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I have done quite some research on this and come up with this list of best apps (update for 2018).Here is the link: Best Apps for Architects and Construction - Our selection for 2018 and here is the summary:1 – BIMxBest For: BIM presentation on mobile devicesWorks On: iOS and AndroidPrice: Free (BIMx) or $49.99 (BIMx PRO)If you’re using ARCHICAD, then you should consider BIMx from Graphisoft, an app that allows architects to present or share designs with clients and contractors. The app offers full control of your BIM projects, with a cloud interface for working on site. BIMx helps bridge the gap between the design studio and the construction site, sparing you the misery that comes from printing out plans.Watch the VIDEO.Features:Full access to any BIM content like 3D models, construction drawings, schedules, element or space informationAll-round 3D cutawaysHyper-model technology for integrated 2D and 3D building project navigationAdditional BIMx Pro features:Live presentation with predefined model viewsSmart measure on Layouts and in the 3D modelAirPrint and Google Could Print2 – AutoCAD MobileBest For: Viewing, creating, editing, and sharing AutoCAD drawings on mobile devicesWorks On: iOS, Android, Windows 10Price: AutoCAD mobile Premium is $5/mo or $50/yr, and Ultimate is $15/mo or $100/yrAutoCAD Mobile is a drawing and drafting app that enables you to view, create, edit, and share AutoCAD drawings on mobile devices. It’s a fitting extension to your AutoCAD desktop that lets you share plans across multiple platforms in the DWG format. When you use this app, you can forget bringing drawings to the site — and can use this instead to adjust measurements and annotate on the job.Watch the VIDEO.Features:Access drawings from your mobile device in the field or outside the officeSupport for multiple layers to see more detail and contextual information than with paper drawingsDraft, edit, mark-up, and measure plans at the job site or on the goShare updated drawings with colleagues and clientsSet your location, and walk inside your drawingGet updated drawings in AutoCAD when you get back to the office3 – Construction Master Pro AppBest for: Solving construction-math problems on the jobsite or in the office, including completing layouts, plans, bids, and estimatesWorks On: iOS, Android, WindowsPrice: $24.99Installing a calculator app on your phone saves you from lugging around a physical calculator. The Construction Master Pro App lets you solve tough construction-math problems on the jobsite or in the office, thereby reducing costly errors and saving time and money. CM Pro can help you do almost everything, from laying out stairs to figuring out how much drywall to use to calculating right angle solutions. This app will help you and your crew on every phase of your project’s estimating, bidding and building process.Watch the VIDEO.Features:Dimensional math and conversionsA host of right-angle tools including irregular hip/valley and jacksExpanded and arched rake-wallArea and volume solutionsAdvanced stair layoutsRoof/rafter calculations (bundles, squares, pitch, plan area, etc.)Trigonometric functionsBuilt-in help:just press and hold the desired key for explanationsAdvanced Tape function enables you to display, review, save and email inputs4 – ArchiSnapperBest For: Creating field reports, site inspections, and punch listsWorks On: Web, iOS and AndroidPrice: Starting at $24/monthCreating field reports from site visits can be a long and tedious process. ArchiSnapper is a simple tool that allows you to draft reports with observations, photos, annotations, assignees, and locations on floor plans. After syncing, the reports and to-do lists are available from the cloud account (on your desktop) for further editing and distribution. Just think: No more struggling with Word or Excel to draft field reports –which will save you hours each week!Watch the VIDEO.Features:Collect data, sketch on photos, assign items, and mark up blueprints on-siteFormat the layout of your PDF reportsAutomatic observation numberingClone your previous report to start a new oneManage your observation categories and/or checklistsWork together with your colleagues on the same ArchiSnapper accountCollaborate with (sub)contractors5 – MagicplanBest For: Creating professional floor plans by taking picturesWorks On: iOS and AndroidPrice: $2.99/plan or $9.99/month (for unlimited plans)Over 15 million (!) downloads can’t be wrong. magicplan is a room-scanning app that uses input from either your smartphone or tablet to devise complete floor plans. With its augmented reality technology, magicplan lets you create your floor plan within seconds: Pictures of the corners of the room are turned into measurements and can be fine-tuned in the 2D overview. Or, scan multiple rooms to complete floor plans of entire buildings — and even add furniture if you want. This app takes a bit of practice to get the hang of, but once you’re familiar with how it works, it’s a great tool.Watch the VIDEO.Features:Magical room capture, room drawing, draw over existing floor plan, room assembling, room duplication/mirroring, imperial/metric unitsAdd objects (from the library), annotations, photos and attributes to generate reports or complete estimatesEstimated materials and costsExport floor plans as PDF or