Dark Souls 2 for PC worth it?

[00slash00]

I've been playing the PS3 version for a while (just beat it last night). I've heard the PC version is better in several ways but is it good enough to justify buying it at full price. Green Man Gaming is selling it for $40 right now. Are the improvements good enough to pick it up for that price, even though I already played through it once on the PS3, or should I just wait for summer or winter, when Steam has it on sale?

 

[shrekfan246]

Er... well, it depends?

From what I understand it's still something you would want to play on a gamepad, even though the default keyboard+mouse controls are vastly better than in Dark Souls, so otherwise the only reason to buy it again is if you really want higher texture quality and framerate.

 

[jademunky]

I just bought it on the PC. I do not have a PS3 but I rented it on the xbox 360 a few weeks ago and honestly I think both are equally good. It might look a tiny bit better on the PC but unless you really care about such things, go with either.

I will say that the user-friendliness on the console is a lot better. I have a Logitech x310 controller for my PC and it took me a while before I got it working right. I had to wade through forums to discover that I needed to download x360ce and copy and paste it to my dark souls directory just to be able to play (do not even try keyboard and mouse, they said they would make it better, they did but not by much).

 

[00slash00]

Er... well, it depends?

From what I understand it's still something you would want to play on a gamepad, even though the default keyboard+mouse controls are vastly better than in Dark Souls, so otherwise the only reason to buy it again is if you really want higher texture quality and framerate.

I wouldn't want to play a 3rd person action game with a mouse and keyboard anyway, so that doesn't bother me. The graphics are a nice bonus but what I've heard most people talk about is the improved load times and frame rate, which people say makes playing the game a lot more fun.

 

[Ushiromiya Battler]

Er... well, it depends?

From what I understand it's still something you would want to play on a gamepad, even though the default keyboard+mouse controls are vastly better than in Dark Souls, so otherwise the only reason to buy it again is if you really want higher texture quality and framerate.

I wouldn't want to play a 3rd person action game with a mouse and keyboard anyway, so that doesn't bother me. The graphics are a nice bonus but what I've heard most people talk about is the improved load times and frame rate, which people say makes playing the game a lot more fun.

Funnily enough I can't stand the improved load times. I never have enough time to read the load page lore.

As ShrekFan said, better textures and improved load times is the only reason really.
Depends on how much that matters for you.

 

[shrekfan246]

Er... well, it depends?

From what I understand it's still something you would want to play on a gamepad, even though the default keyboard+mouse controls are vastly better than in Dark Souls, so otherwise the only reason to buy it again is if you really want higher texture quality and framerate.

I wouldn't want to play a 3rd person action game with a mouse and keyboard anyway, so that doesn't bother me. The graphics are a nice bonus but what I've heard most people talk about is the improved load times and frame rate, which people say makes playing the game a lot more fun.

I wouldn't really discount that (I myself prefer the average framerate I get out of PC games too), but I guess it just depends on how much you feel your experience would be impacted by the difference. If you have a PC which you believe can run the game at 60 FPS (it's better optimized than Dark Souls, but I don't know exactly how much better) and you think you'll have a more fun experience with a smoother game, then go for it.

 

[NuclearKangaroo]

mods make any PC port immediately better in my opinion


but its up to you i you want to double dip, i must say tough, i dont see the PS3 community lasting

 

[MrDumpkins]

I rented the game on xbox because I wanted to do a run through first, and while it was good, I noticed that textures were blurry. The PC version makes the textures crisp (if you have the specs, which aren't very high) and the 60 FPS is just great. On top of that, I own a 3D monitor and just like dark souls this game looks fantastic in 1080p 3D (some lighting and shadow bugs but that will be fixed by someone soon I'm sure).

If you already have it on PS3 it's not an immediate sell, but if you do like a higher framerate and texture quality it's definitely worth picking up. Personally I'd say just wait for a steam sale but by that time you could probably have squeezed out all you wanted out of the game on the PS3.

 

[00slash00]

I rented the game on xbox because I wanted to do a run through first, and while it was good, I noticed that textures were blurry. The PC version makes the textures crisp (if you have the specs, which aren't very high) and the 60 FPS is just great. On top of that, I own a 3D monitor and just like dark souls this game looks fantastic in 1080p 3D (some lighting and shadow bugs but that will be fixed by someone soon I'm sure).

If you already have it on PS3 it's not an immediate sell, but if you do like a higher framerate and texture quality it's definitely worth picking up. Personally I'd say just wait for a steam sale but by that time you could probably have squeezed out all you wanted out of the game on the PS3.

Yeah that's my dilemma. I don't want to start ng+ when I'm just going to end up picking up on sale in a few weeks to a few months, and starting over, but I don't want to stop playing for the next few months either.

 

[Ubiquitous Duck]

I think you would be strongly invoking the ideas of 'JUST F***KING TAKE MY MONEY' to think you need to throw more cash at these people for a version on your PC.

Apart from the utility it provides of having it on another device, I don't see why you'd want to invest the full retail price again, just to get it on another platform.

You will basically be paying for a graphical update. If that is very important to you and you invest loads of hours into the game, sure, why not. But it seems like a rather flimsy reason for me.

