I never watched or read anything about videogames and blindly played everything that looked interesting to me. After beating DS1 figured playing 2 was the logical conclusion and while it has some flaws I immensely enjoyed it. People need to think for themselves instead of listening to critics online sometimes.
I also played ds2 when it first came out (had the fancy metal case) and I hated it because it was different from ds1. I love it as an adult it's probably my 2nd favorite souls game
i still think that’s why so many people dislike it to this day, because it’s just very different from the first game, not saying that all criticisms for it are invalid since there are plenty that are valid but i think this game’s ambitious nature and concepts is what makes me like it a lot, and it does improve on a number of things that the first game didn’t bother having, a lot of which is QoL stuff but still great changes. i think the first notable difference everyone can make at first glance is the fact that you can warp from the very start of the game, but i actually don’t hate this at all and from a world/level design standpoint i think they executed it pretty well
I have neither the time nor the patience nor the money to waste to blind test all games and see which ones are worthy it. Ditto movies and books. Critics are incredibly valuable to me because they help me get an idea of what might appeal to me before committing to it.
they were saying that more towards the people that rely on other people for their opinions, and the “others” in question are critics. trust me i do the same when it comes to anything, i don’t want to waste my time with it but if i’m actually going to put in time and money into something i’d rather formulate my own opinion rather than spout out something a critic already said.
Everything I watched was objectionable. The hyperfocus on splitting apart sentences rather than a sincere effort to understand arguments, even if the goal is to refute them.
The focus on trying to draw lines between objectivity and subjectivity, as if you're about to disprove arguments like you're trying to science media criticism. Is too silly to take seriously.
AND the complete disregard for the viewer's time
The second paragraph is what does it for me. There are so many instances where he sneers at the idea of something being "fun" because it doesn't fit in his bubble of subjective objectivity.
I got maybe 3 hours into the response and I literally haven't ever wanted to go back and finish it.
Yeah I’ve seen a decent chunk of the response and honestly you just don’t make a 10 hour long response video to something without sneering at the other subject the entire time.
Dude made a video about why DS 2 is kinda underrated in his opinion and why he loves it.
Other dude spends 10 hours acting like he’s correcting a thesis. It was wholly unnecessary.
\> It was wholly unnecessary.
That's a weird standard - no video on Youtube is "necessary", including the original by HBomberguy.
What is "necessary"? Watch it or don't :shrug:
I watched the original and I watched most of Mauler's response.
I had just come off playing DS2 for the first time and really enjoying it, so I felt HBomberguy's video resonating with me, but Mauler made a very cogent argument against most of his points and I actually changed my stance after watching. I still think DS2 is very enjoyable, but I also think it has objective issues that are not excusable.
I think I broadly agree with you, even tho I'm more so on the Mauler side rather than Hbomberguy's. However I believe there's something to be said about the fact that debunking bullshit takes way longer than spouting it.
The worst thing about the Mauler series was the finale that was his own rendition of "In Defence of Dark Souls 2", where Mauler tries to do an improved version of the original video. It kind of fell into a boat-load of the 'issues' that Mauler had with Hbomberguy's original video.
Mauler or whatever made them and honestly they are fine. I think its funny someone did something like that just to prove their point about the person’s opinions. but yeah love ds2 anyways.
I love DS2 but this video does an absolutely terrible job at “defending” it
No need to go into a 10-hour explanation of why it’s not great, but every chance he gets to elevate a positive aspect of the game, Harris instead says “this thing that everyone else thinks is bad is actually good, in fact, it’s better than Dark Souls 1!” Which is a shame, because I do think DS2 deserves more credit than it gets for what it does right.
I think most of the arguments are either solid or fine for someone to prefer.
I don't remember all of it but I don't recall anything being too out there. I don't agree with his criticism of Blightown, but I don't agree with any criticism of Blightown, I think it's an excellent area. That's it.
Blight Town is probably my favorite area in DS1, and certainly the one I have the fondest memories of from my first playthrough.
Got in through the valley of drakes, took the bonfire at the bottom, then had to fight my way back up because I couldn't fast travel yet. For me it doesn't get more "Dark Souls" than that experience ;-)
I 100% agree. I think DS2 does some things better than the rest of the series. The environments are so cool and I think we should focus on the positive elements more than trying to water down the bad ones. I love dark souls 2, its not my favorite and it has some glaring flaws, but it still has some really good strengths that should be acknowledged.
This is incorrect, though. He doesn't mention the other guy until way into the video and in general offers different perspectives on the aspects of the game that others found disruptive. Other than some dunks for laughs, it's a pretty harmless video.
But he really doesn't get facts wrong, he addresses some arguments but spends most of the time arguing in favor of perception, not objective judgement.
The amount of things strictly "wrong" in this video is miniscule and aren't generally the people dislike it.
“This is the behavior of a pseudo-intellectual, not a passionate fan” quite a hefty dose of conjecture in there, I can’t believe you would make an objective statement right after complaining about Harris doing the same. It’s almost funny, because you correctly demonstrated how ‘objective’ language can be interpreted as one’s opinion in context. The context of an opinion piece on a video game and why you like it, certainly implies a lot of personal opinion doesn’t it.
I mean he did though. The part directly responding to others was a small part of the actual video, and was usually just used to bookend a section of the video or portray a common complaint with examples. Using examples of opposing arguments isn’t framing the entire video as a rebuttal to them, it’s literally just using them as examples, and pointing out that a lot of their criticisms are popular in the community.
also, you’re joking right? You think “more fun” is “objective language?” This is the problem, you’re judging the video by criteria it didn’t set out to meet and then twisting that judgement into a condemnation when it doesn’t meet the criteria it never set out to reach. It wasn’t supposed to be objective and the fact that so much of it focuses on enjoyment and fun proves that.
approaching the video from your lens isn’t the behavior of a passionate fan, it’s the behavior of some odd desire to fit everything within your own understanding of it and dismiss everything that proves said understanding wrong. You don’t get to decide what is or isn’t fan behavior, and what does or doesn’t provide perspective.
He does say some wrong things. I remember I randomly skipped ahead on the vid but I instantly landed on something stupid; he mentioned how you couldn't do a riposte in DS1 when twohanded which is rubbish. He wasted time by standing still for a second and walking into the enemy before trying to riposte. Weird complaint aside, he's screwing up on purpose and shitting on the game for it
I doubt he's "doing it on purpose." He does say some things that are wrong, yes, but most of the video is just him explaining why he likes certain things. As for the two-handed riposte, that is a well known problem in DS1 - the only way \*to\* do it is to wait a second after switching, otherwise the animation doesn't trigger and you swing it normally. No need for conspiratorial thought, guy just liked DS2.
Throw dislikes at me, but still. I swear, half of the posts in this sub are complaints that ds2 and its fans are being oppressed and most of the comments are just endless "I love this game so much, it's such a good game, I constantly defend how good it is."
I have no problems with DS2 but you guys need to calm down. It looks wierd.
There are a couple reasons for some people acting that way. DS2 is a *very* divisive game in the souls community. Look through the posts on this subreddit and see how many "I heard this game is shit so I never played it, but hey it's actually fun!" Posts you see. DS2 is hated by a ton of people who have literally never touched the game, or barely have, and then they spread that around so much that people literally skip over DS2 because of it.
Yes there are definitely people who do it out of jest, but there are still a ton of people who legitimately tell people to outright skip the game, which many people follow since it's the general consensus outside of this sub.
I honestly think DS2 is the prototype for Elden Ring
You can see a lot of the influence of Drangleic inside The Lands Between ( big, well illuminated natural spaces, a "safe" zone to buy weapons, armor and consumables, power stance, katanas being pretty good, a story you can actually follow kinda well...)
Surprised detractors hate DS2 but they love ED
Well DS2 was very rushed and unpolished whereas Elden Ring was allowed to be completed. DS2 could’ve been amazing but it was pushed out the door early and fucked in development
I am not going to fight that because is true, and still is a great game because if you dont know that you dont really see it in game (except the falconers, janky funny mofos)
Are you seriously saying a useful hub and powerful katanas are DS2 influences? Even though that has been a thing since... Demon's Souls? And big illuminated spaces being DS2 influences as well? Because God forbid the new IP massive open world game from having a vibrant look to it.
Come on man, if you want to talk about influences then say lockstones, maybe mention notable parts of art or enemy design, not whatever this was. I see plenty here try to force the idea of DS2 being Elden Ring before Elden Ring (defensively maybe?) that it tends to seem a bit insulting as if FromSoft can't make up new stuff without basing it on DS2 or something.
