Screenshots & trailers
What players say
Why the number is what it is: aspect mentions counted across 299 sampled Steam reviews (246 positive / 53 negative), recent and most-helpful. Plain keyword counting, fully reproducible; nothing here is written by a machine.
What positive reviews talk about
- Story & writing7% mention it
- Combat5% mention it
What negative reviews complain about
- Difficulty & balance13% mention it
- Controls & UI11% mention it
Satisfaction by hours played
Same score, different games: see how sentiment holds up the longer people play.
Under 5h
78%
23 reviews
5-15h
76%
41 reviews
15-40h
85%
74 reviews
40-100h
87%
109 reviews
100h+
75%
52 reviews
Review sentiment over time
Weekly positive-review rate (green) and review volume (bars). Dashed lines mark significant patches; the amber line is the start of the current scoring window. Hover the dots to see what drove a dip or a jump.
How this score was computed
The VGC Score is a weighted blend on a press-comparable 0-100 quality scale. Steam approval rates are first calibrated (95% positive on Steam ≈ 89.5 quality, since Steam approval skews high). Press and tracked creator reviews each count ~2x a player review and share one cap against player evidence (creator buy/skip calls pool into an approval rate, calibrated like Steam approval); all-time sentiment is capped and halved (it's context, not verdict); reviews of the current build carry the most weight when a fresh patch anchors the window; and a 'typical game' prior keeps small samples from pegging the scale. Because press reviews and Metacritic user aggregates describe the launch build, their weight decays as the game ages (3-year half-life after a 1-year grace). That's how a game that launched rough can outgrow its old reception once updates win players over. Reviews under 2h playtime (the refund window), non-Steam activations, and free copies are downweighted.
| Component | Positive | Quality (0-100) | Weight (pseudo-reviews) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Press reviews (OpenCritic) | – | 88 | 15 |
| All-time Steam reviews | 88% | 82 | 1000 |
| Metacritic user ratings | – | 80 | 54 |
| Post-patch Steam reviews (trust-weighted) | 84% | 78 | 59 |
| Calibration prior (typical game) | – | 72 | 50 |
Scoring window: last 30 days (no significant patch detected) · 168 reviews sampled · 158 total reviews in window · weighted 121.7 up / 23 down · computed 3h ago · full methodology →
Press & Creators reviews (101)
Individual verdicts from outlets we track: scored reviews first, most trusted outlets first among them. The small badge is each outlet's trust score: how well its scoring history aligns with players.
- 70
“The game is as across-the-board demanding as its predecessors, functioning on an ever more grandiose scale, dishing out excruciating beatdowns like Thin Mints at a Girl Scouts cookies sale.”
read full review ↗ - 100
“At the end of the day, Dark Souls II uses more subtle changes to find its own flavor and place in the series as a whole, rather than reinventing the wheel. ”
read full review ↗ - 93
“Dark Souls II is a challenge, it is death, it is fun. FromSoftware throws a new challenge to everyone who dares to cross all the hardships that the players will encounter in their adventure. In exchange, they will get limitless fun and a satisfaction that only a few games offer.”
read full review ↗ - 100
“Dark Souls II wants you to play it, all of it. Each dimly lit room and crumbling bridge offers a chance to die but also a chance to fight for your life. You'll still run across messages of encouragement left by other players, but now the game itself is quietly rooting for your success. It's still a hell of a journey, but unlike your character, Dark Souls II isn't soulless.”
read full review ↗ - 80
“Dark Souls 2 may not be what came before, but it is its own game, with its own hilarious deaths, ridiculous traps, haunting melodies, and foreboding bosses, and it still stands out with ease. That punch to the ribs may not wind as hard, but you'll still want to get up and explore this dark, devious world, over and over again.”
read full review ↗ - 85
“The improvements made to the PC version are fantastic. Just the fact that you do not need any community mods to make the game look respectable is a tremendous step in the right direction for From Software.”
read full review ↗ - 90
“Ultimately, Dark Souls II adds a lot of new features to the formula, but can't quite manage to match the brilliance of the original Dark Souls. What it does provide, though, is still a challenging and highly entertaining journey through the desolate world of Drangleic, one that is most definitely worth experiencing for fans of the genre. With this likely being the last game in the series to also appear on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, it's certainly exciting to think about the future of the franchise and what From Software could achieve on newer hardware, along with all the lessons learned from this game.”
read full review ↗ - 90
“In many ways Dark Souls 2 is the technical and functional superior of the first game, but it does lack some of the semi-intangible magic of the original like its superlative interconnected world. Nonetheless, an impressive and essential sequel.”
read full review ↗ - 90
“While it may not always feel fair, you’ll be hard pressed to find a game that’s as intense and rewarding as Dark Souls II.”
read full review ↗ - 95
“Loyal to its roots and perfectly executed, Dark Souls II is not only a worthy sequel: it is the worthiest homage to the mettle and spirit of hardcore gamers. ”
read full review ↗ - 85
“It's a testament to the series brand as a whole to make an otherwise solid title feel disappointing, but I've come to expect more and I hope they find the right path through the dark in the next sequel.”
read full review ↗ - 80
“Despite the finicky hit boxes and a few other flaws worth patching, Dark Souls II is an excellent port of a modern action-RPG classic. Dark Souls fans shouldn't hesitate to enjoy all the suffering in high resolution at 60FPS.”
read full review ↗
Slant Magazine
RPGamer
The A.V. Club
Total Gaming Network
Cubed3
PC Invasion
Push Square
LevelUp
ZTGD
PCMag…and 89 more tracked reviews.
Patch history
- Dark Souls II Patch AvailableApr 28, 2014
- Dark Souls II Patch AvailableApr 28, 2014