CAD filesBackup your plans to the cloud and work together with multiple users on the same account6 – Morpholio Trace ProBest for: Drawing revisions and sketching with layersWorks On: iOSPrice: Free, with monthly or yearly subscription for full PRO featuresMorpholio Trace is a great sketching app for architects. Used with an iPad or iPad Pro and Apple Pencil, it allows users to instantly draw on top of imported images, or background templates, layering comments or ideas to generate immediate sketches that are easy to circulate. Based on the reviews, it’s clear that users really love this app.Watch the VIDEO.Features:Create designs with color, templates, styles, stencils and layersMark-up plans, drawings, progress images or contact sheetsUse any two points to set a scale in imperial or metric unitsImport images from other sources, take pictures and add markups7 – TSheetsBest For: Tracking your timeWorks On: Web, iOS and AndroidCost: Free for the first user, $16 base fee + $4 per user/month starting from the second userFor most architects, how much time you spend directly affects how much money you’ll earn. So tracking time correctly is crucial for making sure you get paid correctly. Enter TSheets, which allows you to perform these tasks on your phone. No more illegible or lost paper time cards, and no more payroll spreadsheets!Watch the VIDEO.Features:Very simple and easy to use (We and some of our customers have tried it ourselves; no training or manuals needed.)Facial recognition technology to deter buddy punchingA wall-mounted time clock app (called “TSheets Kiosk”) is ideal for job sitesAbility to attach photos to timesheetsConnects to your favorite accounting or payroll softwareTSheets GPS time clock maps employee locations as they move and travel throughout the dayComing soon: Location aware tracking (like geofencing, only better)8 – Sun SeekerBest For: Tracking and analyzing solar path and shadeWorks On: iOS and AndroidPrice: $9.99Although not purely focused on the architectural field, this app makes a great companion tool for architects. It helps you decide on the right orientation for your buildings by providing data like the solar path, the winter and summer solstice paths, and sunrise and sunset times. Using a highly-interactive augmented 3D view, it allows you to instantly determine the amount of sunlight your building will receive.Watch the VIDEO.Features:Uses GPS, magnetometer and gyroscope to find the correct solar position and path for your current location3D augmented reality camera overlay view showing the sun’s current position, and its path with hour points markedCamera view also has an optional pointer to guide you toward the current location of the sunMap view showing solar direction arrows and elevations for each hour of the dayAbility to choose any date and view solar path for that day9 – Shapr3DBest For: 3D modeling with Apple PencilWorks On: iOS onlyPrice: Free; PRO subscription costs $29.99/month or $299.99/yearShapr3D is a 3D CAD app for the iPad and the Apple Pencil. It enables architects to draw sketches quickly and easily before turning them into 3D shapes. Shapr3D can be used together with other CAD software. It’s designed for precise solid modeling and runs on the same engine as most of the desktop CADs, Parasolid. Thanks to its novel interface and user experience, it can be used to create 3D sketches much faster than with traditional 3D CAD. Contrary to the typical CAD software, with Shapr3D and its neat UX/UI, there’s no need to watch lots of YouTube videos before you can start doing simple things. Click here to readhow an architect uses Shapr3D.Watch the VIDEO.Features:Draw sketches quickly, and make them well-defined with powerful constraint toolsLoad models (XT, STEP, IGES, SHAPR) and start manipulating them or importing images as a referenceExport in common 3D formats (XT, STEP, IGES, STL) and use them in CAD appsSend your model to your 3D printer cutter software10 – Autodesk FormItBest for: 3D modeling software that enables sketching, collaborating, analyzing, and sharing early-stage design concepts from your phone or tabletWorks On: Web, iOSPrice: Click here to compare FormIt (free) with FormIt PRO (Note: FormIt Pro is available only as part of the Autodesk Architecture, Engineering & Construction Collection, which also includes Revit, Autocad, etc.)While SketchUp has been all-dominating in this space, we see Autodesk FormIt, which offers intuitive 3D sketching in a web browser or mobile app, as a worthy contender. Conceptual design should drive BIM: With FormIt, you can begin the conceptual design (defining floor layers, orientation, building envelope and floor plans), and once the design is settled, continue the working drawings process inside Revit. (When a conceptual design is in SketchUp, the geometry really isn’t going to work seamlessly in Revit.)Watch the VIDEO.Features:Core functionality is free, and includes the 3D sketching tools, advanced geometry, two-way connection to Revit, and the FormIt Converter for importing existing SketchUp filesFormit PRO comes with advanced features like integrated energy analysis, parametric conceptual design, real-time collaboration, customized design, and a Windows installed versionThe FormIt and Dynamo Studio connection enables customized parametric content to be placed and manipulated in FormIt — which