Is Dark Souls II Hard? Difficulty Rating 7.6/10

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Dark Souls II

Full Release (2014)

DIFFICULTY

7.6/10

Quite Difficult

(36 ratings)

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Difficulty Summary

Dark Souls II is considered a challenging game that consistently tests players without reaching extreme difficulty.

Why Players Find It Difficult

Players often find this game difficult because of several demanding mechanics:

Punishing enemy and boss encounters that require pattern recognition
High penalty for mistakes, often resetting significant progress
Combat demands precision timing rather than raw stat power
PC control schemes may add complexity in action-heavy sections

Who Will Find It Difficult

Dark Souls II will push beginners and may still frustrate experienced players in certain sections. Players comfortable with similarly demanding games will have the best time here. Players who rated games like Hollow Knight, Returnal, and Risk of Rain 2 at a similar challenge level may find Dark Souls II broadly comparable in difficulty.

User Defined Tags:

35 ratings

avg: 7.6

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Based on 36 ratings on Normal/Default difficulty, the average score is 7.6/10. Most players rated this game between 7 and 9.

Developer(s)

FromSoftware

Publisher(s)

Bandai Namco Entertainment, FromSoftware

Genre(s)

Role-playing (RPG), Adventure

Platform(s)

PC (Microsoft Windows), PlayStation 3, Xbox 360

Keywords

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About Dark Souls II

Dark Souls II is an action role-playing game developed by FromSoftware and published by Bandai Namco Entertainment, released in March 2014. Set in the kingdom of Drangleic, players control the Bearer of the Curse, seeking to cure their undead curse. The game features challenging combat, deep lore, and a dark, atmospheric world. It introduces new mechanics like dual-wielding and a flexible character progression system, with improved multiplayer options for cooperative and PvP play. The online servers were shut down on March 31st, 2024.

Users also rated

Players who rated Dark Souls II also rated the games shown below, with Hollow Knight (7.6), Returnal (7.6), and Risk of Rain 2 (7.5) being most similar in difficulty!