Dark Souls 2 Just Got The Visual Overhaul It Always Deserved

An update to a popular Dark Souls 2 graphics mod has the 12-year-old game looking better than ever. Often considered the black sheep of the franchise, Dark Souls 2 has had a welcome resurgence in the past few years, with many fans rediscovering its charms.

This DS2 revival has sparked the creation of many fan projects, including gameplay and visual mods that expand your options for play. One of the finest and most popular of those mods is Dark Souls 2 Lighting Engine, or DS2LE for short. Its creators are now experimenting with a new kind of lighting — path tracing — which has immensely improved the game’s look.

Dark Souls 2 Looks Better Than Ever

It’s A Whole New Game

In the video demo above, you can see a Dark Souls 2 character walking through, aptly enough, the Shaded Woods. The result is impressive, with the player and the trees both casting dynamic shadows that shift as their positions move and available lighting sources change.

That’s thanks to DS2LE’s work with path tracing, which causes all sources of light in the scene, including spell effects, to cast realistic shadows. The result is something that looks like it could’ve been captured in Elden Ring, or the 2020 Demon’s Souls remake.

It’s The Overhaul We Always Wanted

DS2 Has Never Looked Better

A player exploring the Shaded Woods in Dark Souls 2.

When it comes to lighting, Dark Souls 2 has always suffered from inconsistency. Certain areas look gorgeous — I’ll never forget the feeling I got when the golden sun poked out from behind the ruins during my first visit to Majula. Others, though, are lacking, especially where the game is trying to portray dark areas like the Shaded Woods.

In the original DS2, and indeed in vanilla Scholar of the First Sin, the lighting in the Shaded Woods is overblown. You can see every inch of the grassy textures, which really makes low-detail areas stand out. Foggy areas are more distracting than atmospheric, and the gnarled trees’ shadows are barely visible, if at all.

But DS2LE has created a new version of the Shaded Woods that actually lives up to its name. It’s dark and ominous. Visibility decreases as you pass through areas of thicker foliage. Your own shadow darts between the trees, adding a sense of urgency to the whole affair.

It’s undeniably impressive, and, more than anything, makes me want to start a fresh game of DS2 with the mod installed. Although path tracing isn’t yet publicly available in the Dark Souls 2 Lighting Engine mod, which is still in beta, many players — myself included — can’t wait to see what it can do when it finally launches.