The middle child of the Dark Souls franchise, FromSoftware’s Dark Souls 2 is finally back online after a long hiatus of server downtime. But only the DX11 version of Dark Souls II: Scholar of the First Sin is currently online. The DX9 version of the game is still functional, although you will not be able to play online with it as of yet.
While a lot of Souls players regarded Dark Souls 2 to be the weakest iteration of the franchise, with its overtly complicated dungeons and a multitude of seemingly meaningless bosses, others have hailed the game as a masterpiece. Even the naysayers have sorely missed the online features of Dark Souls 2, especially the soapstone messages and the extremely fun PvP features. If you’re looking for a round of co-op with your buddies, there is no better time than now to go for it.
Although, with this good news comes a twinge of not-so-good news as well. Even though Dark Souls 2 is back online, an even older game looks like it might be officially a dead game now. Dark Souls: Prepare to Die edition is the predecessor to Dark Souls 2 and the original iteration of the Dark Souls franchise. The Prepare to Die edition was an update to 2010’s Dark Souls and it added an extra layer of challenge to an already challenging game.
The servers of Dark Souls: Prepare to Die went offline at about the same time as the rest of the franchise did. Although Dark Souls 2 got its connection back, things might not be the same for Prepare to Die.
Due to an aging system, FromSoftware will not be able to restore the online servers of Dark Souls: Prepare to Die edition. If you have previously owned the game, you will still be able to access it and keep playing because your save files will not be affected. But you will not be able to use any of the co-op and PvP features, including any of the soapstones. The game is still playable, although it is a husk of what it once was in its prime.
All is not lost, however, since the original Dark Souls and Dark Souls: Prepare to Die editions got a makeover in the form of Dark Souls: Remastered back in 2018. Even though the online servers of this game are currently offline, they did go online for a short span of time earlier this year. FromSoftware has promised that all of the Dark Souls games will be online on PC shortly and urge us to have patience until that day comes.
