Modder Yui has become a legend in the FromSoftware community after developing seamless co-op mods for Elden Ring, Dark Souls, and Dark Souls 3. But don't think the middle entry in the series is dodging a similar treatment, even with its controversial reputation among the fandom. Dark Souls 2 seamless co-op is coming very soon, complete with proximity chat and an array of quality-of-life tweaks.
Dark Souls 2 seamless co-op is set to be released on Tuesday, September 22, as Yui explains in a Patreon post. Don't let that link worry you about it being stuck behind a paywall, either, as the mod will also be available on Nexus Mods and GitHub.
As with most of FromSoftware's games, Dark Souls 2 technically has co-op, but the summoning system is even more restrictive than in its siblings. The seamless co-op mod will make it fully playable, start-to-finish, with your friends. It includes proximity chat for both co-op partners and invaders, though both forms of it are optional.
As Amirah, who also worked on the project, explains in a video breaking down the mod, there is "synchronized progress and no interruptions. Dying, defeating a boss, or going through a loading screen won't kick anyone you've summoned out of the session." Progress carries back to the worlds of summoned players, too.
Dying in seamless co-op doesn't actually reset the world state, so there's a unique new mechanic to keep you from abusing this fact. Each time you die, you'll get a cursed soul fragment, with each instance of the item carried by your crew slowly powering up your enemies. Resting at a bonfire to reset the enemies will also reset your soul fragments. This mechanic is also optional, but it should help preserve the game's challenge.
There are also general quality of life improvements here that should make Dark Souls 2 more pleasant to play. The controller dead zone has been improved. A double clicking issue that introduced apparent input lag for mouse and keyboard has been addressed. Perhaps most notably, limited-time event content is now accessible "at any time."
It's all reason enough to give Dark Souls 2 a modern reevaluation. I don't have strong feelings about Dark Souls 2 – it's the one entry in the trilogy I haven't played – but my coworkers assure me that its negative reputation is well deserved (editor's note: it's good, but doomed to be compared to the greats) and I will definitely not be inundated with comments from fans who believe it's unfairly maligned as a result of the above headline. Hopefully you'll all be too busy with co-op to bother.
Check out our guide on how to play Elden Ring multiplayer co-op with friends.
