// PC GAMER — GAMING
Dark Souls 2 Seamless Co-op is the chillest way to play FromSoft's most frustrating game
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I have always been one of those pro-Dark Souls 2 revisionists, but man, they really chafe your hams on this one. Iron Keep, Shrine of Amana, Dragon Shrine: Mention these levels to even the most hardened Souls veteran, and they're liable to break into a cold sweat, flashing back to waves of frustrating, overlapping enemies rushing them down to ruin their day. That's not to mention the co-op first DLC zones that mercilessly brutalize the solo player.
FromSoft is a longtime co-op innovator, but its focus has always been limited, diegetic systems meant to supplement solo play, not replace it. Enter legend modder Yui, whose Seamless Co-op series removes the speed bumps of FromSoft co-op, introducing shared story progress and a siloed system of servers and saves to protect your vanilla game progress from anticheat scrutiny.
Even though Dark Souls 2 is rapidly approaching its 13th birthday, it is the most recent game to receive the Seamless Co-op treatment. Its mechanical weirdness and lower popularity compared to other entries may help explain why it's gone last. As a longtime fan of this strange, prickly game, I'm delighted to have found a new favorite way to play it—one with way less trial and error, and way more laughs.
I reunited with PCG contributor Tyler Colp and senior guides writer Sean Martin for this adventure. Together, our ka-tet burrowed its way to the maximum Depth Five difficulty of FromSoft's tied-for-most-frustrating game, Elden Ring Nightreign. By comparison, Dark Souls 2 in co-op has been a cakewalk, and I'm not complaining.
Take that Iron Keep area I mentioned: Its first zone puts you through the ringer, a gauntlet of lightning-quick samurai wannabes who swarm you on non-OSHA-compliant catwalks over a lake of lava. Your reward for getting through them? The Smelter Demon, a sphincter-faced lava golem whose most powerful trick is having a trailing, invisible hurtbox behind his every sword swing.
Even though we suffered a few deaths on the way, it never felt frustrating. Part of that is due to your progress not resetting if one player dies. Unless you're fighting a boss or a PvP invader, you just respawn back at the bonfire and can rejoin your fellows. During the two states of exception, you can spectate your still-living squadmates. If everybody dies under any circumstance, it's classic Dark Souls respawn rules.
The Alonne Poseur gauntlet (they're just nerds cosplaying my GOAT, Sir Alonne) became an easygoing war of attrition, as wars of attrition so often are. It's worthwhile to experience Dark Souls 2 "as intended" at least once, but if you've bounced off in the past or want to revisit it, I can't recommend Seamless co-op enough.
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One surprise boon has been a lively PvP scene: You can still get invaded even when undead in Seamless Co-op, and it's apparent that a stay-behind network of Dark Souls 2 PvP sickos has been activated, dusting off their Ice Rapiers and Chaos Blades for one last dance.