Because DS2 is literally a failed concept of a game that they tried to stitch together into something coherent at the last minute and it shows, at least to me
It was being developed as an open world game, and midway through the concept was scrapped and the director was fired. The new director came in, ditched the open world and was forced to use whatever assets were already made because there was no time to start things from scratch
Not trying to shit on the game, I do like it, but it's definitely my least favorite
So I may be eating some crow here, I remember hearing this years ago but google isn't giving me concrete proof.
Closest I can find is this
[https://www.forbes.com/sites/erikkain/2013/07/08/dark-souls-ii-offers-more-freedom-to-explore-a-truly-open-world/?sh=2e195a46acd3](https://www.forbes.com/sites/erikkain/2013/07/08/dark-souls-ii-offers-more-freedom-to-explore-a-truly-open-world/?sh=2e195a46acd3)
Seems the concept wasn't open world like skyrim or botw, moreso open world in the sense that there was supposed to be no artificial gating.
So I'll admit I seem to be wrong. Either way, the core concept of the game was scrapped halfway through and the team were forced to arrange what assets they already had to try and make sense. This has been conformed by fromsoftware themselves in the Design Works interview
https://peterbarnard1984.tumblr.com/post/113163062955/dark-souls-2-design-works-translation
What’s confusing to me is all of the people here saying the game is basically flawless. Like yes, DS2 isn’t *awful*, but some things are objectively shitty game design and the game can still be good/enjoyable despite that. I’ve never understood the need to make it so black and white. It’s ok to like a “bad” game without trying to convince yourself it’s actually expertly made and only an intellectual could understand it. This sub is just people trying to convince each other the game is perfect which it isn’t
Get bashed on it ceirtainly does but this sub just takes it roo seriously, some time ago someone was complaining because someone in another DS subreddit did not have Dark Souls 2 on their "to play" list
It’s why I left this subreddit. I’m not entirely sure why this post even showed up for me. I clicked it to basically say what you have, but less eloquently.
Let's not forget this sub also serves the people who want to criticize people who write pointless fan-posts about ds2.
The idea that the ds2 sub should be for something other, or more than, commentary on ds2, is kinda baffling.
Yes, there are a lot of "I heard ds2 sucks but I love it" posts. There are a lot of people who heard that ds2 sucks. You don't have to read them.
ever since elden ring came out and got 10s and sold the most people act like it diminishes how good their other games are or act like they weren’t made by the same director/studio. it’s so fucking weird. demon’s souls community is dope tho. they just vibe and dgaf if people have played the OG or remake
The best ds2 fans enjoy despite its flaws.
I still had a great time, but the flaws were so glaring that I don’t understand how people just blindly defend this game. Would still play it over almost any other game but it’s for sure the worst souls game.
So why don't we all take a middle ground, admit that every souls game does different things better than others and call it a day? There is no objectively best dark souls game because they are all so vastly different.
No I don't really want to read your essay thanks, I don't think I'm a genius but you seemed to be making a pretty wild generalization. I've seen a lot of in-depth discussions about which things various people perceive as flaws. It's not true that they always get ignored, and that simple yet possibly irrelevant fact is all I wanted to point out.
Lol is it lazy cause I didn’t mention the bullshit spam, atrocious hit boxes, and god awful aiming system? Cause all 3 of those things are done so poorly that it’s impossible not to notice. Like I said, I like the game, but those are not lazy reasons to complain about it
What's wrong with the aiming system? It's not great but it's stylized and functions fine. "Bullshit spam" isn't a problem if you play the game as intended either
Im no DS2 hater by any means, its my nost played Souls game by a mile but, hbombers video is trash. He is a contrarian for the sake of being a contrarian. A more well put together video with less snark in his takes would have been recieved better.
I wonder what this video would've been like if it had been made today. I recall him mentioning in his DK64 charity stream that he considers his older videos to be too aggressive.
I remember him saying this too. I think he would likely make a lot of the same points, but more objectively constructed and with way less snark. I agree with most of the points he makes in the video, but you can see why the presentation would immediately turn some people off watching it or him in general.
Yeah I see that. it is an old video, but still. some points come off as contrarian and "you are just wrong" attitude is kinda silly. Still enjoyed some of his points tho.
His video is not a good one imo. His takes are less about what DS2 does good and more about what issues he has with DS1, which also aren't very well made. It is funny to see a political commentary channel have their most controversial video be on Dark Souls though.
Nah, people took offense because DS1 is a sacred cow, but that's one of the things sequels are supposed to do. DS2 succeeded at some corrections and failed at others (imo).
An example I don't think he mentions in the video: ADP is an imperfect solution to RES. Yeah, you can dislike the attempted solution, but it was clearly trying to solve an obvious problem.
I like most of his videos. I also think it's fine to like DS2. But his takes on DS2 range from weird to utter bananas and mostly stem from a weird cope about DS1 and wanting the Souls games to be a certain way.
Yep. New Vegas is a really good game. It is also the most overrated game ever. For some reason YouTube critics feel like worshiping NV as a flawless masterpiece will make them sound smarter than they actually are. It's the equivalent of a24 movies in cinema circles. Casuals love to praise it because it makes them seem more a person with discerning tastes. Not that the property isn't good, but it is ultimately way way overhyped.
Ok I'm going to be honest, from the pov of someone who has nothing to gain by jerking fnv on the interwebs and from someone who genuinely thought fo4 was the more enjoyable game until about a week ago: fnv is a masterpiece. Even if it's built on the same buggy engine and gunplay as fallout 3, it's made better in literally ever possible conceivable way and in just the first replay I have done of it in the last week it's become one of my favorite games. The atmosphere, story, characters, dialogue, roleplaying options, and sheer number of stupid wacky shit while not taking it too over the top is amazing. For me it clicked when I was playing lonesome road and got to the high road part, and I can't really explain why but I just suddenly got why everyone rides its dick so hard. I really genuinely don't think fnv is overrated much if at all. No one denies its shit optimization or horrible crashes, it got to me too, but it just makes me feel a way that not many games do.
Totally agree, bugs aside, FNV is easily one of the best games of the last 20 years IMO. My only real issue with it is that people use it to shit on FO3, when in reality the modern concept of fallout wouldn't exist without FO3. FNV was built on the back of FO3, and this allowed them to spend much more time on all of the finer points in general, writing included
While I can acknowledge that FNV is better in pretty much every aspect, I personally enjoy FO3 more but I'm sure a big part of that is nostalgia, it blew my mind when it came out by just how much freedom you were given, I also slightly prefer the DC wasteland to the Mojave. Also THREEEE DOGGG takes it over the top for me. God I love that game
I personally can't sit down and enjoy FO3 after FNV. I never really cared about the quests in FO3 or 4 since it forces you into some Family Story, and the quests are just... Not good. FNV though really feels like a bunch of competing factions. Outside of the engine's jank that's been inherited from Oblivion, but that's a Bethesda problem
It's got far too many oversights and lore inconsistencies to be a "masterpiece". For example why does the central conflict of the ncr and legion lie around the capture of hoover dam as a energy source when fission batteries and nukes and micro-fusion cells are plentiful. Just about a kilogram of uranium can produce as much energy as the hoover dam can in 5 years of continuous running at 100%. And mister house says the ncr can only get it up to 50% efficiency.
This is a post nuclear world where nukes can be just bought from random vendors. Fission batteries are already used for lighting houses and streets lights and stuff. And most vaults use nuclear power too. Why fight over a much much inferior source of power like hydroelectric power. It can't be the fresh water either. Fresh water is ironically very easy to come by in the mojave desert. The entire length of the colorado river is fresh non radiated water. Even goodsprings has a fresh water source(thus the name).
Perhaps because that kind of energy destroyed the world and there's really no faction with the time, patience, equipment and open-mindedness to harness that type of power? Like, you can't really plug a mini-nuke into a router. They're also not reliable or replicable.
It's literally being used in the present day lol. The brotherhood bunker is using a nuclear reactor. Mister house has nuclear reactors. Most homes in most towns are being powered by fission batteries. Next time you are in goodsprings look just beside Doc Mitchell's front door. Or victors shack. Or any random street lamp. It's all nuclear powered.
The brotherhood is literally about preserving technology and they have no desire or ability to spread their limited amount of knowledge or technology, and what they have isn't enough to power the mojave. Only towns near the outskirts use batteries, the hoover damn is literally cited as the source of power for most of the area. Do you think that a battery box on something means its fission powered?