enables you to review numerous design options quickly before making decisions11 – iHandy LevelBest For: Checking the level of surfacesOperating System: iOS and AndroidPrice: FreeThis app allows you to check the level of surfaces using only your cell phone. This pocket leveler features a traditional bubble level interface, as well as a digital display of the current angle, measured in degrees from the horizontal.Watch the VIDEO.Features? No need to include extra features for this one. Its beauty is in its simplicity.Bonus Apps for The Road12 – WazeBest for: Avoiding traffic jamsPrice: FreeWorks On: Android and iOSWaze is a free navigation app that saves you from wasting time in traffic. It uses user feedback — like mentions of traffic jams, police locations, and roadblocks — to find better routes for your next trip. Waze (or Google Maps, which is very similar) is a must-have, especially for architects, contractors, and construction engineers who are often on the road. Let’s not forget: Time is your most valuable asset, so being stuck in the middle of traffic is a huge pain. Not to mention, traffic jams are stressful! (More about avoiding stress below.)Watch the VIDEO.Features:Fastest route to destinationReminder for when to leave, based on actual traffic conditionsFind the cheapest, closest gasGet alerts when you’re over the speed limit13 ExpensifyBest for: Managing receipts and expensesWorks On: Web, iOS and AndroidPrice: Free for individuals, $5/month per user for small companies (like most architecture firms)This app was not designed specifically for architects, but it’s a real productivity booster for anyone struggling with expenses. Architects are often on the road, and keeping track of expenses like food, travel, and fuel can be a pain. Expensify automates every step, from receipt scanning through reimbursement. Even expense reports are finished in just one click: Simply take a photo of a receipt, and the app adds it to an expense report, which can automatically be submitted, approved, and even reimbursed the very next day.Watch the VIDEO.Features:One-click receipt trackingAutomatic expense reporting and submitting for approvalNext-day reimbursementIntegrations with all major accounting softwaresIf all these apps can’t help you save time and reduce stress, and you’re desperate for piece of mind, there’s only one last app we recommend…14 Calm – Meditate, Sleep, Relax :)Best For: Practicing meditation and mindfulnessPrice: $12.99/month, $59.99/year, or $299.99 for a lifetime subscriptionAvailable on: Web, iOS and AndroidCalm uses mindfulness and meditation to bring more clarity, joy, and peace to your daily life. Whether you’re an experienced meditator or a beginner, there are sessions for you on Calm. A subscription gives you access to a new inspiration and meditation session every day, along with multi-day themed programs and individual guided and unguided meditations. Calm has more than 200,000 reviews and is ranked in the top five health and fitness apps, so it’s a safe choice for anyone hoping to get started with meditation.Hope you like this list, and feel free to check out the full article here: Best Apps for Architects and Construction - Our selection for 2018

Hi! I did quite some research on this and came up with a list of best the apps for architects for 2018. You can find the list here: Best Apps for Architects and Construction - Our selection for 2018. Here’s the summary:1 – BIMxBest For: BIM presentation on mobile devicesWorks On: iOS and AndroidPrice: Free (BIMx) or $49.99 (BIMx PRO)If you’re using ARCHICAD, then you should consider BIMx from Graphisoft, an app that allows architects to present or share designs with clients and contractors. The app offers full control of your BIM projects, with a cloud interface for working on site. BIMx helps bridge the gap between the design studio and the construction site, sparing you the misery that comes from printing out plans.Watch the VIDEO.Features:Full access to any BIM content like 3D models, construction drawings, schedules, element or space informationAll-round 3D cutawaysHyper-model technology for integrated 2D and 3D building project navigationAdditional BIMx Pro features:Live presentation with predefined model viewsSmart measure on Layouts and in the 3D modelAirPrint and Google Could Print2 – AutoCAD MobileBest For: Viewing, creating, editing, and sharing AutoCAD drawings on mobile devicesWorks On: iOS, Android, Windows 10Price: AutoCAD mobile Premium is $5/mo or $50/yr, and Ultimate is $15/mo or $100/yrAutoCAD Mobile is a drawing and drafting app that enables you to view, create, edit, and share AutoCAD drawings on mobile devices. It’s a fitting extension to your AutoCAD desktop that lets you share plans across multiple platforms in the DWG format. When you use this app, you can forget bringing drawings to the site — and can use this instead to adjust measurements and annotate on the job.Watch the VIDEO.Features:Access drawings from your mobile device in the field or outside the officeSupport for multiple layers to see more detail and contextual information than with paper drawingsDraft, edit, mark-up, and measure plans at the job site or on the goShare updated drawings with colleagues and clientsSet your location, and walk inside your drawingGet updated drawings in AutoCAD when you get back to the office3 – Construction