Dark Souls II looks better than ever with this lighting mod

This isn’t your typical Dark Souls II graphics mod

Recommended Videos

Even if Dark Souls II didn’t turn out quite the way I expected, I have a lot of love for the sequel. It’s an enchanting, beautiful, ugly, gratifying, surprisingly deep, and occasionally infuriating video game, all at once. Plenty of Souls fans dislike it, but the people who dig it are really, truly enamored with Drangleic.

I always appreciate seeing that passion bubble up into fan creations that benefit the wider community. Whether or not you’re into Dark Souls II, modding, or Dark Souls II modding, you’ve got to check out this work-in-progress mod from a lighting artist and graphics programmer named Stayd. It’s so impressive.

Here are a few screenshots of the not-yet-finalized mod working its magic:

Majula

Forest of Fallen Giants

Aldia's Keep

And here are some before-and-after comparisons:

What’s going on under the hood? “This is not a typical Reshade or SweetFX preset, which simply adds some post-processing effects, but a proper mod that edits the game’s lighting files and adds many new dynamic lights to all the maps,” explained redditor Katalash. “Character shading, shadow quality, antialiasing, ambient occlusion, and more are all upgraded with better techniques.”

Outside of Twitter, you can also keep tabs on this mod on Twitch, where the creator streams their work. The project seems like a painstaking job, but I can already tell the final result will be worth the trouble.

@Stay3D [Twitter via ResetEra]


Destructoid is supported by our audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn a small affiliate commission. Learn more
related content
Read Article Warframe’s update 35.5 patch notes are over 20,000 words long, and it’s a sight to behold
How to get the Onos in Warframe
Read Article Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 and Warzone get four new weapons in Season 3
Gladiator knife new weapons for season 3 of MW3 and Warzone
Read Article Destiny 2: Into the Light brings back Season of Plunder’s best feature
Related Content
Read Article Warframe’s update 35.5 patch notes are over 20,000 words long, and it’s a sight to behold
How to get the Onos in Warframe
Read Article Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 and Warzone get four new weapons in Season 3
Gladiator knife new weapons for season 3 of MW3 and Warzone
Read Article Destiny 2: Into the Light brings back Season of Plunder’s best feature
Author
Jordan Devore
Jordan is a founding member of Destructoid and poster of seemingly random pictures. They are anything but random.