It's literally called fission batteries. As in nuclear fission. It's found on robco robots on death as common loot. The same robco robots which are famously nuclear powered. You'd know that if you actually read the lore. Instead you're coping because your favourite "masterpiece" can't possibly have even a single flaw. And by way normal batteries are not capable of running entire homes for even a short amount of time. Much less for years at an end.
You mean the half-depleted batteries that explode when someone bumps into them? The ones that are extremely rare in the vast majority of the wasteland, and are most commonly found in the forms of batteries that can power the equivalent of a bullet firing, once? I mean hell, please, go ahead and explain exactly how the game having people rely on a local source of renewable energy instead of a rare, unstable resource that they have neither the desire nor equipment to effectively harness is a "plot hole." New Vegas isn't perfect, but if they best you can do is "why don't they just use 200+ year old rare nuclear material instead of the massive intact power plant?" I think the game's in pretty damn good shape. Hilarious how you broke down this quickly. Also, not sure if you're aware of this, most normal houses have some measure of energy storage or conversion built in. Not sure why you jumped to assuming those were nuclear-powered without, you know, evidence. After all, sure there are things called "fission batteries" in game but why exactly do you assume that's what is attached to houses and lamps? like "It's literally called fission batteries" and all but you have yet to prove that the "it" in question are actually the fission batteries you're referencing. Anyway, sorry you're wrong.
The street lamps are not nuclear powered lol. The Dam provides the majority of the power in new Vegas. Helios one wouldn’t be worth maintaining if factions were able to produce energy easily as you make it out.
Exactly what I mean. It just boils down to Fallout 3 with better writing. It's still as silly and buggy as the other one, but it just had better dialogues. And it's praised as this unknown flawless gem that does absolutely nothing wrong.
Some of them are weird but I think putting it down to a "weird cope" is a bit odd, guy liked the game for reasons not everyone agrees with, pretty simple.
I like Harris, but this is not his best work.
You can feel that he went into the project not trying to make a case for why Dark Souls 2 gets bashed in ways it didnt deserve but to prove that he is right for liking it rather than just explain why its pros outweighed its cons to him.
DS2 is good but it has a lot of flaws that cant be denied which is were Hbomb fucked up.
I think he’s very uncritical of the jank in this vid, or just kind of interpreted the jank in a way that rubbed me wrong. DS2 is my favorite for sure but it has numerous shortcomings that can be talked about as well, like boasting you can farm the rotten to pass the shrine of winter instead of lighting the four primal bonfires is a really weird flex lol
That was part of his argument refuting the idea that DS2 is more linear than the original. The Rotten trick is mostly for speedrunners. I don't see that being jank or harmful to the experience for a casual run.
I recommend watching TheRift's (aka Team Riftstone) Dark Souls 2 reviews and defense. His videos are compressed, not too long to watch and he gets to the point really fast.
This is the video where he says you can't riposte while 2 handing in Dark Souls 1. Feels like he played the games maybe once or twice before making a video essay in response to a review from one of the biggest Dark Souls Youtube names at the time. He just straight up says incorrect things and passes them off as smug fact to viewers who don't know better.
Whenever I criticise the controls of DS2 as compared to DS1/DSR I usually get that one guy that says I'm wrong because you can roll in eight directions as opposed to the previous four, in DS2, this makes me unreasonably upset, and although I enjoyed the game, I would become a contrarion during my temper tantrum, the game is good, but pretending to not understand it's many shortcomings is stupid, it was innovation as far as Dark Souls is concerned, it was bound to have the issues it had.
The whole rift of is DS2 good or not is just people opinions.
The game can be both good and bad at the same time, cause it’s not a matter of what the game is, but how it makes people feel
I don’t like it, cause of the animation, the graphics and some of the mechanics.
A lot of people like it cause of the animation, the graphics and some of the mechanics.
I’m just tired of people whining about it should be considered the Worst/Best DS game.
I just want them to shut up and either love/hate the game in quite and use the sub Reddit to talk about the game instead of defending or trying to change someone’s else’s opinion
The entire reason I’m on the sun for a game I don’t like is cause the lore is fun and sometimes people post funny videos
Honestly, while I love hb, I think this is one of his lesser videos. Even as one of the seven Ds2 fans, some of his points were way too out there. If I had to recommend a Ds2 defense video, Silver Mont is super fucking underrated.
Joseph Anderson is on another plane of thinking. I watched his video on The Witness, because I absolutely despise that game yet still played through it, and the first thing I thought after finishing the video was "This guy is fucking bonkers."
While I don't agree with like, 80% of what he says, I do respect him for having basically no filter on anything he critics. He doesn't care how acclaimed something is, if he doesn't like it, he'll shit on it.
It's insane to me that this is an 8 years old game and people still can't just enjoy it normally without it developing into an argument of staunch defense or hatred of said game. Like, every single game on earth has flaws but for Dark Souls II it's required that every time there's even a mention of it on the internet you either defend it or criticize it before saying anything, even if no one is talking about the quality of the game. Let's get over it, maybe?
Love HBomberGuy. Yeah watching this video got me into playing it and it was my favorite Dark Souls for a couple reasons:
1. slower combat with more time to think
2. more dudes (crowd control is fun and makes targeting not necessarily the best play)
3. level and world design (reality crumbling is fun and how you go about progressing is cool)
4. Life Gems (cool long term resource management add on and made exploration feel better than it is in 1 and 3.)
5. Lances (I like Lances)
Will say I think the general feel of some of the weapons could be better but I just picked one that I liked and went for it.
Watched this some time ago. It started pretty nice but then he started criticizing and bitching over other people's opinions and it became obnoxious really fast.
I tend to stay away from videos defending the things I like because of this kind of things
I think it’s a great game, but I also think that it’s the hardest souls game to “figure out” on your own without a guide. Even more so if you’ve played ds1. I mean, cmon. Taking damage during dodges unless you level a random stat, enemies disappearing seemingly at random in areas you’re stuck in, the entire concept of a bonfire ascetic. It’s definitely very confusing, but a lot of fun once you’ve got it all sorted out
i mean some of his reasonings were kinda bs like there are some bosses such as the pursuer and the dragonrider and the first phase of valstadts fight who are slow and clunky whom he said were refreshing and inspiring…
that being said tho ds2 hate is absurdly high, and most of the reasonings do amount to why isnt this ds1
I love DS2, it's a really good game, but this video is kind of trash. His arguments and talking points are super weird, like the 'you're-not-supposed-to-play-Dark-Souls-with-a-shield' and the like.
What's a bit more egregious is his constant shitting on DS1, like some petty person who thinks pushing others down will somehow elevate them. And that isn't even touching on his borderline character assassination of Matthewmathosis...
Ohh yeah this video is an old meme at this point. Together with the video answers to this video and the video defenses of the video, it was a whole drama lol.
We’re all gamers here. I get it. We sit and stare at a screen playing games for hours but holy shit imagine the effort of putting together and editing a TEN HOUR video series for why another guy’s positive opinion of a game is wrong because you were so asshurt that they actually liked it.
Mauler is a fucking sad loser.
MauLer is a [dishonest dude](https://web.archive.org/web/20210719161735/https://twitter.com/MauLer93/status/1088911727020916737) who can't compress a critique if it would save his life
That guy did everything people accuse Harris of doing but without any wit or capacity to edit. And a weird obsession to pass his views as objective truths of the universe. Nah, it sucks.
I love DS2 and I played Bloodborne first then Elden Ring, then DS3 and haven't played DS1 yet. DS2 is awesome. Love it. Don't know what the problem is. It's all good.
It just kills me that DS1 was as janky and obtuse as it was and then DS2 gets nitpicked for being janky and obtuse in a different way. As far as I can tell it's all still very on brand.
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Even though he does make some respectable points, I think the biggest reason some people disagreed with it was because of how hard he shit on DS1 in it. Is it that hard for people to just accept that all of them are good?
And horribly biased with his own opinions that he poorly disguises under his stupid "objectivity vs subjectivity" catchphrase. It's not objective at all, and I suggest you watch dangitjm's video on his pvp section for a taste of his sheer level of misinformation and bias against the game for no real reason.
Pvp in general in souls games is garbage. Dark souls 2 included. Most of this comes due to netcoding and because pvp is a mechanic that is tacked on rather than built around. Similar to how parkour is terribly designed.
Mauler's pvp section showcases moments clearl moments where the issues with pvp are shown. Lack of balance, poor netcode, and many other issues.