Master Pro AppBest for: Solving construction-math problems on the jobsite or in the office, including completing layouts, plans, bids, and estimatesWorks On: iOS, Android, WindowsPrice: $24.99Installing a calculator app on your phone saves you from lugging around a physical calculator. The Construction Master Pro App lets you solve tough construction-math problems on the jobsite or in the office, thereby reducing costly errors and saving time and money. CM Pro can help you do almost everything, from laying out stairs to figuring out how much drywall to use to calculating right angle solutions. This app will help you and your crew on every phase of your project’s estimating, bidding and building process.Watch the VIDEO.Features:Dimensional math and conversionsA host of right-angle tools including irregular hip/valley and jacksExpanded and arched rake-wallArea and volume solutionsAdvanced stair layoutsRoof/rafter calculations (bundles, squares, pitch, plan area, etc.)Trigonometric functionsBuilt-in help:just press and hold the desired key for explanationsAdvanced Tape function enables you to display, review, save and email inputs4 – ArchiSnapperBest For: Creating field reports, site inspections, and punch listsWorks On: Web, iOS and AndroidPrice: Starting at $24/monthCreating field reports from site visits can be a long and tedious process. ArchiSnapper is a simple tool that allows you to draft reports with observations, photos, annotations, assignees, and locations on floor plans. After syncing, the reports and to-do lists are available from the cloud account (on your desktop) for further editing and distribution. Just think: No more struggling with Word or Excel to draft field reports –which will save you hours each week!Watch the VIDEO.Features:Collect data, sketch on photos, assign items, and mark up blueprints on-siteFormat the layout of your PDF reportsAutomatic observation numberingClone your previous report to start a new oneManage your observation categories and/or checklistsWork together with your colleagues on the same ArchiSnapper accountCollaborate with (sub)contractors5 – MagicplanBest For: Creating professional floor plans by taking picturesWorks On: iOS and AndroidPrice: $2.99/plan or $9.99/month (for unlimited plans)Over 15 million (!) downloads can’t be wrong. magicplan is a room-scanning app that uses input from either your smartphone or tablet to devise complete floor plans. With its augmented reality technology, magicplan lets you create your floor plan within seconds: Pictures of the corners of the room are turned into measurements and can be fine-tuned in the 2D overview. Or, scan multiple rooms to complete floor plans of entire buildings — and even add furniture if you want. This app takes a bit of practice to get the hang of, but once you’re familiar with how it works, it’s a great tool.Watch the VIDEO.Features:Magical room capture, room drawing, draw over existing floor plan, room assembling, room duplication/mirroring, imperial/metric unitsAdd objects (from the library), annotations, photos and attributes to generate reports or complete estimatesEstimated materials and costsExport floor plans as PDF or CAD filesBackup your plans to the cloud and work together with multiple users on the same account6 – Morpholio Trace ProBest for: Drawing revisions and sketching with layersWorks On: iOSPrice: Free, with monthly or yearly subscription for full PRO featuresMorpholio Trace is a great sketching app for architects. Used with an iPad or iPad Pro and Apple Pencil, it allows users to instantly draw on top of imported images, or background templates, layering comments or ideas to generate immediate sketches that are easy to circulate. Based on the reviews, it’s clear that users really love this app.Watch the VIDEO.Features:Create designs with color, templates, styles, stencils and layersMark-up plans, drawings, progress images or contact sheetsUse any two points to set a scale in imperial or metric unitsImport images from other sources, take pictures and add markups7 – TSheetsBest For: Tracking your timeWorks On: Web, iOS and AndroidCost: Free for the first user, $16 base fee + $4 per user/month starting from the second userFor most architects, how much time you spend directly affects how much money you’ll earn. So tracking time correctly is crucial for making sure you get paid correctly. Enter TSheets, which allows you to perform these tasks on your phone. No more illegible or lost paper time cards, and no more payroll spreadsheets!Watch the VIDEO.Features:Very simple and easy to use (We and some of our customers have tried it ourselves; no training or manuals needed.)Facial recognition technology to deter buddy punchingA wall-mounted time clock app (called “TSheets Kiosk”) is ideal for job sitesAbility to attach photos to timesheetsConnects to your favorite accounting or payroll softwareTSheets GPS time clock maps employee locations as they move and travel throughout the dayComing soon: Location aware tracking (like geofencing, only better)8 – Sun SeekerBest For: Tracking and analyzing solar path and shadeWorks On: iOS and AndroidPrice: $9.99Although not purely focused on the architectural field, this app makes a great companion tool for architects. It helps you decide on the right orientation for your buildings by providing data like the solar path, the winter and summer