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The PC release of Dark Souls 2's Scholar of the First Sin edition is a curious value proposition, ranging from a £12 upgrade on Steam to a £30 standalone purchase. After seeing PlayStation 4 and Xbox One push out two visually identical renditions of the game - albeit with a performance lead on Sony's platform - this refreshed DirectX 11 edition on PC brings its own unique benefits. But does it represent enough of a boost over what the original DirectX 9 version offers to justify either end of its price range?As with its current-gen versions, Scholar of the First Sin paints the entirety of Drangleic in a brand-new light. The higher-contrast lighting of the PS4 and Xbox One releases makes it to PC by default, and surprisingly there's no toggle in its graphics menu to revert to the old DirectX 9 setting. It's an improved look overall, thankfully; a brighter, more vivid aesthetic that makes the original Dark Souls 2 appear dull by comparison. This extends to its effects too, volumetric fog and transparencies now producing light that affects the surrounding area.
Changes to the PC's graphics options are minimal, but we get a three-way toggle for screen-space ambient occlusion this time. The original PC version's AO method is positioned as the lowest setting now, and produces the same dithering effect as last-gen consoles. The next step up is medium, noticeably increasing its thickness and spread across objects - an upgrade easy to catch by eye. Moving to the high setting marks a less obvious change, but on close inspection the spread of shade behind objects expands very slightly further. This is an area that we felt was lacking in its original PC release, and it's great to see a better option made available.
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