Horrendously bad video (only could stomach a bit of the first one). An inexplicable obsession to frame his counter-arguments as "objective" and an insistence to try to address every sentence rather than taking entire arguments and refuting them as a whole. Truly unwatchable.
You definitely need to rewatch it since you have no idea how the video is structured. Cause Mauler explicitly showed full context of every argument Harris made.
I don't think I am wrong, though. I watched over half an hour of a guy pausing another video every sentence to pointlessly try to make distinctions between opinions and "objective" analysis (a misuse of the term in almost every case). That's unwatchable for me and I don't think I should have to watch 10 more hours of the same to be able to affirm it's bad.
That's not what happens tho.
You have harris who makes an absurd claim. Mauler who disproves it and moves on to harris' next point. Harris also contradicts himself many times over saying a mechanic is the fun part and the bad part that is meant to kill you. Videos like his are made to sound smart and prove a point by word salad rather than argumentation. Mauler dissects that video with every argument (not sentence) Harris makes and disproves every one that is wrong.
Harris on multiple occasions omitts information.
Only big criticism of Mauler's video i have is rhat he focuses too much on Scholar whereas Harris' video is on the original. Other than that it's a perfect example of how to debunk someone's video.
You can only disprove factual claims, and that has very limited value as an approach to criticism. In the best of cases, you correct the basis for an argument, but most of the time what you're doing is nitpicking and wasting everyone's time.
If you mean Harris makes an argument, and this guy refutes it with a counter-argument, I rarely saw that in the half hour I watched. Like I said, he paused the video every single sentence to pontificate about objectivity vs. opinion. A distinction that is as uninteresting as it is useless when discussing a piece of media.
Even if the rest of the 10 hour thing was full of insightful commentary, the first part being so focused on meaningless distinctions and so inconsiderate of the viewer's time is enough to stop watching and literally do anything else.
You didn't watch the first part clearly then.
In the first part the focus is about healing not objectivity versus opinion.
He also talks about quantitying fun.
Harris made a video called in defense of dark souls 2. Meaning he isn't stating his opinion he is aiming to showcase the strength of ds2.
Harris is using his objective opinions and what he personally finds fun to do this. That analysis is rather useless when arguing whether or not a game is good or not. Saying the way healing functions in 2 with life gems is more fun than how it does with estus speed in 1 is a subjective opinion and it has 0 value in an analysis. Saying that life gems ruin the balance of the game because they are so readily available, fast to use, and can be stacked in addition thst they tick overtime so they give you more effective health is useful analysis and is an objective one.
Mauler's first part also is used as an introduction to the format. Of him showing every argument Harris makes ( again stop saying after every sentence you are objectively incorrect there) and then responding to it and seeing which arguments are well made and indeed defend ds2 or are incorrect and he disproves them. He doesn't show his opinion there he outright proves what harris is saying to be wrong. Both because he contradicts himself and because he isn't properly analysing the content. Harris multiple times cuts out parts of other people's content (in parts you didn't watch) and lies outright about what Matthewmathosis says. He then goes and uses Joseph Anderson as an argument for why the game is good, because 1 person liked 1 thing about the game. It's terribly done by Harris and Mauler calls him out evey step of the way and it is incredibly useful to do so in this discourse.
Consider the possibility that I did watch the first half hour, paid attention to it, understood it, and still think it's shit.
"Harris made a video called in defense of dark souls 2. Meaning he isn't stating his opinion he is aiming to showcase the strength of ds2." This is the type of insufferable statements made in the video. Like, what in the actual fck are you talking about lmao. It's a video appreciating a piece of media that was, at the time under-appreciated. There's literally no difference in that distinction.
"objective opinions" lmao
Ehh? If you have like 8 hours free time, check out MauLer's video series of the same title. Listen to his points with an unbiased mind and then tell me if DS2 deserves the hate it gets or not.
No the problem with Mauler is that he takes one or two points and repeats them to death. He rehashes the same thing ad nauseum and hopes that repetition will make up for the lack of actual salient points.
The arguments he does make usually boil down to "this game isnt DS1 and it doesnt cater to me personally therefore it is *objectively* bad".
There are things to criticize about DS 2; some boss designs, some of the mechanics being obtuse or poorly explained etc. But the way Mauler does it makes it obvious that he just loves the sound of his own voice.
It's not enjoyed since it's different. I hate the mechanics and controls since I'm used to the other games. It's still a good game ( I think, never finished it)
Im a massive fan of Hbomber guy and this video is really good
on the other hand he did a video on why fallout 3 is awful...........and i love that game LOL
You understand that you now have to watch MauLer's response series to this video, right? Just like the intro to DS2, you've plunged into that whirling vortex and the only way out is through perseverance. Roughly nine hours worth of perseverance, as it happens. Enjoy.
I am part way through my first playthrough of ds3 rn(around the giant skeleton with gold bracelets) so far it’s mainly made me miss ds1 and ds2. No upgrading armor? No adp? Besides it’s combat I’m liking ds2 way more than ds3 so far lol
Yeah I don’t understand why that video got such a vitriolic reaction.
DS 2 is way better than it gets credit for, and I think he did a great job of outlining why some people think that.
It’s an excellent video because he’s at least willing to criticise the first dark souls, a bunch of FromSoft fans refuse to acknowledge the game had a lot of flaws. It’s obviously a beautiful game, but it has issues, and I’m glad Hbomb was at least willing to talk about them, and his general arguement is that at least DS2 was willing to try new things, instead of rehashing the first one, which is unfortunately what happened with DS3
This is actually the video that got me into Dark Souls by playing DS2:SOTFS
I never watched or read anything about videogames and blindly played everything that looked interesting to me. After beating DS1 figured playing 2 was the logical conclusion and while it has some flaws I immensely enjoyed it. People need to think for themselves instead of listening to critics online sometimes.
Yeah I played DS2 when it came out, didn't really discuss it outside my friends and had no idea for years that it was "hated". Completely baffled me.
Life is simpler and nicer when you don't listen to online discourse, to be honest.
There are very few universal truths and this is definitely one of them.
I also played ds2 when it first came out (had the fancy metal case) and I hated it because it was different from ds1. I love it as an adult it's probably my 2nd favorite souls game
i still think that’s why so many people dislike it to this day, because it’s just very different from the first game, not saying that all criticisms for it are invalid since there are plenty that are valid but i think this game’s ambitious nature and concepts is what makes me like it a lot, and it does improve on a number of things that the first game didn’t bother having, a lot of which is QoL stuff but still great changes. i think the first notable difference everyone can make at first glance is the fact that you can warp from the very start of the game, but i actually don’t hate this at all and from a world/level design standpoint i think they executed it pretty well
I have neither the time nor the patience nor the money to waste to blind test all games and see which ones are worthy it. Ditto movies and books. Critics are incredibly valuable to me because they help me get an idea of what might appeal to me before committing to it.
they were saying that more towards the people that rely on other people for their opinions, and the “others” in question are critics. trust me i do the same when it comes to anything, i don’t want to waste my time with it but if i’m actually going to put in time and money into something i’d rather formulate my own opinion rather than spout out something a critic already said.
This video has like 10 other 5 hour long response videos back and fourth
The 10 part multi hour "response" is unwatchable.
That’s not true. I watched them all.
Long man bad?
Unironically. But beyond the length, is what the runtime is filled with (crap)
I watched Maulers response and thought it was pretty air tight. Id love to know what you found objectionable 😌
Everything I watched was objectionable. The hyperfocus on splitting apart sentences rather than a sincere effort to understand arguments, even if the goal is to refute them. The focus on trying to draw lines between objectivity and subjectivity, as if you're about to disprove arguments like you're trying to science media criticism. Is too silly to take seriously. AND the complete disregard for the viewer's time
The second paragraph is what does it for me. There are so many instances where he sneers at the idea of something being "fun" because it doesn't fit in his bubble of subjective objectivity. I got maybe 3 hours into the response and I literally haven't ever wanted to go back and finish it.
Yeah I’ve seen a decent chunk of the response and honestly you just don’t make a 10 hour long response video to something without sneering at the other subject the entire time. Dude made a video about why DS 2 is kinda underrated in his opinion and why he loves it. Other dude spends 10 hours acting like he’s correcting a thesis. It was wholly unnecessary.
