Dark Souls 2 modders have finally managed to crank its framerate past 60 without borking the entire game

Ted Litchfield
·2 min read
Dark Souls 2 art.
Dark Souls 2 art.

First reported by GamesRadar, an industrious modder named emoose has finally cracked the 60fps barrier in Dark Souls 2 with their DS2 Frame Unlimiter project, allowing players to enjoy a crispy high-refresh take on Drangleic without breaking the game.

For a studio with such precise and intense action gameplay, FromSoftware's always had a fraught relationship with framerate. Armored Core 6 was the first game from the studio with high fps support baked in, while many of its pre-Dark Souls 3 offerings were locked at 30fps⁠. Certain aspects of their speed and function would be tied to framerate, leading to various glitches as they sped up. For Dark Souls 2, these included:

  • Rapidly accelerated weapon degradation

  • Drastically shortened jumps

  • Glitchy cloth physics

  • Broken animated textures (like water surfaces)

That first one could be especially frustrating with Dark Souls 2's fragile weapons⁠—seriously, the katanas are practically breadsticks. Emoose's project addresses these known game-speed issues, allowing us to push Dark Souls 2 past its original limits. The mod is still in beta, with the biggest caveat being that online play is currently disabled over concerns about how it would impact multiplayer.

I shudder to think of what kinds of insane DS2 Sardaukar are still going at the PvP after all these years. I'm usually good just replaying the game solo these days, and DS2 Frame Unlimiter might be a must-download for me moving forward, especially as emoose continues to work out the kinks.

I've loved Dark Souls 2 even before its reputational rehabilitation in recent years⁠—it doesn't hurt that its project lead co-directed Elden Ring, with a ton of DS2 DNA making its way into FromSoft's most successful game to date. For more on this soulsborne black sheep's many charms, PCG contributor Sam Greer wrote a great celebration/defense of the game last year, while in 2022, Lincoln Carpenter caught up with Dark Souls 2's biggest fans.