solstice paths, and sunrise and sunset times. Using a highly-interactive augmented 3D view, it allows you to instantly determine the amount of sunlight your building will receive.Watch the VIDEO.Features:Uses GPS, magnetometer and gyroscope to find the correct solar position and path for your current location3D augmented reality camera overlay view showing the sun’s current position, and its path with hour points markedCamera view also has an optional pointer to guide you toward the current location of the sunMap view showing solar direction arrows and elevations for each hour of the dayAbility to choose any date and view solar path for that day9 – Shapr3DBest For: 3D modeling with Apple PencilWorks On: iOS onlyPrice: Free; PRO subscription costs $29.99/month or $299.99/yearShapr3D is a 3D CAD app for the iPad and the Apple Pencil. It enables architects to draw sketches quickly and easily before turning them into 3D shapes. Shapr3D can be used together with other CAD software. It’s designed for precise solid modeling and runs on the same engine as most of the desktop CADs, Parasolid. Thanks to its novel interface and user experience, it can be used to create 3D sketches much faster than with traditional 3D CAD. Contrary to the typical CAD software, with Shapr3D and its neat UX/UI, there’s no need to watch lots of YouTube videos before you can start doing simple things. Click here to readhow an architect uses Shapr3D.Watch the VIDEO.Features:Draw sketches quickly, and make them well-defined with powerful constraint toolsLoad models (XT, STEP, IGES, SHAPR) and start manipulating them or importing images as a referenceExport in common 3D formats (XT, STEP, IGES, STL) and use them in CAD appsSend your model to your 3D printer cutter software10 – Autodesk FormItBest for: 3D modeling software that enables sketching, collaborating, analyzing, and sharing early-stage design concepts from your phone or tabletWorks On: Web, iOSPrice: Click here to compare FormIt (free) with FormIt PRO (Note: FormIt Pro is available only as part of the Autodesk Architecture, Engineering & Construction Collection, which also includes Revit, Autocad, etc.)While SketchUp has been all-dominating in this space, we see Autodesk FormIt, which offers intuitive 3D sketching in a web browser or mobile app, as a worthy contender. Conceptual design should drive BIM: With FormIt, you can begin the conceptual design (defining floor layers, orientation, building envelope and floor plans), and once the design is settled, continue the working drawings process inside Revit. (When a conceptual design is in SketchUp, the geometry really isn’t going to work seamlessly in Revit.)Watch the VIDEO.Features:Core functionality is free, and includes the 3D sketching tools, advanced geometry, two-way connection to Revit, and the FormIt Converter for importing existing SketchUp filesFormit PRO comes with advanced features like integrated energy analysis, parametric conceptual design, real-time collaboration, customized design, and a Windows installed versionThe FormIt and Dynamo Studio connection enables customized parametric content to be placed and manipulated in FormIt — which enables you to review numerous design options quickly before making decisions11 – iHandy LevelBest For: Checking the level of surfacesOperating System: iOS and AndroidPrice: FreeThis app allows you to check the level of surfaces using only your cell phone. This pocket leveler features a traditional bubble level interface, as well as a digital display of the current angle, measured in degrees from the horizontal.Watch the VIDEO.Features? No need to include extra features for this one. Its beauty is in its simplicity.Bonus Apps for The Road12 – WazeBest for: Avoiding traffic jamsPrice: FreeWorks On: Android and iOSWaze is a free navigation app that saves you from wasting time in traffic. It uses user feedback — like mentions of traffic jams, police locations, and roadblocks — to find better routes for your next trip. Waze (or Google Maps, which is very similar) is a must-have, especially for architects, contractors, and construction engineers who are often on the road. Let’s not forget: Time is your most valuable asset, so being stuck in the middle of traffic is a huge pain. Not to mention, traffic jams are stressful! (More about avoiding stress below.)Watch the VIDEO.Features:Fastest route to destinationReminder for when to leave, based on actual traffic conditionsFind the cheapest, closest gasGet alerts when you’re over the speed limit13 ExpensifyBest for: Managing receipts and expensesWorks On: Web, iOS and AndroidPrice: Free for individuals, $5/month per user for small companies (like most architecture firms)This app was not designed specifically for architects, but it’s a real productivity booster for anyone struggling with expenses. Architects are often on the road, and keeping track of expenses like food, travel, and fuel can be a pain. Expensify automates every step, from receipt scanning through reimbursement. Even expense reports are finished in just one click: Simply take a photo of a receipt, and the app adds it to an expense report, which can automatically be submitted, approved, and even reimbursed the very next day.Watch the VIDEO.Features:One-click receipt trackingAutomatic expense reporting and submitting for approvalNext-day reimbursementIntegrations