As a fan of all Dark Souls games I was looking forward to the long-overdue remastered version of the original. Dark Souls II: Scholar of the First Sin is actually one of my favourite games ever, and apart from a few controls problems (which are fixable with keyboard/mouse automation software) the PC version is technically excellent, and a rare example of level streaming done right.
After testing the new remastered version I have to say it's disappointing gameplay-wise. First the good news: navigating the menus is easy now that the interface shows the proper key icons, and the mouse issues are fixed. Now the bad news: they missed all opportunities to improve the gameplay controls:
For those interested I'm including the keyboard/mouse configuration I use for the Dark Souls games, along with some information that can be used to improve some of the issues.
Since the game engine doesn't support advanced bindings configuration I'm not creating a mod to fix the remaining problems. It would be easy to correct them for anyone with access to the source code but since we don't the only option would be to reverse-engineer the executable to create a binary patch, which apart from requiring a lot of work would be unreliable and create problems (e.g. online banning due to file tampering).
Considering the new version was done by a different developer with more PC experience and they had to redo QA testing this was a perfect chance to try some more ambitious gameplay improvements, but unfortunately they completely ignored it.
As for the rest, basically the game is the same and runs well but it won't win any awards for the visuals. I'm not reviewing other aspects of the game since there are a lot of publications already covering that (e.g. a good PC focused gaming website is DSOGaming), but if anyone has requests related to my areas of expertise feel free to leave feedback in the comments.
After testing the new remastered version I have to say it's disappointing gameplay-wise. First the good news: navigating the menus is easy now that the interface shows the proper key icons, and the mouse issues are fixed. Now the bad news: they missed all opportunities to improve the gameplay controls:
- The "Dash/Roll/Backstep" features are still bound to the same key, which not only causes conflicts but adds a significant and unnecessary delay when initiating those actions. In fact the Backstep feature is pretty much useless.
- The "Lock target/Reset camera" features are still bound to the same key, which is disorienting sometimes. In fact the "Reset camera" feature is pretty much useless.
- Picking up items still interrupts gameplay.
- It is still not possible to assign items directly to keys (e.g. Estus Flask to F1 or a number key).
For those interested I'm including the keyboard/mouse configuration I use for the Dark Souls games, along with some information that can be used to improve some of the issues.
| Action | Key/Button | Remarks |
|---|---|---|
| Movement | WASD | |
| Camera | Mouse | |
| Quick roll | Left-Shift | Done by simulating an immediate key press/release of the combined Dash/Roll/Backstep key with AutoHotKey (also allows to roll when dashing) |
| Dash/Roll/Backstep | Space-bar | Only used for dashing because of the new "Quick roll" key |
| Walk | V | |
| Jump | C | Don't use a good key for this since it's very rarely used |
| Use item | R | |
| Action | F | |
| Toggle one/two-hand grip | Left-Alt | |
| Lock target | Thumb mouse button | |
| Left weapon attack | Left mouse button | |
| Left weapon attack (Strong) | Left-Ctrl | A single key is better than a key-combination since it makes actions like Parrying easier |
| Right weapon attack | Right mouse button | |
| Right weapon attack (Strong) | X | A single key is better than a key-combination since it makes actions like Parrying easier |
| Kick | Q | Done by simulating a combination of "W+Right weapon attack" with AutoHotKey, unreliable otherwise |
| Jump attack | E | Done by simulating a combination of "W+Right weapon attack (Strong)" with AutoHotKey, unreliable otherwise |
| Switch left weapon | Left arrow | |
| Switch right weapon | Right arrow | |
| Switch item | Down arrow | |
| Switch magic | Up arrow | |
| Toggle auto lock-on | Off | Disabled since it can be disorienting sometimes |
Since the game engine doesn't support advanced bindings configuration I'm not creating a mod to fix the remaining problems. It would be easy to correct them for anyone with access to the source code but since we don't the only option would be to reverse-engineer the executable to create a binary patch, which apart from requiring a lot of work would be unreliable and create problems (e.g. online banning due to file tampering).
Considering the new version was done by a different developer with more PC experience and they had to redo QA testing this was a perfect chance to try some more ambitious gameplay improvements, but unfortunately they completely ignored it.
As for the rest, basically the game is the same and runs well but it won't win any awards for the visuals. I'm not reviewing other aspects of the game since there are a lot of publications already covering that (e.g. a good PC focused gaming website is DSOGaming), but if anyone has requests related to my areas of expertise feel free to leave feedback in the comments.
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