Despite the title being nearly eight years old, fans of Dark Souls 2 remain dedicated. The annual Return to Drangelic event is proof of this, and the 2022 event will be happening a little earlier than usual. Although typically held from February 27 until March 13, the date has been moved to January 16 to January 30 due to the release of Elden Ring in the second month of the year. For the uninitiated, the Return to Drangelic event brings newcomers and long-time players for a multiplayer romp like no other. Many fans use this time to create new characters to help newbies get started, with co-op sessions and early-game PvP being major highlights.
Members of the Dark Souls 2 community like to use this time to create their own mini-games within the game world, such as ‘fight clubs.’ Using an honor system, players are summoned into a player’s world to duel other players. Whoever wins the fight challenges the next opponent, until an ultimate victor is declared.
To participate in the event, players will need the Scholar of the First Sin edition of Dark Souls II. It’s recommended that those coming to the event download the Blue Acolyte mod, which includes a number of community patches and quality of life enhancements. Along with these neat perks, it also serves as a community-created anti-cheat system, adding in the ability to use Steam’s block function for more nasty players. It also makes multiplayer freely available by ensuring that the cracked red eye and blue eye orbs aren’t consumed once used.
Dark Souls 2 was originally released for PC, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360 in March 2014. The title received critical acclaim, and an updated version titled Scholar of the First Sin was released in April 2015 for PC, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Xbox 360. The title is a compilation of the original game along with all DLC and updated graphics, expanded online multiplayer, and a number of other quality-of-life changes. It also contains one of the most WTF monsters in video game history.
