage of the system (with all its flaws), simply continues to play haphazardly and poorly, almost seeming to be willfully ignoring them (hitboxes, Iframes, ambushes/mobs/‘spambushes’/movement, lock on, etc) for some reason. You say he’s a ‘veteran player,’ I believe, and he absolutely boasts about all the DS1/3 he’s played, so I was confused by his very poor performance in the examples you’ve chosen to give, and his constant, inevitable blaming of the game and it’s mechanics for his failures… over and over and over, where as your other subjects expressed their dislike/issues in stride with the game and all it’s ‘jank.’ It was just… yeah. Otherwise, again, very good series which, ironically, perhaps, has given me a new perspective on DS2 and it’s many MANY flaws, but not decreased my enjoyment of it. Cheers, and thank you.

Your video is amazing and clever, BUT FOR THE LOVE OF GOD YOU SHOWED ME THE MOVEMENT PROBLEM AND NOW I HAVE TO THINK ABOUT IT EVERY TIME I PLAY xD

I often feel like I am in a wierd fever dream any time I play this game. There is something about the controls never being fast enough and the constant illogical things happening that is very nightmarish. The flotiness of combat makes this even worse, because you can't feel the impact.

57:25 Welp, happy to report that Elden Ring finally fucking abandoned weapon/armor durability. (Technically Sekiro did it first, but Sekiro is so widely different from the other games that it can’t really count.)

Currently playing through DS2 in preparation for elden ring. This video is amazing, especially when you watch happy souls right after.

1:12:10 I was muttering: " don't bother, those guys are immune to backsta..." WTF they can be backstabed! LOL!!!

I love DS2 with all my heart, but i agree with Mooler on almost every point he makes. Great work as always, thanks for the years of entertainment!

Now, lets say, hypothetically, that somebody once told me that the world would proceed to roll me, and made the claim that I was not, the smartest tool in the shed. Which would lead us to look at the facts and see that she was looking kind of dumb, due to the fact that she had placed her finger and her thumb, in the shape of the letter L, located on her forehead. This would mean that the years would start coming, and logically wont stop coming, that I was, hypothetically, fed to the rules, which would proceed with me hitting the ground running. Which didn’t make sense, to live for fun, in a way that your brain gets smart, yet your head gets dumb, seeing as there’s so much to do, and so much to see, so now I must pose the question, what is wrong with taking the backseat? This is due to the fact that you’ll never know if you don’t go, nor you will shine if you don’t glow. For you see, you are, at this moment, an All-Star, so get your game on, and proceed to go play, indeed, you’re an All-Star, get the show on, which would entitled you to get paid. That would mean that all that glitters, is indeed gold, and that only shooting stars, can participate in the process of breaking the mold.

I made it to the end. Amazing series. I can appreciate how in depth you went. I know I'm late to the party guys, but I have one question. Has Harris ever replied to these, and if so where can I find his response?

This was the first Souls game I played. I platinumed the shit out of it.

Can’t wait for hbomber’s 10 part rebuttal series “In Defense of Dark Souls 2: A measured Response” ...wait

Best part of DS2 is that it is often sold for cheap, allowing new players to get a "rough" taste for what the series has to offer and want mooore

Anybody else want to see more of the dude who was laughing at the Hollows running to and attacking the giant-tree? Seems like he'd be a lot of fun to watch.

Late to the party on finding this video, but as a professional AI programmer for video games this video makes me cry inside because I understand why a lot of the AI bugs are happening, especially the pathing the ones. Assuming they used nav mesh, which is commonly used for pathing, the "square of torture" happens because they painted that area as somewhere the ai can't go. The ai perceive that square as a hole, there is nothing there they can walk on to them. They did that because at some point the square will open. However you can turn the pianter on and off so that way the ai will walk over it when it is closed and not mistakingly fall into to it when it is open.

Good job getting through the video, have a Titanite Slab.

I feel as though some of the lock on inconsistensies where you may miss, specifically with greatswords is because of a default setting called lock on free aim in which you are able to free aim your weapon which can come in handy at times but is ultimately something veterans may find more use with especially in PVP where being able to aim may get you the hit rather than miss it. This is mostly useless of course against big, non agile enemies like bosses.

Nothing better illustrates the hitboxes than otz's ds2 all bosses no hit journey

Dark souls has to be one of the only series that has such a vast amount of videos that are over an hour long

I can’t believe I didn’t recognize the whole snap points thing when playing. I knew the movement felt clunky and off. It just seems so dumb to have included this

DS2 apologists: *gets pile drived in the face with hot coals and then stun locked into the ground until dead "I mean in my subjective opinion i think its fine"

Dude... much respect for your investigative work!

The dark souls 3 hit boxes looked soo dope

There's enough text in this comment section to put together a novel.

"And there but you know nevermind" had me dying

I love the tone shift in the video from the introduction to your actual opinions. It caught me off guard and it felt like I stumbled into a secret, haha