The recently-released Bloodborne has been receiving a lot of love from the press and gaming enthusiast community. The new intellectual property is actually the latest from the line of similar type of games developed by From Software with the other releases being Demon’s Souls, Dark Souls and Dark Souls 2.
Bandai Namco Games made a curious decision to release Dark Souls 2: Scholar of the First Sin just two weeks after the launch of Bloodborne. So is the upcoming remastered version of Dark Souls 2 worth playing if you previously enjoyed Bloodborne? Let’s analyze a few elements that you should be considering.
About Dark Souls 2
The original version of Dark Souls 2 came out just last year. Although the sequel to Dark Souls was rated highly by critics, fans of the first game did find a few disappointing elements such as the lack of interconnectivity between the areas along with inconsistent hit boxes. Some fans also have a problem with the lack of respawning enemies. Even with the flaws, Dark Souls 2: Scholar of the First Sin is still quite excellent and worth experiencing if you haven’t done so already.
Scholar of the First Sin Changes on PlayStation 4
Of course, From Software also included some new features for returning players. Exclusive to the next-gen console and DirectX 11 versions are improved graphics with 1080p resolution as well as 60 frames per second. The other extras are increasing the number of online players to six in addition changing enemy placement and lengthening the pursuit routes. Of course, you will be able to transfer your save data from the original PS3 version to Scholar of the First Sin Changes on PlayStation 4 as well.
DLC Packs
While some fans may be disappointed in the original version of Dark Souls 2, the three DLC packs for the game has gotten nearly universal praise: Crown of the Sunken King, Crown of the Old Iron King and Crown of the Ivory King. Each of these expansions added new areas to explore, enemies to defeat along with additional armor, items, rings, spells, weapons and more. Buying all three will set you back around $30. Thankfully, these are included at no additional costs in Scholar of the First Sin.
Combat Differences
While Bloodborne and Dark Souls 2 certainly share a lot of similarities, there are still some notable differences. Perhaps the biggest of which is the combat. Battles in Dark Souls 2 is slower when compared to the new intellectual property. Not to mention that Bloodborne does not rely nearly as heavily when it comes to magic spells and shields. The new intellectual property also uses a health regain mechanic that encourages players to be more aggressive by quickly attacking the enemy when they get hit to regain lost health.
So, even if you already played Bloodborne to death, Dark Souls 2 is different enough that the gameplay will be fresh.
Different Setting
Another notable difference is the setting between the two games. Like the first game, Dark Souls 2 is set in a dark fantasy world. In contrast, Bloodborne uses a horror-themed Victorian backdrop. So even if you decide to play Dark Souls 2 after Bloodborne, the setting should still feel very new.
Recap
Although it has some minor shortcomings, Dark Souls 2: Scholar of the First Sin is still worth playing even after you played and completed Bloodborne as it is different enough when compared to the new IP that you most likely won’t feel burnt out. With that said, you may want to wait until a price drop for the remastered version if you already beaten the original version of Dark Souls 2 (unless you haven’t played the excellent DLC packs yet).
Scholar of the First Sin is releasing on April 7 in North America. If you are interested, you can preorder the PS4 release of the remastered version with this page.