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DARK SOULS™ II: Scholar of the First Sin
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.
What players say
Steam review score and the most-helpful voices, which may include critical ones. Data as of 2026-05-20.
What reviewers agree on
45 of the 104 reviews raise this.
“An eternally divisive entry in the franchise, Dark Souls 2 is a very cool soulslike, one of the most intriguing in the trilogy. I always liked it and came back to it from time to time. Recently, modders community…”
“My Dark Souls II: Scholar of the First Sin Review. SCORE SUMMARY: • Story: 9/10 • Gameplay: 6.5/10 • Atmosphere: 10/10 • Soundtrack: 9/10 OVERALL SCORE: 9/10 DETAILED COMMENTS: • Story While the first game focuses on…”
“Underwhelming, but not worth skipping as I was led to believe for many years. There are a lot of quirks with this game that can be cool. powerstancing, ADP (not cool), NG+ encounters, bonfire ascetics, torches, spices,…”
15 of the 104 reviews raise this.
“My Dark Souls II: Scholar of the First Sin Review. SCORE SUMMARY: • Story: 9/10 • Gameplay: 6.5/10 • Atmosphere: 10/10 • Soundtrack: 9/10 OVERALL SCORE: 9/10 DETAILED COMMENTS: • Story While the first game focuses on…”
“My favourite souls game. I love it for the atmosphere and the variety (of possible builds, enemies, environments). Level design is top-notch, there are so many secrets to discover. The combat is slow and strategic. Even…”
“Having played all three of the Dark Souls games and even a little bit of Elden Ring, and now replaying them all again, I can confidently say I like this one the most out of the Dark Souls trilogy, by far. I love the…”
8 of the 104 reviews raise this.
“Have played a million of times but bought to play again but now with Path Tracing, thanks DSII community for not letting this game die.”
“An eternally divisive entry in the franchise, Dark Souls 2 is a very cool soulslike, one of the most intriguing in the trilogy. I always liked it and came back to it from time to time. Recently, modders community…”
“My favourite souls game. I love it for the atmosphere and the variety (of possible builds, enemies, environments). Level design is top-notch, there are so many secrets to discover. The combat is slow and strategic. Even…”
7 of the 104 reviews raise this.
“I like this game. Though, after playing for over 160 hours and getting all the achievements, that should be obvious. Dark Souls II is a good game. The atmosphere is enticing, the story is intriguing, the themes are…”
“Very easy and beginner friendly, Recommended for new souls players”
“>intellectually challenged youtube reviewer misses and ignores every cue, tip and sign the game is giving him >enables hard mode despite being warned by the game 3 times >complains about the easiest tutorial boss in the…”
5 of the 104 reviews raise this.
“My Dark Souls II: Scholar of the First Sin Review. SCORE SUMMARY: • Story: 9/10 • Gameplay: 6.5/10 • Atmosphere: 10/10 • Soundtrack: 9/10 OVERALL SCORE: 9/10 DETAILED COMMENTS: • Story While the first game focuses on…”
“I like this game. Though, after playing for over 160 hours and getting all the achievements, that should be obvious. Dark Souls II is a good game. The atmosphere is enticing, the story is intriguing, the themes are…”
“There are a few narrative, and even fewer gameplay, moments that shine through in this game that make it pretty impactful. I am happy to have played it, but I don't think I could confidently recommend it to someone…”
27 of the 104 reviews raise this · 21 of them still recommend the game.
“It's as bad as they say. Maybe even worse. From an insane abundance of overly-aggressive enemies, to the horrible boss designs (most of them are just gank or duo fights. or just uninteresting), and a general vibe that…”
“I have 100% every other souls game from Sekiro to Bloodborne to Elden Ring and both other Dark Souls game. Now I got this game on discount and never have I ever had such a miserable experience. Every single thing…”
“Underwhelming, but not worth skipping as I was led to believe for many years. There are a lot of quirks with this game that can be cool. powerstancing, ADP (not cool), NG+ encounters, bonfire ascetics, torches, spices,…”
24 of the 104 reviews raise this · 12 of them still recommend the game.
“It's as bad as they say. Maybe even worse. From an insane abundance of overly-aggressive enemies, to the horrible boss designs (most of them are just gank or duo fights. or just uninteresting), and a general vibe that…”
“As someone who’s sunk an absurd number of hours into Dark Souls, Elden Ring, and Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, playing Dark Souls II feels like a damn betrayal of everything that made those games great. The combat is…”
“If you enjoyed the exploration of dark souls 1 and bosses of dark souls 3, then this game is NOT for you. There are a bunch of weird small game mechanics seem to be added to hinder the speed at which you can progress in…”
11 of the 104 reviews raise this · 9 of them still recommend the game.
