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Dark Souls 2: Scholar of the First Sin DirectX 11 version will not support old saves

Those that own Dark Souls II: Scholar of the First Sin on PC have received the game's big Scholar of the First Sin update back in February. But those looking to make the jump to the DirectX 11 version will have a few drawbacks to worry about.

Ozzie Mejia

March 30, 2015 12:30 PM

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Dark Souls II: Scholar of the First Sin is set to hit the next generation of consoles on April 7, but PC players are set to get the DirectX 11 version of the game first this coming Wednesday. Today, Bandai Namco has laid out details of what those PC players can expect to get with this new iteration of last year's adventure game. And it won't all be sunshine and rainbows, as it appears that upgrading to the top of the line DirectX 11 version will mean the end of your save file.

Bandai Namco released an FAQ (via Kotaku) that explains the DirectX 11/PS4/Xbox One versions of Dark Souls II: Scholar of the First Sin as the "Director's Cut" of the original game. This means the game will feature new enemy placement, map shortcuts, gameplay design, and visual/audio/performance upgrades across the board. The maximum number of players will increase from four to six with new NPC players able to invade the player's world.

But yes, there are a few drawbacks. The publisher notes that save files will not carry over from the original PC version of Dark Souls II, meaning players will have to start from scratch. Bandai Namco is pointing out that due to the revamped design, new versions of the game cannot communicate with the older ones. That also means that saves will not carry over from old-gen consoles to Xbox One or PlayStation 4.

Finally, Bandai Namco issued the PC specs for both PC versions of Scholar of the First Sin, for comparison's sake:

Minimum requirements (DirectX 9):

• Windows Vista SP2 / Windows 7 SP1, Windows 8
• AMD Phenom II X2 555 3.2GHz / Intel Pentium Core 2 Duo E8500 3.17GHz
• NVIDIA GeForce 9600GT / ATI Radeon HD5870
• 2GB Memory
• 12GB of HDD/SSD space

Recommended requirements (DirectX 9):

• Windows 7 SP1 / Windows 8
• Intel Core i3 2100 3.10GHz / AMD A8 3870K 3.0GHz
• NVIDIA GeForce GTX 750 / ATI Radeon HD 6870 or better
• 4GB Memory
• 15GB of HDD/SSD space

Minimum requirements (DirectX 11):

• Windows 7 SP1 64bit / Windows 8.1 64bit
• Intel Core i3 2100 3.1GHz / AMD A8 3870 3.6GHz
• NVIDIA GeForce GTX 465 / ATI Radeon HD 6870
• 4GB Memory
• 23GB of HDD/SSD space

Recommended requirements (DirectX 11):

• Windows 7 SP1 64bit / Windows 8.1 64bit
• Intel Core i7 2600 3.4GHz / AMD FX 8150 3.6GHz or better
• NVIDIA GeForce GTX 750 (700 series) or better / ATI Radeon HD 7850 (7000 series) or better
• 8GB Memory
• 23GB of HDD/SSD space

The DirectX 11 versions of Dark Souls II: Scholar of the First Sin will be available for purchase on April 1. PS4 and Xbox One versions are set to release on April 7.

Ozzie Mejia

Senior Editor

Ozzie has been playing video games since picking up his first NES controller at age 5. He has been into games ever since, only briefly stepping away during his college years. But he was pulled back in after spending years in QA circles for both THQ and Activision, mostly spending time helping to push forward the Guitar Hero series at its peak. Ozzie has become a big fan of platformers, puzzle games, shooters, and RPGs, just to name a few genres, but he’s also a huge sucker for anything with a good, compelling narrative behind it. Because what are video games if you can't enjoy a good story with a fresh Cherry Coke?