with all major accounting softwaresIf all these apps can’t help you save time and reduce stress, and you’re desperate for piece of mind, there’s only one last app we recommend…14 Calm – Meditate, Sleep, Relax :)Best For: Practicing meditation and mindfulnessPrice: $12.99/month, $59.99/year, or $299.99 for a lifetime subscriptionAvailable on: Web, iOS and AndroidCalm uses mindfulness and meditation to bring more clarity, joy, and peace to your daily life. Whether you’re an experienced meditator or a beginner, there are sessions for you on Calm. A subscription gives you access to a new inspiration and meditation session every day, along with multi-day themed programs and individual guided and unguided meditations. Calm has more than 200,000 reviews and is ranked in the top five health and fitness apps, so it’s a safe choice for anyone hoping to get started with meditation.Get started with your first 10 minutes of mindful meditation.I hope you like my list. You can read the full article here: Best Apps for Architects and Construction - Our selection for 2018Thank you!Jerry

There are a number of reasons that Dark Souls 2 is the red-headed step child of the Soulsborne games.Let’s start with the general problems surrounding Dark Souls 2:Dark Souls 2 like many other controversial games got off to a bad start due to being downgraded from the trailers and demos. In marketing material for Dark Souls 2 the game looked a lot better and had very good lighting engine. Both of those were downgraded for the full release due to performance issues. The lighting engine in particular was a big loss because you can see that a lot of the game was designed around it with the torch mechanic and with the special lighting engine removed the game felt a lot more flat than advertised. People take poorly to being lied to and deceived so Dark Souls 2 got off to a bad start.Due to the success of Dark Souls and how much of an improvement it was over Demon’s Souls many people were extremely hyped for Dark Souls 2 and they believed that it too would be a huge increase in quality as the previous game had been. When Dark Souls 2 ended up being a good game rather than a masterpiece these people felt very disappointed and letdown. This is part marketing’s fault for getting people so hyped (which is their job but it can obviously backfire) and part the community’s fault for getting too hyped and the lashing out because their impossible expectations had not been met.Dark Souls has one of the most rabid of rabid gaming communities and as a result Dark Souls 2 was always going to struggle dealing with the nostalgia of the first game. It was always going to be a case of some fans being unfairly harsh on Dark Souls 2 because no matter how hard it tried it wasn’t Dark Souls. Therefore anything that changed was automatically bad because it wasn’t Dark Souls while anything that didn’t change was bad because it was just lazy copying. Dark Souls 2 was always in an unenviable and impossible position.The Dark Souls 2 PC port was also a mess. The developers didn’t bother to change the UI so it still had the Xbox 360 key bindings on it. The game also doesn’t play nice with a mouse and keyboard. The PC version has a few new bugs such as crashing on launch. This is all after From Software promised to focus on the PC port as Dark Souls was their first PC port and it came out terribly and only worked after the community patched it to work properly. Another promise broken after the visual downgrade.Dark Souls 2 was re-released with the Scholar of the First Sin edition that massively reworked many parts of the game including adding some more stuff and changing the placement of enemies and items and upgraded the graphics. However in order to get these you had to buy the game again and many people felt ripped off because of this.Then we get the problems with the game itself. I am going to be making a lot of comparisons between Dark Souls and Dark Souls 2. It is not because I think that Dark Souls is a flawless masterpiece (it is not) but simply because it did that particular thing better and as a result Dark Souls 2 feels like a regression as it already had the correct template to work from. Anything that I don’t mention is fine and probably an improvement because this answer is long enough without having to discuss things that aren’t a problem.Level design has always been a strong point in the Souls series but Dark Souls 2 has incredibly weak level design.Dark Souls levels are at their best when they are large semi-open levels that twist, turn and fold back in on themselves encouraging exploration. Most of Dark Souls 2’s levels are basically just straight tunnels leading to dead ends. Some might be very pretty and squiggly tunnels but at the end of the day they are still little more than a straight-ish passage between the bonfire at the start and the boss at the end. The later games go back to this design philosophy and are much stronger for it.Dark Souls has always had a strong sense of space where even as you explored the world you would see something off in the distance and when you eventually fought your way there it would make sense as to how you got there. It gives the world this natural geography and you could always tell tell where you are going and where you had come from. Dark Souls 2 has a very weak sense of space. Nothing feels like