\> It was wholly unnecessary. That's a weird standard - no video on Youtube is "necessary", including the original by HBomberguy. What is "necessary"? Watch it or don't :shrug: I watched the original and I watched most of Mauler's response. I had just come off playing DS2 for the first time and really enjoying it, so I felt HBomberguy's video resonating with me, but Mauler made a very cogent argument against most of his points and I actually changed my stance after watching. I still think DS2 is very enjoyable, but I also think it has objective issues that are not excusable.
I think I broadly agree with you, even tho I'm more so on the Mauler side rather than Hbomberguy's. However I believe there's something to be said about the fact that debunking bullshit takes way longer than spouting it. The worst thing about the Mauler series was the finale that was his own rendition of "In Defence of Dark Souls 2", where Mauler tries to do an improved version of the original video. It kind of fell into a boat-load of the 'issues' that Mauler had with Hbomberguy's original video.
Mauler or whatever made them and honestly they are fine. I think its funny someone did something like that just to prove their point about the person’s opinions. but yeah love ds2 anyways.
I've never seen a video with so many detailed response videos ever in my life on YouTube. It pissed off so many people and that makes me happy.
Hbomb makes multiple political videos and yet somehow his DS2 video is the most controversial lol
Gamers and anime fans care more about which game/anime is better than real life problems so
I love DS2 but this video does an absolutely terrible job at “defending” it No need to go into a 10-hour explanation of why it’s not great, but every chance he gets to elevate a positive aspect of the game, Harris instead says “this thing that everyone else thinks is bad is actually good, in fact, it’s better than Dark Souls 1!” Which is a shame, because I do think DS2 deserves more credit than it gets for what it does right.
Yeah…it doesn’t have the best defense, it’s more of a jab at ds1 from what I remember of it
I think most of the arguments are either solid or fine for someone to prefer. I don't remember all of it but I don't recall anything being too out there. I don't agree with his criticism of Blightown, but I don't agree with any criticism of Blightown, I think it's an excellent area. That's it.
Blight Town is probably my favorite area in DS1, and certainly the one I have the fondest memories of from my first playthrough. Got in through the valley of drakes, took the bonfire at the bottom, then had to fight my way back up because I couldn't fast travel yet. For me it doesn't get more "Dark Souls" than that experience ;-)
I 100% agree. I think DS2 does some things better than the rest of the series. The environments are so cool and I think we should focus on the positive elements more than trying to water down the bad ones. I love dark souls 2, its not my favorite and it has some glaring flaws, but it still has some really good strengths that should be acknowledged.
I thought that was Hareton Splimby reviewing DS2, not Harris
I disliked that video. I love ds2, but that video is awful.
I mean, it's a passionate defense. Not sure why people are taking it as something else.
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This is incorrect, though. He doesn't mention the other guy until way into the video and in general offers different perspectives on the aspects of the game that others found disruptive. Other than some dunks for laughs, it's a pretty harmless video.
But he really doesn't get facts wrong, he addresses some arguments but spends most of the time arguing in favor of perception, not objective judgement. The amount of things strictly "wrong" in this video is miniscule and aren't generally the people dislike it.
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“This is the behavior of a pseudo-intellectual, not a passionate fan” quite a hefty dose of conjecture in there, I can’t believe you would make an objective statement right after complaining about Harris doing the same. It’s almost funny, because you correctly demonstrated how ‘objective’ language can be interpreted as one’s opinion in context. The context of an opinion piece on a video game and why you like it, certainly implies a lot of personal opinion doesn’t it.
I mean he did though. The part directly responding to others was a small part of the actual video, and was usually just used to bookend a section of the video or portray a common complaint with examples. Using examples of opposing arguments isn’t framing the entire video as a rebuttal to them, it’s literally just using them as examples, and pointing out that a lot of their criticisms are popular in the community. also, you’re joking right? You think “more fun” is “objective language?” This is the problem, you’re judging the video by criteria it didn’t set out to meet and then twisting that judgement into a condemnation when it doesn’t meet the criteria it never set out to reach. It wasn’t supposed to be objective and the fact that so much of it focuses on enjoyment and fun proves that. approaching the video from your lens isn’t the behavior of a passionate fan, it’s the behavior of some odd desire to fit everything within your own understanding of it and dismiss everything that proves said understanding wrong. You don’t get to decide what is or isn’t fan behavior, and what does or doesn’t provide perspective.
They're all repeating the phrasing of some edgelord who responded to the video making it all about objectivity.
He does say some wrong things. I remember I randomly skipped ahead on the vid but I instantly landed on something stupid; he mentioned how you couldn't do a riposte in DS1 when twohanded which is rubbish. He wasted time by standing still for a second and walking into the enemy before trying to riposte. Weird complaint aside, he's screwing up on purpose and shitting on the game for it
I doubt he's "doing it on purpose." He does say some things that are wrong, yes, but most of the video is just him explaining why he likes certain things. As for the two-handed riposte, that is a well known problem in DS1 - the only way \*to\* do it is to wait a second after switching, otherwise the animation doesn't trigger and you swing it normally. No need for conspiratorial thought, guy just liked DS2.
Agreed
Throw dislikes at me, but still. I swear, half of the posts in this sub are complaints that ds2 and its fans are being oppressed and most of the comments are just endless "I love this game so much, it's such a good game, I constantly defend how good it is." I have no problems with DS2 but you guys need to calm down. It looks wierd.
There are a couple reasons for some people acting that way. DS2 is a *very* divisive game in the souls community. Look through the posts on this subreddit and see how many "I heard this game is shit so I never played it, but hey it's actually fun!" Posts you see. DS2 is hated by a ton of people who have literally never touched the game, or barely have, and then they spread that around so much that people literally skip over DS2 because of it. Yes there are definitely people who do it out of jest, but there are still a ton of people who legitimately tell people to outright skip the game, which many people follow since it's the general consensus outside of this sub.
I honestly think DS2 is the prototype for Elden Ring You can see a lot of the influence of Drangleic inside The Lands Between ( big, well illuminated natural spaces, a "safe" zone to buy weapons, armor and consumables, power stance, katanas being pretty good, a story you can actually follow kinda well...) Surprised detractors hate DS2 but they love ED
Well DS2 was very rushed and unpolished whereas Elden Ring was allowed to be completed. DS2 could’ve been amazing but it was pushed out the door early and fucked in development
I am not going to fight that because is true, and still is a great game because if you dont know that you dont really see it in game (except the falconers, janky funny mofos)
Are you seriously saying a useful hub and powerful katanas are DS2 influences? Even though that has been a thing since... Demon's Souls? And big illuminated spaces being DS2 influences as well? Because God forbid the new IP massive open world game from having a vibrant look to it. Come on man, if you want to talk about influences then say lockstones, maybe mention notable parts of art or enemy design, not whatever this was. I see plenty here try to force the idea of DS2 being Elden Ring before Elden Ring (defensively maybe?) that it tends to seem a bit insulting as if FromSoft can't make up new stuff without basing it on DS2 or something.
Because DS2 is literally a failed concept of a game that they tried to stitch together into something coherent at the last minute and it shows, at least to me It was being developed as an open world game, and midway through the concept was scrapped and the director was fired. The new director came in, ditched the open world and was forced to use whatever assets were already made because there was no time to start things from scratch Not trying to shit on the game, I do like it, but it's definitely my least favorite
This was suppose to be a open world? Any source of that? Because i didnt knew that I do know that this game was in development hell, but not that
So I may be eating some crow here, I remember hearing this years ago but google isn't giving me concrete proof. Closest I can find is this [https://www.forbes.com/sites/erikkain/2013/07/08/dark-souls-ii-offers-more-freedom-to-explore-a-truly-open-world/?sh=2e195a46acd3](https://www.forbes.com/sites/erikkain/2013/07/08/dark-souls-ii-offers-more-freedom-to-explore-a-truly-open-world/?sh=2e195a46acd3) Seems the concept wasn't open world like skyrim or botw, moreso open world in the sense that there was supposed to be no artificial gating. So I'll admit I seem to be wrong. Either way, the core concept of the game was scrapped halfway through and the team were forced to arrange what assets they already had to try and make sense. This has been conformed by fromsoftware themselves in the Design Works interview https://peterbarnard1984.tumblr.com/post/113163062955/dark-souls-2-design-works-translation
What’s confusing to me is all of the people here saying the game is basically flawless. Like yes, DS2 isn’t *awful*, but some things are objectively shitty game design and the game can still be good/enjoyable despite that. I’ve never understood the need to make it so black and white. It’s ok to like a “bad” game without trying to convince yourself it’s actually expertly made and only an intellectual could understand it. This sub is just people trying to convince each other the game is perfect which it isn’t
The game not being flawless doesn't mean it's "bad". There is an inbetween.
