Dark Souls 2: Scholar of the First Sin due April 2015 – Will have new PC content and enhancements

Hugs?

FromSoft has announced Dark Souls 2: Scholar of the First Sin, a “Game of the Year” type edition that will bundle the DLC with a bunch of new bits and graphical enhancements. It’ll coincide with the release of a large Version 1.10 patch, bringing some (but not all … I think) of the new stuff to owners of the original.

Let’s start out with what we actually know for sure: Dark Souls 2: Scholar of the First Sin will be released on 3 April 2015 and include all three of the Lost Crowns DLC trilogy. That’s Crown Of The Sunken King, Crown Of The Old Iron King, and Crown Of The Ivory King. All versions (PC and Xbox One/Ps4) will have an “expanded story” including a new NPC, new enemies and “gameplay improvements.” There will also be graphical improvements, taking advantage of DirectX 11.

So, here’s where it now gets a bit more confusing. You’re probably thinking “hey, do people who own the game on PC already get a free upgrade to this stuff or whatever?” The answer is … mostly yes, I think. Like a lot of things to do with Dark Souls 2, it’s quite hard to figure out.

Basically, every version (old and new) will get an upgrade to Version 1.10. BUT, that’s just the new story/balance stuff, it doesn’t seem like it includes the proposed fancier graphics. In other words, it looks at the moment like you’ll have to buy the new one if you want DX11 stuff on PC. Whether it’ll look that much more amazing than a fully GeDoSaTo’d up Dark Souls 2 in DX9 is probably debatable.

Slightly more annoying is that it looks like this release will split the player-base, because I don’t think people with the original Dark Souls 2 will be hooking up with the Dark Souls 2: Scholar of the First Sin players.

There’s a handy Japanese chart which spells out which versions get what, but the less handy part (from my language-stunted point of view) is that it’s in Japanese. A useful NeoGaf translation suggests it says the following:

New Features:
– New characters and events (Included in all versions of SoFS, will be added in the 1.10 Patch for existing users)
– Story and world additions (Included in all versions of SoFS, will be added in the 1.10 Patch for existing users)
– Various balancing tweaks (Included in all versions of SoFS, will be added in the 1.10 Patch for existing users)
– Graphics and performance upgrades (Only included in next-gen versions of SoFS)
– Improved online multiplayer (Only included in next-gen versions of SoFS)
– Enemy and game design adjustments (Only included in next-gen versions of SoFS)

Included DLC:
– DLC1 (Included in all versions of SoFS, not included in the 1.10 Patch)
– DLC2 (Included in all versions of SoFS, not included in the 1.10 Patch)
– DLC3 (Included in all versions of SoFS, not included in the 1.10 Patch)

But that may not be the end of it, because on twitter Bandai Namco are saying this:

@Zardax448 Hi! We have lots more details to share regarding PC versions/upgrades/etc. in the coming months.

— Bandai Namco US (@BandaiNamcoUS) November 25, 2014

Which, to me, kind of hints at a Sleeping Dogs Deluxe style “pay a small amount to ‘upgrade’ your version” system. Or maybe something more generous. I really don’t know at this stage.

Here’s a trailer, plus some images.