where it is supposed to be and the world lacks a feeling of geographical logic. The most notorious example of this is when you ride the elevator up from Earthen Peak and arrive in a castle surrounded by lava in a way that makes zero sense.On a level by level basis most of Dark Souls 2’s levels are pretty drab and boring in terms of design. Even ignoring the problem of them simply being tunnels they mostly lack any interesting design concepts that make them stand-out or they stand out for the wrong reasons (I am looking at you Doors of Pharros). The only levels in Dark Souls 2 that managed to stick in my memory are Heide’s Tower of Flame and the Shrine of Amana. Everything else seems to blur together. In comparison to the other games in the series Dark Souls 2 levels just don’t really stand out.On a more micro-level most of the levels in Dark Souls are very questionably designed. There are odd enemy, item and bonfire placements. In Sinner’s rise there are enemies that spawn right next to the bonfire and will attack you the moment that you spawn and are extremely vulnerable. In Lost Bastille they fill a room that contains a merchant with exploding enemies that can result in accidentally killing said merchant.Much like level design, boss design has always been an important part of a Souls game and Dark Souls 2 struggles massively in that regard.Most of the bosses in Dark Souls 2 are just a variation of big dude in armour. In series that contains enemies like Seath the Scaleless, the Gaping Dragon and pretty much everything in Bloodborne a game full of dudes in armour was never going to cut it.Many of Dark Souls 2’s bosses are recycled or rehashes of bosses from Dark Souls. The Royal Rat Authority is just a worse Sif, The Old Dragon Slayer is a worse Ornstein, Scorpioness Najka is just Quelaag with a scorpion for a butt. Dark Souls 2 even recycles it’s own bosses making you fight the Dragon Rider again as well. There feels like there is a preference for having more bosses rather than good or interesting bosses.Mechanically most of the bosses in Dark Souls 2 are not very interesting. Their move set is usually limited to an overhead smash, gap closing attack, simple 2–3 attack combo and an AOE attack. This makes the fights boring it often feels like you are fighting the same boss over and over just with different skins.Similarly many of the bosses in Dark Souls 2 are simply battles of attrition. The bosses simply have huge amounts of health and defence and hit like freight trains but have very simple move sets. Thus you have to spend an hour slowly chipping away at their health while trying not to get killed in one hit. This is not good boss design for any game never mind a Souls game.There are way too many boss fights with multiple enemies: either multiple bosses or bosses with mobs helping. Dark Souls is a series that is designed to work best when you fight only one enemy at a time and thus putting the player in a tiny boss arena with multiple enemies at once makes the fights very frustrating. This also turns many of the boss fights into a slog as you are forced to take single swings at one of them when there are tiny openings because you have to account for multiple bosses.Speaking of boss fights being frustrating Dark Souls 2 has a real problem with false difficulty. Dark Souls as a series has a reputation of being hard but fair but Dark Souls 2 tries simply to be hard because that is what the series is know for.Enemies have advantages that the player doesn’t simply to make them harder. In Dark Souls it was expected that enemies with similar equipment to the player had similar behaviour with similar poise and damage. In Dark Souls 2 enemies have far more poise, damage and i-frames than the player at the same level seemingly for the sake of being more difficult rather than being fun.Mobs are easier to aggro and will follow the player for much longer. This makes them much harder to simply run past when you are trying to kill the boss as well as making them more difficult to lure into the one-on-one combat that the game is designed around.The tracking is ridiculously aggressive with most enemies able to do full 360 turns while attacking. This means that you will never really feel safe to attack even from behind as you might still be hit by an attack you thought that you were safe from.The hit detection in Dark Souls 2 is stupidly broken with enemy weapons seemingly 5x wider and slightly longer than they actually are so you will be taking hits even when you shouldn’t. Combine this with the aggressive tracking and you will never feel safe attacking because you are going to be hit by bullshit.Dark Souls 2 also has a very weak story. While it has decent lore and the cycle of light and dark is a good addition to the lore and series however the plot is very weak.The player has very little motivation to do anything and basically advances through the game because they want to finish it. Let’s have a quick look at the plot. You go to Drangleic to find a cure for being Undead. Then you get told to find the king. Why? Because the Emerald herald told us to. Does the king have the cure? Who knows? Is the cure even important still? Also who knows? Then we go to the castle but the king isn’t there and the queen tells us to look for the king too. You find the king, who has gone hollow (so much for a cure