IMHO.

DARK SOULS™ II: Scholar of the First Sin vs The Depths of Despair

DARK SOULS™ II: Scholar of the First Sin and The Depths of Despair both land in Action, RPG on Steam, which is why they keep getting compared. The comparison below is built from each game's Steam metadata — release year, genres, categories, Steam Deck status, price, and review score — refreshed daily by imho.run's scraper. Headline differences: Both share Action, RPG on Steam. DARK SOULS™ II: Scholar of the First Sin (2015) is 11 years older than The Depths of Despair (2026). DARK SOULS™ II: Scholar of the First Sin has co-op; The Depths of Despair does not. No login or purchase needed — scroll for the full table, the verdict FAQ, and links to ranked similar games for both titles.

Which should you pick?

Choose DARK SOULS™ II: Scholar of the First Sin

Choose DARK SOULS™ II: Scholar of the First Sin if you want the Multi-player and Co-op side of the pairing. On Steam, it's Steam Deck Verified, so handheld play works out of the box. 33,921 Steam reviews back the pick.

Choose The Depths of Despair

Choose The Depths of Despair if you want an Adventure experience. On Steam, it's the newer release (2026) and ships with the modern feature baseline. The Depths of Despair launched in 2026.

Both DARK SOULS™ II: Scholar of the First Sin and The Depths of Despair sit in Action and RPG on Steam, so either pick lands in the same broad neighborhood. Use the side-by-side table for the feature view, or follow the "Games like" links below to see ranked alternatives for either title.

Side-by-side comparison

DARK SOULS™ II: Scholar of the First Sin vs The Depths of Despair — Steam metadata comparison
DARK SOULS™ II: Scholar of the First Sin — Steam game coverDARK SOULS™ II: Scholar of the First SinThe Depths of Despair — Steam game coverThe Depths of Despair
Released20152026
GenresAction, RPGAction, Adventure, RPG
PlatformsWindowsWindows
Steam DeckDeck VerifiedUnrated
Price39.99 USDPrice unknown
Steam reviews83.2% positive (33,921 reviews)—
MultiplayerMulti-player, Co-opSingle-player only
DevelopersFromSoftware, Inc.herbeni

Side by side

DARK SOULS™ II: Scholar of the First Sin vs The Depths of Despair — FAQ

Should I play DARK SOULS™ II: Scholar of the First Sin or The Depths of Despair first?
If you want chronology, DARK SOULS™ II: Scholar of the First Sin (2015) came out before The Depths of Despair (2026). If neither is a sequel to the other, order doesn't really matter — start with whichever fits your current mood, since both share enough on Steam to make either a reasonable opener.
Are DARK SOULS™ II: Scholar of the First Sin and The Depths of Despair similar?
They overlap on Action, RPG on Steam, so the catalogue groups them together — but "similar" depends on the specific mechanics. Use the genre + category rows above to decide whether the overlap matches what drew you to the one you've already played.
Does The Depths of Despair have multiplayer like DARK SOULS™ II: Scholar of the First Sin?
No. DARK SOULS™ II: Scholar of the First Sin supports multiplayer on Steam (Multi-player, Co-op), while The Depths of Despair is listed as single-player only.
Does DARK SOULS™ II: Scholar of the First Sin run on Steam Deck?
Yes — DARK SOULS™ II: Scholar of the First Sin is rated Deck Verified by Valve. The Depths of Despair doesn't have a Deck rating yet, so its Deck behaviour is currently unverified.
DARK SOULS™ II: Scholar of the First Sin vs The Depths of Despair · imho.run