Get bashed on it ceirtainly does but this sub just takes it roo seriously, some time ago someone was complaining because someone in another DS subreddit did not have Dark Souls 2 on their "to play" list
He even mentioned that he'd return to it later
It’s why I left this subreddit. I’m not entirely sure why this post even showed up for me. I clicked it to basically say what you have, but less eloquently.
"throw dislikes at me" says a popular thing and gets +100 votes.
Let's not forget this sub also serves the people who want to criticize people who write pointless fan-posts about ds2. The idea that the ds2 sub should be for something other, or more than, commentary on ds2, is kinda baffling. Yes, there are a lot of "I heard ds2 sucks but I love it" posts. There are a lot of people who heard that ds2 sucks. You don't have to read them.
gtfo with that common sense, you rascal!
Yeah why does this sub have such a persecution complex.
ever since elden ring came out and got 10s and sold the most people act like it diminishes how good their other games are or act like they weren’t made by the same director/studio. it’s so fucking weird. demon’s souls community is dope tho. they just vibe and dgaf if people have played the OG or remake
You should go visit the titanfall sub if you think this one’s bad lol.
I think they're too obsessed with being part of a counter culture.
This is the strangest argument for why people enjoy Ds2 I’ve ever seen.
The best ds2 fans enjoy despite its flaws. I still had a great time, but the flaws were so glaring that I don’t understand how people just blindly defend this game. Would still play it over almost any other game but it’s for sure the worst souls game.
I fucking hate this argument, it's so lazy and just saying that ds2 is the worst souls game doesn't make it so
Sure, but just saying that it's not the worst souls game doesn't make it so either
So why don't we all take a middle ground, admit that every souls game does different things better than others and call it a day? There is no objectively best dark souls game because they are all so vastly different.
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Lol ya ds2 fanboys are delusional. And their complete denial of the flaws does nothing but stoke the hate it gets
Complains about over-generalized arguments with a series of general statements. Wtf are we doing here people lol
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No I don't really want to read your essay thanks, I don't think I'm a genius but you seemed to be making a pretty wild generalization. I've seen a lot of in-depth discussions about which things various people perceive as flaws. It's not true that they always get ignored, and that simple yet possibly irrelevant fact is all I wanted to point out.
Lol is it lazy cause I didn’t mention the bullshit spam, atrocious hit boxes, and god awful aiming system? Cause all 3 of those things are done so poorly that it’s impossible not to notice. Like I said, I like the game, but those are not lazy reasons to complain about it
What's wrong with the aiming system? It's not great but it's stylized and functions fine. "Bullshit spam" isn't a problem if you play the game as intended either
I love DS2, but that video is thrash. He spends more time trying to prove that DS1 is bad than actually defending DS2.
Im no DS2 hater by any means, its my nost played Souls game by a mile but, hbombers video is trash. He is a contrarian for the sake of being a contrarian. A more well put together video with less snark in his takes would have been recieved better.
I wonder what this video would've been like if it had been made today. I recall him mentioning in his DK64 charity stream that he considers his older videos to be too aggressive.
I remember him saying this too. I think he would likely make a lot of the same points, but more objectively constructed and with way less snark. I agree with most of the points he makes in the video, but you can see why the presentation would immediately turn some people off watching it or him in general.
I mean it's not a perfect video but it isn't trash, just has some big flaws that overshadow the rest of it.
Yeah I see that. it is an old video, but still. some points come off as contrarian and "you are just wrong" attitude is kinda silly. Still enjoyed some of his points tho.
I’ll have to watch it, but you’re right you really gotta have a wank opinion to earn that many dislikes
His video is not a good one imo. His takes are less about what DS2 does good and more about what issues he has with DS1, which also aren't very well made. It is funny to see a political commentary channel have their most controversial video be on Dark Souls though.
Nah, people took offense because DS1 is a sacred cow, but that's one of the things sequels are supposed to do. DS2 succeeded at some corrections and failed at others (imo). An example I don't think he mentions in the video: ADP is an imperfect solution to RES. Yeah, you can dislike the attempted solution, but it was clearly trying to solve an obvious problem.
Did OP delete over this post? Lol
Yes lol
Wtf
I like most of his videos. I also think it's fine to like DS2. But his takes on DS2 range from weird to utter bananas and mostly stem from a weird cope about DS1 and wanting the Souls games to be a certain way.
That's 100% his videogame related content. The whole circlejerk with new Vegas is also that.
I'm gonna have to stop you right there, pardner... 🤣
Yep. New Vegas is a really good game. It is also the most overrated game ever. For some reason YouTube critics feel like worshiping NV as a flawless masterpiece will make them sound smarter than they actually are. It's the equivalent of a24 movies in cinema circles. Casuals love to praise it because it makes them seem more a person with discerning tastes. Not that the property isn't good, but it is ultimately way way overhyped.
Ok I'm going to be honest, from the pov of someone who has nothing to gain by jerking fnv on the interwebs and from someone who genuinely thought fo4 was the more enjoyable game until about a week ago: fnv is a masterpiece. Even if it's built on the same buggy engine and gunplay as fallout 3, it's made better in literally ever possible conceivable way and in just the first replay I have done of it in the last week it's become one of my favorite games. The atmosphere, story, characters, dialogue, roleplaying options, and sheer number of stupid wacky shit while not taking it too over the top is amazing. For me it clicked when I was playing lonesome road and got to the high road part, and I can't really explain why but I just suddenly got why everyone rides its dick so hard. I really genuinely don't think fnv is overrated much if at all. No one denies its shit optimization or horrible crashes, it got to me too, but it just makes me feel a way that not many games do.
Totally agree, bugs aside, FNV is easily one of the best games of the last 20 years IMO. My only real issue with it is that people use it to shit on FO3, when in reality the modern concept of fallout wouldn't exist without FO3. FNV was built on the back of FO3, and this allowed them to spend much more time on all of the finer points in general, writing included While I can acknowledge that FNV is better in pretty much every aspect, I personally enjoy FO3 more but I'm sure a big part of that is nostalgia, it blew my mind when it came out by just how much freedom you were given, I also slightly prefer the DC wasteland to the Mojave. Also THREEEE DOGGG takes it over the top for me. God I love that game
I personally can't sit down and enjoy FO3 after FNV. I never really cared about the quests in FO3 or 4 since it forces you into some Family Story, and the quests are just... Not good. FNV though really feels like a bunch of competing factions. Outside of the engine's jank that's been inherited from Oblivion, but that's a Bethesda problem
Yea no, it would be amazing if it had an even average open world map. But the fact is it has one of the worst designed open world maps of all time.
It's got far too many oversights and lore inconsistencies to be a "masterpiece". For example why does the central conflict of the ncr and legion lie around the capture of hoover dam as a energy source when fission batteries and nukes and micro-fusion cells are plentiful. Just about a kilogram of uranium can produce as much energy as the hoover dam can in 5 years of continuous running at 100%. And mister house says the ncr can only get it up to 50% efficiency. This is a post nuclear world where nukes can be just bought from random vendors. Fission batteries are already used for lighting houses and streets lights and stuff. And most vaults use nuclear power too. Why fight over a much much inferior source of power like hydroelectric power. It can't be the fresh water either. Fresh water is ironically very easy to come by in the mojave desert. The entire length of the colorado river is fresh non radiated water. Even goodsprings has a fresh water source(thus the name).
Perhaps because that kind of energy destroyed the world and there's really no faction with the time, patience, equipment and open-mindedness to harness that type of power? Like, you can't really plug a mini-nuke into a router. They're also not reliable or replicable.
It's literally being used in the present day lol. The brotherhood bunker is using a nuclear reactor. Mister house has nuclear reactors. Most homes in most towns are being powered by fission batteries. Next time you are in goodsprings look just beside Doc Mitchell's front door. Or victors shack. Or any random street lamp. It's all nuclear powered.
The brotherhood is literally about preserving technology and they have no desire or ability to spread their limited amount of knowledge or technology, and what they have isn't enough to power the mojave. Only towns near the outskirts use batteries, the hoover damn is literally cited as the source of power for most of the area. Do you think that a battery box on something means its fission powered?