although that isn’t important anymore) so we go and talk to a dragon. The dragon tells us to go into the memories of some giants. You do that which makes the queen angry so you kill her and take the throne. All of this happens basically because that is where the game wants to end and it took the shortest possible route to get there.There feels like there is a distinct lack of characters in Dark Souls 2. While Dark Souls had a bunch of fun and interesting characters like Patches, Lautrec, Solaire, Big Hat, Siegmeyer and Oscar all have interesting parallel stories to The Chosen Undead and they feel like they are part of the world. Even the characters that make up the bosses such as Gwyn, Quelaag, Artorias, Priscilla and Seath all have their own history and motivations. These characters fill out the world and make it feel like a real place. With the exception of the Emerald Herald most of the characters in Dark Souls 2 feel like they are there out of obligation. The game needs merchants, bosses and summons so that is all the NPCs are in Dark Souls 2; gameplay necessities. A result of this is that the world of Dark Souls 2 feels a lot emptier and barren.While there are some good additions to the lore in Dark Souls 2 it feels like the lore is overly obscure but lacking depth. Dark Souls lore feels open to interpretation where many parts of the story could have many possible outcomes or implications but there is also enough background to make informed theories. Dark Souls 2 feels like a pale imitation by comparison because the lore feels too vague. Instead of building a believable and deep world Dark Souls 2 feels like it asks questions that we could never answer.The tone of Dark Souls 2 is also off. The Soulsborne games have a tone of bleak oppression but are ultimately positive and about overcoming difficulties and the positives associated with it. Many people feel that Dark Souls is an allegory for overcoming depression and I can totally see that. Dark Souls 2 sort of misses this mark and instead just focuses on the bleak oppression. Quotes like “Like a moth drawn to a flame, your wings will burn in anguish. Time after time. For that is your fate. The fate of the cursed.” are littered throughout the game making your efforts feel futile rather than uplifting.Dark Souls 2 goes through a lot of effort to rework some of the mechanics of Dark Souls but either gets them wrong or doesn’t fully utilise them.The addition of the agility stat is probably one of Dark Souls 2’s biggest mistakes. Agility affects the speed at which your character does things as well as your i-frames. This creates a problem where early on your character feels sluggish and unresponsive. Then as you play through the game and start improving your agility stat your character starts becoming inconsistent so your muscle memory will always feel slightly off. It is only once you have reached the end game that you start feeling comfortable with your character and by then it is too late for most people.Dark Souls 2 mess with the Estus flask and added additional healing items. The Estus flask system was absolutely perfect for Dark Souls’ risk vs reward design. Due to their limited and valuable nature it forced the player to think about their use. Do they use one that they won’t get maximum value out of them to be safe or do they risk running around with lower health until they can get the full heal out of a use of the flask? If you have some/all of your Estus do you push on to the next bonfire or do you retreat and try again? The additional healing items available in Dark Souls 2 take away a lot of this decision making because you can just pop one of your many health gems if you need a little bit of extra health or if you run out of Estus. This hurt the game because it never felt like you were in much danger.Lots of people do not like the addition of the Soul Memory mechanic as it made PvP a huge hassle. Originally designed as a way to players from abusing the PvP mechanics by getting late game gear at a low level and proceeding to bully new players. The Soul Memory mechanic instead made it so that people who only wanted to play the PvP would often get forced out of the PvP range because their Soul Memory was too high.Dark Souls 2 also implemented the Extinction mechanic. The Extinction mechanic is a system in which you can only kill each enemy in Dark Souls 2 a certain number of times before they stop respawning. This mechanic goes entirely against Dark Souls try-try-try-try again design philosophy because it means that if you mess up and lose a bunch of souls those souls are never coming back. This adds a ticking clock feeling on top of the already high stress gameplay which many people didn’t like.Dark Souls 2 launched with severe balance issues. Some builds were much, much stronger than others which meant that they were the only viable builds in PvP until everything got rebalanced. This meant that people who played the game at launch got upset that they couldn’t play in the way that they wanted.In summary Dark Souls 2 is hated because of an over-hyped but under-delivered launch of a game that felt like a watered down version of its predecessor that was full of bad design decisions. All of this was delivered to one of the most notoriously difficult to please communities in all of gaming who reacted about as well as you would expect.