Dark Souls 2 path tracing mod is now available for all, and yes, it inevitably makes the game harder

Back in February some amazing footage emerged of path tracing implementation in Dark Souls 2. At the time I was pretty impressed, but I didn’t have my fingers crossed that the ambitious mod—which is an update to the beloved DS2Lighting Engine Mod—would be available to the public anytime soon.

I was wrong: the DS2LightingEngine mod on Nexus Mods was updated today with path tracing implemented. It’s compatible with the Scholar of the First Sin version of Dark Souls 2.

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It’s worth pointing out, as per mod creator Ragevitamins on the DSLightingEngine Disord, that path tracing will inevitably make Dark Souls 2 more challenging, which I’m sure is music to the ears of sickos the world around. If there aren’t light sources the game’s going to be dark, meaning you’ll need to use in-game light items like Prism Stones, torches, or the Cast Light spell if you can’t see anything. “If there is a cave without [a] possible light source, it means you must be prepared for the dark.”

While development continues—this new version of the mod is after all in beta—it’s a great result for Dark Souls 2, which the modding community has obsessed over for 12 years by dint of its famously lacklustre launch state. Pre-release footage of the original game showed dynamic lighting the likes of which was completely absent in the final game; modders have not only added those features over time, but improved on them exponentially.

DS2 SOTFS Randomizer w/ NEW Lighting (Path Tracing) – YouTube