“As someone who’s sunk an absurd number of hours into Dark Souls, Elden Ring, and Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, playing Dark Souls II feels like a damn betrayal of everything that made those games great. The combat is…”
“An eternally divisive entry in the franchise, Dark Souls 2 is a very cool soulslike, one of the most intriguing in the trilogy. I always liked it and came back to it from time to time. Recently, modders community…”
“You can definitely have your fun, but no amount of having fun can change the fact that this game is filled to the brim with so much unfinished content, broken, and bad mechanics that it constantly feels like the game is…”
9 of the 104 reviews raise this · 7 of them still recommend the game.
“An eternally divisive entry in the franchise, Dark Souls 2 is a very cool soulslike, one of the most intriguing in the trilogy. I always liked it and came back to it from time to time. Recently, modders community…”
“needed mods for proper keyboard and mouse controls and the most clunky and awful looking game ever but I am still going to beat it and 100% it at the sacrifice of my sanity”
“it's a challenging game, not because the bosses are tough, but because you have to figure out how to adapt to controlling a disabled guy to make your way through it.”
7 of the 104 reviews raise this · 4 of them still recommend the game.
“I have 100% every other souls game from Sekiro to Bloodborne to Elden Ring and both other Dark Souls game. Now I got this game on discount and never have I ever had such a miserable experience. Every single thing…”
“needed mods for proper keyboard and mouse controls and the most clunky and awful looking game ever but I am still going to beat it and 100% it at the sacrifice of my sanity”
“Wanted to give 2 another try after playing and beating it years and years ago on my old Xbox and I just don't know what it is about 2 and especially Scholar but the vibes just feel off. None of the other From games have…”
Counted across 104 English reviews, sampled to match this game's 84.0% positive rating · as of 2026-05-20
“Never knew ♥♥♥♥ and ball torture could be so enjoyable! Definitely worth buying if you're a masochist or just hate your life”
— a player, Steam review · 10 hrs played“Where do i begin with dark souls 2, i steered clear for so long because of the horror stories online, but i actually enjoyed it. Yes the game has some flaws and annoying mechanics, but every game has its flaws, and it didn't bother me all that much. To put it in a pros - cons…”
— a player, Steam review · 123 hrs played“I genuinely believe that if humanity ever reaches a point where we can only preserve one piece of media to represent our entire civilization, it should be Dark Souls II: Scholar of the First Sin. Not the pyramids, not the Mona Lisa, not the entirety of modern cinema—just this…”
— a player, Steam review · 7 hrs playedPlayer activity
Monthly average concurrent players. Live count fetched 2026-07-11 10:13 UTC · history via SteamCharts.
Achievement stats
Global completion rates across all Steam players — a data view of how far people actually get. Source: Steam official stats · as of 2026-07-25.
Price tracking
US-region pricing (USD), sampled twice daily by our own tracker since 2026-07-11. Steam prices vary by region — always confirm your local price on Steam.
Regional prices at last sample, in local currency — Steam sets each region's price independently.
Cheapest → most expensive, converted to USD at ECB reference rates (2026-07-24). Relative comparison only.
Latest official news
Developer announcements via the Steam news API — links go to the original posts. More across all games on the news hub.
Online features for the PC version have been reactivated.
Online features for the PC version of Dark Souls II: Scholar of the First Sin (DX11) have been reactivated. Thank you once more for your patience and support. https://store.steampowered.com/app/335300
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Screenshots
Official Steam store screenshots — click any shot to enlarge.
Facts & details
From the Steam store record, snapshot 2026-05-20.
| Genres | Action, RPG |
| Player tags | Souls-like · Dark Fantasy · RPG · Difficult · Action · Third Person · Atmospheric · Action RPG · Character Customization · Co-op · Multiplayer · Adventure (SteamSpy community voting) |
| Features | Single-player · Multi-player · Co-op · Steam Achievements · Full controller support · Remote Play on Phone · Remote Play on Tablet · Remote Play on TV |
| Languages | English * , French, Italian, German, Spanish - Spain, Polish, Portuguese - Brazil, Russian, Korean, Traditional Chinese * |
| Controller | Full support |
| Achievements | 38 |
| Estimated owners | 2,000,000 – 5,000,000 (SteamSpy) |
| Official site | https://www.bandainamcoent.com/games/dark-souls-ii |
Minimum system requirements (PC)
Minimum: OS *: Windows 7 SP1 64bit, Windows 8.1 64bit Processor: AMD® A8 3870 3,6 Ghz or Intel® Core ™ i3 2100 3.1Ghz Memory: 4 GB RAM Graphics: NVIDIA® GeForce GTX 465 / ATI Radeon TM HD 6870 DirectX: Version 11 Network: Broadband Internet connection Storage: 23 GB available space Sound Card: DirectX 11 sound device