--- description: The only problem: the game's first dozen hours are already too easy. title: No, Thanks: Dark Souls 2 Doesn't Need a Lower Difficulty Patch image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt893b1b93000ac87d/69868861810bbbfe8dc90c9e/dark-souls-2.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Business](/section/business/) ## Business Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Tech](/tag/time-section-tech/) ## Tech Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # No, Thanks: Dark Souls 2 Doesn't Need a Lower Difficulty Patch by [Matt Peckham](/author/matt-peckham/) ## Matt Peckham Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Apr 1, 2014 5:10 PM CUT  Bandai Namco by [Matt Peckham](/author/matt-peckham/) ## Matt Peckham Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Apr 1, 2014 5:10 PM CUT I’m starting to worry about _Dark Souls 2_. It’s turning out to be pretty easy compared to my sojourns with both its predecessors. _Too_ easy. And I’m definitely _not_ a great player, so don’t read that as me boasting. I’m not. Chances are you’re better. I’m just thorough, and [as I noted yesterday](http://time.com/43575/dark-souls-2-de-spawns/ "undefined"), playing the game on its own terms by clearing each area before moving on. That put me into the mid-30s, level-wise, by the time I squared off with the first boss (think Ent and you’re close), one of four majors I’m supposed to tangle with over the course of the game. But man, what a drag. I went in expecting to croak at least once. Death is required reading in this game, the way you’re expected to learn how to grapple with a problem, the presumption being that each problem should be unique, as well as uniquely difficult. But it turned out to be the easiest, lamest encounter I’ve yet had in a _Souls_ game. That’s more than a little troublesome, as would this likely April Fools’ joke be — about From Software preparing a patch to _lower_ the game’s difficulty by folding in a new effigy — were it true. The hypothetical effigy would reduce the amount of stamina you consume, eliminate the gradual half-health penalty that occurs when you’re undead (or “Hollowed”) and make enemies easier to dispatch. But[ joke-maker GameSpot](http://www.gamespot.com/articles/dark-souls-2-patch-will-introduce-new-item-to-reduce-the-difficulty-for-newcomers/1100-6418680/ "undefined") attributes a quote about the effigy to _Dark Souls_ director Hidetaka Miyazaki…who wasn’t directly involved with _Dark Souls 2_, and I can’t find the quote on [the linked patch page](http://info.darksouls.jp/other/pc/information%5Fdetail/2014-03-28-01.html "undefined"), nor does the effigy appear in the patch notes. The _Souls_ games aren’t for casual players, of course — another reason to flag this story as suspect. Even if you sheared off more of the difficulty and made the game as hack-and-slash rote as _Diablo III_ tends to be much of the time, it’s still too visually esoteric, stat-riddled and convoluted, interface-wise, to lure (much less hold) a casual player’s attention. That leaves mainstreamers and enthusiasts, but are they complaining? Do any of you find the game too difficult? Would you want a difficulty reduction option? Are you playing the game on its terms, or just rushing through the areas, fast as you can? 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