 

[00slash00]

I think you would be strongly invoking the ideas of 'JUST F***KING TAKE MY MONEY' to think you need to throw more cash at these people for a version on your PC.

Apart from the utility it provides of having it on another device, I don't see why you'd want to invest the full retail price again, just to get it on another platform.

You will basically be paying for a graphical update. If that is very important to you and you invest loads of hours into the game, sure, why not. But it seems like a rather flimsy reason for me.

The graphical improvement is not why I'd be getting it. It just runs a lot better on PC and the prominent Souls gamers on YouTube have said that after playing the PC version, they couldn't go back to the console version because playing it is just more fun on PC

 

[Ubiquitous Duck]

I think you would be strongly invoking the ideas of 'JUST F***KING TAKE MY MONEY' to think you need to throw more cash at these people for a version on your PC.

Apart from the utility it provides of having it on another device, I don't see why you'd want to invest the full retail price again, just to get it on another platform.

You will basically be paying for a graphical update. If that is very important to you and you invest loads of hours into the game, sure, why not. But it seems like a rather flimsy reason for me.

The graphical improvement is not why I'd be getting it. It just runs a lot better on PC and the prominent Souls gamers on YouTube have said that after playing the PC version, they couldn't go back to the console version because playing it is just more fun on PC

I guess then you have to consider:

A. How much disposable income do you have to spend on games (i.e. what will you be prohibited from buying because you bought this? what is the loss? Can you afford it?)

B. How much time do you spend playing Dark Souls 2 and do you see this continuing? (Also should consider how much of your 'gaming' time it specifically takes up. If it is your only endeavour but you play it tons, improvements to that experience, although minor, increase in significance with vast time spent ingame)

The point I'm meaning is whether you can justify the full retail price again to yourself for the bettered Dark Souls 2 experience.

It really is a matter personally on whether you will play it much and whether you can afford it.

 

[llubtoille]

(I've only played it on PC so don't know first hand)
but if you've got it on PS3, then there's probably no need to get it on pc unless you've money to burn.
graphically it's almost definitely better, even on my system that barely reaches the min sys req, it runs very well.

People say the KBM controls are improved, but personally I've found them (default) even more unwieldy than DS1, so I'd seriously recommend a gamepad, which you have, so you're fine in that regard.

There's other benefits I guess, like retexturing and save file editing, but in the end you're playing the same game either way, so probably not worth imo.

 

[Naqel]

*obligatory PC master race indoctrination*

But yeah, PC is where it's at. Not only is it superior in it's fidelity, but also comes with the possibilities of upgrades down the line(mods), and a playerbase that will last a lot longer, simply by the virtue of the game being on steam.

 

[Zac Jovanovic]

It's a shitty port. Leagues better than DS1 but still a shitty port.

They did a great job in terms of optimizing the game this time, I have constant 60 FPS on absolute maximum on my PC which is nothing special.
Graphically it's beautiful and I see there are already mods that add even better graphic features.

They fixed the mouse camera movement but keyboard controls are broken again. Some of the basic controls are ported directly from consoles and require combinations of keys that are just impossible with the keyboard and cannot be remapped.
Also all controls are displayed for the XBox controller so if you're playing with KB/M you have to figure out what is what on your own.

It's playable with a bit of tinkering though, a couple of autohotkey macros that merge two buttons into one fix it. Or if you don't mind letting it stand for a week or two wait for mods to fix it.

If you don't mind using a controller then fuck yeah, there's no downside to the PC version.

 

[Church185]

mods

fixed by someone

retexturing and save file editing

mods

mods

As of the last PC patch the game is VAC secured and played primarily online. Using something as simple as ENB mods could get you banned.

 

[NuclearKangaroo]

mods

fixed by someone

retexturing and save file editing

mods

mods

As of the last PC patch the game is VAC secured and played primarily online. Using something as simple as ENB mods could get you banned.

not really, it depends, CSS and TF2 both are VAC secured and you can still download skins for them

 

[Church185]

not really, it depends, CSS and TF2 both are VAC secured and you can still download skins for them

Yes, skins. But if you tried to use something similar to ENB mods or DSFix in this game while playing online, you could permanently be banned from playing Dark Souls 2 online.

 

[NuclearKangaroo]

not really, it depends, CSS and TF2 both are VAC secured and you can still download skins for them

Yes, skins. But if you tried to use something similar to ENB mods or DSFix in this game while playing online, you could permanently be banned from playing Dark Souls 2 online.

uhmm too bad


btw what are ENB mods?

 

[Church185]

not really, it depends, CSS and TF2 both are VAC secured and you can still download skins for them

Yes, skins. But if you tried to use something similar to ENB mods or DSFix in this game while playing online, you could permanently be banned from playing Dark Souls 2 online.

uhmm too bad


btw what are ENB mods?

The shader mods you see in Skyrim to make it look insane. So even if you were modding for single player purposes you could get the boot.

Really the only difference between PS3 and PC Dark Souls 2 is frame rate and resolution. Those are a big deal to some people, but it doesn't make me want to buy the game again.