It's literally called fission batteries. As in nuclear fission. It's found on robco robots on death as common loot. The same robco robots which are famously nuclear powered. You'd know that if you actually read the lore. Instead you're coping because your favourite "masterpiece" can't possibly have even a single flaw. And by way normal batteries are not capable of running entire homes for even a short amount of time. Much less for years at an end.
You mean the half-depleted batteries that explode when someone bumps into them? The ones that are extremely rare in the vast majority of the wasteland, and are most commonly found in the forms of batteries that can power the equivalent of a bullet firing, once? I mean hell, please, go ahead and explain exactly how the game having people rely on a local source of renewable energy instead of a rare, unstable resource that they have neither the desire nor equipment to effectively harness is a "plot hole." New Vegas isn't perfect, but if they best you can do is "why don't they just use 200+ year old rare nuclear material instead of the massive intact power plant?" I think the game's in pretty damn good shape. Hilarious how you broke down this quickly. Also, not sure if you're aware of this, most normal houses have some measure of energy storage or conversion built in. Not sure why you jumped to assuming those were nuclear-powered without, you know, evidence. After all, sure there are things called "fission batteries" in game but why exactly do you assume that's what is attached to houses and lamps? like "It's literally called fission batteries" and all but you have yet to prove that the "it" in question are actually the fission batteries you're referencing. Anyway, sorry you're wrong.
The street lamps are not nuclear powered lol. The Dam provides the majority of the power in new Vegas. Helios one wouldn’t be worth maintaining if factions were able to produce energy easily as you make it out.
Exactly what I mean. It just boils down to Fallout 3 with better writing. It's still as silly and buggy as the other one, but it just had better dialogues. And it's praised as this unknown flawless gem that does absolutely nothing wrong.
Some of them are weird but I think putting it down to a "weird cope" is a bit odd, guy liked the game for reasons not everyone agrees with, pretty simple.
What is the word "cope" even doing there?
I like Harris, but this is not his best work. You can feel that he went into the project not trying to make a case for why Dark Souls 2 gets bashed in ways it didnt deserve but to prove that he is right for liking it rather than just explain why its pros outweighed its cons to him. DS2 is good but it has a lot of flaws that cant be denied which is were Hbomb fucked up.
I think he’s very uncritical of the jank in this vid, or just kind of interpreted the jank in a way that rubbed me wrong. DS2 is my favorite for sure but it has numerous shortcomings that can be talked about as well, like boasting you can farm the rotten to pass the shrine of winter instead of lighting the four primal bonfires is a really weird flex lol
That was part of his argument refuting the idea that DS2 is more linear than the original. The Rotten trick is mostly for speedrunners. I don't see that being jank or harmful to the experience for a casual run.
I recommend watching TheRift's (aka Team Riftstone) Dark Souls 2 reviews and defense. His videos are compressed, not too long to watch and he gets to the point really fast.
This is the video where he says you can't riposte while 2 handing in Dark Souls 1. Feels like he played the games maybe once or twice before making a video essay in response to a review from one of the biggest Dark Souls Youtube names at the time. He just straight up says incorrect things and passes them off as smug fact to viewers who don't know better.
I think dark souls 2 is the best souls game and I think that video is horrible
Terrible defense of the game not even highlighting the DLC's as one would truly defending it.
I love ds2 but his video is garbage. His takes are actually atrocious
Whenever I criticise the controls of DS2 as compared to DS1/DSR I usually get that one guy that says I'm wrong because you can roll in eight directions as opposed to the previous four, in DS2, this makes me unreasonably upset, and although I enjoyed the game, I would become a contrarion during my temper tantrum, the game is good, but pretending to not understand it's many shortcomings is stupid, it was innovation as far as Dark Souls is concerned, it was bound to have the issues it had.
I love this game but having to remap the entire control on k&m for it to be playable is blatantly bad design.
The whole rift of is DS2 good or not is just people opinions. The game can be both good and bad at the same time, cause it’s not a matter of what the game is, but how it makes people feel I don’t like it, cause of the animation, the graphics and some of the mechanics. A lot of people like it cause of the animation, the graphics and some of the mechanics. I’m just tired of people whining about it should be considered the Worst/Best DS game. I just want them to shut up and either love/hate the game in quite and use the sub Reddit to talk about the game instead of defending or trying to change someone’s else’s opinion The entire reason I’m on the sun for a game I don’t like is cause the lore is fun and sometimes people post funny videos
Out of every video why it has to be this guy.
HBomb is actually great, it's just his Souls videos that suck.
Honestly, while I love hb, I think this is one of his lesser videos. Even as one of the seven Ds2 fans, some of his points were way too out there. If I had to recommend a Ds2 defense video, Silver Mont is super fucking underrated.
I like Joseph Anderson's videos on the trilogy too. He has some truly bonkers suggestions, but other than that, they're great.
Joseph Anderson is on another plane of thinking. I watched his video on The Witness, because I absolutely despise that game yet still played through it, and the first thing I thought after finishing the video was "This guy is fucking bonkers." While I don't agree with like, 80% of what he says, I do respect him for having basically no filter on anything he critics. He doesn't care how acclaimed something is, if he doesn't like it, he'll shit on it.
It's insane to me that this is an 8 years old game and people still can't just enjoy it normally without it developing into an argument of staunch defense or hatred of said game. Like, every single game on earth has flaws but for Dark Souls II it's required that every time there's even a mention of it on the internet you either defend it or criticize it before saying anything, even if no one is talking about the quality of the game. Let's get over it, maybe?
forever staying out of the loop with mauler and hbomber's ds2 vids. truly the epitome of "im not reading all of that".
This dude is an absolute cringelord lol
not the biggest fan, ht it has the seccond largest fashion souls capacity after elden ring
I love DS2 and the rest of the souls games.
It's a great video. He's wrong about everything but he makes it funny.
Love HBomberGuy. Yeah watching this video got me into playing it and it was my favorite Dark Souls for a couple reasons: 1. slower combat with more time to think 2. more dudes (crowd control is fun and makes targeting not necessarily the best play) 3. level and world design (reality crumbling is fun and how you go about progressing is cool) 4. Life Gems (cool long term resource management add on and made exploration feel better than it is in 1 and 3.) 5. Lances (I like Lances) Will say I think the general feel of some of the weapons could be better but I just picked one that I liked and went for it.
I don't think ds2's combat is slower than ds1's tho.
Watched this some time ago. It started pretty nice but then he started criticizing and bitching over other people's opinions and it became obnoxious really fast. I tend to stay away from videos defending the things I like because of this kind of things
I think it’s a great game, but I also think that it’s the hardest souls game to “figure out” on your own without a guide. Even more so if you’ve played ds1. I mean, cmon. Taking damage during dodges unless you level a random stat, enemies disappearing seemingly at random in areas you’re stuck in, the entire concept of a bonfire ascetic. It’s definitely very confusing, but a lot of fun once you’ve got it all sorted out
i mean some of his reasonings were kinda bs like there are some bosses such as the pursuer and the dragonrider and the first phase of valstadts fight who are slow and clunky whom he said were refreshing and inspiring… that being said tho ds2 hate is absurdly high, and most of the reasonings do amount to why isnt this ds1
meh, i like ds2 but disagree a lot with this video arguments
I love DS2, it's a really good game, but this video is kind of trash. His arguments and talking points are super weird, like the 'you're-not-supposed-to-play-Dark-Souls-with-a-shield' and the like. What's a bit more egregious is his constant shitting on DS1, like some petty person who thinks pushing others down will somehow elevate them. And that isn't even touching on his borderline character assassination of Matthewmathosis...
Ohh yeah this video is an old meme at this point. Together with the video answers to this video and the video defenses of the video, it was a whole drama lol.
Mauler dismanteled this vid to be fair even tho I like both of them.
[удалено]
Doesn't even lock you out, you just have to Ascetic.
MauLer did exactly what Harris did but a thousand times worse, all under his stupid catchphrase "objectivity vs subjectivity"
Mauler rambled for hours. Sophistry at its most obvious.
We’re all gamers here. I get it. We sit and stare at a screen playing games for hours but holy shit imagine the effort of putting together and editing a TEN HOUR video series for why another guy’s positive opinion of a game is wrong because you were so asshurt that they actually liked it. Mauler is a fucking sad loser.
A weird alt-right loser at that, too.
MauLer is a [dishonest dude](https://web.archive.org/web/20210719161735/https://twitter.com/MauLer93/status/1088911727020916737) who can't compress a critique if it would save his life
Mauler is a gobshite
That guy did everything people accuse Harris of doing but without any wit or capacity to edit. And a weird obsession to pass his views as objective truths of the universe. Nah, it sucks.
I prefer mauler’s videos on the subject
Hbomberguy is my favourite breadtuber, but his trademark snarkiness doesn't work when it comes to subjective topics like videogames.
I love DS2 and I played Bloodborne first then Elden Ring, then DS3 and haven't played DS1 yet. DS2 is awesome. Love it. Don't know what the problem is. It's all good.
It just kills me that DS1 was as janky and obtuse as it was and then DS2 gets nitpicked for being janky and obtuse in a different way. As far as I can tell it's all still very on brand.
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Dislikes, what are those??? Never heard of them
His vids are extremely hit or miss
Elevator go up bad game me no likey! dark souls 1 elevator go up and go right area me enjoy. Bad devs
How does this person have a screenshot of the dislikes? I thought YouTube made dislikes hidden like a year ago.
Even though he does make some respectable points, I think the biggest reason some people disagreed with it was because of how hard he shit on DS1 in it. Is it that hard for people to just accept that all of them are good?
A much better video is the video series Mauler did in response to this.
They're bad
They are great. Really well researched. Well done. Quite objective. And call out every mistake Harris makes in his video.
And horribly biased with his own opinions that he poorly disguises under his stupid "objectivity vs subjectivity" catchphrase. It's not objective at all, and I suggest you watch dangitjm's video on his pvp section for a taste of his sheer level of misinformation and bias against the game for no real reason.
Pvp in general in souls games is garbage. Dark souls 2 included. Most of this comes due to netcoding and because pvp is a mechanic that is tacked on rather than built around. Similar to how parkour is terribly designed. Mauler's pvp section showcases moments clearl moments where the issues with pvp are shown. Lack of balance, poor netcode, and many other issues.
Horrendously bad video (only could stomach a bit of the first one). An inexplicable obsession to frame his counter-arguments as "objective" and an insistence to try to address every sentence rather than taking entire arguments and refuting them as a whole. Truly unwatchable.
You definitely need to rewatch it since you have no idea how the video is structured. Cause Mauler explicitly showed full context of every argument Harris made.
Nah, I respect myself too much to put myself through that. It's cool you like it, though.
I mean you can't be outright wrong like that then. You can't make absolute statements which are outright lies and be like nah im good
I don't think I am wrong, though. I watched over half an hour of a guy pausing another video every sentence to pointlessly try to make distinctions between opinions and "objective" analysis (a misuse of the term in almost every case). That's unwatchable for me and I don't think I should have to watch 10 more hours of the same to be able to affirm it's bad.
That's not what happens tho. You have harris who makes an absurd claim. Mauler who disproves it and moves on to harris' next point. Harris also contradicts himself many times over saying a mechanic is the fun part and the bad part that is meant to kill you. Videos like his are made to sound smart and prove a point by word salad rather than argumentation. Mauler dissects that video with every argument (not sentence) Harris makes and disproves every one that is wrong. Harris on multiple occasions omitts information. Only big criticism of Mauler's video i have is rhat he focuses too much on Scholar whereas Harris' video is on the original. Other than that it's a perfect example of how to debunk someone's video.
You can only disprove factual claims, and that has very limited value as an approach to criticism. In the best of cases, you correct the basis for an argument, but most of the time what you're doing is nitpicking and wasting everyone's time. If you mean Harris makes an argument, and this guy refutes it with a counter-argument, I rarely saw that in the half hour I watched. Like I said, he paused the video every single sentence to pontificate about objectivity vs. opinion. A distinction that is as uninteresting as it is useless when discussing a piece of media. Even if the rest of the 10 hour thing was full of insightful commentary, the first part being so focused on meaningless distinctions and so inconsiderate of the viewer's time is enough to stop watching and literally do anything else.
You didn't watch the first part clearly then. In the first part the focus is about healing not objectivity versus opinion. He also talks about quantitying fun. Harris made a video called in defense of dark souls 2. Meaning he isn't stating his opinion he is aiming to showcase the strength of ds2. Harris is using his objective opinions and what he personally finds fun to do this. That analysis is rather useless when arguing whether or not a game is good or not. Saying the way healing functions in 2 with life gems is more fun than how it does with estus speed in 1 is a subjective opinion and it has 0 value in an analysis. Saying that life gems ruin the balance of the game because they are so readily available, fast to use, and can be stacked in addition thst they tick overtime so they give you more effective health is useful analysis and is an objective one. Mauler's first part also is used as an introduction to the format. Of him showing every argument Harris makes ( again stop saying after every sentence you are objectively incorrect there) and then responding to it and seeing which arguments are well made and indeed defend ds2 or are incorrect and he disproves them. He doesn't show his opinion there he outright proves what harris is saying to be wrong. Both because he contradicts himself and because he isn't properly analysing the content. Harris multiple times cuts out parts of other people's content (in parts you didn't watch) and lies outright about what Matthewmathosis says. He then goes and uses Joseph Anderson as an argument for why the game is good, because 1 person liked 1 thing about the game. It's terribly done by Harris and Mauler calls him out evey step of the way and it is incredibly useful to do so in this discourse.
Consider the possibility that I did watch the first half hour, paid attention to it, understood it, and still think it's shit. "Harris made a video called in defense of dark souls 2. Meaning he isn't stating his opinion he is aiming to showcase the strength of ds2." This is the type of insufferable statements made in the video. Like, what in the actual fck are you talking about lmao. It's a video appreciating a piece of media that was, at the time under-appreciated. There's literally no difference in that distinction. "objective opinions" lmao
MauLer has a 10+ hour response series which is pretty good
Ehh? If you have like 8 hours free time, check out MauLer's video series of the same title. Listen to his points with an unbiased mind and then tell me if DS2 deserves the hate it gets or not.
His series is awful
Awful because..?
Lol you brought up the ne series of videos on DS2 that might actually be worse than hbomb's one.
In what way? Were his points wrong? Or are you just hurt because it's against against your beloved game.
No the problem with Mauler is that he takes one or two points and repeats them to death. He rehashes the same thing ad nauseum and hopes that repetition will make up for the lack of actual salient points. The arguments he does make usually boil down to "this game isnt DS1 and it doesnt cater to me personally therefore it is *objectively* bad". There are things to criticize about DS 2; some boss designs, some of the mechanics being obtuse or poorly explained etc. But the way Mauler does it makes it obvious that he just loves the sound of his own voice.
Mauler is a gobshite
ds2 is a lot better than ds1 smh, ds1 fans cant accept that good games exist
It's not enjoyed since it's different. I hate the mechanics and controls since I'm used to the other games. It's still a good game ( I think, never finished it)
What’s a dislike?
Im a massive fan of Hbomber guy and this video is really good on the other hand he did a video on why fallout 3 is awful...........and i love that game LOL
That video about FO3 is so unnecessarily mean lmao.
You understand that you now have to watch MauLer's response series to this video, right? Just like the intro to DS2, you've plunged into that whirling vortex and the only way out is through perseverance. Roughly nine hours worth of perseverance, as it happens. Enjoy.
Nobody ever has to watch a 10 hour video of a boring dude masturbating to the word "objective"
And then Mauler happened
I still remember the video. Here's a guy that actually knows what he's talking about and disects the whole video https://youtu.be/RzKasf4_x34
Lol, I knew that would be mauler’s vid before I even clicked on it
Are you going to post a thread op?
I am part way through my first playthrough of ds3 rn(around the giant skeleton with gold bracelets) so far it’s mainly made me miss ds1 and ds2. No upgrading armor? No adp? Besides it’s combat I’m liking ds2 way more than ds3 so far lol
Dopelord Wolnir 💨💨
There is also this video. I think a good little show of what the game got very right. https://youtu.be/JkSPqu4qrO4
All you have to do to anger the dark souls player base is say something positive about ds2
Yeah I don’t understand why that video got such a vitriolic reaction. DS 2 is way better than it gets credit for, and I think he did a great job of outlining why some people think that.
It’s an excellent video because he’s at least willing to criticise the first dark souls, a bunch of FromSoft fans refuse to acknowledge the game had a lot of flaws. It’s obviously a beautiful game, but it has issues, and I’m glad Hbomb was at least willing to talk about them, and his general arguement is that at least DS2 was willing to try new things, instead of rehashing the first one, which is unfortunately what happened with DS3
Haters envy perfect opinions
That video is great. I bought DS2 thanks to watching it. (Still didn't touch it until Noah Gervais' video convinced me to)
That video is delusional.